Monthly Archives: October 2017

SitComm Independent Task: Self- Evaluation – 16th October

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Before watching any of the videos I would have said self-evaluation would be critiquing yourself when there is much more to it than that. These videos helped me realise how important it is to look back and reflect on your own performance for example by taking a video or survey from another person. By doing such methods it helps you see what you might have missed the first time round as you were too engrossed in the task. For example, by taking a video of yourself you can see the key areas where to enforce a good habit that was received well and where to change a format that wasn’t received as well. The video example would allow you to watch yourself critically and help see places of improvement and growth as actually teaching a subject and planning it are two completely different things, “…there is a difference for teachers between the abstract of how we see our practice and the concrete reality of it”. (Ted Talks Education, 2013)

When watching the videos with my partner we both realised the importance of reflecting at your own performance and it surprised us at how beneficial it could really be from an outsider’s point of view. Having a visual reference to return to, whether that be a video or survey or report, that clearly shows what area you are doing well in and where you can improve can ultimately help your performance and growth as a Primary Teacher. My partner and I both agreed that in the second video the teacher displayed a lot of good eye contact while maintaining a positive and enthusiastic attitude with all the children when engaged in an activity. We however did notice that he did not display as positive body language as he could have, by crossing his arms while standing up at the beginning of the day and then sitting down to take the register without any eye contact (Behaviour2Learn, 2011).

The tasks assigned in this Independent task were not difficult, as I found a lot of it quite interesting on how we as people should reflect on our actions, words and performance, something I think applies in general day-to-day life and not just in the classroom as a teacher. I enjoyed watching Bill Gates video as it gave me an insight on how positive feedback with suggestions of improvement and how to go about them is useful for a teacher, as well as how reflection is the key to moving forward.

I believe I do understand the difference between feedback and judgement. Feedback being of a more positive nature, intended to help a person grow and improve in whatever field they are in. Feedback not only consists of suggestions of improvement but also includes a lot of encouraging and positive comments on what that person is excelling at which I think is very important (EDCHAT, 2013). Being told you are good at what you do helps build a person’s confidence and self-esteem, something that adults need as well as children. Whereas judgement is purely based on criticism and negativity and does nothing to help a person grow.

If I could take one idea into my placement it would be the fact of how important it is to give and receive feedback to help yourself and others grow into amazing teachers. Having an encouraging and supportive body that allows you to reflect positively is important for any student, teacher or adult in any given situation so having this kind of environment in schools and placement I believe to be very important.

The coming placement we have I am quite excited for. I am however quite nervous after hearing some people’s experiences at previous schools and how negative some of them were. I can’t help but worry about how my experience will be like and whether I will enjoy it. I also feel like there has been so much talk surrounding the placement that I can’t help but feel pressurised to live up to a certain standard. I generally don’t get too excited about things (slightly superstitious on it not going well if you get too excited, if you get what I mean) but I am trying to think more positively and hopefully everything will work out 🙂

Reference list:

TED Talks Education (2013) BILL GATES: Teachers need real feedback[Online] Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gates_teachers_need_real_feedback#t-70065

Behaviour2Learn (2011) Behaving With Cowley – Classroom Routines[Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4v5UVdyu8Y4&feature=youtu.be

EDCHAT (2013) Relationships for Learning – Effective Feedback [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWBW_cbP86Q&feature=youtu.be

Situated Communications: Hargie Chapter 5 Review

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Throughout this chapter I think the main aim was to educate how important questions are in different situations and how the type of question can shape the answer that is returned. Questions are an integral part of communication and the many forms questions can take is what Hargie emphasised on in this chapter.

Hargie mentioned quite a few themes among which were what questions are like for children in education and even in adulthood. Children, although known to constantly ask never-ending questions, when put in a classroom tend to ask and respond much less than the teachers. It was stated that teachers ask about two questions a minute whereas their pupils ask only two questions an hour (Dillon, 1982). It was noted that children as they grow older are less comfortable asking questions and one big reason given was “fear of negative reaction from class mates” (Dillon, 1988). This is a natural response to growing up but maybe the constant questioning by teachers does not always help.

Adults too feel this sense of uncomfortableness especially when asking questions to doctors which then results in them not asking enough “in fear of being ignorant” (Roter an Hall, 2006). The hesitation to ask questions I believe is related to how a person feels they will be judged or thought of. This was found in patients who asked 4.1 questions to pharmacists and only 2.5 to doctors, suggesting pharmacists show a more approachable and comfortable environment for them to be part of.

When reading this Chapter there were a lot of points I agreed with however I disagreed with the idea that open questions are better suited to those who had spent at least a year in college than those who had left after secondary school (Schatzman and Struss, 1956). I believe the answer to a question depends on the interviewees personality, comfort and the situation the question is being asked, none of which was mentioned in this article.

I did, however, find out in this chapter how much of an effect misleading questions have on children.  I agree that the best approach is to ask children open and non-misleading questions, allowing them to answer freely with as much information they want without being influenced by the interviewer. Children are easily confused and influenced when being questioned so allowing them as much freedom is very important.

Reference list:

‘Finding out about others: the skill of questioning’, in Hargie, O. (2011) Skilled Interpersonal Communication: Research, Theory and Practice.5th ed. London: Routledge