Category Archives: 2 Prof. Knowledge & Understanding

Science Literacy

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After a recent input on the ‘Science Literacy’ we were asked, in groups, to produce an informative short piece related to the input. Not only was this to consolidate what we had learned but also to develop our understanding, awareness and appreciation of what ‘Science Literacy’ really is and how fundamental it is within the classroom.

‘Scientific literacy’ is increasingly seen as the primary goal of school science.”(Miller, 2007) This wasn’t always the case due to many teachers in primary and secondary schools having a slight fear towards science as a subject. Therefore as a result, this derogatory attitude was understandably passed on to their students. Negative attitudes could be a result of the teachers not being able to understand concepts or formulas concerning certain scientific processes due to being uneducated themselves from a young age. Thus meaning that for them to then teach their own pupils in depth could be daunting. However, there is now an ever increasing consideration- and quite rightly so- that Science should be up there with the standard core subjects such as math and English.

Science has been evident in some shape or form since the beginning of time, for example, cavemen lighting fires to gain heat, to cook or to use as a source of light. The misconception of whether something has a scientific purpose behind it or why something happens is the problem which still occurs in today’s society. For this reason solely it is essential for schools to start making children literate concerning Science. For example, when carrying out experiments one main process children work by is also known as POE (Predict, Observe and Explain). In order to do this they have to have a firm knowledge of simple concepts that they can then apply in future experiments or day to day on goings. Thereby giving them the ability to comprehend and then explain what may or may not happen and most importantly why.

The MMR vaccine controversy of 1998 is one of the most commonly known examples of where a lack of scientific literacy has led to inaccurate media reporting.

This controversy was created by Dr Andrew Wakefield, who carried out an investigation into the three in one vaccine for the prevention of measles, mumps and rubella. Wakefield’s research paper, which was published in the medical journal The Lancet, claimed that there was a link between the vaccine and a child’s likelihood of developing autism. This caused great concern for parents and resulted in the widespread decline of children receiving the vaccine in the UK and Ireland.

It was not until 2004, and later again in 2010, that this claim was discredited by leading specialists who carried out further studies. They discovered that Wakefield had manipulated his findings, but more to the point, that there was in fact no link between autism and the MMR vaccine.

This public consumption of false, misleading information caused a significant increase in the number of children who contracted measles, mumps and rubella. This is a prime example of how easy it is to be wrongly influenced and why scientific literacy is so important.

As teachers, we must foster an environment that allows pupils to develop their scientific literacy and understanding of concepts and ideas. Ensuring the classroom environment promotes thinking, listening, questioning, talking, play, exploration and experiment is pivotal to the broadening of scientific vocabulary for children. Looking at the idea of ‘fair testing’ at primary school level links closely to the development of strong scientific literacy. Through consideration of what it means to conduct an experiment under fair test conditions, pupils can begin to understand the need for all variables to be kept the same, apart from those which are being tested for. This developing of understanding will help pupils to ensure that once they have measured what they already know, all future experiments and investigations will produce accurate results which correctly inform the progression of their knowledge.

Encouraging pupils to investigate good and bad examples of ‘fair testing’ will allow them to explore and engage with science. Where everyday objects are used for such exploration – such as a motorbike race – science becomes much more accessible for children and a developing interest is likely to be reflected in their developing vocabulary in relation to science and experimentation.

We hope that by reading this, if you were unsure of what the term ‘Science Literacy’ meant and how it relates to everyday life, that now you do!

 

 

References

http://www.nhs.uk/news/2007/January08/Pages/MMRvaccinedoesnotcauseautism.aspx

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/mmr_prog_summary.shtml

http://www.bmj.com/content/342/bmj.c7452

Hello! Bonjour! Hola! Guten tag!

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Languages. We all have one but should we just stop at that?

I believe that as teachers, we would be depriving our pupils if we did not incorporate other languages of the world into our classroom. It is ever more apparent that these days huge numbers of people do not just live in the country of their birth for their entire life. So are we really equipping the children with the basic fundamentals for life if we do not grant foreign languages with a high level of importance within the classroom?

I was fortunate enough to spend time and live with Spanish students for three weeks in Edinburgh whilst they visited Scotland. I was there to teach and improve their English. In the morning they went to language school and then spent the afternoons and evenings with us- sight seeing, playing games in the park and going shopping. Whilst all the time speaking in English.  Many a time we faced difficulties where nor one or the other could understand what the other was trying to say. Which as you could imagine could be extremely frustrating! However we always got there in the end!

The thing that made this extremely difficult was the fact that I cannot speak Spanish. I could sing you the odd Spanish song from past experiences of strutting my stuff on the dance floor to them, but no where near what was needed to have a conversation! If I had been able to speak their language fluently it would have been all to easy for us to just start communicating in Spanish when they got tired of English, completely defeating the main purpose of their visit!

Speaking a second language for a long period of time can be exhausting and witnessing that first hand of the students I was with made me truly respect and appreciate what they were doing.  Many of these young people spoke more than just the two languages. When I asked why,  they explained that by having a knowledge of other languages it opens up job opportunities all round the world for them. It would enable them to travel the world to see and experience all the different cultures we have. They believe that it’s only fair that if you travel to somewhere new, you as the guest, should make the effort to know at least some of the native language.

I love to travel. Especially as I lived in Germany when I was younger I love exploring new places!  Personally, I believe it’s really important for children to have a passion and desire to want to know about the world they live in and the people living in it. Many families cannot afford to take their children abroad so as a teacher it would be my wish to bring those countries into the classroom. We don’t necessarily need an aeroplane or boat to raise awareness of the outside world to children. We just need creativeness, imagination and passion. I want to ensure that any future pupil of mine leaves my classroom having a good idea of what living in another culture would be like and for them to have the desire to maybe visit that country in the future. I want them to know phrases of languages which could then be built on as they get older and used all around the world!

This country is a great place to live but when there is so much more greatness to see, let’s not shy our children away from that. Encourage exploring. It’s a bit like trial and error- you have to try things to see if you like them. You have to try new things to learn and as teachers we are there to facilitate that learning.

Get your backpacks on, we’re going on a round the world trip..classroom style!

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After a lovely day at Portobello beach in Edinburgh with my lovely Spanish and English speaking friends!

 

 

Performing at the Royal Albert Hall!

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For those of you who are not big music fans, don’t worry I’m not away to turn into some sort of super geeky band nerd! I just wanted to share this story to make those who are feeling a bit apprehensive about teaching music in their class not alone!

“You’re going to the Albert Hall!!” was the only thing I remembered from that band practice three years ago. The BBC Youth Proms wanted us to play in their concert? Surely not? But yes! Yes they did..

I’ve been playing brass since primary 5 and I was by no means a musical god that’s for sure! I didn’t let that stop me however! In my second year at high school my brass teacher asked me if I wanted to join the Carnoustie and District Youth Brass Band. I live in Carnoustie, which is a rather small place but every member, bar a few, come from the town- something quite unusual in the world of brass bands. We were also all taught by the same instructor- again something very unique. I knew the band was for competition purposes so thought that I’d give it a try and see what it would be like. If only I knew where that would lead..

Most bands are around for years and years before they enjoy competition success. We were exceptionally fortunate and only took four. Before I knew it we had won British and Scottish championship titles more than once and were winning awards from the likes of the BBC. It was a complete whirlwind experience! Unknown to us, something even better was waiting around the corner!

Playing live on stage to 5,000 people in the Royal Albert Hall is something I cant quite explain. Being washed with the overwhelming sound of applause vibrating the stage under your feet is something you just don’t forget. None of us could believe that we had somehow made it here. Yes, we had put in hours upon hours of rehearsing, blood, sweat and tears. When I say tears, I mean serious tears!

You would think that this would mean I’m probably quite confident about standing in front of a class and delivering a music lesson, but not quite.  After all these years I have developed my own way of interpreting music and my own way of learning it. So now I need to develop all of that into a way that a child will understand and can use later in life.  In some respect I need to go back and relearn music! Which is actually a rather daunting thought! I can’t be selfish and demand that it is my way of learning music and that’s it! No, I have to consider what will be best for the children I will be teaching. I have to think of ways to keep those who enjoy music interested and those who don’t, enthusiastic about it! I have had my opportunity to get specialised help but now it’s time for me to pass some of that knowledge on so that future children can benefit from music like I did.  Music is a brilliant way to let children express themselves and liven up their learning! No child should be deprived of the chance to experience what music can mean and do for them.

Music gave me friends, a sense of teamwork, discipline and an understanding of what it feels like to be rewarded for hard work. Without it I don’t think I would be at University today. This is why I feel music is such an important part of the curriculum and can be done so in a variety of different ways.

Let’s get music into those classrooms!

If you fancy a listen, below was part of our performance in the 2012 British Youth Championships, which we were lucky enough to come 1st, giving us the title of Best Youth band in Britain.  All the players are aged 12-21! I’m experiencing a rather bad hair day in the video..I’ll blame the nerves!

The last minute or so is my favourite!

Anyone Can Be A Professional

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I chose to watch One Born Every Minute. It was such a great way to demonstrate professionalism working at its very best.  The programme has opened my eyes to the core of what a professional is.  Yes, it’s about conducting your work in a suitable way and having correct behaviour , impressive presentation and possess the knowledge needed to carry out the job,  but I now believe that it is so much more than that. Professionalism is about the passion and love you have for what you’re doing. Waking up every morning looking forward to the work you will be carrying out and the impact it will have on others. I’ve learned that professionals don’t just do their job for themselves- they do it for others. A professional cares about the welfare of the people they are helping- it’s all about looking at the wider world and being prepared to go that extra mile for someone you don’t even know.  Selfless acts of kindness and a commitment and dedication to others is what professionalism is to me. You are loyal to those you are helping. The midwives demonstrated all of these skills and more.

I believe that anyone has the ability to become a professional. We need to step away from the idea that professionalism is all about academic excellence. Just because a person achieves top marks in exams does not mean they will necessarily be more effective in a profession than someone who doesn’t. As we set off on our route to becoming teachers it’s vital that we understand that nobody should be bound to society’s preconceived stereotypes.

Anyone can be a professional. Anyone can have that love, passion and dedication required, but we must never confine anyone so that they cannot utilise these just because that‘s the way generations have before. We want future generations to live to their full potential no matter what their situation and to do that mindsets have to change.

Values of a Professional

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An attribute I feel a professional requires is that of fairness. Fairness is important to being professional as showing signs of preference towards one person over the other or perhaps allowing one child to behave in a particular way that others can’t, could create a very tense and unpleasant atmosphere in the classroom. Being an individual that promotes fairness is an excellent way to gain trust and respect from others. Both of these are vital to gain from the children you teach and helps create a bond with them. Fairness also works hand in hand with equality. For me, a professional needs to be able to treat everyone equally and understand that any kind of discrimination of anyone in the work place of work is just not acceptable. In a classroom setting this could not be more important.

Another attribute is Justice, which helps create a safe and healthy environment for all to work in. Justice means no tolerance to what is wrong and championing what is good and right. I feel that justice in a classroom environment creates a better sense of community and shows children the difference between right and wrong. By doing this it would hopefully improve a child’s self-discipline and help them develop their own set of morals. Justice demonstrates that unacceptable behaviour cannot and will not be tolerated and there will be consequences as a result of such behavior. Implementing justice at a young age would hopefully mean that children will grow up having developed a solid understating of how to treat others in a respectable and appropriate manner.

I believe that respect means treating others how you would like to be treated yourself. Showing and receiving respect is so important in a profession. It can help create much needed working relationships. Thus, meaning that you are exposing yourself to a much greater wealth of opportunities as you can work alongside a broad range of people that can all bring their own talents to the table. In the end, this could result in a much more positive working environment. Showing respect towards pupils in the classroom is important as pupils would then begin to respect you back and it also demonstrates to them that they must respect each other.

Patience is extremely important in all professions. When a teacher displays patience, it shows to the children how to behave in difficult or compromising circumstances. In a classroom, things can go against us and try to test us, so being patient and calm allows for straight and clear thinking and an ability to successively teach and control the class. Children can be unpredictable and not always behave in a way which we deem as appropriate or sometimes not understand a specific element that you’re teaching. Therefore, by being calm and patient we can deal with the difficulties in a composed manner and not let the small issues reflect negatively on a child’s learning environment.

Honesty works simultaneously with trust. Gaining a pupil’s trust makes them more likely to want to open up with you and share problems they might be facing or are concerned about. Teaching children to be honest will allow them to grow up to be responsible and successful adults. Honestly is vital in a profession as without honesty you have no trust and without trust there is no respect and with little respect for someone it means you have even less patience with them. All of these work hand in hand and without one of these key elements a professional environment just can’t work.