There’s no avoiding the big issues

 

None of us live in a bubble. This means that when I become a teacher, I must be prepared for the fact that my pupils will probably have access to the internet, social media and the news; and therefore will be exposed to the terrible and frightening incidents which take place globally.

The Eiffel tower, Paris (Image from morguefile.com)

This week, I came across AN ARTICLE (from the guardian) which talks about the way that primary teachers have broached the subject of the recent Paris attacks with their children. I was interested to find that both had used different approaches and methods, but the key messages and learning were the same.

The first teacher did not necessarily plan to bring the Paris attacks into her learning for the day; however when a child spoke about it, she recognized the opportunity to address some fears and, even more importantly, some misconceptions:

“I asked the children who they thought Isis were and why they had attacked France,” she says. “Sadly some children said they acted in this way because they were Muslims; that Paris was ‘just the start’ and that Isis was planning to poison our food and water.” (The Guardian, 19th Nov 2015)

Image from morguefile.com

It is really disturbing to find that children are struggling with such horrible ideas, and if these are not addressed then negative attitudes towards others may continue to grow into prejudice, discrimination and racism.

 

The article continues to talk about another teacher who wanted to cover the aspects that he felt to be essential, without being specific to the real-life incident. This teacher spent time with his children; learning about the various different religions and discovering what they are about:

Instead, they talked about the origins of children’s names and how many come from Christianity, Judaism and Islam. They then discussed what these religions all represent: love and peace. “We talked about the value of respecting other people and respecting where they are from. We had a really positive discussion,” he says. (The Guardian, 19th Nov 2015)

I think that both of these teachers show integrity and strength by taking it upon themselves to bring the atrocities of the Paris attacks into their teaching in one way or another when it may have been easier to avoid the topic altogether. I know that I would be very nervous about saying something which could offend or upset. Knowing this has made me realize that it is critical that teachers are well informed and mindful of everything that they are telling the children.

Despite being located in England, the lessons of these teachers clearly uphold the principles of the Curriculum for Excellence. One of the four capacities of the curriculum is for children to become Responsible Citizens; involving an understanding and acceptance of the beliefs and cultures of others. The principles and practice section of the Religious and Moral Education section of the curriculum also states that:

Image from morguefile.com

Through developing awareness and appreciation of the value of each individual in a diverse society, religious and moral education engenders responsible attitudes to other people. This awareness and appreciation will assist in counteracting prejudice and intolerance as children and young people consider issues such as sectarianism and discrimination more broadly. (Education Scotland)

 

Overall, I have learned that if I want to be a good teacher, it is important that I can approach and discuss difficult topics. I must be able to consider the impact of my own and my pupil’s attitudes while being aware of the negative portrayal of others through sources such as the media or even sometimes from family. I will strive to create an open and honest classroom culture where children feel safe and able to ask questions and discuss their anxieties, but will also encourage acceptance and respect; reinforcing that everyone is an individual.

 

Sources:

The Guardian: Open, honest, reflective: how teachers are handling questions about the Paris attacks (19th Nov 2015)

Education Scotland: Curriculum for Excellence Experiences and Outcomes

Education Scotland: The Purpose of the Curriculum

 

Fat Letters

I was shocked to stumble across this article on the TES website. It applies to English Primary Schools but I feel that it is typical of the blame and shame attitude of today’s society.

Image from morguefile.com

The article describes how some teachers have been sending home ‘fat letters’ to inform the parents that their child is overweight. However (surprise surprise) this has not been found to be effective and health officials are now calling for it to be stopped.

Now, I’m not arguing that obesity is not an issue within the UK, the statistics clearly show that a large percentage of our children are overweight and this is a real concern for their health. My issue is that, of all the letters that were sent out;

Half (51 per cent) understood its purpose, while 20 per cent had received information as a result of the programme that had been useful in helping their child lose weight. (TES reporter, ‘Fat Letters’, Nov 2015)

This means that half of the families who received this letter did not even know why they were being contacted and even less were prompted to take action from it. In a way, this relates to my earlier post about feedback. It seems to me that these letters are likely to cause feelings of embarrassment, shame and guilt however, the statistics above suggest that they fail to provide the necessary information or guidance to allow the parents and child to tackle the problem.

Image from morguefile.com

The article also makes suggestions about more effective ways to approach the obesity issue, including healthy food vouchers and more access to after school clubs.

I feel that although steps have been taken including a focus on ‘Health and Wellbeing’ in Scotland, it is still vital that we as educators place higher importance on teaching children and families about healthy lifestyles and providing opportunities for children to be involved in healthy, active activities. In my opinion, the development out outdoor learning experiences is an extremely valuable tool in fostering a love and enjoyment out exercise. This is embraced within many early years settings however opportunities are less within primary schools. This may be due to time restraints of lack of outdoor environments that are considered suitable.

I hope to be able to encourage and promote this style of learning as I begin my teaching. I have been reading a wonderful book entitled ‘Dirty Teaching’ which is a practical guide to taking your school lessons outside – packed full of really useful advice as well as ways to approach challenges that may arise. I hope that my passion and enthusiasm for outdoor learning will be a positive influence to the children as well as with the teachers and staff that I will be working with.

Professionals at work

Using some of my previous reflections and came up with the following words which I feel pertain to what it means to be a professional teacher:

WordItOut-word-cloud-1233386

In order to further develop my understanding, I then watched a program about another type of professional, to see if the qualities that I associate with being a teacher also apply. I chose to watch ‘One born every minute’, focusing on the work of the midwives and health professionals.

Image from morguefile.com

Throughout this show, the level of professionalism from all staff involved was highly noticeable. I could see how all of the words from my word cloud also applied to the professionals on the show. The program gave some wonderful examples of the health professionals giving informed advice for example regarding epidurals and natural/ pool births. They were also calm and confident despite working in stressful situations, as well as being kind and caring while giving reassurance to the woman and her family.

Professionalism in this situation is absolutely vital, as the clients (the mother and the baby) are extremely vulnerable. They are relying completely on the knowledge and expertise of the health professionals around them to bring the baby into the world safely. This is a very stressful and frightening time where issues and complications can arise, and it is essential that staff are able to make decisions quickly.

Image from morguefile.com

A recognisable dress code is in place for health professionals. This is partly for the sake of health and safety, but it also helps the clients to quickly identify the individuals who are helping them (particularly as the mother is unlikely to be spending time reading name badges while she is in the grips of labour!)

Part of the show that struck a chord with me was when one of the midwives mentioned the importance of being able to ‘have a laugh’. There was a lovely moment where we saw the midwives having fun with each other in the staff room; dancing and laughing together. This reminded me that despite our responsibilities, it is impossible to be serious 100% of the time. More importantly; we SHOULDN’T try to be serious 100% of the time! We all have personalities and lives outside of our jobs that are just as valid as our work is. Personally, I would rather have a midwife who has a bit individuality than a perfect ‘robot’, despite the fact that a robot may have all of the information and can do the same job. This is a message that I will take with me while training to be a teacher; allowing myself to have a few quirks as long as they do not impact on my ability to be a professional.

 

Image from morguefile.com

If I were to develop a degree which would train health professionals, I would place high importance on practical learning while observing experienced and highly qualified staff at work. I would also involve a large portion of reading and research, as it is important to understand the theory behind the practice. I think that a large amount of real-life experience adds depth and reality to the situations that the students read about, and means that students are also able to see the personal qualities that are vital to succeeding within this role.

For me, this is also the case for students who are training to become teachers. Reading, research and lectures provide key information, however it is the classroom experience which solidifies the understanding and moulds us into future educators.

Fabulous Feedback

What is Feedback all about?

Feedback can be one of the most valuable tools throughout education. That is, if it is done properly! As wonderful as it is to be given a good grade for a piece of work; without feedback pointing to what exactly you did well, the grade has no impact on your future work. On the other hand, if you had issues while carrying out a task; appropriate feedback can help you to realise your mistakes and build on your weaknesses so that you are more likely to succeed next time.

While mulling this over in my head, I watched this TED talk about feedback for teachers. Its focus is on America but has key messages which are international:

The key points that I took from this video are:

  • No-one can become truly skilled at their role without feedback from others
  • the best performing countries have formal feedback systems
  • successful systems involve younger teachers getting a chance to watch master teachers at work
  • Self evaluation is also a useful form of feedback, as seen in the demonstration of a teacher recording herself in classroom and using it to reflect

The idea of some teachers receiving one word feedback (“Satisfactory”) ties in with my earlier thoughts about a grade being meaningless without explanation. In order for us as teachers to develop and improve, we need to be: encouraged, through identification of our strengths and appreciation of our efforts and also challenged, through suggestions of improvements or introduction to new ways of approaching a problem.

I have been involved in giving and receiving feedback in the past, particularly through my job as Deputy Manager in a nursery. I took part in peer observations, which, unfortunately in my experience, did not work very well. This was because staff were unwilling to be objective and constructively critical about their friends and therefore rarely suggested any areas for improvement, making the observations a pointless exercise. Apart from observations, I also held numerous appraisals and reviews where I was responsible for giving feedback about a member of staff’s work. I often adopted the ‘praise sandwich’ technique where I began with encouragement and identification of the individual’s strengths, then discussed some areas for development and how we could work together to support this. Finally, I finished with more praise and encouragement. I found this to be a reasonably successful technique as staff appeared to leave the meetings feeling positive and motivated.

What does feedback look like within the classroom?

image from morguefile.com

Feedback is not only essential for us as adults, but also for children throughout their learning in schools. Children can be given feedback from their teachers, their parents, and from other pupils and peers. HERE is a lovely post about different forms of peer assessment within the primary classroom. I will be interested to see different approaches and methods in action when I go out onto placement and am excited to use some of these within my own teaching.

One feedback system that I have seen in action is “2 stars and a Wish” where students are told 2 things that are good about a piece of work and one area for development. This system was briefly discussed at one of my inputs and I must admit that I am slightly torn about it. Whereas I appreciate that feedback is vital for pupils, and I like the fact that the 2 stars mean that there is more positive than negative comments; I still feel that teachers need to be very careful. Should there always be areas to improve? is it enough to recognise the accomplishment of one of the previous improvements? I think that the teacher must be very aware of the individual pupil’s personality and needs, as it could result in a child feeling that they are never good enough and potentially giving up.

How do I feel about giving and receiving feedback?

Following an input about peer reviews and feedback, we were asked to comment on our fellow students’ eportfolio posts, ensuring to give constructive praise and criticism which was directly linked with the success criteria. I found giving feedback to be quite challenging. I am very aware that in writing, a comment that was intended to be helpful can come across as critical and so I was careful in my phrasing.

image from morguefile.com

I have not yet received any feedback from other students for this task, however I have had comments from others on some of my earlier posts. I am always excited to see comments as it makes me feel that someone has made a connection with me and my topic. They can also help me to improve the content of my posts in future, for example one comment (from Derek on ‘School Uniforms’) noted that I could include sources for additional reading. I had not thought to do this before but now I try to include links where possible so that any readers can find the information and make up their own mind about issues.

 

I understand that feedback will be a huge part of my journey to becoming a teacher, and it is a skill which I must continue to work on. In the past I have been guilty of taking criticism slightly personally and having an emotional response. This is not helpful and could actually have a detrimental impact on my personal and professional development. Completing this exercise has helped me to recognise this potential barrier and I hope that gaining this awareness will help me in the future.