Education Foundations: Reflection 2

Two blog posts that I will be commenting on for my second set of Education Foundation reflections include;

ANNE:

http://matthewamcdonald.wordpress.com/tag/anne/

This was a really well-structured post Matt, well done! You brought up quite a few issues I didn’t even think to consider while reading Anne’s situation. In particular, your reference to her ‘essentialist’ approach to teaching as opposed to a holistic approach is the quandary I’m sure a lot of us will face in our schools. (Particularly those in an old private college) I suppose this notion would also draw on the provocation, ‘who am I accountable to?’ Coming from a similar school structure myself, I would assume the traditions, conventions and academic expectations of an old and reputable college would also influence Anne’s essentialist approach to teaching.

One aspect of this situation that was really well articulated in this blog was the provocation, ‘what kind of teacher do I want to be?’ And how much of our teaching philosophy is influenced by our own school careers. Upon reflection of my own teaching philosophy, I can very easily decipher characteristics that I have appropriated from teachers that shaped my high school experience. As well as this, I have adopted the highly regimented assessment methodology instilled at my school. Finally, whilst I don’t necessarily agree with the concept, the ‘teacher-centred’ (Anderson 1983) learning style that was employed has been the style of teaching that I have instinctively adopted.

Considering that Anne’s student and teaching experience has all come from the same social and educational context, can we assume that her teaching philosophy is sufficiently developed? Whilst she has, ‘Developed a reputation as a great teacher,’ and is clearly facilitating their academic learning career enough, is Anne really giving her students what they need?

Australia in particular offers numerous travel grants and scholarships for teachers to travel abroad in order to, “gain insights about different peoples and cultures…This invariably helps students and schools who are benefited by the richness of their experiences.” (Buzzle.com, 2010) In fact, “Experience itself is the oldest teacher…no human can escape experience.” (Tal, 2010)

In this situation I believe that not only would an overseas endeavor be beneficial for Anne to forge an evolving teaching philosophy, but it is a necessity in order for her to become a more cultivated and educated educator.

References:

Tal, (January 2010), Experience is the best teacher, (Retrieved April 17th 2011)http://www.essayforum.com/writing-feedback-3/essay-experience-best-teacher-feedback-please-15249/#msg72084

Pandey K, (December 2010), Travel grants for teachers, (Retrieved April 17th 2011),http://www.buzzle.com/articles/travel-grants-for-teachers.html

Anderson, J.R. (1983). The architecture of cognition. Cambridge, (pp 320 – 323) MA: Harvard University Press.

WAYNE:

http://gdestellalee.tumblr.com/tagged/ed%20foundation


Ella, well done on a very pensive and personal blog. I think it's amazing how each of us seem to have that one teacher that revolutionized out perspectives of education. For you it was a chemistry teacher, for me it was a violin teacher. Needless to say its amazing how someone can shape your education without realizing it!


There was one concept in your reflection that I found particularly interesting, mostly because I am still unsure of my position on it. You mention that, "the role... is not to force all students to engage with the teacher, but rather to learning," which to me would indicate that discovering a students 'niche' within a subject is more effective than trying to engage them on a personal level. Does this mean that you are in fact teaching the subject rather than the students, an idea that you mentioned would be, "impossible."


I was intrigued by this notion however, because like you, I was adamant that the most successful behavior management technique and route for academic success in a classroom would be to address a students personal learning style rather than enforcing factual information. If the role of the contemporary teacher is in fact as a facilitator to ones learning, then surely one would assume that, "knowing where the students are and where they want to go," would be key to classroom success. (Harrington, 2007)


In 1974 Malcolm Knowles suggested that in order to, "manage student diversity" and cater to individual needs, (i.e. teach the student rather than the subject) we must adopt a three-fold approach that seeks to teach the students as if they were adults rather than children. Andragogy over Pedagogy. This includes self directed learning, problem-centred learning as opposed to content based learning, and finally co-operation rather than supervision. (Knowles, 1974) Whilst these techniques address personal learning styles exclusive of the subject matter, they also enforce independent learning of content material that the students need to know.


Perhaps the tension between the importance of student needs and subject requirements are obsolete, and the two in fact are not mutually exclusive.


References:


Harrington MR, (2007) Managing student Diversity, (Retrieved April 17th 2011) http://www.englishaustralia.com.au/index.cgi?E=hcatfuncs&X=getdoc&exp=6&Lev1=pub_c08_07&Lev2=c07_harring


Knowles MS, (1974) Human resource development in OD. Public Administration Review. (pp 115-123)

Learning Journal 2: Education Foundations

Wayne: Further Observations

Upon further reflection of Wayne’s situation I have noticed that as a developing teacher who is now facing similar student disengagement in one of my particular classrooms, two provocations have unveiled themselves in my analysis of his situation. Whilst previously I read Wayne’s example in a teacher-centric manner, in which I questioned, “will I be allowed to be the teacher I want to be?” It now seems much more beneficial to analyze his classroom quandaries holistically. For example, rather than focusing on Wayne’s methodologies as a teacher and how this affects his classroom conundrum, this time, I would rather encompass the students role in the situation and thus question; 1. Should I teach a student or a subject?, and 2. To what extent is this an intellectual pursuit?

Am I teaching a student or a subject?

The scenario states that, “Wayne really enjoys the subject matter,” and, “he has the depth of content covered.” Evidently Wayne is enthusiastic about teaching and his subject area and is competent with the course material. Wayne is portrayed as a teacher who is more than capable of teaching his subject. However, when he notices that the students either, “don’t engage at a deep level,” or, “are difficult for him to engage,” it demonstrates his inability to adapt the course content to the various learning styles of his classroom, and thus his failure to teach a student. I would define the term, ‘Teaching a student’ as the teachers ability to manipulate subject material to cater to the individual learning requirements of a student. Whilst the transmission of knowledge and information, that is the subject content, is an obvious element of a teachers duty, in certain cases the ability to understand and facilitate a student’s unique learning habits are sometimes more important. The overlap of these two teaching styles has provoked me to question further, are the two even mutually exclusive?

The answer?

Recent academic endeavors suggest that one solution can potentially abolish this dichotomy altogether. The approach of “student-centered learning” (Estes, 2004) is proposed to facilitate a students ability to, “learn how to learn,” (Poore, 2011) and thus the teachers role of transmitting content is redundant.  The role of a teacher in this scenario is one who observes and analyses a students learning patterns and educates them on how they may remember, engage with, discriminate, and create information more efficiently. (Blooms, 1956) Contrary to this, a “course-based” (Pederson, 2003) approach to teaching runs the risk of transmitting  information that would be considered irrelevant to the student, and thus is not engaging or productive. We also need to consider, if a student-centered learning approach dominates an educators style of teaching, what implications does this have on course content, the design of the curriculum and examination of assessments? 

A reflection on my own practices:

Throughout my limited on-the-job practical experience I have encountered a Year 8 music class that has demonstrated a variety of behavioral problems. The majority of the student body comes from a low socio-economic background and often have life stories that, “will just make you cry.” (Wentworth, 2011) I discussed with the teacher, her tactics when it came to controlling this class, to which she responded that there was no hope of carrying out structured lesson plans, “just to have the kids stay within the walls of the classroom is a major breakthrough.” (Wentworth, 2011) This is a prime example where teaching a subject isn’t even an option. Characteristics of a music class such as keyboards, manuscript and videoclips serve as mere distractions to the students. In this scenario what a ‘music teacher’ is ultimately teaching her students is discipline and respect, not music. 

References:

Estes, Cheryl. (2004). Promoting Student-Centred Learning in Experiential Education. Journal of Experiential Education, pp. 141-161.

Wentworth, R. (Personal communication, March 16th 2011)

Poore, M. (Personal communication, March 10th 2011)

Pederson, S. (2003). Motivational orientation in a problem-based learning environment. Journal of interactive learning research. pp. 51-77

Bloom, BS. (1956) Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, the classification of educational goals: Handbook 1: Cognitive Domain, New York: McKay