Mr_Zain_Syed

How are educational theories on learning applied in the classroom' As a reflective undergraduate writer, I am able to utilise these skills, whilst, training to teach. During the plenary, teachers ask pupils to reflect on what they have learnt and where they have struggled. Therefore it is only right for me as a student teacher to reflect on my learning in both contexts, as a student learning from tutors and peers, and as a teacher learning from colleagues and pupils. I feel this is the best method for me to be able to develop the foundation of effective teaching practices for what will be a lifelong career in teaching. Cognitive theories have had a big impact on my learning at university and at school. I have seen the ideas of ‘child centred’ learning posited by Jean Piaget, Jerome Bruner and Lev Vygotsky being used by teachers at school to support the learning of pupils. Its rejection of the transmissive model is one of the main reasons why I have chosen to consider this theory. When reflecting on the teaching that I have done previous to beginning the PGCE I have realised I have been in favour of constructivism. In particular, the ideas that children need to actively build on their knowledge by having links made to their experiences rather than passively receiving information from teachers. My subject tutor has also taught the class by building on prior knowledge. Alongside this, I have also chosen to focus on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and B.F Skinner’s theory about conditioning and behaviour management. Now that I am aware of these theories I would like to explore them in depth to see how teachers at school use them and how I can effectively utilise them when I teach. Prior to starting the PGCE I decided to gain some experience within a challenging learning environment. I decided to volunteer to teach English at a pupil referral unit, it was here I saw a poor attitude towards education and the advocacy of crime as an alternative way of earning a living. After speaking to some pupils at this school and realising that as a teacher I will not be able to have an impact on every pupil’s life. I decided that one of my focuses whilst undertaking the PGCE will be to learn effective strategies for motivating pupils. I wanted to focus on intrinsic motivation. During university sessions based around motivating pupils, I began to think about the ways in which I was motivated in school. When I was at school, I realised I enjoyed awards assemblies and receiving certificates for effort, achievement and attendance. Despite this being praised for my independent learning is what motivated me most. Entwistle (1990) cited in Capel (2009) states that ‘intrinsic motivation in pupils is related to interest in the activity and to effort (hard work), which leads to deep learning’ (p.126). This is related to Maslow’s (1970) hierarchy of needs, of which one of the needs on the top is self-actualisation. The attitudes that pupils have about education is mainly due to the impact of their home life. However, Maslow believes that the school can overcome some of the home issues, by providing a safe environment. The process of self-actualisation as Maslow puts it is when pupils are given responsibility for their own learning and can move to more ‘demanding tasks’ (Williams: p. 28). Whilst observing a lesson at my school placement, I saw this self-actualisation being put into practice. The teacher gave pupil’s responsibility for their own learning by giving them the opportunity to choose from one of the three learning outcomes they aimed to achieve. The learning outcomes were labelled and coloured as follows, red for ‘All of you will’, amber for ‘Most of you will’ and green for ‘Some of you will’. The teacher then asked the pupils to select the coloured card within the planners matching the outcomes and to put it on their desks, to inform her of their goals and to remind themselves whilst they were working on the task. To further aid the learning she gave them options to work in different ways for example drawing mind maps and drawing pictures. This was a good method in assessing pupils learning within the plenary as the teacher was able to see which pupils met their expectations and which ones were able to exceed them. During the plenary I found it interesting how some pupils who had a lazy attitude towards their work and picked the red card, had realised that they had actually achieved a higher learning outcome. These pupils showed links with self-actualisation and in doing so the teacher rewarded them with praise. When the teacher questioned these pupils they were able to internalise their learning and give reasons for why they had changed their minds. The teacher raised the aspirations of the pupils and they became active seekers of knowledge. One of my main concerns about teaching is managing behaviour. Behaviour can have detrimental effects on pupil’s learning. Whilst at university I learnt about different methods in which to manage behaviour and to create a positive relationship with pupils. My previous experience of working with pupils at a pupil referral unit had informed the view that building a positive relationship with pupils is one of the ways in which bad behaviour can be combatted. At university I came across the Behaviour for Learning Model (cited in Capel, 2009: p.147), which places an emphasis on the three types of relationships that pupils have. These are the relationship that they have with themselves, the relationships with others and the relationship with the curriculum. It is the role of the teacher to maintain the positive relationships. Capel (2009: p.148) states that ‘[behaviour for learning] requires that you place value on (and praise appropriately) pupil behaviour which enables and maximises learning’. This is relevant to B.F Skinner’s (1970) idea that behaviour modification is a key element for shaping behaviour (cited in Butcher and Manning, 2001). Skinner (1970) adapted the behaviourist approach to teaching and learning. He maintained that reinforcement is crucial to produce desired behaviour. Therefore good behaviour should be reinforced with rewards and negative behaviour with punishments. The links between Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning and the Behaviour for Learning Model are parallel and I have seen them put into practice within the classroom. Teachers use rewards and sanctions to manage behaviour on a daily basis. At my placement school detentions were given out when pupils disrupted their own or the learning of others. Whereas praise and commendations were given out for good behaviour or when pupils displayed behaviour that pleased the teacher. When I asked for advice from certain teachers they told me to always focus on the positives and give out praise were necessary, thus building a positive relationship with the pupils. Capel (2009: p.149) states that ‘a positive teacher-pupil relationship is a significant factor in encouraging attendance’. I am aware that there are many different factors that have an impact on pupil’s behaviour and whilst talking to one teacher I was made aware that some pupils do not receive any positive reinforcement at home. There are external barriers which effect pupil’s behaviour at school, such as family break downs, illness, poverty, hardship and caring responsibilities (Capel, 2009). Whilst in school I paid particular attention to class room management with a year 9 low ability class (see appendix 1). Although the class was of a small size they were very disruptive and noisy throughout. The strategies that the teacher used were to remain calm throughout the lesson and not to shout at the pupils. At the end of the lesson when I questioned her techniques she informed me that the best way to deal with this class is to build a good working relationship with them by using praise to reinforce good behavior, thus making links with the Behaviour for Learning Model and Skinner. I also learnt the importance of tactical ignoring, as a teacher I will not be able to pick on every misdemeanor. I also learnt that the best way to deal with individual pupils is to have a word with them quietly at the end of the lesson or take them out of the class. Not to embarrass pupils in front of their peers and therefore reinforcing a positive relationship. After speaking to the teacher I am now more confident with teaching this group. To create positive relationships I have started by learning their names and getting to know them by talking to them and asking for their opinions. I was given the opportunity to teach my year 7 form class PSCHE (see appendix 2) which gave me the opportunity to practice some of the new strategies that I had learnt from observing lessons. The feedback that I received from the class teacher outlined that I wasn’t assertive enough as at times I let pupils speak over me and it is important to make sure the class are completely silent before I speak. I think that I softened my voice tone, whilst, I was at school because during a university session when I was team teaching in the feedback that I received I was told that my tone of voice was quite forceful at times. I will now work on the feedback to develop an effective tone of voice that is assertive without being forceful. I was also able to exercise Skinner’s model of operant conditioning to reinforce desired behaviour. As part of the lesson pupils had to undertake some role play with in groups. This required them to move the tables and chairs within the classroom. Before asking them to do this task I informed the class that I would be looking out for pupils who are working together safely and that I would write down the names of pupils who worked well on the board. These pupils received commendations at the end of the lesson. I received a positive response to this and the pupils did undertake the task in a sensible manner as I had requested them to do. Williams (2008) states that: ‘when pupils display behaviours that we want, it should be followed by something pleasurable (a reward) so that the behaviour will be reinforced and repeated’ (p.14). I will be checking that the behaviour has been reinforced and repeated when I do the follow up lesson. A concern that I have with regards to giving out rewards is that pupils will have different ideas to what constitutes as a reward. Whilst pupils in year 7 and 8 will work show desirable behaviour to gain commendations I feel that this may not be an effective technique to use for older pupils. I will further investigate the ways in which to use rewards to motivate older pupils to behave in lessons. At university we are encouraged to work in different ways individually, in pairs and in groups. I began to see the importance of this and the effects it had on my learning. I also saw the benefits of working with people I hadn’t worked with before, mainly as I was able to develop my own ideas and I was able to strengthen my teamwork skills. Therefore I began to see the importance of implementing different ways of working within the classroom. I agree that group work ‘fully develops [pupils] understanding of an idea because they have tried to explain it to others or argue a point of view’ and it ‘develop a sense of empathy and to understand other views’ (DfES, 2004:p.1). This links in well with Vygotsky’s (1978) cited in Williams (2008) learning theory about working in groups as a means to develop interaction with people and the tools that this culture provides. He further explains that there are three ways a cultural tool can be passed from one individual to another. These are as follows firstly through imitative learning, where one person tries to imitate or copy another, imitating a teacher or peer. Secondly is instructive learning, which involves remembering the instructions of the teacher. Finally is collaborative learning, this is when groups of peer try to understand each other and work together to learn specific skills. I saw this in practice whilst I was observing a year 11 drama lesson (see appendix 3), the teacher introduced a game which the pupils then imitated with in their pairs this is the first part of Vygotsky’s process of learning. The teacher then asked the pupils to turn their game playing into a performance by incorporating aspects of the play that they had been studying. He did this by asking them to incorporate the persona of the characters from the play and using the dialect from the play. This links in with the instructive learning. The collaborative learning was evident when the teacher asked the pairs to get into groups to assess and develop each other’s performances. I felt that working from pairs to groups of four was an effective way of working especially with the nature of this activity. Furthermore, within this lesson I saw another use of effective constructivism. In particular when the teacher asked the pupils what the movement of the pair that had showed their role play had reminded them of. One pupil answered that it reminded him of the game chess. The teacher followed by asking if chess would be appropriate to the play. By doing this the teacher developed the ideas of the pupils and increased their understanding of physical theatre. After seeing this I will incorporate this method when I return to school and teach drama to the year 7s. Asking for their pupil’s opinions makes them feel included within their learning and that of their peers. It isn’t the teacher that is the only ‘knowledgeable’ other but pupils can learn off each other from their own experiences to enhance learning. After observing this lesson I was given the opportunity to teach a pre-planned lesson to my year 7 form class. The lesson involved team work and role play (see appendix 2). I tried to incorporate Vygotsky’s (1962) theory of group work, he states that ‘What a child can do today in cooperation, tomorrow he will be able to do on his own’ (p. 67); alongside this pupils were assigned roles within their groups. I felt that at the beginning the pupils didn’t really understand the point of these roles. However, after explaining the importance of it, it made sense to them. I felt that the groups of 6 were too large and I noticed that some pupils were passive in their groups. So I walked around and ensured that everybody had a role to play. The disadvantages of working within the groups the ones that I experienced are that some pupils are some pupils may lack skills to interact in a positive way with peers therefore they will not co-operate. I could resolve this issue next time by selecting pupils for groups instead of asking them to choose their own. I also felt that the group sizes of six was too large and that as Wright (2008: p.109) suggests ‘Four people is enough. Larger groups split or isolate individuals’. In the follow up to this lesson I will be asking pupils to reflect on their group work and to develop new strategies to work more effectively. The use of questioning helps to build on a pupil’s prior knowledge. This therefore makes the new learning effective and it is the teacher’s role as facilitator to progressively build on their knowledge. In comparison to the transmissive model which advocates passively feeding pupils with copious amounts of information that will be forgotten once exams are over. The theory of constructivism is much more effective than the transmissive model because I believe that the ‘child centered’ approach is effective within the learning environment. Central to Piaget’s (cited in Capel, 2009) constructivism is the concept of assimilation. ‘This is taking and adapting experiences or objects to existing strategies or concepts and accommodation, modifying and adjusting strategies or concepts as a result of new experiences or information’ (p.255). I realised that I have used this method in my past experiences whilst teaching prior to the course. However, now that I have explored the concept in depth I believe that the constructivism approach to learning is one of the most effective methods for teaching within the classroom. At university my subject tutor modelled a brilliant example of ways in which we can build on the prior knowledge of pupils. In this particular example he used teaching the Shakespeare play A Midsummer’s Nights Dream to a year 9 class. In his book he states that ‘You have to consider what the point of connection is between the pupils and the text’ (Wright, 2005: p.7). In this case the connection was family feuds and he asked us ‘What was the last argument in your house about'’ This method is effective as the pupils are able to relate to a text that may have been alien to them when they first saw it. I have also seen the use of questioning and building on prior knowledge being used effectively in a year 10 English lesson (see appendix 4). The handouts and aids that the teacher used to support learning were an effective method of building on prior knowledge of what the pupils knew about the novel. For example the handouts that she had given out had some sections already filled and some sections that needed to be completed. The pupils recalled their prior knowledge and filled in the sheets and they built upon this by filling in the other sections. By asking pupils to choose their own quotes the teacher gave them independence in their learning. The pupils build on their understanding on the emotions of the character and this deepened their understanding. This links with Bruner’s (1983) ideas about knowledge being gained effectively through personal discovery. The cutting and sticking activity was a good form of keeping pupils engaged with the task. Alongside this by modelling what the graph might look like with her example, she gave the pupils confidence with their own work. Bruner calls this process ‘scaffolding’ and maintains that ‘the teacher’s job is to guide […] discovery through structured support, e.g. by asking focused questions or providing appropriate materials’ (Bruner, 1983, cited in Capel, 2009: p.258). I used this method of teaching when I taught a lesson to the year 7s (see appendix 2). At the beginning of the lesson I asked the pupils when they have worked in a team in the past. This was followed by asking them what makes an effective team. I then told them to use these qualities when they were in their own teams. I feel as though if I had not have asked them these questions, some of them might have not have worked as effectively. Due to not knowing what was expected of them. Overall writing this assignment has been beneficial as it has helped me see how the theory of teaching is linked with practice. It has also made me critically analyse and evaluate my learning experiences and construct targets for future endeavours. But most of all this assignment has made me realise the importance of taking a ‘child centred’ stance to learning, this is something that I will need to keep in mind whilst planning lessons. Although the theories that I have included have been around for a long time they are still relevant to teaching and learning practices today. By making the links between theory and practice I have been able to develop strategies to manage behaviour, to motivate and to plan effective lessons. Word Count: 3000 Bibliography Butcher, K.T. and Manning, L.M. (2001) Exploring the Foundations of Middle School Classroom Management, Childhood Education, 78:2, 84-90. Burton, D. (2009) Ways Pupils learn. In: Capel, S., Leask, M. and Turner, T. Learning to teach in the secondary school. 5th edn., London and New York, Routledge. Capel, S. and Gervis, M. (2009) Motivating Pupils. In: Capel, S., Leask, M. and Turner, T. Learning to teach in the secondary school. 5th edn., London and New York, Routledge. DfES. (2004) Pedagogy and Practice: Teaching and Learning in Secondary Schools. Unit 10: Group Work. London:DfES. Garner, P. (2009) Behaviour for Learning. In: : Capel, S., Leask, M. and Turner, T. Learning to teach in the secondary school. 5th edn., London and New York, Routledge. Gershon, M. (2012) The Classics are hard to beat. Times Educational Supplement Pro, 19th October 2012. Maslow, A. H. (1970) Motivation and Personality. 2nd edn., New York: Harper and Row. Vygotsky, L.S (1962) Thought and Language. Cambridge, MA: MIT press. Williams, J. (2008) Great Minds, Times Educational Supplement. Wright, T. (2005) How to Be a Brilliant English Teacher. Routledge. Wright, T. (2008) How to Be a Brilliant Trainee Teacher. Routledge.