First quarter reflection

So today is the last day of my first quarter as a PGCE student. This term has taught me so much about teaching and learning, psychology, diversity, philosophy and even what a curriculum is.

Without saying it to loud I would regard this term more valuable than my 3 years of BSc in terms of what I have learnt about people and sociology, and how through just knowing more about others around us and understanding where they come from we can interact with others. I would not say my years of undergrad were a waste of time because I really do enjoy sciences but I feel that there has to be more to life.

I have not planned my whole life around becoming a teacher  but I  think I can confidently say that this is what I see myself in (forever). The idea that a teacher can have such a great influence in a childs life means that we often underestimate what power we actually have.

I am looking forward to next term and learning more about this sought-after profession! But first, a short break :)

Involving Learners in the Classroom?

This blog will be dealing with the meaningful involvement of learners in your classroom. By just looking at this sentence in bold many ideas should jump to mind. Taking the word “classroom” for example could lure both negative and positive thoughts. When I hear the word classroom I think of a freezing room in the winter months and a boiling hot in the summer (I went to school in the Free State). I do not have a very good connotation with the word. Thinking about it makes me think of times when i had so much fear instilled by a teacher, or when i wrote terrible tests or even when I sat there without an idea why I am actually there. I do not recall anything positive about ever being in a classroom at school.

This is something which I would want to change when I enter the teaching profession in 2017. A classroom should be a place where learners want to go to. They should be excited to go to any classroom and to go to school.  They should not be scared of going because they are afraid of saying or doing something wrong.

Going to school can really be a tedious process at times. Learners do not want to necessarily be there – but obviously they have to be there. It is our job as teachers to make them as excited as possible for going to school and entering YOUR classroom. All people want to have a sense of belonging. Everyone wants to feel that they are important and their opinions and voices are heard. It is therefore really important to involve the children in the classroom.

There are various ways in which I will try to involve the learners in my class. I have recently of the idea about asking the learners what they want the classroom rules to be and then using that I can make a poster with the rules on and paste it on the wall. They can help you paint pictures on the walls. They can make posters about their personal life and put that up. In this way learners will really feel part of the classroom.

I firmly believe that the way you treat learners are the way that they will treat you. What you give is what you get. Respect for the learners in your classroom is one of the most important qualities that you will ever need. They will feel this respect even by you as the teacher not saying a single word, but rather through your actions. In an article written by Abby Wills she tries to create a controlled classroom environment and manages to do this by simply putting bowls of water on the tables and asking the learners not to mess water on the water. They then respond by quietly moving the tables and chairs around. She also does not use a loud tone of voice which automatically results in the learners being quieter.

Teachers need to realise they do not know everything and that there is a lot that one can learn from school children. Another way to involve learners is to ask them how they would like a lesson to be prepared. Instead of the conventional way of the teacher standing in front and conforming to one way teaching.

Involving learners in your classroom goes beyond just the content and curriculum. One needs to know about their personal life – show an interest in what they do, where they come from and what they enjoy. know about their best way of learning. Know which part of the work they have a passion for. Take all this information and work with it. If you are not involving learners in a meaningful way in your classroom you might as well just be speaking to the walls. 

My opinion on technology-mediated self-directed distance

I, and I’m sure most of us, are used to the conventional way of learning…that is going to school for 12 years and listening to what the teacher has to say. I do not remember instances where we could teach ourselves anything in class. The mind-set that we had was to keep quiet and pay attention to the teacher. Actually being a sponge where I just had to absorb knowledge.

Technology was not allowed in our school – cell phones were unacceptable and our computer labs blocked various social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

My experience with teachers are that they believe everything they do is right and are generally not open for any change. But as the saying goes: “change is good, but not too much’ I do not particularly like change either but for our education system and country to find itself in a better position – change is necessary. Throwing the word pedagogy around without actually enforcing it will not result in any change!

Information and Communication Technology (ITC) is a very important aspect of teaching and essentially digital pedagogy. However these ITC standards are limited and are therefore limiting. Making use of ITC will create numerous possibilities across the country and the world for people to have the opportunity of an education. Technology in the classroom is thus very important! We are all so conformed to not letting our opinion or voice be heard that we accept the silence we find ourselves in – both teachers and students.

We need to realize that teaching does not have to take place in a classroom and via one-way communication (original teaching style). So much knowledge can be acquired by doing research and allowing for communication between people.

We are all part of the global digital community. This is evident in today’s life as very few people aren’t using some form of digital technology. When I refer to ‘we’ I mean the majority of academics, teachers and learners. A challenge however is computer as well as internet access is problematic – especially in South Africa. People making use of ITC also have to be computer literate and have basic understanding of technology.

I feel that distance learning a something that should be considered more and if would make one’s life a little easier if you don’t have to drive on the R44 to Stellenbosch every-single-morning. The amount of time one can save with distance learning will make it worthwhile.

Technology is an absolutely wonderful resource to have and together with the internet you can do anything. Often I learn best by teaching myself something and therefore I think that technology-mediated self-directed distance learning is definitely something that should prevail more in the future.