Study

EDC1400 Foundations of curriculum and pedagogy Faculty of Education

Study book

Published by University of Southern Queensland Toowoomba Queensland 4350 Australia http://www.usq.edu.au © University of Southern Queensland, 2011.2.

Copyrighted materials reproduced herein are used under the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968 Act 1968 as amended, or as a result of application to the copyright owner. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission. Produced by Learning Resources Development and Support using the ICE Publishing System.

Published by University of Southern Queensland Toowoomba Queensland 4350 Australia http://www.usq.edu.au © University of Southern Queensland, 2011.2.

Copyrighted materials reproduced herein are used under the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968 Act 1968 as amended, or as a result of application to the copyright owner. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission. Produced by Learning Resources Development and Support using the ICE Publishing System.

Table of contents Page

Module 1 – Teaching, curriculum, planning and reflecting Course overview Your learning outcomes Text, selected, sector specific and optional readings Readings Module 1 Text readings Selected readings

Introduction 1.1 Becoming a teacher Actions Intentions Beliefs What does being a teacher really mean in the 21st Century? How will you know what to teach? Novice to expert Science and art of teaching The teacher press Characteristics of effective teachers The importance of pedagogical principles in reflecting

1 1 2 2 3 3 3

4 5 7 8 8 8 8 10 12 14 15 21

Summary: Becoming a teacher 1.2 Curriculum considerations

23 23

Outcomes-based education

25

Summary 1.3 Planning for learning Why do we plan? Planning is largely a mental and verbal activity Planning requires reconciling different priorities and goals Planning requires critical reflection Planning requires risk taking Lesson planning formats

Objectives, taxonomies and prior knowledge Objectives Key points related to objectives, taxonomies and prior knowledge

39 40 41 41 42 42 42 43

43 44 52

1.4 Reflecting on practice

53

A focus on reflection

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Summary: Module 1 Recommended references Other general reference sources Recommended references about reflection References

Module Module 2 – Question Questioning, ing, teaching teaching strateg strategies, ies, differe differentiat ntiation ion and assessmen assessmentt Learning outcomes Readings Module 2 Text readings Selected readings

Introduction 2.1 How can I ask better questions?

63 65 65 69 69

73 73 73 73 73

74 74

Purposes of questions – Why do we ask questions? Delivering those questions Framing those questions Question types Directing those questions Wait time after questions and answers Handling student answers

2.2 What sort of teaching strategies should I use? Strategies should be chosen to enhance principles of practice Considerations to keep in mind when selecting a strategy What teaching strategies promote learning? Three specific teaching strategies More sector specific approaches

References 2.3 How can I best meet the needs of individual learners? Differentiating content, process and product

2.4 How do I know that my learners have learned what I thought I taught? Purposes of assessment Principles of assessment Principles, processes and products Authentic assessment as a process Rubrics – A product to use to assess a product or outcome GRASPS Common assessment errors

Summary of Module 2 Recommended references

75 76 76 77 78 80 82

91 91 93 96 100 103

105 106 107

108 111 113 115 116 117 122 125

127 128

EDC1400 – Foundations of curriculum and pedagogy

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Module 1 – Teaching, curriculum, planning and reflecting Curriculum is the sum total of planned and guided learning experiences with which students engage. However, no matter what the content and experiences are, engagement will be minimal unless teacher pedagogy drives the curriculum forward.

Course overview To become a successful and effective teacher we need to understand the curriculum documents relevant to our context and how best to engage and challenge our learners. We must find a balance between the science and art of teaching. In this first module we will cover a little art and a lot of science! Module 2 will concentrate more on the art and a little on the science. The first module is structured around the exploration of four main concepts: ●

Becoming a teacher

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Curriculum considerations

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Planning for learning

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Reflecting on practice

The second module is structured around answering four key questions: ●

How can I ask better questions?

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What sort of teaching strategies should I use?

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How can I best meet the needs of individual learners?

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How do I know that my learners have learned what I thought I taught?

Note – Essential questions Throughout you will find Essential questions. These are designed to encourage you to reflect. Please don’t be tempted to skip over these as they will assist you when you come to Assignment 2.

© University of Southern Queensland

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Beginning teachers want to know “How do I do this? What do I need to be able to do so that I can “survive” in this new role as a teacher?” However, learning to teach is far more than a tool kit of strategies and rules. Ultimately it is about knowing what it is that guides your decisions – your beliefs and intents that govern your choices amongst a myriad of planning options, teaching strategies, resources, modes of assessment etc. These will become principles of pedagogical practice that will govern how you teach for many years to come.

Your learning outcomes On successful completion of this course, you should be able to: ●

know what is meant by the art and science of teaching

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articulate your ideal principles of teaching practice

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plan short term teaching episodes

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apply a framework for effective teaching as a guideline for your own practice

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develop effective learning and assessment experiences from appropriate curriculum frameworks.

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understand the importance of becoming a reflective practitioner.

Text, selected, sector specific and optional readings Throughout EDC1400 you will find reference to text readings (taken from either the Frangenheim or Churchill texts); selected readings (which all students should read); sector specific readings (which students read according to their sector specialty area); and optional readings (which you can access for extra information when requiring additional references for assignment work or further insights into a topic). Text readings and selected readings are placed up front as students may wish to read these whenever there is spare time as they are more general in nature. Sector and optional readings will appear as need be throughout the course. Text readings: Churchill et al (2011) All of chapters 5, 6, 7, 8,11 & 13 as well as sections from chapters 1, 9, 12, 13 & 14 will form the basis of readings for EDC1400. This text will also be used in other courses throughout your studies. Different selected readings, sector specific readings and optional readings will be included as per the module component being studied.



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Readings Module 1 Read according to when mentioned in each module or the study schedule.

Text readings Churchill et al. (2011). Chapters 1, 6 & 7 and part of Chapter 14 Frangenheim (2006). pp. 52–53 & 124

Selected readings Anderson, T. (2001). The hidden curriculum in distance education. Change, Nov/Dec, 33(6), 29–35.(Available on DiReCt ) Pratt, D.D. (1998). Alternative frames of understanding: Introduction to five perspectives, pp. 33–53. (Available on DiReCt) Brookfield, S.D. (1990). Developing a personal vision of teaching, pp. 15–28. (Available on DiReCt) Brady, L., & Kennedy, K. (2010). Curriculum construction, Chapter 1. (Available DiReCt). Fetherston, T. (2007). The whole lesson, pp. 257–281. (Available on DiReCt). Lake, K. Integrated curriculum. Please click on this website. Kathy Lake proves an excellent definition and examples. Accessed 30 November 2010. http://educationnorthwest.org/webfm_send/528 The Delors Report http://www.unesco.org/delors/ The Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/National_Declaration_on_the_Educational_ Goals_for_Young_Australians.pdf The Australian National Curriculum http://www.acara.edu.au/default.asp The Queensland Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting (QCAR) Framework http://education.qld.gov.au/qcar/ The 10 Essential Skills for Classroom Management http://beginningtoteach.qct.edu.au/Teachingandlearning/ClassroomManagement.html


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Introduction ●

How would you like to be able to describe yourself as a teacher?

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If you were asked to define your pedagogical beliefs, where would you begin?

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How would you explain what pedagogy is and why it is important to your future practice? What sort of teacher do you wish to be?

Would the mantra of learner-centeredness, self-direction, responsibility, critical reflection, fun, accountability, authentic assessment, life-long learning, benchmarks and co-operative learning be heard? Just what do those terms mean? Just what does it mean to be a teacher in 2011? What will it mean to be a teacher in 2015 or 2020? What is the role of our own educational and social histories in making us the teachers we will become? In the first section of this module the content, readings and activities will explore how we construct our attitudes, beliefs and values associated with teaching and learning: our pedagogy. Critics of education delight in pointing out that despite the pressures to change, the classroom and the teachers have remained the same since the early 1900s – they claim we are stuck in a time warp! Let’s begin with a short description of a school environment and OK chalk is a thing of the past for some of us but as you read consider what is the pedagogy behind the dust and what has kept it in place. Stirring the Chalkdust

Two students, with their parents, walked down the hall of their high school to register for the first day of school. The feeling in the school was familiar. For the parents, the school seemed much the same as it had when they attended – new paint; old smells. The students were excited! The school seemed bigger than the one they had previously attended, more adult, sophisticated, but not so different that they felt entirely intimidated. It was a bright, well-lighted place with a good deal of activity around the main office. The time was late summer so, after locating their schedules, students and parents all headed off to the first period classroom just to see what it might be like. They knew no one would be around, but wanted to anticipate what it would be like when school started in a few weeks. The hall was eerily quiet – only the hum of lawn mowers in the distance. On the top of each closed door, they looked for the classroom number: 9D, 9C, 9B, 9A. There it was, finally, at the end of the hall. No lights were on. As they walked in, their eyes adjusted, then widened as they stopped cold. The shades were pulled down as if for a movie or film strip; the room was infused with a kind of dustladen gloom that seeped and poured in through the cracks and rips in the shades. A teacher was poised in the front of the room. She stood just in front of the chalkboard on which a number of directions had been written: Homework for today: Read Chapter 12. Answer the questions at the end of the review and be prepared to discuss. End of unit exam: Friday the 17th. Bring $ for field trip on the 29th.



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The board was striped, swiped, smeared in chalkdust, and t he writing was thick, layered on top. The chalk tray was full, too. The teacher leaned forward, poised to speak and yet she did not move when the students and their parents came in. Instead, she appeared to be frozen in place – chalk between fingers of the right hand, mouth open as if just about to utter the most interesting tidbit about the material in chapter 12. Her age was inestimable – older, but not old – from an indeterminate time: the thirties?, the eighties?, the sixties? She stared out across the 30 empty desks, all neatly pressed into rows. She stared at the bookshelves in which were stacked several large sets of texts, some brighter, some more faded. She stared and she stared and she stared, never moving. She seemed to see nothing at all, or a full house – all the students she’d ever taught. And she was shrouded in chalk dust, dusted in it, webbed over in it. Like Dickens’s Miss Havisham, she seemed preserved in the dust of a time gone by, frozen in an action that serves fewer purposes in changing times. (Wasley, 1994, p. 4)

Check out Chapter 14 in your text. You will find many of the same words and references in this module are embedded in this chapter as Michelle McGill the original author of this course has also contributed to the writing of your text.

Reflection: Essential questions What contributes to us becoming the teachers that we become? Why did you decide to become a teacher?

1.1 Becoming a teacher Reading activity Text reading: Churchill et al. (2011). Chapter 1.

When we enter the teaching profession we bring with us long-held and firmly rooted beliefs about what a teacher does, how classrooms and schools should operate and how teachers and learners should behave. As learners in classrooms during our own time as students at school, we perceived the classroom management and the custodial moments e.g. the ability to enforce rules, impart textbook knowledge, grade papers and manage classroom discipline. But the pedagogy was hidden. Those sepia-toned “school photographs” of inappropriate images and inadequate expectations can become frozen in a time and context unreal to the present reality and complexity of present day schools, classrooms and day-to-day teaching. Learning to teach is a tacit cultural process begun in school, continued in teacher education and in the schools themselves. The long apprenticeship of observation of teaching (Lortie, 1975) means it is easier to develop and sustain routines of habit which are comforting for both teachers and parents. There are multiple discourses to be learned, some of which are institutionally and culturally sanctioned and dominant. Teaching is a conservative occupation


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and new teachers quickly become socialised into the school culture especially as that is what the system rewards. Often conditions in the press of the classroom militate against reflection beyond the technical level, that is teaching techniques and classroom management and a means-end thinking dominates at class, school, state and national levels. At times it is risky for beginning, and experienced teachers, to raise questions about the curriculum, pedagogy, educational purposes and social and institutional contexts. Carson (1995, p. 151) states that “… teaching is always an uncertain enterprise in which teachers are called upon to respond pedagogically to unanticipated events”. However, becoming a proficient craftsperson has an inherent danger: is easy to stop growing. Learning, and continuing to learn (Barth 2001) from experience is essential, but the disposition and attitudes necessary to replace unsubstantiated opinions with theoretical, moral, ethical and empirical principles based on grounded belief (Dewey, 1933; La Boskey, 1994) need to be continually developed and reinforced as teachers grow into the life and profession of being a teacher. Before we begin to read others’ ideas, let’s begin with ourselves. Why do you want to become a teacher? Is it because you like children? Do you enjoy learning? Were you good at the school “game”? Think of teachers in your life – how did they influence your choice? How did your family influence your choice? How did your passion for some subjects influence your choice? Is it because you don’t know what else to do? Is this a good enough reason to join the most important profession of them all? Our reasons are often in what Brookfield (1995, p. 49) describes as:

… a complex web of formative memories and experiences. We remember teachers we have loved and hated, and we imitate those we admire. We call on values concerning our obligations to others and to the wider society that we have learned earlier in our lives. We may espouse philosophies of teaching that we have learned in formal study, but the most significant and most deeply embedded influences that operate on us are the images, models, and conceptions of teaching derived from our own experiences as learners. The term “pedagogy” has been used and is becoming one of those “in” words which is fashionable to use when discussing education, but what does it mean? It is actually a very old word and has never gone out of vogue in Europe!

My Macquarie dictionary (1991) defines pedagogy as “1. the function, work, or art of a teacher; teaching. 2. instruction”; and The Concise Oxford dictionary (1976) as “the science of teaching”. The shift in definitions is interesting – the more recent definition includes art. In the past pedagogy was how one taught, the techniques and what one did, but now we understand it to mean far more – the whole process of being a teacher which includes who we are, what we do, why we do it and how we know we have done it well for our learners. Often pedagogy is associated with only teaching, yet this limits what we can be. Leech and Moon (2008, pp. 28–29) assert that pedagogy:

acknowledges teachers as intellectuals, requires teachers to be researchers of their own practice and is a complex interplay between theory and practice.



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Our teaching has been described as “…the most privatised of all the public professions” (Palmer, 1999, p. 142).

Though we teach in front of students, we almost always teach solo, out of collegial sight – as contrasted with surgeons or trial lawyers, who work in the presence of others who know their craft well. Lawyers argue cases in front of other lawyers, where gaps in their skill and knowledge are clear for all to see. Surgeons operate under the gaze of specialists who notice if the hand trembles, making malpractice less likely. But teachers lose sponges or amputate the wrong limb with no witnesses except the victims. So what makes a good teacher? Many books have been written on how to teach and lists produced of the characteristics of great teachers. Think back to those who influenced you positively and even negatively. How much of what you beli eve makes a good teacher was formed in what Lortie (1975) described as the “apprenticeship of observation” done through your own school years? What role do our purposes and values/intents and beliefs have in defining who we are or are to become as teachers? Let’s explore these in a little more detail. The following questions are from Five perspectives on teaching in adult and higher education by Dan Pratt et al. (1998, pp. 17–21) which is the first reading for this module (see DiReCt).

Reading activity Selected reading: Pratt (1992). Alternative frames of understanding, pp. 33–53. (Available on DiReCt)

Within this course many of you will be going into learning places for your first practical experience of teaching. This is an exciting and sometimes an intimidating time. It is really important that right from the beginning you develop an attitude of critical reflection. This means you question the materials that you read and the actions you see, your responses to these and ascertain the reasons behind your responses. What are your fundamental actions, intentions and beliefs? What are the values and principles that underpin these? What does it really mean to be a teacher? I know that in EDC1300 you explore just such philosophical musings and in EDC1400 we take these into the world of practice.

Actions Reflect by asking yourself the following questions. ●

How do you think an instructional/teaching session should be commenced?

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Should there be a routine for ending a session? Why? What could such a routine look like, feel like or sound like?

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What do you think your strengths may be as a t eacher?

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What might be your weaknesses?

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What kinds of activities do you think should be seen in classrooms?

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What do you want to learn in order to be confident in front of a class?


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Intentions ●

What are you trying to accomplish by becoming a t eacher?

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Do you have an agenda or mission that guides you?

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What do you see as being the overall purpose of this course?

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What is your role and responsibility in this process?

Beliefs ●

What does it mean to learn?

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How have you changed, as a learner, over the years?

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How does your knowledge of being a learner contribute to your ability to learn how to teach?

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How will you know when someone has truly l earned what you are teaching?

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What metaphor or motto guides you in your desire to teach?

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Do you have a particular conviction or set of beliefs that are important to you?

What does being a teacher really mean in the 21st Century? ●

How would you define the roles and responsibilities of a teacher? Have these changed with time?

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What do you see as being your primary role and responsibility when you become a teacher?

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If someone were to evaluate your teaching (which at a later date they will be), what would they expect to see you doing?

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How will they know if you are doing that?

How will you know what to teach? ●

How will you decide what to teach and what should be learned?

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Other than set curriculum content, what do you want people to learn?

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Is there an order or structure to content that is important when learning or when teaching?

And the BIG question: ●

Do you know yourself well enough to be able to clearly identify the inner drives that will influence you as a teacher?



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In tutorial sessions we will provide you with some insight into what makes you tick – insights into your inner you. Pratt’s Teaching Perspectives gives us one i nsight, memories of a teacher that mattered to you are another insight and Myers Briggs Typology provides yet another insight. Now take the time to complete the online version of the Myers Briggs (Jung) Typology test http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp. This is in no way an entirely accurate picture as the full Myers-Briggs Inventory is an extensive document needing t ime and the services of an experienced facilitator to fully interpret the complexities of the test results. However it is accurate for the majority of people who undertake it and regardless of accuracy gives interesting insights into the variety of personality types that you will encounter and work with in the years to come Pratt’s Teaching Perspectives Inventory is more suited to sometime in the future when you have done more teaching but is also useful to add to our thinking mix at this point – http://www.teachingperspectives.com.

Reading activity Sector specific readings VET ●

Teacher identity in VET. http://www.vta.vic.edu.au/docs/VPN/09_W1_TEACHERIDENTITY_TEA CHERTRAINING_AUSTVET.pdf

Early Childhood ●

Kennedy, A., & Surman, L. (2006). The pedagogy of relationships. In Early childhood learning communities: Sociocultural research in practice. Frenchs Forest: Pearson Education, pp. 44–56. (Available on DiReCt)

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Rinaldi, C. (2005). Early childhood education in Reggio Emilia : dialoguing listening and researching. (pp. 46–56). Retrieved from http://www.usq.eblib.com.au.ezproxy.usq.edu.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx? p=199505.

Reflection: Essential questions Is one typology better than another? What are my personal strengths? How could these contribute to my teaching practice? What personal attributes could be construed as weaknesses and how could these affect my teaching practice? What do the range of typologies tell us about those with whom we will teach and the students who we will teach?


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Reading activity Selected reading: Brookfield (1990). Developing a personal vision of teaching, pp. 15–28. (Available on DiReCt)

Novice to expert The Novice-to-Expert model of professional development initial ly developed by Dreyfus and Dreyfus (1986), and applied by Benner (1984) to nursing and Berliner (2004) to teaching is a valuable framework to consider the growth of a teacher’s knowing and application of that knowing within a practical teaching context. According to Berliner’s model, expertise (content and context specific) develops when propositions, hypotheses and principles are tested and refined over a period of deliberate practice time. A teacher’s preconceived ideas, notions and expectations are challenged, refined, or disconfirmed by actual experience. The stages are: Novice, Advanced Beginner, Competence, Proficient and Expert. The Novice practitioners are characterised by context-free rule governed behaviour who can be quickly thrown off balance by the “unexpected” as their understanding of the “rules” is limited and inflexible. Planning is didactic, focussing on the anticipation and sequencing of teaching actions in advance, a diachronic use of time. Success is judged by how well the rules are adhered to and the plan executed, but with little sense of responsibility for that action. Advanced Beginners, the second stage, continue to run on rules with mastery of content and pedagogy still in the forming stage. However, wit h a small pool of experience the “young” teacher begins to recognise variations in aspects of a situation which may lead to trying new ways of dealing with the “problem” or “perplexity”. The third stage, Competence, is usually reached after 3–5 years of experience (Berliner, 2004). Conscious, deliberate planning is still characteristic, but with a sense of increased levels of efficiency; a sense of responsibility and emotional involvement for the actions taken, that is success or failure are experienced at a very personal level, and there is an ability to identify what is important in a specific context. Eraut (1994, p. 125) describes Competence as, “...the climax of rul e-guided learning and discovering how to cope in crowded, pressurized contexts”. The competent teacher still must rely on conscious, deliberate, analytic problem solving. Those who remain at this stage become efficient technicians who operate within fixed and uncritically assimilated frameworks of knowledge. They learn to become good disciples within a framework of narrow expectations and goals and unchallenged assumptions, to operate successfully within the “system”. The first three stages are rule governed whereas the last two, Proficient and Expert, entail “vision”, an ability to operate in a synchronic time of immediacy, the idiosyncrasies of the “here and now”, and to have a willingness to question expectations, goals and assumptions. These teachers are able to process and understand the events by drawing on their subject matter proficiency, to tap into their abstract knowledge structures built through experience of a range of “cases” and relationships with learners over time. These teachers can improvise (Yinger, 1990).



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Improvisation is demonstration of a skilled performance especially sensitive to the moment and place, for example when musicians “jam” (Yinger, 1990, p. 85). The seemingly effortless “riffs” are the consequence of highly patterned, intelligently composed patterns created on the spot to meet the changing exigencies and purposes of that specific context. Those holistic patterns are built from past experience, knowledge of the discipline becoming “embodied” thought and action blending the expected and the unexpected. There is a “conversation” between “players”, instruments and the audience. The proficient practitioner is able to perceive situations as wholes rather than in terms of specifics with little dependence on the “rules”. They quickly recognise the salient points of a situation and are intuitive organisers, but still reflect analytically, that is, identifying a problem, proposing a series of possible options, weighing the pros and cons of each, choosing the most appropriate response for the context and finally acting. The consequences of this action may become the basis for further “perplexities” which are then processed in the same analytical manner. Teachers at the final stage, Expert, perceive the situation as a whole whilst at the same time recognising meaningful patterns faster than those who are novices. However, this expertise is context, content and time dependent (Berliner, 2004). Past concrete experiences are used as paradigms allowing them to focus on the accurate region of the problem without considering large numbers of irrelevant options. However, it is important to keep in mind that experience does not automatically equate to expertise. Expert teachers can recognise the subtle shifts and changes in the context and the “players”; pick problems before they occur, that is display Kounin’s (1970) “withitness”; and, display an appropriate flexibility and opportunism not characteristic of Novices and Advanced Beginners. They are able to go with what “feels” right based on hundreds and thousands of hours of extensive and deliberate practice. Their behaviour is characterised by speed of action, forward directedness and accuracy. However, if time is constrained and outcomes are critical they will deliberate before acting, but the reflection is on their intuition rather than the action itself. They demonstrate an “intelligence of practice” whereby they make in-flight decisions to “effortlessly” fit the tool and method to the specific needs of people and place. Teachers at this stage are able to shift easily from a didactic to a pedagogic approach in a fluid wave-like motion to meet the constantly changing context, academic and affective needs of learners. They use their “tacit knowledge” to make what appears to be instantaneous decisions. The Novice-Expert model of teacher development is not permanently fixed (Berliner, 2004). The educational context, subject matter proficiency, experience in methodologies and personal characteristics of the teacher will influence progress. If a new methodology is introduced, many “expert” teachers find themselves experiencing characteristics more akin to those of the novice and advanced beginner. Likewise if the context changes radically, for example having taught successfully in Grade 6 does not automatically ensure immediate success in teaching Grade 1, or having been an “expert” in face-to-face classes does not guarantee “success” in a new context. LaBoskey (1994) has suggested that personal characteristics, in particular a personal propensity for inquiry, would lead t o the division of Novice into Common-sense Learners and Alert Novices. Both begin with the self orientation characteristic of Novices which moves from self and subject matter alone to what children need explained. They share an inquiry orientation; Common-sense Learners ask questions, with a “How to?” or “What works?” focus, whereas Alert Novices ask “Why?”.


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Common-sense learners believe that their long apprenticeship as learners in schools has equipped them to teach. All that is needed is the experience gained through trial and error in practice to refine those “knowings”. What is needed is “Tips for teachers” to solve immediate short term problems of transmission. Ironically they are unaware of what they need to learn until they begin to practice and appear to be content with broad generalisations, certain conclusions and a willingness to accept the existing structures as givens. In contrast Alert Novices tend to function more frequently at the analysis, synthesis and evaluation levels of Bloom’s cognitive taxonomy (1956) by following the processes of problem definition, evidence gathering, deliberation and evaluation of possible options and implications for action all into a well-grounded conclusion or solution. Dewey (1933, p. 9) described this grounded conclusion as the:

Active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusions to which it tends constitutes reflective thought. This predisposition to inquiry results in the final stage: the pedagogical practitioner. The characteristics shown at this level are a student orientation with a long term growth view to the means and ends of actions and decisions; the acknowledgment needed for conclusions to be tentative, need for feedback and triangulation; strategic and imaginative teaching grounded in knowledge of oneself, learners and subject matter; an ability to differentiate and honour the different roles teachers play in learning and teaching as a moral activity. In addition there is a propensity or disposition, to value open exploration and continual growth; a passionate belief about the teaching and learning process. The motivation to act in this manner comes from an ability to read and meld the internal metacognitive motivations with the external effects of context, purpose, structural features of the task and especially its timing and location. The pedagogical practitioner has both the ability and propensity to be reflective or as van Manen (1991) describes it “tactful”.

Science and art of teaching The trick is to find the balance between the science and art. As a novice teacher the science often dominates your focus. What do I have t o know and do? As you progress to competent and even Proficient and Expert the concerns are more for the art. So what do we think of as some of the science? This mnemonic may assist – TEMPO (Hosford, 1984, p. 143). T = Time on task . We learn to read by reading, write by writing, skip by skipping. If our learners’ minds are occupied elsewhere, then the chances of the learning are diminished. One of the key authors in this area has been Barak Rosenshine. E = Expectations – if you have high expectations and communicate these clearly, most learners will strive to achieve these expectations and conversely if you expect students to fail that is what happens. This is sometimes known as the Pygmalion Effect or Selffulfilling Prophecy. Think of the story of My Fair Lady – even a flower seller can become a lady if she is treated well! Keep in mind expectations work both ways – yours of learners and learners of you!

If you want to know more about this key concept i n teaching and learning check out the original text Pygmalion in the classroom by Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jackson (1968) or some of the great articles in 2004 Educational Leadership, 62(3) available via EBSCOHOST.



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M = Monitoring – this refers to you responding to learners with constructive, positive feedback and checking their understanding through questioning, observing and even assessment! But it also refers to you monitoring yourself – this is where reflection can be relevant. How do I know my learners have learned? What am I doing that assists or possibly interferes with their learning? P = Problems posed – we will spend a lot more time on this concept when we look at using Bloom’s Taxonomy in the next topic. However, it is part of expectations. If we have low expectations, we tend to pose questions and tasks which are “No brainers” and what do we get? Low level responses with little engagement or on task activity. You will hear that learning needs to focus on the building lifelong learning, thinking skills and being able to use HOTS (Higher Order Thinking Skills). A great researcher is David Perkins especially his book Smart schools. Better thinking and learning for every child . If you do an EBSCOHOST search you will find he has published a great deal on promoting thinking classrooms. O = Organisation – refers to your planning of the room – how will you organise your class – rows, groups? What resources will you need and where will you put them? How will you use your time and avoid losing time? Do you need to bring experti se from elsewhere? If you take the learners on an excursion or visit, what permission is needed? The list is endless. One of the characteristics of effective teachers is that they are organised and have thought about what is needed ahead of time. And this includes planning

If we have a major focus on Science, then we cover the curriculum, the class is “managed” and we feel we have done our “job”. However, these learning contexts can become soulless without the art of application. Central to the art of teaching is the building of relationships and trust, establishing your own authenticity and credibility as a teacher and the artful designing of learning experiences that meet the needs of individual learners. However, too much Art and there is the “danger” that the curriculum content won’t be covered. Hence the need for balance. Depending on your perspective and the Key Learning Area (KLA) that you are focusing on, you may emphasise more Science than Art or vice versa and keep in mind the overwhelming influence of the context in which you teach and your learners learn. And within this context sometimes you have to find compromises between what you want to achieve and what can be achieved.


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The teacher press

Carson has described teaching as living “...in the flux of newness of the world and in the play of competence and vulnerability” (1995, p. 160). This “play” has been described in a less flattering but more realistic phrase as the “classroom press” (Huberman 1983) which has four characteristics: 1. The press for immediacy and concreteness. Teachers experience as many as 200 000 interchanges a year. Most of these are spontaneous and requiring action, often immediate. 2. The press for multidimensionality and simultaneity. In teaching folklore it is often said that teachers need to be able to “see out of the backs of their heads”! One is required to work with individuals whilst still monitoring others and being able to predict where the next individual and group “need” will be. In other words to apply Kounin’s (1970) skills of “withitness”. At the same time one has to know when to move forward within the “content” of the lesson and when to step back or to go on hold while another need is met. 3. The press for adapting to everchanging conditions or unpredictability. What worked brilliantly with one group last year may not with the current group of learners. Learners (and teachers) may don new “affective clothes” each day. Teachers are required to cope with this unpredictability and to seize those brief “windows”, those pedagogical moments (van Manen, 1991) when a learner’s mind is “open” and receptive. 4. The press for personal involvement. Learners need to believe that they are truly “seen” (van Manen, 1991) and valued as people in their own right. Teachers need to develop and maintain personal relationships with learners, what van Manen (1991) defines as “tact”. The consequences of the “press” for teachers are that they can end up focusing on the day-today effects, that is, retain a short term perspective; live on the surface of the classroom, become exhausted and their opportunities for sustained reflection are limited and have to make compromises. In order to survive and manage the complexity of life in a crowded classroom, teachers need to develop routi nes, automaticity and ways of knowing. Knowing (at a simplistic level) can be divided into three components: ●

a system of thought, that is knowing one’s discipl ine, one’s espoused theory which can be codified in an explicit and systematic form

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a set of generalisations, precepts or maxims, one’s implicit and idiosyncratic theory-inuse learned through experience

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a theory in action expressed only in practice and which is usually implicit (Eraut, 1994).



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These three components, especially the set of generalisations, are essential in order to make professional life tolerable. All are used but not necessarily concurrently or in the same context. For example, a system of thought and a theory-in-action may be in conflict, but the practitioner may be unaware of these contradictions. Eraut (1994, p. 10) observed that

... professionals continually learn on the job, because their work entails engagement in a succession of cases, problems or projects ... but case-specific learning may not contribute to general professional knowledge unless regarded as non-routine and time is set aside to deliberate upon its significance. Life in a classroom means being embedded in a continuous flow of experience with many variables. Routines such as frames, schemas, paradigms, patterns of order, a set of “takenfor-granteds” keep mental effort at a reasonable level and help keep order in our internal and external worlds. It is difficult to deconstruct and reassemble our routines without disorientation and the fear of not coping. For example, imagine the consternation felt if a centipede were asked to explain how it walks (Schön, 1983). In such a “hot” context the pressure for action is immediate, to hesitate is to stall and maybe lose control. Sometimes you eat the bear; sometimes the bear eats you (Brookfield, 1990).

Characteristics of effective teachers (Adapted from Stronge, J. (2002). Teacher skills checklist in qualities of effective teachers. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.) Before you take off on this exhaustive list keep these points in mind. 1. How do these characteristics link to TEMPO? Add some extra ideas to the original list provided. 2. The teacher press! No wonder we get a tad tired. 3. The Novice to Expert framework. When we begin, we cannot do all of these at the same time. As you begin your professional experience you will need to focus on some – what you choose as your focus will depend on your beliefs and intents – the link to the Five Perspectives. 4. As you progress through this year you will add new skills to your teaching tool kit, but always keep in mind what is your purpose, the context within which you are teaching and the learners with whom you are working.

The teacher as a classroom manager and organiser ●

Manages smooth transitions and continuity of classroom momentum

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Balances variety and challenge in student activities

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Multi-tasks

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Is aware of all activities in the classroom

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Anticipates potential problems

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Uses consistent and proactive behaviour management

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Focuses classroom time onto teaching and learning


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●

Links teaching to real-life situations of the learner

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Treats students as individuals

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Uses space, proximity or movement around classroom for nearness to trouble spots and to encourage attention

Classroom management Teachers need to be conscious of the impact made by an aesthetic and functional classroom conducive to learning and where students can feel a sense of place and belonging. So as you learn to reflect on practice, look at these factors in conjunction with teaching strategies and planning that you observe or experience. Does the teacher: ● ● ●

handle routine tasks promptly, efficiently and consistently? prepare materials in advance, ready to use? organise classroom space efficiently?

Consider also the importance of the environment itself. Storage and seating arrangements (see pp.276–301 of Churchill et al. Text Chapter 9) ●

Students need to sit in a position where visual aids and the white board are clearly visible

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Desks and seating should be placed so that the teacher has easy access and can walk around and interact easily with every student

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Seating and desk arrangements should be flexible enough that group work or individual work stations can be created with a minimum of effort

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Class resources should be easily accessible

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Specialised seating arrangements may be needed for some students

Routine and structure ●

Through routine and structures students should be able to quickly and quietly collect and replace resources as needed

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Age related considerations need to be taken into account – unsafe materials must be kept out of student reach and students need space to store private articles.

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Colour coordination can help to organise materials and procedures and assist students in the tracking of information

Relevant displays ●

Display student work and rotate it often – be conscious of cultural differences so that all students feel included – but don’t allow the room to become too cluttered with displays

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In secondary and trade contexts display relevant notices, schedules and timetable information that students need to keep a track of

Aesthetically pleasing ●

Make sure the room is well lit – with natural lighting if possible



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●

Ensure that the desks, chairs, storage trays, equipment, etc are cleaned regularly (students should be made responsible for the mess they make – not the cleaners!)

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Live plants and even a fish tank can sooth restless students and create positive “vibes”

So to sum up this section your instructional space is "home away from home" for you and your students. Make it attractive and functional. Consider age level appropriateness, the type of activities you will be implementing, and your particular style. Each of these should be carefully considered with both individual students’ needs and instructional goals in mind and remember that even “big kids” like me benefit from visual reinforcements and an aesthetically pleasing learning environment. Of course the way a learning space is set up is dependent on the resources available and the age of the learning group. Classroom layout can complement and enhance behavioural management strategies. As part of your learning you shall be doing a course in behaviour management and it is important that you consider classroom structure and aesthetics as being supportive of management strategies. Below are some links to examples of learning spaces for different contexts.

Reading activity Optional readings Early Childhood ●

Mrs Nelson’s class: Teacher resources. http://www.mrsnelsonsclass.com/teacherresources/classroomsetup/0405/clas sroomsetup20042005.aspx

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Mrs Palmer: Our classrom. http://www.mrspalmersclass.com/mrs_palmers_classroom.htm

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A learning space that works. http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp? id=3886

Primary Schools ●

Professional skills – positive learning environment – primary. http://www.teachers.tv/videos/positive-learning-environment-primary

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Class environment. http://www.teachers.tv/videos/they-didn-t-teach-me-thatclassroom-environment

Secondary Schools ●

Connecting classrooms in rural communities through interactive whiteboards. http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet26/mitchell.html


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Voc Ed ●

Teacher traing and teacher identity in VET http://www.vta.vic.edu.au/docs/ VPN/09_W1_TEACHERIDENTITY_TEACHERTRAINING_AUSTVET.p df

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Developing a vocational training computer game: Workplace simulator: The vocational game project. http://www.werc.vu.edu.au/publicAssets/pdf/conf_papers/CG-24.pdf

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Team learning: An experiential approach. http://www.learningfromexperience.com/team-learning (experiential learning as a concept and backed by theory)

General ●

Classroom layout. http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/education/DLiT/2002/environs/ jasmine/layout.htm

Organisation for Classroom Management Practice (Behaviour Management) ●

Classroom management. http://www.teachers.tv/videos/they-didn-t-teachme-that-classroom-management

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Top five classroom management strategies. http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/3318.aspx

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Classroom set-up. http://www.pacificnet.net/~mandel/ClassroomManagement.html

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How to arrange classroom furniture. http://www.ehow.com/how_2057167_arrange-classroom-furniture.html

Can the physical environment be a “teacher” in itself? Mary Featherstone (2006). http://www.featherston.com.au/inside-out.html

Behaviour management

Reading activity Selected reading: The 10 Essential skills for classroom management. http://beginningtoteach.qct.edu.au/Teachingandlearning/ClassroomManagement .html

Behaviour management is an important part of classroom management and requires teachers to manage different situations in different ways. When thinking of behaviour management it is important to consider “equity” rather than equality. Just as teaching practice needs to be individualised to suit the needs of different learners so too does behaviour management. Just as learning tasks are often developed for a “mid-stream” context and then tailored to meet individual needs at either end of the spectrum so too does the “expert teacher” allow responsible students greater freedom at times but he/she also considers the special needs, contexts and capabilities of individuals. Clear boundaries are important to establish but then if adhered to rigidly can become discriminatory and exclusive to the needs of specific learners.



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Take this scenario:

Within these classrooms one of the agreed classroom “rules” at the beginning of the year was that students should not wander around the classroom without permission. However Mary finds sitting in her seat for long periods of time difficult and she will lose concentration if not allowed to move around the room and have a fiddle from time to time. Although she may look at what others are doing she tends not to talk long with any one other child. Even though she knows she should (she is an intelligent child) Mary never remembers to ask for permission to move around the room. She will be working away and the next minute she will have hopped out of her chair and gone for a walk. One of her teachers has classified her as a naughty child and has told her to sit still and stop cheating or she will have detention (which she ends up with on a regular basis). Mary tries to sit still but has lost her focus and rarely completes the tasks at hand. Therefore the teacher has also classified her as lazy. “I know she is capable but she just doesn’t bother to get her work finished!” Another of her teachers has told Mary she can only have two of these breaks a lesson. She has asked her to be back at her desk in three minutes and has in fact provided her with a space that she can retreat to with a couple of books if need be. Mary loves this moment to move, it allows her to focus on something different and then go back to her task refreshed to focus again on the learning required. She has a timer to tell her when to be back at her desk. She follows the timer to the second and always has her work complete. A month after this routine was established she rarely disturbs others and her peers have accepted the fact that Mary needs this off-task time. Sometimes she manages with only one break. Which of these actions is equitable in this situation? What would your instinctive reaction? Why? Are there other ways this situation could have been handled?

Organising for teaching There are so many roles that the teacher takes on when organising learning episodes: time allocation; establishing clear expectations; planning; choosing teaching strategies; selecting curriculum essentials, content and establishing standards; planning for complex thinking and higher order thinking to occur; developing questions; engaging students in learning; monitoring progress and so on and so on. Time allocation ●

Follows a consistent schedule and maintains procedures and routines

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Handles administrative tasks quickly and efficiently

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Prepares materials in advance

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Maintains momentum within and across lessons

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Limits disruption and interruptions


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Establishing clear expectations ●

Sets clearly articulated high expectations for self and learners

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Orients the classroom experience toward improvement and growth

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Stresses student responsibility and accountability

Planning for learning ●

Carefully links objectives and activities

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Organises content for effective presentation

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Explores learner understanding by asking questions

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Considers learner attention span and learning style when designing lessons

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Develops objectives, questions and activities that reflect higher and lower level cognitive skills as appropriate for the content and the learners.

Choosing teaching strategies ●

Uses different techniques and teaching strategies

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Stresses meaningful conceptualization, emphasizing learner’s own knowledge of the world

Selecting curriculum content ●

Select content to be taught, processes to be used, ways of working to be reinforced from the relevant curriculum document in the learning context

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Ascertain that students have the prior knowledge and skills needed to tackle the learning tasks planned.

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Consult with and learn from others

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Select quality resources to support the learning to be undertaken

Articulating expectations ●

Sets overall high expectations towards improvement and growth in the classroom

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Gives clear examples and offers guided practice

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Stresses learner responsibility and accountability in meeting expectations

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Teaches metacognitive strategies to support reflection on learning progress

Planning to ensure intellectual quality ●

Is concerned with having learners learn and demonstrate understanding of meaning rather than memorization

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Holds reading as a priority

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Stresses meaningful conceptualization, emphasising the learner’s knowledge of the world

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Emphasises higher order thinking skills in maths



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Questioning focus ●

Questions reflect type of content, goals of lesson

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Varies question type to maintain interest and momentum

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Prepares questions in advance

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Uses wait time during questioning

Engaging students ●

Attentive to lesson momentum, appropriate questioning, clarity of explanation

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Varies teaching strategies, types of assignments and activities

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Leads, directs and paces learner activities

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Listens to student voice

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Promotes student decision making in relation to learning tasks

Monitoring learner progress and potential ●

If homework is required then clearly explains homework and relates it to the content under study and to learner capacity in order to monitor progress

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Targets questions to lesson objectives

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Thinks through likely misconceptions that may occur during teaching and monitors learners for these misconceptions

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Gives clear, specific and timely feedback

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Re-teaches learners who did not achieve mastery and offers tutoring to learners who seek additional help

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Suits teaching to learner’s achievement levels and needs

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Participates in staff development to improve own practice

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Uses a variety of grouping strategies

Reading activity Text reading: Churchill et al. (2011). Chapter 14: Theorising about teaching practice, pp. 460–477.

The importance of pedagogical principles in reflecting From 1998–2000 researchers from the University of Queensland undertook an extensive observation study of classroom practices across Queensland. The research encompassed observations and data analysis from 975 cl assrooms in 24 Education Queensland schools. The study sought to ascertain the characteristics of quality classroom and school management practice that resulted in enhanced student outcomes. The Queensland School Reform Longitudinal Study found that a number of key practices linked to four pedagogical planks were the key to quality schools. These pedagogical planks became known as the © University of Southern Queensland

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Productive Pedagogies and have become the framework by which Queensland schools reflect on their practice and seek ways to improve their outcomes, as without quality pedagogical practices in place curriculum delivery will not be effective. The Productive Pedagogies were integrally linked to the New Basics Project that sought to embed integrated inquiry learning approaches into classroom practice. http://education.qld.gov.au/public_media/reports/curriculum-framework/qsrls/ The four planks of the productive pedagogies are: 1. Recognition of Difference 2. Supportive Classroom Environment 3. Connectedness 4. Intellectual Quality

(Source: http://education.qld.gov.au/public_media/reports/curriculum-framework/productive pedagogies/pdfs/prodped.pdf )



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Reading activity Selected reading: Brookfield (1990). Developing a personal vision of teaching, pp. 15–28.

Many beginning and experienced teachers mention “passion” as a characteristic of good teachers. It was hard to choose which chapter as this book begins with “Teaching as a complex and passionate experience!” This reading will pull together the themes of this first topic.

Note: Resource You will find some great articles on improving professional practice in 2006, Educational Leadershi p, 63(6) by Roland Barth, Elliott Eisner, Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe and Mary Kennedy. This journal is available through EBSCOHOST.

Summary: Becoming a teacher There have been a number of key concepts covered so far: ●

Novice to expert

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The science and art of teaching

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The teacher press

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Characteristics of effective teachers

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Exploring pedagogical principles

1.2 Curriculum considerations Reading activity Text reading: Churchill et al. (2011) Chapter 6. The curriculum. Selected readings: ●

The Delors Report. http://www.unesco.org/delors

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The Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians. http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/National_Declaration_on_t he_Educational_Goals_for_Young_Australians.pdf

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Brady, L., & Kennedy, K. (2010). Curriculum construction, Chapter 1. (Available DiReCt)


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Reading activity Sector specific readings VET ●

Tovey, M.D., & Lawlor, D.R. (2008). Design and develop training, pp. 173– 214 (text).

Early Childhood ●

Arthur, L., Beecher, B., Death, E., Dockett, S., & Farmer, S. (1993). Chapter 8 in Programming and planning in early years settings , Curriculum approaches and pedagogies (Available on DiReCt).

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Jalongo, M.R. (2002). “Who Is Fit To Teach Young Children?" Editorial: On Behalf of Children. Early Childhood Education Journal , 29(3), 141– 142.

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Early Years Learning Framework. [email protected].

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Quality Improvement and Accreditation System (QIAS) http://www.ncac.gov.au/resources/qias_pub.asp

SEGI ●

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News article 2010. http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/najib-tells-teachers-tokeep-vision-2020-in-sight/ UNESCO Report. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001471/147196e.pdf

Primary and Secondary School ●

Queensland Studies Authority. http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au

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Queenlsand Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting (QCAR) framework http://education.qld.gov.au/qcar

When planning it is essential that the planning fits within the big picture context of the curriculum documents that you must work with in your context. Curriculum development over recent years has been strongly influenced by global and national considerations. The following readings give clear indications of the priorities in education: ●

The Report to UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for the 21st Century (1996). Focus on the section entitled “The four pillars”(Accessed 25 June 2010). http://www.unesco.org/delors

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The Melbourne Declaration on the Educational Goals for Young Australians. Various Austrralian states have produced their own repsonses to this declaration (Accessed 14 October, 2010) http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/National_Declaration_on_the_Education al_Goals_for_Young_Australians.pdf

Both of these documents focus on the outcomes desired for young people in today’s world. Outcomes based curriculum frameworks have been used in Australi an schools for some time.



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Note: Curriculum and syllabus These two words are often confusing. One way to keep them separate is to consider a syllabus as the “what, when and maybe how” i.e. The content. It may include some general aims and objectives. Whereas curriculum is a term to cover the whole process – the defining which involves the context and agendas of all stakeholders; designing, that is how each component fits together, what is/ isn’t included and how it is assessed; implementing (the actual teaching and learning strategies and experiences) and evaluating the whole process to decide whether to continue/change/dump! Curriculum does include what you teach BUT is an overarching term to describe the whole process including goals, aims, outcomes and/or objectives, the learning experiences, assessment and evaluation and explicit recommendations on how to tie it all together as a cohesive whole.

Outcomes-based education An outcome is a clear statement of observable demonstrations of what learners know and can do. For those of you in Australia, Outcomes-Based Education (OBE) has been particularly relevant. When designing outcomes, the attributes of a lifelong learner were the focus and the Delors Report (1996) provides an excellent world-wide perspective.

What are the key features of outcomes? ●

They happen (they are demonstrable)

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They happen at the end (at the end of a unit/term/semester/course)

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They happen within a context

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They matter in real life

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They result in long term effects

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They are transferable

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They are difficult to grade!

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They can change people

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It isn’t a syllabus document

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It is about process not just product

Many states have moved to a model similar to the Essential Learnings of Queensland which are based on eight key learning areas – check what is appropriate for your context. However in Australia the National Curriculum is just around the corner and the focus has changed a little! The latest from the Queensland Studies Authority is that in 2011 Australian teachers have to be familiarising themselves with the Australian National Curriculum subjects of English, mathematics and science for implementation in 2012. History will be introduced in 2013 and languages, geography and the arts in 2014. It i s unlikely that any Senior Subject areas (Years 11 and 12) will be introduced before 2014.You can find out more about the Australian National Curriculum at http://www.acara.edu.au/curriculum.html (accessed July 2010).


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Note: Key Learning Areas (KLAs) For those of you in Australia the KLAs are relevant. There are 8 of these: Science, Health and Physical Education, Languages, Studies of Society and Environment, The Arts, Technology, Mathematics and English. You will find these documents on the website below. Click on the top menu which lists the years e.g Years 1–10. (Accessed 25 June 2010). www.qsa.qld.edu.au

Definitions and complexities of curriculum Curriculum is an incredibly complex field of study and it is impossible in this course to cover everything there is to know about this fascinating topic. However what I hope to do is to introduce you to some essential understandings that underpin the creation and implementation of curriculum. Curriculum outlines have changed considerably over the years. What was considered necessary in an industrial world where job security was high, mobility was low and there was little access or need for varied understandings or information technology expertise, is just not suitable for a 21st Century world. It is therefore consideration of changing needs that to some extent should govern curriculum design. Throughout tutorials you shall be exploring curriculum documents that are in use in your context but have you thought about how a nd why they were created and by whom? The following points have been formulated to guide you into thinking more deeply about the variety of curriculum that you will encounter throughout your teaching career. These reflections will form the basis for Assignment 1.

Reading activity Text reading: Revisit Churchill et al. (2011). Chapter 7: Planning for practice: Connecting pedagogy, assessment and curriculum.

What is the purpose of education in your social, economic and political contexts? A curriculum represents a negotiated political and social settlement at any particular point in time. It may represent a settlement between: ●

Governments (State and Commonwealth in Australia);

●

Different parts of government bureaucracies (e.g. health and education portfolios on an issue of health education);

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Groups within a community (e.g. teacher professional associations and academics);

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Teachers with differing approaches to subject matter (e.g. advocates of genre and process approaches to the teaching of English); and

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Government and global forces to do with capital, the market and investment.

If curriculum is seen as a means by which young people and adults gain essential knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to be productive and informed citizens in a democratic society, therefore everyone has a stake in the shape and form that the curriculum takes. Politicians and employers may be looking for a skilled and competent workforce. Parents may be looking for the means by which their children can live a rewarding and satisfying life. © University of Southern Queensland


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Advocates of particular issues and causes will want to see that citizens are aware of and sensitive to the major issues that will confront them when they grow up. Society as a whole may wish students to have a grasp of certain basic skills (e.g. literacy and numeracy) and certain kinds of knowledge (e.g. an understanding of the history of their country). No one is neutral when it comes to the curriculum. An analogy you may find useful is that of a suitcase. I have a variety of cases I take on trips – sometimes a small overnighter, sometimes the BIG one, sometimes just t he middle sized rollon. The purpose and length of the trip dictates which suitcase I choose. Curriculum approaches are the same – their form and processes are a product of the purpose (and values) identified by the stakeholders of that time and place. The approaches are a result of debate at points in time between co-operating and competing forces. The first of these forces is the philosophy which guides the decision making: ●

What is real – Ontology

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What is true – Epistemology

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What is good – Axiology.

Don’t be put off by the “ology” words. Consider the Easter Bunny. At one stage some of us would have believed this creature was real, true and good. Then we grew up! It is still good for some, but no longer real and some of us in Australia would say it is not good to make such a fuss about a rabbit which is a pest and would prefer we used the bilbi, an endangered native animal. Another example – it is 1491 and we all know the world is flat – that is true, real and good for that time. Now it is 1492 and Columbus sailed the ocean blue – what has happened to our real and true? The second force which shapes curriculum models is how a person describes and defines their society. Do we privilege certain sectors of our society? Do we ensure that not all “educational” runners reach the end of the track? Who can run and how far? Do some members of our society require and receive extra help? The third force is how we believe people learn – our understanding of psychology. With these three forces continually in play clearly articulated personal pedagogical principles become fundamentally important. Regardless of the answers to the questions above that apply to present circumstances – as a teacher we also shape the future. This is an awesome responsibility. As a teacher if we are not happy with some of the answers above then we are the ones who need to “make a difference”. If the curriculum that you are being asked to teach does not clearly encapsulate your strongly held personal principles of practice then it is easy to become disillusioned and cynical. We all know of teachers that just do the 9 to 3 thing and the passion is gone. If you believe that equity is a principle that should never be compromised then you must have the courage to follow your convictions through e.g. Place yourself in the role of a music teacher – Do I audition students for my choir so that our school has the very best choir possible? Do I allow everyone to join who wants to regardless of whether they are tone deaf or not? Do I have two choirs – one for enjoyment and one to extend the abilities of the most gifted and talented?


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Reflection: Essential questions Name three principles of practice that you believe, as a teacher, should never be compromised. Write these down. Compare these with others. Are there differences? What do these pedagogical differences tell us about the complexities of creating curriculum and teaching that designates certain types of learning experiences and not others? Are your principles more important than someone else’s? Who should decide?

Who decides what is (and is not) included in your curriculum? Marilyn Cochrane Smith (2002) draws our attention to the evidence used to prove whether learning programs are effective, and/or value-added, and whether we should as teachers be accountable for what is learned. However, the evidence used assumes answers to complex questions of values, goals and priorities – evidences that are not easily “weighed” like the proverbial assessment “pig”. “These assumptions shape t he ways terms are defined, the ways data are selected and analysed, and the interpretive frameworks within which conclusions are formulated” (p. 2). A number of questions need to be kept in mind when considering any curriculu m approach. ●

What should the outcomes be for student learning?

●

How, by whom and for what purposes should these outcomes be documented, demonstrated and/or measured?

●

What is assumed to be central, and what is considered extraneous to student learning?

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What counts as evidence?

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What are the criteria against which the evidence is measured? What is the source of these criteria?

●

Who decides?

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Who is constructing the question? e.g. How effective is the program? How does it valueadd to our society? We need to consider what constituency or group that person/s represent/s.

●

What is assumed to be the larger purposes of schooling and the role of schooling in society?

●

What is the larger political and/or professional agenda behind the question and behind the question-asker?



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Reading activity Selected reading: Brady and Kennedy (2010). Chapter 1: School curriculum and its stakeholders: Who owns the curriculum?

Reflection: Essential questions As you explore a range of Curriculum documents in this course and in the future consider who and what is driving the agenda. Consider the Australian National Curriculum as it now stands. Why the emphasis on History rather than SOSE (Studies of Society and the Environment) in Primary school? What has happened to the debate about the place of Arts in society? Whose voice/s are we now hearing?

How would you define curriculum? Before reading further I want you to write a definition of curriculum using your current understandings. This definition will become a point of reference against which to compare your later understandings. A new “improved” version of this definition will become an essential component of Assignment 1. Okay! Let’s look now at what other people say. There are so many definitions – you only need to look at how many books exist i n libraries on curriculum. To use a musical metaphor, these definitions swing from two extremes of “drum playing” to violin playing”. Drum playing – most people can do a basic job of this with minimal practice, the equipment is relatively inexpensive and robust and, to an extent, is straightforward to play (apologies to any drum players as I do know how difficult it is to be an expert drummer – incredibly so!). Violin playing – requires much practice, requires expensive and fragile equipment and is melodic only in the hands of experts.

“Drum playing” is the model used when economic times are hard and the violins come into play when the economy is buoyant. This is a somewhat simplistic explanation of why the definitions and models become “fashionable” but if you track the definitions and models, they do appear to follow the economic booms (violins) and busts (drums). Ironically in Australia we did not enter the “bust” times that the rest of the world seemed troubled by yet the “drums” are dominant. Consider your answers to the previous questions asked in Point 2’s Personal Reflection can you see why and whose agenda is driving the “march”? Before refining your definition of curriculum, some may need clarification of two specific elements of terminology which often cause confusion. What is the difference between curriculum and syllabus? People often use the terms curriculum and syllabus interchangeably and thus the confusion may arise.


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Curriculum – this is a term used to cover the whole process: defining which involves the context and agendas of the stakeholders; designing, that is how each component fits together, what is/isn’t included and how it is assessed; implementing (the actual teaching and learning strategies and experiences) and evaluating the whole process to decide whether to continue/change or “dump”! Curriculum does include “what” you teach BUT is an overarching term to describe the whole process including the aims and objectives, the learning experiences and evaluation and explicit recommendations on how to tie it all together as a cohesive whole. Syllabus – this is the “what”, “when” and maybe a “prescriptive how” you teach: the content to be taught. It is the booklet we all clutch when we first begin to teach a new area or topic. There may be some general aims and objectives and suggestions for learning activities but these target content delivery rather than Big Picture understandings of the process.

The term curriculum comes from the Latin “currere” – the course to be run. Any course has a track, runners, officials, starting and finishing points, hurdles or barriers, and prizes. The track – you might consider its shape – a straight line, circle, wavy line, loops etc. What is the condition of your track? – Smooth, rough, bumps, potholes? Is there a person or team of people who keep it in top condition? Are there any “vandals” who attempt to destroy it? The runners – these could be your learners, but you may also be running with them. The officials – teachers, school management, unions, professional bodies, parents, training bodies, business organisations, the State and Federal governments. Starting and finishing points – Are these clearly marked? Do all learners begin or finish at the same spot? Are there opportunities for “short cuts”? Can the learners step out onto another track for awhile and then return? What happens to those who do not finish? Hurdles and barriers – What are these? Who puts them there? Is there “help” to get over them? Why are they there? Prizes – What are they? Are they intrinsic or extrinsic? Do they lead elsewhere? Who usually wins? Who often loses and why? What happens to the “losers”? What happens to the “winners”?

Keep in mind there are a number of components to curricula: ●

That which is mandated

●

That which is planned

●

That which is delivered

●

That which is received

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That which is valued by learners

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That which is hidden!



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Consider the curriculum forms above: the mandated and/or planned, the delivered, the received and the “hidden”. The “planned” is the official document from a central authority or from some official body who has decided that this will be the official “party” line. The “delivered” is what we as teachers do to that “plan”. The “received” is what our learners choose to learn and that may or may not match the “planned” and “delivered”! However, it is the “hidden” which may support or undermine the planned or delivered curriculum.

Reflection: Essential questions How important do you think it is to play “the drum” or “the violin”? Should there be a bit of both? Who should be conducting the playing? Do the players remain the same? Should the conductor remain the same? Do curriculum documents need to change? Do teachers have to accept these changes in their entirety?

What is the hidden curriculum?

Reading activity Selected readings: ●

●

Anderson, T. (2001). The hidden curriculum in distance education. Change, Nov/Dec, 33(6), pp. 29–35. (Available on DiReCt) Swiniarski L. B., & Breitboarde, M. (2003). Educating the global village. (2nd ed., pp. 125–130). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education. (Available on DiReCt)

It is quite clear that students learn a great deal as a result of their contact with schools and other learning institutions that is not part of the official or planned curriculum. An example of this would be the development of a belief that mathematics is a very important but extremely difficult subject. This is an extremely widely held view by students in Australian schools. It would appear that no schools set out to teach this, but that a great number of children learn it from exposure to the curriculum. As this learning is not intended and as it is so widely learned it is clear that most learners are being exposed to experiences that have not been planned. It is these types of experiences and learnings that constitute the “hidden curriculum”. Many of you are online learners so consider what the hidden curriculum might be in distance education. The selected reading by Anderson explores possibilities in this area.


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Kelly (1977, p. 4) writes of the hidden curriculum that it is that

.... by which we mean those things which pupils learn at school because of the way in which the work of the school is planned and organised but which are not in themselves overtly included in the planning or even in the consciousness of those responsible for the school arrangements. He goes on to point out that if teachers and curriculum developers are aware of such outcomes that they should be considered as part of the curriculum. How aware are you of the hidden curriculum that you were exposed to in your own learning journey? Go to a Net Search engine then type in Map Projections: ●

Compare the Mercator projection of the world map (which most of us would be familiar with) and the Peter’s projection.

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Compare the size of Europe and Africa in both projections.

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Why would those projections look so different?

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What world view does this projection “support”?

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What do these different map projections have to do with the hidden curriculum?

The concept of “extra curricula activity” also needs to be considered here. Clearly many activities which are included in the overall offering of educational institutions are planned, but are often regarded as outside the curriculum of the institution. The activities of clubs and interests groups are often fostered by the school and indeed often involve planned instruction by the teachers within the institution, but are referred to as activities beyond the curriculum. Clearly any definition based on the planned activities undertaken within an educational institution would include these activities as part of the curriculum. What importance is placed on sport as an extra-curricular activity? What importance is placed on art, music or dance activities? Is there an active vibrant science club in place? Hidden curriculum can be about values, socialisation, training in obedience and docility, perpetuating the class structure or dominance of one ethnic group, how to question and challenge and how to subvert the system! ●

Consider how we teach it – the types of learner-teacher interaction – how much, who, when and where?

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Perceptions of the roles of learner and teacher – who makes decisions?

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Classroom layout – rows, tables, types of chairs, are the tables fixed? Can you re-arrange the room or will that upset the cleaners or the next teacher?

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Resources – availability, control, permission – is there a “blame” culture in place?

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How is the learning designed – who makes the choices? How is the learning assessed and evaluated? and

●

What is left out and why? Sometimes omissions are eloquent in their silence.



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Reflection: Essential questions Can you identify elements of a hidden curriculum in the curriculum texts within your context? Of what import is the hidden curriculum? How might the hidden curriculum affect your planning and delivery of curriculum content in your context?

What categories can be used to identify the type of curriculum in place? Basically the wide array of curriculum definitions that exist can be grouped into categories related to their most obvious traits: Curriculum as: Content – Consider the following range of definitions:

The curriculum is usually thought of as a subject or a group of subjects which are to be treated in a way that will promote learning in pupils. In order for learning to take place certain things must follow. Pupils need to have their attention drawn to relevant subject matter and teachers have to create experiences for them out of which their learning arises (Taylor, 1971, p. 154). Curriculum is such “permanent” subjects such as grammar, reading, logic, rhetoric, mathematics and the greatest books of the Western world that embody essential knowledge (Marsh & Willis, 2003, p.8) Curriculum is those subjects that are most useful for living in contemporary society (Marsh & Willis, 2003, p.8). Curriculum can also be thought of as what students have an opportunity to learn under the auspice of the school (Klein, 1995, p. 28). Each of these definitions indicates a concern with the material that is to be covered by the learners that are to undertake the learning experiences prescribed by the various curricula being presented. That is why these definitions have been grouped in this manner. While each stresses the importance of coverage of content the type of content can clearly vary from one to another. Some definitions of this type stress the importance of traditional subject matter while others might indicate that the content of most importance is life skills or a willingness to adapt to new or different value positions. Plan – Consider the following definitions:

A curriculum is an organised set of formal educational and / or training intentions (Pratt, 1990, p. 4). A curriculum consists of “…an interrelated set of plans and experiences that a student undertakes under the guidance of the school” (Marsh & Willis, 1995, p. 5). The description of curriculum as the bringing together of knowledge, methods and objectives may be more acceptable to the teacher than the “learning experiences” model (Taylor, 1971, p. 160).


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The curriculum consists of “all the learning which is planned and guided by the school, whether it is carried on in groups or individually, inside or outside the school (Kerr, 1971, p. 181). It is with the deliberate, systematic, planned attempts to change behaviour that curriculum is concerned. By “curriculum” we mean the planned experiences offered to the learner under the guidance of the school (Wheeler, 1967, p. 11).

Curriculum is a plan for learning (Taba, 1962, p.11). Each of these definitions defines curriculum as some type of plan. Different theorists that adopt this style of definition often stress different features of the plan. Some stress the importance of objectives or purposes in the plan while others stress content, teaching strategies or even evaluation techniques. Look at each of the definitions above and determine which element of the plan each is emphasising. Process – Consider the following definitions:

The curriculum experienced in the classroom is often thought of as a one-way transmission of ideas and information from the teacher to a group of passive recipients, but in reality it consists of an ongoing series of communications, reactions and exchanges among individuals (Marsh & Willis, 2003, p. 13). Curriculum is concerned with the interaction between teachers and learner s (Grundy 1987, p. 68). Schooling has historically been a site where complex processes of alignment and disalignment with the forces in the society – e.g. business, government, ethnic groups and the family – are at work (Gee, Hull & Lankshear, 1996, p. 54). For years, professional debate about curriculum has been over procedures, not over what counts as legitimate knowledge (Apple, 1995, p. 36). The focus on the process by which the curriculum is developed and communicated introduces a range of new issues into the debate. It is quite evident that learners of all levels of the education system learn many skills and a great deal of knowledge that were neither selected nor planned. Any discussion of how the curriculum is transmitted must include reference to the phenomenon usually called the hidden curriculum. Product – Consider the following statements:

The curriculum is all the experiences that individual learners have in a program of education whose purpose is to achieve broad goals and related specific objectives, which is planned in terms of a framework of theory and research on past and present practice (Hass & Parkay, 1993, p. 3). (The curriculum is) that which includes all experiences of children for which the school accepts responsibility (Ragan & Shepherd, 1977, p. 192). Curriculum is the substance of schooli ng – the primary reason why people attend school (Klein, 1995, p. 8).



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Curriculum carries with it the notion of object and product, something to be mastered or internalised, an external entity by definition. At the very least its etymology ties it closely to the idea of predefined “course” which the learner must follow irrespective of motivation or local circumstances, something with intrinsic validity as a predetermined structure of learning which is somehow distinct from general principles which validate the educational process (Holly, 1973, p. 134). From these definitions it should be clear that some writers use “curriculum” to refer to a either a pre-existing package or to the outcomes of exposure of learners to a set of planned experiences. In either case the curriculum is regarded as an entity which has been referred to as a product by these authors.

Reflection: Essential questions In your view should curriculum be content, plan, process or product? Can you think of instances where there has been a hidden curriculum in what has been taught in your educational institutions? What was hidden and why? Is it no longer hidden or only visible to a minority?

What should the curriculum include? As well as a consideration of where it comes from it may be necessary to review just what elements constitute a curriculum. Again writers vary on this issue, but most would include at least four components in the curriculum. These elements are: objectives and/or outcomes, content, teaching strategies and evaluation. Objectives and/or outcomes are usually regarded as the purpose for which the plan exists. There are many issues which relate to the different levels at which they should be expressed and to the different manner in which they should be expressed. Indeed some writers may even disagree with their being called objectives, but few would argue that a curriculum should be developed that has no purpose or that this purpose should not be deliberately indicated to all who are to be involved in its implementation. Content refers to the material to be incorporated into the curriculum. It is the knowledge, values and/or skills that are to be learned by the students. Clearly it would be very difficult to develop a curriculum that was not designed to teach anything. Teaching strategies are used here to denote those activities and resources which both teachers and students will use to ensure that the content of the curriculum is learned or considered. Many writers expand this element to include additional headings such as learning experiences, resources, use of space, use of time and class organisation. However, few would argue that a curriculum could be developed that did not include some indication of the types of activities and materials that would need to be employed during its implementation if it were to meet the ends for which it was designed.


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Assessment and evaluation is that component of the curriculum that relates to the need to determine both how effectively the curriculum has performed and how each learner has performed during implementation. Developers adopt many different approaches to this aspect of curriculum, but again none would indicate that assessment and evaluation are not an integral part of the curriculum.

Reflection: Essential questions Do these elements sound familiar to what you think should be the components of an individual lesson plan? In what ways are they similar? In what ways are they different?

What is meant by integrated or connected curriculum?

Reading activity Selected reading: Integrated curriculum by Kathy Lake. Please click on this website. Kathy Lake proves an excellent definition and examples. (Accessed 30 November 2010). http://educationnorthwest.org/webfm_send/528

This reading provides a solid rationale for the implementation of an integrated curriculum and links well to the research literature.

However, the integrated curriculum is beset with myths. Here are a few ●

You can’t plan an integrated curriculum – you have to “go with the flow” and let it happen.

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In an integrated approach students always choose the topics they want to explore. Questions for investigation must alwa ys come from the students.

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Integrated curriculum is the whole curriculum. Everything needs to link to everything else.

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In an integrated approach, students al ways work in groups.

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An integrated curriculum must integrate all subjects all the time.

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It’s too difficult to assess students’ learning in an integrated curriculum.

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An integrated curriculum is unstructured and informal.

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Students who learn in an integrated approach in primary school will find it hard to cope with separate subjects in post-primary school.

Consider these myths in the light of the Lake reading. The Queensland Authority Studies site below provides a portal to a wealth of valuable material. (Accessed 3 September 2009). http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au



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Explore Education Queensland’s Rich Tasks and New Basics. http://education.qld.gov.au/corporate/newbasics/html/richtasks/richtasks.html A summary of associated curriculum features is in the table below. Separation

Correlation

Integration

Fragmented content

Thematic content

Integrated content

No links

Tenuous or forced links

Focus on facts

Focus on random (fun) topics Focus on significant concepts or themes and understandings

Fragmented learning

Mostly fragmented, but some Holistic learning connections possible

Planned in boxes

Planned in flow charts

Planned on a sequential proforma

Teacher directed

Teacher directed (but often activity based)

Teacher and learner work together

Natural and necessary links

So what topics can be used in an integrated curriculum. Some examples are listed below. ●

The systematic nature of the social, physical, biological and technological worlds

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Relationships between the person and the planet

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The range of cultures and what they have to offer

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Issues concerning justice, rights and responsibilities.

You will find a number of ways of graphically representing planning for the integrated or connected curriculum. A few are shown below. The first model demonstrates how the planning is connected and the how various aspects need to be considered and planned. The model below shows how to integrate those enduring understandings through forms of expression and perception through a range of processes all representing higher order thinking skills. You will note that the KLAs of SOSE, Science, Technology and some aspects of HPE are the “content” areas, whereas English, LOTE, Mathematics, The Arts, Technology and HPE provide us with the means to express our understandings, the processes. If you are interested in this approach Kath Murdoch of South Australia is a leader in this field as is Caroline Coil (both have a number of books in the USQ Librar y).


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A model of integrated curriculum Developing understandings about the world conventions: physical, social, biological etc. (content areas)

Higher order thinking skills and processes used across all content and process fields

Studies of society and environment (SOSE)

Co-operating and interacting

Forms of expression and perception

Language English

Listening, speaking, writing etc and their conventions

Languages Science

Reasoning and reflecting

Mathematics

Some aspects of technology

Imagining and inquiring

The Arts

Health and some aspects of PE

Assessing and evaluating

Technology

Investigating, designing etc and their conventions

PE

Moving, performing etc and their conventions

Ways of thinking and working relevant to each area

Estimating, measuring etc and their conventions Viewing, speaking, dancing etc and their conventions

Some way of designing an integrated unit based on the KLAs is through a “web”. The “danger” is that the connections between the KLAs will not occur and we have a “separation” model by another name. The ultimate outcome of planning is weekly, term and whole year and whole school planning. Some of you may have the opportunity to do this whilst on professional attachment. Take advantage – it is an invaluable experience. More often than not educational authorities in Australia are suggesting that curriculum segregation is the way to go and yet we also being told that literacy and numeracy have to be embedded into every KLA area. These mixed messages are confusing and often misleading. Quality teachers try and make the links to the real world for their students. This is one of the planks of the Productive Pedagogies. In the real world our knowledge and how we react and interact in situations, and how we solve problems, are based on our synthesis of integrated areas of knowledge and skills.

Reflection: Essential questions What would you consider to be the benefits and disadvantages of an integrated curriculum approach in your context? Are there certain elements of the curriculum documents you have explored in tutorials that should not be part of an integrated approach? Why not? Are there elements that would be more effectively taught if delivered via an integrated approach? Why?



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Summary 1. There are many different definitions of curriculum. Each definition reflects the individual beliefs and values of the developer. 2. Some definitions focus on content as the basis of the curriculum. Such definitions will usually stress the importance of coverage of the designated content. 3. Some definitions focus on the curriculum as a plan. Such definitions will usually indicate the importance of the inclusion of selected elements in the plan and the relationship between these elements and their derivation. 4. Some definitions focus on the curriculum as a process. Such definitions usually focus on the activities engaged in by curriculum developers in the development of curriculum plans. The importance of analysing the sources of curriculum and developing of appropriate elements to reflect the decisions taken are often stressed in this type of definition. 5. Some definitions identify the curriculum as a product or what has developed as the result of a developmental process. Such definitions are often used by evaluators when they are looking to see if all the elements have been included and if the sources have been considered. 6. It is possible for the one theorist to have more than one definition of curriculum depending on their role in relation to the curriculum. A writer may have a different definition as a developer and as an evaluator. 7. The beliefs and values of participants will not only affect their definition of curriculum, but will be reflected in the curricula they develop. It is essential that developers identify their biases and preferences and make these explicit. 8. A range of stakeholders might participate in curriculum development. Participants might include a central authority, schools, individual teachers, parents, community organisations and learners. Each participant may bring different beliefs and assumptions to the process of development. 9. Curriculum is drawn from the sources of society, knowledge, and learning and learners. Each of these sources may compete for inclusion with the other sources or competing aspects within a particular source may vie for inclusion in a curriculum. 10. A curriculum will include a number of components called elements. The elements identified by different theorists may vary, but most include objectives and/or outcomes, content, teaching strategies and evaluation. The elements can be delivered in different ways. You may have realised that throughout this topic on curriculum theory that the issue of values, and whose predominate, has been present throughout. There is no such thing as value-free curriculum. Someone has decided what will be taught when, how it will be taught and how it will be assessed. Some of the decision-makers play “drums”, some play “violins”, but the orchestra is never silent. Even if there is no overt “noise”, the silence is a decision!


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1.3 Planning for learning Reading activity Text reading: Churchill et al. (2011). Chapter 7: Planning for practice. Selected readings: ●

The Australian National Curriculum: http://www.acara.edu.au/default.asp

●

The QCAR Framework: http://education.qld.gov.au/qcar

Sector specific readings: VET ● ●

National Training Information Services: http://www.ntis.gov.au Mitchell, J., Henry, J., &Young, S. (2001). Workbased learning in the contemporary Australian VET sector: A reappraisal. (Available in DiReCt)

Before we delve into the “Science of Lesson Planning”, a word of warning – be sure to keep the Art alive!

Forgive me if inquire: Just according to whose plan? (Cohen, 1993)

When we live and work with others, that experience is built, re-built and supported by the relationship we establish with others – in our case the teacher and learner/s (Hill, 2006). The plan we devise is not just for us and is not immutable. Ted Aoki (1993, p. 112) describes this lived experience as indwelling .

A pedagogical situation within which teachers and students experience life. For when a teacher begins to indwell with students, the environment ceases to be an environment, and in its place comes into a being a lived pedagogical situation pregnantly alive with possibilities in the presence of people. When we plan for learning and teaching, we integrate all of the key concepts on which this course has been built: planning, strategies, organising and being a reflective practitioner. How we choose to plan is directly influenced by our own intents and beliefs, by the learning context and even the content. Ironically as beginning teachers it is the “what” which many believe should be the focus; a position I would question and I hope you too will re-think by the end of this course.



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Reflection: Essential questions What is a lesson? Why do we need to plan? What might happen when we do not plan? What are the differences between planning and preparation?

What answers did you come up with? There is an old saying “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” As Colin Marsh states (2004, p. 77):

Good lessons don’t just happen. It is crucial to do the planning of topics and lessons to ensure that what is taught in lessons is meaningful and appropriate. There is no single, perfect solution to planning as there are so many different factors to consider.

Why do we plan? We plan for many reasons. To: ●

Clarify our main purpose e.g. to introduce, build upon, practise skills, challenge and extend, conclude, check learning

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Present coherent and challenging ideas/concepts

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Select and structure the content, activities

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Build our own confidence

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Be better prepared to cope with that teacher press!

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Cater for different learning needs

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Manage one of the most limited resources – TIME

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Consider different options AND

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Have a yardstick to check whether our students have learned i.e. evaluate our teaching. Did we do what we planned? Did we change and why? What were the outcomes for learners and for me as a teacher and as a person?

Planning is largely a mental and verbal activity You may hear terms such as backward planning or backward design – i.e. starting from what you want them to achieve and designing the steps needed in order to achieve this objective/outcome. ●

What are your priorities?

●

How do I link to prior knowledge?

●

How do I build the links between the what, the how and the why?


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●


Who else needs to be involved in this planning?

Planning requires reconciling different priorities and goals A balance needs to be found between state and/or national requirements, policies or guidelines; the school’s or learning institution’s priorities and ethos; your teaching team’s goals and priorities; your own intents and beliefs; the classroom context; the socio-cultural context of your learning institution and all the beliefs and intents that your individual and collective learners bring with them. All of these can support or constrain each other!

Planning requires critical reflection Critical self reflection is central to becoming an effective teacher. This occurs prior to and after giving a lesson and helps us develop a rational for our practice and to make informed decisions (Brookfield, 1995).

Planning requires risk taking Sometimes we have to step away from the safe and known and adopt new strategies and resources and that can be scary. Scary for you as a teacher and scary for the learners having to work in unknown and untried ways. Consider thi s course – I am very comfortable in faceto-face teaching and have developed many strategies and resources which I know work well. Now I am having to use a whole new way of operating where my verbal skills can work to some degree, but how do I develop that personal relationship and trust I know is so critical for effective learning. And if I am having problems – what about you? For some, you are having to learn alone, using a technology with which you may not be familiar and you may need that personal “touch”. How do I build in strategies and steps to assure learners that risk is part of learning?



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Lesson planning formats Note Please keep in mind there is no one format for lesson planning. The one used in EDC1400 is a general plan useful in many contexts. Ultimately you will design one that works for you but keep in mind: ●

Where you teach may have a preferred format

●

Your learners

●

The curriculum area

●

The type of lesson – is it part of a unit of work, is it an introductory or concluding lesson?

●

How much detail is needed?

Please ensure you have a copy of the proforma as you work through this next section of the material. Please adjust the “language” to suit your context. For example, some of you will use Objectives and not Outcomes. Those in Australia will use Key Learning Areas (KLAs), others will have other terminology such as the names of disciplines. Malaysian students will use their Early Years documents and VET and TVE students will use their trade specific or business specific framework. Queensland teachers will generally need to use the Essential Learnings.A link to the Queensland Studies Authority has been provided on Study Desk and below. (Accessed 27 September 2010) http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au

Objectives, taxonomies and prior knowledge Reading activity Text reading: Churchill et al (2011) revisit Chapter 7 Selected readings: ●

Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (1998). What is backward design?, pp. 7–19. (Available on DiReCt)

●

Eby, J., Herrell A., & Jordan, M. (2006). Planning thematic units to fit your curriculum, pp. 110–126. (Available on DiReCt)

●

Brady, L., & Kennedy, K. (2007). Curriculum tra nslation in classrooms: teachers as decision makers, pp. 199–216.(Available on DiReCt)

Before planning can be commenced it must be clear what the learning is that should be achieved. Therefore objectives must be clearly articulated and linked to the outcomes proposed within curriculum documents.


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Objectives With this goal in mind the learner should also hear these objectives clearly articulated: ●

In an Early Years context it might be “Come on Sally – walk to me!”

●

By Prep it might be “Each pair will complete the puzzle and make sure that the colours are matching.”

●

For Lower Primary it may be that a lesson objective is that “Students should be able to recognise and be able to use noun groups correctly in a sentence”

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For Upper Primary it might that “Students will conduct an experiment and write a scientific report explaining the procedure and findings”.

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By Secondary it may be that “Students will be able to identify the correct chemical formulas for a number of common elements found within the home kitchen”.

●

Within a VET context it may be that “Students will be able to demonstrate their ability to weld to pieces of metal to ensure as smooth a finish as possible while still maintaining full strength of the join”.

We usually have specific objectives for each lesson. Objectives focus on specific content and/or skills to be learned. Bloom et al (1956) developed three taxonomies: cognitive, psyochomotor and. affective. One way for the visuals learners out there (like me) to remember these is: heads, hands and heart. Taxonomies

Bloom’s taxonomy provides teachers with a simple, tangible framework to assist in the: ●

formation of a range of questions

●

testing the complexity of understanding of students

●

as a basis for designing tasks and projects.

What is a taxonomy? Time to hit the dictionary and find out the meaning of taxonomy and cognitive, psychomotor and affective.



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One issue relating to objectives that the taxonomies raise is the existence of the cognitive and affective domains. Few would argue that both knowing and feeling exist. Some would go so far as to suggest that one cannot exist without the other. That is, it is impossible to know something about which you have no feelings (awareness at the lowest level) or that you could develop feelings about something that you do not know. Obviously the two domains are so intertwined that it is impossible to separate them and to do so is to some extent no more than an academic exercise. However, there is value in identifying their existence when we realize that objectives are usually stated as relating to the cognitive domain. Perhaps this could pose a danger if the affective domain is ignored. This would be particularly dangerous if the higher level more general objectives were affective. As an example, consider the problem associated with a course designed to produce more courteous drivers (affective domain) which concentrated on driving skills and knowledge of road rules (cognitive domain). Below you will find a brief explanation of the levels of the cognitive taxonomy and some of the key thinking words. These are the verbs you use at the beginning of objectives to state what the learner is going to be able to do at the end of the period of teaching and learning. e.g. The student should be able to state, explain, evaluate etc.

Note: Writing objectives Some of your contexts will use the phrase The student will be able to ..... Consider what the differences are between “ will ” and “ should ” and why is one preferred over the other.

Bloom’s Cognitive Taxonomy

Remembering (originally called knowledge) Remembering previously learned material, e.g., definitions, concepts, principles, formulas. Some key thinking words: state, write, list, select, recall, name; define

Understanding (originally called comprehension) Understanding the meaning of remembered material, usually demonstrated by explaining in one’s own words or citing examples. Some key thinking words: explain, identify, discuss, describe, recognise

Applying (originally called application) Using information in a new context to solve a problem, to answer a question, or to perform another task. The information used may be rules, principles, formulas, theories, concepts, or procedures. Some key thinking words: apply, demonstrate, illustrate


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Analysing (originally called analysis) Breaking a piece of material into its parts and explaining the relationship between the parts. Some key thinking words: analyse, compare, distinguish, contract, differentiate

Evaluating (originally called evaluation and used to sit at the end of the hierarchy) Using a set of criteria, established by the student or specified by the instructor, to arrive at a reasoned judgment Some key thinking words: value, revise, evaluate, judge

Creating (originally called synthesis and used to come before evaluation) Putting parts together to form a new whole, pattern or structure. Some key thinking words: create, hypothesise, invent, design, compose

Note The cognitive taxonomy has undergone revisions. Look up the original version and note the changes. Why do you think t he taxonomy was reworded and reordered?

A point to keep in mind is that we “know” or “feel” at different levels. As an example we could say that someone knows their spelling and mean a range of different behaviours. We might mean that the student can recall a set of spelling from a given list. We might mean that a student can take known spelling and use them in the construction of written sentences. We might mean that a student can work out the spelling of previously unknown words. We might mean that the student is able to select the most appropriate method of spelling a word from a list of possibilities. Clearly each of these behaviours is different and some are more cognitively demanding than others. The use of Bloom’s Taxonomies has gone in and out of favour and in the 1970s and 1980s there was great debate on the pros and cons. However, with the national pushes for accountability and the call for “basics” (whatever these might be), the use of Bloom’s Taxonomies especially cognitive has been a common framework for building lesson plans. From what has been said above you might conclude that there is some disagreement about the importance of objectives in curriculum planning. It is not my intention to present you with a solution to this problem, but rather to make you aware of the issue and have you develop your own justified position. You should be aware that there are those who are strongly opposed to the statement of specific objectives on a wide range of grounds. Chief among these are the perception that the specification of behaviours involves the danger of missing out on the achievement of genuine educational outcomes which cannot be reduced to specific behavioural statements. You should consider this issue carefully in developing your lessons.



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You will see four boxes on the proforma entitled KNOW and Do. This is where you “translate” the teacher-talk of curriculum or syllabus outcomes and/or objectives into “kid” language. If your learners were to go home and explain to a sibling or parent or carer what they learnt in school that day and what they now can do, would they be able to? The explanation must be very straightforward language clear for the learner, but also for you to know exactly what it is you are teaching and why. Compare Bloom’s Taxonomies to the Productive Pedagogies http://education.qld.gov.au/public_media/reports/curriculum-framework/productive pedagogies/pdfs/prodped.pdf or Costa and Kallick’s Habits of Mind. http://www.instituteforhabitsofmind.com/what-are-habits-mind

Assessment and prior knowledge Assessment and prior knowledge have been placed t ogether because you need to know where the learners are before you can begin to decide where they should end up! Once you have decided on the outcomes and/or Objectives you need to set the Assessment. How will you know if they have learned what was intended? We use assessment to: ●

Promote and assist learning

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Inform our own teaching

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Gather data about achievement.

This essential area is covered in far more detail in EDC2300. Keep in mind that as well as ascertaining prior knowledge we need formative (that which assists on-going learning) and summative (which checks what learning has occurred) forms of assessment.

Content Learning in your content area in your first few years of teaching will keep you very busy. Some of you will find that processes whereby you learned concepts e.g. Mathematics have changed. Handwriting has changed. So content is both the actual “stuff” and the processes for learning. Content is not just the “what” but also knowing your way around the “what”. When planning for the content, you need to identify the key concepts you want your students to learn, and more importantly how they can become self-directed in their learning. You are no longer the “sage on the stage” but the “guide on the side”! A few key points to keep in mind when planning the content. Learning content is fraught with problems – what David Perkins calls “Fragile knowledge”. This fragile knowledge is under pressure when learners are exposed to searching questions, in tests or when they have to apply it in new contexts. When this happens, their sense of being is threatened and fragile knowledge hurts! He identified four forms: ●

●

Missing – the learner may have been physically away or they were there, but their mind was elsewhere Inert – that “I know I put it somewhere” feel ing. It is in there, but I don’t know how to find it.


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Naive – consider children’s and adults’ explanations of why the sky is blue, how the tides happen. Part of the answer is there, but the rest is misunderstanding

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Ritual – the “pat” answers which they have learned make teachers happy, but when pressed really do not understand. I could rattle off the formulas, but applying them was another matter!

So when planning the content keep in mind the misconceptions learners may have and make sure that you dispel them or ensure that they do not become entrenched. The second point – identify the key concepts you want them to master. You need to look at the content and sort it into MUST, SHOULD and NICE. The MUSTs provide you with the Key Concepts on your lesson proforma.

The temptation is to do the Nice to know as they often intrigue. However, be clear about the Must. You can use a Nice to hook learners in, but be careful that you move to the priorities quickly. And lastly, decide how the content will be organised. Will you provide an overview first with Advance Organisers? Or will this be a journey of exploration and it will become unveiled as you and the learners progress. Keep in mind that your own way of learning may influence your decision and not everyone learns as you do. The actual content itself may influence how you plan. For example, if the content had potential safety issues, then discovery learning may not be the “best” approach. One does not want “terminal” objectives in this context.

Reading activity Selected reading: Fetherston (2007). “The whole lesson?” pp. 257–281. (Available on DiReCt)

This reading provides an overview of the whole process of planning. We will cover learning experiences in far more detail in module 2. Later in the course we will revisit the importance of and processes of reflection in far greater detail. Selected reading VET students ONLY ●

Tovey, M.D., & Lawlor, D.R. (2008). Design and develop training, pp. 173– 214.



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Learning experiences and resources The Readings completed so far have begun t o address these. Keep in mind purpose, learners, contexts, variety, appropriateness, any safety issues (physical and emotional) and practicality when considering these. Activities and resources need to encourage higher order thinking and reflection and that does not mean they cannot be fun. However, be careful of choosing activities just because they are fun – there is a place for fun, but we are not paid as “entertainers” but as teachers. We will cover learning experiences in detail in module 2. Resources include the “hard” variety such as books, worksheets, paints, tools, footballs etc. The “softer” variety such as time, expertise, energy etc. And don’t forget to check if that CD player will be available, or that special room or outdoor area you want to use for a fun noisy activity is not going to interfere with learning in other classes!!!

Individual learning needs All students need learning experiences that are tailored to their needs. As Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development assures us real learning occurs if the learner is challenged at a level just above their current knowledge and skills level. However some students are more vulnerable to a sense of failure than others.

This area will be dealt with in greater detail in later courses. Keep in mind we need to really plan to cater for different types of learners: those who learn through pictures, through sound or by doing. Some have different “smarts” and have different forms such as visual, spati al, natural etc. Here I suggest you look up the work of Howard Gardner and the 8 intelligences. This site by Thomas Armstrong is a great introduction (accessed 25 June 2010). http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.htm


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Look carefully at the table below. Keep these questions in mind as you plan, teach and afterwards when you discuss how well it went with your mentor teacher and with colleagues. Technical

Contextual

Critical

How long will the lesson take?

How do I cater for individual needs?

Why am I going to teach this?

Do I know how to use the equipment?

What model will be appropriate? Do I need to change my plan to suit the dynamics of the group?

Why am I teaching this?

In Action

Does the level of engagement indicate that I am pacing this lesson well?

How could I teach this concept differently?

Why did I teach this?

On Action

What other resources would have been useful?

For Action

Why are the students responding in this way?

Was it socially just?

(Source: Adapted from Hinde-McLeod & Reynolds, 2003, p. 55.) ●

Some planning tips

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Ensure the purpose of lesson flows and connects

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Don’t take on too many outcomes per lesson

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Nominate no more that 2–3 Essential Learnings to be taught explicitly

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Ensure you have planned for a variety of grouping and learning strategies

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Ensure you have built in time for direct teaching when needed and be student-centred when best for their learning

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Ensure your teaching, assessment and focus are suited to the age group and context

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Consider the practicalities of time, access to resources and space

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Ensure you have considered different needs – physical, intellectual and social

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Assessment –provide for formative and summative, assessment criteria.

Pacing the learning Not all learners can move at the same pace – build in places for summary, re-cap and place for the early finishers to have productive exciting work to do. Do NOT give them more of the same otherwise they quickly learn not to finish early. Who wants to keep doing things one has already mastered? Have alternatives, challenges and work to encourage curiosity. Likewise, have materials which ask for the same skills or knowledge but at an easier level so the Minis of the world can achieve and eventually move to more challenging work. Some of the work by Carol Ann Tomlinson on Differentiated Curriculum has some excellent strategies for process and product such as using coloured dice with differentiated tasks, tiered activities and tiered assessment tasks. Three books are listed in the references and check the Library as I know one is avail able as an e-Book.



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Time This is the scarcest resource in a classroom – there is never enough! When you plan your time consider start up and close down time – you need to gain attention, focus the learners, and then close the gate. Plan for transition time – if they have to move around the room or go from place to place e.g. mat to desk, getting into groups etc. And the bane of our lives “evaporated time” – the time lost due to interruptions, having to remind learners of what to do and maybe what not to do, answering questions because learners were not listening or maybe you gave too many instructions at once and they beca me confused!

MOPFARM This is a good ruler to run over your lesson plan. If you have done these, then you are well on the way to a workable plan which caters for different learners. M for Multiple sense. We all learn differently – some need to see, others hear and others do. Sometimes known as the modes of learning – Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic (VAK). Building in different strategies which meet different needs is a critical part of effective teaching, learning and planning. O for Overlearning. That’s those Minis and Hummers again. Some will do the task once and they have it, the Minis may need a number of tries. What are you going to do for the Macks so they don’t get bored and ent ertain themselves by playing up! Most of us need to practice a few times to get it right and lay down those neural pathways! P for Primacy and recency – We remember first and last things. More than 10 “bits” and they forget the first! That is why summaries are critical throughout a lesson and again at the end. F is for Feedback – positive, constructive and timely. Beware the sandwich approach – say something positive, then the constructive criticism then something nice. What do they remember? Another way to think of the F is Feed Forward – how the learner can improve and the next steps forward. A is for Activity – learn by doing the task. Remember TEMPO and time on task. R is for Reward – Intrinsic and extrinsic. When will you give them? Do you agree with rewards? What are possible problems of giving lollies or sweets? Do we always give rewards? M is for Meaningful material can you answer “Why am I ask my students to learn this?”

Questions We will cover this topic in detail in the next module. Being able to ask effective questions of your students and of yourself is one of the essential skills you will need to develop as a teacher. And you need to plan these and prepare what you are going to ask and how!


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Key points related to objectives, taxonomies and prior knowledge ●

Objectives must be clearly articulated for both learner and teacher

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Bloom’s taxonomies are a useful planning tool

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Bloom’s cognitive taxonomy assists in the writing of objectives that progressively move up the ladder into higher order thinking processes

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To target planning it is necessary to ascertain student prior learning and knowledge

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All facets of a learning episode should be planned and MOPFARM can help the teacher check coverage of planning.

Reading activity Optional readings: ●

Arter, J., & McTighe, J. (2001). Choices, choices, choices, pp. 17–32. (Available on DiReCt)

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Morgan, N., & Saxton, J. (1994). A question of thinking, pp. 9–17. (Available on DiReCt)

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Marsh, C. (2008). Assessment and reporting, pp. 261–287. (Available on DiReCt)

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Newmann, F.M., & Wehlage, G.G. (1993). Five standards of authentic instruction. Educational Leadership, April, 8–12. (Available on DiReCt)

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Svinicki, M. D. (2004). Authentic assessment: Testing in reality. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, Dec 2004 Winter Issue (100), 23–29. (Available on DiReCt)

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Troutner, J. (2005). Best sites for assessment tools. Teacher Librarian, Oct 2005, 33(1), 42–43. Available on DiReCt)

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businessballs.com

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Newmann, F.M., & Wehlage, G.G. (1993). Five standards of authentic instruction. http://www.learner.org/workshops/socialstudies/pdf/session6/6.AuthenticIns truction.pdf



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1.4 Reflecting on practice Reading activity Text reading: Churchill et al (2011) Chapter 14 pp. 479 – 494 Selected readings: ●

Palmer, P.J. (1998). The heart of a teacher. Identity and integrity in teaching, pp. 9–33.

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Fetherston, T. (2007), Reflection, pp. 329–337.

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Barth, R.S. (2001). A community of learners, pp. 21–29.

Reading activity Sector specific readings: Voc Ed: ●

Yvonne Hiller, Y. (2002). Planning a learning programme. Chapter 4 in Reflective teaching in further and adult education. London: Continuum. (Available on DiReCt)

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Haycock, J., & Kelly, D, (n.d.) From “trade teacher” to “critically reflective practitioner”: The relationship between theory and occupational identity formation in TAFE teachers. Centre for Professional Education and Training Practice, Chisholm Institute. http://www.avetra.org.au/papers2009/papers/27.00.pdf

Early Childhood: ●

Dahlberg, G., Moss, P., & Pence, A. (1999). Beyond quality in early childhood education and care: Post-modern perspectives. London: Falmer Press, Chapter 7 pp. 144–158.(Available on Direct)

A focus on reflection With consideration of prac in mind and referring to the number of times that there are embedded reflecting questions within the course we are now going to look at the concept of becoming a reflective practitioner be exploring three topics: ●

Tacit knowledge

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Processes of reflection

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Becoming an effective teacher

We will look at ourselves as teachers-to-be: why we will do what we do; how our beliefs and values affect the choices we make about strategies and planning: and, the impact this can have upon our teaching and our learners’ learning.


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So much of what we do as teachers is unseen – it is like that iceberg, we see only one seventh of the mass. Look back to lecture 1 slides for a visual reminder. What is below the conscious and “seen” is our tacit knowledge. Think back to Module 1 and some of the differences between Novice and Expert teachers. So what is tacit knowledge?

Tacit knowledge The following paragraphs reiterate some of what was said earlier in the module – however they are worth revisiting. Those entering the teaching profession bring with them long-held and firmly rooted beliefs about what a teacher does, how classrooms and schools should operate and how teachers and learners should behave (Britzman, 1991; Connelly & Clandinin, 1988; Loughran, 1996; Zeichner & Gore, 1990). Tacit knowledge, knowing more than we can say, (Polyani, 1958; Schön 1983) is akin to “know how”, learned through experience and precedes articulated knowledge. For teachers this tacit knowledge involves cognitive models (paradigms, schemas, frames and scripts) and technical elements (concrete know-how, skills and crafts). It also includes t he knowledge of content, pedagogy, of the learners as a group and as individuals and the culture of the individual school and community plus knowledge of the interrelationships amongst all of these. Beginning and experienced teachers bring with them tacit knowledge of what works in teaching built on an apprenticeship of observation whilst they were learners in school. Strongly held beliefs which are usually tacit, may or may not be sensibly derived or consciously tested. The challenge for teachers, beginners and experienced, and teacher educators is to confront that knowledge and those beliefs about teaching and how they were acquired and evaluated in the first place (LaBoskey, 1994). Learning to teach is a tacit cultural process begun in school, continued in teacher education and in the schools themselves. The long apprenticeship of observation of teaching (Lortie, 1975) means it is easier to develop and sustain routines of habit which are comforting for both teachers and parents. Teaching is a conservative occupation and new teachers quickly become socialised into the school culture especially as that is what the system rewards. Conditions in the press of the classroom militate against reflection beyond the technical level, that is teaching techniques and classroom management and a means-end thinking dominates at class, school and state and national levels. It is risky for beginning, and experienced teachers, to raise questions about the curriculum, pedagogy, educational purposes and social and institutional contexts (Gore & Zeichner, 1995). Carson (1995, p. 151) states that “… teaching is always an uncertain enterprise in which teachers are called upon to respond pedagogically to unanticipated events”. However, becoming a proficient craftsperson has an inherent danger – it is easy to stop growing. Learning, and continuing to learn (Barth 2001), from experience is essential, but the disposition and attitudes necessary to replace unsubstantiated opinions with theoretical, moral, ethical and empirical principles based on grounded belief (Dewey, 1933; La Boskey, 1994) need to be continually developed and reinforced as teachers grow into the life and profession of being a teacher.



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A teacher’s knowledge of their craft is often tacit. For teachers this is knowledge of content, pedagogy, of the learners as a group and, as individuals and the culture of the individual school and community plus knowledge of the interrelat ionships amongst all of these. It is tacit because we “know more than we can say” (Schön, 1983, p. 51). It is the simultaneous processing of the “knowing that” (content ), “knowing how” (the ways and forms of practi ce) and “knowing with” (the use of the first two within specific contexts and conditions. This definition of tacit knowledge shares similarities to the process Yinger (1990) describes as improvisation and van Manen (1991) as tact.

Reading activity Selected readings: ●

Killen, 2009, Chapter 4: Becoming a reflective practitioner, (Available DiReCt) needs to be put up

●

Palmer, 1998, The heart of a teacher, pp. 9–33. The key point in this reading is:

...good teaching cannot be reduced to technique; good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher. (p. 10) Just who are you as a teacher? How would you like yourself to be described? One of the characteristics Palmer describes is “connectedness” – self, subject and students. He uses the metaphor of a weaving to capture the processes of teaching and learning. Pay careful attention to p.13 where he defines identity and integrity and how the stories of Alan and Eric demonstrate those definitions in action. Consider his point that “...teaching is always done at the dangerous intersection of personal and public life” (p. 17). What does this mean for you? How have you begun to build, honour and respect that “teacher within”.

This tacit “knowing” is non-linear, in that many aspects of one idea can be entertained at any given moment and always imbued with personal meaning and tact .

...teaching is not only governed by principles of effectiveness, but also by special normative, ethical or affective considerations...the head and heart working together knowing what is appropriate for the changing contexts in the group and for the individual (van Manen, 1995, p. 33).

To define reflection is in some ways like asking how long is a piece of string. The definitions of reflection, its application within learning, teaching and even teacher education abound with little consensus. There appears to be an underlying assumption that all teachers should use logical, rational, step-by-step analyses of their own teaching and the contexts in which the teaching occurs (Korthagen, 1993). However, the “surface” sense of similarity in meaning are deceptive, as reflection has very different connotations and purposes to different people, be they learner, teacher, teacher educator or researcher.


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A commonsense starting point for “reflection”, could be “looking back on an experience, trying to understand what happened and why”. To explore this somewhat basic definition a whimsical, but no less serious “tale” identifies a number of the key features of reflection “in” and “on” action. One day Pooh and Piglet (Milne, 1965) were in the forest following the track of a strange visitor. Soon another set joined the single set of tracks. The two animals became frightened as the tracks began to multiply: first one set, then two, then four! Trapped in their own “actions” they were unable to understand what was happening, why these “things” were happening and more importantly how they could stop or change them. Pooh and Piglet did not reflect on their experiences and therefore did not learn. It was only when Christopher Robin, sitting in a tree observing their behaviour, intervened “Silly old Bear. What are you doing?” (Milne, 1965, p. 37) that Pooh could understand and act upon his experience. Dewey (1933, p. 4) suggests that the “…perplexed wayfarer” may even “… climb a tree;” to look for “…signs, clues, or indications” to resolve the perplexity. Brookfield (1995) suggests that through reflection and its linkage to theory, we, as teachers, gain a language to name our practice and a way to break the circle of familiarity so that unlike Pooh and Piglet we do not fruitlessly continue to “hunt” ourselves! The initial commonsense definition can now be expanded to include and value the exploration of one’s perceptions and understandings of a specific experience; the ability to climb Dewey’s (1933: 14) metaphorical tree and regard the experience in a critical manner and lastly to change behaviour based on that critical reflection. Thus the definition of reflection could now be the process whereby we respond to experience and explore our learning and teaching practices. When we begin to reframe our understandings of why we do what we do we better understand the need to change practice to meet student needs (Brookfield, 1995 & 1990; van Manen, 1991). Reflection is more than “deckchair musing” and requires courage to set aside the demands of the performance aspects of teaching (Carson, 1995). It is an active process whereby we are required to hold out our beliefs, perceptions, actions and behaviours to better understand our own world views and how these may match or conflict with others. It will mean choosing to “burrow” through the “taken-for-granteds (Greene, 1986), to “stir the chalkdust (Wasley, 1994), to penetrate the habitualness of teaching” (Freire, 1972) and to think critically and adopt a critical attitude. One is required to step beyond single to double-loop learning (Argyris and Schön, 1978). To remain at single-loop learning means one detects errors often at a private and tacit technical level and introduces changes to one’s practice, but the central theory-in-action with its norms and value systems remains unchanged. To move to double-loop learning means that important errors are still detected, but now the strategies, assumptions and norms involved in effecting and evaluating the performance are explicitly and publically examined. The consequences of double-loop learning may be the setting of new priorities and weighting of norms or even reconstruction of those strategies, assumptions and norms.



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In the “Reflective Practitioner” Donald Schön (1987) speaks of reflection as knowing-inaction. The following article raises the point that emotional discomfort is a sign of reflective practice in action (http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/pte/module2/rp.htm ), as it explores the complexities of becoming a truly reflective practitioner. At the school in which I was music teacher for many years we had a saying “No Pain – No Gain!” For us this meant having the deep collegial discussions that made us feel uncomfortable, that challenged the assumption that because we were working really hard then we must be doing a “good job”. Much of this involved looking at data in a way that helped us to clarify what understandings the students had and in so doing we realised that and changed our collective and individual practice in order to achieve better outcomes. Staff committed to undertaking individual action research within their own classrooms to help clarify what was and was not working well for our learners in our context. This research gave us the tools, the knowledge and the language with which we could evaluate our own practice at a deeper level and provided the reflective plane from which we could challenge our beliefs and assumptions to the degree that our thinking and pedagogy changed in order to alleviate the discomfort that arose with the realisations of where we were letting our students down. In some educational contexts the variables that govern the way we teach are contested and debated within an even wider framework of the critical issues about politics, ethics and even the morality of teaching (Smyth, 1987). So why bother with reflection? Reflection is a means of sustaining one’s professional health and competence; a means to clear the tangle of espoused theory and actions and create space for coherence and cohesiveness (Carson, 1995), a time when we can “… construct and reconstruct our understandings of ourselves as teachers, our students as learners and the classroom as a setting for learning” (Beattie & Conle, 1996, p. 312).

Reading activity Selected reading: Fetherston (2006), Reflection, pp. 329–337.

As you work through this reading please pay attention to the Contemplations – reflection is not learning about, but doing.


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Reflecting as a “novice” teacher Beginning teachers are required to cope with all the pressures to survive in the classroom coupled with the perceived “rightness” of their own ideologies built from years of experience as learners and members of a specific class and cultural group. So why bother beginning teachers to learn the processes and purposes of reflection? The first reason is that the learners, teachers, community and society are in a state of upheaval, an economic, technological and sociological earthquake. Teachers, whether they are Novice or Expert, are required to cope with and manage those changes as they apply to a learning context, be that of school, vocational college or even university. The process and practice of reflection are central to coping with the upheavals, uncertainties and ambiguities of change. For Queensland teachers – we have been through Outcomes, New Basics, Essential Learning in the last 10 years and the National Curriculum is nearly upon us! An experience we have to become used to – everything keeps changing! You may wish to look at Educational Leadership edition Teaching for the 21st Century, vol. 67 (1) as great resource on the challenges we will all face and Moran (2002) and Edgar (2000). http://education.qld.gov.au/etrf/whitepaper/pdfs/whitepaper.pdf http://education.qld.gov.au/corporate/qse2010/pdf/learningtolivewithcomplexity.pdf Secondly, if we accept that learning is central to teaching and reflection is central to learning (Loughran, 1996), then the “habits”, dispositions or virtues of the reflective practitioner need to be encouraged and reinforced throughout the period of teacher education. If teachers are to be thoughtful professionals reflecting on their craft, then they must develop and retain the mindset and disposition of a learner. Dewey in (1904/1962, p. 20) stated that:

Teacher education should be pointed towards making the professional student thoughtful about his work in the light of principle rather than to induce in him recognition that certain special methods are good, and certain other special methods are bad. Dewey (1933) listed as essential for reflection: open-mindedness, whole-heartedness and responsibility.

Open-mindedness is an “an active desire to listen to more sides than one; to give heed to facts from whatever source they come; to give full attention to alternative possibilities; to recognize the possibility of error even in the beliefs that are dearest to us (Dewey, 1933, p. 30)”. It is being “hospitable” to new themes, facts or questions by moving out of the rut of least trouble and least resistance as, “external monotony and internal routine are the worst enemies of wonder” (Dewey, 1933, p. 52).

Wholeheartedness occurs when one is totally immersed in solving a problem and being prepared to risk finding answers. Questions occur to him spontaneously; a f lood of suggestions pour in on him; further inquiries and readings are indicated and followed; instead of having to use his energy to hold his mind to the subject, the material holds and buoys his mind up and gives onward impetus to thinking (Dewey, 1933, p. 31).



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Responsibility requires one to, “extend and unravel the thoughts taken up by an open mind” (Loughran, 1996: 60) and to be prepared to consider the consequences of following an action through to its conclusion unlike the teacher in the film “Dead Poet’s Society” who encourages the students “to seize the day” but leaves many ill-equipped to handle the consequences of such an action. “Any decision will effect the future and any future is not acceptable” (LaBoskey, 1994, p. 13). Readiness to consider in a thoughtful way (Dewey, 1933) requires courage and practice. If the habit of reflection can become established during the early days of becoming a teacher, then there is a chance that the practitioner may rise above history (personal and institutional), tradition, authority and circumstantial analysis and evaluation of events and reasonings.

Reading activity Selected reading: Barth (2001). A community of learners, pp. 21–29.

Take heart from the first paragraph in this chapter – as a beginning teacher you are the “voracious learners” but likewise take warning from the next paragraph. We forget that teachers can become “at risk”. To avoid anoxia, we need to remain open to learning, to take on Dewey’s three dispositions of openness, whole-heartedness and responsibility and be prepared to critically reflect on our practice.

The classroom environment influences reflective practice The classroom environment can encourage a means-end thinking so that the focus of reflection is on the individual solving immediate “technical” problems of classroom organisation and teaching strategies. There is little time or thinking space for issues such as the purposes of the curriculum and education let alone the social and institutional context in which the teaching takes place. If teachers are to be the creators, engineers and moral guides of learning, then they need the dispositions, habit and time to engage in reflection at all three levels: technical, practical and critical and be in a learning environment which supports their moves to restructure their practice. The Smyth (1987, p. 216) model provides a useful framework to identify the progressive stages of the reflective process as experienced by teachers and learners: they describe, inform, confront and restructure. Action

Question

They describe what happened

What did I do?

They question what the experience meant

What does this mean?

They confront their own value systems

How did I come to be like this?

They reconstruct

How might I do things differently?


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Describing – What did I do?

Teachers begin to develop their “third eye” on their teaching through journals or diaries or ePortfolois – the written “evidence” of what has happened can be revisited and shared. When experiences are visited in our memories, they tend to become re-written especially with the re-telling! Writing means one has to be clear about what actually happened. The focus of the writing is on who, what, when and where. Narrative provides a new arena for the describing of what is done and allows it to be shared with other learners and teachers. Informing – What is the meaning within my teaching?

This occurs when the broader pedagogical processes, the learning and teaching theories which underpin our action are unpicked or untied. When the beliefs which helps us make sense of those situations, moments, critical incidents which occur in our teaching experiences, are brought forward and examined, we are asking what they meant for us and for our learners. Each of us brings a suitcase filled with our experiences from our schooling with all the rules, principles and procedures we endured or enjoyed! Through the sharing of experiences and narratives there is an opportunity to reflect on one’s own meanings and to have those meanings questioned by one’s peers in a safe environment. By questioning the meaning we begin to get behind the “habits” and “taken-for-granteds”, the tacit knowledge of how we teach and learn. The answers provide us with the first tools to empower ourselves as teachers and as learners of teaching. Confronting – How did I come to think like this?

This is the stage when teachers and learners have to move out of their comfort zones, a time of discomfort, disequilibrium, a time when change may occur, and learning. Teaching is never innocent, never value-free. To find answers to the question How did I come to think like this? one has to identify, clarify and accept or reject the values which underpin one’s beliefs about the teaching and learning process. e.g. A teacher may insist that students complete a task before moving on to a new task. What values are behind this belief? Where did this belief come from? Why does a teacher keep hanging onto this belief when it is blatantly obvious there are times when situations change and one can’t finish the immediate task. Is it a realistic expectation? As we reflect-in-action this question of “What does this mean?” is central. Tripp (1993, p. 142) states that “ ... the judgements teachers make come more from their understanding of the situation and who they are than from any set of teaching procedures that they may follow.” Think back to the 5.1 Palmer reading. The following questions proposed by Smyth (1987, p. 222) provide valuable prompts to explore “How did I come to be like this?” ●

What do my practices say about my assumptions, values and beli efs about teaching?

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Where did these ideas come from?

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What social practices are expressed in these ideas.

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What is it that causes me to maintain my theories?

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What views of power do they embody?

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Whose interests are served by my practices?

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What is it that acts to constrain my views of what is possible in teaching?



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Dislodging those beliefs, and even illusions, is difficult, sometimes painful or even dangerous. These beliefs are part of who we are, part of our self concept, they give direction and meaning to our life. Yet rarely are they exposed to the light of scrutiny. Once exposed, we have the choice to continue with these beliefs or to change. It is the choice, and knowing why the choice was made i.e. not “learning blind” (Schön 1990, p.137), which is important. Reconstructing – How might I do things differently?

There must be an active dimension to reflection otherwise we remain at only speculative. If we introduce change, we know why. If we choose not to change, we know why not. It is no longer a case of it just feels right or “learning blind” (Schön 1990, p. 137). Rather there has been the opportunity to learn what Schön (1990, p. 125) describes as “disciplined freedom”. As we develop as teachers we develop our teacher voice – the way we describe our understandings, our confusions, our successes, our failures. The way we voice these understandings can be “reproductive” in that they describe what has occurred or they can be “transformative” and create new realities. The traditional transmission model of learning and teaching is now being challenged by the constructivist paradigm whereby learners (and teachers) internalise, reshape or transform new information: a process which requires reflection by agents conscious of their own development. Learning can then become a dialogue where students (and teachers) are helped to name, honour and understand their own experience (Wasley 1994). An additional thought – reflecting on Learning Space

As you grow in confidence as a teacher you learn to be more comfortable with standing back and reflecting on all aspects of your performance. Sometimes the learning that occurs in the classroom can be strongly influenced by the most fundamental aspects of how your classroom is laid out – where students sit, where you stand and what sort of displays and images greet your students each day. Teachers need to be conscious of the impact of the learning environment itself. A quality learning space is aesthetic and functional. It is a classroom which is conducive to learning and where students can feel a sense of place and belonging. There are several layers at which reflection can take place

The first level, technical or instrumental, is the “How To” of teaching. Schön (1983, p. 68) raised concerns about teachers who remain locked at an automatic pilot level of technical expertise.

They have become too skilful at techniques of selective in-attention, junk categories, and situational control, techniques which they use to preserve the constancy of their knowledge-in-practice. For them uncertainty is a threat; its admission is a sign of weakness. Despite Schön’s (1983) vehement disparagement of technical rationality, these critical aspects of the instrumental aspects of “knowing” in the first years of teaching are highly valued by Novice and Advanced Beginner teachers and should not be dismissed as irrelevant. They are very relevant to beginning teachers. This level of knowing provides a basis for the surprise and wonder: the impetus to move to the second level of reflection. The danger inherent in reflecting only at this technical level is that the question “Why am I doing this?” is not asked. External bureaucratic bodies, usually at state and national levels, predetermine the ends of efficiency, effectiveness and economy as the evaluation standards of success. These predetermined ends and the institutional contexts of classroom, © University of Southern Queensland

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community, society are regarded as unproblematic. These “Tips for Teachers” can become armour we use to ward off the unexpected and to control engagement, to become codified as espoused theory (Carson, 1995). However, experience can thin, dint or buckle the armour when one’s values are in conflict with the presupposed means and ends. The attitude of openness can clear the spaces and open up opportunity for reflection at the second level: practical. The second level has various labels: practical, contextual or situational. At this level technical or instrumental problems still require deliberation and action for a solution, but now there is a relativistic quality i.e. importance of understanding a particular context before acting. The theoretical and institutional assumptions behind the curriculum, pedagogy, goals, competing educational ends and the potential effects of the actions are now considered. Classroom routines and rituals are re-considered as routines embody meaning. At the technical/instrumental level the teacher takes the privileged knowledge and applies it to instrumental problems of practice. At the second level of reflection the emphasis is on the development of one’s own theories of teaching. Within this theory there needs to be an understanding of why certain choices are made and how these choices are constrained by context and influenced by history, social and institutional factors and one’s personal value system. Teachers at this second level of reflection need to analyse and clarify their own individual and cultural experiences, as well the meanings, perceptions, assumptions, prejudgements and presuppositions they carry about teaching and learning i.e. how their own educational histories are embedded within their practice. When teachers begin to reflect upon the existence and role of competing educational goals and the hidden curriculum, at personal, institutional and national levels, then they move to the third level of reflection: that of the morally, ethically and politically critically aware practitioner. Reflection at this third level, critical or emancipatory, involves becoming aware of the influence of one’s socio-cultural context and the underpinning ideologies which constrain or support the various power groups. Critical questioning of what is taught, to whom, why and how is central to this level of reflection. The moral and ethical implications of pedagogy and school structures are open for debate. Whose “knowledge” is valued and why? What is regarded as true, important and relevant in the culture? What gets spoken about: what remains unsaid. Ends and means are now problematic as they interact and intersect with specific contexts. Consider some of the ideas in Module 4 about how curriculum is defined and the forms of the hidden curriculum. To accept this personal construction of teaching as a moral enterprise involves the questioning of the “taken-for-granteds” and the competing views, and gaining control over them. Teaching expertise is now characterised at both the adeptness at the technical level and the willingness to demonstrate openness, wholeheartedness and responsibility when deliberating on the worth of what is learned and the manner of its learning.

To educate is to teach in a way that includes an account of why you do as you do. While tacit knowledge may be characteristic of many things that teachers do, our obligation as teacher educators must be to make the tacit explicit. Teachers will become better educators when they can begin to have explicit answers to the questions: “How do I know what I do? How do I know the reason for what I do? Why do I ask my st udents to perform or think in particular ways?” The capacity to answer such questions not only lies at the heart of what we mean by becoming skilled as a teacher; it also requires a combining of reflection on practical experience and reflection on theoretical understanding (Shulman, 1988, p. 33).



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Reading activity Selected reading: Woods (1997). Is teaching a science or art?, pp. 3–17.

For many beginning teachers you want to know “How to do it!” and that does fit under science but teaching is a complex activity which requires you, the individual, to connect with the learners to construct meanings together. This cannot be reduced to a formula. And this is where the art comes in. There is art in the practice, and art in the science of designing the context for the art to occur. Rather than isolating the two there is a symbiotic feeding and building upon each other.

Summary: Module 1 It is very easy as a beginning teacher t o become locked into the science of planning, but there is a real art that needs to happen. The flow, sequencing and choices are all a part of the art as is how you plan to include all learners, to encourage them to step into the unknown, into their zone of proximal development and how you will build a relationship of trust with those learners. The content, activities, readings and reflections for this module have been extensive and have been designed to assist you in your first professional attachment. Throughout this module the role of your own beliefs and values has been emphasised. What we value and believe influences our choices in what and how we teach. And in the kind of environment we want to create in our classrooms with our learners. We have looked at: ●

Becoming the teacher you want to become

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Pedagogical principles

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Taxonomies

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Curriculum frameworks and change

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Planning principles

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Some tips for planning

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Outcomes-based education

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Lesson formats

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Key components of a lesson plan ●

Writing objectives

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Assessment and prior learning

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Content and key concepts

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Learning experiences and resources

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Reflections


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Reflection: Essential questions How could a learner’s background e.g. cultural, socio-economic, gender influence your planning? How can a teacher’s background influence their planning?

This brings Module 1 to a close and forms the basis of your understandings for your first assignment and in readiness for your first professional experience.



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Recommended references Brookfield, S. (1990). The skillful teacher . San Francisco: Jossey Bass. Eggen, P.D., & Kauchak, D.P. (2006). Strategies and models for teachers teaching content and thinking skills (5th ed.). Boston: Pearson. Fetherston, T. (2006). Becoming an effective teacher . South Melbourne: Thomson. Killen, R. (2009). Effective teaching strategies: Lessons from research and practice (5th ed.). South Melbourne: Cengage Learning Australia. Marsh, C. (2008). Becoming a teacher: Knowledge, skills and issues (4th ed.). Frenchs Forest: Pearson. McLeod, J.H., & Reynolds, R. (2003). Planning for learning . Tuggerah, NSW: Social Science Press. Morgan, N., & Saxton, J. (1994). Asking better questions. Markham, Ontario: Pembroke Publishers Ltd. Pratt, D., & Associates (1998). Five perspectives on teaching adults in higher education. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. Tomlinson, C.A. (2003). Fulfilling the promise of the differentiated classroom: Strategies and tools for responsive teaching . Alexandria, Vermont: ASCD. Tovey, M.D., & Lawlor, D.R. ( 2008). Training in Australia. Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson. Wasley, P. (1994). Stirring the chalkdust: Tales of teachers changing classroom practice . New York:Teachers College Press. Whitton, D., Sinclair, C., Barker, K., Nanolohy, P., & Nosworthy, M. (2004). Learning for teaching. Teaching for learning . Southbank, Victoria: Social Science Press.

Other general reference sources Aoki, T. (1993). Contestaire: Themes of teaching curriculum. In T. Aoki (Ed.), The call of teaching (pp. 111–114). Vancouver, BC: British Columbia Teachers’ Federation Program for Quality Teaching. Arter, J., & McTighe, J. (2001). Scoring rubrics in the classroom: Using performance criteria for assessing and improving student performance (pp. 17–32). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Barth, R. (2001). Learning by heart . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Benner, P. (1984). From novice to expert excellence and power in clinical nursing practice . Menlo Park, California: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co.


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Berliner, D.C. (2004). Describing the behaviour and documenting the accomplishments of expert teachers. Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society, 24(3), 200–214. Bloom, B., Engelhart, M., Furst, E., Hill, W., & Krathwohl, O. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals: Handbook 1 . New York: Longman. Brady, L., & Kennedy, K. (2005). Celebrating student achievement: Assessment and reporting (2nd edn). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson. Brady, L., & Kennedy, K. (2010) Curriculum construction (4th ed.). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson. Brookfield, S. (1995). Becoming a critically reflective teacher . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Brookfield, S. (1990). The skillful teacher . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Brown, G., & Atkins, M. (1988). Effective teaching in higher education. London: Routledge. Carson, T.R., & Sumara, D.J. (1997). Action research as a living practice. New York: Peter Lang. Cochrane-Smith, M. (2002). The outcomes question in teacher education. Paper presented at Challenging Futures in Teacher Education Conference, Armidale, NSW. Cohen, L. (1993). Stranger music. New York: Pantheon. Costa, A.L., & Kallick, B. (2000). Assessing and reporting on habits of mind . Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Costa, A.L., & Kallick, B. (1995). Shifting the paradigm: Giving up old mental models. In A.L. Costa & B. Kallick (Eds.), Assessment in the learning organisation . Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Delors, J. 1996. Learning:the treasure within. Report to UNESCO of the International Commisssion on Education for the Twenty-first Century, (accessed 5th March 2009) http://www.unesco.org/delors/ Dreyfus, H.L., & Dreyfus, S.E. (1986). Mind over machine: The power of human intuition and expertise in the era of the computer . New York: The Free Press. Dewey, J. (1933). How we think . Boston: DC Heath. Eraut, M. (1994). Developing professional knowledge and competence. London: The Falmer Press. Flanders, N.A. (1967). Teacher influence in the classroom. In E.J. Amidon & J.B. Hough (Eds.). Interaction analysis: Theory, research and application. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley. Herman, J.L., Aschbacher, P.R., & Winters, L. (1992). A practical guide to alternative assessment . Alexandria, VA: ASCD.



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Hill, A. 2006. Making sense of methods in the classroom. A pedagogical presence. Toronto: Rowman & Littlefield Education. Hosford, P.L. (1984). The art of applying the science of education. In P.L. Hosford (Ed.), Using what we know about teaching (pp. 141–166). Alexandria, VA.: ASCD. Huberman, M. (1993). The lives of teachers (translated J. Neufield). New York: Teachers College Press. Kerry, T. (1982). Effective questioning: A teaching skills workbook . Macmillan: London. Killen, R. (2009). Effective teaching strategies: Lessons from research and practice (5th ed.). South Melbourne: Cengage Learning Australia. Kounin, J. (1970). Discipline and group management in classrooms . New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. La Boskey, V.K. (1994). Development of reflective practice: A study of pre-service teachers . New York: Teachers College Press. Le Francois, G.R. (1985). Psychology for learning (5th ed.). Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Company. Lortie, D.C. (1975). School teacher: A sociological study. Chicago: Chicago University Press. McTighe, J., & O’Connor, K. (2003). Seven practices for effective learning. Educational Leadership, 63(3), 10–17. Marsh, C. (2004). Becoming a teacher: Knowledge, skills and issues (3rd ed.). Frenchs Forest: Pearson. Marzano, R. (1992). A different kind of classroom: Teaching with dimensions of learnin g. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Morgan, N., & Saxton, J. (1994). Asking better questions. Markham, Ontario: Pembroke Publishers Ltd. Newmann, F.M., & Wehlage, G.G. (1993). Five standards of authentic instruction. Educational Leadership, 50(7), 8–12. Palmer, P.P. (1999). The courage to teach. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Perkins, D. (1995). Outsmarting IQ: The emerging science of learnable intelligence. New York: The Free Press. Perkins, D. (1992). Smart schools: Better thinking and learning for every child . New York: The Free Press. Pratt, D., & Associates (1998). Five perspectives on teaching adults in higher education. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. Rosenthal, R., & Jacobson, L.(1968). Pygmalion in the classroom . New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, Inc. © University of Southern Queensland

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Rowe, M.B. (1974). Relation of wait time and rewards to the development of language, logic and fate control. Journal of Research in Science Teaching , 11(1), 291–308. Schon, D.A.(1983). The reflective practitioner . London: Temple Smith. Stronge, J. (2002). Qualities of effective teachers. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Svinicki, M.D. (2004). Authentic assessment: testing in reality . New Directions in Learning, (100), 23–29. Taylor, C.S., & Nolen, S.B. (2005). Classroom assessment. Supporting teaching and learning in real classrooms . Upper Saddle, NJ: Pearson.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary (6th ed.). (1976). Oxford: Clarendon Press. The Macquarie Dictionary (2nd ed.). Sydney: The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd. Tomlinson, C.A. 2003. Fulfilling the promise of the differentiated classroom: Strategies and tools for responsive teaching . Alexandria, Vermont: ASCD Tomlinson, C.A. (2001). How to differentiate in mixed-ability classrooms (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle, New York: Pearson. Tomlinson, C.A. (1999). The differentiated classroom. Upper Saddle, New York: Pearson. Troutner, J. (2005). Best sites for assessment tools . Teacher Librarian, 14811782, Oct 2005, 33(1), 42–43. van Manen, M. (1991). The tact of teaching . Albany: State University of New York Press. Wasley, P. (1994). Stirring the chalkdust: Tales of teachers changing classroom practice . New York. Teachers College Press. Wehlage, G.G., Newmann, F.M., & Secada, W. (1996). Standards for authentic achievement and pedagogy. In F.M. Newmann & Associates (Eds.), Authentic achievement: Restructuring schools for intellectual quality (pp. 21–48). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2003). Understanding by design: Teaching and assessing for in-depth, engaging and effective learning . Professional Workshop. San Francisco: ASCD. Yinger, R. (1990). The conversation of practice. In R.T. Clift, W.R. Houston, & M.C. Pugach (Eds.), Encouraging reflective practice in education (pp. 73–94). New York: Teachers College Press.



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Recommended references about reflection Barth, R.S. (2001). Learning by heart . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Brookfield, S. (1995). Becoming a critically reflective teacher . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Fetherston, T. (2007). Becoming an effective teacher . South Melbourne: Thomson. Palmer, P.J. (1998). The courage to teach: Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher’s life . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Stronge, J. (2002). Qualities of effective teachers. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Woods, P. (1997). “Is teaching a science or an art?” In K. Watson, C. Modgil & S. Modgil (eds.). Educational dilemmas: Debate and diversity, vol. 1 (pp. 3–17). London: Cassell.

References Argyris, C., & Schön, D.A. (1978). Organizational learning: A theory of action perspective . Reading Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. Bamberger, J. (1991). The laboratory for making things: developing multiple representations of knowledge. In D.A. Schön (Ed.), The reflective turn case studies in and on educational practice (pp. 37–6). New York: Teachers College Press. Beattie, M., & Conle, C. (1996). Teacher narrative, fragile stories and change. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 24(3), 309–326. Britzman, P. (1991). Practice makes practice: A critical study of learning to teach . Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. Brookfield, S.D. (1990). The skillful teacher . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Carson, T.R. (1995). Reflective practice and a reconceptualisation of teacher education. In M.F. Wideen & P.P. Grimmett (Eds.), Changing times in teacher education. Restructuring or reconceptualisation (pp. 151–162). London: Falmer Press. Carter, K. (1993). The place of story in the study of teaching and teacher education. Educational Researcher , 22(1), 5–12, 18. Connelly, F.M., & Clandinin, D.J. (1988). Teachers as curriculum planners: Narratives of experience. New York: Teachers College Press. Dewey, J. (1933). How we think . Boston: D.C. Heath. Dewey, J. (1962). The relation of theory to practice in education . Cedar Falls, Indiana: Association for Student Teaching (original work published 1904).


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Edgar, D. (2000). Learning to live with complexity. Social trends and their impact on Queensland education.(accessed 9 September 2009). http://education.qld.gov.au/corporate/qse2010/pdf/learningtolivewithcomplexity.pdf Greene, M. (1986). In search of critical pedagogy. Harvard Educational Review, 56 (4), 427– 41. Freire, P. (1972). Pedagogy of the oppressed . London: Penguin. Handy, C. (1989). The age of unreason. London: Business Books Ltd. Hill, A. (2006). Making sense of methods in the classroom: A pedagogical presence . Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Education. Korthagen, F. (1993). Two modes of reflection. Teaching and Teacher Education , 9(3), 317– 326. LaBoskey, V.K. (1994). Development of reflective practice: A study of preservice teachers . New York: Teachers College Press. Lortie, D.C. (1975). Schoolteacher: A sociological study. Chicago: Chicago University Press. Loughran, J.J. (1996). Developing reflective pratice: Learning about teaching and learning through modelling . London: Falmer Press. Milne, A.A. (1967). Winnie-The-Pooh. London: Methuen. Moran, T. (2002). The next decade. A discussion about the future of Queensland state schools.(accessed 9 September 2009) Noddings, N. (1991). Stories in dialogue. Caring and interpersonal reasoning. In C. Witherell & N. Noddings (Eds.), Stories lives tell: Narrative and dialogue in education (pp. 157–170). New York: Teachers College Press. Nonaka, I., & Takeuchi, T.H. (1995). The knowledge-creating company. New York: Oxford University Press. Polyani, M. (1958). Personal knowledge: Towards a post-critical philosophy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Pratt, D., & Associates (1998). Five perspectives on teaching adults in higher education. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. Russell, T., & Munby, H. (1991). Reframing: The role of experience in developing teachers’ professional knowledge. In D.A. Schön (Ed.), The reflective turn (pp. 164–187). New York: Teachers College Press. Schön, D.A. (1990). Educating the reflective practitioner . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Schön, D.A. (1987). Coaching reflective t eaching. In P. Grimmett. & G.L. Erickson (Eds.), Reflection in education (pp. 19–29). New York: Teachers College Press. © University of Southern Queensland


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Schön, D.A. (1983). The reflective practitioner . Temple Smith: London. Shor, I. (1980). Critical teaching and everyday life. Montreal: Black Rose Press. Shulman, L.S. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57 (1), 1–22. Shulman, L.S. (1988). The dangers of dichotomous thi nking in education. In P. Grimmett. & G.L. Erickson (Eds.), Reflection in education (pp. 31–38). New York: Teachers College Press. Smyth, J. (1987). When teachers theorize their practice: A reflexive approach to distance education. In T. Evans & D. Nation (Eds.), Critical reflections on distance education (pp. 197–233). London: The Falmer Press. Tripp, D. (1993). Critical incidents in teaching . London: Routledge. van Manen, M. (1995). On the epistemology of reflective practice. Teachers and Teaching Theory and Practice , 1(1), 33–50. van Manen, M. (1991). The tact of teaching . Albany: State University of New York Press. Wasley, P.A. (1994). Stirring the chalkdust: Tales of teachers changing classroom practice . New York: Teachers College Press. Yinger, R. (1990).The conversation of practice. In R.T. Clift, W.R. Houston & M.C. Pugach (Eds.), Encouraging reflective practice in education (pp. 73–94). New York: Teachers College Press. Zeichner, K.M., & Gore, J.M. (1990). Teacher socialization. In W.R. Houston (Ed.), Handbook of research on teacher education (pp. 329–34). New York: Macmillan.


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Module 2 – Questioning, teaching strategies, differentiation and assessment Learning outcomes On successful completion of this module, you should be able to: ●

formulate quality questions for different purposes

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consciously engage all students in the answering of questions

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select or construct strategies appropriate to the content of the lesson or unit of work

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select or construct appropriate resources to support the delivery of the lesson or unit of work

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be conscious of the need to align assessment with content

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recognise the need for ongoing monitoring

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determine assessment for learning strategies

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recognise the necessity to assess prior knowledge as well as conducting formative and summative assessment

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appreciate the importance of balance when selecting teaching and assessment strategies.

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reflect on your learning in order to grow as a teacher.

Readings Module 2 Read according to when mentioned in Module or Study Schedule

Text readings Churchill et al, (2011), Chapters 8, 11, 13 and part of Chapters 1, 3, 12 &14 Frangenheim (2006). pp. 36–50 & pp. 62–66

Selected readings Davidson, M. Microskills teaching strategies for classroom management. http://www.icvet.tafensw.edu.au/ezine/year_2006/may_jun/litreview_classroom_managemen t.htm Jacobs, G.M., Power, M.A., & Wan Inn, L. (2002). Helping groups that aren’t functioning well, pp. 141–148. (Available on DiReCt)


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Levin, B.B., Dean, C.D., & Pierce, J. W. (2001). Frequently asked questions about problem based learning, pp. 121–132. (Available on DiReCt) Morgan, N., & Saxton, J. (1994). A question of thinking, pp. 9–17

Sector specific readings: Voc Ed

Tovey & Lawlor (2008). Deliver training, pp. 216–247. ABC of VET http://www.dest.gov.au/sectors/training_skills/publications_resources/profiles/ anta/profile/abc_of_vet_training_packages.htm

Introduction Four main questions will be answered throughout this module: ●


●


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How can I best meet the needs of individual learners?

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2.1 How can I ask better questions? If full time teachers spend 18% of their teaching day asking questions, that would average about 30 000 questions a year. So for a skill we spend a lot of time doing, we need to get it right! Socrates was the first recorded person to say that questions were more important than answers. You may have heard of the Socratic approach to teaching used in Paedia schools where a whole section of a lesson is planned around questions, responding to answers and discussion. Socrates used questioning as a teaching method and is sometimes called the “father” of Western intellectual thought because he believed that by questioning people are kept intellectually honest. Yet what was his fate? He published nothing. His wife regarded him as lazy, unemployable and unreliable. He was judged by his peers as a menace to the youth of Athens and he was asked to remove himself by drinking hemlock. Why? The city fathers wanted answers not questions. As teachers we need to be on the alert – are we in the business of transferring answers or partners in the process of facilitating learners to become askers of questions and to own the answers they develop? Infecting minds with questions can be dangerous (think of Socrates) – you cannot predict the outcomes and that is what makes teaching and learning such an exciting profession. Socrates said “All things begin with wonderment.” – and we have a critical part to play in engendering that wonderment in children and all learners, including ourselves. To develop a “thinking classroom” you need to develop and refine your skills as a questioner and more importantly model these so that your learners will learn how to ask questions in their own right.



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In this topic we will cover; the “why and how”. The subtopics will be purposes, delivery (framing, direction, types and use of wait time), handling answers, some of the “pitfalls” to try and avoid, and the advanced skills of redirection, prompting and probing. Questioning has been likened to mental massage for learners and teachers!

Purposes of questions – Why do we ask questions? If you do a scan of the literature, these are some of the answers you would find. ●

To motivate learners

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To promote thinking

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To promote independence

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To develop reasoning skills

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To involve learners

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To obtain feedback

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To stimulate curiosity

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To challenge

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To intrigue

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To encourage reflection

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To discipline.

We will return to that discipline one later! Let’s look at the positives first. These purposes can ask us to: (You don’t have to answer the questions!) ●

Define

What is the meaning of the term “taxonomy”? ●

Exercise judgement

What are the pros and cons of using Bloom’s taxonomies in planning our lessons? ●

Appreciate beauty

What feelings does the artist express in this picture? ●

Apply information

How can we use Bloom’s Cognitive taxonomy when planning our questions? ●

To interpret data

From the temperature graphs on the board, how would you compare the climate of Townsville with the climate in Canberra?


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To organise data and their own ideas

How can we arrange a table to show the same quantities as common fractions, decimals and percentages? ●

To analyse statements and ideas critically

Under what conditions could the statement “seeing is believing” be wrong? ●

Make comparisons

How could big differences in climate influence how people live? ●

Focus attention on cause and effect relationships

How can serious drought affect our household budgets? ●

To evaluate

In our study of China, what have they produced which has benefited all people? ●

To be more creative

What cooking techniques could we use to make our meals more interesting?

Delivering those questions Planning our questions is essential. This planning involves the words we want to use, how we will deliver them, how we will handle answers and how we will use wait time to encourage answers.

Framing those questions ●

Questions need to be worded simply . You are not testing their language decoding skills. This is especially important if asking Higher Order Thinking questions (HOTs) involving analysis, synthesis or evaluation. e.g. What happens when I ask a question and while you are working out the answer, I ask another, or try to help or re-phrase the first question? Hint: Avoid using negatives as they require a learner to decode before they can even begin to answer and you may be giving a BIG hint as t o the answer you want!!

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Questions need to be well defined. Avoid ambiguity – e.g. Have you stopped beating your spouse? cannot be answered without getting into a difficult situation! Be concise – avoid “wordy” introductory statements One problem per question i.e. avoid the “double barrel questions” so beloved by journalists interviewing politicians!



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Questions need to be reasonable. Learners must have a chance of answering. e.g. How many jelly beans in the jar? This is almost impossible to answer correctly. The focus needs to be within their knowledge and/ or experience.

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Questions need to be demanding They need to challenge, entice curiosity and provoke thought. They need to be within the zone of proximal distance (ZPD) of the learner. The concept of ZPD is associated with the work of Lev Vygotsky and is the distance between where a learner is now and the place where he/she would like to be with the assistance of a capable “other” (that’s you sometimes). Think of me being short and always needing t o reach for what I wanted. If I can succeed enough times, then I will keep trying. If I don’t succeed enough, I will stop trying. Your task is to gauge how far above my ZPD you can pose that question so that I have a chance of succeeding even though you know I will have to think and maybe you will have to prompt if I need a little assistance.

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Questions need to be relevant They must contribute to the objectives of the lesson. And this is where those discipline questions can be a problem. The child is swinging back on his chair.

What are you doing Murgatroyd? This can lead to a discussion which has nothing to do with the lesson and the rest of the class is now off task, bored or even joining in for a bit of fun. So be careful of using questions for discipline as they may not be adding anything and even can detract. Think of other strategies. e.g. Four on the floor Murgatroyd. Thank you.

Question types There are a multitude of different question types so let’s just focus on the key ones.

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Open or divergent questions – there are many possible answers and many will be correct.

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e.g. What did you have for breakfast?


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Closed or convergent questions – there is one correct answer

e.g. What are the names of the three taxonomies Benjamin Bloom devised? There are three basic strategies: Overhead, Direct and Indirect. All can be effective in certain contexts. ●

Overhead – the question is posed to the whole class and anyone may answer

e.g. What is the capital of Patagonia? ●

Direct – Name the person then pose the question

e.g. John, what is the capital of Patagonia? These questions are often threatening to the poor individual named who may dissolve into a quivering mess, can’t answer, feel s foolish and that you are picking on them! The rest of the group has breathed a sigh of relief they didn’t get that question, often turn off mentally and go to their own thoughts which may be far more interesting than the geography of Patagonia! ●

Indirect – sometimes known as the four P’s – Pose, Pause, Pounce (or Pick )and Praise!

e.g. What is the capital of Patagonia..., John? This type of question shares the characteristics of an overhead in that all are required to think, but can manage the who and unlike overheads reduces chances of “call outs”. Hint: Practices to avoid are double barrels, too many rhetorical questions as it can be confusing as to whether you really want an answer and those leading questions where you give the hint to the answer you want. e.g. Do you think that ... And starting a question with “ Can...” When you ask a question beginning with Can anyone... or Can you ..., you set yourself up for no answer or a “No” or maybe a “Yes”... Then where do you go?

Directing those questions Directing those questions can be a trap if you do not pay attention. Consider this picture of a “traditional” classroom layout. Where did you sit? When you were in “trouble” where did you have to sit?



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(Source: Kerry, 1982, p. 10)

I used to sit in the far corner. Why? If you are facing a group, there is what we call the normal arc of vision. Group A fits squarely into this arc. Group B are picked up by peripheral vision and the Cs and Ds can slide away. I sat in D as I wanted to be involved but on my terms and I knew teachers kept an eye on those back corners as that is where those “trouble makers” and avoiders sit! So if you want to be in but not in, then seats in C are a good place to hide. Consider if you favour one side of the room – that can be influenced by where you stand. Do you ask boys more “discipline” questions? Do you ask girls more lower order questions? One of the best ways to check on your patterns of questioning is to ask someone to observe what kinds of questions you use and where do you direct them in particular, or even tape yourself daunting as that may sound! In a classroom at any level of instruct ion from pre-primary to adult if students are working on a task either individually or in a group there is a tendency for the teacher/instructor to drop comments in from time to time which students are expected to take note of. Often questions are also asked from random points around a room. Many teachers wonder why they have to continually repeat clearly articulated comments or question in this manner. What do you think the answer may be to this perplexing question? Is it really just because kids don’t listen anymore? Is it because they don’t care so don’t bother? Or could there be a problem with the method of teacher delivery?


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Mark Davidson (2004) from Tropical North Queensland TAFE (http://www.icvet.tafensw.edu.au/ezine/year_2006/may_jun/litreview_classroom_manageme nt.htm) shares many microteaching strategies that really work in any learning context. In the scenario above he would raise the point that if students are truly concentrating on the task at hand then it takes a few moments from them to register that someone else is speaking – once the teacher voice is registered the listener has to decide whether what is being said is actually relevant to the whole class or just a specific group – on deciding that it is important in his/her context the student tunes in only to find that what was being said is half over and therefore the thread has been lost. Sometimes students half guess from the bit that they do hear and then get it all wrong making it worse than if they had never listened at all. Imagine how much worse this situation becomes if there is a child with some measure of hearing loss in the classroom. What about the Aspergers child who may be easily distracted by irrelevant noises like the clicking of a fan or the tapping of a shoe and who often feel too insecure to ask for the question or comment to be repeated? So what can you do to make things a little easier for your students? One possibility is to have a space where you stand when important information is to be delivered. A bell or a double clap from that position requires immediate undivided attention from your students. They will quickly learn to zone in if you adhere to this listening protocol. What other strategies could be used? (Accessed 28th June 2010) http://www.icvet.tafensw.edu.au/ezine/year_2006/may_jun/litreview_classroom_managemen t.htm

Wait time after questions and answers Okay! You now know that you have your student’s attention – then what? Ned Flanders (1967) investigated teacher talk in classrooms and devised what is known as the 2/3 Rule. Someone is talking 2/3 of the time in class. The teacher is doing 2/3 of the talking. Learners get 1/3 of the talk time. i.e. 30 learners get 26 seconds per hour and 2 1/6 minutes per day.



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Little wonder learners quickly disengage and the teacher doesn’t remember where the time went and to whom! Asking questions is one way to increase learner air time, but they need to know they are listened to and that their answers are valued. We need to give learners thinking space if we want answers above the basic one word response or even no response. If you learn that there is only minimal time available, then you learn to reply with one word answers which require minimal mind engagement. The research by Rowe (1974) found that teachers do not use wait time – most had 1–2 seconds so little wonder learners disengaged. Learning to live with silence and space is hardest for the teacher, but if you want learners to think you need to give them time – 4–6 seconds is recommended. When we give t hinking space: ●

length of student responses increases

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others join in by providing answers

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the “Don’t knows” decrease

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the answers often have evidence attached to them demonstrating the ability to provide reasoned answers

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students themselves begin to ask questions

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you demonstrate that you care about their answers.

Teachers do need to work on that wait time after questions, but consider the benefits of wait time after an answer is given and often when only the first part of an answer is given. Too often we hear the first few words, say “right” and move onto the next question. If you wait 1–2 seconds after an answer of a higher order question, there are a number of benefits. ●

You listen to all the answer and can check for accuracy, quality of thinking and maybe they come up with something you had not thought of!

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If learners know you listen and value their responses, they will put more into the quality of their answers.

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Everyone gets to hear and listen to the answer, which gives you the opportunity to then seek clarification, consensus or even different interpretations.

Did you come up with others? Share these on the discussion board.

Reflection: Essential questions Consider the statement below in italics.

Good teachers never ask any questions. What is your immediate response? Now re-think and adjust how you might “say” this with different emphasis and put in the punctuation.


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Reading activity Selected reading: Morgan & Saxton (1994). A question of thinking, pp. 9–17. (Available on DiReCt)

As you work through this reading pay particular attention to how they have used Bloom’s cognitive taxonomy, the way the questions are framed and posed and especially how the teacher handles the answers.

Handling student answers Firstly, try not to get into the habit of repeating a student’s answers unless you know it can’t be heard e.g. In a lecture theatre!

Reflection: Essential question Why is it best not to make a habit of repeating student answers? (Think about listening skills, think about ownership of answers, think about building a learner-centred learning context.)



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Voice and intonation How we say words and sentences can have different interpretations. Often it is not what you say, but how you say it that has the most impact. Consider this response:

“That is all the information you have found?” How you said that statement could have a variety of interpretations. ●

There isn’t any more?

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The resource centre is more inadequate than I realised.

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There is more and you are too lazy to look it up.

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Others have found more.

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Perhaps I gave you insufficient directions.

Verbal reinforcement You will need to again watch what you say. It is easy to get into habit saying “Good” all the time. You need to develop a spread of responses so that they reflect the quality of the response and they retain a freshness and authenticity. Also be careful of going overboard when someone who rarely answers finally does. “That was fantastic. Amazing. Phenomenal” for a response to a knowledge level question is a tad over the top. Use words such as “That’s interesting. I’d never thought of that before” . “Good point”, but again it must be genuine. Learners have well developed “garbage detectors”! You can use a piece of their answer if you then extend the questioning. You have demonstrated that you were listening, valued their answer and approve. We need to reinforce correct answers, but how do we handle the not quite right or off the track responses. Some suggestions are: ●

Remember our focus is ...

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Yes, those ideas will be useful later

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Yes, I am not sure we share enough of your referenc e points to take your meaning.

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I am not sure I understand. Give us an example of how ...

Non-verbal reinforcements Learners are very good at reading non-verbal cues. Be wary of those non-verbal leaks when you say one thing, but your body means another. Words and non-verbals need to match – congruency – because if the non-verbal does not match, learners will trust the non-verbal as it is harder to lie with our bodies! So what are those non-verbal cues?


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Eye contact – keep in mind different cultures interpret this in different ways Facial expressions – raised eyebrows, closing the eyes and smiling, but also curling your lip, rolling your eyes. Body gestures – nodding or shaking the head (even slightly), fi nger-pointing, shrugging shoulders and silent look or scan to name just a few. Again keep in mind non-verbal gestures are culturally defined and what is positive in one culture can be insulting in another. Consider the “thumbs up” signal! Body position – Where and how you stand or sit. Your posture – leaning back or forward, What you are doing with your arms and fi ngers and don’t forget the feet! When I was on one of my professional attachments, my mentor teacher commented on my laid back posture. Not her style which was more of the ramrod! However, all I had to do was slowly straighten and learners quickly learned that I was watching them or wanted their attention. And all done without words or interrupting my actual teaching or their learning!

So when handling answers consider how you would like to be treated. For example, if they did not respond using the words you expected, but were correct, don’t just re-phrase into your words without checking it is OK when putting it onto a board or piece of butcher’s paper. e.g. “You are right. Is it OK if I phrase it this way?”

Things to try and avoid ●

Manipulating responses by non-verbal signals. Facial expressions – that little frown or narrowing of the eyes that says “You are getting it wrong” Gestures – the dismissive turn of the head!

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Non-verbal utterances – that sigh “Yes, Mary” or the indrawn breath which could mean “What nonsense”.

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Sarcasm – look at the cartoon at the beginning of this section!

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Vague and ambiguous statements “Oh I suppose that answer is close enough.”

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Leaping to your own conclusions.

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Yes, but … and Yes and .... Both assume control and take initiative away from learners and there is unspoken criticism of the learner’s ideas.

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Reacting to every contribution – good, right well done. Again the focus is on the what the teachers says.

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Reinforcing prejudices – try statements such as “Whatever do you mean by that, it’s not worthy of you” or ignore and move on.

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Asking questions students cannot possibly know the answer to. e.g. “Guess what we are going to do today!”

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Asking for choral answers.

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Answering your own question – and that is not as rare as you might think!



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Counter questioning – again focus goes to the teacher who knows “best”. Student: “What kinds of dogs did Scott take to the Pole?” Teacher: “What breed do you think would suit those conditions?” Student: “I don’t know” (that’s why I asked you!)

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Asking questions already answered – unless being used as a summary function and even then should ask learners to connect information and form conclusions. Not enough wait time after questions and answers.

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Re-directing till you get the “right” answer.

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Leading questions – “You wouldn’t want to do that, would you?”

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Insincere praise.

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Double barrels.

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Too many questions at once.

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Asking only the brightest or most likeable.

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Not indicating a change in level of thinking required. You may have been working with them at knowledge level and then shift into high gear and ask an evaluation level question without warning them they need to change gear. That is like asking the brain to go from first to fifth in one switch! Failing to build on answers. Not correcting wrong answers. Hearing only what you want to hear.

Don’t be too concerned if you do some of these when you first begin to teach, we all do. The trick is to learn not to! My strategy when I started teaching to make me listen and not interrupt, was to put my finger on my lips as a reminder to “Shut up”! But it also looked as if I was listening intently. Eventually I learned to listen! There are many different question pathways that can be used to promote thinking. Here are a few:

(Source: Brown & Atkins, 1988, p. 74)


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Questions that elicit information The main reason that teachers ask questions is usually to find out what students know. Here are some examples that you could use in Assignment 2: Recall facts

What is the formula for …? Would you summarise the points so far? What do we know now? Supply information and/or suggest implications

When the principal asks you to explain the arrangements, what will you tell her? With all the extra time this will require, are you still prepared to undertake this project? Reveal experience

What sort of ideas do you have when y ou hear the phrase “rights of the individual”? What kinds of experience lead people to behave that way?’ Unify the class

Are we all agreed on that…? Has anyone anything to add? Establish or help manage group behaviour

How will you arrange yourselves in the group? Who is responsible for keeping notes? Establish the ‘rules of the game’

What do we need to remember about listening? What are the rules about…? Establish procedures

Do we need to make a note of this? How can we do that more efficiently? What do we need to know now? Where can we find that information? Consider the last three categories – how much do they add to the purpose of the learning? They are important for the smooth flow of a lesson, but be careful they do not take over!



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Questions that shape understanding At other times teachers ask questions to shape understanding. Making connections – to use what they know and apply it to a new context.

What connections are there between this and the kind of thing which happen in our own lives? How would it change your lives if you were in a similar situation? What does it mean when ….? Rethink or restate by being more accurate or specific

To press for intellectual clarity if emotion is clouding the meaning. This is a quote the class is examining. “… I believe that the whole state of higher education is going to get worse. If my subject was flourishing and universities were being treated in a more civilised way, it would be different…” (Blackburn, 1988).

What do you mean by ‘civilised’? How do you perceive “it would be different?” Can you put that in a way that the general public would understand? Promoting expression of attitudes, biases and points of view

To clarify attitudes, be able to appreciate different viewpoints, to understand how emotions are attached to ideas. The learners were reading an article on a controversy to do with logging and the need to preserve the natural environment.

Who would want to be in the logging industry today? Would you rather preserve the environment and be unemployed or preserve your job and let nature look after itself? Where do you stand on this? As a citizen what are your concerns? Demanding inference and interpretation

These questions require learners to consider, justify and/or explain statements and conclusions. The learners were reading an article on computers and teaching science

How would you explain to the people who hold the purse strings that computers are an important and necessary part of the learning of science? What might be implied by the statement that “...”? How will literacy teachers perceive this expenditure on your area?



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Focus on meanings behind the actual content.

Learners are required to tap into their prior knowledge and apply it to the current context. The learners had read an article about early forms of communication in Australia especially how letters were sent.

What connections are there between this and the kind of things that happen in our lives? How would it change your life if letters disappeared? What has changed in our lives that makes letters almost not needed any more? How would people have communicated with the bigger towns in an emergency?

Questions that ask learners to reflect Develop suppositions or hypothesis

Learners are being asked to think creatively about facts (and that may mean breaking laws of logic!) MAN BITES DOG! ●

I wonder what drove the man to bite the dog?

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I wonder if they will have to put him down?

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What will the man have for dessert?

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Suppose the man was a veterinarian – what then?

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What might the neighbours say!

Focus on personal feelings

You are asking the learners to express and share personal feelings. The learners are discussing what homesickness feels like to them.. ●

Why is it you sometimes feel homesick even when you are at home?

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What was in your mind as you read ….?

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Is there any place to which you would never return? Why? What might be your concerns when you move to ….?

Focus on future action/projection

Learners had read the first chapter of a narrative: ● ● ● ●

What might happen next? How might the last line affect ...? What are the consequences for ...? Do words such as … and …. have any special meaning in this narrative?



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Develop critical assessment/value judgements

In one particular classroom learners are being asked to look at their own value systems, to find a balance between feelings and intellectual analysis. They were shown this plaque from Voyager and the information below. Then several complex questions were asked.

The Pioneer plaques are a pair of gold-anodized aluminum plaques which were placed on board the 1972 Pioneer 10 and 1973 Pioneer 11 spacecraft, featuring a pictorial message, in case either Pioneer 10 or 11 are intercepted by extraterrestrial life. The plaques show the nude figures of a human male and female a long with several symbols that are designed to provide information about the origin of the spacecraft. The Pioneer spacecraft were the first human-built objects to leave the solar system. The plaques were attached to the spacecraft’s antenna support struts in a position that would shield them from erosion by stellar dust. The Voyager Golden Record, a much more complex and det ailed message using (then) state-of-the-art media, was attached to the Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pioneer_plaque.svg (accessed 20.10.2010) ●

How would you design a plaque that more truly communicates life on our ‘planet’?

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How can we justify the money spent on space exploration?

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Does it really matter if there is life in outer space? Why? Why not?

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Where would you place the value of space exploration in relation to the needs of the Third World?

All of these questions require planning and forethought and are not the kinds of questions you can rattle off the cuff.

Reading activity Selected reading: Morgan & Saxton (1994). A classification of questions, pp. 41–51.


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Teachers often use “Any questions?” at the end of a session when learners’ minds are already disengaging, they want to go and who wants to admit they do not understand something! The question becomes a stock ending and it is part of the learner “game” is not to ask any! Consider some of these alternatives: ● ●

How does this match with your experience? Which particular points did you find useful?

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How does this tie in with ...?

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How would you summarise this lesson?

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What have you learned?

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What has been useful to you?

I find that these three “Back Talk” questions promote valuable responses. You can use them orally or build them into your classroom practices by selecting three students each day/lesson to respond. They can respond in class or you can use index cards with the following questions. ●

What surprised you about today’s lesson?

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What challenged you about today’s lesson?

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What is still not clear?

They are a great way to get feedback (remember MOPFARM), but you must read them and follow up on the ideas presented. Initially you may not get in depth responses, but once the learners know you are listening and take appropriate action to help them with their learning, the types of responses improve. It is that stuff about trust and credibility again. A fundamental “Way of Working” (the WOW’s) within every KLA within the Queensland Essential Learnings framework relates to students reflecting on their learning. Therefore the ability to formulate and ask quality questions that suit the learning task and /or context is one of the most fundamental skills that a Queensland teacher is expected to display in the classroom. If you think about this further it is also one of the most fundamental skills of life as without the ability to reflect and think critically about reflection (metacogntion) then as consumer we run the risk of being “taken for a ride” on a regular basis.

Reflection: Essential question What has surprised and/or challenged you about the topic on questioning? Take some time and answer the question – and yes it is a double barrel! Consider where you will need to focus your learning and consider how you could extend your understanding of questioning skills.

It is very easy for us to slide into a teacher-centred approach using our newly developed skills of questioning. How can you promote your learner s to use some of those advanced questioning skills? If we want our learners to demonstrate the skills identified in Delors’ (1996) Four pillars, how do we promote questioning learners. And that takes us back to Socrates who said the questions are more important than the answers!



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This module continues now by focusing on assisti ng you build your repertoire of teaching strategies. There is no way we can cover all the possibilities. We all develop our own “favourites” but we need to be careful that we do not teach the way we learn best. You may love lectures, readings and making sense on your own, yet others love to work in groups and thrive on discussion and discovery.

2.2 What sort of teaching strategies should I use? Reading activity Text reading: Churchill et al. (2011). Chapter 8, pp. 250–260.

These are just some of the names given to various teaching strategies: ●

Direct instruction or Explicit teaching model

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The co-operative learning model

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Problem based learning

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Concept attainment

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The inductive model

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Inquiry based learning

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Training model

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Play-based learning.

Sector tutorials will delve into some specific strategies most applicable to your context. As a group we will explore the first three in detail as they are the ones most commonly used in classrooms (in varied forms); secondly, they represent opportunit y for group learning and individual learning and thirdly, aspects of each can be integrated and adapted to suit proposed outcomes, assessment requirements, context differences and the needs of a variety of learners. They also build on the work we have already done with Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Strategies should be chosen to enhance principles of practice Strategies should be chosen to enhance certain principles of practice. For example if one of your teaching principles is to be ‘inclusive’ then it is important to consciously select strategies that utilise different student learning styles and multiple intelligences e.g. the use of mind mapping to cater for your visual learners or a musical multiplication jingle to cater for the audio and musically ‘smart’ students in your classroom. Thinking back to the Horse and Cart drawing on your Study Desk (apologies to those of you who know what a horse should really look like) it is the horse Pedagogy that drives the cart full of curriculum content forward. The direction that the horse goes is dependent on the principles chosen. Unfortunately many schools have no clear direction forward – one teacher will be heading right while another is going left and the poor beginner teacher is not sure who to follow and goes round in circles in the middle somewhere. © University of Southern Queensland

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Within Queensland State Schools the Pedagogical Framework adhered to is called the Productive Pedagogies Framework. This is the one you visited in Module 1 and I suggest you revisit these four principles – Supportive Environment, Intellectual Quality, Connectedness and Recognition of Difference – regularly as we explore different teaching strategies. Those of you who are visual learners, like me, may like to keep the Productive Pedagogies Mind Map on hand. In other states and countries you will have different pedagogical frameworks within which you are encouraged to work e.g. in Victoria the framework is referred to as PoLT (Principles of Teaching and Learning). http://www.education.vic.gov.au/studentlearning/teachingprinciples/onlineresource/default.h tm Before choosing teaching strategies, we need first to be clear about three things: ●

We need to be clear about the knowledge associated with the content. Be careful, we often assume certain content can only be taught certain ways – often the way we learned it! However, when there are safety issues, then consider if discovery learning would be most appropriate? Plus consider what you have learned how that knowledge is defined by certain groups and for what reasons.

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We need to be clear about our knowledge of how people learn. This is where your study in educational psychology and human development can assist. Plus keep in mind we all learn in different ways, so we need to apply that knowledge of our learners to our decision making.

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We need to be clear about our values and beliefs – our own principles of practice as opposed to collective ones in the form of a Pedagogical Framework. This is where you begin to apply the knowledge you gained in module 1 of this course.

When we look at the overlaps of those three things listed above, we are beginning to define our own pedagogical content knowledge. Strategies are the actions and materials selected for communicating the content and ensuring the attainment of the outcomes and/or objectives of the curriculum. From this definition it is clear that strategies play a central role in the curriculum. If inappropriate strategies are selected, the outcomes and/or objectives of the programme will not be realised. Consider the situation in which the purpose of a programme is to encourage more extensive recreational reading. If inappropriate strategies were employed, it could result that while quite proficient in the skills of reading that the participants had grown to dislike reading as a result of their experiences and thus never opened another book. In such a case, the poor selection of teaching strategies has led to a complete failure of the programme. Some writers prefer to discuss learning experiences in preference to teaching strategies. This is certainly understandable when the focus is on the experiences in which the learner actually engages. The essential difference between teaching strategies and learning experiences is that the strategies are the techniques employed by the teacher in attempting to ensure that the learner obtains the intended benefit from exposure to the curriculum. Learning experiences are the actual activities and resultant learning which the learner undergoes as a result of exposure to the curriculum. Clearly, the difference lies in that the former is an integral part of the plan while the latter is a result of the implementation of the plan. The two are closely related as, if the plan is implemented in accordance with the desires of the developers, the experiences should match the strategies if the selection is appropriate.



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In a case where the strategies are not implemented as intended or where the strategies included in the plan do not promote the intended outcomes, there will be a discrepancy between the teaching strategies intended for implementation and the learning experiences resulting from the actual implementation of the plan. As could have happened in the reading skills example above. Strategies and experiences must each be considered in the development of the other. If a teacher is focussing on teaching strategies, care should be taken to ensure that no strategy has been included that has not been considered in the light of the experiences such a strategy is likely to promote. In the same way, no teacher could really indicate the experiences which learners are to be involved in without considering what strategies are most likely to result in these experiences. In selecting teaching strategies the teacher needs to be aware of a range of sources from which appropriate strategies may be drawn. Some strategies may relate to generic types of outcomes and could thus be employed whenever this type of outcome is desired. Examples of these types of strategies would include skill development strategies. Such strategies are based on the assumption that in developing skills it is always necessary to establish the importance of the skill, to demonstrate the entire skill, to demonstrate a component of the skill, to have the learner practise the skill components while receiving feedback and to practise the entire skill with feedback. Those who support such strategies would thus employ this framework in all skill development. Other strategies may have been developed for specific purposes even though those purposes may arise frequently. An example of this type of strategy would be the question sequence developed by Hilda Taba (1962) for developing concepts. In using this strategy the teacher employs a sequence of questions which require the learners to list various facts of which they are aware, then to group these facts by some abstract quality and then to name that quality as a concept (see 2.4.5 in this module). While the facts and concepts would differ in each use of the strategy, the same sequence of questions would be used on each occasion that a concept was to be developed and thus the process of concept development would be taught in conjunction with the specific concepts and facts employed in each individual case. Still another type of strategy arises from the disciplines of knowledge. What is it that a historian does that differs from what other subject specialists do? One possible answer to this question is that historians reconstruct the past by analysing original documents. Thus the analysis of original documents may be incorporated into any course based on history as an appropriate teaching strategy.

Considerations to keep in mind when selecting a strategy In considering strategies not only are t he methods of instruction employed considered, but also such issues as the timing, location and resources to be employed as part of the teaching provided. These considerations will all relate to the quality of the experience in which the learners participate.


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Time and space As part of your planning you considered the concepts of breadth and depth as they related to scope. As part of the selection process for teaching strategies you must consider similar issues. The time available for the presentation of the curriculum is set even to the point where certain KLAs receive a greater time allocation that others. You must ensure that the time needed to undertake your proposed activities (strategies) will fit within the time allocation. You will also need to consider the relationship between the time needed to implement different strategies and the time to be allocated to different aspects of the content. A plan which allowed little time for the coverage of a specific area of content, but incorporated a time intensive strategy to explore that content is obviously heading for trouble. The availability and appropriate use of space must also be considered as one aspect of strategy selection. Different strategies need different spatial organisations. For example, it is very inefficient, not to mention uncomfortable, to present a lecture to students who are not all facing the lecturer. Similarly, to arrange a group discussion session in a lecture theatre where the students are arranged in long rows and have difficulty in facing each other is inappropriate. Below are some questions for you to keep in mind when choosing a strategy in terms of time and space: 1. Consider the time allocation you have made for each of your proposed strategies. Would this time allocation allow the students to fully participate in the experiences your strategies are designed to promote? 2. Might it be possible to provide alternative strategies for students within a single time frame? Would there be any advantages to this mode of time organisation? 3. Consider each of the strategies you have selected for inclusion in your programme. What would be the most appropriate spatial arrangement for each of these strategies to be most effective? Are such facilities available? 4. Are there alternative sources of the information you intend to present readily available? Would these locations (field trips, library, etc.) be more appropriate learning spaces? If you incorporated these learning spaces, would you need to modify your proposed strategies?

Resources In constructing a lesson/unit of work it is also essential to select those materials which are regarded as most appropriate in helping to achieve the desired outcomes. These materials are usually referred to as resources. The wide range of resources existing include text material, audio-visual and digital materials, human resources as well as a variety of media for presenting the information included in the actual materials. In selecting resources a teacher needs to consider the relationship between the resource and the other elements of design incorporated in the lesson/unit of work. While it is possible that a resource is considered so effective that a lesson/unit of work is designed about it, this is not a common occurrence. Examples of this type of planning would include the adoption of a reading scheme which predetermines the objectives, content, strategies and assessment activities which are to be included in the lesson/unit of work Another example of this dominance of the lesson/unit of work could be seen in the development of teacher proof packages which were designed to be implemented as they stood with no modification from the teacher. An example of such a curriculum was Man: A Course of Study. In this type of



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package the curriculum development had been undertaken by the designers of the materials. Thus all the elements were incorporated into the resource. The choice of such packages reduces the role of the teacher to selecting between competing packages and to implementing the package in the manner in which its designers intended. Those of you in the Vocational Education and Training sector would be familiar with learning packages which were often designed to “teacher-proof” the learning process. It is more usual for a teacher to seek materials that will facilitate the implementation of a lesson/unit of work in which the outcomes and/or objectives, content, strategies and assessment components have been selected. In this case the resources must be related to the other elements of the plan. The resources must facilitate the attainment of the outcome and/or objectives in that by interacting with them the learners will experience opportunities to achieve the stated outcomes and/or objectives. For example, if an objective of a course indicates that a student should be able to translate his/her mother tongue to Indonesian then the resources must include materials that facilitate such translations. In this case, the provision of a selection of appropriate passages for translation. Such passages would need to be organised about the important skills involved in the translating and would need to focus on the different problems associated with translating. In addition, in the case of each skill, it would be expected that a series of passages would be included in order of increasing difficulty. In the example described above it should be noted that the resources relate not only to the outcomes and/or objectives, but also to the content and strategies to be employed in the planned lesson/unit of work. It would also be expected that the assessment/evaluation in such a lesson/unit of work would involve the use of some of the selected resources as a test of the effectiveness of the instruction and of the ability of the students. When resourcing your planning ask yourself the following: ●

Review each of the teaching resources you have listed.

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Does the resource reflect the content of the course?

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Would the resource help in achieving the stated outcomes and/or objectives of your plan?

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Would the resource be capable of use in the strategies you have decided to incorporate into your lesson or unit?

Reject any resources which do not agree with other elements of your plan even if they are “fun”!

Consider the resources you have selected in relation to your overall plan. Are there any objectives or content areas that are under resourced? Seek resources to meet these needs. Consider alternative resources. Have you considered the use of visiting specialists/speakers? Could use be made of alternative means of presentation – film, video, DVD, computer software or on-line sites, etc.? Make a final list of your selected resources. Will this require any changes to the plan you have developed? You should be able to justify each item in your resources as the best available under the circumstances in which your lesson or unit is being developed.


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Classroom management Another consideration which should be addressed in the development of a lesson or unit plan is the method or methods of class organisation that are most appropriate. Within this aspect of strategies an important issue is the type of class organisation to be used in each segment of the plan. There will be occasions when large group activities such as the presentation of content or the giving of instructions are appropriate while on other occasions small group work, tutorials or individual work will better fit the need. The decisions as to which methods of class organisation need to be incorporated into your plan is an integral component of the development of that plan. Other aspects of classroom management such as the methods of distributing work reflecting excellent standards, the methods of recording attendance, the collection and distribution of assessment items, the arrangement of displays, etc. are all issues that should be integrated into your plan if they relate to the situation in which it is to be implemented. Keep these ideas in mind as we progress through. It would be useful for you to set up a recording system such as the table below so that you can keep track for the future and to assist in your reflections. Strategy

Time and space

Resources

Classroom management

Comments

Co-operative learning

What teaching strategies promote learning? Teachers need to consider a wide range of possible teaching strategies before making a final selection. Marzano (2003) has identified the following instructional categories and the behaviours sucessful teachers demonstrate. The table below is from Marzano (2003, pp. 82– 83). Keep in mind that in the US “ instruction” equates to “ teaching ” in our context.

Note: Lesson plans and unit plans In the table below unit is used, these behaviours are just as relevant and applicable at the individual lesson plan level. Specific details on unit planning are beyond the scope of this course.



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Instructional categories divided into specific behaviours General instructional category

Identifying similarities and differences

Summarising and note taking

Reinforcing effort and providing recognition

Homework and practice

Nonlinguistic representations

Co-operative learning

Specific behaviours ●

Assigning in-class and homework tasks that involve comparison and classification

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Assigning in-class and homework tasks that involve metaphors and analogies

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Asking students to generate verbal summaries

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Asking students to generate written summaries

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Asking student to take notes

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Asking students to revise their notes, correcting errors and adding information

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Recognising and celebrating progress toward learning goals throughout the unit

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Recognising and reinforcing the importance of effort

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Recognising and celebrating progress toward learning goals at the end of a unit

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Providing specific feedback on all assigned homework

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Assigning homework for the purposes of students

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Practicing skills and procedures that have been the focus of the instruction

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Asking students to generate mental images representing the content

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Asking students to draw pictures or pictographs representing the content

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Asking students to construct graphic organisers representing content

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Asking students to act out content

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Asking students to make physical models of content

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Asking students to make revisions in their mental images, pictures, pictographs, graphic organisers and physical models

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Organising students into co-operative groups when appropriate

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Organising students into ability groups when appropriate


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General instructional category

Setting objectives and providing feedback

Generating and testing hypotheses

Questions, cues and advance organisers

Specific behaviours ●

Setting specific learning goals at the beginning of a unit

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Asking students to set their own learning goals at the beginning of a unit

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Providing feedback on learning goals throughout the unit

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Asking students to keep track of their progress on learning goals

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Providing summative feedback at the end of a unit

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Asking students to assess themselves at the end of a unit

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Engaging students in projects that involve generating and testing hypotheses through problem solving tasks

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Engaging students in projects that involve generating and testing through investigation tasks

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Engaging students in projects that involve generating and testing through experimental inquiry tasks

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Engaging students in projects that involve generating and testing through system analysis tasks

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Engaging students in projects that involve generating and testing through invention tasks

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Prior to presenting new content, asking questions that help students recall what they might already know about the content

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Prior to presenting new concepts, providing students with direct links with what they have previously studied

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Prior to presenting new content, providing ways for students to organise or think about the content.

You may wish to follow up Marzano (2001), Churchill et al (2011) and Frangenheim (2007) as all these texts provide details and examples of many more ideas! Joyce, Weil and Calhoun (2004, p. 7) state that:

Successful teachers are not simply charismatic and persuasive presenters. Rather, they engage their students in robust cognitive and social tasks and teach the students how to use them productively. © University of Southern Queensland


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Joyce et al (2004, pp. 26–34) categorise teaching models into a series of “families”. The Information Processing Family ●

Inductive

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Concept attainment

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The Picture-word inductive model

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Scientific inquiry

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Inquiry training

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Mnemonics (memory assists)

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Synectics

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Advance organisers

The Social Family: Building the Learning Community ●

Partners in Learning – positive interdependence and structured inquiry

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Group Investigation

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Role Playing

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Jurisprudential inquiry

The Personal Family ●

Nondirective teaching

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Enhancing self-esteem

The Behavioural Systems Family ●

Mastery learning and programmed instructional learning

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Direct instruction

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Simulation

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Social learning

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Program schedule (task performance) reinforcement

While looking at the four “families” you need to keep in mind the purpose of a lesson/unit; the characteristics and experience of your learners; their cognitive, social and emotional stage of development, those time and space issues identified earlier and your own experience and expertise.


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Three specific teaching strategies Direct or explicit instruction Music lesson transcript (9 yr olds; Queensland Year 4)

The song used within this lesson can be heard on this website: http://www.songsforteaching.com/canada/landofthesilverbirch.htm Look carefully at the Music lesson transcript below and identify each of the phases of this direct instruction model.

Teacher: Hi kids! Let’s see what you remember from last week’s lesson. Who can tell me what a rhythm is? Jake: It’s the heart beat of the music. Teacher: Not quite Jake – who has another answer? Tim: The heart beat is the beat – it’s steady – but the rhythm changes. It’s the funky bit. Teacher: I like it Tim. Okay let’s find out what you know about the different sorts of rhythms. Who remembers the performance the Year 5’s did on parade last week? Can you remember how the music captain described what they were doing? Meg: It started with S miss! Syn – son – oh I don’t know! Teacher: Well you got the first bit right it starts with syn…..anyone else? Jack you learn piano – do you know what it is? Jack: Syncopation Teacher: Well done Jack. Okay let’s feel syncopation. Stand up everyone – I want you to clap the rhythm to ‘Dip, dip – and Swing’. Now hop into a circle and skip to the rhythm. Okay sit down again. Now go clap, clap, – click, clap to the words dip, dip and swing. Keep the rhythm going while I sing Land of the Silver Birch which is a lovely little Canadian folk song. Let’s now sing the rhythm while we look at the way the notes are written on the board Synco-pa ti ti ta ….. Who can tell me what is happening with where we place the claps? Sally:We’re not really doing them all on the beat like we normally do. Teacher: Great answer. That is exactly right. Syncopation in music is when there is a shift in where the emphasis is placed and a normally weak beat becomes stressed or you even lose a beat and a sound comes in mid way t hrough a beat. Wikipedia defines syncopati on as: In music, syncopation includes a variety of rhythms which are in some way unexpected in that they deviate from the strict succession of regularly spaced strong and weak beats in a meter (pulse). These include a stress on a normally unstressed beat or a rest where one would normally be stressed. ... have you any questions related to the definition?Pauline: Can we try writing our own words to the song? Some Aussie words would be good.



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Let’s look at the definition for syncopation Teacher: What a great idea? Let’s try that next week. If you’ve got time at home before then you might like to have a go at working out words to match ‘dip, dip and swing’ that could be Australian based . Okay before we go let’s just quickly clap the pattern to ‘dip, dip and swing’ again while I sing the song Great Job! For the next two weeks we will be exploring syncopation in more detail. We are also going to learn to play Land of the Silver Birch in parts on the recorder. Now for homework – write this down – Before our next lesson I want you to look up some other definitions of ‘syncopation’. Decide which one is the best match to how you think of it – how it flet and what it sounded like today. Bring this definition with you next week. You might even like to make up one of your own! Task 1. Definition, and …. Task 2 Make up some Aussie words for ‘dip, dip and swing’. Task 1 is a must and Task 2 is optional. (Teacher writes tasks on board.) Okay! Stand quietly and I’ll see you next week. Now that you have read the transcript above I want you to analyse this lesson in terms of the characteristics of Direct Instruction. Identify clear direct instructional techniques. What elements of this lesson are not related to direct instruction? Do you think this would be an effective lesson approach? Why? If not – why not? How could the lesson be improved?

Co-operative learning This is a strategy that you will see used extensively in many Australian schools. This strategy fits very well with a social constructivist philosophy of teaching and learning. Our first approach was very teacher directed, this takes a learner-centred approach. Your role is more that of a facilitator of learning – the learners take responsibility for the learning. This does not mean you are not teaching – this approach requires a lot of observation, listening, gentle guiding and managing and a lot of preparation and planning ahead of time. You need to be clear what a successful co-operative learning approach looks and sounds like. How is it best decide on group size and guidelines to follow? Is there a recipe for cooperative learning success? If so what would it be? Look at Frangenheim pages 85–95. Consider what approaches would be best used in your preferred context. Could some be modified? When would you use STAD or a Jigsaw approach. The latter is one you will encounter regularly in classrooms, especially in primary contexts. In a business context and middle to senior schooling context explore how de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats could be used as a cooperative learning strategy. (At the school where I used to teach we even used the 6 Thinking Hats in Years 2 and 3.) Have a look at pages 51–3 of your Frangenheim text or e xplore the link provided. http://www.debonothinkingsystems.com/tools/6hats.htm. However, keep in mind that co-operative learni ng works well when the learners have become skilled in working together. So you always need to keep in mind that you will have to teach, practice and emphasise the social skills needed for this strategy to be successful. Also the


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cognitive, emotional and social development stage of the learner is critical. It is not too successful with a group of 5–6 year olds if you have groups of five or six l earners. Consider why? However, even BIG people have problems working in groups and co-operating! I suggest you go on-line and search out some other sources – I assure you there are plenty! Here’s a start – check out the “wheel” connection.(accessed 18 July 2010) http://www.metagroup.co.za/about_cl.htm

Reading activity Selected reading: Jacobs, Power & Wan Inn (2002). Helping groups that aren’t functioning well, pp. 141–148.

Keep this handy as I can guarantee you will need some of the great ideas listed.

Problem-based learning Within the Productive Pedagogies Framework the pedagogical plank entitled Intellectual Quality is all about Problem Solving. This is often used with co-operative learning and straddles across the information-processing and social families. It has been used extensively in medicine and law. We could say we learn so that we can solve problems in the real world when we are adults. Problem-solving involves not only the cognitive processing, but also developing the habits of mind of persistence, being willing to take reasonable risks, considering alternatives and acknowledging our interdependence as social beings. Consider the assessment topic in module 1 where we looked at “authentic assessment” and using GRASPS to develop those forms of assessment. In most cases these are written as a problem to be solved and often entail using groups or a co-operative learning approach. This is an approach to learning which “encourages learners to apply critical thinking skills, problemsolving skills, and content knowledge to real-world problems and issues” (Levin, 2001, p. 1).

Reading activity Text reading: Churchill et al. (2011). Chapter 8, pp. 247–263. Selected readings: ●

Study guides and strategies for problem based learning, http://www.studygs.net/pbl.htm

●

Problem based learning U tube http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=vDe74bOxXLw

Those of you on the VET sector will be familiar with this form of teaching – think about how to work out how much plasterboard is needed for a room, how to solve that “noise” in a car engine, how to engage learners in a child care context, how to prevent the spread of “swine flu” at your campus! You often find this model is used with groups of learners and often utilises co-operative learning strategies e.g Jig Saw. In the 21st century ICT is a powerful tool for problem solving learning.



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So what are the skills we develop using this approach? ●

The ability to be critical thinkers

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Skills in analysing and solving real world problems

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Expertise in finding, evaluating and using information resources

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Ability to work co-operatively in groups

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Skills in communicating orally and in written genres

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A way of learning which promotes life long learning.

Follow up on some of these sites: (accessed 18th July 2010) Study guides and strategies, http://www.studygs.net/pbl.htm Problem based learning resources, http://pbl.cqu.edu.au/content/online_resources.htm Problem based learning, http://pbl.cqu.edu.au/

Reading activity Selected reading 2.2: Levin, Dean & Pierce (2001). Frequently asked questions about problem-based learning, pp. 121–132.

You will find this a valuable resource to assist you critically assess potential ideas for PBL.

More sector specific approaches Inquiry based learning

A follow on from problem based learning is inquiry based learning. This is a strategy and learning approach which is rapidly gaining popularity. It is similar to PBL and had its origins in Science and SOSE type areas. Often it is associated with Co-operative learning. Inquiry based learning also forms the basis for many VET and primary and secondary technology units. If this is an approach used in your educational contexts, you may wish to explore these sites. Youth Learn, http://www.youthlearn.org


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Focus on inquiry: A teachers guide to implementing inquiry-based learning, http://education.alberta.ca/media/313361/focusoninquiry.pdf Teacher resources: Using inquiry-based learning, http://www.glenbow.org/mavericks/teacher/english/inqbl.html Inquiry approaches in primary studies of society and environment key learning areas, http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au/downloads/publications/research_qscc_sose_primary_00.doc And now two approaches which really don’t fit neatly into the Joyce and Weil taxonomy: Play-base learning and what is appropriate in a VET sector, be that High School or TAFE. Let’s begin with Play-Based.

Play-based learning Play based learning is fundamental to Early Childhood education and still requires planning and clear understanding of educational goals and objectives to be met. The following sites provide some useful ideas around the concept of play based learning. (I hope to get up on Study Desk some examples of the Early Years programs that our Malaysian students use so that we can compare the way different cultures address the needs of young children. So then we can answer what are the similarities and what are the differences?) (Sites accessed 18th July 2010) Early learning: Play as pedagogy, http://sites.google.com/site/ceoearlylearning/Home/playas-pedagogy Note: Pay attention to the first part of this U tube, then it becomes a promo for a video series. Still has valuable ideas here so you will need to sift out the valuable. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=860117810037352153 For those of you in creche to kinder this will be a site and document you know about: Building Waterfalls. http://www.candk.asn.au/AboutUs/Indooroutdoorenvironments.aspx You will find additional links on this web page to interesting articles around play and learning. Some are very easy to read. http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au The sites listed above will provide insight into why this approach is so suitable for young children. However, how many of us “big people” still like to play and consider what you have learned through play. Consider how young people love t o play on their Wii, download games and engage in virtual play. Are the same reasons at work here?

VET and training The temptation is to think this is different – good trainers use all of the strategies we have already covered, but have to plan their “teaching” for young adult learners. For many of you, you have proscribed “learning packages”, but this does not mean you are reduced to checking progress through workbooks. Consider what you can do in classrooms and especiall y workshops or on site in real contexts. You may teach in contexts ranging from face-to-face to E-learning, your students may range in age from year 10 to adults and as with the other approaches we have considered, they can range from trainer led to learner led.



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Reading activity Text reading: Lawlor (2008). Delivery training, pp. 215–247.

In the first part of this chapter you will find a solid discussion on your role as a trainer pp. 217–219. on pp. 229–237 you will a great list of activities you could use. Some you will recognise from our F rangenheim text (2007). Exercise 2.8: Tovey & Lawlor (2008, pp. 245–247).

Great case for you to analyse, use your skills and identify the difficulties Dora was encountering and what advice you could give her to help assist. Now this sounds like PBL!

References Eggen, P.D., & Kauchak, D.P. (2006). Strategies and models for teachers: Teaching content and thinking skills. Boston: Pearson. Frangenheim, E. (2005). Reflections on classroom thinking strategies (4th ed.). Loganholme, Queensland: Rodin Educational Publishing. Jacobs, G.M., Power, M.A., & Wan Inn, L. (2002). The teacher’s sourcebook for cooperative learning: Practical techniques, basic principles, and frequently asked questions . Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Joyce, B., Weil, M. with Calhoun, E. (2004). Models of teaching (7th ed.). Boston: Pearson. Kauchak, D.P., & Eggen, P.D. (1998). Learning and teaching: Research-based methods . Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Killen, R. (2009). Effective teaching strategies: Lessons from research and practice (5th ed.). Tuggerah, NSW: Social Science Press. Levin, B. (Ed.). (2001). Energizing teacher education and professional development with problem-based learning . Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Levin, B., with Dean, C.D., & Pierce, J.W. (2001). Frequently asked questions about problem-based learning. In B. Levin (Ed.), Energizing teacher education and professional development with problem-based learning (pp. 121–132). Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Marzano, R.J. (2003). What works in schools: Translating research into act ion. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Marzano, R.J. (2001). Classroom instruction that works . Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Taba, H. (1962). Curriculum development: Theory and practice . New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc.


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2.3 How can I best meet the needs of individual learners? Reading activity Text readings: ●

Churchill et al. (2011). Chapter 3, pp. 81–100.

●

Churchill et al. (2011). Chapter 5, pp. 149–165.

Selected reading: Tomlinson, C.A., & Kalbfleisch, M.L. (1998),Teach me teach my brain: A call for differentiated classrooms. Educational Leadership, 56 (3) pp. 20–25.

The essence of a quality teacher can be found within the levels of differentiation facilitated within the classroom.

As we cross the rising terrain between infancy and adolescence ...the true self becomes threatened. We deal with the threat by developing a child’s version of the divided life, commuting daily between the public world of role and the hidden world of soul. (Parker J. Palmer) Differentiation allows for the hidden world of the child’s soul to still flourish.

If as teachers we squash individuality we squash out the spark of “differentness”, the essence of uniqueness and that can lead to the disappearance of self-esteem, creativity and leadership. There are many ways we can differentiate aspects of learning tasks to meet different learner’s needs. Firstly there is the content and how we present it. It can be in written form, orally, aurally or visually to meet “multiple intelligence” (Gardner, 1983) needs.

In the heyday of the psychometric and behaviorist eras, it was generally believed that intelligence was a single entity that was inherited; and that human beings – initially a



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blank slate – could be trained to learn anything, provided that it was presented in an appropriate way. Nowadays an increasing number of researchers believe precisely the opposite; that there exists a multitude of intelligences, quite independent of each other; that each intelligence has its own strengths and constraints; that the mind is far from unencumbered at birth; and that it is unexpectedly difficult to teach things that go against early “naive” theories of that challenge the natural lines of force within an intelligence and its matching domains. (Gardner, 1993, p. xxiii) And of course we can differentiate process and product as well.

Differentiating content, process and product As teachers we must be continually thinking about the needs of each learner as an individual. We can collect and use resources that cover similar topics but at different reading age levels. We can give students an overview of big picture direction as well as step by step task orientation. In the process of the lesson unfolding we can match up students so that there is peer support, or access aide support if need be. We can give students choice in regards to final presentation format for work or the option of a variety of assessment tasks. Even the layout of learning spaces can be adjusted to meet the needs of the individual. Students with difficulty walking or in a wheel chair will need additional space between desks so that they can pass through unhindered. Learners wit h hearing issues or who may be visually impaired need to be placed toward the front of the room. There may need to be a retreat corner or a reading corner. Providing a variety of learning opportunities that involve individual work and group work caters for both those that learn best by interaction and those that learn best in solitude.

Guide to planning for differentiated teaching In order to successfully differentiate learning for students it is important to be absolutely clear as to what you want the learner to acquire. The knowledge (facts, information), the understandings (principles, generalisations, ideas) and what the student will be able to do with these. It is vital to plan according to the needs of the learner so prior knowledge must be obtained. When doing group work are students working with others that will support them? Are students being challenged? Is it okay for ‘Mary’ to work alone anyway? When differentiating learning activities it is important to make certain that no matter which group or level a child is positioned in that the tasks all call for higher level thinking and that all tasks are equally interesting. During tutorials there will be a much deeper investigation into differentiated learning but just keep in mind the following: ●

“No two children are alike. An enriched environment for one is not necessarily enriched for another.” (Diamonds, 1989)

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Students are not all at the same level of ability and they don’t learn in the same way. It follows that different groups and different individuals within the same class should be working at a variety of different levels of complexity and achieving and completing tasks at different rates.

●

“As we grow as unique persons, we learn to respect the uniqueness of others.” (Robert H. Schuller)

The mantra for the quality teacher is that ONE SIZE FITS ONE! © University of Southern Queensland

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2.4 How do I know that my learners have learned what I thought I taught? Reading activity Text reading: Churchill et al. (2011). Chapter 12, pp. 398–417.

In order to know just what our students have learnt from a teaching episode it is important to be able to evaluate learning in a number of different ways. Assessment is an area where we need to be clear about our purposes and principles as they will affect our decisions and those decisions may have major effects of people’s lives. Our beliefs and intentions underpin our choices and actions. Assessment also needs to be differentiated at times particularly formative assessment which focuses on monitoring learning so that planning adjustments can be made along the way.

Reflection: Essential questions 1. What should my students learn? 2. How will I know if they have learned? 3. What are the purposes, benefits and limitations of assessment strategies I can use in my classrooms? 4. What is my role as a teacher in the assessment process?

It is often said “What gets measured gets done”. Consider the implications of a statement such as that in the light of the push by Federal and State governments for accountability, standards, league tables and an emphasis on literacy and numeracy scores. What might that mean for how we plan learning programs and experiences? There are two tensions at play in the current context. We are facing increased large scale standardised testing in the pursuit of accountability and far more policy-related alignment initiatives. In contrast we are also seeing: ● ●

increased emphasis on the need for formative learning and integrated assessment the recognition of the need to raise teachers’ understanding and skills in assessment procedures

●

an increase in emphasis on the reliability and validity of the processes in all domains (cognitive, psycho-motor and affective)

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increased emphasis on authentic assessment

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increased emphasis on describing learning outcomes in terms of standards achieved

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the integration of assessment and planning for learning

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an increased emphasis on the assessment of individual and group learning as an indicator of the quality of the education provided.



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The table below summarises some of the key changes we have had and still are experiencing in assessment of learning. Existing and desired states of change and assessment From the existing state

To a desired state

Bureaucratic institution that fosters dependence based on external evaluation offered as summative rather than formative.

A system that recognizes the necessity for those who are being assessed to be part of the evaluation process, to become selfevaluating. A system that encourages continuous external feedback to be used for ongoing, self-correcting assessment.

The assumption that change takes place by mandating new cognitive maps and training people to use them.

Operating within people’s maps of reality (personal knowledge) and creating conditions for people to examine and alter their own internal maps.

Assessments that limit the frame of reference Assessments that assist learners in by which people will judge the system.. understanding, expanding, and considering alternative frames Assessments that impose external models of reality.

Assessments that allow different demonstrations of strengths, abilities, and knowledge.

Assessments that communicate that knowledge is outside the learner.

Assessments that allow the capacity to make meaning of the massive flow of information and to shape raw data into patterns that make sense to the individual.

Assessments that signal that personal Assessments of knowledge being produced knowledge and experience are of little worth. from within the learner. The concept of curriculum, instruction, and assessment as separate entities in a system.

Communicating that the learner’s personal knowledge and experience are of great worth.

Each aspect of the system that is assessed is considered to be separate and discrete.

Assessment is an integral component of all learning at all levels and for all individuals who compose the system. All parts of the system are interconnected and synergistic.

Individual and organizational critique perceived as negative and a barrier to change.

Critique is perceived as a necessary component of quality for individual and organizational decision making.

(Source: Adapted from Costa & Kallick, 1995)

As a teacher you need to build your repertoire of assessment skills such as the different techniques, how to assess curriculum and pedagogical knowledge, how to apply the principles of learning and develop the ability to read and adapt to contextual variables. Plus you need to build your professional knowledge on how to make principled judgements, how to assess growth over time and become a skilled diagnostician!


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You may now be beginning to understand why assessment is such an issue and concern for teachers. This concern becomes exacerbated when you consider just what happens when we teach, the learners learn and bureaucrats design curriculum! When you explore curriculum there are a number of “curricula” which occur in a learning context. Remember these? ●

The “authorised” version

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The “planned” version

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The “taught” version

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What learners “choose” to learn

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The “hidden” curriculum.

There is often a gap between what you thought you taught, what you taught and what was learned! This is why ascertaining prior knowledge is so important.Reflection is the key to exploring those gaps and why they occurred. This topic investigates how we can assess and evaluate what our learners actually did learn. We will only cover this topic briefly as you will spend a whole course later on assessment, reporting and evaluation. We will explore the purposes, principles, processes and products of assessment as well authentic assessment, rubrics and GRASPS and some common assessment errors which can easily slip in!



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Note: Definition of terms: assessment and evaluation As with all terms there is always the potential for confusion. Evaluation is usually associated with the determination of the degree of success of the plan while assessment is usually associated with the performance of individuals who have been exposed to the plan. Assessment is the collection and organisation of data to facilitate reporting on the performance of individuals undertaking instruction. Evaluation is the collection and organisation of data to facilitate decision making relating to the development and performance of a curriculum.

The same data may be used for both evaluation and assessment purposes. It is i n the organisation and presentation of the data that differences will occur. An example would be the use of a test at the end of the course. If the results were combined to determine how effective the teaching had been within the course, the act would be one of evaluation. If the data were used to determine the comparative performance of individuals and to report this performance to those individuals or any other concerned individuals such as parents, then the activity would involve assessment. Evaluation is concerned with making judgments about the success of programmes or components of programmes and as such will deal with the collection of a wide range of data relating to any point at which decisions about the programme are to be made. Thus evaluation will not be conducted only after a programme has been completed, but at any point where decisions are to be made. Such decisions will relate to the acceptance of the need to develop a plan, to the selection of elements of the plan, to the implementation of the plan and to the outcomes of the plan. In short, evaluation should be an integral component of the plan and of all activities leading to the development of the plan. Assessment is about what was actually learned and the measurement involved when we collect data about the knowledge, skills and attitudes of our learners. Evaluation is about the quality of that learning. Think of this analogy – we measure the length of someone’s nose. That is assessment. When we say that is a fine nose, that is evaluation. We often use evaluation when we wish to make decisions whether a course, program etc. should be changed or maybe even stopped. The confusion between the terms can arise when you consult North American texts where the two terms are used interchangeably.

Purposes of assessment You will find many listed: ●

To grade learners

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To predict future achievement

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To motivate learners

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To diagnose learning

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To monitor progress

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To improve one’s teaching.


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Of these, three are critical: to monitor progress, diagnose learning and improve one’s teaching. And the question which underpins all three is: What do I want them to learn? The answer to this question entails two further questions: Question 1: What are the 5–6 most important concepts, skills and/or dispositions you want them to learn in this subject? Question 2: What are the 2–3 most important performances they should learn in this subject? Consider mathematics. Your answer to Question 1 is that your primary purpose is that they become mathematically literate and can use mathematical processes to solve real life problems beyond school. The answer to Question 2 is that they can think mathematically so they are able to pursue careers in areas such as computing, engineering, architecture, economics as well as carpentry, plumbing, cooking and automotive! You should recall the lesson planning that we have been working on and off with since Module 1. Do you clearly see the connections to our earlier work on Objectives and Outcomes? Yet in our overcrowded curriculum it is as if “coverage” is all that matters – get through, test them and move onto the next topic. Learners learn through surface methods, we test the surface and it is all forgotten or becomes useless detritus for the trivia drawer. Yet there is another approach where we focus on deep and connected learning, where assessment is real, reasonable and designed so learners can demonstrate what they have learned in a personal way and where there is time for all learners to achieve. It is the concern for deep connected learning which led to the New Basics and QCAR in Queensland, Tasmanian Curriculum, Teaching for Understanding through Project Zero at Harvard and Understanding by Design (Wiggins & McTighe) in the US just to name a few innovations in learning and assessment. It is also what has driven the change that led to the Essential Learnings and now to the Australian National Curriculum. Here are a some links to sites for you to explore how assessment and learning are linked in the programs listed above (sites accessed 28 July 2009). DET Education: The new basics project, http://education.qld.gov.au/corporate/newbasics Department of Education: Tasmanian curriculum, http://www.education.tas.gov.au/curriculum Teaching for understanding, http://learnweb.harvard.edu/alps/tfu/index.cfm However, keep in mind – “Learning takes time. To learn anything of importance takes multiple examples, thoughtful reflection and repeated practice with new concepts, skills and performances” (Taylor & Nolen, 2005, p. 29) and this is where your skills in planning for learning become essential.



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Principles of assessment Reflection: Essential questions As you begin to work through this aspect of assessment keep these questions in mind. 1. What should my students learn? 2. How will I know if they have learned what is considered to be essential? 3. How will I test the extended capabilities of my students? 4. What are the purposes, benefits and limitations of assessment strategies I can use in my classrooms?

Assessment is sometimes likened to “weighing the pig”. Has the pig grown with all this wonderful diet you are providing? What would happen if you weighed the pig every day? What is my role in the assessment process? Assessment should: ●

Focus on student demonstration of core learning outcomes as planned for.

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Provide evidence that student performances are consistently judged in accordance with prescribed outcomes.

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Be comprehensive – that is, incorporate judgments from a range of sources such as learners, peers, teachers; and comprise a range of processes for gathering evidence of student achievement.

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Be an integral part of the learning process-that is, provide information on student progress and needs, intervention strategies and allocation of resources.

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Inform programs of teaching and learning.

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Be valid.

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Produce reliable results.

However, assessment only works when learners are motivated t o do it! Three factors influence learners motivation (Marzano, 1992): ●

Task clarity –they need to know the learning goal and how they will be assessed.

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The task must have relevance to them as learners now and to their future lives as selfsufficient and capable adults.

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They must believe that they can succeed and meet the the expectations.

The following practices are based on an article by McTighe, J., & O’Connor, K. (2005) in the journal Educational Leadership which you can access through EBSCOHOST. Use summative assessments to frame meaningful performance goals at the beginning of a new unit or course. © University of Southern Queensland

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Show criteria and models in advance especially when using authentic performance assessments as these are typically open-ended and there is no one correct answer. Rubrics or criteria sheets are very useful to do this. We will look at these later in this topic. Assess before teaching i.e. diagnostic assessment – in other words ascertaining prior knowledge. What do learners already know? What can they already? KWL (Know–Want to Learn–Learn) is good way to do this. Also use this as a time to uncover any misconceptions – think of Fragile Knowledge and that category Naïve e.g Which drops faster a feather or a rock? Do you know the answer? Offer appropriate choices – Learners vary in how they learn and, also in how they can best demonstrate that learning. A standardised approach seems efficient, but is rarely fair as some will benefit and others will be penalised Provide feedback early and often – feedback must be timely, specific, understandable to the learner and in a way to encourage self-adjustment by the learner. Hint: when writing criteria on rubrics use “kid” language not high flown educationalese! These four questions (McTighe & O’Connor, 2005, pp. 16–17) will assist. ●

What aspect of your work was most effect ive?

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What aspect of your work was least effective?

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What specific action or actions will improve your performance?

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What will you do differently next time?

Encourage self-assessment and goal-setting – this is one of the Habits of Mind we need to encourage and model with our own behaviour. Again rubrics/criteria sheets assist here. Allow new evidence of achievement to replace old evidence – focus on how well and not when the leaner mastered the knowledge and skill. You send an important message when you do this – “You care about their successful learning”.

More assessment terms! Assessment is littered with terminology and you need to be clear what the following items mean. Write down what you understand these to be. ● ●

Diagnostic, formative and summative Norm referenced and criterion-referenced

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Validity and reliability

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Learner judged-teacher judged

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Internal-external

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Inclusive-exclusive



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Reading activity Selected reading: Marsh (2008). Chapter 18: Assessment and reporting, pp. 261–287. (Available on DiReCt)

See how well your definitions matched.

Marilyn Cochrane Smith (2002) raised some critical points when considering assessment of learning, our role within the process, our responsibilities as educators and how values and assumptions can and do drive decisions and definitions. “These assumptions shape the ways terms are defined, the ways data are selected and analysed, and the interpretive frameworks within which conclusions are formulated” (p. 2). She raised a number of questions for us all to keep in mind when designing assessment of learning. ●

What should the outcomes be for student learning?

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How, by whom and for what purpose should these outcomes be documented, demonstrated and/or measured?

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What is assumed to be central, and what is considered extraneous to student learning?

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What counts as evidence?

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What are the criteria against which the evidence is measured? What is the source of these criteria?

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Who decides?

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Who is constructing the question?

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What is the larger political agenda behind the assessment decisions?

Note: Fair and same? You may wish to look at this site and consider how assessment can be differentiated and why same is not always fair! See chapter 1 (site accessed 28 June 2010).

Fair isn’t always equal, http://www.stenhouse.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp? idproduct=8982&r=sb060420

Principles, processes and products The following assessment principles come from the site below (accessed 28 June 2010)

Assessment and reporting , http://education.qld.gov.au/qcar/pdfs/qcar_white_paper.pdf The Assessment and Reporting Framework for Years 1–10 within the Queensland context must: ●

recognise curriculum, pedagogy and assessment as interrelated and interdependent


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recognise planning for curriculum, pedagogy and assessment as a coll egial and corporate activity at school and system level

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recognise assessment as an ongoing and integral part of the teaching an learning process

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assert that assessment is a key element of professional practice

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recognise that informed teacher judgment is at the heart of assessment

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attend to learning outcomes that are agreed to be common across schools and students as well as those that are agreed to by schools in association with their communities

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support assessment and reporting practices that are responsive to difference

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recognise that assessment provides evidence to inform decisions at both school and system level

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support standards-referenced judgments about student learning outcomes

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ensure that reported judgments of student achievement are defensible and comparable, based on sound evidence and a shared understa nding of standards

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enable readily interpretable reports to parents/carers about individual student learning outcomes

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enable readily interpretable reports to the community about the learning outcomes of groups of students

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support thoughtful and informed initiatives, and not hinder innovation; be practicable and sustainable.

You will find many others in texts on assessment such as Brady and Kenned y (2005, p. 23). Keep these in mind as you begin to explore possible processes and products of assessment.

Authentic assessment as a process This term became synonymous with the work of Wehlage, Newmann a nd Secada (1996) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Authenticity is about what is important not what is most convenient. Wehlage et al. (1996) believe that a vision of authentic achievement is central. Authentic is defined as something which is real, genuine or true. Surface knowledge is no longer sufficient in a world which is requiring more and more of our learners to become knowledge workers. Schools need to engage learners in the forms of cognitive work found in the adult world. When was the last time you had to sit a test and regurgitate what you knew! Well OK you are doing assignments now! ‘Real work’ is more likely to motivate and sustain student learning (and re-motivate teachers)! This vision of authentic achievement has five standards: ●

Promotion of higher order thinking

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Promoting depth of knowledge

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Promoting connectedness to the world beyond the classroom

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Developing substantive conversation

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Building social support for student achievement.



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To achieve these standards the following must occur: ●

Construction of knowledge

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Disciplined enquiry

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Value of learning beyond school.

And the outcomes of authentic assessment? ●

To know where to find information

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To create construct or produce meaning and knowledge

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To assess the information in a critically reflective manner

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To apply that knowledge in an ethical manner

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To evaluate the outcomes from an objective and informed stance.

Reading activity Suggested readings: ●

Newmann, F.M., & Wehlage, G.G. (1993). Five standards of authentic instruction. Educational Leadership, April, 8–12. (Accessed 28 June 2010) http://www.learner.org/workshops/socialstudies/pdf/session6/6.AuthenticIns truction.pdf

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Svinicki, M.D. (2004). Authentic assessment: Testing in reality. New Directions for Teaching and Learning , Dec 2004, Winter Issue (100), 23– 29.

And this little gem which has loads of connections to other sites with examples and the rubrics! ●

Troutner, J. (2005). Best sites for assessment tools. Teacher Librarian, Oct 2005, 33(1), 42–43. (Accessed 28 June 2010) http://www.businessballs.com

Rubrics – A product to use to assess a product or outcome Note: Rubrics and criteria sheets You may come across both terms. In Queensland the favoured t erm is criteria sheets while in other states and countries the term rubric is used. I will use the term rubric for this topic as the readings associated with this topic refer to rubrics.

A rubric provides a tangible framework (a product) to guide the process of assessment.


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A rubric is a set of general criteria used to evaluate a student’s performance in a given outcome area. Rubrics consist of a fixed measurement scale (e.g. 5 point) and a list of criteria that describe the characteristics of products or performances for each score point. They are frequently accompanied by examples (anchors) of products or performances to illustrate the various score points on the scale. Another definition is:

…a scaled set of criteria that clearly defines for the teacher and student what a range of acceptable and unacceptable performances looks like. The criteria provide descriptions of each level of performance in terms of what students are able to do and values are assigned to these levels. (Source: Herman, Aschbacher & Winters, 1992)

Rubrics have three essential features: ●

evaluative criteria

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quality definitions

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a scoring framework.

As with all ideas, there are strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths of rubrics ●

The elements of an assignment/task are clearly delineated.

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There is a grid of criteria or standards with a value attached to each.

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These grids together provide a complete picture of the performance.

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If all assessors use the rubric, the chances of consistency of assessment judgements are increased.

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Expectations are transparent to the student and the assessor.

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Students can use these expectations to prepare for their assessment and know exactly how and at what level they have or have not achieved.

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When students are clear about what skills were needed to master the task, they develop greater confidence in their abilities and resilience to continue when faced with difficulties.

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Students can use the rubrics as checklist for self and peer assessment.

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Teachers can use an item analysis to provide feedback for students on how well or not they have performed on specific areas and skills. For example, description was achieved well, but the bulk of students fell down on the analysis of the content. This information can also be used by the teachers to reflect upon and improve their own performance when the course is repeated.

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Assessment is quicker and more efficient with the need to write repetitive feedback reduced.



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Weaknesses of rubrics Competency of the rater/s may vary. ●

Need to be continually ‘tweaked’ or fine-tuned. Then how valid and reliable are the final scores if the assessment tools are being constantly being refined?

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There is difficulty in articulating clear and unequivocal gradations of quality.

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Task-specific rubrics can be too specific and considering the time needed to develop them, the benefits of efficiency are eroded.

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General evaluative criteria are too vague and the benefits of consistency in interpretation are eroded.

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When translating rubric scores to grades, how can the benefits of specific feedback at the individual levels be recognised?

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The question needs to be asked, “Have rubrics become a ‘fad’ as a consequence of outcomes and standards-based assessment?”.

When designing a rubric, we have to make some choices: ●

Will it be holistic or analytical?

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Will it be general or task specification?

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How will decide on the number of score points?

Reading activity Selected reading: Arter & McTighe (2001), Choices, choices, choices, pp. 17– 32. (Available on DiReCt)

This chapter by Arter and McTighe (2001) is a very clear explanation of how to approach those choices listed above.

So how do we go about developing rubrics? ●

If you are experienced with the skills area or ultimate product, make a list of the key performance indicators.

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Collect student work samples and sort by quality. Note the features that make the groups different.

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Research what the experts say about the quality expected of these skills or products.

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Try student samples against the rubric and then fine tune.

Let’s look at a couple of rubrics which focus on the affective area – one where we are less likely to be as comfortable working in yet an area which is increasingly being recognised as essential for the development of life-long learners. These come from an excellent series of books by A.L. Costa & B. Kallick called H abits of mind (2000), in particular Assessing Assessing and reporting on habits of mind (2000, pp. 39–40).


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Persistence Persistence criteria What would we see or hear a person doing if that person is persistent? They would: ●

Stick to it even if the solution isn’t obvious

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Use a systematic analysis of problems, know where to begin, know the steps to do and when these are accurate or in error

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Can self-correct

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Strives for craftsmanship and accuracy.

A rubric for persisting Level of work

Criteria

Expert

Does not give up no matter how difficult it it is to find the answer to problems. Evaluates the use of a variety of strategies to stay on task.

Prac Practi titi tion oner er

Does Does not not giv givee up up whe when n try trying ing to find find the the answ answer er or or sol solut utio ions ns.. Stay Stayss on task.

Appr Appren enti tice ce

Trie Triess to to com compl plet etee tas tasks ks when when the the ans answe wers rs or solu soluti tion onss are are not not rea readi dily ly available, but gives up when the task is too difficult. Gets off task easily.

Novice

Gives up easily and quickly on difficult ta tasks.

Impulsivity criteria What would we see or hear a person doing if that t hat person is managing impulsivity? They would: ●

Clarify goals

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Plan a strategy to solve problems

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Explore alternative problem-solving strategies

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Debate the consequences of the actions before they begin

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Consider before erasing

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Learn to use wait time.



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A rubric for managing impulsivity Level of work

Criteria

Expert

Sets goals and describes each step to be taken to achieve th the goals. Schedules each step and monitors progress.

Prac Practi titi tion oner er

Sets Sets clea clearr goa goals ls and and des descr crib ibes es som somee of the the ste steps ps nee neede ded d to achi achiev evee the the goals. Also sequences some of the steps.

Appr Appren enti tice ce

Begi Begins ns to work work with with uncl unclea earr goa goals ls.. Des Descr crib ibes es only only a few few of of the the step stepss needed to achieve the goals. Becomes distracted from schedule.

Novice ice

Begins ins to work in random fashion ion. Is Is unclea lear ab about go goals or is is unable to state the goals or outcomes or steps in achieving the goals.

You may find this site very useful when learning to develop your own rubrics (and you may need at least one for assignment 2!) The Rubric Machine enables you to construct and implement scoring rubrics into your instruction as a means for providing learning-centred feedback and assessment of student work (accessed 28 June 2010). Thinking gear, http://www.thinkinggear.com/tools/main.cfm?t_id=1 If you go on to teach in Education Queensland schools the One School Website planning tool also generates rubrics from your planning documents. The risk with rubrics comes when you work with others who have a different understanding of the terminology t erminology used than you do – so it is essential that collective understanding is achieved through a moderation process of some description. It is therefore important to follow rubric guidelines and compare understandings.

A rubric for rubrics Use this as a ruler to check that the rubrics you develop will do the job they are designed to do. Developing them is a complex task! When you evaluate your rubrics you need to ask yourself the following questions (Arter & McTighe, 2001, pp.46–53): ●

Can I explain why each thing I have included in my rubric is essential to a quality performance?

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Can I cite references that describe the best thinking in the field on the nature of quality performance?

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Can I describe what I left out, and why I left it out?

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Do I ever find performances or products that are scored low (or high) that I think are really good (bad)?

Content/coverage Is it based on the best thinking in the field? ●

Does the content have a “ring of truth”? Does your experience tells you this is what you are really looking for?

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Are counts of things really good indicators of quality?

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Do the number of points in the rating scale makes sense?

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Has it helped you clarify your thinking about what it means to perform with quality and can the learners use it to guide their own evaluation of their performance? © University of Southern Queensland

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Clarity Here the focus is on consistency, validity and reliability for you and for the learners. ●

Would different teachers give the same ratings to the same product or performance?

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Can a single teacher use it consistently across assignments, time and students?

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Are the terms are defined clearly?

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Is the basis for assigning ratings is c lear?

Practicality This refers to ease of use for teachers and learners. ●

Is it manageable? – There are not too many things to remember and they can be easily internalised.

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Is it easy to translate into teaching and learning? i.e. It is clear what needs to be done to improve performance.

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Can learners use it to revise their own work, plan their own learning and track their own progress?

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It is in learner friendly (kid language)?

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Is the language is developmental? Low scores do not imply “bad” or failure.

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Is it divided into easily understandable chunks (traits) so that the essential aspects of the complex task are easily understood?

Technical quality ●

Does the language avoid stereotypic thinking?

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Does it appeal to different learning styles?

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Have you checked for any bias (gender, ethnicity, class)?

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Does the language describe the status of the performance and not the student’s worth?

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Have you decided how to moderate rater agreement and are all clear on how to use the rubric?

In many primary schools rubrics are first developed for teacher use and then revised into a kid’s friendly language so that copies can be given to students and sent so that parents can help, or at least be aware, of what the student is being asked to do. Rubrics are commonly used when assessing authentic performance tasks. So how do we go about developing those kinds of tasks? The next topic GRASPS is an effective strategy to achieve this aim.

GRASPS This mnemonic is a valuable tool for developing authentic assessment tasks. It was developed by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe (2003). A set of stems are provided here as guides to developing a teacher designed authentic task.



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G = Goal

Your task is to ____________________________ The goal is to _____________________________ The challenge is ____________________________ R = Role (real life jobs that adults do)

You are a _______________ Your job is ______________ A = Audience

Your client/s is (are _________________ You need to convince _____________________ S = Situations

The context you find yourself in _______________ The challenge involves _________________________ P = Product/performance and purpose

You will create a _____________________ in order to _______________ You need to develop _______________________ so that _____________ S = Standards and criteria for success (this is where rubrics come in)

Your performance needs to _________________ Your product must meet the following standards ____________ Authentic tasks

So what does an authentic task look like? Here are two examples from Wiggins and McTighe (2003). Sample using mathematics Goal – The goal is to minimise costs for the shipping of bulk quantities of M and Ms. Role – You are an engineer in the packaging department of the M & M candy company. Audience – The key audience is non-engineer company executives. Situation – You will need to convince penny-pinching company officers that your container design will provide cost-effective use of the given materials, maximise shipping volume of bulk quantities of M & Ms, and be safe to transport.


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Product/performance and purpose – You need to design a shipping container from given materials for the safe and cost-effective shipping of M&Ms. Then you will prepare a written proposal in which you include a diagram and show mathematically how your container design provides effective use of the given materials and maximises the shipping volume of the M & Ms. Standards and criteria for success

Your container must ... Provide cost-effective use of the given materials Maximise shipping volume of bulk quantities of M & Ms Be safe to transport Your model must make the mathematical case. Sample using SOSE Goal – To help a group of foreign visitors understand the key historic, geographic and economic features of our region. Role – You are an intern at the Regional Office of Tourism Audience – A group of nine foreign visitors (who speak English) Situation – You have been asked to develop a plan, including a budget, for a four-day tour of the region. Plan your tour so that the visitors are shown sites that best illustrate the key historical, geographic and economic features of our region. Product/performance and purpose – A written tour itinerary and a budget for the trip. You should include an explanation why each site was selected and how it will help the visitors understand the key historic, geographic and economic features of our region. Include a map tracing the route for the tour. Standards and criteria for success – details on the key historical, geographic and economic features of the region, a clear rationale for the selected sites and accurate and complete budget figures.

Those of you in Queensland may hear about Rich Tasks which were developed as a component of the New Basics Initiative being trialled in Queensland. The links below will assist you exploring what Rich Tasks are and how they can be applied in learning contexts. In Queensland you need to become au fait with QCATs (sites accessed 28 June 2010). DET Education. The rich tasks, http://education.qld.gov.au/corporate/newbasics/html/richtasks/richtasks.html Super thematic units (Integrated topic studies rich tasks) http://www.in2edu.com/super_thematic_units_rich_tasks/index.htm Now that the Essential Learnings and Ways of Working are in place in Queensland schools there are many wonderful resources a nd examples of unit plans, lesson plans, assessment tasks, rubrics and A exemplars available on the Learning Place. If your professional



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experience location is within a Queensland State school ask your prac teacher to get on line for you and explore the Learning Place. Many other organisations also have access to the Learning Place so ask and see if it is available. Note you cannot access it through USQ Library.

Common assessment errors When we are assessing learning, there is always the potential for errors to happen. I am not referring to typos or the t ypes of assessment, but in how we design and assess and the potential for subjectivity and how our own values may influence us, often without intention.

The Pygmalion effect or prejudging As we can utilise the Pygmalion effect positively in terms of our expectations of learners, so too can the reverse happen. A student who has not done well previously suddenly produces an outstanding piece of work. How do you respond? Be honest – does a sense of “Who really did this?” sneak in?

Confusing achievement and effort I hear this regularly “I worked so hard on t hat assignment, and I only got a C!” If you want to reward effort, then you need to be clear up front and be clear how you will assess this.

Different standards for different learners You may say “I would never do that”, but the reality is that it does happen. Many of you may have had personal experience. These differences can be the result of prejudgements of a person’s ability, gender, class or ethnicity or even whether they are “liked” or not! This is where having clear and transparent assessment criteria and processes can reduce the chances of this happening.

Cultural, class, gender, geographical, ethnic stereotyping All of these can influence us without us being aware. Do you set mainly written assignments which may favour those who have strong linguistic abilities (often girls), which means the boys feel isolated and unable to achieve well? Do the assignments require access to certain materials which a learner from a remote low socio-economic group may not have access to? Is the topic about your ancestors? Consider an indigenous students beliefs about writing about someone who is no longer alive. What about learning profiles? Have you designed assignments which favour group work or co-operative learning – how will those who like to learn alone achieve to their ability? What about the learners from other cultures where transmission is the preferred model and you want them to learn using a constructivist approach and where there are no clear right or wrong answers?

The halo or pitchfork effect The student who has always done well in the past, suddenly presents work not up to the usual standard. Do you say “Just having an off da y” and still give the usual high mark? Or the reverse as with the Pygmalion effect mentioned earlier and continue to give a low mark to a non-achieving learner who suddenly presents excellent work.


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Proximity error This is the “near enough” response. “Well I know you know it and it is almost right!” This is so easy when the earlier work has been correct.

Central tendency error This shows up especially if you use semantic differentials or scales of 1–5. The tendency is to go for 3 when in doubt and then you get a big bulge of those in the Pass/Credit area and little differentiation between the high and low scores.

Severity or leniency error This can be another form the Halo or Pitchfork effects. Or it can be that you always mark too hard or too soft. Moderation across teachers can overcome this problem. Historically moderation across schools has been primarily focussed in the years of senior schooling. However, the push has been to encourage all teachers to be involved in moderation. To introduce Queensland primary teachers to the are of moderation was the reason QCATS came into being. QCATS stands for the Queensland Comparable Assessment Tasks which has been conducted for a number of years in years 4 and 6. Some other states have a similar moderation process in place. The effects of these potential errors can be reduced by personal critical reflection on what was done and why; developing a collegial moderation process, ensuring assessment expectations are explicit through the use of rubrics, scoring guides and criteria sheets; involving the learners where appropriate in the development of the tasks and the assessment criteria and encouraging self and peer assessment.

Reading activity Optional readings: ●

Eggen, P.D., & Kauchak, D.R. (2006). The inductive model, pp. 128–165. (Available on DiReCt)

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http://www.google.com.au/search? hl=en&q=hilda+taba+concept+development&btnG=Google+Search&meta= &rlz=1I7WZPC_en

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http://imet.csus.edu/classic/fundamentals/inductive/index.html



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Reflection: Revise, add and self-correct! After having worked through the readings and the content of this module, return to the Marzano (2003) list at the beginnin. You should be able to add far more examples e.g. ●

Engaging students in projects that involve generating and testing hypotheses through problem solving tasks

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Engaging students in projects that involve generating and testing through investigation tasks

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Now return to that grid of time, resources etc and for each of the four strategies develop information that will assist you. For example, how much time would a concept attainment lesson take? I also suggest that you ask your mentor teachers about the strategies they use and why and begin to build your own teaching toolkit!

Are your answers the same or have there been changes? What is important “knowledge” to you, to your learners, to parents, to society? How do you know someone has learned – that they can apply it, ask questions, extend it? What assessment strategies do you prefer? What do your learners prefer? Are you catering for different types of learners? Why are some assessment methods preferred over others? Your role as teacher – the BIG assessor or the facilitator of learning? As Jacob Viner observed “When you can measure it, when you can express i t in numbers, your knowledge is still of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind” (as cited in Costa & Kallick, 1995, p. 66). To keep weighing the pig does not mean it will gain weight. It may cause so much stress that the pig loses weight!

Summary of Module 2 It is impossible to address all the possible teaching and assessment strategies available. As you develop as a teacher, you will try some and they will work well one year and flop the next. Always consider the context and especially your learners. Obtain the prior knowledge you need in order to ensure success for learners. Aim for balance in your choices so that all learners have the opportunity to achieve and excel to the best of their abilities. ●


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How can I improve on my teaching practice?

I hope you now are beginning to be able to articulate answers to these four questions. The quality of the strategies you use to both teach and assess will ultimately be the mark of you as a teacher. The strategies you choose to use are influenced by what you believe and value. A sole reliance on chalk and talk – or whiteboard marker and whiteboard – is no longer acceptable. We must challenge our learners to be thinkers. We must differentiate learning to meet the needs of individual learning styles. We must develop in our learners the attributes of the life long learner and as 21st century teachers we must be the same.


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Recommended references Brookfield, S. (1990). The skillful teacher . San Francisco: Jossey Bass. Eggen, P.D., & Kauchak, D.P. (2006). Strategies and models for teachers teaching content and thinking skills (5th ed.). Boston: Pearson. Fetherston, T. (2006). Becoming an effective teacher . South Melbourne: Thomson. Killen, R. (2009). Effective teaching strategies: Lessons from research and practice (5th ed.). South Melbourne: Cengage Learning Australia. Marsh, C. (2008). Becoming a teacher: Knowledge, skills and issues (4th ed.). Frenchs Forest: Pearson. McLeod, J.H., & Reynolds, R. (2003). Planning for learning . Tuggerah, NSW: Social Science Press. Morgan, N., & Saxton, J. (1994). Asking better questions. Markham, Ontario: Pembroke Publishers Ltd. Pratt, D., & Associates (1998). Five perspectives on teaching adults in higher education. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. Tomlinson, C.A. (2003). Fulfilling the promise of the differentiated classroom: Strategies and tools for responsive teaching . Alexandria, Vermont: ASCD. Tovey, M.D., & Lawlor, D.R. ( 2008). Training in Australia. Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson. Wasley, P. (1994). Stirring the chalkdust: Tales of teachers changing classroom practice . New York:Teachers College Press. Whitton, D., Sinclair, C., Barker, K., Nanolohy, P., & Nosworthy, M. (2004). Learning for teaching. Teaching for learning . Southbank, Victoria: Social Science Press. Other References Aoki, T. (1993). Contestaire: Themes of teaching curriculum. In T. Aoki (Ed.), The call of teaching (pp. 111–114). Vancouver, BC: British Columbia Teachers’ Federation Program for Quality Teaching. Arter, J., & McTighe, J. (2001). Scoring rubrics in the classroom: Using performance criteria for assessing and improving student performance (pp. 17–32). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Barth, R. (2001). Learning by heart . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Benner, P. (1984). From novice to expert excellence and power in clinical nursing practice . Menlo Park, California: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. Berliner, D.C. (2004). Describing the behaviour and documenting the accomplishments of expert teachers. Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society, 24(3), 200–214.



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Bloom, B., Engelhart, M., Furst, E., Hill, W., & Krathwohl, O. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals: Handbook 1 . New York: Longman. Brady, L., & Kennedy, K. (2005). Celebrating student achievement: Assessment and reporting (2nd ed.). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson. Brookfield, S. (1995). Becoming a critically reflective teacher . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Brookfield, S. (1990). The skillful teacher . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Brown, G., & Atkins, M. (1988). Effective teaching in higher education. London: Routledge. Carson, T.R., & Sumara, D.J. (1997). Action research as a living practice. New York: Peter Lang. Cochrane-Smith, M. (2002). The outcomes question in teacher education. Paper presented at Challenging Futures in Teacher Education Conference, Armidale, NSW. Cohen, L. (1993). Stranger music. New York: Pantheon. Costa, A.L., & Kallick, B. (2000). Assessing and reporting on habits of mind . Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Costa, A.L., & Kallick, B. (1995). Shifting the paradigm: Giving up old mental models. In A.L. Costa & B. Kallick (Eds.), Assessment in the learning organisation . Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Delors, J. 1996. Learning:the treasure within. Report to UNESCO of the International Commisssion on Education for the Twenty-first Century, (accessed 5th March 2009) http://www.unesco.org/delors/ Dreyfus, H.L., & Dreyfus, S.E. (1986). Mind over machine: The power of human intuition and expertise in the era of the computer . New York: The Free Press. Dewey, J. (1933). How we think . Boston: DC Heath. Eraut, M. (1994). Developing professional knowledge and competence. London: The Falmer Press. Flanders, N.A. (1967). Teacher influence in the classroom. In E.J. Amidon & J.B. Hough (Eds.). Interaction analysis: Theory, research and application. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley. Herman, J.L., Aschbacher, P.R., & Winters, L. (1992). A practical guide to alternative assessment. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Hill, A. (2006). Making sense of methods in the classroom. A pedagogical presence. Toronto: Rowman & Littlefield Education. Hosford, P.L. (1984). The art of applying the science of education. In P.L. Hosford (Ed.), Using what we know about teaching (pp. 141–166). Alexandria, VA.: ASCD.


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Huberman, M. (1993). The lives of teachers (translated J. Neufield). New York: Teachers College Press. Kerry, T. (1982). Effective questioning: A teaching skills workbook. Macmillan: London. Killen, R. (2009). Effective teaching strategies: Lessons from research and practice (5th ed.). South Melbourne: Cengage Learning Australia. Kounin, J. (1970). Discipline and group management in classrooms . New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. La Boskey, VK. (1994). Development of reflective practice: A study of pre-service teachers . New York: Teachers College Press. Le Francois, G.R. (1985). Psychology for learning (5th ed.). Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Company. Lortie, D.C. (1975). School teacher: A sociological study. Chicago: Chicago University Press. McTighe, J., & O’Connor, K. (2003). Seven practices for effective learning. Educational Leadership, 63(3), 10–17. Marsh, C. (2004). Becoming a teacher: Knowledge, skills and issues (3rd ed.). Frenchs Forest: Pearson. Marzano, R. (1992). A different kind of classroom: Teaching with dimensions of learning . Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Morgan, N., & Saxton, J. (1994). Asking better questions. Markham, Ontario: Pembroke Publishers Ltd. Newmann, F.M., & Wehlage, G.G. (1993). Five standards of authentic instruction. Educational Leadership, 50(7), 8–12. Palmer, P.P. (1999). The courage to teach. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Perkins, D. (1995). Outsmarting IQ: The emerging science of learnable intelligence. New York: The Free Press. Perkins, D. (1992). Smart schools: Better thinking and learning for every child . New York: The Free Press. Pratt, D., & Associates (1998). Five perspectives on teaching adults in higher education. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. Rosenthal, R., & Jacobson, L.(1968). Pygmalion in the classroom . New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, Inc. Rowe, M.B. (1974). Relation of wait time and rewards to the development of language, logic and fate control. Journal of Research in Science Teaching , 11(1), 291–308. Schon, D.A.(1983). The reflective practitioner . London: Temple Smith.



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