National curriculum

The Labor government has announced their education policy, which contains a proposal for a national curriculum to improve our children’s educational outcomes.

The Labor government recognizes the need for education reforms that begin at Pre-School and go through to Year 12. Australia has a shortage of scientists and it’s thought this shortage has stemmed from the lack of scientific thinking in our teaching, particularly in primary schools. A new curriculum would seek to address this issue.

The government is concerned with international competitiveness – that we do well in benchmark testing etc – however these tests only show a portion of a students ability and/or potential.

Is it valid to go to the expense of formatting a national curriculum? A budget of $50 million dollars over three years has been allocated. This money will be spent on representative experts, Australia wide, from state, catholic and independent schools to write a new national curriculum.

While this policy offers an opportunity to address curriculum shortfalls there is already a noticeable lack of mention of the arts.

As education policies and teaching ideas change with our developing understanding of child development and multiple intelligences, it would be wise to invest money in ongoing professional development for teachers, allowing teachers the information, knowledge and resilience to teach children creatively, individually and deeply.

Current trends in schooling in Australia

1. Adelaide declaration on National Goals for Schooling in the 21st Century. This generated the trend to Outcome Based Education (OBE).
2. Each state then generated its own framework for learning in schools.
In NSW this was managed by the board of Studies, which became a separate entity from the department of education.
3. In NSW this new direction was set down in the document QUALITY TEACHING.

(i) Pedagogy that promotes high levels of intellectual quality
(ii) Pedagogy that establishes a higher quality learning environment
(iii) Pedagogy that generates significance by connecting students with the intellectual demand of their work.
This approach is based on socio-cultural perspectives that recognize that children are active participants in their learning and this is associated with more positive outcomes contrast with teacher directed and highly structured models.

4. In QLD they have pushed “Productive Pedagogy” as their approach.
(i) Problem based learning
(ii) Higher order thinking
(iii) Deep understanding.

Adelaide Declaration on National Goals for Schooling in the 21st Century.
1. Schooling should develop fully the talents and capacities of all students. In particular, when students leave school they should:

1.1 have the capacity for, and skills in, analysis and problem solving and the ability to communicate ideas and information, to plan and organise activities and to collaborate with others
1.2 have qualities of self-confidence, optimism, high self-esteem, and a commitment to personal excellence as a basis for their potential life roles as family, community and workforce members
1.3 have the capacity to exercise judgement and responsibility in matters of morality, ethics and social justice, and the capacity to make sense of their world, to think about how things got to be the way they are, to make rational and informed decisions about their own lives and to accept responsibility for their own actions
1.4 be active and informed citizens with an understanding and appreciation of Australia’s system of government and civic life
1.5 have employment related skills and an understanding of the work environment, career options and pathways as a foundation for, and positive attitudes towards,
1.6 vocational education and training, further education, employment and life-long learning
1.7 be confident, creative and productive users of new technologies, particularly information and communication technologies, and understand the impact of those technologies on society
1.8 have an understanding of, and concern for, stewardship of the natural environment, and the knowledge and skills to contribute to ecologically sustainable development
1.9 have the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to establish and maintain a healthy lifestyle, and for the creative and satisfying use of leisure time.
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2. In terms of curriculum, students should have:

1. attained high standards of knowledge, skills and understanding through a comprehensive and balanced curriculum in the compulsory years of schooling encompassing the agreed eight key learning areas:
• the arts;
• English;
• health and physical education;
• languages other than English
• mathematics;
• science;
• studies of society and environment;
• technology;
• and the interrelationships between them.
2. attained the skills of numeracy and English literacy; such that, every student should be numerate, able to read, write, spell and communicate at an appropriate level
3. participated in programs of vocational learning during the compulsory years and have had access to vocational education and training programs as part of their senior secondary studies.
4. participated in programs and activities which foster and develop enterprise skills, including those skills which will allow them maximum flexibility and adaptability in the future
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3. Schooling should be socially just, so that:


1. students’ outcomes from schooling are free from the effects of negative forms of discrimination based on sex, language, culture and ethnicity, religion or disability; and of differences arising from students’ socio-economic background or geographic location
2. the learning outcomes of educationally disadvantaged students improve and, over time, match those of other students
3. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students have equitable access to, and opportunities in, schooling so that their learning outcomes improve and, over time, match those of other students
4. all students understand and acknowledge the value of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures to Australian society and possess the knowledge, skills and understanding to contribute to and benefit from, reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians
5. all students understand and acknowledge the value of cultural and linguistic diversity, and possess the knowledge, skills and understanding to contribute to and benefit from, such diversity in the Australian community and internationally
6. all students have access to the high quality education necessary to enable the completion of school education to Year 12 or its vocational equivalent and that provides clear and recognised pathways to employment and further education and training.

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

The Jigsaw Model

Jigsaw in 10 Easy Steps

The jigsaw classroom is very simple to use. If you're a teacher, just follow these steps:
1. Divide students into 5- or 6-person jigsaw groups. The groups should be diverse in terms of gender, ethnicity, race, and ability.

2. Appoint one student from each group as the leader. Initially, this person should be the most mature student in the group.

3. Divide the day's lesson into 5-6 segments. For example, if you want history students to learn about Eleanor Roosevelt, you might divide a short biography of her into stand-alone segments on: (1) Her childhood, (2) Her family life with Franklin and their children, (3) Her life after Franklin contracted polio, (4) Her work in the White House as First Lady, and (5) Her life and work after Franklin's death.

4. Assign each student to learn one segment, making sure students have direct access only to their own segment.

5. Give students time to read over their segment at least twice and become familiar with it. There is no need for them to memorize it.

6. Form temporary "expert groups" by having one student from each jigsaw group join other students assigned to the same segment. Give students in these expert groups time to discuss the main points of their segment and to rehearse the presentations they will make to their jigsaw group. 

7. Bring the students back into their jigsaw groups.

8. Ask each student to present her or his segment to the group. Encourage others in the group to ask questions for clarification.

9. Float from group to group, observing the process. If any group is having trouble (e.g., a member is dominating or disruptive), make an appropriate intervention. Eventually, it's best for the group leader to handle this task. Leaders can be trained by whispering an instruction on how to intervene, until the leader gets the hang of it.

10. At the end of the session, give a quiz on the material so that students quickly come to realize that these sessions are not just fun and games but really count.

David Ausubel
Ausubel was born in 1918 and grew up in Brooklyn, NY. He attended the University of Pennsylvania, taking the pre-medical course and majoring in Psychology.

Ausubel is most noted for his notion of the advance organiser. We can think of the advance organiser as simply a device or a mental learning aid to help us ‘get a grip’ on the new information. Put in more difficult language, according to Ausubel, the advance organiser is a means of preparing the learner’s cognitive structure for the learning experience about to take place. It is a device to activate the relevant schema or conceptual pattern so that new information would be more readily ‘subsumed’ into the learner’s existing cognitive structure or mental depiction!
Advance Organisers are simply devices used in the introduction of a topic which enable learners to orient themselves to the topic, so that they can locate where any particular bit of input fits in and how it links with what they already know. Ausubel's major principle — that the most important determinant of learning is what the learner already knows — calls for an image or example which directs the learner to relevant prior experience or learning and also points forward to new material.

Ausubel’s book explains his theory:

The Acquisition and Retention of Knowledge: A Cognitive View
Ausubel, D.P.

This is a college-level textbook that provides a comprehensive and credible theory of how humans can learn and retain substantial and growing bodies of potentially meaningful, organized subject-matter knowledge on an extended, long-term basis. It identifies explicitly the cognitive conditions under which such learning and retention occurs, and indicates how they are influenced by relevant cognitive structure, frequency, mental `set' and motivational variables, and, most importantly, by the probable underlying functional cognitive processes involved.

The other major contribution which Ausubel has made, is his emphasis on the active nature of reception or meaningful learning. The distinction between rote and meaningful learning is an important one, and too often we as educators fail to make reception learning as meaningful as possible. The need to require learners to be active by underlining, by completing missing words, by rewording sentences, or by giving additional examples, cannot be overemphasised in this context.

The processes of meaningful learning
Ausubel proposed four processes by which meaningful learning can occur:
Derivative subsumption. This describes the situation in which the new information you learn is an instance or example of a concept that you have already learned. So, let's suppose you have acquired a basic concept such as "tree". You know that a tree has a trunk, branches, green leaves, and may have some kind of fruit, and that, when fully grown is likely to be at least 12 feet tall. Now you learn about a kind of tree that you have never seen before, let's say a persimmon tree, that conforms to your previous understanding of tree. Your new knowledge of persimmon trees is attached to your concept of tree, without substantially altering that concept in any way. So, an Ausubelian would say that you had learned about persimmon trees through the process of derivative subsumption.
Correlative subsumption. Now, let's suppose you encounter a new kind of tree that has red leaves, rather than green. In order to accommodate this new information, you have to alter or extend your concept of tree to include the possibility of red leaves. You have learned about this new kind of tree through the process of correlative subsumption. In a sense, you might say that this is more "valuable" learning than that of derivative subsumption, since it enriches the higher-level concept.
Superordinate learning. Imagine that you were well acquainted with maples, oaks, apple trees, etc., but you did not know, until you were taught, that these were all examples of deciduous trees. In this case, you already knew a lot of examples of the concept, but you did not know the concept itself until it was taught to you. This is superordinate learning.
Combinatorial learning. The first three learning processes all involve new information that "attaches" to a hierarchy at a level that is either below or above previously acquired knowledge. Combinatorial learning is different; it describes a process by which the new idea is derived from another idea that is neither higher nor lower in the hierarchy, but at the same level (in a different, but related, "branch"). You could think of this as learning by analogy. For example, to teach someone about pollination in plants, you might relate it to previously acquired knowledge of how fish eggs are fertilized.

Productive pedagogy


A new approach to teaching is reassembling familiar classroom techniques into a workable model that focuses on high quality student learning and improved outcomes.

Every few years, a new way of thinking is thrust upon teachers as the Next Big Thing in learning and development. Think Bloom's Taxonomy, de Bono's Six Thinking Hats or Gardner's multiple intelligence approach. However, the latest approach to catch the attention of educators is not really new at all. There are no new theories to learn or strange concepts to grapple with.

Instead, Productive Pedagogy pays simultaneous attention to already existing aspects of classroom practice and focuses teachers back on the vital elements of student learning. Professor Jenny Gore, from the University of Newcastle, says, 'Productive Pedagogy draws teachers' attention to what really matters in helping kids to learn. In the past we've put too much emphasis on things like the learning environment, specific skills, the syllabus and all of the details that add up to teaching. But we have tended to lose sight of the big picture - a focus on challenging, intellectually demanding learning for all students.

'That's why Productive Pedagogy is different from other approaches. It's very comprehensive and doesn't focus on just one aspect of teaching. It requires attention to many essential aspects of classroom teaching.'

These aspects are divided into four 'dimensions':
Intellectual quality
Relevance (or connectedness)
Socially supportive classroom environment
Recognition of difference.
In essence, Productive Pedagogy takes existing techniques and learning concepts, and groups them into this simple model. Explained this simply, Productive Pedagogy almost seems too basic to have any real effect. However, it is the measurement and evaluation of these factors, combined with the increased awareness of teachers of the most effective techniques that contributes to the program's success.

Enhancing intellectual quality involves recognising that knowledge isn't a fixed body of information. It encourages students in higher-order thinking and has a problematic approach to knowledge which involves communicating ideas and arguments as opposed to a 'give' approach. 'It's about getting students to do learning work rather than busy work,' says Jenny, 'but most of all it's about engaging students in big ideas and complex understandings.'

Relevance (or connectedness) is simply helping students to make connections between different aspects of school learning as well as connections to their past experiences and the world beyond the classroom.

A socially supportive classroom environment is one where students are able to influence activities and how they are implemented. It also involves a high degree of self-regulation by students.

It's about making sure the classroom supports learning,' says Jenny. 'It's not just making it a warm, happy place to be, but an environment that has high expectations of students and which encourages them to take risks in learning.'

Recognition of difference encompasses inclusivity of non-dominant groups, and positively developing and recognising differences and group identities. 'Here, it's important to be conscious of ways teachers can support students who come from non-dominant groups, to be aware of how to best support their learning.'

The Productive Pedagogy program was initially developed by the Queensland School Reform Longitudinal Study, a team that was led by Dr James Ladwig and included Professor Jenny Gore from the University of Newcastle.

The four dimensions above cover the core framework of the Productive Pedagogy approach, but Jenny emphasises that it connects with many other frameworks. 'It is not some weird 'out there' new way of thinking. There is an incredible amount of overlap with other frameworks. But what Productive Pedagogy does - which the others don't - is bring the concern of equity back together with the concerns of quality.

'If you look at other approaches, some of the dimensions are there. But the 'recognition of difference' dimension is usually not present in other models. Nor is the intellectual quality dimension as refined.'

Although the initial research was done in Queensland, two NSW schools took part in a study with the University of Newcastle last year. Since then, various primary and secondary schools in the state have begun to introduce aspects of the program. Some principals and teachers are adopting the approach gradually, focusing on one aspect at a time, while other schools have embraced the whole concept resulting in more radical change.

Kootingal Public School and Callaghan College's Waratah Campus took part in the study last year. It was initially aimed at investigating the value of Productive Pedagogy as a model for the professional development of practising teachers. However, the results have been more far-reaching.

Teachers who participated in the study were observed up to five times by a member of the research team. An observation tool - much like a scoring sheet evaluating the various components of the four dimensions - helped to determine the strengths and weaknesses in each area.

Kootingal Principal Ben van Aanholt says: 'After our first series of observations, feedback indicated that we were very strong in the area of a socially supportive classroom environment, but that we could improve in some of the areas in the other three dimensions. After a series of professional development activities, further observations indicated that we we had substantially improved in those areas and that the level of pedagogy in our school in all four areas is particularly strong.

'Although we don't have quantitative results on students' outcomes yet, there has definitely been an increased awareness of what exactly contributes to Productive Pedagogy. Teachers are now more familiar with what they need to provide in terms of quality teaching and learning environments. With further professional development, we will be able to put more effective strategies into place.'

Principal of Callaghan College's Waratah Campus Robyn Cragg says participating in the study also increased their awareness of the four dimensions, particularly in the area of intellectual quality.

'We've now rewritten our assessment tasks so they are based on higher order thinking and deep knowledge and understanding,' she says. 'Being part of the study was very eye-opening. We realised that some of our teaching and assessment practices didn't line up. We were teaching one thing and assessing another. Now we've adjusted our approach quite radically.'

In fact, Waratah has embraced the four dimensions to such an extent they have restructured the school's strategic plan around them. 'Our BST and ELLA results have lifted and there has been an overall improvement in results,' says Robyn. 'Equally important is the improvement we've seen in our attendance levels and our suspension rate has been dramatically reduced.'

One of the practical projects Waratah implemented has been the introduction of portfolio assessments for every student. Each student accumulates progressive on-going work throughout the year - on paper and in digital form. Furthermore, each faculty produces a different schedule of assessment tasks and then use the Productive Pedagogy tools to see if the tasks are appropriate.

'We're emphasising being creative, cooperative, working academically and being aware of the community and life-long learning. Now, students place their portfolio work under one of those headings - it no longer comes under English, maths, history, or whatever. They need to recognise the relevance of their learning.

'At the end of the year, all students do 15-minute presentations of their work at a round table involving younger peers, parents and teachers, explaining what they have learnt. It's been very successful. Students have pursued teachers to find out if their work has been marked. In the past, students would get their assessment tasks back and it would go into the wardrobe or the bin and never be seen again. This approach means they reflect on their learning.'

Robyn emphasises that the program is one of a number of initiatives the school has adopted in its restructured strategic plan, but the Productive Pedagogy approach incorporates many concepts into a single user-friendly framework.

'Every single thing in Productive Pedagogy has been around for years, there's nothing new with this, but it synthesises everything and integrates them all.'

Principal of Auburn Girls High School Brian Ralph says they have adopted a less radical approach. The school is one of four in the Granville District which is involved in action research which can draw Productive Pedagogy, an initiative which only started over a year ago.

The four dimensions are further subdivided into 20 different elements. Rather than tackle all aspects of the program at once - and try to include all four dimensions into classroom practice at the one time - they have decided to focus on each of the dimensions separately, before bringing them together as an integrated teaching approach.

'Teachers meet in professional learning groups to explore each dimension and will introduce them one by one,' says Brian. 'We're encouraging teachers to experiment with their teaching in the classroom and have professional dialogue with their colleagues about this. It is our intention that it will change their way of thinking and develop their awareness. We are introducing our teachers to individual elements and groups of elements and then asking them to implement, reflect and report back in a collegial and non-threatening way.'

Whatever implementation approach is used, James Ladwig confirms the Queensland studies, as well as studies of Authentic Pedagogy in the US (which prefaced Productive Pedagogy in Australia), point to positive outcomes. James Ladwig says: 'The research shows convincingly there is a strong link between Productive Pedagogy and student outcomes, regardless of whether they are measured and if they are, whether this is through standardised tests or school assessment tasks.

'Productive Pedagogy reassembles our understanding of what good teaching is and changes the emphasis from issues we've concentrated on in the past - the processes and techniques of the classroom, which are important, but not ends in themselves. It captures the essence of what is really important - a focus on student learning that's of high intellectual quality.'

The four dimensions of Productive Pedagogy

Intellectual Quality

Higher order thinking
Deep knowledge
Deep understanding
Substantive conversation
Knowledge as problematic
Metalanguage
Relevance (Connectedness)

Connectedness to the world
Problem-based curriculum
Knowledge integration
Background knowledge
Social Support

Student control
Student support
Engagement
Self-regulation
Explicit criteria
Recognition of difference

Cultural knowledges
Inclusivity
Narrative
Group identity
Citizenship

Exam question number 1

Excellence in teaching

Searching for excellence in teaching, to find ways that every student can achieve their fullest ability, John Hattie looked initially at what influences the students learning. His research shows it is the teacher that can make the difference in student learning. Good teachers have positive effects on their students, however, by striving for excellence in teaching outstanding achievements can be reached.

Reflecting on my own teaching, I can identify lessons that run more smoothly than others, usually, this has to do with my preparation for the subject, my feeling for the subject, and how much sleep I’ve had that week. When I know the subject matter really well I find I am much more flexible in absorbing the children’s input into the lesson spontaneously – they always have an idea to ‘help’ the story and if I can bring those suggestions into the story it often becomes more alive and enriched, however, if I’m not as confident with the subject matter the suggestions can be unsettling and the story’s flow interrupted as I try to grapple with the idea put forward. If the subject is really alive for me, my enthusiasm will inspire the children. If I am tired or stressed my ability to maintain flexibility and spontaneity is seriously compromised!

While there are many differences between experienced teachers and expert teachers, the following points alone make a considerable difference:

Challenge
Deep Representation
Monitoring and Feedback.

Put simply, an expert teacher challenges students to learn and master knowledge by being active in their learning, they teach a deep understanding of information by extending ideas and finding meaning by collaboration and interaction with peers as well as their teacher, rather than passively listening to the teacher and memorising information to pass the test. When students are engaged in their learning, they question and collaborate to problem solve allowing the teacher to monitor progress and give feedback.

Further to these findings, my study of Anthroposophy and my classroom experience also shows some vital points for teachers of young children. As young children learn through imitation it is important that my behaviour, words and actions are worthy of imitating. As they experience the world through their senses it is important to help the senses unfold harmoniously – particularly in the first seven years the will senses of touch, life, movement and balance. As they come into the physical world and develop their physical body, in the first seven years of education as a Steiner Kindergarten teacher I facilitate learning in a whole body way – rather than a head (abstract thinking) way. For instance Science and Environment lessons can happen while gardening, on nature walks, in the sandpit. Maths happens in music lessons, their creative play, building and climbing. English is learnt through story, verse, song and Eurythmy.

In my Kindergarten class the children sit at tables of four or six, I allow them to sit where they please with whom they please, only intervening if a child is having particular difficulty settling into their work because they are so busy disrupting their friends. I prefer to help the children sit together harmoniously and will only move one as a last resort. This arrangement allows for peer interaction and on the whole I find the children willingly help each other. Often, when one child asks me a question he/she will be answered by many! Regularly on craft day I have a lengthy queue of children requiring assistance, it is particularly lovely to enlist help by looking down the queue at the problems needing to be solved and saying “Heidi knows how to fix that problem” or “Jarrah has just learnt how to do that – perhaps you could ask them for help rather than wait in the queue”, the children are delighted to help each other and they gain a deeper understanding of the craft by teaching another.
I notice in my daily activities how important it is to find a moment in each day for each child. By noticing and praising the things a child does well or correctly helps them want to achieve a little more next time. It develops a pride in their own work and a willingness to keep trying. It doesn’t need to be a large statement that everyone hears, although it can be, a quiet whisper in a child’s ear “I really love the way you’ve made your colours shine in this drawing” shows the child you notice his work and you are proud of him. Even a secret shared smile or a wink shows the child you’ve seen them, you acknowledge they’re on the right track, and there is a natural affection in the smile or wink that makes them feel loved.

It is important to teach children from something they know, to use their zone of proximal development. Before teaching the children how to do blanket stitch, I introduced them to sewing by using wool as thread and beeswax (to keep the wool from fraying) as a needle. The children learnt a simple running stitch sewing a cardboard folder for their artwork. Next the children were taught running stitch with a real needle and thread to sew together a flag and it was after this, the children were taught the fancier blanket stich on their frog, a little rest time snuggle toy.
Each lesson began with a nature story to stimulate the senses and the imagination; each skill went to short term memory and with rehearsing went to long term memory. This skill was then retrieved to be added to with the next level of skill. The children were delighted with their work because it had meaning for them.

I would like to be a teacher that inspires children to think, feel and do.
I practice being clear with instructions, serious with children’s questions and generous with praise.
I aim to be creative and imaginative in my approach to teaching, developing a lesson plan to suit my class of children rather than teaching what has always been taught.
I am excited about the new things I learn and endeavour to put them into practice.


A CREATIVE KINDERGARTEN

Working with young children provides me with constant opportunities for a creative approach to everything I do.

Children experience maths in building games with wooden blocks – dividing blocks amongst friends, measuring the height of the tower. They experience distance in the obstacle course in the playground. Number patterns are experienced with weaving, music games and climbing. Measurement and weight are an everyday occurrence in cooking class. Water and sand play teaches area and volume.

Science lessons are multi-faceted; children discover their natural surrounding environment and how to care for it through nature stories, gardening lessons and creative play. Children care for the Kindergarten animals each day and from this learn the needs of living things. Chemistry is experienced in a colourful way through watercolour painting.

Our weekly cooking lesson teaches the children nutrition and promotes a healthy lifestyle. Safety issues are discussed every day in the playground, through storytelling and with appropriate classroom behaviour. Everyday playing teaches children respect for their peers, for property and ultimately for themselves.

Exam Question number 2

Piaget and vygotsky

Piaget described two processes used by the individual in its attempt to adapt: assimilation and accommodation. Both of these processes are used throughout life as the person increasingly adapts to the environment in a more complex manner.

The major theme of Vygotsky's theoretical framework is that social interaction plays a fundamental role in the development of cognition. Vygotsky (1978) states: "Every function in the child's cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological).” Vygotsky believes learning is a life long process and that we learn in social contexts.

Piaget believed assimilation is the process of using or transforming the environment so that it can be placed in preexisting cognitive structures. Accommodation is the process of changing cognitive structures in order to accept something from the environment. Both processes are used simultaneously and alternately throughout life. An example of assimilation would be when an infant uses a sucking schema that was developed by sucking on a small bottle when attempting to suck on a larger bottle. An example of accommodation would be when the child needs to modify a sucking schema developed by sucking on a pacifier to one that would be successful for sucking on a bottle.

Vygotsky developed the theory of the zone of proximal development. He believed that the life long process of development was dependent on social interaction and that social learning actually leads to cognitive development. This phenomenon is called the Zone of Proximal Development. Vygotsky describes the ZPD as "the distance between the actual development level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers". In other words, a student can perform a task under adult guidance or with peer collaboration that could not be achieved alone. The Zone of Proximal Development bridges that gap between what is known and what can be known. Vygotsky claimed that learning occurred in this zone.

Many pre-school and primary programs are modeled on Piaget's theory, which, as stated previously, provides part of the foundation for constructivist learning. Discovery learning and supporting the developing interests of the child are two primary instructional techniques. It is recommended that parents and teachers challenge the child's abilities, but NOT present material or information that is too far beyond the child's level. It is also recommended that teachers use a wide variety of concrete experiences to help the child learn (e.g., use of manipulatives, working in groups to get experience seeing from another's perspective, field trips, etc).

The physical classroom, based on Vygotsky's theory, would provide clustered desks or tables and work space for peer instruction, collaboration, and small group instruction. Like the environment, the instructional design of material to be learned would be structured to promote and encourage student interaction and collaboration. Thus the classroom becomes a community of learning.

Both Piaget and Vygotsky support the concept that children learn from prior knowledge, that the required learning should be a little beyond their reach but is attainable with the help of adult guidance and the peer/social network. They both support diversity in learning structures and materials, using collaboration as a teaching tool.
Constructivist education is multi-faceted, there is no one-way to stand in front of a class and present information for students to digest and later regurgitate to pass an exam. It allows for creativity in lesson preparation and greater student input. Constructivists acknowledge for students’ to acquire deep learning of a subject it must have meaning, be in context, and the student himself or herself must have an input into the learning. Working collaboratively with other students allows them to access more than one way of thinking, another level of understanding.

Exam Question number 3

Board of studies

Within the Board of Studies syllabus there are documents to aid teachers in planning and implementation and assessment of lessons.
Scope and sequence of the English syllabus outlines what students would be taught with a clear picture of the scope of content, it’s sequence within each stage and what should inform the development of this material.
This document states that in early stage one children should have an understanding of key concepts about the structure and grammar of the text introduced at this stage in Key Learning Areas, with a continued development in others.

The teaching program gives samples of lessons with Board of Studies outcomes. Eg. Indicating how an early stage one talking and listening lesson could be planned and implemented.

The assessment program outlines the students’ ability to achieve/complete the set task. The assessment procedure needs to be in place at the time of lesson planning. At the end of the lesson assessment shows how many students acquired desired outcomes and allows teacher to evaluate success of the lesson, and to make changes to the lesson plan for future reference if required.

These documents determine what should be taught and when they should be taught and assessed, however, it is no indication of how the lesson must be taught. All outcomes address what needs to be achieved but it is up to each teacher to design and plan a lesson appropriate to the school’s ethos and to the individual class.

Constructivist views of learning emphasise the active role of the learner in building understanding, that is; effective learning occurs when individuals construct their own understandings. Rather than feeding students information for them to memorize and regurgitate to pass an exam from the authoritative, all-knowing position as the teacher, a constructivist approach is a mutual discovery. Under the teachers guidance students draw on their own experiences and understandings to further their knowledge on a subject. A process of scaffolding guides the student from what he currently knows to what he is able to know.


Jean Piaget 1896 – 1980




Piaget, a Swiss biologist and psychologist came to study “how children come to know things”. Through this study Piaget developed his theory identifying four stages of child development.




1 Sensorimotor stage (birth - 2 years old)--The child, through physical interaction with his or her environment, builds a set of concepts about reality and how it works. This is the stage where a child does not know that physical objects remain in existence even when out of sight (object permanence).

2 Preoperational stage (ages 2-7)--The child is not yet able to conceptualize abstractly and needs concrete physical situations.

3 Concrete operations (ages 7-11)--As physical experience accumulates, the child starts to conceptualize, creating logical structures that explain his or her physical experiences. Abstract problem solving is also possible at this stage. For example, arithmetic equations can be solved with numbers, not just with objects.

4 Formal operations (beginning at ages 11-15)--By this point, the child's cognitive structures are like those of an adult and include conceptual reasoning.

Piaget’s study led him to believe that children construct their own understanding through interaction with their environment.



Lev Vygotski 1896 – 1936


For Vygotsky, a contempory of Piaget, the students learning process is not a solitary exploration by a child of the environment, but rather the unfolding of cognitive understandings of social beings within social contexts. That the social system in which children develop is crucial to their learning.

Children learn through socially organized instruction with teachers, parents and peers.

Vygotsky developed the Zone of Proximal Development. This is described as each persons range of potential for learning, or; the distance between the actual developmental level of a chills as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers.


Jerome Bruner


Jerome Bruner advocates that if students were allowed to pursue concepts on their own they would gain a better understanding. The teacher would provide guidance, organizing the curriculum in a spiral manner so the students are continuously building upon what they have already learnt. The intelligent mind creates from experience.


Bruner’s theory of child development. As children develop they master each of these increasingly more complex modes:


1 Enactive representation - this is the earliest stage present from infancy where a child's world is represented through objects in terms of their immediate sensation of them. For example their muscular and motor responses or ways they manipulate the environment.
2 Iconic representation - develops at around two to three years old and involves the use of mental images that stand for certain objects or events; imagery that is relatively free of action.
3 Symbolic representation - develops around seven years old and is the ability to transform action and image into a symbolic system to encode knowledge. Primarily these symbols are language and mathematical notation.

Class: Kindergarten
Subject: Craft/Sewing
Object: Frog

The frog character was first introduced in a curative nature-based story. Through this story the children learnt of the development of tadpole to frog and about the frogs living environment. I was able to weave a curative aspect into the storyline to help some behavioural issues the class have been dealing with.

The children were given a (fabric) frog that had been sewn together with a hole for the filling to go into. They filled the frog with rice – manipulating the rice into the all the legs and the head, and then were able to sew up the hole and along the seam of the entire frog decoratively.

The children were taught blanket stitch for this lesson and were also required to felt balls for the eyes and sew them on.

The result: the children have a very beautiful toy to play with and to snuggle at rest-time.


Viewing this lesson in a constructivist learning environment I have highlighted the key learning features.

Active – I introduced blanket stitch to the children by doing 2 stitches in front of them and each child would do one stitch in front of me, then leave them to continue. As this was the first time most of the students had done blanket stitch I was aware this wasn’t enough guidance but I wanted to allow them to discover how to do it with only just enough guidance from me.

Constructive – This lesson built on already learned skills. Our first sewing a cardboard art folder, using beeswax on the end of the wool as a “needle”, sewing through already punched holes. We moved onto a simple running stitch with a real needle, then onto our decorative blanket stitch.

Collaborative – Having left the hole for filling the frog between the back legs it was quite difficult to manipulate the rice filling into the hind legs. A couple of children discovered how to do it and when a child expressed their difficulties these children in their naturally helpful way would show them how to do it – leaving me free to solve the “bigger problems”.

Intentional – The children’s goal was to learn blanket stitch and to create their own beautiful toy.

Complex – During the story for this lesson the children were taken on an adventure with the “croaker loaker chorus”, as I was dealing with behavioural issues in this story one frog had been “led astray”. The children are very involved during story-time and can’t help but call out “solutions” to the problem – which I then incorporate into the story.


Contextual – This story “happened” at “crystal creek”, when the class were taken on a bushwalk they “discovered” crystal creek. Much excitement ensued as we looked for (and found) the characters from our stories.


Conversational – The children are divided into 5 work tables where they are able to chat and help each other as they work, sometimes travelling to other tables to help them.


Reflective – The children are so proud of their beautiful frogs – I love to see them showing their parents their work and hear them explain how they did it (often in great detail). I have reports back from parents that they have been taught blanket stitch at home by their children.

Howard Gardner
Through his research, Howard Gardner believes a multitude of intelligences exist, independent of each other, with their own strengths and constraints. He questions the idea that intelligence is a single entity or that knowledge at any one particular developmental stage hangs together in a structured whole, or that it can be measured simply by IQ tests.


Gardner outlined his view of multiple intelligences

Linguistic intelligence involves sensitivity to spoken and written language, the ability to learn languages, and the capacity to use language to accomplish certain goals. This intelligence includes the ability to effectively use language to express oneself rhetorically or poetically; and language as a means to remember information. Writers, poets, lawyers and speakers are among those that Howard Gardner sees as having high linguistic intelligence.

Logical-mathematical intelligence consists of the capacity to analyze problems logically, carry out mathematical operations, and investigate issues scientifically. In Howard Gardner's words, in entails the ability to detect patterns, reason deductively and think logically. This intelligence is most often associated with scientific and mathematical thinking.

Musical intelligence involves skill in the performance, composition, and appreciation of musical patterns. It encompasses the capacity to recognize and compose musical pitches, tones, and rhythms. According to Howard Gardner musical intelligence runs in an almost structural parallel to linguistic intelligence.

Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence entails the potential of using one's whole body or parts of the body to solve problems. It is the ability to use mental abilities to coordinate bodily movements. Howard Gardner sees mental and physical activity as related.

Spatial intelligence involves the potential to recognize and use the patterns of wide space and more confined areas.

Interpersonal intelligence is concerned with the capacity to understand the intentions, motivations and desires of other people. It allows people to work effectively with others. Educators, salespeople, religious and political leaders and counselors all need a well-developed interpersonal intelligence.

Intrapersonal intelligence entails the capacity to understand oneself, to appreciate one's feelings, fears and motivations. In Howard Gardner's view it involves having an effective working model of ourselves, and to be able to use such information to regulate our lives.

In accordance with Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, the graph displayed above is in no way an accurate representation of the “brightness” of the children.

All spelling words are first given to the children in oral form through storytelling, then are introduced in written form through the children’s workbook and lastly in a spelling list to be practised throughout the week for the “spelling bee”.

While the above methods will appeal to the logical – mathematical child, linguistic child and spatial child, to give each child an opportunity to excel greater measures can be taken. Eg. Discovering the rhythm of the words for the musical child, perhaps developing a clapping game to the rhythm for the bodily kinaesthetic child, finding word relationships and conundrums for the interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalist and existentialist children


Kindergarten

Wooden Boats

From a plan I drew and gave to the school’s workshop wooden boats were shaped, masts cut and given to the class.

The children were required to sand the boats until they were completely smooth, with no sharp edges and the masts also were sanded.
The boats were oiled.
The sail was made from felt, each child made their own individual sail, felted from coloured fleece.
Sails were attached to the masts using a simple strapping stitch.





The boats are made from pine and are a streamlined, simple design. Sanded and oiled the boats are very beautiful. As each child felted their own sail they were able to design the felt themselves, and each sail is as individual as each child.

I am delighted to see them so beautifully set up in their display in the classroom. The children love to play with them and they make elaborate waterways to sail them on.

Some children found sanding the boats to be hard work, taking many days to get it completely smooth. Where one child wouldn’t come to me for help once, another would come five times to check if they were finished yet. It was a lesson in determination and will activity.






In this era of modern technology we are no longer bound by the constraints of classroom and teacher. Using a constructivist, collaborative approach to education leads us to a “distributed learning environment”.

Distributed is defined as the capability to use common standards and network technologies in order to provide learning anywhere and anytime.
Learning is defined as the acquisition of knowledge, skills and attitudes.
Environment – classroom, home…


It is within the context of a distributed learning environment I am able to study for my Bachelor of Education while working full-time. Having access to a computer and the internet I am able to communicate with University lecturers in Sydney via email, access course details online, and research required information in the comfort of my own home after I put my children to bed.








My first blog creation. After a day of learning cognitively - I'm tired!

lotus blossom said...
One more day of collaborative learning, 3 more porfolio's handed in, an exciting day!!

8:54 PM


lotus blossom said...
Only by wrestling with the conditions of the problem at hand, seeking and finding his own solution
(not in isolation but in correspondence with the teacher and other pupils)
does one learn.

~ John Dewey, How We Think, 1910 ~

2:17 AM


lotus blossom said...
I want my children to understand the world, but not just because the world is fascinating and the human mind is curious. I want them to understand it so that they will be positioned to make it a better place. Knowledge is not the same as morality, but we need to understand if we are to avoid past mistakes and move in productive directions. An important part of that understanding is knowing who we are and what we can do... Ultimately, we must synthesize our understandings for ourselves. The performance of understanding that try matters are the ones we carry out as human beings in an imperfect world which we can affect for good or for ill. (Howard Gardner 1999: 180-181)

2:48 AM


lotus blossom said...
'Learning is an active process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based on current/past knowledge' - Jerome Bruner

2:59 AM