Let’s talk teaching

I have now got to the point of having a viable site with a suitable theme but the problem is that within this space (to date) I exist on my own, i.e. no mates…….cos no one has made any comments!!

I feel the need to decide why we are doing this and what it is that we want to get out of it and hence what we might be able to conclude by reseaching it. So a clear aim needs to be formulated, a defined process and some suitable measuring tool/s need to be investigated.

My gut feeling is that I would like to know something about the profile of the type of person that may be reading/commenting on my stuff, this would possibly form the quantitative. As the analysis of the nature of the comments is largely subjective this would form the qualitative input to the research.

Breaking news in NZ this morning confirmed that Labour was going to bring in legislation to increase the school leaving age to 18. This had been in the wind for some time. This news of course is music to the ears of educators in general! Implications are varied and many, schools will look to the level of additional funding needed, parents of reluctant school attenders will be looking skyward with the potential for further pressure on relationships and household budgets. The students who are disaffected by the schooling system will be forced to bear situations that really don’t suit them. I think that it was inevitable that this would come about as most European countries require their students to be in some form of training till 18. The big challenge as I see it from my perspective is that schools and other educational institutions will not only have to provide relevant courses that have meaningful outcomes but will also have to look at how they support particularly the underachieving student and the reluctant student. Schools and educators need to be mindful of the learning environments they provide and ensure that students who work in them feel a sense of belong and purpose…..maybe not the case for a good proportion today.

Can schools now afford to continue to offer the traditional timetable structures and curriculum.

Will we see greater interest in the creation of senior colleges to cater for the older student in different ways…i.e. an emphasis on individualised learning (programmes)

Publicly the government  is stating that this is a response to the 30% or so that leave school with minimal or no NCEA credits but I think there is more to it than that, the youth crime rates are rising and have been for some time, violent crime in particular has seen a spectacular rise particularly in the last three weeks. The National Parties response is very predictable and laughable…….boot camp…straight out of the 1950′s..that’ll sort them out…come on John key more needed here.

The article by Mike Baker (BBC News 24) stimulated my thinking overnight and I was taken by the notion that Ofsted had praised a programme called ‘Teach First’ which involved teachers learning on the job…not a new idea of course. The philosophy here appears to be practical hands-on experience from the start but over a longer training period. This is a noble idea and fits in well with my notion that experience is the best teacher. BUT in the New Zealand context this would mean that many teacher trainees might be put off by being ill prepared in a working environment where life is full on, tough and very busy i.e. will they get the support and the training they need? The last comment probably typifies the ‘deep structure of schooling’ coming to the for i.e. knocking the idea before its merit is fully considered. I think the idea has real merit as long as the time and resources are provided to support new teacher’s training needs. I could see that our traditional colleges of education might be ‘shaking in their boots’ so to speak. This however should not be a concern, what is clear is that traditional training methods in NZ don’t meet the needs of the full range of teacher trainees entering the system. Change is required!

This is a question that has vexed students, schools, Principal’s and teacher educators since the year dot. When interviewing potential teachers I always ask them to relate the qualities of ‘good’ teachers that they have had in the past. Most answer this one quite quickly with words such as : “he/she inspired”, “made sense”, “got through to me”, “was organised”, “knew a lot about his/her subject”, “was passionate”, ” was funny”, “was fair”, “made me want to come to class/school” etc. These words do describe ‘good’ teachers but in themselves don’t help to quantify what that magic ingredient/s  might be.

One of my past students sent me the following link from the BBC News : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7209096.stm

I was taken with a couple of comments :

The good teacher, she went on, was someone who was ” left to get on with what they think their students need” and  a good teacher should go in for “creative subversion” in dealing with new initiatives from schools and educational authorities. I think the writer here is making the point that good teachers somehow “know” what is best….acceptable or not? This requires further thought, most of us who have been in the game a while have probably experienced this, I know for myself I tend to act as an advocate for my students i.e. filtering out the unnecessary dross that gets in the way of good learning. But do today’s teachers wield this power fairly and equitably?

I feel like a beginner, making initial formatting choices has involved a bit of trial and error and a little frustration I thought this was supposed to be easy. The speed of the site worries me with substancial wait times involed in going between the site and the Dashboard, does this speed up at all?

My passion for physics has often got me into hot water especially with my family. Its not unusual for me to stop the car in the country to photograph an electric fence ribbon vibrating in the 2nd harmonic or to have a competition in a milkbar to see who can place as many straws end to end and still drink the milkshake!….aww Dad they’re ALL watching us!Of late I have been viewing a number of videos on YouTube showing home made magnetic motors, a number claim that energy is created…..hmm the physicist in me gets interested. I like the concept in terms of the use of these model motors to help students understand basic magnetic concepts but more than that its a real world problem that can be discussed. Thinking further I suggest you could mount the motor on top of an old video head. The coils in the head will generate current as the motor rotates. This current could then be applied to a load and you could investigate the effect on the rotation of the motor…a discussion on energy conservation could ensue.

This is my first post on my very first blog! I’m not totally sure what might develop but I have a strong compulsion to share the ideas and experience I have and be able to facilitate discussion and thinking about improving teaching and learning in our classrooms.