Knowledge processes



How Have You Learnt?

  • Analyse the aspects of your learning. What have you learnt informally, and what formally? What kinds of things are learnt in each domain? In what ways are the boundaries between the formal and informal domains of learning changing in contemporary society? What does this mean for formal learning?
    • Everyday learning (informal learning) Education: Learning by design (formal learning)
       
       

  • How have you learnt the following? How what can be taught in formal educational settings? How can education connect with lifeworld experience?

    • Collaboration or teamwork skills
    • How to use new technologies
    • How to ‘read’ the media
    • Inclusive leadership
    • How to negotiate differences: culture, gender, life experience, interest, type of person
    • Nous, savvy, instincts that can be trusted
    • Authenticity, charisma, persuasiveness, ‘street’ credibility
  • What, from your personal experience, is good teaching? Following is one statement of principle. Review, rework, and extend this statement of principle. Give examples from your own learning experience to illustrate your reworked statement of principle.

Characteristics of good teachers and good teaching

Teaching is a profession that requires both an understanding of the science of learning and deep empathy and regard for learners and their aspirations.

  • Depth and breadth of content knowledge
  • Purposeful design of learning experiences
  • Appropriate preparation/organisation of learning environment
  • Clarity and understandability
  • Enthusiasm for subject/teaching
  • Capacity to engage and maintain motivation
  • Sensitivity to/concern with students’ level of learning and progress
  • Availability and helpfulness
  • Quality of evaluation processes and exams
  • Impartiality in evaluating students and sense of fairness.


Classroom management

  • Interview an experienced teacher on effective classroom management. What works? What doesn’t? You could develop an interview format based on specifics from the following checklist:

    • ENVIRONMENT

    Climate—classroom songs, pledges, and inclusive routines, have children’s names, pictures and work visible.

    Feelings—feeling at home, sense of belonging, feeling welcome, safe, a sense of purpose.

    Time out—avoid shame, deal with problems out of sight, ask the learner to record an explanation into a video or in writing, reflect together and jointly agree on next action.

    Rewards—notice everything good; build up brownie points for certain goals and then reward.

    Seek help—stay calm, conference problems and solutions, get to know families of students.

    ORGANISATION

    Rules—let students set them and uphold, share out responsibility, scaffold interpersonal problem solving.

    Expectations—negotiate goals and vigilantly track.

    Time frames—plan whole day, all activities, and equipment needed.

    Engagement—be prepared; make sure learners are prepared for their tasks.

    Collaborate—plan, plan and plan some more – with your colleagues.

    PERFORMANCE

    Document—design and scaffold learning experiences.

    Track—monitor engagement and performance.

    Communicate—explain clearly and often, to the learner and with their family.

    Flexible—be prepared to change course.

    Engage—harness sensibilities and enable multiple ways of making and expressing meaning.

    Knowledge—break things down, rebuild and apply, set challenging expectations.
  • Consider the six things a good teacher-communicator does which were listed in this chapter. Shadow an experienced teacher for half a day. Find examples of different communication strategies. Review and rework the list attributes of the good teacher-communicator.



Concepts of learning and education

  • Name the features of formal and informal learning (education).


Standards and assessment

  • Examine two statements of educational ‘standards’, in your local region and in a more distant sites. For instance, the ‘essential learnings’ prescribed by the Tasmanian Department of Education can be found at http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/references.htm What key concepts of educational organisation underlie each set of standards? What do the mean for classroom organisation, curriculum (and assessment) and the overall organisation of the school as a learning organisation?
  • Make a list of the different forms of assessment. What purposes to these forms of assessment serve? How do they help teachers and schools meet expectations of accountability?

What teaching entails

  • Develop a mind map of the functions and roles of the teacher.

The teacher as a collaborative professional

The teacher needs to regard him or herself as a professional engaged in ongoing observation, data collection and synthesis in order to co- design and adjust appropriately learning interventions.

  • Collaborator, colleague
  • Purposeful and creative designer
  • Planner and documentor
  • Observer and actor
  • Self-evaluator and reflective practitioner
  • Participatory and accountable



Some critical questions for schooling

  • Debate Friedman’s argument for vouchers. Do you agree that schools should be more like businesses? What are the advantages and disadvantages of heading in this direction?
  • Can formal education every be as engaging as a video game? In what ways can and perhaps should schooling be more like a video game, or even use game technologies? In what ways will it be different, and perhaps should remain different?
  • List critical challenges you see on the horizon for the organisation of schools as we have known them in the recent past. What are the pressure points? Where do you think things are likely to change?


Managing student learning

  • Develop a curriculum planning strategy for an area of work. Following are some of the issues you may cover:
      • STAGES IN CURRICULUM PLANNING

      None of the following stages are solitary exercises—each will require you to communicate and negotiate with leaders, other teachers, learners and the community. The more team involvement and collaboration, the sounder the learning experience will be

      STAGE ONE: BE AWARE OF CONTEXT AND CHALLENGE

      • Know your students—achievement records, artefacts, biographies, interviews, expert informants.
      • Know goals and aspirations of community, school and curriculum
      • Confidence in own depth of expertise for purpose

      STAGE TWO: DETERMINE STARTING POINT

      • What want to teach and why
      • What learners already know
      • Content
      • Knowledge processes
      • Support structures
      • Modality of inputs
      • Technology
      • How will handle diversity
      • Organisational options
      • Evaluation

      STAGE THREE: DOCUMENT LEARNING DESIGNS

      • Content focus and knowledge goals
      • Purpose
      • Levels
      • Time
      • Design learning experiences and knowledge processes
      • Select and order content
      • Select pedagogical repertoire
      • Describe expected learner engagement
      • Specify knowledge outcomes
      • Propose knowledge pathways

      STAGE FOUR: IMPLEMENT PLAN

      • Negotiate learning dynamics with learners
      • Monitor engagement
      • Modify content and process when appropriate
      • Reflect on impact of learning designs
      • Customise learning experience to ensure inclusion
      • Evaluate relationship of input choices with leaner performance and outcomes
      • Modify planning documents
      • Now develop an assessment strategy to go with this:

      • Develop a strategy for measuring student learning. Follow are some areas you may cover. What will you do specifically to find evidence of, and assess the quality of, student learning?

Evidence of learner performance

Knowledge

  • Test scores
  • Work samples
  • Performance records
  • Artefacts or creations

Skills

  • Mentoring others
  • Collaboration and team work
  • Transfer of knowledge

Sensibilities

  • Confidence
  • Generosity and inclusivity
  • Discernment and judgment
  • Wellbeing

Technology in learning

  • Build a typology of digital learning tools that learners may use, for instance: word processor, spreadsheet, flash animations, videos, wikis, web portfolios, simulations and blogs. Describe ways in which these could be used in ways that illustrate mimetic, synthetic or reflexive pedagogy.


A school for the future

  • Look at some codes of ethics for educators, and create one of your own.
  • Create a learning charter for your dream school. Following are some areas you might wish to cover.

A learning charter

A charter outlines a set of commitments to a particular community. It outlines the qualities, practices and expectations required to be successful.
Our mutual obligations

Our commitment to you:

  • Provide a happy, safe and stimulating environment for learning
  • Ensure designs for learning that are engaging and transforming
  • Provide the best-qualified teachers
  • Ensure adequate and appropriate resources for learning
  • Clearly explain learning process and what is expected of you
  • Provide clear, understandable and meaningful feedback and evaluation
  • Include you in the design of your learning experiences
  • Ensure that you can master a wide range knowledge processes
  • Provide guidance, support and remediation when required
  • Stretch you imagination and creativity
  • Respect, value and harness your identity and subjectivity
  • Ensure fairness and justice prevails in all domains of your learning experiences

Your commitment to learning:

  • Attend and be prepared
  • Be a respectful and responsible learner
  • Be a co-designer of learning
  • Give serious attention to learning inputs and processes
  • Participate in and complete task
  • Collaborate with teachers and other learners
  • Be imaginative and creative
  • Seek clarification and assistance when required
  • Work independently in partnership and in teams
  • Extend yourself!

Chapter 9: Directory