Tutor Observation Reflection 2: Suicide, Traffic, Panic Attacks and Ambulances.

Major traffic on roads

Cause by potential sucide on road!

                                                   I MEAN COME ON!!  
                                                      What else could go wrong?

Learner Taken ill

Tutor Observation Reflection 2 using Gibbs (1988).

Description

This session was my second tutor observation and third observation overall.  The observation took place in a Function Skills English session on descriptive texts covering both reading and writing.  The session is usually three hours long but was cut short today due to group presentations so a lot of information had to be covered in a short space of time.  The cohorts are all mature adult learners preparing to move on to GCSE with hopes of moving into the nursing profession.

Feelings.

Since my previous observation my placement with Doncaster Council’s AFCL department has begun after a delayed start, in which I have been observing tutors in a range of courses in the community and taking part in some of the sessions myself.  I have also secured a new placement at Doncaster College which began in late February which has allowed me to increase my actual practical teaching experience massively since then.  I am beginning to feel much more confident in my ability to teach now that I am being given the chance to teach sessions for myself.  I have been working closely with this group for the past month and have taught three full sessions myself.  This has allowed a good rapport to be built and has had a huge effect on the problem of nerves which was hindering the teaching process massively.  As there are no longer huge gaps of time between my teaching experiences I am quickly becoming more and more confident and knowledgeable with each session I take, adapting any future sessions to reflect what I have learned.   As a result of this the observation today was overall a much more positive experience than the previous session in which I was observed.  Although there was still an element of nerves to my delivery as I am still relatively new to actual teaching, added to observation nerves this was still a huge improvement on my previous observation.  The observer commented on the improvement made here mentioning the fact that I did not seem nervous at all.  I am happy with the improvement although I know that nerves are still impacting on my delivery and will continue to improve as I become more comfortable in the environment.  I am able to recognise when my speech becomes to rushed and pull myself back and count to five in my head to allow learners to speak their answers themselves without jumping in too early with praise or follow up questions.  A technique learned from one of my mentors which I now also employ is to take a literal step back after asking a question as a reminder to give the learners time.

Evaluation.

The session brought up some issues that I have not had to deal with in my teaching experience so far.  Due to problems with traffic only two learners were present at the beginning of the session and the rest of the group arrived at the session in gradual increments.  The planned session had to be adjusted slightly to accommodate this.  The first task/game was omitted which as a consequence did not allow the leaning to be broken up as much as I would have liked.  However overall I feel that I coped with the situation well and ensured that all latecomers were welcomed and acknowledged and were brought up to date on the lesson content and direction.  During this session a learner was taken ill and an ambulance had to be called. I endeavoured to stay calm during this incident and although I had to leave the room momentarily I ensured the other learners were put at ease and the lesson was resumed as soon as possible.  According to Glasser's Choice Theory Maslow’s 5 basic i needs are at the forefront of motivation and learning he states that we must satisfy each need in turn, starting with the first, which deals with the most obvious needs for survival itself. 
This is supportive of Glasser’s choice theory (1999) in that our basic inborn needs are at the forefront of motivation and learning .  On this occasion the lower order needs of the learner concerning physical and emotional wellbeing needed to be addressed.  This impacted the other learners; all were becoming concerned, meaning they could not concentrate on their higher-order needs of learning, fun and self-actualisation. These experiences can impact on teachers and learners everyday and while it was vital experience for me, and I coped well with the situation and received positive feedback from the observer regarding this, it was quite challenging to have my first experience of this occur during an observation.   These are experiences that can impact on teachers and learners everyday and although I know it was vital experience for me, and I feel I coped well with the situation and received positive feedback from the observer regarding this, it was quite challenging to have my first experience of this occur during an observation.  

Overall I feel the session went well.  The learners all engaged with the topic, slides, sound-effects and tasks and all produced a well written piece of descriptive writing which showed the progression of their learning while also enjoying a fun relaxed but informative session.  I can already determine areas that can be altered in order to deliver a truly multi-sensory session for the learners.  Multi-sensory learning asserts learners should experience visual, auditory and kinaesthetic approaches in order to fully understand a concept or topic.  Kolb’s (1984) Experiential learning is a philosophy of education based on the work of Piaget, Lewin, Jung and John Dewey (1938) which believes learning should come through a synthesis of experience and knowledge.  To learn experientially learners must first of all own and value their experience and knowledge and understanding is constructed from what learners already know and believe based on previous experience and an effective teacher must build on exploration of this knowledge and beliefs.  Kolb and Kolb (2005) write:

        Beginning with these or related concrete experiences allows the learner

        to re-examine and modify their previous sensemaking in light if new ideas (207).

A more kinaesthetic approach would have been beneficial here allowing a more interactive experience for learners to with and describe what they feel and touch.  I convinced myself the ideas I had in this respect were too juvenile for this group and was worried about offending learners. This observation session could have been developed into a multi-sensory lesson and included objects to touch, smell and taste.  My initial idea was to have objects in paper bags for the learners to describe.  If I was working with children this would have been the method I would have used however I decided against it as I was concerned the mature students would not engage with this.  However this judgement was incorrect.  The learners really engaged with the sensory aspects of the session and this would have only improved the learning and the atmosphere of the session if I had included objects to touch, smell and taste.  I intend to research further into new and emerging technologies available in my subject area and utilise these where available; this is another target for my ILP.   My experience and ability is increasing daily and as my rapport with the learners increases too the sessions should continue to improve.      

Analysis.

The fact that my interaction with the learners was identified as a strength is a real positive for me. The observer picked up on my support of the learners and development of their skills in preparation for the exam and every day life.  My interaction with learners is something I have been working really hard to improve on as my nerves and lack of experience had caused me to talk too much and not spend enough time with the learners.  This is also continually improving I believe, due to a particularly difficult young group I have been working with in which we have been making huge strides forward.  My work with this young group is not only improving my classroom/behaviour management and questioning skills but also allows me to see the differences in the mature learners of the observation group and identify the areas where I can step back and allow these learners to take over.  I will continue to work on this in the future it is important to me to become a supportive and encouraging teacher as this is the corner stone of successful learning.  

I agree with the comments referring to continuing to improve my question techniques.  I have been researching questioning methods and am planning to devise a system in which I ensure to include at least four techniques per session in all my future sessions to determine through trial and error the best techniques for certain learners, topics or situations. 

During group work I have been attempting to ensure the quieter learners work with different group members to engage them in the tasks and discussions.  I will speak to my mentors about this and get their perspective and ideas in how to engage the quieter learners without making them feel singled out.  In previous sessions learners have written and performed radio advertisements for Sport Relief in which the quieter learners in the group really engaged and responded to.  This is something which I can attempt to build on in the future.  I also intend to ask the learners their ideas on the types of tasks done in the session and will develop the tasks round this.  Functional Skills is a particularly dry subject in which the learners understandably become bored with the content and resources.  I have been endeavouring to improve the content of the session to include more interesting and diverse resources such as the choice of text for descriptive writing, using sound effects and visuals.  During a previous persuasive writing session I incorporated a video of Martin Luther King’s famous speech to illustrate persuasive techniques which was a really successful session. 

The breaking up of the tasks is something I will continue to work on in the future. Although there would have been more time and an extra task had the session begun on time with all learners, the later tasks could have been broken up more to make learning easier for some learners.  I intend to ask advice of my mentors in this area it is also a topic I am hoping to cover in my subject specialist interview.  It is important to stop and recap and although I think I have allowed for this during my planning I need to pay more attention and allow more time for recap and tasks.  The observer has given some advice to research the Accelerated Learning Cycle as a tool to improve in this area.  

The strengths identified are positive and can be built on (appendix 10).  My subject knowledge is something that is commented on often and although this is important I am also conscious of my subject knowledge becoming too noticeable or impacting on the session too much.   Although I attempt to include a small amount of more critiquing points for differentiation and also to allow learners to think in new ways I do not want to force my knowledge on the learners or influence their viewpoints.  I am still making the transition from higher level student to tutor and although it is great to have the recognition of my subject knowledge I believe it is the learner’s knowledge that should be the basis of learning. As my research into teaching theory continues it is cognitivist and constructivist based theories and particularly more postmodern adaptations of them such as Problem/Inquiry based learning and philosophical and literary approaches from theorists first encountered in my degree study such as those of Deluze and Kristeva that I find most interesting and relevant and want to build my future practice on.

Conclusion.

As a result of the observation I have learned that although I still have a long way to go in my training and development as a teacher my skills are improving greatly.  I have learned that my attempts to condense the content of sessions and make them more learner led rather than tutor led has been successful up to this point and I will continue on working to improve this even further in future sessions.  I do not need to do all the work and can let the learners have more control of the session. 

This session introduced me to classroom issues which I had not yet encountered in my training and so I gained vital knowledge and experience on how to cope in such situations in a professional manner.  It also gave me first hand experience of how a teacher needs to be able to adjust the lesson plan to accommodate any issues which may occur.  I have learned I do not need to put so much pressure on myself to rigidly follow the lesson plan.

My interaction with learners has improved since previous observations but there is still a lot of work to be done in this area.  I can break down tasks into smaller chunks which will make them more manageable for some learners.  I have learned not to over think tasks or dismiss them as something the learners would feel is aimed at children and insulting.  The session was good but could have been great if I had included all the multi-sensory resources I had initially though of.

Action Plan.

In future sessions I intend to break up the session into smaller sections and include more tasks and activities at the end of each section to make learning more manageable, even more engaging and more learner led.  I will include more recaps in my sessions rather than just one at the start and end of the session.  This was a short session compared to the amount of time usually spent with this group and shorter still due to the unforeseen issues which occurred during and so I may have tried to move past things too quickly in order to include the important information.  In future I will omit less important information and pick them up in a future lesson.  I will research the Accelerated Learning Cycle to help me in this area.

I will also continue to improve my questioning techniques.  I will Experiment with techniques and aim to include at least four techniques per session in all my future sessions to determine through trial and error the best techniques for certain learners, topics or situations. I will continue to work on condensing the content of sessions to allow for more tasks and questioning.

I will implement a recap and assessment method which allows learners to assess and reflect on their learning and progress which I will speak to my mentors about.  I would also like an improved method of tracking and assessing the progress of learners for myself rather than relying on the information given to me.  This is a great starting point but as I am getting to know these learners more I would like some kind of record to show progression.

I also need to devise a better method of recap and assessment as question and answering is adequate for some part of the session however, the learners should have some access to self-reflection and future targets.  The target for my ILP is to develop a method for learners to reflect on their learning and progression during the session.  In my placement with DMBC learners have a Learner Journey Booklet which they complete at the end of every session.  This may be something I can replicate or use as a template to design something similar for Doncaster College students. I will talk to my mentors in the college about the best way to achieve this.

Tutor Observation Reflection 1 (13.12.14.) Nervous Chatter.

Introduction

In this reflection I shall be using the reflective model of John Dewey as laid out in his works How We Think (1933) and Logic: The Theory of Inquiry (1938).   This continues my experimentation with multiple reflective models in order to determine the most suitable method for my style. This model has been adapted and broken down into stages by numerous scholars usually consisting of five or six stages encompassing the whole reflection in experiencing, questioning, evaluation, analysis, hypotheses and experimentation.  This inevitably leads to further questions and experiences for reflection so like many others; the process of reflection is cyclical.  Reflection for Dewey is a form of learning and, experience, questioning and experiment become synonymous. Due to the restrictions of word-count I have chose to use Rodgers (2002) adaptation of Dewey in which she shows it is possible to collapse the six phases down to four;

1. Presence to experience
2. Description of experience
3. Analysis of experience
4. Intelligent action/experimentation. 

Tutor Observation Reflection 1. 13th December 2013.

The Experience in Picture form.

A picture speaks a 1000 words but I definitely beat that!

Presence to the Experience.

The session planned was a dissertation workshop designed to provide guidance and aid level 6 students in the early stages of their dissertation project.  I had worked hard on the planning stage of the session and as my aim was for a relaxed atmosphere which would cover issues dictated by the learners I had planned for many different areas which may come up.  I had been specifically asked by their tutor to cover Harvard referencing in part of the session. This was my first experience of the observation process and, due to problems with my placement only my second experience of planning and leading a session after the micro-teach assignment a few weeks earlier.  Naturally this affected my presence to the experience as I was extremely nervous and was unsure if any learners would attend as the session was not mandatory.  There were problems with traffic that morning meaning I arrived at the session 2 minutes before it was due to begin and the observer was already in the classroom waiting.  This added to my nerves and caused the session to begin later than planned; this was quite rightly commented on by the observer. Throughout the session I felt I was talking too much and felt a need to fill the silence when I asked a question.  I felt panicked and uncomfortable and was conscious of the observer throughout the whole process and although I relaxed a little during the second half of the session after the observer had left I felt the session did not go as well as I had envisioned it and was hugely relieved when it was over.  In short I thought the session was a disaster.

Description of Experience.

The session began slightly later than planned as outlined above with four learners in attendance.  The observed part of the session covered Harvard referencing and consisted of Power-point presentation integrated with group discussion and included tasks for the learners in the form of quizzes to test knowledge and tasks requiring the referencing of multiple sources of varying difficulty.  The session became very teacher led and learner’s thoughts and ideas were not given the adequate time and attention to be expressed properly.  The delivery was very rushed and the observer’s feedback indicates I need to develop a slower, more measured style which allows the objectives to be discussed with learners.  The information given in the session was all relevant and useful to the learners however, there was a lot of information to take on board and feedback indicates there needs to be more time given to learners to reflect on the information they are given. 

There were some positives to the session and feedback indicates my subject knowledge, enthusiasm and rapport with the learners all contribute to the experience of learners and the learning taking place.  The learners were all encouraged to take ownership of their learning and were signposted to learn independently which is vital at this stage in the education process and this was commented on positively by the observer.  Questions were utilised in order to enhance learning, another aspect imperative to the learning process with some good feedback given although there is huge room for improvement.

Analysis of Experience.

I feel nerves had a major effect on the way this session was delivered.  I tend to speak quickly when I am nervous and as this was my first proper teaching session and observation I wanted to ensure I covered all the content in my lesson plan.  This allowed the session to become to rigid in form and content. Feedback shows this was detrimental to the learning as I was talking over learners in my rush to get through the material and did not allow learners to adequately express their thoughts and feelings.  This is truly out of character for me and I was clearly not reflecting in practice as I did not realise at the time this was happening.

 I tried to incorporate questioning extensively to promote learning but failed to move on to more higher order questioning or ask follow up questions.  This is again out of character as I am a continual questioner myself and am passionate in my belief that questioning is the key to all learning; my dissertation was on conspiracy theory and questioning dominant narratives! I have been researching Socratic questioning as a target given by the observer and am learning that I am already a Socratic questioner (usually) and can see where I went wrong.  In Socratic questioning attempts are made to draw out the learners’ fullest possible knowledge of the topic. Individuals have the capacity to recognize contradictions, implying that incomplete or inaccurate ideas can be corrected during the process of disciplined questioning, leading to progressively greater truth and accuracy (Paul and Elder 2009). Questioning cannot work if the answer given is not considered or questioned.  I can only conclude that this too comes down to nerves which caused a kind of tunnel vision in which I was only really aware of the observer and convinced myself closed questions with a correct answer would show learning whereas my primary concern should be the learners. Although I had considered Maslow’s (1943) Hierarchy of needs in the planning stage I did not completely follow through with all areas in the session.   

Independent learning is vital at this level and the session became too teacher led which is not the session I planned.  An effective teacher should be able to move seamlessly between the two roles of instructor and facilitator depending on each role’s fitness for purpose. Problem-Based learning is a concept the lecturer had been experimenting with and introduced me to. Savvey (2002) defines PBL as an instructional and curricular learner-centred approach that empowers learners to conduct research, integrate theory and practice, and apply knowledge and skills to develop a viable solution to a defined problem. Critical to the success of this approach is the selection of ill structured problems (often interdisciplinary) and a tutor who guides the learning process and conducts a thorough debriefing at the conclusion of the learning experience. I had endeavoured to incorporate elements of PBL into the session when planning which shows my awareness and intention to teach using this method which indicated improvements would come with experience. Ertmer and Simons (2006) identify a huge challenge of PBL for instructors, is navigating the transition from teacher as knowledge provider to tutor as manager and facilitator of learning. This also affected the motivation of the learners as, although I had positive feedback for creating engaging and informative slides the learners were more engaged when they were actively taking part in tasks.  The information would have been easier to take in if I had broken it down into more tasks and allow the learners to define what they need to know.  Independent learning is vital at this level and the session became too teacher led which is not the session I planned.  For this subject a fusion between instructor and facilitator was needed.  An effective teacher should be able to move seamlessly between the two roles depending on each role’s fitness for purpose in what Petty (2009) refers to as the “instructor-facilitator continuum”.  The session I planned was based around this which shows my awareness and intention to teach using this method so I am quite positive this will improve with experience.    On the positive side the dissertation guide I created for the learners and the accompanying Power-point was praised by the tutor and the learners.  The Power-point was put on blackboard for the learners to access and the tutor has asked me to extend and refine the guidance document for future use.  

As the learners were not that far behind me in their academic career I was concerned that I would include content which was not challenging to the learners.  As a result I jumped straight in at a high level and at times the content of the session was pitched at too high a level.   Higher order thinking is the aim of university teaching and constructivist theory tells us that in order to attain this emphasis should be on the actual process of learning and not simply on the product to be learnt (Cohen et al 1977 p.183).  I had attempted to model my planning around Kolb’s (1984) theories of experiential learning modelled out of four elements: concrete experience, observation and reflection, the formation of abstract concepts and testing in new situations. Illustrated through the model of the learning cycle the theory proposes that knowledge is acquired through a synthesis between knowledge and experience:

The cycle can begin at any point but in order for cognition and experiential learning to take place learner's need to develop a clear starting point and by skimming through the purpose and objectives of the session and rushing to get through all the complicated information I did not allow this to happen.

Intelligent Action/Experimentation.

The plan going forward form here is to first and foremost gain more teaching experience so I can begin to feel more comfortable with the experience.  I have begun a new placement and should hopefully begin teaching after the Christmas break.  This will help with my nerves and help me get used to the observation process as it was commented on by the tutor that there was a vast change in my delivery once the observer had left.  I will make a conscious effort to slow down my delivery and give learners the opportunity to articulate their thoughts.  I have already been given excellent tips from my mentor about taking a literal step back after speaking and counting slowly to 10 to allow learners to answer which I will test at the next opportunity.

I recognise that I include too much information and could have stretched out the information into two sessions. I will work on incorporating more tasks into sessions to allow learners to process the knowledge in small chunks I will research and experiment with different teaching and learning theories and andragogical and pedagogical techniques in order to allow me to do this.

Finally I will speak to my mentor about ways of giving feedback and tracking learner’s progress.  I will continue my research into questioning techniques and theories of teaching and learning in order to improve on my grade.

Overall Grade 3.

Bibliography

Cohen,L., Manion,L, Morrison, K and Wyse, D.  (2010) A Guide to Teaching Practice  Revised 5^th Edition. Oxen: Routledge.

Dewey, J. (1933) How We Think, New York: Heath.

Kolb, D. A. (1984) Experiential Learning, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.: Prentice Hall.

Petty, G. (2009) Teaching Today A Practical Guide 4^th Edition.  Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes Ltd.

Paul, R and, Elder, L. (2006) The Thinker's Guide to the Art of Socratic Questioning Based on Critical Thinking Concepts and Tools. USA: The Foundation for Critical Thinking Press

Rodgers, C. (2002). Defining Reflection Another Look at John Dewey and Reflective Thinking. Teachers College Record, 104(4), 842-866.

Rushton, I. and Suter, M (2012) Reflective Practice for Teaching in Lifelong Learning.  Berkshire: Open University Press