Tutor Observation 4 26th June 2014.
This was my final tutor observation and final observation
overall. The group of learners for this
session are young adult Childcare students, all female aged between 17 and 18
. This group actually completed their
Childcare course the previous week and have all now completed their level one
English course and are awaiting results.
We were informed a few weeks previously that the learners had to stay on
at college for a further 5 weeks due to funding reasons, so the tutor and I
decided to do some progression sessions to introduce the group to level 2
English which the majority of them will continue on to in the next academic
year. However it has now been decided
that the learners no longer have to continue attending Childcare and English
sessions. The learners that were present
last week have volunteered to come in to college anyway to attend the session
taken by myself for the purposes of this observation. The session planned was an informal revision
session and introduction to some level 2 topics and concepts which I had
started to explore with the learners the previous week.
Feelings.
This group can be rather difficult at times and can be very
talkative and disruptive. When I first
met this group in February the majority of the learners were extremely
disruptive to the point, in a previous session, with a different tutor college
security had to be called and many of the learners were put on report. Learners were reluctant to participate and
would simply refuse to work or participate in discussions and were not engaged
in the sessions at all. When I took over
this group in February we started afresh.
I encouraged learners to offer comments and suggestions for session
content. I worked really hard to
incorporate their ideas whilst still meeting the required learning and make the
sessions engaging and informative. This
has allowed a rapport to build between us as a group and the improvements shown
in the girls over the last few months have been amazing to see. I have learned a lot about classroom and
behaviour management with this group and the differences between younger and
mature adult learners and how to teach them.
I would not have improved as much as I have without them; we have helped
each other. I was extremely proud and
pleased that some of them came into college early in the morning when they did
not have to so I could be observed. This
shows the rapport we have built up together and the maturity and progression
the girls have made in a few short months.
While they can still be quite chatty at times and are far from perfect
they have improved massively. They are
now working in sessions and are capable of quiet concentration when needed,
however I was concerned how they may appear to an observer who is not aware of
this.
Evaluation.
Overall the session was a great success. One learner is a young mother and had brought
her young child to the session as she no longer had childcare funding now the
course was officially finished. I made
the decision to allow the child into the session as it was the final day and
the session was quite informal and as the learner had gone out of her way for
me by coming into college I felt it would be unfair of me to send her
home. I had brought a large tin of
chocolates as a thank you and reward for all the hard work they had done and
that was enough to keep the baby occupied.
In other sessions I would have reconsidered this decision as it could
produce a barrier to learning and health and safety issues but for today it
seemed to be the right thing to do. As
all my previous tutor observations had been with a different group I felt it
was important for the observer to see this group as they had been so integral
to my progression as a teacher. I have been given a lot of freedom with this
group to develop my own resources and style and as a result felt really
comfortable in this session.
Analysis.
The feedback from this observation is extremely positive and
I am pleased that the observer noticed the dynamic between myself and this
group and the difference it has been making.
My knowledge and experience of classroom and behaviour management
techniques has increased hugelt through my work with this group. All group members had confidence issues and
felt they had been let down by the school system. There was no real rapport with the tutor and
throughout the group cliques had formed and relationships were strained. Petty (2009) writes:
Unless rapport is
established a psychological barrier is created which stops students
taking part in
discussions, asking questions or asking for help. It also detrimentally
affects student
motivation and classroom management (102).
I recognised quickly that this was one of the main barriers
to learning and set about building a rapport between myself and the learners
and fostering a more positive group dynamic as a whole. By communicating with learners and showing an
interest in their lives and the topics they are passionate about a relationship
began to form. The learners offer ideas
and topics which I endeavour to include which shows the learners I listen to
and value their opinion and input. I
have been blunt and honest about their behaviour and how it would be viewed in
the work-place and have also used humour as a tool for learning and to diffuse
potentially negative situations from escalating and. The observer noted how my skills in classroom
and behaviour management have grown and commented that I have the potential to
become an expert practitioner in this area in the future. I have always been
able to communicate well with people and have a particular rapport with
children and young adults so was determined to improve of previous feedback
concerning my communication with learners as I knew it was so out of character.
As this session took place in a different room than we
usually occupy I had access to Smart-board technology which I wanted to utilise
not only to improve on my use of ICT in the classroom but also to add to the
creativity and innovation of the session. The board allowed interaction from the
learners throughout the session and they were encouraged to get up and write
their answers on the board and then discuss. According to Bloom learning is
broken up into three domains the cognitive, the affective and the psychomotor
domain. I attempted to take the session
and the learners through these three domains to enable them to get past the
first level of the cognitive domain ‘knowledge’ and move to deep learning. With this group I have attempted to fuse
cognitivist, constuctivist and behaviourist techniques to reach learners. By combining “learning by doing and asking
challenging questions” (Petty 2009 p4) from the cognitivist school through
written work and use of the Smart-board; “prior learning and experience” (ibid)
and relatable concepts and resources from learner’s lives through pop-culture
content and discussions of learners existing knowledge and beliefs from the
constructivist school; while incorporating rewards and motivation from the
behaviourist school I have managed to create a method to suit this group. This
session also included video clips from a well known sitcom to illustrate bias
which learners all recognised and therefore related to but now were now using
higher-order thinking to analysis the clip in terms of bias and stereotypes.
The learners were now looking at concepts more deeply and beginning to make
insightful comments on such things as gender and stereotyping which they have
all become very passionate about. . I noticed early on that this group engaged
more and spoke passionately and insightfully when given a topic they were
interested in and placed value on and used this as a means of motivation and
engagement and to build rapport. In Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives
(1951) learners are expected to be changed by the educative process and this
was the aim I had with this group. All
learners have gone through a transformation, some more than others but all have
grown and matured and are beginning to look more deeply at the world around
them and the things they take interest in. I have
had excellent feedback in my progress as a creative and innovative practitioner
in this area from numerous peers and the observer in this session took note and
gave high praise of my research and experimentation with popular culture
concepts and resources as a tool to promote deep learning and higher order
thinking.
Conclusion.
This was my final session within my placement at Doncaster
college and although it was a great success and my fourth level 1 grade
observation of the eight I had during my training the ending was
bitter-sweet. I have learned so much
from this group and truly believe this is where I received the majority of my
training; from a disruptive group of teenage girls. I have a huge passion for literature and at
the outset of my training the ideas of a Functional Skills group like this
would not have been my preference.
However I have taken the time to really get to know these girls as my group
profile will evidence and have worked extremely hard to ensure they were all
given a voice and the best possible chance to succeed. The learners were all disappointed at the
thought of a new teacher next year and I hope this is not too much of a barrier
to learning for them and they can continue their hard work in the future. Although the session was quite informal and
fun and end of term spirits were high I managed the situation well led a
successful session and the learners allowed the observer to see the new dynamic
we have created within this group. I
have learned a lot about classroom and behaviour management with this group and
the differences between younger and mature adult learners and how to teach
them. I would not have improved as much
as I have without them; we have helped each other. I will always remember and be grateful to
them.
Action Plan.
The plan from here is to take all I have learned with me
into the future. In my role as a
life-long learner I will continue to research all areas of education
particularly questioning as I wish to become an expert practitioner in this
area. As a means of continuing my
development as a teacher I will search out CPD opportunities to help me improve
in all areas. The new post-modern
theories surrounding education is something I am still hugely interested in and
actively researching and will continue to do so in the future to further my
improvement and keep abreast of new emerging theories and technologies. The use of pop-culture as a teaching resource
is something I will continue to implement as this has been a huge success for
me through all the levels I have taught from Functional Skills to degree level
English. I still have so much to learn but as I search for employment I will
take the invaluable skills I have learned from these girls with me.
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