An great article on students and adults in the Zaatari refugee Camp promoting learning amongst its community.
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/jordan_70365.html
Reflection is very important for both teachers and students. Over a number of years teaching I have come to realise more and more the importance and the value of establishing a reflective practice, what better way can you see and understand how you can be a better teacher?
Reflection-in-action is often the most simple ‘type’ of reflection to implement, as it is just a person reflecting and changing within an experience, adapting on the job. It is often very natural for us to reflect on what changes need to be made, working to solve our problem. Though this process is critical, it is also important to reflect-on-action, evaluating your own process after the experience is complete. This reflection includes the thinking processes used throughout the task, and how you understand your own learning.
Pappas (2010) quotes Donald Finkel and his belief that teaching should be “providing experience, provoking reflection. Reflection is a process in which you are able to understand your own learning, and in the case of teachers, their teaching strategies. Pappas created a ‘taxonomy of reflection’, drawing from Bloom’s approach. This taxonomy lists Remembering (what did I do?), Understanding (why was it important?), Applying (where can I use it again), Analysing (are there any patterns I used), Evaluating (how well did I do?) and Creating (what should I do next?). These steps, with their leading questions, allow for a deeper and more meaningful understanding of learning and development. The practice in this step is an especially good starting point, as it directs to purposeful reflection. This taxonomy could easily be used by both teachers and students, and is a great means for further development, and for students to take ownership over their learning.
Reflection is an increasingly important aspect of the classroom, and is a critical aspect for teachers to implement in their own teaching, as well as implementing it into the classroom. Principals these days often look to hire teachers with a good reflective practice, as they are able to learn and adapt to any situation, and continually develop their pedagogy.
Reference:
Pappas, P. (2010, January 4). A taxonomy of reflection: thinking for students, teachers, and principals (part 1). Message posted to http://www.peterpappas.com/2010/01/taxonomy-reflection-critical-thinking-students-teachers-principals.html
A liminal space is a place of not knowing, transition or waiting. The text states a liminal space to be a spiritual position ie where your mind is at a point in time. I can see how the liminal space can be related to people in refugee camps as they are in a place of transition and often without any educational assistance.
Syrian refugees who are placed in Australia are also in a transitional phase – a liminal space.
Liminal space is when we are experiencing a change or movement in our lives eg between jobs/careers, changing friendships, relocating. But I believe it also to be a state of mind even when everything else in your life is stable. It can be feeling a need for change and trying to explore ideas of what and how that may look.
In text 9a it states, “Those who move best through a formative liminal space have sets of eyes on their life to serve as guides.” In the case of the refugees and people trying to flee Syria, they don’t necessarily have this support or luxury to get them through their “in-between.”
The learning space of the future will be different. Some aspects of the physical space as we know it will remain, but the learning space of the future will be more flexible, transitional and designed so that change can be smooth. the liminal space will be a major player in the learning, for example, communicating globally, learning from other cultures and engaging with schools or networks/agencies around the world and locally. these learning spaces are present now through the electronic learning space.
Teachers Without Borders is a great example of working together globally to support, learn from, share and solve problems together – and work through that “in-between” space.
I think group work is when the learners are learning together, with and from each other, under a teacher’s supervision or independently. Here are some of my findings-
Collaborative learning means the kind of learning that happens when students join or team together towards a common task/goal or project. Everyone is supposed to contribute equally towards the success of the set task. Working as a team on a group assignment is an example of collaborative learning.
Cooperative learning is a specific, structured and more defined kind of collaborative learning. In cooperative learning, all team members participate and work together on a carefully structured activity. The teacher has a definite role in structuring and directing the learning process. The team members are interdependent but still individually accountable for their own work. There is no free ride and the work of the group as a whole is assessed. Cooperative learning takes place with a defined objective, effective direct instruction and immediate feedback. The team members listen, learn and contribute to achieve the expected learning outcomes.
Students share their strengths and abilities as well as develop new life skills and learn to deal with conflict. Cooperative learning has positive outcomes such as improved understanding of the subject, overall higher achievements and better class climate.
Group work is wishful thinking where children are put in groups to work together, hoping it will work out (Spencer, Kagan). There isn’t equal participation .High achievers tend to lead the group while some of the members take a free ride. The low achievers don’t contribute much as there is no accountability and no fair share of work. Time wastage is a common problem in such groups.
Co-operative learning is the most effective and successful tool to simulate ways of working together. “Students love to work in groups and they feel more successful and like subjects taught co-operatively. They have more friends of different ethnic groups and are more accepting of others different from themselves” (Slavin, 1995).
However, achievement of the required learning outcomes depends vastly on how co-operative learning is practiced. In general, two elements must be present if cooperative learning is to be effective: group goals and individual accountability (Slavin 1995, 2009; Rohrbeck et al., 2003; Webb, 2008).
References
Dumont, H., D. Istance and F. Benavides(eds.) (2010),The Nature of Learning: Using Research to Inspire Practice, Educational Research and Innovation, OECD Publishing.
DOI: 10.1787/9789264086487-en
Slavin, R. (2010). Co-operative learning: what makes group-work work? The Nature of Learning: Using Research to Inspire Practice, OECD Publishing
Does ‘Group Work’ Work? Is It the Best Way for Children to Learn?
Curriculum is all about what we teach. Pedagogy is about how we teach it.
The curriculum is the heart or the framework from which teachers base their program and teaching and learning activities. In schools teachers work collaboratively to determine kla scope and sequence program across the school. Teachers collaborate in stage groups in primary school as to how best they should deliver the content and address outcomes for the stage and that unit of work. In this sense, teachers work collaboratively around curriculum all the time. Teachers then need to work cooperatively around sharing resources, determining formative and summative assessment tasks, sharing space outside the classroom or time tabling specific rooms such as technology centre, library, sport field, school hall etc.
The curriculum allows for teachers to interpret it in many different ways and allows some flexibility in addressing outcomes. This in itself allows for a collaborative and cooperative learning environment amongst teachers. On the other hand teachers need to work collaboratively to ensure consistent teacher judgements are made across assessment and also when using language ie teaching mathematics content and visual literacy tasks for example. It is important that language is consistent across the school when teaching maths concepts or aspects of the English curriculum such as visual literacy and the many new terms introduced.
With so much change around curriculum it is important for teachers to access the curriculum space regularly as individuals, as stage groups and as whole staff group for TPL sessions. This way teachers will keep up to date with the implementation of new syllabuses and content strands and any changes to the curriculum as a result of the new Australian Curriculum.
So in terms of teachers working collaboratively and cooperatively to implement the curriculum, yes the curriculum is a learning space.
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Space Food! 
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