Ed Foundations blog posting – Module B, second scenario
Ed Foundations blog posting – Module B Second Scenario
Wayne (2) Wayne teaches at an inner city public high school. While he is really excited about his new job close to the inner city suburb where he lives and went to university, he’s finding that not all the students share his enthusiasm for learning. Wayne really enjoys the subject matter of his senior classes and spends a large proportion of his planning time ensuring he has the depth of content covered. However he is finding that his class is falling into two groups. In one a group a number of apparently highly motivated students are intellectually pushing him. Another group seems to consist of students who don’t really want be there. Both groups are causing Wayne concern as it appears that the ‘motivated’ group don’t engage at a deep level and instead want to know the ‘correct’ answers, while the ‘less motivated’ group are difficult for him to engage. A number of students seem to be distracted at school, he thinks they are tired or have perhaps been using drugs and alcohol. He is also concerned that a number of students seem anxious and fearful of not getting into the nearby University.
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The analysis of Wayne’s predicament is an interesting one. This scenario sounds like he is planning his curriculum rather well, but somehow falling short in some areas that are causing a group of students to ‘drift away’ from the subject matter.
Provocation 2 – Will I be allowed to be the teacher I want to be? At least Wayne has identified an issue in his classroom, and that’s a good thing. I believe Wayne needs to re-visit the ‘student motivation handbook’, and review some sound strategies regarding student motivation and engagement. If his students are motivated enough to come to school – there must be a spark of interest there somewhere? Has Wayne considered how today's’ digital-students learn? For today’s digital natives, printed text is so yesterday. Printed text is barely accepted anymore by current student standards. Let’s say if Wayne’s students’ are unable to chat, text or tweet - its likely old news, and rudimentary learning for some (Churchill 2011). Perhaps he should slant his curriculum or lesson plans toward a digital flavour, and engaged his students in this way? There’s nothing wrong with having computer-based discussions.
The above scenario has not indicated the grade level of the students who are facing these challenges. If the class in question is comprised of 14-16 year old students, this may highlight how their brains may be undergoing change during these formative years. Another concern Wayne has is a small group of ‘motivated’ students appear to be highly-focused on the assessment. It seems they are concerned with just getting the answers, as opposed to deep-thought about the subject matter. On the other side of the tracks, we have the opposing group of students that Wayne has identified as distracted. Here again, organising students into groups may alleviate these distractions and help these students re-gain their focus. According to Killin (2003), group work has the prominent feature that students work and collaborate together, rather than encounter direct in intercession by the teacher. This means that the students can freely cooperate with each other and work towards a common goal or objective.
Wayne’s 6th provocation – what will students want and need from me? In Wayne’s case, my opinion suggests he needs more creativity in the classroom in order to enhance student engagement and improve their learning environment. Wayne should modify his class structure, so he can arrange his class in a more collaborative environment, whereas to stimulate his class to the point they are working together and in unison. What is Wayne’s level of critical-thinking in his classroom? Nosich (2005) suggests a good way to begin the thinking process is to activate the conscience thinking about the subject- even before we do any reading or see any presentations on the subject.
On one of my observation classes, the lead teacher introduced group work on one particular geography assignment - and it worked a treat! It was designed upon group competition, whereby the group that could identify the most geographers’ tools would win. It was such a delight to see the grade 7 Geography group’s work together for a common outcome! I shall not soon forget this incident.
[1] Churchill (2011). Teaching: making a difference. Pg. 111
[2] R. Killin (2003) Effective teaching strategies; lessons from research and practice. Pg. 126
[3] G. Nosich (2005) Learning to think things through. Pg. 12