My students love to sit around the communal work table and discuss whatever comes to mind. With careful manipulation I can steer their train of thought onto a topic associated with their required learning. When this has been achieved they will offer their opinions, ideas and suggestions on what method of teaching suits them best.
They like a student/learner centred approach, using group discussions and icebreakers, which are helpful for learners of mixed ability. Everyone can take part in these activities, so no one feels inadequate. A democratic management style is ideally suited to this type of teaching.
Most, if not all, of my students agree that practical demonstrations are the best way of reinforcing the spoken word. This tutor centred method of teaching consists of students observing a particular skill being employed to create a desired effect. The demo would be repeated until the students have grasped the technique needed to produce the end result. They would then simulate this learned skill on their own work areas. Question and answer sessions are used to reinforce the learning, both from tutor and student.
Another big ‘positive’ in the students’ preferred styles is the use of feedback - written and verbal. Most of my students are poor academically, and are not used to their efforts being singled out for special recognition. Almost all of them will become embarrassed at the slightest hint of praise. In some respect praising their work can be detrimental to their future efforts. It is something they are not used to hearing and can upset their rhythm. Why, after years of being in the lowest groups at school, hidden from view you might say, should they suddenly believe that they could do something well?
I have discovered that if we sit around the table and discuss the day’s achievements, singling out one or two students for special appraisal, they will be flustered beyond belief. However, on a one to one basis they will glow with pride, and you can almost see their confidence level rise.
Written feedback is just as effective for making the students realise, that they are valued group members. They will grow in stature on reading the words ‘well done’ or ‘good effort’.
It’s not too hard to understand that a lot of these learners have never experienced the taste of success, so praise must be given frequently, but carefully. If someone’s been in the desert without water for a week, you would not give them half a gallon at once. You would get them used to it slowly.
Another point I think relevant to factors, which help or hinder learning in my group, is the behaviour of male students when a female student is present. Certainly in pre-19’s there is an element of teenage ‘angst’. Some of the male students will go out of their way to try and embarrass the female, whilst others will try to impress. This impress or distress type of conduct is usually undertaken by the students who are most likely to have disruptive behaviour patterns. Therefore ground rules must be laid down to combat this threat to the learning environment.
The teaching of a practical skill in a workshop environment has its limitations, noise from other work areas are a constant irritant and can be a barrier to learning. At times speaking in a loud voice is the only means of viable communication. This is a persistent thorn in the side for both student and tutor. Theory work and calculations have to be undertaken in the workshop, so finding a quiet corner is a must. All my students complain about the learning environment, so I make sure that any verbal description/instructions are reinforced with the appropriate handouts.
Relevant Learning Theories
Behaviourism
Behaviourists believe that participation is far better than passive reception. (Watson 1930) Feedback reinforces learning and praise of success should be given immediately. Each step should be short and linked to the previous. Practice reinforces learning, ie stimulus creates response.
My students like step by step learning and benefit a great deal from encouraging and constructive feedback.
I usually start a lesson by informing the group what they are aiming for during the session. They learn better if work is set out in various stages, which will lead them to the end result. Feedback is given after each stage and students are motivated by their previous efforts.
Cognitive Theory
Cognitive theorists view learning as involving the acquisition or reorganisation of the cognitive structures through which human’s process and store information. (Good and Brophy, 1990)
Emphasis is placed on the three A’s – Acquisition, Assimilation and Application.
Acquisition - making what is learned meaningful
Assimilation - realising new skills to already learned
knowledge
Application - gaining understanding and putting
knowledge to use
Learning is an active process; the effectiveness depends on relating new information to previous information, testing learning against already learned and stored knowledge.
This method is used in a variety of ways in my teaching, ie:
- Tutorials
- Case studies
- Projects
- Lectures
In the practical work my learners undertake they are constantly learning by trial and error, and can understand the reason for this is to better their technical ability.
The three A’s (as described above) can be defined in my students’ learning as:
Listening to a lecture – Acquisition
Understanding the content - Assimilation
Putting it to use in a practical manner – Application
Practical Implications
Each teaching method has its advantage and its limitations; in my teaching I have found first hand that this is so. Whereas a skilled tutor will adapt to any given situation and change his/her delivery to suit, every teaching method will have its high and low points but, if you recognised this, you can at least take action to overcome it.
Practical Demonstration
Useful for giving the learner a bit-by-bit build up to a complete task. Enables students to see what has been discussed, and they can try it for themselves.
Does not always guarantee that learning has been achieved. Students must be able to practice to consolidate learning. The demonstration must be clearly visible to all students, and not done too fast.
Case Studies
The student can use the luxury of hindsight to solve problems at their own pace without the pressures of the real life situation. Useful for exchanging ideas and opinions that will contribute to problem solving.
Students may think that in a real life work scenario they have as much time to solve the problem.
Role Play
Learners can practice their methods of work in the safety net of the workshop and get used to time schedules, advice and criticism of their fellow students. Helps them plan for future tasks, gives them valuable experience.
If not all the group is employed in the role play then the others may lose interest and start to annoy or embarrass those students that are involved.
Practical Assignments
Gives the student a chance to put into practice his/her learned knowledge, useful for assessing level of progress. The student can use their own initiative to make their project a success.
Only of benefit to the student if he/she really wants to do it. If left to their own devices for too long may lose interest. Can be a bit off putting for some students, they might think that they cant possibly do the project and start to lose confidence.
Group Learning
A good way of getting to know one another initially Students can get information off one another and gain confidence. The tutor will offer information and coax opinions and suggestions out of the group. Group learning is ideal for moral and confidence building.
Some students may feel inferior and withdraw, others will hog the limelight, and invariably clashes of personality will occur.
Individual Learning
Ideal for working on any problems the learner may have, useful for counselling and support. Review progress, tutorials, feedback and assessment.
If part of a large group time could be the ruler, so each session must be planned out in advance so every aspect can be covered.
PART 2
MANAGING THE LEARNING PROCESS
SCHEME OF WORK
PART 3
EVALUATION OF SCHEME OF WORK
PAINTING & DECORATING PRE-NINETEEN’S
COURSE 6: Weekly two-hour sessions
VENUE: Harold Town Workshop’s
My Scheme of Works has been designed so that the learners can identify each weeks learning in relation to the next. Each two-hour session is split into three parts, Theory, Practical, Evaluation. Reinforcement will be done throughout with practical demos, video, handouts, samples, and constant assessment through observation, questions & feedback.
Students are actively encouraged to offer their interpretations and suggestions.
After explaining the lesson a practical demonstration will take place, students would all be involved. Particular attention will be given to the students who might find the demo a slightly bit daunting. After each step reinforcing will take place with questions and replay techniques.
Each lesson has a start, middle and an end, i.e. why, how, try. Evaluation of learning was done as described to check on students learning and tutors teaching skills. This I think is an important part of each session. The lessons have a beginning and an end result, but also leave the student with the appropriate skills to progress to the next subject/lesson.
Pre-nineteen’s on the P & D course at Keighley College are in my opinion learners who need to see an end result to each session. Their carrying over of learned skills from week to week is limited i.e. if we spend two hours explaining and practising the way in which we paper hang a ceiling in readiness for the next lesson, more often than not when the next lesson arrives some will have forgot already, forgotten to bring their notes, or simply forgotten to bring themselves. This in no way reflects on the tutor or the student, these teenagers of between 16 to 19 years of age, not high flyers by any stretch of the imagination, most of them very poor academically, and the usual hang ups and idiosyncrasies of teenagers. So I believe you must nail the learning home week by week.
I am hopeful my scheme of work contains enough information in each session to keep the students attention ongoing. Obviously like any plan it has its drawbacks, one is flexibility. Students learn at different speeds, and have different levels of physical strengths and weaknesses, painting and decorating is a physically demanding occupation so flexibility must be shown in the practical tasks that are set. The tutor could help if this were the case by putting the students into pairs. This though can have its own drawback, selecting the correct pairings can cause a mountain of trouble from teenagers; so you must treat this simple task with the utmost respect. The scheme is a guideline of events so the tutor must use his/her discretion. The aim is to attain a certain level of skills after each session so initiative must be the order of the day.
ASSESSMENT
Assessment would take place before, during and after the course. Reports from schools, other tutors, employers, talking to the students one to one and as a group would help the tutor assess each member of the class. Continually reinforcing each lesson with the resources already described and the practical experience would be the ongoing assessment. Being cognitive learners trial and error would be on the agenda so a great deal of assessment would be done by observation. Another method of assessment I like to employ is Vice-Voce, from this I can ascertain the true learning capacity of the student.
FEEDBACK
Feedback is another way the tutor could assess the student and his own performance. Listening to the students interact with each other will give me an idea of the type of mood the class is in. I can then use this to help me in the lesson. Listening to how they interpret my actions will give me information I need. One to one tutorials, are they finding the course to hard/easy, are they some areas that are not working. Fine tunings can be made as the course progresses, listen, ask and learning will take place.
PART 4
RESOURCES and ACTIVITIES EMPLOYED
WEEK 1
Resources: Flipchart
TEACHER/LEARNER ACTIVITIES
Teacher/ Explaining reasons for washing down wall, methods used and tools required. Give practical demonstration.
Learners/ would be asked questions as demonstration progresses, try practical experience.
Teacher/learner reflection on lesson.
WEEK 2
Resources: Flipchart/Handouts
Teacher/ Explain types and grades of lining paper, methods used in measuring, pasting and applying paper to walls,
Learners/ discuss methods used in applying lining paper, practical involvement.
Teacher/learner reflect on lesson, work out any problems.
WEEK 3
Resources: Flipcharts/Handouts
Teacher/ Explain methods of measuring and folding lining paper, differentiating between folding for walls and folding for ceilings. Practical demonstration.
WEEK 3 cont:
Learners/ Practical experience and group discussion.
Teacher/learner Reflection and tutorial if needed.
Teacher/ An assessment of course progress, and any adjustments made.
WEEK 4
Resources: Video/Flipchart
Teacher/ Woodchip, methods of measuring, pasting and applying.
Learners/ Video demonstration, practical experience.
Teacher/Learner reflect on lesson, questions to reinforce learning.
WEEK 5
Resources: Video/Flipchart
Teacher/ Video and practical demonstration
Learner/ Practical experience backed up by video and flipchart.
Teacher/Learner reflection and questions.
WEEK 6
Resources: Flipchart/Handouts
WEEK 6 cont:
Teacher/ Explain methods of preparing wall for paint, method of painting wall, practical demonstration.
Learner/ practical experience backed up with questions and answers.
Teacher/Learner Evaluation of the course, what have we learned. How can we use this to set our future targets?
PART 5
COMMUNICATION
Before the start of each teaching session I try and create an environment that will encourage learning. Physical barriers like tables and chairs are moved if possible out of the way. Sounds from outside the workshop can be a hindrance to learning so; if possible, I try to find a quieter part of the workshop to teach in. Students are given a reasonable amount of time to organise themselves ready for the lesson and when an expected degree of attention is attained we begin.
A typical two-hour lesson would nearly always be split into three parts:
- Lesson introduction and description of practical demonstration.
- Practical demonstration.
- Reflection and evaluation.
The purpose of any lesson is to convey knowledge to the learner using as wide a range of teaching methods as possible, including support and resources, so ensuring that any learning difficulties can be overcome. An important part of teaching is the careful use of verbal and non-verbal communication.
Effective Communication
Effective communication can be achieved using the various methods available.
Verbal / language
Different levels of speech - fast, slow, loud, soft, authoritarian and passive. Handouts, OHP, TV/ video, flipcharts, power point and yourself as tutor are all resources which help communication.
Body language
Body language can be used to express your thoughts and opinions to your students in a wide variety of ways. Posture – arms folded, hands on hips, even scratching your head in dismay can put out signals you want your students to receive, as will eye contact, facial expressions and mannerisms. Students in turn will have their own body language that you must be aware of and be able to respond to.
How I use verbal/non-verbal communication in my teaching
At the beginning of my teaching sessions I usually explain to the group the planned activities and expectations of the lesson. If a practical demonstration is required they will be informed of any special clothing, i.e. safety wear, or equipment they need to have. This complimentary communication precedes the lesson.
The students in my group down at Harold Town are your typical teenagers, full of themselves, moody, aggressive, lazy, knowing all, laugh a minute kids, who are for most of the time not in the slightest bit interested in what you have to offer. Their level of speech can be at best hard to understand, ranging from a mixture of street talk and foul language to the latest brand of ‘Yo, ride on mother’, so communication is very dependent on quickly finding the correct level. Do they need a strong authoritarian ‘show them who’s boss’ attitude or coaxing gradually back to earth with verbal prompting? They may need confidence boosting jabs, i.e. ‘You can do it’ or ‘Just ask for help if you’re stuck’ etc, reinforcing with handouts, questionnaires, practical tests, tutorials and one-to-one talks to build up tutor confidence. They need reasons why they should attend class, wear overalls, do written work, look interested. They need to see a light at the end of the learning tunnel. All these needs have to be met, so constant communication, both verbal and non-verbal, is employed.
Body language is equally as important to me in teaching - my own and that of my students. More so, I would say, in the teaching of pre –nineteens than in any other age group. Some of the pressures that are put on their shoulders by their parents and peers can sometimes lead to all sorts of problems, so their body language has to be carefully observed. My own body language can be used to enhance the verbal lesson. I might use eye contact, facial expressions, exaggerated waving of arms and complete silence to make my point.
In some instances the group may band together and switch off from the lesson and learning process. They might start talking amongst themselves about any given subject other than the one they should be. My way of dealing with this is to stand arms folded, head to one side, eyes moving from one student to the other in silence until one or two of them stop talking and look back at me. Once this weakening begins I can then exploit it by saying ‘Thank you. Can we now continue with what we are supposed to be doing’. This usually works better than raising my voice and threatening all sorts of actions they know will never happen.
Asking the students for their opinions and views on a subject can encourage group interaction. This can start with something that has nothing to do with the lesson. It could be music, fashion, football or whatever. If I have detected through their body language or certain words that they are not in a mode receptive to learning, then I might start a group discussion this way. I use the playback technique to reinforce learning within the group, i.e. when I am describing a certain decorating process/skill I often use a key word like Preparation and emphasise it over and over. Later I would stop and say ‘What’s the word that I am looking for?’ and the group would usually chorus it out loud. This demonstrates to me that learning is taking place.
Benjamin Bloom created his taxonomy to provide a framework for categorising test questions. (Bloom, B.S. ed. 1956. Taxonomy of educational objectives).
The six levels of the taxonomy have question cues, which can help the learner identify the area of study needed. These lists of verbs can be used in the setting of questionnaires, assessment sheets, lesson plans ect.
To test my student’s knowledge of a certain subject, I use verbs from these lists in the hope that they will help them select the correct answers.
PART 6
REVIEWING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MY TEACHING
I review the effectiveness of my teaching after each session because I am new to the job and learning as I go. The demands made on the tutor by
pre–nineteen’s make reviewing something that should be done all the time. Everybody has different ways of taking in information so each individual must be carefully catered for. This I can do with the help of one-to-one tutorials - needs and preferences can be agreed upon. A straightforward question like
‘Which way do you understand best?’ or ‘Do you want me to show you on your own?’ helps. The feedback I get from these questions can help me clear up any communication difficulties.
Simple questionnaires or practical tests give me an idea of how much learning has taken place or how much hasn’t. Teaching is all about communication and support. A tutor can teach a two or three-hour session giving the learners a whole wealth of knowledge, but if he/she has not found the correct level of communication then it’s all to waste.
Review as you go, reinforce with handouts, playback etc. Check that your teaching is being understood. Learning a practical skill is all about understanding the technique and application. The student will achieve these methods easily, but nine times out of ten will suffer from lack of confidence and therefore struggle in his/her attempts at the set task. The best method the tutor then has to help the student is to encourage, and talk them through it, using all the modes of communication available.
The scheme of work I used had its teething problems. Pacing of the lessons at first was extremely difficult. If I moved on through the lesson at the pace of the slowest learner, it accommodated that particular student, but some of the others became impatient and moved on at their own initiative, causing no end of problems. They would be racing ahead, often making mistakes that I couldn’t correct until I had got the slower ones up and running. These mistakes would lead to some loss of confidence and then I would spend more time than I had planned for rebuilding this loss.
Eventually I realised that teaching the group on different levels was a possible answer. I started this method and had a good deal of success. Although quite challenging to do, once I got going, I enjoyed it and I think my students did too. Different break times helped as well, some would have their break half an hour before the others, which gave me precious moments to get around one half of the group and talk to them individually.
Explaining to the group why we were doing one particular task, and how it would lead to another and so on was a definite bonus. The students could clearly understand the reason for each activity and also could see the light at the end of the tunnel, you might say. This reason for often quite physically demanding projects and a definite outcome propelled the group to achieve each week’s objectives.
My next planning for a scheme of work would include provision for different levels of learning, a set time each week to talk as a group about the last session, and discuss any problem areas.
I was happy with my scheme overall and felt the learners benefited from use of resources and handouts.
