Recognition of and Engagement with Student Difference and Diversity and Supportive Learning Environments - Case Study Example

Topic: Case Study Folio Introduction This case study is based on observations made on two lessons conducted in the primary school level involving early childhood education. Both lessons were conducted separately by two different teachers using a different set of learners. Using the productive pedagogical dimensions of Recognition of and Engagement with Student Difference and Diversity and Supportive Learning Environments, relevant observations of both teachers and learners were made (State of Queensland, Department of Education, 2002). Both lessons were observed at Timbarra Primary School, Berwick on 22nd May 2009. The first lesson observed involved a long serving teacher conducting a Music lesson to Grade 1 prep children on exploring sounds (VELS, 2008). The learners were making sounds using different objects thereby concentrating on more hands-on experience (Cadwell, 2002). This lesson was connected to the Productive Pedagogy of Recognition of and Engagement with Difference (State of Queensland, Department of Education, 2002). The objective of this lesson was to ensure that the learners were able to have a sense of the different sounds that can be made using assorted objects. The second lesson observed involved a different teacher who was inexperienced and also handling Grade 1 prep learners on oral communication (VELS, 2008). This lesson analysed the elements of a Supportive Learning Environment with the learners seated on the floor in a circle (Example of a case study.doc). The objective of the lesson was to make the learner capable of making and saying the sounds of the alphabets (VELS, 2008). In the lesson, the teacher was instructing her learners ‘how to make lowercase alphabets and words using clay’. The observed lesson was found to be in line with the Reggio Emilia approach where the arrangement of the classroom adds to the mix of the learning-teaching process (Cadwell, 2002). Recognition of and Engagement with Difference Gore (2002) identifies four dimensions in the pedagogical perspectives but of the four, Recognition of difference in learners is probably the most outstanding dimension for analyzing ways of improving the achievement of learners from diverse socio-cultural backgrounds (State of Queensland, Department Education, 2002). Five elements of this dimension were quite evident in analyzing the lesson on “Exploring sounds” in this case study. The said five elements are discussed in the discourse below. Cultural Knowledge This element implies that more than one cultural group is present or given recognition as stated in (Education Queensland, 2002). In the observed lesson, the cultures were valued when the teacher asked the learners to make musical sounds using assorted objects. Since the class was a mixture of boys and girls, valuing all cultural knowledges was explicit by identifying themselves by gender and age as put forward by Hill, et.al. (2005). The lesson being analysed focused on engaging children in making musical sounds in a more hands-on experience activities (Cadwell, 2002). In this lesson, the teacher helped the learners to engage in socially diverse environments perceived through the different musical sounds produced thereby working towards building basic motor skills (Haberman, 1991). Moreover, it was also observed that both the learners and the class teacher shared their views relating to their interest in exploring sounds especially during circle time. This was in line with the Reggio Emilia approach (Cadwell, 2002) which considers the teacher as a co-learner to the children. Inclusivity In the observed lesson, the teacher went out of her way to make deliberate attempts to increase the participation of all the learners by inviting them to be attentive and fully take part in the task (Schlechty, 1990). To be more accommodating, the teacher considered each learner individually in the classroom rather than as a homogenous group (State of Queensland, Department Education, 2002). This was evident in the fact that the teacher got into each of her learners in unique ways. For instance, those with special needs were catered for specially and closely attended to than the mainstream learners. The teacher went the extra mile in providing total safety in the classroom during the task. Learners with medical conditions were monitored and fully involved in the lesson (VELS, 2008). The involvement of learners was evident when the teacher used one of the learners who had brought a piece of wood in the class during introduction time (VELS, 2008). The wooden piece had some thin hard threads of wood coming out which could make an interesting sound. All other learners showed keen interest and soon joined the rest. Collaborative group work naturally took effect and the learners were keenly observed assisting each other (Hill, et.al. 2005). This was necessary in promoting both a sense of group membership and the uniqueness of self amongst the learners (Cadwell, 2002). Narrative In observing this lesson, it was found out that it was more of a narrative as opposed to expository approach. Basically, a big portion of the lesson consisted of numerous activities involving instructions to learners and their responses particularly in form of actions for psychomotor skill development (State of Queensland, Department Education, 2002). Throughout the Collaborative group work exercise, students were reflecting on their own interests, the types of musical sounds they liked most and sound they were able to muster (Cadwell, 2002). The teacher seemed to be guided by the learner's interests rather than merely providing focused instruction (Cadwell, 2002). An outstanding example is when a learner was able to introduce the idea of producing musical sounds at the start of the lesson where all other learners showed keen interest including the teacher. In fact, the teacher worked initially as a learner alongside the learners before reverting to being a resource and guide to the children (Cadwell, 2002). I personally found this observation very important in generating positive contribution as well as increasing student engagement (Schlecty, 2002). The progression of this lesson was evident of the application of the skills of an experienced teacher. Group Identity In this lesson, group identity stood out clearly since the learners carried out their tasks at hand in groups of 6-7 set out by the class teacher from the outset. The learners explored a variety of sounds by hitting the wooden stick on various objects recognizing the soft and hard sounds (VELS, 2008). This further enhanced their phonics sounds learning by saying the sounds produced. Using group work technique was lauded the best in this lesson since it helped in building a sense of community and identity (Haberman, 1991). This lesson was an eye opener in the significance of creating learning communities by schools (Schlechty, 2002). Evidence of group identity existed almost straight away in the lesson when the teacher allowed learners to form groups of 6-7. The teacher was encouraging greater participation of all students in enhancing their thinking by adding on to their ideas (Haberman, 1991) which was in a way a positive reinforcement. This element was further highlighted with a number of learners working in their groups without making noise indicating high level of engagement (Schlecty, 2002). Active Citizenship The observed lesson had a high level of active citizenship especially in the fact that the learners had equal chances in expressing their ideas and opinions. The teacher began by encouraging the learners’ responses to be implemented as hands-on experience (Cadwell, 2002) at the commencement of the lesson. This gesture was a suggestion that all the learners had equal rights and opportunities within the classroom to participate actively. In my formed view, this technique was fruitful since all the learners were observed to be engaged in self directed engagement. The teacher was only seen encouraging more participation of all learners in an effort to bring out the hidden talents from them. In order to achieve this goal, the teacher had to devote more time on assessing the learners not only as a group but as individual learners (Haberman, 1991). This fact is supported by Cadwell (2002) who claims that effective learning in children should be child-centered to affect self discovery. Supportive Learning Environment This is the second productive pedagogical dimension to be observed in this case study. According to The New Basics Project (State of Queensland, Department Education, 2002) this dimension has five elements that measure the degree of a Supportive Learning Environment. Consequently, these five elements are analyzed dependent on observations from the second lesson dealing with learning lowercase alphabets in oral communication using clay. Student Direction The element of student direction in this lesson is not present since the learners are not working in any discernible group as was the case in the previous lesson. For student direction to be noticeable the learners should be in group work so as to influence what specific activities or tasks they will do in the period, or how these will be realized (Haberman, 1991). But the lesson contained minimal student direction since most of the activities were explicitly designated by the teacher for the students (State of Queensland, Department Education, 2002) to follow. This was evident when the students sat back in the circle and waited for the teacher to give directions. It was once noticed the teacher lost her temper when the learners appeared to drift mid way through the lesson. In fact the teacher introduced the lesson by simply displaying the alphabets on a white screen and asked the learners to study them and make theirs using clay. This in my view was in contravention of the Reggio Emilia approach (Cadwell, 2002) where the children should be given a chance to discuss and reflect on activities they are about to embark on. Better still the teacher would have promoted student direction by allowing the learners to discover on their own how to make the alphabets and sounds using the white screen and the alphabet blocks (Hill, et.al. 2005). Social Support Social support was noticed to be strong in this lesson because the task at hand was quite challenging for the level of the learners involved and at the same time it was very interesting since it involved full interaction of both teacher and learners. Working as co-learners (Cadwell, 2002), the teacher encouraged the learners by learning alongside them while assisting those with less expertise in the task. This demonstrated mutual respect for all more so by soliciting and welcoming contributions from all students. This was very much in line with research findings (Gore, 2001) which show that social support is present in classrooms where the teacher supports learners by conveying high expectations for all. As the learners were engrossed in their task, it was noticeable that the teacher created an amiable environment by displaying the white screen and the alphabet blocks at convenient levels for all the children (Cadwell, 2002). Observations indicated that there was mutual respect between the teacher and learners making the class very cohesive (Gore, 2001) although the teacher was portrayed as the sole source of knowledge. Academic Engagement Academic engagement on the other hand was clearly absent in the lesson observed by the fact that students showed a lot of off-task behaviors especially by making noise thereby disrupting the class (case study). This could have been attributed to the inexperience of the teacher thus lacking class control. The teacher had to shout to the learners to stop talking from time to time. It was interesting to note that the noise level increased as the learners became distracted by their increased interest to play with the alphabet blocks. My concern about this revitalized activity in the learners was put to rest when I noticed that the learners were about to break for lunch. This showed that the learners’ disengagement was really artificial (Schlechty, 2002) although some pundits believe it may be due to poorly-managed classrooms (Schlecty, 1990). Explicit Quality Performance Criteria The teacher displayed this element of the Supportive Learning Environment in the lesson by clearly stating the lesson purpose at the outset. The class teacher enquired from the learners about their knowledge of the alphabets prior to the commencement of the class activity (Haberman, 1991). It was observed that the criteria for the task which involved molding things using their hands heightened interest in the learners (Gore, 2001). To increase their affective skills therefore, the class teacher introduced the hands-on exercise of the day. As stated by (State of Queensland, Department Education, 2002), having advanced knowledge of what is required will improve the learner’s willingness to meet the outcomes. In connection to this, all learners embarked on the task at first with marked concentration which waned out as lunch break beckoned. This was in a way a de-motivator, contradicting the research findings (case study doc). Self Regulation The observed lesson indicated that there was no marked self regulation in the learners. This was evident in that the teacher continuously kept on verbally reproaching the learners’ untoward behaviour (A literature review. PDF). As earlier indicated, the learners were observed to be highly disengaged thus forcing the class teacher to use derogatory statements to effect class control (A literature review. PDF). The class setup involved the learners seated in a circle on the floor with the teacher at the front of the circle reading out instructions to the learners. This withdrew the teacher’s attention from the learners’ behaviour subsequently leading to their noticeable disengagement (State of Queensland, Department Education, 2002). Cadwell (2002) advises that teachers should not provide focused instruction to avoid boring the learners. My observations confirmed the contribution of inexperience to class control. Overall, it was dismaying to observe that the lesson was not effectively conducted mainly because the teacher majored on regulating learners’ behaviour at the expense of the task execution. Conclusion On reflection, I realized that the two dimensions of the Productive Pedagogies (Lingard et.al, 2001), gave a mixture of feelings. For instance, observations of both lessons enabled me to make connections between the elements found in both dimensions when doing the analysis for the case study. From the first lesson, it became clear that experience is very essential in the successful conduction of the lesson. Considering the lesson taught by an experienced teacher, all the elements for the dimension (Gore, 2001) in question almost came out clearly with the lesson effectively executed. Observing the experienced teacher allowed me as a pre-service teacher to notice how crucial is to maintain class control (Haberman, 1991). Also, how the theory of Productive Pedagogies (Lingard et.al, 2001) was put into practice as well as the impact the elements have in recognizing difference and in creating a supportive learning environment. This lesson left me a better teacher than before. The second lesson on the other hand clearly taught me to avoid certain words and body language in addressing my learners during a class session (State of Queensland, Department of Education, 2002). Such retrogressive (Hill et.al, 2005) actions were found to impact negatively on the learners especially on their learning and future adjustments (Gore, 2001). The analysis of these two lessons clearly underscores the importance of teacher preparedness before conducting a class session. This entails the presence of a well prepared lesson plan clearly describing the lesson purposes (Haberman, 1991). References: Cadwell, L. (2002). Bringing Learning to Life: The Reggio Approach to Early Childhood Education. New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Example of a case study.doc. Gore, J. (2001). Beyond our Differences. Journal of Teachers Education, 52, 124-133 Haberman, M. (1991). Pedagogy of poverty versus good teaching. Phi Delta Kappan, 73, 290-294 Hill, L., Stremmel, A & Fu, V. (2005). Teaching as inquiry: Rethinking curriculum in early childhood education. Columbus, OH: Allyn and Bacon. Lingard, B., Hayes, D., & Mills, M. (2001). Teachers and Productive Pedagogies: Contextualising, conceptualizing, and utilizing. University of Queensland, Australia. Schlechty, P. (1990). Working on the Work (Chapter One Engagement). Schlechty, P. (2002). Making Engagement Central. (Chapter One). Retrieved 30 April State of Queensland, Department of Education. (2002). A Guide to Productive Pedagogies – Classroom Reflection Manual. Education House: Brisbane Teachers and Schooling-Making a Difference. PDF. Theoretical rationale for the development of pedagogies: A literature review. PDF. Victorian Essentials Learning Standards. (2008). Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority. Revised Ed. PDF. Read More