Learner Relations with Parents, Teachers, and the Community in the Promotion of Learning Outcomes - Assignment Example

Assessment Two Institution Date TASK ONE I set out to observe Carnation which is a place where teenagers spend their leisure time in a Sydney suburb. The population in the suburb was not more than 2000 and as such there was no Wendy’s, McDonalds or Starbucks. There was a high school in 2 miles from Sydney though a middle school and elementary school were to be found in Carnation. There was a small mall with Ring’s Pizza, Janice ice cream parlor, and Java Coffee House and Romeo’s video. Ring’s Pizza was particularly quiet as I strolled into Java Coffee House cramped between Romeos videos and the Pizzeria. There were five pink wrought iron tables spread evenly outside the coffee shop and a large sign near the entrance announcing the day’s specials; Peppermint Mocha or Gingerbread Latter. As I pushed the glass door open and entered the shop, I immediately felt the warm embrace of the inside of the shop made even more so by the background sound of tinkling Christmas bells. There was a scent of coffee beans, ginger, and chocolate which coupled with the sounds of Abba in the background made the place quite enticing. He shop was approximately 75 by 50 feet and had a purple counter having wrought iron chairs facing the street. It was full of Christmas décor with three Christmas trees dominating the three corners of the room and Santa women teddy bears with red Santa coats and miniature male teddy bears with red coats and green trousers. On the go coffee canisters cheekily decorated with red tags were hung above the display with the paper cups having been transformed from the common white to a lustrous red enforcing the festive theme of the place. A girl seemingly in her early twenties sat at one of the tables engaged in her book and a cup of coffee. Three men in football shirts were in deep conversation at the counter. I got greeted warmly by the counter girl who was in her thirties and had shoulder length blonde hair in a bun and was wearing the Java Coffee House apron. I grabbed a coffee and ginger bread and headed for one of the empty tables nicely decorated in a fruit design. Since I arrived at the place at three o’clock I believed I would find the place packed with middle school students. However, the clients were for the most part aged between thirty and sixty with the rare twenty year old or teenager checking in. All of the patrons of less than thirty that came into the shop wore tight jeans that was bell bottomed and a size too long with shoes ranging from sandals to clogs, sweatshirts, hoods and cropped t-shirts. The more elderly of us were the type that would only have worn such fashion on the pain of death. However, I noted that some of the fashions were a reincarnation of our fashions. The younger patrons preferred to pay for their food and leave immediately while the older ones preferred discussing current events and economics inside the shop. I established that Carnation is a place where people meet and talk. The more elderly seemed to quite enjoy the place while the younger patrons did not seem to particularly favor the place. All in all Java Coffee House is a fragrant, warm cheerful and enticing place in this quiet suburb. TASK THREE Research Question The case study “Teamwork – Teach Me, Teach Me Not: A Case Study of Three Australian Preservice Teachers” is an intrinsic case study that seeks to analyze aspects of teamwork training and how they influence future outcomes in team activities. Its hypothesis is that explicit training in teaming skills is a fundamental aspect in enhancing team teaching effectiveness. The case study explored how group work tasks in the university syllabus make learners more effective in post university teaching teams. The study explored its hypothesis through an analysis of the dispositions of three teacher education students and their perspectives regarding teamwork. The study sought to answer the question; how well does group work within university coursework prepare teacher education students to function effectively in professional work teams? This question was further divided into three; do students feel confident that they are able to transfer acquired teamwork skills into work teams? Have students been explicitly taught teamwork skills, had opportunities to practice those skills, and those assessed within university courses? And do students believe they have acquired the required team working capabilities. Methodology The research made us of the case study approach in seeking to analyze how team skills and attitudes influence future team teaching skills. The case study method is employed since it is the most effective means through which information and perspectives may be gathered from a given demographic. In this instance the relevance of the methodology had to take into account the demographics, educational and professional aspects and hence the case study on education students is ideal. Sample Selected The study selected three participants all of whom were final year education students all of whom were from the same university. The three participants were a convenient sample drawn from respondents to an email sent asking students to volunteer for the study. Participant one was a 35 year old student that had gone back to pursue undergraduate studies after first completing a Tertiary and Further Education course which had some aspects of training in team work. Participant two was a 22 year old student that had no prior training in team work having studied for bachelor of science before deciding to undertake a four year secondary education program specializing in science and mathematics. Participant three was an undergraduate 21 year old student undertaking instrumental music and was only focusing on instrumental music. Due to the weaknesses of intrinsic research this case study combined qualitative and quantitative measures of research in avoiding solving the problem of representativeness. As such the researcher employed learners with similar levels of professionalism in all being education students in their final year but also made use of their difference in exposure and subject area in order to ensure representativeness. Findings The data analysis was conducted using the likert scale and statistical analysis methods. The case study established the following; even as all the three participants perspectives and attitudes towards group work were different they were in agreed that group work assisted them prepare for working in teams. All participants were in agreement on the potential benefits of teamwork tho8ugh they asserted that these were mainly unrealized. There was agreement among all three participants on the disadvantage of some members benefiting from the effort of others in a team. There was no explicit teaching of group work skills in the university courses. Decision making was reported to be through majority rules due to tight tie frames. All participants saw the instructors as persons to be approached for the sake of clarification of tasks as opposed to offering solutions for group process challenges. All participants deemed themselves proficient communicators that were capable of communication with others in team activities. Lastly all participants asserted that conflict was present in groups and this was solved mainly by direct confrontation or avoidance. TASK FOUR Survey Questionnaire How important is each of the following in providing an evidence base to guide teacher performance support/development at this school? Evidence of Teacher Performance Not used Not very important Rather important Very important Test scores of students X Other measurable student learning outcomes X Documented student feedback on teaching X Documented parent feedback X Documented feedback from peers X Other evidence to guide teacher performance support/development (Please specify) X Please indicate your assessment of the effectiveness of each of these initiatives in attracting, retaining and developing staff. Initiative to adopt best practice performance management and staffing arrangements Not at all effective Somewhat effective Highly Effective Not Applicable Implementing revised staff performance review procedures X Supporting early career teachers professionally X Managing the staffing mix and succession planning X Implementing professional learning plans for staff X Other performance management and staffing arrangements (Please specify) X Refresher courses Please indicate your assessment of the effectiveness of each of these initiatives in attracting, retaining and developing staff. School operational arrangements that encourage innovation and flexibility Not at all effective Somewhat effective Highly effective Not Applicable Employment of additional paraprofessionals in learning support roles X Employment of Highly Accomplished Teachers (HATs) or the sectoral equivalent (Teacher Educators, Leaders of Pedagogy, etc) X Team-based approaches to teaching and planning X Increased flexibility in timetabling and/or school’s hours X Greater cooperation across cluster schools to share resources X Use of new technologies in teaching X Other school operational arrangements that encourage innovation and flexibility (Please specify) X Incorporation of digital technologies in teaching and learning Please indicate your assessment of the effectiveness of each of these initiatives in improving student learning outcomes. Initiative to provide individual learning support for students Not at all effective Somewhat effective Highly Effective Not Applicable Providing professional learning for teachers on meeting individual learning needs (e.g., training teachers in how to create Individual Learning Plans for students) X Providing students with access to learning support services X Providing Individual Learning Programs (ILPs) for students needing assistance X Other types of individual learning support for students (Please specify) X Please indicate your assessment of the effectiveness of each of these initiatives in promoting student wellbeing. Initiative to promote student wellbeing Not at all effective Somewhat effective Highly effective Not applicable Providing professional learning for all staff on student wellbeing initiatives X Providing students with access to counselling services X Providing students with access to health services X Providing links to government services for students and their families X Providing links to non-government services for students and their families X Employing or providing access to youth workers X Other initiatives to promote student wellbeing (Please specify) X Promotion of peer to peer counselling Generally speaking, to roughly what proportion of students in this school do the following statements apply? Proportion of students whose: 0-24% 25%-49% 50%-74% 75%-100% Not Applicable Parents/carers have the confidence to engage with school staff X Parents/carers are active partners with this school in supporting their child’s learning X Parents/carers respond to requests from this school to volunteer their time in any role (e.g., fundraising, canteen etc.) X Parents/carers respond promptly to invitations from this school to attend a meeting to discuss their child (including parent/teacher interviews) X Parents/carers actively seek out ways to support this school in achieving its goals X Parents/carers initiate meetings with school staff to discuss their child X Thinking of all the ways in which parents and carers can engage with this school, roughly what proportion of this school’s students have parents or carers who participate in the following activities? School activities that involve parent or carer participation 0-24% 25%-49% 50%-74% 75%-100% Not Applicable Parent/teacher interviews X Canteen duty and administrative roles (eg, library duty) X Working bees X Excursions and camps X Learning support roles (eg. Reading) X Fundraising X Festivals, fetes and cultural events X Parent organisations X Please indicate the extent to which you agree with the following statements: Strongly agree Agree Disagree Agree I feel supported by the parents of students at this school X I feel connected to the broader community that this school is part of X There is a school wide student behaviour policy that is understood by all members of the school community and consistently applied X Negotiating and planning a phased program of support for students with challenging behaviours is a feature of this school X The way in which a questionnaire is structure says a lot as to the intentions of the researcher. This questionnaire is a good indicator of the intentions of the researcher in the analysis of the aspects that promote learning in the school. The intentions are divided into two important classifications which show the objective of the researcher. The questionnaire is calssified according to relations of parents, teachers and the community in relation to the promotion of learning in the school. The other aspect that the researcher is seeking to determine how teacher practice can be made effective including aspects such as retention, development and student assessment towards better teaching and learning outcomes. The researcher asks questions on evidence basis regarding performance and support development which is an indication of the objective of assessing evidence based criteria in the school. Given the distributed nature of responses on evidence based practice it would seem the researcher is calling for more research on an issues in testing and assessment and support from teachers and parents. This is further developed by seeking an analysis of initiatives aimed at assessing teacher development through asking questions on attraction, retention and development of staff. The positive responses to this aspect shows that the researcher intends to promote teacher attraction retention and development as important aspects in learning and teaching. The researcher is very interested in an analysis of the perspectives of the respondents regarding the effectiveness of measures employed to enhance teacher effectiveness such as training and development and how this impacts professional practice through enhancing teaching and learning. The researcher intends to perpetuate the notion that teacher perspectives on education policy and effectiveness are important for the decision making process since education professionals are very important in determining what is important or critical for learner needs. Another aspect the researcher is interested in analyzing is the aspect of learner relations with parents, teachers and the community in the promotion of learning outcomes. He thus asks questions regarding the involvement of parents, learners and teachers in different aspects of the promotion of learning and teaching. Since much of the data regarding this aspect is in the median range it would seem the researcher is seeking to promote the effectiveness of involvement of parents, the community and teachers in enhancing learning outcomes. The researcher also asks of the relationship between the education professional and the community and since most of these responses are positive it is evident the researcher intends to promote better relations as fundamental in the promotion of teaching and learning. Read More

I established that Carnation is a place where people meet and talk. The more elderly seemed to quite enjoy the place while the younger patrons did not seem to particularly favor the place. All in all Java Coffee House is a fragrant, warm cheerful and enticing place in this quiet suburb. TASK THREE Research Question The case study “Teamwork – Teach Me, Teach Me Not: A Case Study of Three Australian Preservice Teachers” is an intrinsic case study that seeks to analyze aspects of teamwork training and how they influence future outcomes in team activities.

Its hypothesis is that explicit training in teaming skills is a fundamental aspect in enhancing team teaching effectiveness. The case study explored how group work tasks in the university syllabus make learners more effective in post university teaching teams. The study explored its hypothesis through an analysis of the dispositions of three teacher education students and their perspectives regarding teamwork. The study sought to answer the question; how well does group work within university coursework prepare teacher education students to function effectively in professional work teams?

This question was further divided into three; do students feel confident that they are able to transfer acquired teamwork skills into work teams? Have students been explicitly taught teamwork skills, had opportunities to practice those skills, and those assessed within university courses? And do students believe they have acquired the required team working capabilities. Methodology The research made us of the case study approach in seeking to analyze how team skills and attitudes influence future team teaching skills.

The case study method is employed since it is the most effective means through which information and perspectives may be gathered from a given demographic. In this instance the relevance of the methodology had to take into account the demographics, educational and professional aspects and hence the case study on education students is ideal. Sample Selected The study selected three participants all of whom were final year education students all of whom were from the same university. The three participants were a convenient sample drawn from respondents to an email sent asking students to volunteer for the study.

Participant one was a 35 year old student that had gone back to pursue undergraduate studies after first completing a Tertiary and Further Education course which had some aspects of training in team work. Participant two was a 22 year old student that had no prior training in team work having studied for bachelor of science before deciding to undertake a four year secondary education program specializing in science and mathematics. Participant three was an undergraduate 21 year old student undertaking instrumental music and was only focusing on instrumental music.

Due to the weaknesses of intrinsic research this case study combined qualitative and quantitative measures of research in avoiding solving the problem of representativeness. As such the researcher employed learners with similar levels of professionalism in all being education students in their final year but also made use of their difference in exposure and subject area in order to ensure representativeness. Findings The data analysis was conducted using the likert scale and statistical analysis methods.

The case study established the following; even as all the three participants perspectives and attitudes towards group work were different they were in agreed that group work assisted them prepare for working in teams. All participants were in agreement on the potential benefits of teamwork tho8ugh they asserted that these were mainly unrealized. There was agreement among all three participants on the disadvantage of some members benefiting from the effort of others in a team. There was no explicit teaching of group work skills in the university courses.

Decision making was reported to be through majority rules due to tight tie frames.

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