Week three: (27/02/2012 - 04/03/2012) Professional reflections

Michael and me outside our university building (O'Grody)

This week had been our first ‘official’ lesson in our class, ‘Teaching Strategies and Education in Poland’ and it was based around the topic of group work. Our professor explained to us that in Poland children are taught to compete in every subject. The teacher would often set tasks based on who can finish a task first. She said that this results in students not being able to co-operate and share ideas, making group work more difficult. This also creates a bad environment between teachers as they do not co-operate themselves, or share ideas with each other, as even teachers compete to be the best (meaning their pupils score the highest). One of my class mates also added that in Spain they do participate in group work (especially Primary school) but he felt they should be more competitive to achieve better, (which I disagree with!) My friend Birsen added that Turkish schools are also set up to have this competitive nature. Our professor however, believes the opposite; she thinks motivation and encouragement are vital for helping children learn. I would agree with this opinion as from my own experience in Northern Irish schools, competitiveness can have a negative effect on pupils, “We learn to see others as obstacles to our success...We are encouraged to win at any cost. A competitive agenda makes winning the ultimate goal. We focus not on learning, challenging or supporting others but being the one to win.” (Sapon-Shevin, 2010:28) This lesson made me realise the relevance of the NI Curriculums (2007), Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities and the skills we are teaching children through the likes of group work and various strategies. Next week we will be meeting with the ‘International School of Poznan’ to organise our placement. I am looking forward to seeing how this International school differs from Polish /Northern Irish schools and if they also have this competitive atmosphere.

International School of Poznan

(Link to see the school: http://isop.pl/en)

Polish lessons

Polish lessons have allowed me to witness firsthand what it feels like to be a child in my classroom who cannot grasp the concept of what is being taught. It feels like every time I have begun to understand one section of the dialogue, something else is taught which makes me feel like I am five steps behind again. I need to become more aware of the children who feel like this when I am teaching. However, this class is encouraging me to find new strategies to assess this e.g. giving each child traffic light signals, so they can indicate if they understand (green), need more help (amber) or don’t understand (red). It is also important to use fun methods when teaching, children (and adults) shouldn’t be talked at and expected to learn. Although, I do struggle with these lessons I do see the importance learning this language has for helping me create a welcoming environment for future Polish children in my classroom.

Reference

·         CCEA, (2007) The Northern Ireland Curriculum Primary, Belfast, A CCEA Publication.

·         Sapon-Shevin, M. (2010) Because We Can Change the World: A Practical Guide to Building Cooperative, Inclusive Classroom Environments, USA, Sage Productions.