Edu-30106 – Written Reflection
Introduction
In this written reflection, I will be using Gibbs (1988) Reflective Learning Cycle to reflect on a placement that I undertook as part of the Edu-30106 module. These placements provided me with valuable insight into the nature of teaching. Particularly the issues of an appropriate curriculum for pupils.
One of the qualities of a good teacher is the ability to teach a topic in different ways. Learning theories are the framework that describes how students process and retain information (Simandan, D 2013). An understanding of these theories is important because it helps teachers understand how to best reach the most pupils in order to best reach pupils it would be important to have an understanding of learning methods and how they work in practice. However, since this was my first-time teaching science to pupils of this age or any age, I don’t believe that I had the knowledge needed to implement these methods effectively.
In this reflection, I will describe the first placement that I undertook as part of the module and the feelings that I had during the placement. I will also be looking at the issues that I encountered in particularly the teaching of mixed ability classes There have been many studies on the effect of mixed ability classes in science classes (Hacker, 1993) and so I will be looking at literature surrounding the teaching of mixed ability classes and the issues that can be encountered.
Description
In a placement during the first semester of the third year I helped to plan, run and teach around 90-year 5 students during a science day at Keele University’s Sustainability Hub with three other education students. The workshop was aimed at introducing students to Newton’s second law. Pupils were introduced to the topic with a short five-minute presentation. They were then instructed to make two different rockets whilst considering questions such as what the fuel was (the force needed to move the object) and what affected the acceleration of the rocket (the force needed to accelerate the object). The workshop had two stations. One where students were required to make paper rockets from one piece of paper and shoot them out of an air compressor. The other was to create bottle rockets with baking soda and vinegar.
It was my first-time teaching students of this age group and so I was quite nervous. Having helped to prepare for the workshops a few days before it was clear that one of the main issues would be the time constraints. Each workshop was 45 minutes long and so it was important that myself and the other students ensured that the workshops ran in a timely fashion. The workshops that we had designed were aimed at year 6 pupils and so in looking at the science curriculum the body of knowledge that year, 6 pupils would have it was clear that they would be able to cope with the knowledge presented to them during the workshop.
In order to prepare to teach science to what I believed would be year 6 pupils, I had to familiarize myself with the science curriculum. By reading these materials I began to feel more confident in what I would need to teach this group it was agreed by myself and the others on placement that we should use an interactive approach where the classroom had various stations where students could design and test their rockets and could rotate in groups of 15 that were then split into pairs.
Feelings
When the pupils arrived, we were alerted to the fact that they were, in fact, year 5 pupils. And so, I was concerned that they would be unable to fully understand all of the information given to them particularly during the presentation section of the workshop.
When it came to actually to designing the rockets, I felt that some students were unable to fully grasp what they were meant to be doing. This I feel was mainly because the workshop was designed for year 6 pupils and it wasn’t until the students arrived that we knew that they were year 5 pupils. This led to issues because the session had been designed with the idea that students would be able to understand the concept of Newtons Second Law. Despite the teachers that were there with the students it was unclear whether the students had a full grasp on the topics. Some students also struggled with the task such as cutting and folding the paper and struggled with the activities that required fine motor skills such as filling the bottles and flipping them properly. This is one thing that I had not anticipated and therefore had not prepared for.
Other students seemed to understand the concepts and therefore finished making both rockets before the ten minutes they were allocated. They were therefore bored, and they lost focus easily which led to some of the behavioural issues. Therefore, I added an element of competition in which students made rockets with the aim of seeing whose rockets could travel the furthest in order to keep them motivated. This seemed to work and the behavioural issues seem to stop.
During the first part of the session, I looked at the clock and I realized that there was very little time left and so the last group to do the bottle rockets were rushed and there was a pair who didn’t get a turn. Ultimately, I didn’t feel that I possessed the confidence or expertise to handle all of the issues independently and it was clear that myself and the others on placement would not have been able to cope without the presence of the schools’ teachers. Moreover, it is surprising that those who were in charge of organizing the day were unaware that the pupils would be year 5 pupils and also created such a tight time schedule.
Evaluation
In hindsight, I think that this experience has both positive and negative elements, and this has increased my understanding of pupil experience and what the role of a teacher can be. My role during the day was to help deliver the workshops and provide support for pupils during the making of the rockets and I feel that I did not fulfil the latter the completely.
I think that I was able to react to the situation of having to teach year 5 students instead of year 6 students in the best way possible and myself and the others I was on placement with were able to adapt the sessions in a way that the topics were still informative and didn’t completely go over the student’s heads. One of the biggest challenges I found was planning the session. The planning that I did before the session to a certain extent became pointless. I learned that lessons don’t always go the way that you thought they would and that sometimes it’s more about classroom management rather than actual learning.
I think this was a good experience for me because it allowed me to experience how to be an adaptive and inclusive teacher. However, the one negative aspect of this experience was the time constraints which led to some children missing out on testing their rockets. However, despite these issues as the sessions went on, I realized that the best way to teach was to instinctively deal with students and to modify the way I was teaching in order to deal with any issues within the time constraints.
Analysis
In many classrooms, the approach to teaching and learning is more unitary than differentiated (Tomlinson, 2001 p,1). I think that in many ways the way that the workshops were designed may have only appealed to one type of learner which would account for why some pupils struggled to complete the tasks.
Lesson planning is also a vital part of teaching. Palmer (1998) talks about teaching being a microcosm that places the subject at the centre of the learning space. Palmer believed that teachers should foster an understanding of the subject that they are teaching In order to do this teachers should be able to bring the subject to life which involves a ‘Passion for the subject propels that subject, not the teacher, into the centre of the learning circle – and when a great thing is in the midst, students have direct access to the energy of learning and life".(p.120) Therefore, in order to teach effectively a knowledge of effective lesson planning is needed.
Piaget’s (1972) work is key when looking at children’s learning. According to Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is viewed as a continuum in which children will pass through stages which define their ability to understand complex idea’s and problem solve. This means that within a single classroom there may be children in the same class at a mixture of stages. Gardener’s (1993) theory of multiple intelligences argues that pupils show their knowledge in different ways. Bloom et al. (1956) talks about six levels of thinking: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, evaluation and synthesis. High ability students, therefore, require less time establishing facts and comprehending them. An in-depth knowledge of these theories would enable teachers to create a classroom environment in which all abilities were catered for.
Teaching mixed ability classes
Although we were not made aware of the pupils who had learning difficulties it is fair to assume that in a group of 90 children there would be some students who had some form of learning difficulties. The percentage of pupils with Special Educational Needs in England is 14.4% according to the DfE (2017). Therefore at least 12 pupils in the group may have had mild to severe special educational needs. When organising the workshop and the activities I don’t believe that the issue of catering to SEN students was ever brought up.
Recent research in the UK shows that structured ability groups in some subjects widen the gap between children in high and low ability groups (Ireson et al,2002). This led to higher ability children not being challenged and low ability children not being able to cope with the work (Department for Schools and Families,2007). This was demonstrated during the workshops by the fact that some students finished way before others. This leads to lower ability pupils becoming disruptive (Telegraph, 2010). Again, demonstrated at times during the workshops.
Group work has also been described by so as being limited (HMI,1978). Plewes (1979) concluded that mixed ability classes used individualized systems of instruction that were less effective than streamed classes taught by conventional strategies. In order to teach mixed ability classes effectively, teachers need to have access to appropriate resources and facilities (Ingleson,1982). This relies heavily on the skills of the teacher (Reid et al, 1982). As this was the first time, I had taught a class this age it would be fair to argue that I did not possess the skills needed to teach mixed ability classes. Tomlinson (1999) states that ‘children already come to us differentiated. It makes sense that we would differentiate our instructions in response to them (p,24). Again, having the skill in order to teach mixed ability classes would have helped avoid some of the issues discussed earlier.
Research has shown that teachers have differing attitudes about mixed ability classes (Oakes, 1985). Fisher (2001) states that in mixed ability classes students don’t reach their potential because they are told to make a journey, but they have no map’ (p1). The workshops were designed in such a way that in order to understand them the students had to follow a series of instructions. It may be the case that in order to cater for lower ability students we should have created more in-depth instructions.
Having completed my first session and feeling very nervous I realized that everybody feels nervous the first time that they teach and that “they often have to find ways to deal with the feelings that can arise from their uncertainties.” (Totterdell and Parkinson 1999, p.219).
In the beginning, I definitely felt that the task was very daunting.
Conclusion
To conclude I think that I could not have handled the situation differently based on the fact that the lack of resources and the time restraints were issues outside of my control. If I had to teach the sessions again, I would have asked that the sessions be at least an hour long. This would have meant that students would have had more time to complete the tasks and complete their experiments. It also would have benefited me and the others that were teaching because it would have allowed us more time to ensure that each student was fully grasping the tasks.
The insight I gained from this experience means that I am now more aware of the challenges associated with teaching mixed ability classes and the implications for students if their needs are not catered for.
Action Plan
Having completed this placement I feel that overall the sessions were a positive experience. In the future, I will ensure that I am better equipped to deal with students who are unable to complete tasks and learnt how to teach efficiently under time constraints.
If I had to run the sessions again I would make the sessions longer in order to ensure that all the students have an opportunity to engage. I will address the needs of students and alter how I teach using different methods of teaching and take the time to research how to cater to specific needs; information that I can use in my teaching practice. I have learnt that I cannot assume that lessons will always be mindful of individual needs of students
I will continue to engage in the reflective practice process as described by Gibbs (1988). I also aim to consistently refer to the principles set out by the SEND code of practice (2015) including the fact that “All teachers and support staff who work with the pupil should be made aware of their needs, the outcomes sought, the support provided and any teaching strategies or approaches that are required. This should also be recorded on the school’s information system.” (6.49). This I believe will enable me to better deal with students that I encounter with SEN and also to create sessions that better cater to students with all abilities
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