Micro Teaching
- May 6, 2015
- 2 min read
Assesment Task One: Micro Teaching
Working alongside my fellow group members; Jess, Evelyn, Rini and Maddy, we analysed the video (below) 'A Collaborative Learning Environment'. We shortly discovered that Sarah (the teacher in the video below) took a constructivist approach to teaching her class. Hinchey (2010) says that ‘”knowledge” is not something that exists independently in the world just waiting for us to find it; instead, “knowledge” comes into being when a human being examines data (facts, artefacts etc) and assigns meaning to it’ (p. 41). A constructivist teacher, such as Sarah, allows their students to make their own meaning of the facts, to construct their own knowledge. Many schools and teachers who don’t take a constructivist approach, take a traditionalist or positivist approach which Hinchey defines ‘as a specific radio station devotes itself to playing one particular type of music, schools devote themselves to breeding some particular kind of “knowledge.”’ (p. 34)
To begin the lesson, Sarah invited a guest speaker to the school to discuss his new children's book. Sarah then encouraged a discussion within the class, using a mindmap on the interactive whiteboard of ways that the students could represent their own work (whether it be using the iPad, computer, writing, drawing or creating it out of hands on materials). The students got the freedom to choose their own way of representing their work and effectively how they shaped their learning.
I believe that Sarah is a critical theorist, as Hinchey says ‘no one else can give us a single accurate picture of what the world “is”, what is “important” in it: we have to construct our own understanding of the world ourselves, basing it on a variety of sources.’ (p. 53) I believe this is exactly what Sarah allows her students to do, construct their own understandings.
Throughout the video, Sarah demonstrates a variety of the AITSL Standards, but in particular, standard 3; plan for and implement effective teaching and learning.
As shown in the video, Sarah demonstrates the standards in a "proficient" manner from focus area 3.2. She carefully plans for and implements well-structured learning and lesson sequences that engage students and promotes their learning. To compliment her proficient planning, structuring and implementing, Sarah also demonstrates focus area 3.4 in a "proficient" manner as she selects, creates and uses a range of resources, including ICT, to engage students in their learning.
In conclusion, as a group, we found that Sarah’s constructivist teaching practice was thoroughly effective in her classroom. Her students were engaged and were effectively working together to construct their own learning. The students explored different ways of representing their ideas, ones that created meaning for them personally. Sarah’s teaching practice is something I would like to incorporate into my own classroom one day, potentially even becoming a critical theorist.
Resources:
- Hinchey, PH. 2010, 'Rethinking what we know: positivist and constructivist epistemology,' Finding freedom in the classroom: a practical introduction to critical theory, Rev ed, Peter Lang, New York, pp. 33-56.
- Link for the video: AITSL (Australian Institute of Teaching School Leadership), 2014, ‘A Collaborative Learning Space’, Accessed 9/05/15 http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-standards-for-teachers/illustrations-of-practice/detail?id=IOP00181
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