EDFD133: Self Learning Portfolio

1. EDFD133:Self Learning Portfolio By Rosie Phillips S00092286

2. Section 1 Gender

3. Section 1: Gender • Snowman et al (2009) points out that boys ‘generally’ have a better perception with subjects like mathematics and science, where visual-spatial ability is crucial. This can all be related to the way that the brain and other developmental progressions adapt. • Through my learning experience, I have found that this is true. My own ability to perceive maths and science subjects was poor because I did not have the confidence or the correct encouragement to achieve better marks. • Had I been more enthusiastically encouraged, by my teachers and parents, I think that my visual-spatial ability may have developed into a much wider and fuller understanding.

4. Section 1: Gender • I remember, for instance, in year twelve when I was studying basic maths I sat next to my best friend Peter (who coincidentally, is male). Our maths classroom was a very big class of almost 30 students and I definitely did not get the attention that I needed to achieve high marks in my HSC exam. • My teacher (who was also male), tended to give special help to my friend Peter (who should really have been studying higher maths and did not need the help) and the other males in the class, but when I would ask for help, my teacher would look at me and say “oh Rosie, why don’t you just give up?” • The treatment and degrading attitude that I received from my maths teacher in year twelve is something that I hope will never occur to a student of mine. • I also distinctly remember the boys in the class laughing and the girls in the class being disgusted by his attitude towards me.

5. Section 1: Gender • In the end, I stopped going to my maths lessons and got my friend Peter to teach me and then when I did achieve decent marks in my HSC, I knew it wasn’t because I had had an excellent teacher in that maths classroom. • I do agree with Snowman et al (2009), as the text points out that girls generally have higher anxiety and depression issues due to their school work grades and they also tend to worry more if there is a good teacher-student relationship or not. • In my experience, I definitely suffered more than my friend Peter, because I would worry whether I was good enough to even sit my HSC maths exam. • The teacher-student relationship that I had with my maths teacher also bothered me constantly, I would always try my best and never really gain any respect for or from that particular teacher.

6. Section 1: Gender

7. Section 1: Gender • What this particular teacher has done is looked at my friend Peter and I and thought that because I was female and it is stereotypical for females not to understand maths, he managed to justify why he would give up on teaching me and then help my friend Peter more because (stereotypically) he will do better in the exam than I will. • Snowman et al (2009) also mentions that on the whole, girls show a better understanding in subjects of language like reading, writing, spelling and comprehension. • This is how I perceive my own learning, as I achieved much higher marks in the areas of language, English and history, etc. I was and still am much more confident in these sorts of areas than I am with mathematics and science-based subject areas.

8. Section 1: Gender • Lyons states that “boys seem better able to maintain higher levels of self-confidence and self-efficiency beliefs then girls” (as cited in Snowman et al, 2009, p. 125). • This statement has a ‘ring of truth’ to it, when I think back to my schooling days. The boys seemed less concerned and always overtly confident when answering questions in class. • Teachers , on parent-teacher night from K-12 years, always told my parents that I needed to ask more questions and participate more in class discussion.

9. Section 1: Gender • Although I have much more confidence now, I still get that anxious feeling that my answers are never quite correct. I really do feel that this has something to do with the lack of encouragement I received when I was in primary and high school. • It is imperative that teachers need to improve their ability to encourage and praise all students in an equal way, so as to deflect any anxious feelings hat any student may feel while they are participating in any activity.

10. Section 2 Multiple Intelligences & Learning Styles

11. Section 2: Multiple Intelligences & Learning Styles • When contemplating intelligence, I found that it is very hard to analyse myself because a person can always pertain to bias thoughts when discussing themselves. • However, after reading the relevant pages of the Snowman et al (2009) text, I began to understand that in every person, there is more than one intelligence but that sometimes, one is more prominent than all the others. • In Hirsch (2009), there is a statement that all teachers should be aware of, “The Focus has now moved away from asking ‘is the student smart’, to asking the question ‘how is the student smart?’” (p. 2). • This statement reflects the ideas of the Howard Gardner’s “Model of Multiple Intelligences” (Pearson Education, 2005, p. 11).

12. Section 2: Multiple Intelligences & Learning Styles • After studying this particular model and actually participating in the “Multiple Intelligence Checklist for Adults” test, I found that it is a very good way to work out how the students in your classroom will learn best but it does not allow for people like me, who got a variety of first choice answers. • After completing the “MICA” test (which had eight different intelligence choices), the answers that I got told me that I was Word Intelligent, Musically Intelligent and People Intelligent.

13. Section 2: Multiple Intelligences & Learning Styles • I did however, agree thoroughly with Sternberg’s ‘Triarchic Theory’, where he states that, “Intelligence has many facets or dimensions” (as cited in Snowman et al, 2009, p. 110). • The way that the text explains the teaching of different subjects through a triarchic perspective is quite phenomenal. • If my teachers at school taught each subject in those three ways, (Analytical, Creative and Practical abilities) I would have benefited tremendously. Sternberg’s ‘Triarchic Theory’, taken from: http://cct.wikispaces.com/file/view/aspects.JPG

14. Section 2: Multiple Intelligences & Learning Styles • This is also reflective of a teaching style that I think would be very conclusive to the learning of all students, as would Howard Gardner’s ‘Multiple Intelligences Model’. • Both allow for each individual student to learn in their own particular way that works best for them. • However, I do realise that teaching one subject in so many different ways would take up a generous amount of time, so teachers need to think of ways to incorporate different learning intelligences into one area.

15. Section 2: Multiple Intelligences & Learning Styles Gardner’s ‘Multiple Intelligences Model’, taken from http://www.dmps.k12.ia.us/schools/2Goodrell/Multiple_Intelligences_diagram3.jpg

16. Section 2: Multiple Intelligences & Learning Styles • Learning styles, when contemplating my own learning experiences, are also quite variable. After reading the Snowman et al (2009) text, it was hard to decide whether I was and still am a reflective learner or an impulsive learner. • In the end I had to conclude that I have the tendency to be both, depending on the subject that is in discussion and whether or not I am confident about the particular topic, as I am sure this is the case with a large portion of students. • I recognise also, that when I am tired I am more likely to be an impulsive learner-responder as opposed to when I am alert and interested, I become more of a reflective learner – taking longer to contemplate the discussion and answer more coherently.

17. Section 2: Multiple Intelligences & Learning Styles • I believe it would be more desirable to be a ‘Field-Independence’ learner but I have found that I work better with structure and in groups or along-side people, so that I can make sure that I am completing a task correctly. This type of learning would make me a ‘Field-Dependent’ learner. • My ‘Self-Government’ styles again would vary due to the competence and confidence that I felt in the field being studied. • The styles that I would most likely work best with are a combination of the hierarchical style, global style and external style. • However, with the amalgamation of these styles you would find a mostly well-organised learner who tends to be a high achiever (Snowman et al, 2009).

18. Section 3 Sociocultural Diversity

19. Section 3: Sociocultural Diversity • The majority of the families that I attended school with had a medium to high socio economic status. Due to the area that I grew up and went to school in, there was a major amount of local financial support from the wider community. • It is important to not that both the primary and high schools that I attended were co-educational, NSW Government schools. • Most of the students that I attended school with came from well-educated families with parents that mostly had above average jobs. • It wasn’t uncommon for a child to obtain out-of-school tutoring for a subject that they were struggling with, as the parents could afford the extra tuition. This included myself; throughout my school I was given extra tuition for maths.

20. Section 3: Sociocultural Diversity • Parental involvement within both my schools was highly common. Parents would spend their weekends attending ‘fundraising dos’ and garden working-bees to help upgrade the school areas. • The cultural attitude towards the ideas of schooling in the area that I grew up in was one of necessity. It was encouraged that we should all stay in school until year 12 and not many students did leave before that. It was considered ‘low’ to leave school early. • However having said this, at the end of year ten, a large portion of my year left my local high school to complete their HSC at a private school. I did not do this, as it was not an option for me, so I stayed and completed my HSC at the same school.

21. Section 3: Sociocultural Diversity • Snowman et al (2009) believed that having a multicultural classroom would be a fantastic opportunity for each student to learn and experience different identities and culture. Unfortunately this was not the case at both of the schools that I attended. • The majority of the people that I went to school with was most likely that of white Caucasian ethnicity. All of us seemed to learn together at a steady pace, as the majority of the year group spoke English as their first language. • In years eleven and twelve, we had exchange students from Germany and Brazil, and while some of their customs may have been slightly different, their English was always spoken perfectly. • The area that I grew up in consisted mainly of migrants from the United Kingdom and Northern America. Consequently, this is the reasoning for the ‘not-so cultural diversity’ during my schooling.

22. Section 3: Sociocultural Diversity • This isn’t to say that we weren’t emersed in culture, just that the culture that we were consistently exposed to was not very diverse. Bahr & Pendergast state, “the social contexts of our lives provide the meaningfulness of symbols and communication tools” (2007, p.114). • During our schooling we were encouraged to take cultural subjects like music, art, religion, and languages so that we were exposed to different ways of life. • Nuthall (as cited in Bahr & Pendergast, 2007, p. 114) explains that it is “the immediate social environment of any learning setting [that] reflects values, beliefs, habits, ways of being and discourses of the contributing culture”.

23. Section 3: Sociocultural Diversity • Luckily for me, my Mother loved to travel so I was exposed to other cultures and ideologies throughout my life. • We travelled Europe, America, across Australia, parts of Asia and I also spent quite some time at a school in Wales. • These are the experiences that I am grateful for, whereas I know some of the people that I went to school with have, so far, lead very sheltered lives and are now semi-culturally unaware. • I believe that students who are accustomed to different cultures and beliefs are an asset to areas and schools where cultural diversity is not so common.

24. Section 4 The Summary of My Student Characteristics

25. Section 4: The Summary of My Student Characteristics • Throughout this assessment, I have been able to realise the type of student and learner that I have become. From the very beginning in Primary School, through High School and up until this year at University, I have been able to look back and reflect at the reasons why and how I have become the learner that I am today. • I am now able to make a connection with my knowledge and understanding of the differences I faced during my schooling when it came to gender differences and the way in which a boy and a girl can learn. • I understand that I was almost ‘normal’ when I had felt the anxiety that I faced about my school grades and that it was also ‘normal’ for my male friends not to care at all what their school grades were in the end.

26. Section 4: The Summary of My Student Characteristics • From this, we can learn to become better teachers by looking at our own pasts as a student and learner and decide what compassion to give to our own students one day. I have been able to learn that there is a balance of the right type of encouragement that can alter the way a student will learn in a subject. • It is also very important to both girls and boys that they have a positive relationship with their teacher – even more so for boys, as this will either help or hinder their success in a subject (Snowman et al, 2009). • Useful assessments can be conducted using Gardner’s “Multiple Intelligence Theory” and Sternberg’s “Triarchic Theory” to find out the type of learners that you are faced with teaching. • This could make a teacher’s job a lot easier if the students are comfortable in the way that they are learning.

27. Section 4: The Summary of My Student Characteristics • During this section of my own research, I was able to recognise that I had very high music, word and people intelligence and this now explains to me why I am comfortable in the way in which I learn. • I also found that I learn best working in groups or along side people and this comes back to the anxiety and fear that I experienced throughout my schooling, when I felt that I was not completing the task correctly. • However, I did also realise that through these traits as a learner, I have become a very conscientious and hard working student and person that has always tried to exceed the limits that were put before myself.

28. Section 4: The Summary of My Student Characteristics • Snowman et al (2009) believed that the cultural diversity that surrounds a student is what shapes their ideas, beliefs and traits as a human. • This is recognised in the student that I have become – even though there was not so much of a mix of cultural identity where I grew up and went to school, however, I did manage to find this in other ways, such as travel and even as simple as joining and attending a multicultural university.

29. Section 4: The Summary of My Student Characteristics • Throughout researching for this assessment task, I have managed to group together a basic understanding of what I am as a student and learner, how I learn best and that there is a very large difference in the way that each and every student continues to learn. • This is an important note to remember when we all begin to teach our students. • I have also recognised that the key to a great understanding between the teacher and the student is a good teacher-student relationship/bond and encouragement, praise and fairness from the teacher to the student.

30. Section 5 References

31. References • Bahr, N. & Pendergast, D. (2007). The Millennial Adolescent. Victoria: ACER Press. • Hirsch, S. (2009). EDFD133 Week Three Lecture [PowerPoint Lecture Notes]. Strathfield: Sydney: Australian Catholic University: BA/BT. • Pearson Education Australia. (2005). The Multiple Intelligences Model: Howard Gardner. Australia: Pearson Education. • Snowman, J. et al. (2009). Psychology Applied to Teaching. Queensland: John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd. By Rosie Phillips (S00092286)