WHAT KIND OF TEACHER DO YOU AIM TO BE?

WHAT KIND OF TEACHER DO YOU AIM TO BE? PLEASE ADD YOUR NAME TO THE VENN DIAGRAM ON THE WHITEBOARD

EDN 331/3311Schooling and Society Topic 2 Negotiating Difficult Spaces

Presented by: Angela Bianca Georgina & July

Key concepts • Paradigms • Social Theory • Discourses

The readings tell us that as teachers we need to understand the competing discourses that effect our work and lives. • So what are discourses • ?

Foucault: We act in the world using discourses, or frameworks, that include ways of looking, speaking, thinking, feeling and being. Discourses are socially constructed ideas, practices, values, belief systems, words and images that involve emotional, social and institutional frameworks and practices through which meaning is constituted in our lives.

Discourses materialising and moving around society represent different knowledge, ideas and practices through integrating values, actions, culture and language.

Ball: Discourses shape which people are likely to speak and what they are likely to say and with what authority. This signals the importance of meaning and social relations as discourse.

Burr: Discourse is the cumulative production of a ‘particular version of events’ from multiple sources, for example, groups of ‘meanings, metaphors, representations, images, stories, statements.

We may or may not take for granted current forms of discourse involving people’s ways of looking, thinking, feeling, and being. We can decide which discourse to choose to take up as active agents constructing our own lives; however this choice is not totally free.

Particular discourses about what it means to be ‘a good boy’ or a ‘good student ’or a ‘good parent’, or a ‘good teacher’ are dominant in society, which act to silence and marginalise alternative discourses. Power relationships between discourses result in some people’s ways of being and doing being regarded as ‘normal’ and others regarded as ‘a problem”.

Social Theory Why is it important to us as future teachers? “The whole history of educational thought has developed in the context of a dialogue with the social theory of its time.” (Morrow &Torres, 1996)

Social changes in recent history have affected our views of ‘childhood’.

Social changes have also altered the course of educational discourses

General capabilities: “…… that all young people in Australia should be supported to become successful learners, confident and creative individuals, and active and informed citizens. The Melbourne Declaration identifies essential skills for twenty-first century learners – in literacy, numeracy, information and communication technology (ICT), thinking, creativity, teamwork and communication. It describes individuals who can manage their own wellbeing, relate well to others, make informed decisions about their lives, become citizens who behave with ethical integrity, relate to and communicate across cultures, work for the common good and act with responsibility at local, regional and global levels. The general capabilities encompass the knowledge, skills, behaviours and dispositions that, together with curriculum content in each learning area and the cross-curriculum priorities, will assist students to live and work successfully in the twenty-first century.” ACARA

The concept of ‘childhood’ and the experience of education is affected by more than your place in history………….

Social Theory looks at how social contexts such as class, gender, poverty, wealth, geographical location, culture and religion effects, and is effected by discourses. When children arrive at school they are equipped with a ‘virtual schoolbag’ filled with experiences created and shaped by their families and communities. As teachers we need to recognise and value these experiences –but our evaluations of students and the contents of their virtual schoolbags will be effected by educational discourses.

Changes in history, society and education have led to a change in the way we think about teaching and learning. A paradigm is a model, a way of viewing reality, or a worldview. Kalantzis and Cope analyse education in terms of three paradigms: Didactic, Authentic & Transformative

The didactic teacher – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxPVyieptwA

Didactic: • Relatively old – came to prominence as a mode of learning in the mass, institutional education that emerged in the 19th and 20th centuries. • Still common as mass institutional education allows parents to work while children are taken care of in school, and supports children to learn the basics of education such as reading and writing while instilling children with a sense of discipline and order. • In the didactic classroom teachers impart facts that students are expected to absorb, aided by text books. Students are expected to accept these facts, retain and regurgitate them. • Students have little agency, are powerless to create knowledge for themselves or act autonomously. • Being explicit can be an effective way of teaching as clear instructions from the teacher remove ambiguity. • Still performed in many schools today.

Authentic: • Emerged in 20th century in part as a reaction to didactic education. • Major principle is that students should take a more active part in their learning, and that learning should be closely and particularly connected to their life experiences. • It is more child-centred, focusing on internalized understanding rather than formal repetition of the ‘right’ answers. • Critics argue it does not always fulfill the promise of education in that it does not alter the life chances of students.

Transformative • Focuses on the learner and learning. • Sets out deliberatively to transform students’ life chances and play an active role in changing social conditions. • Changes the balance of agency in learning relationships by encouraging learners to build their own knowledge in a supportive learning environment, to work with others and build relationships, to negotiate local and global difference and to extend the breadth and scope of their education beyond the walls of the traditional classroom.

When we consider each paradigm we also consider 8 Dimensions that emphasise key aspects of teaching and learning. ARCHITECTONIC : Location and space. DISCURSIVE: Communication INTERSUBJECTIVE: Identity and Relationships SOCIO-CULTURAL: Personal background PROPRIETARY: Power EPISTEMOLOGICAL: Ways of knowing PEDAGOGICAL: Ways of teaching MORAL: Ethics

TOGETHER The 8 Dimensions help us explain how education is understood, planned, delivered and experienced.

The transformative classroom – http://www.teacherstandards.aitsl.edu.au/Illustrations/ViewIOP/IOP00132/index.html WHAT TYPE OF EDUCATION WOULD YOU CONSIDER THIS TO BE? OR IS IT A MIXTURE OF ALL THREE PARADIGMS?

Now it’s your turn!

ACTIVITY 1. Nominate a scribe for your group. 2.Divide the paper on your desk into three columns with the headings Didactic, Authentic, Transformative. 3. Think of your school experiences and discuss instances within your group of when you were a learner in a didactic classroom, an authentic classroom or a transformative classroom. (If you did not experience a particular style of teaching and learning discuss why this might be the case.) Try and describe your experiences in terms of the 8 dimensions. 4. Using descriptive words, bullet points and short sentences record the group experiences in each column. 5. Share with the class

AFTER REFLECTING ON KEY CONCEPTS: DOES ANYONE WANT TO CHANGE THEIR POSITION ON THE VENN DIAGRAM? WE INVITE YOU TO COME UP!!!!!

OUR RESOURCE Website address www.schoolingandsociety331.weebly.com You cannot access this website through a search engine – you must type the full address!

What do students think? “Going to school for eight straight hours is just so difficult, so I’d change the schedule I think.” “Eliminate grades, focus on learning, not memorising.” “....less memorisation of useless random facts...” “......the grading system. No one’s brain is exactly the same.” “....how important standardised tests are in relation to your final grade...” “Value all learning areas.” “....more student run activities.”

WHAT KIND OF TEACHER DO YOU AIM TO BE?