From what framework am I motivated? What cultural beliefs inform the way I learn, teach, and communicate with others? How has it changed since I have returned to studying academically?
I teach how I do firstly, I think, because of the experiences that have shaped me as a person, but also as professional performer, and teacher. I am definitely a very authoritarian teacher, and this is because of all the teaching styles I have learned best from as a dancer, this way seems to work. Also, those teachers who influenced me and made the most impact in my life have had a very authoritative presence. Also, it seems to me to have been very teacher centred training. I have always been an independent learner and thrive in this way. However, I do understand and see the benefits of collaborative learning. I would say that a fault of my own is that I gravitate toward wanting to lead in a collaborative setting rather than staying in my lane at times with repose to simply follow or lend a helping hand. I appreciate a very structured environment, although my own lack of organisation and time management causes me fail at providing a very structured learning environment for others. I often times stray off the subject at hand or go off in a completely different direction from what I originally plan in a lesson. I believe that my older students find this to be quite frustrating, because they either become confused about the point of my deterence from the task at hand. My young learners thrive with my authoritative way of dealing with them and the subject material and my ability to change direction encourages their own creativity as we explore together in learning. I enjoying coaching as an authoritarian. However, I appreciate and grow from the feeling I get when I delegate and facilitate collaborative learning. This type of learning takes pressure off of me to be responsible for all of the teaching and empowers my students and their own creativity.
I also understand that my teacher-centred approach is not the most effective for all of my students. According to Howard Zhenhao in his Brief Review of Literature about the Spectrum of Teaching Styles states, “The increasing awareness of the constructionist nature of learning suggests that the teacher centered (versus) style of learning may be ineffective in maximizing student learning (Cothran and Kulinna, 2003) “
Culture, ability, gender, motivation, and purpose must all be considered when teaching, because they certainly affect how we view and see the world. Doesn’t how we see the world directly affect and influence how we take in information and process it? Won’t some policies in school systems create anxiety rather than encourage learner responsibility and participation? Do differences in culture, gender, ability affect the motivation and purpose someone has when learning? By making information relevant to personal subject matter, is motivation to learn encouraged. Is this a framework of Dewey's, for he did advocate that behaviour modification should be learner centred? Also, independent learning results from experiences that are designed with open-mindedness and acceptance of the diversity in culture. Doesn't social involvement help learning. In this framework, more opportunities are certainly created for the learner. As I explore these questions, I still have some confusion about how to provide for learners in the best way, provide as many opportunities in the best possible way by understanding important educational trends, and yet developing my own personal philosophy that will allow me to communicate, relate, connect, teach, and learn with learners in a way that is uniquely my own and is authentic rather than imitating some template of predecessors who have gone before me.
Tuesday 3 October 2017
Sunday 1 October 2017
Module 1 Reflection
As I begin reading Module 2 Handbook, I will take Adesola's suggestion to reflect on the feedback I received for my Module 1 Areas of Learning and Review of Learning Essay.
areas of Learning:
AOL 1 Arts outreach programming and Management (was arts outreach and management)
AOL 2 Artistic development and self-mentoring (was Visionary Leadership Concepts)
The feedback I received was helpful for me to identify how my ideas are articulated in writing. Although I enjoy writing descriptively, I lack some ability to explore and articulate my ideas in a critical and evaluative way.
The learning I describe in my AOL's are not fully reflected in my Review of Learning. As I look back over the documents I submitted, I can clearly see this.
I felt disappointed at myself when I saw my feedback, because I felt that if I had given myself more time to write my "Review of Learning" (As Helen and Adesola suggested) then I may have been better able to articulate my understanding and learning from the AOL's.
I am currently looking at finding a writing short course that will Jamel me to explore ideas with synthesis, analysis, and critical evaluation. I have also been keeping more journal entries, and synthesizing my learning from the ISTD Level 6 Diploma.
I have grown as a practioner since module one. I allow learners to find answers for themseves much more in my teaching practice. Even while working with young beginning dancers and improvers, I ask them questions and allow them to develop further questions in so doing. They become much better at justifying why we are working toward certain tasks in the dance class.l Module One was helpful in my learning how to become reflective in my own practice as a teacher, dancer, entrepreneur, and performer. Although it can be frustrating trying to figure out and navigate what the module is about - and where and how my own learning has taken place; I am grateful for this experiential learning. Important for me in Module One was getting on with the tasks and finishing them. I found that I needed to let go of having to know if something was good enough or not and to get on with the tasks helped me to get more of a feeling of what the environment was like. Just Do It! I don't know exactly what I am thinking if for a topic - I am leaning toward - mindset, practice, psychology, and other combanitorial factors in dance technique and performance.
areas of Learning:
AOL 1 Arts outreach programming and Management (was arts outreach and management)
AOL 2 Artistic development and self-mentoring (was Visionary Leadership Concepts)
The feedback I received was helpful for me to identify how my ideas are articulated in writing. Although I enjoy writing descriptively, I lack some ability to explore and articulate my ideas in a critical and evaluative way.
Your reflective essay is not as clear as your AOLs. You tend to tell the reader what the effect of something is without then explaining what that ‘thing’ is.
‘…it opens up new understanding to me about the work.’ – page 3
In the example quote above what ‘new understanding’ are you referring to? You do not tell us. This is a tendency to state something has happened but not explain what that means.
The learning I describe in my AOL's are not fully reflected in my Review of Learning. As I look back over the documents I submitted, I can clearly see this.
I felt disappointed at myself when I saw my feedback, because I felt that if I had given myself more time to write my "Review of Learning" (As Helen and Adesola suggested) then I may have been better able to articulate my understanding and learning from the AOL's.
I am currently looking at finding a writing short course that will Jamel me to explore ideas with synthesis, analysis, and critical evaluation. I have also been keeping more journal entries, and synthesizing my learning from the ISTD Level 6 Diploma.
I have grown as a practioner since module one. I allow learners to find answers for themseves much more in my teaching practice. Even while working with young beginning dancers and improvers, I ask them questions and allow them to develop further questions in so doing. They become much better at justifying why we are working toward certain tasks in the dance class.l Module One was helpful in my learning how to become reflective in my own practice as a teacher, dancer, entrepreneur, and performer. Although it can be frustrating trying to figure out and navigate what the module is about - and where and how my own learning has taken place; I am grateful for this experiential learning. Important for me in Module One was getting on with the tasks and finishing them. I found that I needed to let go of having to know if something was good enough or not and to get on with the tasks helped me to get more of a feeling of what the environment was like. Just Do It! I don't know exactly what I am thinking if for a topic - I am leaning toward - mindset, practice, psychology, and other combanitorial factors in dance technique and performance.
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