culture clash mary muldowney science faculty office
TRANSCRIPT
You’re destroying Western civilisation!
You’re destroying students’ souls!
Hegel’s Dialecticas applied to educationalphilosophy
The constructivist classroom
• Learning is a search for meaning so the learning process must focus on primary concepts, not isolated facts.
• Teachers must understand the mental models that students use to perceive the world and the assumptions they make to support those models.
• The purpose of learning is for an individual to construct his or her own meaning.
• Assessment must be part of the learning process, ensuring it provides students with information on the quality of their learning.
Teaching English as a foreign language
• Students learn a language through using it to communicate.
• Authentic and meaningful communication should be the goal of classroom activities.
• Fluency is an important dimension of communication.
• Communication involves the integration of different language skills.
• Learning is a process of creative construction and involves trial and error.
Classroom roles
Teacher as facilitator and classroom colleague
Student as collaborator and classroom colleague
P.B.L. T.E.F.L.Problem based learning – goals:
• Structuring knowledge for use in working contexts
• Developing effective reasoning processes• Developing self-directed learning skills• Increasing motivation for learning• Developing group/team working skills
The difficulties• Admissions criteria• Different educational systems• Lack of information – on both
sides• Cultural differences – gender!• Individualism • Assessment requirements• Timetabling
The consequences• Pressure on students• Pressure on staff – lecturers, teaching
assistants, demonstrators• Student confidence undermined• Poor examination performance• Institutional reputation damaged
Solutions – so far• Course redesigned• Likely problem areas
identified and confronted early in course
• Explanation of methodology and its relation to course requirements
• Assessment procedures agreed• Open to discussion
Assessment• Academic standards – preparation for exams• Encourage student
reflection • Survey results – ‘stop,
start, continue’• Teacher reflection
Institutional benefits
• In the 2004-2005 academic year 140 million euro was paid in fees by international students in Ireland
• More than 105 million of this sum was paid to the university sector
• In 2006-2007, it is anticipated that this figure will rise to 128 million.