mentoring: unpacking beliefs about teaching and learning. my apprenticeship of observation
DESCRIPTION
Raising awareness of our own beliefs about what teaching and learning are could be a good starting point for a Mentoring training course. How does my long experience as a student influences my judgements of what good teaching is? How does this influence my role as a Mentor or Supervisor.TRANSCRIPT
1 - Unpacking: Beliefs about Teaching and
Learning
Prepared by: Ana María Hurtado M. for BE
Aim: Exploring my ideas and beliefs about teaching and learning
Typical Teacher I Have Had
Typical Teacher I Have Had spoonfeeder
Exploration of my own beliefs
1. What is learning? 2. What is teaching? 3. What makes a good teacher?
Task break 1_ Drawing of my classroom at school
Transmission Approach vs. Constructivist Approach
From Behaviourism to Cognitive Learning
Vygotsky’s ZPD Zone of Proximal Development
Six elements of constructivist learning model in ELT
1. Situation 2. Groupings 3. Bridge 4. Questions 5. Exhibit 6. Reflection
Constructivism and Language Teaching and Learning
1. about constructing knowledge, not receiving it 2. about thinking and analyzing, not accumulating memorizing 3. about understanding and applying, not repeating back 4. being active, not passive. (Marlowe & Page, 2005)
What type of teacher do I want to be?
What type of teacher do I want to be?
Task Break Drawing of my ideal classroom What is the type of teacher I want to be?
Type of Teacher I Want to Be A learning-centered classroom: • Focuses on finding solutions
to real-world problems. • Is about what the students are
doing and what the students can do in the future.
• There are multiple ways to accomplish an individual task.
• A partnership and a strong level of trust between educators and students.
Am I aware of my Apprenticeship of Observation? • 12-20 years in classrooms
watching teachers teach • A repertoire of teaching
strategies with which we felt comfortable as students
• Assumptions about how students learn based on our own learning styles and strategies
• A bias toward certain types of instructional materials with which we became familiar as students
• Asymmetrical, since we formulate a conception of teaching based on perceptions as students, not as teachers
A Blessing & A Curse
• Enables teachers to function immediately in the classroom
• This imprint may be difficult to overcome
• Forms the basis for how teachers carry out their classroom practices
• Because the basis is imitation rather than understanding, they often follow unchallenged common sense principles
Few teachers have direct experiences in learner-centered classrooms
Tension: Approaches to Teaching Teacher Centred
1. Focus on teacher 2. Focus on what T thinks is
important about language.
3. Teacher talks; students listen
4. Students work alone 5. Teacher monitors and
corrects every student utterance
Learner Centred
1. Focus on students and T 2. Focus is on how students
will use the language 3. Instructor models; students
interact with instructor and one another
4. Students work in pairs, in groups, or alone depending on the purpose of the activity
5. Students talk without constant instructor monitoring.
Approaches to teaching Teacher Centred
1. Teacher answers students’ questions
2. Teacher chooses topics
3. Teacher evaluates 4. Classroom is quiet
Learner Centred 1. Students answer each
other’s questions. T is one information source
2. Students have some choice of topics
3. Students evaluate their own learning, teacher also evaluates
4. Classroom is often noisy and busy
Developmental Stages Teachers move through developmental stages focus on self ->
teaching task -> student learning
“Apprenticeship of Learning” Diagram (A. Sheehan)
Mapping the route of your ideas and beliefs: Key influences: Miss Laura: Miss Cecilia: Pop band Puzzled - Strict - Strict & warm Drama group Political - Frightening Miss Dora: Friends awareness
- empowering Self-discipline
Autonomy
Pre- school Primary Secondary University
Task Break: Draw your own apprenticeship of
learning diagram
Self-reflection: Can you identify important stages in your development as a teacher?
Task break: What were your best development
experiences?
What was it all about today?
• How is all this linked to becoming a Mentor?
• What was the most meaningful? Most useful?
Credits • Based on: Karen E. Johnson’s ppt Penn State University, January, 2007 • Diagram of “Apprenticeship of Learning” by Andrew Sheehan, Mentor
Training Course 2005 • Malderez, Angi & Bodoczky, Caroline (1999), Mentor Courses, CUP • http://constructivisminelt.wikispaces.com/Constructivism+and
+language+teaching • Head, Katie & Taylor, Pauline (1997), Readings in Teacher
Development, Macmillan