Dear LO'ers, dear At,
At, you have made a lot of effort to guide me through the web of teaching.
Readers who are unaware of the complexity of teaching, may have received a
good impression of this complexity, at least from the length of the two
contributions of At.
In LO23270 At suggested to form small learning teams in the class; in
LO23389 he gave a method to visualise the learning process of the teacher
to the classroom. Both are very helpful.
I am afraid that my time with the children is too short to build a
relationship that is open enough to share my own learning and thinking
steps with the kids. I am not really afraid, I have the guts. But I think
that somehow there should be a bond between teacher and children. I even
have an example in mind: preparing an expedition to an area also unknown
for me. Starting with a map of that area, gathering the necessary
information, why I need that info, what type of information I can already
get from the map, etc. So finally the whole class could see how and why,
could see side thoughts, etc. Such preparation of an expedition could be a
marvellous example of an expedition not only to an unknown and
undiscovered area, but also an expedition into the thinking and learning
landscape. Maybe I will use this example during a future experiment.
But I started last week with the other suggetsion of At: the growth of
small learning teams in the class. My first impression is that it works
reasonably well, at least for a couple of these teams.
I have also thought much of the commonly used punishment system on
schools: bad behaviour extra nasty work; error or fault in small
examination bad mark, etc. Last week I have tried to avoid completely the
punishment. Instead I started with praising and stimulating good answers.
I started with praising and compliments for the small learning teams. It
is too early to observe results, but I got the feeling that this way
works, at least partly. I sense some competition between the learning
teams started. If one team has finished its challenge it is praised and
honoured with a next challenge or some other 'present'. It looks as this
initiated a sort of jealousy in the other teams.
My main problem is that it is very difficult to find the balance between
attention to the whole group and the whole process on the one hand, and
the attention I like to give to the individual. This needs an alertness
and needs all my senses at the same moment. And the teacher also should
have senses for the silent and quiet pupils in the class. So I should also
be sensitive for the non-signals. I never realised that this job is such a
learning experience, but also very tiresome. In the short moments of
reflection, it inspired me enormously.
dr. Leo D. Minnigh
l.d.minnigh@library.tudelft.nl
Library Technical University Delft
PO BOX 98, 2600 MG Delft, The Netherlands
Tel.: 31 15 2782226
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Let your thoughts meander towards a sea of ideas.
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--Leo Minnigh <l.d.minnigh@library.tudelft.nl>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>