Tuesday 28 July 2015

The New Chapter

Starting my PGCE in September and looking to start a part-time business (my enterprise)  I believe the course gave me a good foundation for both.

The learning Journey continues......

Thursday 10 April 2014

notes and quotes

'All children and young people should be involved in planning and reflecting on their own learning, through formative assessment, self and peer evaluation and personal learning planning' The above quotes by the Education & Scotland website available at http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/supportinglearners/whatissupport/universalsupport/learnandplannextstep.asp

'The process of personal learning planning includes regular planned discussions that are used to identify and capture evidence of progress and achievements across settings and contexts, with a focus on the skills, knowledge and attributes underpinning the four capacities

Personal development,

Next steps - the learning journey

Literature review What is meant by creativity in the National Curriculum

Developing pupils’ creativity through the new National Curriculum 2014
Creativity and the National Curriculum are not opposing terms. In 2002, Ofsted published a report, The Curriculum in Successful Primary Schools, whose findings confirmed two things about the value of creativity in the curriculum:
  • Developing pupils’ ability to think and behave creatively brings vitality to learning, provides the motivation to tackle bigger challenges and increases pupils’ confidence and self-esteem.
  • Where creativity has an important place in the curriculum, pupils generally have very positive attitudes to learning and enjoy coming to school
What do we mean by creativity?
It is helpful to think of creativity in terms of what pupils are actually doing when they are learning in this way. A report by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) in 2003 described the characteristics of creativity as follows:
  • Questioning and challenging: asking questions such as ‘Why does it happen this way?’ or ‘What if we tried it that way?’ and showing independent thinking.
  • Making connections, seeing relationships and applying knowledge and experience in a new context.
  • Envisaging what might be: seeing new possibilities, looking at things in different ways and asking ‘What if?’ or ‘What else?’
  • Exploring ideas, keeping options open: exploring, experimenting, trying fresh approaches, anticipating and overcoming difficulties.
  • Reflecting critically on ideas, actions and outcomes
Can the National Curriculum be a context for creativity?
A publication by the National College for School Leadership (NCSL) in 2004, [1]Developing Creativity for Learning in the Primary School: A Practical Guide for School Leaders, NCSL 2004 in which the above characteristics are quoted, went on to say that:
Not only are these the signs of creativity, they are also the hallmarks of effective learning, particularly in situations where learners are involved in problem solving, investigation and enquiry. They are important skills in their own right, but they cannot exist in a vacuum: they need to be developed in the context of the knowledge and skills of the National Curriculum.”[
Advice for school leaders: embracing creativity in your curriculum
The NCSL guide was based on the work of 22 primary schools in England, all of which combined a rich and challenging curriculum with high standards in the core subjects. The guide offers sound advice for school leaders on promoting creativity for learning through curriculum development, all of which applies equally today in the context of the new National Curriculum:
  • Be clear about the freedom you have to design a curriculum that is distinctive to your school’s particular needs and circumstances.
  • Define the limits of the changes you envisage: blue sky or small scale? You need to decide whether to tackle creativity for learning across the whole curriculum or restrict change initially to a few subjects, aspects or events.
  • Begin from a position of everyone knowing the strengths and weaknesses of the curriculum as it is in the school now.
  • Manage timetables to allow sustained periods for learning for part of the time, so that pupils can follow lines of enquiry and review, discuss and refine their work.
  • Go for excellence through depth, by giving some aspects of the curriculum more emphasis than others.
  • Consider the implications of your plans for medium- and short-term planning, class timetables and the pattern of the school day.
  • Ensure that the vision of the curriculum that emerges is one to which you can all aspire. [
 

 (the above text is abstracted and quoted on www.curriculumsupport.co.uk) website.

http://www.curriculumsupport.co.uk/research/developing-pupils-creativity-through-the-new-national-curriculum-2014/

Reviewing

Creativity through the structure of the curriculum, provides the motivation, increases pupil's confidence and self-esteem, develops a positive attitude to learning

Creativity = questioning and challenging, showing independent thinking, making connections, applying knowledge and experience, engaging, exploring ideas, fresh ideas, overcoming difficulties, reflecting etc...

  • Problem solving
  • Effective learning
  • to be clear of the freedom within the curriculum
  • define the limits(structure) creativity for learning across the whole school or within few subjects initially
  • add excellence of depth by giving some subjects more emphasis
  • class timetables and the pattern of the school day

Leaders should define the limits and creativity for learning across the whole school.’ It also makes you aware that problems that occur as a result of the New National Curriculum in Primary schools would come down to the creative thinking of the leaders in individual schools, but with said this also depends on budgets of schools which can often come from a higher management

Structures

Grid Structures


Timetable structures


Writing Structures


Maths structures

game structures


Man made structures


Natural Structures

Module one notes and reflection, learning styles etc.....

Kolb's learning cycle

 
 
 
 
Tools = reflection
 
 
 
Key people
 
John Dewey
 
  • quality of the education was linked to the level of engagement
Howard Gardner - multiple intelligences + VAK
  • Spatial
  • Verbal-linguistic
  • Logical-mathematical
  • Bodily-Kinaesthetic
  • Musical
  • Interpersonal
  • Intrapersonal
  • Naturalistic
Donald Schon
  • reflection in-action and reflection-on-action
 
Key concepts
 
Tacit Knowledge
Muscle memory, interplay of conscious and unconscious

http://bernadettehowlett.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/task-2c-reflective-therory.html
 
 
Professional network
  • Cooperation
  • Affiliation
  • Social Constructionism
  • Connectivism

http://bernadettehowlett.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/3b-theories-relating-to-networking.html

 
 



 

IPC examples and Extracts literature review updating


IPC (International Primary Curriculum) is a project based curriculum that brings together many of the foundation subjects, it provides cross-curricular learning and applies core subjects. Many schools teach it, including my current school.


Introduction
This is a unit of the International Primary Curriculum 
The IPC has been developed to provide support to teachers so that four main aims can be achieved. They are:
To help children learn the subject knowledge, skills and understandings they need to become aware of the world around them
To help children develop the personal skills they need to take an active part in the world throughout their lives
To help children develop an international mindset alongside their awareness of their own nationality 
To do each of these in ways which take into account up-to-date research into how children learn and how they can be encouraged to be life-long learners 
The IPC has a simple but comprehensive structure 
Everything is based on clearly defined learning goals which lay out the subject, personal and international knowledge, skills and understandings children need at different stages of their primary school life: 
Learning Goal
A specific statement of what children should ‘know’, ‘be able to do’ or develop an ‘understanding’ of at different mileposts. The IPC contains learning goals for each subject of the curriculum, for personal development and for ‘international mindedness’. 
See Section 6 of the teaching and implementation file for a full list of all the learning goals. 
Learning Target
An IPC learning target is a refined learning goal specifically related, where appropriate, to the content of each unit of work. 
A Process of Learning
The units of work provide practical activities which teachers can use in the classroom plus a wealth of other supportive information. Each unit is structured to make sure that childrens learning experiences are as stimulating as possible. 
All the units follow the same process of learning as described below
Entry Point
The entry point is an activity for children that begins each unit of work and provides an exciting introduction to the work that is to follow. Entry points can last from one hour to a week, depending on the age of the children and the appropriateness of the activity. 
Knowledge Harvest
The knowledge harvest takes place in the early stages of each unit and provides an opportunity for children to reveal what they already know about the themes they are studying. This bank of knowledge can then be added to, developed and even challenged by the teacher, throughout the course of the unit. 
Explain The Theme
This activity involves the teacher helping the children to see the ‘big idea’ of the unit of work before embarking on the subject learning. 
Big Picture
The big picture provides teachers with subject-based background information to the issues contained within the unit. 
Research Activity
Each IPC unit has a research activity and a recording activity. Research activities always precede the recording activities. During research activities, children use a variety of methods and work in different group sizes to find out a range of information. 
Recording Activity
During the recording activities, children interpret the learning they have researched and have the opportunity to explain it in ways which feature their multiple intelligences. 
Exit Point
The exit point has two main purposes. First, to help children pull together their learning from the unit and second, to celebrate the learning that has taken place


All timings are flexible depending on your circumstances.
Links to other IPC subject
ICT and Music learning goals are included in the different subjects
Language Arts and Mathematics links
Suggestions of possible links to Language Arts and Mathematics are provided where appropriate.



Below are extracts of a project topic 'Young Entrepreneurs' (Money and Trade) aimed at ages 7 to 9, (lower KS2.) The topic was taught last term in year 4 at my current school.
Timings
This unit of work is intended to last about 6-7 weeks. 
The following suggested timings are approximate guides and are dependent on each school’s individual context.
 
 
Approx no. of hours
 
Approx no. of weeks
 
Entry Point, Knowledge Harvest, Explain the Theme
 
4
 
½
Geography
8
1
History
8
1
Society
8
1
Technology
12
International
4
½
Exit Point
4
½
 
 



Another project extract for ages 7 to 9 Paintings, Pictures and photographs
Timings
This unit of work is intended to last about 8 weeks.
The following suggested timings are approximate guides and are dependent on each school’s individual context
 
 
 
Approx no. of hours
 
Approx no. of weeks
 
Entry Point, Knowledge Harvest, Explain the Theme
 
4
 
½
Art
12
Geography
8
1
History
8
1
ICT
4
½
Music
8
1
Science
12
Society and International
4
½
Exit Point
4
½
  


Another project extract for ages 9 to 11 What price progress (invention and development)
Timings
This unit of work is intended to last about 8-9 weeks.
The following suggested timings are approximate guides and are dependent on each school’s individual context.
 
 
Approx no. of hours
 
Approx no. of weeks
 
Entry Point, Knowledge Harvest, Explain the Theme
 
4
 
½
Technology
16
2
History
10
Science
8
1
Music
8
1
Society
6
¾
Art
4
½
International
4
½
Exit Point
4
½


International Primary Curriculum, further information is available at  tp://www.greatlearning.com/ipc/  However extracts above have been taken from the projects, which can only accessed if your school is a member. However there maybe other examples, plus there is video footage from a Head Teacher, if you want to find out more.

IPC often has a depth knowledge base in terms of the history, at times this can be dragged out to long and can become repetitive at times. In addition it doesn’t always develop the practical learning as I have seen when Design & Technology or Art & Design has been taught as an individual subject in previous schools. This could come down to individual teaching and planning though.

The structure of IPC does give a teacher a guide to which to plan from. It also focuses on lifelong learning, cross-curricular learning and applying literacy and maths.   I think the new curriculum will develop the teaching of IPC further, allowing for flexibility and creativity within the program of study