There were many exercises in role-play and different teaching methods.
It was interesting to see how we can plan teaching in short periods of time and
experiment with creative ideas. For example, one of the ideas that our group had
was that I teach Serbian language. We had about 50 min to prepare as a group of
five. The time just went fast as I was trying to put together the list of words
with translations. In addition, we had picture cards drawn by Virpi to match
the words for more visual learning. We thought that we could just do a role-play
without involving the rest of the group. This did not work as well; we could
have for example used the smart board and overhead projector with the picture
cards to involve everyone.
This was a very good example of
cooperative learning or experiential learning with elements of experience,
planning, conceptualization and reflection. It was a way for us to apply
methods we discussed and strategies we learned or observed.
Collaborative learning methods are an
important aspect of teaching nowadays as schools are becoming more heterogeneous
and in fact, classrooms have never been entirely “homogenous.” Differences in
learning styles have been recognised relatively recently especially via Gardner’s
theory of Multiple Intelligences, which he published in his book Frames of Mind
in 1993. The idea is that we have eight ways of learning: Linguistic, Logical
Mathematical, Spatial, Bodily Kinaesthetic, Musical, Interpersonal,
Intrapersonal and Naturalist. Gardner in fact wanted to challenge the psychometric
community and the ‘sacrosanct nature of ‘intelligence’ as a singular phenomenon
and get people to think more deeply about what it means to be ‘intelligent’. (1)
I have to say I have been a bit sceptical
and confused how one can apply such diverse learning styles in one lesson or a
lecture in a meaningful way. Some very inventive drama teaching quite
pleasantly surprised me and perhaps this is something that I think is very
useful for kinaesthetic learners. In addition, the message of the drama performance
was, that we all need to treat each other with respect regardless of societal
status, class, racial or ethnic backgrounds. Students need to work in a way
that recognises their individual strengths and needs.
Therefore, we can say that socially
conscious cooperation learning is both a pedagogical strategy and a philosophical
worldview. (2) It contributes to the more democratic view and a more just society.
This is also derived from constructivist
theories of learning by John Dewey and Lev Vygotsky and Piaget. The students
are encouraged to deal with multiple viewpoints, social, political issues and
ethnic diversity, also discussed via work of James A. Banks
in his work ‘Multicultural Education.’
We have also had
a chance to meet Dr. Deborah Hill from USA who is teaching in Utah. She was
meant to give us a virtual teaching session via Skype but it turned out that
she was actually on site. We were quite convinced at first that she was
actually calling us from USA via Skype.
Deborah gave us
an interesting overview of the teaching profession drawbacks in USA compared to
Finland. This is an
interesting topic how politics can dictate educational priorities. In Finland,
teachers have more freedom in regards to the curriculum and content. Although
perhaps USA has more experience with virtual learning technologies.
There is a lot of
work and effort to actually implement and discriminate when to use cooperative
learning methods. There can be also resistance from students about shifting
from a passive role of a traditional learner to a more professional learner
with individual accountability, social skills etc.
Here are some of the ways that one can implement
different learning styles in the classroom: storytelling, brainstorming,
recording, journal writing, Venn diagrams, Socratic questioning, Visualization,
colour cues, picture metaphors, graphic symbols, body answers, pantomime, hands
on thinking etc.(3)
There were some online tools that we were able to test such as Socrative and Padlet. These are very useful tools especially for teaching online and having a sort of virtual discussion board.
http://socrative.com/
http://padlet.com/
Also I really enjoyed the exercise with mobile barcodes (QR-Codes), where the information about the University’s facilities was hidden. We had to follow the instructions and go to different rooms and talk to the staff in the Library etc. and complete various tasks such as finding out about the book ‘The Theory and Practice of Learning’ by Jarvis Peter.
This was yet again another good example of using kinaesthetic, spatial, linguistic and interpersonal learning styles as a way to devise a learning method and gather information at the same time.
QR Code Generator
References:
(1) Armstrong, T., (2009) Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom (3rd Edition), Alexandria, VA, USA , Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development (ASCD), (p 190-199)
(2) Cohen, E. G. Brody, C. M. Sapon-Shevin, M., (2004), Teacher Preparation and Development : Teaching Cooperative Learning : The Challenge for Teacher, Albany, NY, USA, SUNY Press, (p 47-65)
(3) Armstrong, T., (2009) Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom (3rd Edition), Alexandria, VA, USA, Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development (ASCD), (p 72-99)
Pecha Kucha presentations by other students were very interesting. It is a presentation style in which 20 slides are shown for 20 seconds each (six minutes and 40 seconds in total). I liked the varied teaching and learning experiences that our group has had.
Here is my presentation, please use the password: Vocational.
Pecha Kucha _ Aleksandra Paravina from Aleksandra Paravina on Vimeo.
On a more personal note, I love the light and colours of the nature in Oulu. This photo was taken in the evening whilst walking around the city with my colleagues.
