My Thoughts on AMOK International days, March 2014

My thoughts and a video on the first day at AMOK International days, 25th of March : http://amokinternational.blogspot.fi/2014/03/aleksandra-amok-international-days.html


26^th of March 2014,

The second day of the AMOK International days started with a visit to the IB international school in Oulu. This was an interesting insight for me into a slightly different IB school as I am currently working in one.

We had to focus on few questions:

1. What does the network competence mean to the target of the visit?

Most of our discussion focused on what does Multiculuturalism vs Interculturalism mean in the context of the International school. Multicultural meaning that something is represented by many different cultures and Intercultural means that there is an interaction between two or more cultures.

So the difference implies that there is interaction versus representation. The school encourages this interaction between cultures by individual effort of teachers who facilitate events and learning opportunities in the curriculum context.

2. What existing networks does the school already have?

The school has a limited international network of teachers and parents but it does function in the IB framework where teachers participate in training sessions organised abroad by IB providers. Also it collaborates with City of Oulu, National Board of Education and University of Oulu training school.

3. How to build and maintain international networks?

Perhaps the school can organise some student exchange programmes with the help of City of Oulu and other European and international organisations.

I have to say I was impressed with some of the information that the school provides for the students that have just arrived in Finland. Some of the psychological support is based on work of Dutch psychologist Ruth E. Van Reken and the book Third Culture Kids : Growing up among the worlds.

Our next guest speaker was Nijole CiuCiulkiene, associate professor at the Department of Education of Kaunas University of Technology in Lithuania. Her presentation was focused on Mentoring aspects in International classes.

This was an interesting presentation with some new insights in the use of terminology related to mentoring for example Acculturation, Scaffolding mentoring, Judge mentoring, Reverse mentoring. These are all the terms that I would like to look into more and find concrete examples.

Also the video on Generational differences: Millennials, Gen x and Boomers was very relevant to where we are at the moment since education has this multigenerational context; in companies for example this may not be so as their focus is on employing young people.

27^th of March 2014,

The day started with some worm up exercises by Janne Länsitie which was fun and this proceeded with the lecture by Yrjö Mikkonen, PhD. Multicultural researcher. The main focus of the lecture was the difference between Internationalism and Multiculturalism. We had an example of an International school where there is usually one standard language and common working culture for the staff and the culture of the individual staff members is private. So International schools may not be multicultural, although there are situations where these might overlap. Bringing Internationalism and Multiculturalism together is a challenge for groups and institutions. The danger is that this can create a division between “we” and “they”.

Multiculturalism implies differences, there is also the danger that one can try to make the person feel that they belong but in an indoctrinated way.

Yrjö proposes to see this as a system, explaining things and phenomena through systems is very useful. If we have connections we must have parts. Parts are not enough connections must be there. Connections between the components are very clear. School is a system, there are other kinds of systems. Complex, intertwined with many different parts components.

If we take an international language, it does not matter what religious orientation the speakers have, they use the same language. So it is an example of unity in sameness. Originally internationalisation started with violence, we must not forget that.

The lecture proceeded with the Panel discussion which consisted of a social worker Annu Holappa , Lecturer of OUS,  Tomi Huhtamäki, teacher at Ruuki, Agricultural Institute, Pirkkko Kukkohovi, Coordinator of multicultural work, Shahnaz Mikkonen and a student V-P Kultanen, studying  at OUS's school of Vocational Teacher Education. 

The discussion was interesting and insightful from the point of view of immigrants and refugees in Finland. I have to say these issues always stir some difficult memories and times from my life in UK where I had to face a lot of challenges in my work and life generally in relation to multiculturalism. I think that teaching profession generally suffers from the lack of funding and support in UK and perhaps some other European countries with high intake of immigrants and refugees. Teachers in state schools have to provide extra care in language support or generally child support for families. I think that this is not as nearly as demanding in Finland as it is in UK. 

Some students have expressed negative attitude towards Internationalisation, I can see how there can be a danger also in overemphasising Internationalisation without giving any expression of multiculturalism. This has to be balanced somehow especially in International schools. 

As discussed in Yrjö Mikkonen's presentation we must look at the individual first and then perhaps get to know the culture where they come from. 

Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development

L.S.Vygotksy 

I am a member of Vygotsky group. L.S.Vygotsky was a psychologist, born in 1896, Orsha, Russia, a town which is now part of Belarus. He is most known for his concept called Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). Vygotsky wrote: " We propose that an essential feature of learning is that it creates the zone of proximal development; that is, learning awakens a variety of internal developmental processes that are able to operate only when the child is interacting with people in his environment and in cooperation with his peers. Once these process are internalized, they become part of the child's independent developmental achievement ". ( Vygotsky, 1978, p.90)

 Vygotsky expressed a dialectical relationship between the individual and society. In one of the essays on Imagination and Creativity in Childhood, he wrote, " every inventor, even a genius, is always the outgrowth of his time and environment. His creativity stems from those needs that were created before him, and rests upon those possibilities that, again, exist outside of him". ( Connery, Steiner, Marjanovic-Shane, 2010, p 13) 

Also he emphasizes that creative work is social : "Art is the social within us, and even if it's action Is performed by a single individual it does not mean that its essence is individual... Art is the social technique of emotion, a tool of society which brings the most intimate and personal aspects of our being into the circle of social life ... It would be more correct to say that emotion becomes personal when everyone of us experiences a work of art: It becomes personal without ceasing to be social ..." ( Connery, Steiner, Marjanovic-Shane, 2010, p 14) 

Here is also an interesting video that gives a good overview of Vygostky's work : 'The Theory Of Social Development.'

 




References: 

Vygotsky, L.S., ( 1978), Mind in Society : The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press. 

Connery, M.C., Steiner, V.P.J, Marjanovic-Shane, A., (2010), Vygotsky and Creativity: A Cultural-historical Approach to Play, Meaning Making, and the Arts. New York, Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.

Tools for Teaching in English

Tools for Teaching in English was a great course to affirm my understanding of the issues related to way the non - native speakers use English in the classroom and generally in educational context.

We were able to assess our level of English in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and also look at what makes a successful classroom presentation.

We created and evaluated the presentations and videos based on how well the content was organised in terms of introduction, development and conclusion. Whether the objectives were clearly stated and if the audience was engaged. Also the use of phrases such as:” My presentation today is about ...”, “First I would like to give an overview of …” etc.

Also in terms of visual presentations the slides should contain about six lines of text and maximum six words per line. It is good to vary the amount of time the visual is shown so we could for example build step by step the lines in the slide. 

Here are some of the excerpts from my final essay followed by my video and lesson presentations :

What will I do in the future to enhance my teaching skills (especially when using English as the spoken medium)?

“Encourage students to engage in pragmatic and functional use of language for meaningful purposes” (Farrell, T. S. C. Jacobs, G., 2010, p.4)

I think that knowing the terminology related to the subject is important and the students are expected to be able to demonstrate the knowledge of the specialized language, concepts and processes. Also they need to be able to communicate critical understanding of the art form for example or any other relevant subject. So I would encourage that.

“Encourage learner autonomy, learners have their share of responsibility for and control of their learning”. (Farrell, T. S. C. Jacobs, G., 2010, p.8)

I believe that student-cantered approach in learning is important as students need to take responsibility for their learning so, group work, peer presentations and assessments are all important part of that.

In addition as we discussed on the course as part of the “Successful classroom presentation” there are certain ways to improve the presentation style by using very structured approach with clear introduction, objectives and development part with relevant questions and referring back to main points. Also having visual aids is important too for multisensory learning.

 How do non-native students learn to use English in classroom situations?

There have been different approaches in learning English, for example in the past the written language was emphasised and nowadays there is more of a conversational approach. This is good in some ways but students sometimes lack writing skills. I do notice this a lot with the students in the school where I work.

I do try to vary the tasks so that there is group work and interaction which encourages discussion. Also written assignments are mandatory in each project. This is where we discuss concepts and relevant terminology. I may also give a list of descriptive words that they can use in their assignments.

Also I think it is important to encourage intercultural communication as well in the lesson content. Cultural literacy will be crucial in the future and there are many challenges with being able to share knowledge across cultures:

“It is a form of cultural capital that enables us to act sensitively and effectively in a world of differences.” (Kaivola, T., Melen-Paaso, M. 2007, p.77)

What kind of language (grammar, vocabulary) should I use when teaching?

As we discussed during the Tools for Teaching English course, idioms are perhaps not best to use in a very multicultural classroom as not all of the students will be able to understand the meaning in the context. The language should be clear and concise.

How does online “simulated” teaching differ from “frontal” (or classroom) teaching?

Give examples and pros/cons for both

Online teaching is becoming much more popular as it is enhancing the quality and increasing the accessibility of education and training. In frontal classroom teaching, there is more emphasis on the class whereas in the online teaching there is more of a personalized experience for the student. Also in the online teaching student has more control in the process of learning. The scheduling of the classroom teaching is very predetermined by the institutions. Online teaching can be more flexible about the time. In addition to that the student is more engaged in their own learning process and their level of computer skills. In the case of frontal classroom teaching that can depend on the teacher’s use of technology and competences.

References: 

Farrell, T. S. C. Jacobs, G. (2010). Essentials for Successful English Language Teaching,

Continuum International Publishing, London

Cantoni V., Cellario M., Porta M., (2003). Perspectives and challenges in e-learning: towards natural interaction paradigms. Retrieved from:

 http://www.water-msc.org/en/knowledge_base/perspectives_challenges.pdf

Anxiety coach: http://www.anxietycoach.com/performanceanxiety.html

Kaivola, T., Melen-Paaso, M. (2007). Education for Global Responsibility: Finnish Perspectives. Helsinki: Finnish ministry of Education. Retrieved from: http://www.minedu.fi/export/sites/default/OPM/Julkaisut/2007/liitteet/opm31.pdf

These are the presentations I created based on the ideas from the course :

Landscape photography from Aleksandra Sasha Paravina

How To Take Great Portraits from Aleksandra Paravina on Vimeo.

Global Education in Vocational Teacher Education

Global Education  course was a really great way to reaffirm what I have experienced over the years with my work in UK and also in the international IB school in Finland.

We looked at the definitions of culture:

The toolkit by which we construct not only our worlds but also our very conceptions of ourselves and our powers. (John Bruner, 1996)

Just as the life of a person can’t be frozen in time, so it is true of living cultures … it is an active and perpetual creative process. (Cajete, 1994)

We can see how different epistemological ideas can ground our vision of culture from philosophy, nature to Christian beliefs and ancient history. There is also a difference between western and eastern way of looking at the world, in the sense that according to eastern view, our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs are cyclical not hierarchical and very interconnected with other aspects of being.

We have also looked at tools that can help us in our work and study of intercultural sphere. (Skills, critical thinking and analysis, changing perspectives or multi – perspective approach, recognise negative stereotypes and prejudices, intercultural competences in communication, teamwork and cooperation, empathy, dialogue, assertiveness, dealing with complexity, contradictions and uncertainty, dealing with conflict and conflict transformation, creativity, research, decision-making and dealing with media).

In addition, important tools and methods are dialogue and questioning that are then further opening a third space that needs more openness and change in perspective:

Spaces rather than places. They’re often risky, unsettling spaces – where the security and familiarity of our own place of belonging has to be left behind. We have to be prepared to shift, to be open, to listen, to change. (Dudgeon and Fielder, 2006)

What is global education?

Although often discussed loosely as a new step on the path of “going international”, globalization means something qualitatively new. (Kaivola, T., Melen-Paaso, M.,2007, p.9)

In the phase of “internationalization” the states or authoritarian governments were in the position to prevent people from collaborating across the border, nowadays states have had to remove many obstacles that they have created and to deregulate many aspect of social and economic life.

Globalisation also has its dark side as it can create the deregulation of economy and further to exploitation of workers, especially in indigenous communities. This can also spread to "psychological and intellectual dimension". it  can be seen as a way to prevent some of the negative side effects, especially in terms of educating about racial tolerance, empathy and human rights. Cultural literacy will be crucial in the future and there are many challenges with being able to share knowledge across cultures:

“It is a form of cultural capital that enables us to act sensitively and effectively in a world of differences.” (Kaivola, T., Melen-Paaso, M.,2007,p.77)

Finland like many other countries is becoming a society with people with many ethnic backgrounds and we all need to live and work as equals with respect for each other’s differences: “The global village will not be created by immigrants everywhere adopting to host societies but only by “host societies” also adopting to immigrants and both immigrants and host moving to a more sophisticated awareness of intercultural problems.”(Kaivola, T., Melen-Paaso, M.,2007,p.78)

There is process in accepting difference, values based process.

What are the challenges of bringing global education into your classes in Scotland or Finland?

During the course we have also had the chance to collaborate with the group of teachers who were studying for their teaching qualification at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. We created a lesson plan based on a Global Education theme that we then shared with the teachers in Scotland and discussed further online.

My lesson plans were for a photography and special needs education. I did a lot of research to create an interesting photography lesson content based on the idea: How does exterior (landscape, urban environment) affect the interior (sense of identity). This topic was inspired by a lecture that I saw at Aalto University by Liz Wells, called Sense of Place (On landscape photography, region and identity).

The idea was to look at images by photographers such as Marja Pirelä, Marti Jämsä, Margareta Klingberg, Maud Sulter, Ingrid Pollard and analyze the subjects relationship to environment and nature. Asking questions such as: How does the photographer present the subject in relation to the environment? What are the cultural attitudes? Is the photographer criticising particular ideas that have become associated with land or environment? (Globalisation, colonialism, gender issues).

I think that our discussion with the Scottish team went well, although I was aware that I had a more politicised view of culture and global education. Perhaps they have not addressed these issues so much through their studies and I was happy to be able to share some of the content that we were able to elaborate on.

Margareta Klingberg Vallinberget - On the move 2001, Seasonal workers in Sweden

References:

Kaivola, T., Melen-Paaso, M. (2007). Education for Global Responsibility: Finnish Perspectives. Helsinki: Finnish ministry of Education. Retrieved from: http://www.minedu.fi/export/sites/default/OPM/Julkaisut/2007/liitteet/opm31.pdf

Wells, L., (2011) Land Matters : Landscape Photography, Culture and Identity, I.B. Tauris, London

Marti Jämsä ( Summertime, 1994-2003)

http://www.galleriaheino.com/nayttely.php?aid=20538&k=20139

Margareta Klingberg ( On The Move, 2006-2008)

http://www.listen.no/sted_event.php?sted_id=1360&nummer=56079

http://www.kc-nord.org/projektmedel/projekt-i-urval/till-skogsdo-lasu-margareta-klingberg.html

Ingrid Pollard (Pastoral Interlude, 1988 )

http://www.ingridpollard.com/pastoral-interlude.html

Maud Sulter (Smart as Clio, 1989)

http://ohlookhistory.tumblr.com/post/17275209537/poet-dorothea-smart-as-clio-the-muse-of-heroic

VOC1 Evaluation of the fourth virtual teaching session 29.10.2013

Evaluation of the fourth VOC1 session on 29.10.2013

During this session Vygotsky group was a chair group. The session went well and what I found very interesting was the way we were able to analyse our group’s dynamics for example with the Belbin’s team role theory of effective groups.

Belbin defined nine team roles as "a tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others in a particular way" (1). These roles can be categorized into three groups: 

Action Oriented Roles:

Shaper (SH) --Challenges the team to improve.

Implementer (IMP) --Puts ideas into action.

Completer-Finisher (CF)--Ensures thorough, timely completion.

People Oriented Roles:

Coordinator (CO)--Acts as a chairperson.

Team Worker (TW)-- Encourages cooperation.

Resource Investigator (RI)--Explores outside opportunities.

Thought Oriented Roles:

Plant (PL)--Presents new ideas and approaches.

Monitor-Evaluator (ME)--Analyzes the options.

Specialist (SP)--Provides specialized skills.

I think I saw myself as an Implementer, Resource Investigator, Plant and Specialist.

In addition, we looked at another model by Bruce Tuckman (1965) called ‘Forming Storming Norming Performing’. This is a natural progression of a group.

http://www.shift-it-coach.com/2012/12/the-joys-and-challenges-of-group-dynamics/

Video:

Collaborative or group work in schools and education generally needs to be encouraged more. Educational psychologist Vygotsky has emphasised that learning takes place in social situations and later becomes individual.

The article: “Reflecting design learning in collaborative development – towards integrative teaching practices in Finnish teacher education” emphasises the need for a more creative approach in teaching, where most of the teaching “is too heavily based on instructionism, where knowledge is only a collection of static facts and procedures, which teachers should put into students’ heads. This type of school, which is still common today, was designed during the first half of the twentieth century as an answer to the challenges of the industrial economy.” (Sawyer, 2006, 1.) 

The sharing of knowledge in asocial situation is very important in a learning process as it triggers new insights and promotes creativity. Also integrative teaching would unify different knowledge over the subject areas. Collaboration between teachers and students is necessary and also collaboration between students as well.

That means that teaching and learning are based on social activities in which interaction and communication are essential (cf. Kelley’s philosophy in IDEO). It has been shown that human beings learn best in interaction (e.g. Sawyer, 2006).


Vocational Education.

Vocational Education in Finland prepares students in manual and practical skills that are related to specific occupation or vocation. It comprises of upper secondary qualifications targeted to both young people and adults. Also further vocational qualifications and specialist vocational qualifications targeted to adults. Vocational upper secondary qualification consist of 120 credits, which can be completed in three years. After completing the vocational upper secondary qualification students can apply for admission to a polytechnic or university.

Work experience is an important part of vocational education and this can be challenging in the fast developing world. Finnish polytechnics have been developed since 1992, this was also the time of economical recession in Finland; nowadays there are 32 Polytechnics in the country that serve the needs of innovative working life. This was particularly challenging for publicly funded polytechnics comped to development of private enterprises and high-tech companies. So the new emphasis in the education system is on individual choice, efficiency and evaluation. This new way of looking at developing high quality education that can compete in the globally changing market is also reflected in the neoliberalism a new internationally prevailing ideological paradigm. Although Finland has not embraced neoliberalism to that extent as there are only few private educational institutes and they are receiving state subsidies on the same grounds as municipal institutes.

"The meaning of international cooperation to Finnish vocational education has increased due to the Copenhagen Process launched by European Union in 2002. The goal of the process is to enhance the quality of vocational education, increase the attractiveness of vocational education and training, and to promote internationalization i.e. mobility of students." (Vanttaja & Rinne 2008, 47).

Despite the popularity of Vocational schools the drop out in upper secondary schools is still high according to some statistics from the last few years, approximately 11 percent of students in the country. The government has implemented some strategies such as vocational guidance and individual counselling.

Also another important aspect of the way that vocational education has been made to be more competitive was by allowing for specialized schools that can offer more specialized courses than other schools in addition to which they receive additional state funding.
These schools aim to attract talented students and so this has provoked some discussion on whether Finnish education system is undermining the values that it has set originally with reforms in the 70's related to equality.


What is expected of a vocational teacher?

The important question is how to build learning network and partnerships in the field of vocational education and also how is the new and changing role of the vocational teacher to be supported?

The biggest challenge is to create possibilities within training organisations to be at least two steps ahead of the present working life.One way that this is done is through competence based qualification system that aims to build the system which is constantly developing.

Having a practical experience is very much encouraged by the European view: "Problem-driven and experience-oriented education is essential to fostering entrepreneurial mindsets and abilities". 

"The most commonly used teaching methods are lectures, computer simulations and business games, student companies, project work and group work, company visits and work placements. Although a wide range of pedagogical tools are in place, there seems to be in general a gap however between the teaching methods considered to be most effective and those that are currently used". (Entrepreneurship in Vocational Education and Training, 2009 p.7-8)

So a lot of critique is places on the competence of the teacher to be able to teach in an active way and their actual knowledge and experience of entrepreneurship.
We could see entrepreneurship as internal entrepreneurship ( entrepreneurial operating methods of the community, i.e., how aspects of entrepreneurship are realized in the community) and external entrepreneurship ( starting, managing and owning a business). Both of these are to be encouraged through vocational education.

The school-enterprise cooperation is important and I have seen this happen quite a lot in the gaming industry in Finland. For example Aalto University has a Media Factory 
where prospective entrepreneurs can try their ideas in a simulated business model and also meet like minded people to work on group projects. The Media Factory also facilitates lectures and talks with people from industry and business angels. 
Another important organisation in gaming industry is IGDA ( International Games Developers Association ) that facilitates meetings with experts from the gaming industry and potential investors, together with TEKES ( The Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation, a part of Finnish Ministry of Employment and the Economy).


References: 

(1) http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_83.htm#sthash.4bbzbxMb.dpuf

Sawyer, K. (2006). Educating for innovation. Thinking Skills and Creativity,1, 41–48.
Article. ( 2012). Reflecting design learning in collaborative development – towards integrative teaching practices in Finnish teacher education. Retrieved from:http://www.lline.fi/en/article/research/sintonenfinal/reflecting-design-learning-in-collaborative-development-towards-integrative-teaching-practices-in-finnish-teacher-education

http://www.opintoluotsi.fi/en-GB/Studies_in_English/Vocational_Education/ 

Rinne, R. & Järvinen, T. 2011. Completion and Dropout in Upper Secondary 

http://www.goete.eu/news/project-news/135-recent-trends-in-fnnish-education

https://optima.oamk.fi/learning/id7/bin/doc_show?id=79155

Ministry of Education (2004a). Vocational Education and Training. Online:
http://www.minedu.fi/minedu/education/vocational_edu.html (read 24.9.2004).

Ministry of Education (2004b). Adult Education. Online:
http://www.minedu.fi/minedu/education/adult_edu.html (read 24.9.2004)

National Board of Education (2004). The Education system of Finland. Online:
http://www.oph.fi/english/SubPage.asp?path=447,490,4699 (read 24.9.2004)

VOC1 Evaluation of the third virtual learning session 16.10.2013

Evaluation of the third virtual learning session on the 16th of October 2013.

E-portfolios or digital portfolos are used for individual lifelong learning and for academic assessment. They can be also evaluated in other contexts such as workplace. It is important in E-portfolios to simultaneously serve individual self-actualization and institutional transformation. (Darren, R.  E-Portfolios for Lifelong Learning and Assessment, 2010, p.11)

Also another important aspect of an E-portfolio is authenticity and this can be developed through self – understanding and self – articulation. Expressing once unique nature as a human being is important and it reflects once creativity as well. This can also include ethical and philosophical reflection.

In the past portfolios were in a paper form but nowadays they are more digital and this has many advantages. For example, they can gather very diverse resources of knowledge through multimedia links, hypertextual organisation, videos and demonstrations. So essentially portfolios can be showcase for personal skills, knowledge, reflection and competences.  

For the purpose of academic assessment, portfolio can be a way to demonstrate the ability to apply academic concepts, how the emergent theories are linked to the life experiences. The choice of colours, multimedia elements and photographs also demonstrates how one learns best and interprets the world around them.

After some time of writing and reflection, one can also see the patterns emerging and perhaps starts seeing new theories. Essentially, it is an ‘ongoing process of writing an identity into being’. (Darren, R., E-Portfolios for Lifelong Learning and Assessment, 2010, p.16).

Some define personal portfolio as a ‘story’ and standardised portfolio as a ‘test’. In a way our iVet course portfolio is a combination of both although it is essentially provides data about the achieved learning outcomes and measures the effectiveness of experience of the course. It assesses our competences to enter the profession of teaching. One of the important competences of being a teacher is to ‘accurately analyse and assess students learning’.

The teaching practice part of the portfolio will show examples of lessons plans and they will be evaluated against the criteria set. The students will demonstrate competence by showing how their work evidence is appropriate for the defined rubrics used to evaluate it. This portfolio can be also used as evidence for potential employers in the future. Although if the portfolios are standardised it may not encourage students to keep them as a lifelong learning tool. That is why it is possible with the iVet course, portfolio for students, to perhaps continue the building of the portfolio even after the course is completed as it allows for some of the ‘personal story’ content as well.

Essentially students are encouraged to become self – directed learners and develop self – efficacy in relation to tasks.

We could also say that portfolios allow students to express their multiple intelligences as well as the multicultural aspects of learning and experiential learning too.

Assessment 

John Biggs - Setting up criterion referenced objectives.

The presentation on assessment by Dewey group was very clear and we were also engaged in some thinking and reflection on what are the challenges in assessing learners and if we have used collaborative and peer assessment in our teaching.

In addition, the important question was if assessment is subjective or objective process. Does teacher assess the learner´s work or the learner as a person?

Peter Jarvis in his book “Adult Education & Lifelong Learning” says that: “assessment is natural and many, but not all forms, contain an element of subjectivity about them”.

He also mentions that in this sense assessment means placing a value on the phenomenon and it has the same meaning as evaluation. Although there is a convention in education that assessment is “restricted to the process of placing a value (grade ) on learners’ performances,  whereas evaluation is used more commonly about either the teaching and learning process, e.g. curriculum evaluation.”(Jarvis, P., Adult Education & Lifelong Learning, 2004, p.232).

The nature of assessment is subjective to a degree since the assessors are placing their own value on the piece of writing, If it is an essay for example. The assessors are not only assessing the content but the structure and the level of analysis. Therefore, in this way we must see that the assessment is not only measurement. The whole concept of measurement comes from the prevalence of the scientific measurement of inanimate and empirical data and this creates difficulties for educators to be truly objective in assessing other areas. One could also see assessment as a form of guide rather than an exact scientific measurement.

There are many different forms of assessment and the once we have discussed are : formative, summative, continuous, analytical, global, self- assessment, peer and collaborative assessment.

Formative evaluations are made any time during the teaching and learning, so they are essentially a diagnostic form of assessment.

Summative assessment occurs at the end of the process, so it is usually given as a final mark.

Ideally, there should be many forms of assessment used so that student’s work can be evaluated or measured objectively.

Also there is a notion that academic standards are being undervalued nowadays as the students or clients are primarily interested in the qualification itself. “Considerable emphasis is now being placed on the competences that are gained as a result of learning’.

In vocational terms, a competency may be defined as a ‘performance capability needed by workers in a specified occupational area’. (.”(Jarvis, P., Adult Education & Lifelong Learning, 2004, p.237). In addition, there is a difference between quality and efficiency and the latter is perhaps emphasised in relation to work expectations. So Jarvis emphasises that the teaching and learning have become a marketable commodity in the global market.

Self - evaluation  
Our topic for this session was: ‘What is the role of the student's self -evaluation in vocational education’?

It was important for us to clarify the difference between self-assessment and self- evaluation. ‘Assessment provides feedback on knowledge, skills, attitudes and work products for the purpose of elevating future performances and learning outcomes. Evaluation determines the level of quality of a performance or outcome and enables decision making based on the level of quality demonstrated.’ (1) Both processes can be used as formative or summative. 

At the beginning we thought to use Survey Monkey in order to create a questionnaire for the iVet group on their experience of group study. The results of the survey can be found here:


 

Self evaluation form by iVet group Vygotsky 2013 from Aleksandra Sasha Paravina

Overall my experience of teaching was good, I felt that I had enough time for the tasks and the slides. We had four questions that we asked via the Padlet.


1. Do students who are taught how to evaluate their work learn better or more poorly than other students?

We did conclude that through self –evaluation students develop sense of cognitive achievement and narrative writing skills. Also they benefit in the area of motivation and are more confident about their ability. Students need to be taught how to evaluate their work accurately and need time to develop the appropriate skills. 

Teachers who participate in how to teach self- evaluation grow more confident in their skills as teachers and use greater variety of assessment techniques. Also it enhances their professional growth and their self- efficacy is enhanced too. The discussion at the end was motivating and I have started to work on the blog more to catch up with the topics. 

1.  Do students self-evaluate fairly?
2.  Is simply requiring self-evaluation enough, or do students have to be taught how to  evaluate their work accurately?
3.  Are there any benefits for teachers by training students in self-evaluation?

References:

Darren R.,(2010),  E-Portfolios for Lifelong Learning and Assessment (3rd Edition),

Jossey-Bass, Hoboken, NJ, USA 

http://www.oamk.fi/amok/ammatillinen_opettajankoulutus/opiskelijalle/ammattipedagogiset_opinnot/e-ape/apet2013_i.php?sivu=ape_9

Jarvis P., ( 2004)  Adult Education & Lifelong Learning, Routledge Falmer

Biggs, J., Teaching for Quality Learning at University, Retrieved from:
https://optima.oamk.fi/learning/id7/bin/doc_show?id=68484

(1) Baehr, M., Distinctions Between Assessment and Evaluation. Retrieved from: http://www.pcrest2.com/institute_resources/PAI/4_1_2.pdf

VOC1 Evaluation of the second virtual teaching 1.10.2013

Evaluation for the second virtual teaching on the first of October 2013

The topic for our groups  presentation was: ‘How lecturing (and teaching) can be enriched using virtual teaching’? And ‘What are the "extended" possibilities of virtual teaching and eLearning’?

I came up with the idea to use Google Docs as one of our pre-tasks. I invited everyone who had Gmail account and also sent notifications to those that did not if they would like to participate. By creating a link and sharing that link with other students everyone can brainstorm in one document. The idea was to brainstorm on the various eLearning tools that others have used through their study and work so far.

Brainstorming on E-learning tools, iVet group 2013

The majority of the students did respond but there were few that did not and I made the link public so that everyone can see it. Although only those that had Google email accounts were able to edit the document.

The sessions were a bit delayed as one of the students who was presenting at the beginning had technical problems and so Virpi and I did not have so much time at the end for the discussion. We did have a Padlet discussion, the students were asked to evaluate the eLearning courses they have participated in (good courses / poor courses). Also how could these poor courses have been developed to make them better?
Here are some of the comments:

Overall I think that the material was interesting and as a group we divided the tasks so that everyone had to research on one aspect of eLearning. We had information on eLearning tools, how to make eLearning work, instructors’ and learners’ attitudes, games, extended possibilities of virtual education, and an example of a virtual learning course: Coursera.

Video:

There was no time to watch this video in our session: Daphne Koller: What we're learning from online education by TED

The presentation on Curriculum and teaching was very interesting and I have learned much more about the differences between Finnish curriculum and some of the other countries in Europe and USA.

The aim of Finnish education policy is a  coherent policy geared  to educational equity and a high level of education among the population as a whole. The principle of lifelong learning entails that everyone has sufficient learning skills  and opportunities to develop their knowledge and skills in different learning environments throughout their lifespan.

—Government of Finland, Ministry of Education

It is interesting to note that Finnish curriculum has changed a lot since the 1970s and has given a lot more freedom to teachers and local schools to decide on the content of the curriculum. In addition, The Finnish National Board of Education (NBOE), The Government and Local Authorities are participants in the curriculum process.

The teachers in Finland are highly educated as they study to Master level and have pedagogical training, that  is subsidised by the government. The emphasis was on creating equity by publicly financing schools and giving equal opportunities to all students regardless of their ability or social status.

This strategy has enabled Finnish schools to rank first among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) assessments in mathematics, science and reading.

On the opposite scale in some Anglo- Saxon countries such as Britain the approach was different and according to the Finnish  policy analyst Sahlberg (2009) there was:  standardisation of curriculum enforced by external tests; narrowing of the curriculum to basic skills in reading and mathematics; reduced use of innovative teaching strategies; adoption of educational ideas from external sources rather than development of local internal capacity for innovation and problem solving; adoption of high stake accountability policies, featuring rewards and sanctions for students, teachers and schools.

I have to say that some of my personal experiences of training to teach in schools in London were quite negative. This was partly due to overcrowded classrooms and lack of resources. Ethnic and racial tensions, lack of motivation from students towards study and the pressure on teachers to meet the expectations of Ofsted (The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills).

Since Finland has invested a lot in equity and education, one can see that this also benefits ethnic minorities that live in Finland.

There is an older minority of Swedish speakers that also benefits from Swedish being a second language in Finland and Former Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen and chairperson for the Svenska Nu ("Swedish Now") movement says, “That making Swedish language optional in the Finnish school system--where it's currently mandatory--would increase inequality.”

In addition, there is some discussion that maybe Russian could be taught as a second language in eastern Finland since there is a large Russian population there on the borders with Russia.

Overall, I have been able to use a lot of creativity in my application of the arts curriculum in Finland. I have also been able to set up a photography elective in the International School where I work. This would not be so easy to do in some other countries’ that have a more centralized and fixed approach.

References:

YLE News article (25.9.2013 ), Lipponen: Optional Swedish would widen the social divide, Retreived from: http://yle.fi/uutiset/lipponen_optional_swedish_would_widen_the_social_divide/6849275

YLE News article (20.9.2010), PM Backs Russian over Swedish in Eastern Schools, Retrieved from :
http://yle.fi/uutiset/pm_backs_russian_over_swedish_in_eastern_schools/5635958

Darling-Hammond (2009), Steady Work: How Finland Is Building a Strong Teaching and Learning System, Retrieved from: http://pasisahlberg.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Steady-Work-Darling-Hammond.pdf

Finnish National Board of Education: www.oph.fi/english