Question 1. Describe how you would go about selecting and applying a range of instructional strategies and resources to a lesson in your main teaching area.
My main teaching area is Visual Arts. For the purposes of this exercise lets say the lesson is the next class following on from that described in Question 2 of the ED4238 exam; where students are at the conception of design stage of a mosaic mural that is to cover a grey cement wall of the school that is frequently graffitied with derogatory remarks.
Students have been asked to write down their thoughts about appropriate imagery or text that may go into the design of the wall mural. I think using the Graffiti method would be a good way of developing and gathering ideas. I would group the students into three's , and already have prepared questions to generate thoughts on this topic such as:
1. Should the wall be simply decorative and beautiful, or should it have something to say?
2. If you were an old wall in a school and could speak; and had seen all the goings on in a schoolyard, what would you say?
3. What are the values of the school? What is special or unique about this school that we could represent on the wall to show others ?
These three sheets of paper with the questions written at the top have been photocopied so there are 6 copies. These 6 copies (2 of each question) have been handed out, one to each group. The individual groups (of 3)brainstorm, discuss, and record their ideas on the paper. When most are ready, the papers are passed on to a group that hasn't had that question before. Each group reads their new question, plus the ideas of the first group, and then add their own idea's. This happens one more time, and in the end, all sheets are given to the teacher, who then reads out the idea's on all the pages.
I would select this instructional stategy, for the following reasons:
- it is a practical process that models the kind of thinking, judgements and analysis of a situation, that a real life artist would undertake.
- shows students the incredible variety and range of thinking in the class.
- helps create a context for our mural, adds meaning to the task.
I would then ask students what they learned from doing that exercise. We would have a discussion led by questions such as: which seem the more appropriate ideas and why? Students would be encouraged to respect the ideas of others and hold their judgement. This would be an exercise in accepting and marvelling at difference; and emotional intelligence.
The resources i would use are: 1 hour of time; paper and pens.
Question 2.
The principles that are basic to assessment in the teaching area of Visual Arts are defined clearly in the Visual Arts Years 7-10 Advice on Programming and Assessment publication. They use an outcomes approach. Here it is stated that assessment for learning is advocated, the principles of which are:
* emphasis on the interactions between learning and manageable assessment strategies that promote learning
* clear expression for student and teacher the goals of a learning activity
* Reflects a view of learning in which assessment helps students learn better, rather than just achieve a better mark
* provides ways for students to use feedback from assessment
* helps students take responsibility for their own learning
* is inclusive of all learners.
Designing effective learning and assessment requires the selection of activities that develop students'knowledge , understanding and skills and that allow evidence of learning to be gathered. Methods of gathering evidence could inclde informal teacher observation, questioning, peer evaluation and self-evaluation; as well as more structured assessment acctivities.
When designing assessment activities, teachers should consider whether the activity has clearly stated purposes that address the outcomes; is integral to the learning program; shows a clear relationship between the outcomes and content being assessed; allows students to demonstrate the extent of their knowledge, understanding and skills; provides opportunities to gather information about what further teaching and learning is required for students to succeed; provides valid and reliable evidence of student learning and is fair.
Measuring what students have learned...Students should be informed of the criteria that will be used to assess their learning. They should be clear about the meaning of the language used, and about any source materials that have informed the activity. Also helpful for students is to handout or show examples of good responses of similar work; or provide a template to help them to be able to show the extent of their knowledge, understanding and skills.
Teachers can use different methods of evaluation, and these largely depend on the system used by your school. These may be: norm referenced, where assessing and reporting students'acheivement and progress is judged in comparison to other students and is given a grading(A-F) or ranking (percentage). Criterion referenced where it is compared to a predetermined criteria.
In a Standards framework, student acheivement and progress is compared with predetermined Stages of Syllabus Outcomes.
In and outcomes- approach, acknowledges syllabus outcomes acheived regardless of class or year.
In a Standards or Outcomes approach, standards or outcomes are stated, and student acheivement is conveyed through the teachers use of descriptive words such as: needs help, working towards, acheived, mastered; to describe levels of acheivment and development.
Question 3.
I would provide for diversity of learning styles as defined by Gardener, firstly by setting tasks that are interdisciplinary. Most people have some level of proficiency in more than one type of intelligence, and in effect this approach may act as a scaffold into the next discipline. For example, dancing to music would create a relationship between the musical and bodily-kinaesthtic types. Making paper models of geometric shapes would make real connections between mathematical and spatial types. Writing about ones own feelings, wishes or plans for the future would form a connection between the verbal and intrapersonal types.
Setting projects where students can choose the form of their presentation and assessment. For example, students could write an assignmet , do a performance, make a model, create a storyboard...that reflects their thoughts on reconciliation.
Provide learning experiences in real environments eg. Go bushwalking. (naturalistic).
Implementing work experience programs. Gardner recommended apprenticeships and mentoring by experts, as well as the involvement of parents and the wider community. Use real life people from the community to do real projects either within the school or outside it. For example, design a recycling system for the school. Contract in expert to mentor project and offer technical assistance. Implement the project at school. Another example would be to allow assessment for extra- curricula activities such as performance in a dance company.
Integrate curriculum and assessment. Allow students to demonstrate their various competencies using flexible assessment.
Develop alternative assessment such as portfolios and work samples.
As for Deep Learning, Blooms started this train of theory, with his taxonomy that provides a classification of intellectual behaviour. There are 6 main categories compromising: knowledge, understanding, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
For example, with our bushwalking trip (mentioned above)around the nature reserve behind our school:
1. List the different creatures that you see.
2. Classify the animals you saw into the correct genus.
3. Draw or write a one page description of one of the animals you saw
4. Compare the wildlife found in the nature reserve, to your own back yard.
5. Propose and plan a site for a wildlife corridor in your area.
6. Evaluate the importance of nature reserves in an urban area.
This idea of deep learning is one of the most desired outcomes of our current education system. How do teachers equip students with the instruction and desire to acheive the higher levels of intellectual behaviour? And how do they assess it?
"What are the conditions for deep learning? It seems to me that deep learning is offered when teachers plan for student voice, learning to learn and assessment for learning to underpin the delivery of a learning opportunity. For instance, training and encouraging students to develop their own assessment criteria for a given task, or to determine how feedback will be most usefully given, goes a long way to ensuring that the student has ownership, and therefore the likelihood of really learning knowledge or skills through a particular activity. Far from abdicating responsibility as expert, the teacher’s role is refocused on teaching the student how to learn. This is, for many, a redefinition of the role of teacher in the classroom."(Deep Learning:at the heart of education,2006, Carin Taylor, retrieved from http://www.cybertext.net.au/inet_s3wk1/cs2_6_16.htm )
In short, student-focused leadership creates the conditions for deep learning, in combination with assistance from teacers in the field of learning how to learn.
Question 4.
Materials provided by the Board of Studies to guide teaching in the area of Visual Arts Years 7-10 and Years 11-12 are:
Advice on Planning and Assessment, and the various Visual Arts Syllabuses (Years K-6, 7-10 and 11-12).
These are available at the following URL http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_sc/
They can otherwise be found by going to the New South Wales Board of Studies website which is: http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/ and click on "HSC Syllabuses"on the left-hand side of the homepage.
The Syllabus defines the basic aims and objectives of the Visual Arts Syllabus.
It also defines the Outcomes for each stage (Stages 4-5 are applied in years 7-10, and stage 6 in years 11 and 12) in relation to the particular areas of content
The Syllabus defines what the essential content of mandatory courses and elective courses must be to meet Board objectives for each Stage. They also offer additional content for both.
Recommendations regarding time refer to such issues as how much time should be dedicated to different pursuits such as artmaking, critical and historical studies and student directed interests in both mandatory and elective courses.
Suggestions for the kind of artworks to be made, whether 2D, 3D, or 4D- dependent on resources and expertise.
Detailed guidelines are given for how students are to keep a visul arts diary. Safe working practices are also delivered.
Also included is how to provide for students with special needs.
There is also a section on assessment that describes standards, and assessment for learning.
The Visual Arts Years 7-10 Advice on Programming and Assessment is designed to help teachers understand and implement the Syllabus. It shows how the Syllabus can be incorporated into teaching and learning programs and how these programs are underpinned by the principles of assessment for learning.
The document also provides advice about how to construct a program that will cover the scope of a certain stage. It describes a process for planning and sequencing units of work, and developing activities.
There are also samples of programs for all the stages- units of work that illustrate how teachers can construct programs to ensure coverage of the scope of the syllabus.
How I would use these resources for preparing a series of lessons:
Following the advice of the Visual Arts Years 7-10 Advice on Programming and Assessment, i would follow the advice given on page 22 titled: Programming Units of Work.
Step 1 Select outcomes
Outcomes in the Visual Arts Years 7–10 Syllabus are organised around the areas of content. A manageable number of outcomes should be selected to form the focus of the unit of work. Typically, some outcomes will play a more important role in each unit. Teachers should map the units across the stage to ensure an adequate coverage of all syllabus outcomes.
Step 2 Decide on the subject matter or focus of the unit of work
Once the outcomes have been selected the focus of the unit of work should be selected. For example, is this a unit that foregrounds the structural frame and relationships between the artist and the audience, or does the unit foreground an artist’s practice and the postmodern frame? It is important to consider how this unit relates to past and future learning experiences to ensure that teaching and learning activities build on and deepen students’ understanding of syllabus content. This will guide the anticipated evidence of learning and selection of relevant syllabus content.
Step 3 Decide on the evidence of learning
As the outcomes form the focus of the unit, it is necessary to identify the specific evidence of learning to be observed through the teaching, learning and assessment activities. This evidence will enable judgements to be made on student achievement in relation to the outcomes and identified content.
Step 4 Select the relevant syllabus content
Identify what students will ‘learn about’
Specific content from the ‘learn about’ sections of the syllabus should be selected as a focus for the unit. This will be further enhanced by referring to the specific details supplied in the syllabus that unpack these statements in terms of practice, the conceptual framework and the frames.
Identify what students will ‘learn to do’
In the Visual Arts Years 7–10 Syllabus each ‘learn to’ statement has a direct relationship with a corresponding ‘learn about’ statement.
Step 5 Plan the teaching, learning and assessment activities
Assessment for learning activities occurs as a normal part of the teaching process. Teachers plan the most suitable teaching, learning and assessment activities for the selected content, ensuring that they will provide the desired evidence of learning determined in Step 3. Teaching, learning and assessment activities should reflect students’ needs, experiences and interests, and should be student-centred and promote the development of knowledge, understanding and skills. Teachers are encouraged to include a variety of teaching approaches across a range of forms, artists and artworks. Concepts may be strengthened and deepened over time, and may be revisited over one or more stages to build on previous knowledge, understanding and skills.
Step 6 Feedback
Feedback provides students with the necessary information and direction to advance their learning and occurs normally though good teaching practice, mostly in an informal manner. However, when planning units of work, teachers should consider how to maximise feedback in the context of the teaching, learning and assessment activities and how the feedback contributes to students’ learning.
Step 7 Reflection and evaluation
As teachers progress through the programming process, it is important to reflect on previous steps and evaluate the degree to which the unit has remained focused on the outcomes. Identifying the evidence of learning early in the process will assist them in this. After the unit has been implemented, it is also necessary to evaluate the degree to which students have progressed as a result of the experiences and what should be done next to assist them in their learning.
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