The Little Book of Embedding te essential ra g te in to w o ‘H or r teaching’ themes into you
From the GC Teaching and Learning Team
The Little Book of Embedding produced by
GC Teaching & Learning Team March 2016
Introduction
This workbook offers tips, hints and ideas about how to broaden the skill sets of our students and prepare them for work and life in general. We talk a lot about embedding and really it is about being constantly mindful about linking what they are learning to future careers, improving their ability to debate, communicate and listen, and appreciate the relevance of maths to develop into good, tolerant, well-informed, respectful citizens. We thank colleagues of GC who have worked with us on this book and colleagues in the FE sector who have generously shared their resources.
British Values & Prevent.........................................
Page 4 - 13
Employability........................................................... 14 - 17 English..................................................................... 18 - 24 Equality & Diversity................................................. 26 - 29 Maths....................................................................... 30 - 33 Support in the Classroom.......................................
34 - 35
Contact Details........................................................ 36 - 37 Notes Section........................................................... 39 - 41
Contents
Contents
British Values and Prevent
The aim of the Prevent Duty is not to stop students having religious or political concerns; the aim is to encourage students to discuss their concerns in a non-extremist way.
The Department of Education’s five part definition of British Values includes: 1. Democracy 2. Rule of law 3. Individual liberty 4. Mutual respect 5. Tolerance of those from other faiths and backgrounds
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• Think critically • Consider whether the evidence they have is accurate and full • Consider whether they have received an incomplete or unrealistic interpretation of evidence • Consider alternative explanations and opinions
There may be opportunities to challenge concepts which can lead to radicalism. This may be through: • Supporting students to think critically and not simply accept what they are told • Using data or statistics to show that often what they may read or see in the media should be checked and thought through before being accepted • Having discussions with students in order to broaden their understanding which will help them to work cohesively in challenging extremist ideas
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British Values
If students make comments which could be regarded as extremist, staff should encourage the students to:
British Values and Prevent Prevent is: A way to discuss concerns and beliefs in a non-extremist way A chance to challenge concepts An opportunity to think critically Prevent is not: A way to stop learners from having religious or political views
In the new 2015 common inspection framework there is a real emphasis on the Safeguarding and the Prevent strategy under the additional judgement of personal development, behaviour and welfare of learners (PDBW). Key elements will include:
Promoting British Values
Protecting from risks associated with extremism • • • • •
How well learners know how to protect themselves from the risks associated with radicalisation, extremism and forms of bullying – including through the use of the internet. 6
Democracy Rule of Law Individual liberty Mutual respect Tolerance of those from other faiths and background
Planning for Learning • How can you encourage students to discuss religious beliefs? • There may be opportunities to challenge concepts which can lead to radicalism • This can be through encouraging learners to think critically and not accept what they have been told
How If learners make comments which could be regarded as extremist, then encourage them to: • Think critically • Consider whether their evidence is accurate and full • Consider whether they have received an incomplete or unrealistic interpretation of evidence • Consider alternative explanations and opinions • Use data and statistics to show what they read or see on social media should be checked and thought through before being accepted • Discuss topics to broaden their understanding which will help them to work cohesively in challenging extremist ideas 7
British Values
How can you incorporate British Values into your teaching?
British Values and Prevent Mutual Respect • Team work: Consider why you would treat people the way you want to be treated in class, at work and in general life. • Discuss the following and what they mean: • Equality Act 2010 • College core values • How can we challenge discrimination? • How does diversity improve businesses?
Rule of Law • Look at the definitions of ‘Freedom’ and ‘Law’. Ask your learners what would happen if we had total freedom. • Discuss some laws that are imperative in order for society to be cohesive. • Look at why we have some laws /rules; compare rules within different cultures (or at home) and the reasoning behind them. • Set up your own rules for the classroom and discuss how to monitor that rules are being followed and also the consequences of not following these rules. 8
• Discuss our democracy and the classroom as a democracy. Learners will be involved in the key decision making process of how their course is run. We can’t all have it our way and so learners must choose how they would best like to represent their views as a group.
Individual Liberty • Discuss Human Rights - Which ones are key and why? • Discuss the rights and responsibilities of each learner as a student, as an employee, as a member of the community, as a resident of Cheltenham, Gloucester or The Forest of Dean and as a British Citizen.
Tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs • Study different cultural influences on your subject area. • Look at pioneers of your subject and where they came from; think about difficulties they faced. • Look at stereotypes linked to your area and where these originated. 9
British Values
Democracy
British Values and Prevent Ideas for Embedding in English & Maths
Rule of Law English
Maths
Explore laws in the UK.
Explore how we use data (graphs / charts) to establish laws (e.g. the number of accidents by drivers that have a certain percentage of alcohol in their blood). Also how data is used after this to identify the impact of laws.
Explore cultural norms. Analyse different texts or newspaper articles to explore the rule of law (discuss new vocabulary, identify key points from the text, and evaluate the text. Do you agree/ disagree with the content? Why?)
Explore national data (charts/ graphs) to see if there are certain points in the year when the number of drinkdriving accidents or domestic abuse attacks increases. Identify the reason behind the data (e.g. world cup, national holidays etc.).
Students read different scenarios and choose whether to behave within or outside the law. Students discuss the impact of laws. Explore different rules at home and in the classroom.
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British Values
Democracy English
Maths
Discuss working as a team in your area.
Explore the importance of numbers in the UK elections (How MPs and Councillors are elected, First Past The Post).
Explore the process of facilitating classroom debates and dialogues – allow all opinions to be heard in a respectful way (use of vocabulary, intonation, body language).
Explore the importance of numbers in Parliament (MPs vote on each new policy/law). Explore the importance of numbers in changing policies/ laws – e.g. If you are unhappy about a particular policy/ law, what can you do about it? (Online petitions, peaceful protests, peaceful campaigns, FB page etc.).
Discuss the terms ‘Democracy’ and ‘Dictatorship’. Provide examples of each. Discuss a controversial topic (agree, disagree, encourage others to contribute, use body language, ask questions to confirm understanding, make suggestions).
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British Values and Prevent
Individual Liberty English
Maths
Explore key human rights.
Students explore and identify key restrictions that they have on their individual freedom:
Students discuss their own lives and the extent to which they have and use their freedom (Do they have any restrictions?).
• • • • • •
Age limit to marry Age limit to drink Age limit to have sex Age limit to vote Age limit to work National living wage Should this be more? • Gender pay difference • Tax, VAT etc
Students explore their previous, current and future choices in terms of education and career plans. Students prepare an individual action plan.
Students discuss key laws and what they think the limitation should be (and give reasons for their answers).
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English
Maths
Discuss the term ‘Never judge a book by its cover’.
Study the cultural origins of maths.
Explore the Equality Act 2010 and why it was written.
Look at famous mathematicians and their contribution to maths (e.g. Pythagoras).
Discuss the importance of respect in a pluralistic workplace/classroom/society.
Analyse the ratio of males/ females, faith/no faith, those who speak only English/ those who speak additional languages. Discuss the importance of good working relations in the classroom, at work and in society.
The whole class discuss and agree on a set of 10 class rules that help to promote equality and cohesion in the classroom.
Discuss and establish key rules for the classroom/ country to promote cohesion.
These ideas can also apply to other subject areas - not just English and Maths! 13
British Values
Mutual respect and tolerance of other faiths & beliefs
Employability What are generic employability skills? • • • • • • •
Independent working skills Team working Business and customer awareness Problem solving Communication and literacy Application of numeracy Application of information technology
How can you reinforce these skills with your students? How can you make them aware that their behaviour and skills will influence the way they are perceived in the workplace? Do you remember to highlight the skills needed for various jobs and roles when you are delivering topics? • It might be tool skills, ability to research, attention to detail, awareness of colour, knowing the correct temperatures for poultry etc. Preparing students for their intended next steps must be a core aim of their programme of study. Even when you plan the curriculum and activities to support your students to succeed, are they always aware of:
• What they could get from it? • How to use it when speaking to employers? 14
GC Open Badges
Open Badges are the perfect way to demonstrate the skills and potential students have!
There are three key elements to support staff in embedding employability and enabling students to capitalise on the opportunities they are given.
REALISE How do the activities and learning relate to their intended destination? Why are they doing it? When and where would they use this information in their future careers? How can they use these activities to stand out to an employer and prove they would be an excellent employee? 15
Employability
You could remind students to relate activities from the classroom to their submission to the GC Open Badge Scheme. They can visit the VLE for all the information. This also helps you to reflect on meaningful parts of your curriculum.
Employability
REINFORCE Allowing students to verbally summarise their learning in the context of speaking to an employer is an excellent way to develop their skills in articulation and to challenge them out of their comfort zone. Even better if you can do this with an external partner or business. How would they convey this activity to an employer? How could they incorporate this activity into their CV? How would this activity improve their confidence? How can they express this?
REFLECT Reflection is something which is vital when it comes to work experience activities. It is vital that students take the time to reflect on work experience and what they have learnt. It also helps to develop the notion that as well as vocational competence they are developing key employability skills. How did the activity or project challenge them, what did they learn? What broad employability skills have they developed? What would they do differently? 16
Employability
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English
Whatever subject you are teaching, you can help your learners improve their English skills.
Speaking Whenever your learners need to discuss something or present to the class, you can help them focus on speaking skills.
Building speaking skills
Practising taking turns
Giving opinions
Using polite language for agreeing or disagreeing
Using formal language for making presentations, speaking clearly and breaking down their presentation to get their message across
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English
Listening Learners need to listen and focus on the most important points.
Taking Notes Ask for opinions
Encourage learners to write notes with key words; then ask them to tell another learner what they heard, putting it into their own words.
Give students a chance to engage in discussion by asking them questions. Help learners notice bias and inferred meaning when appropriate.
Key Information Questions
Ask them to complete a table with key information.
Ask them to listen for specific information by giving facts first or a specific question. Make sure instructions are clear.
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English Reading Any text that you use in the lesson can be used to improve learners’ reading skills.
Scanning for specific information
Predict content of text
Ask learners to find specific information, e.g. numbers, dates, names etc. to help them scan quickly.
Show the learners the title or a picture connected to the text and ask them ‘What do you think the text is about?’
Focus on difficult or new vocabulary Give the definition and ask learners to find the word; give a choice of definitions and learners choose the correct answer; select words and focus on spelling; ask for similar words; show the difference between words. Scanning for detailed information
Read quickly to get the general idea
Ask learners questions, give them true/ false questions etc. so that they have to scan for the information and then read in detail to check the answer.
Ask learners a general question to give them a reason to read the whole text quickly. Give them a time limit so that they aren’t reading word for word. 20
T m c
Think about what your learners need to write: maybe letters, emails, descriptions, quotes for clients etc.
Punctuation
Build complex sentences
Give learners short texts without punctuation and highlight where they need to add it. Don’t forget to focus on capital letters too.
Introduce connectives in one lesson, giving examples and encouraging learners to use them in their writing eg. but, although, despite.
Spelling and grammar Use the marking strategy to show errors and encourage students to correct in pairs or groups. Individual learners can write down words they find difficult to spell and you can give them spelling charts to help (look, say, cover, write, check). Organisation and paragraphs
Extend vocabulary
Cut up a paragraph and ask learners to put the sentences in a logical order. Highlight clues in feedback. Give learners a longer text with no paragraphs and ask them to divide it into paragraphs.
Ask learners to use a variety of words to avoid repetition. Encourage learners to think of synonyms.
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English
Writing
English From the start to the very end of your lesson, there will be lots of opportunities to embed English.
Aims and objectives
Word of the day
Add a few challenging words and elicit the meaning of these words; focus on spelling, synonyms etc.
Start the lesson with a ‘word of the day’ that is related to your subject area. Focus on spelling and how to use it in a sentence.
Homophones
Build a glossary
Add examples of homophones (words that sound the same but have different meanings and spellings e.g. their, there, they’re) and focus on when to use each word.
Give the learners a glossary or they can build one during the course. At the end of each lesson, ask learners to add new words or examples.
End of lesson
Next lesson
Ask learners about any items that came up during the lesson.
Recycle what they have learnt by checking again in the next lesson or the following week.
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Homework
When a learner asks a question about how to spell a word or how to punctuate a sentence, it could be useful for all the students to focus on it. Maybe add new words to a word list on the board which you can test the learners on at the end of the lesson or in another lesson.
Use the English marking strategy to make learners more aware of their errors and encourage them to become more independent by helping them to self-correct their work. Focus on common errors with the whole class and encourage peer teaching.
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English
During the lesson
English If you don’t feel confident in correcting learners’ errors, you can use the following strategies to help:
Bring in a dictionary or use an online version – ask learners to look up the spelling of a word or look for synonyms.
Don’t wait until the next lesson – don’t be afraid to admit you don’t know how to correct something. Look it up straight away in the dictionary, look for grammar or punctuation rules on the internet (try http://www.bbc.co.uk/ skillswise/english), ask a colleague or send an email to the English helpline (see below) – You can ask us any question about English and we’ll be happy to help.
Go to the Teaching and Learning page to find lots of examples, exercises and activities to give you ideas of how you can help your learners.
Arrange a ‘Short and Sweet’ session to gain confidence in checking grammar, punctuation, spelling or building vocabulary. These can be for individuals, small groups or large groups. Contact the English Helpline to arrange a session or ask for help: English.helpline@gloscol.ac.uk 24
English
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Equality & Diversity
Equality and diversity is more than just policies, procedures and posters on the wall.
3 tips for Embedding Equality and Diversity into Lessons:
Please contact Ruth Evans or Rebecca Wilson if you’d like some more ideas.
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Teaching strategies: • Plan for individual needs • Use learner profiles • Give all learners the best chance by ensuring all support is in place 26
Scheme of work (far right hand column): You know your subject best, but here are a few examples of what could be explored in different subject areas: • Health and safety standards in different countries • Metric and imperial measures • Building standards across the world • Use of child labour for mining/ production • Production of cheap goods in the developing world for our shops • Nature versus nurture
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Naturally occurring, unplanned opportunities: • Learners have a burning question about something that has happened outside of college - allow them to ask questions and facilitate a discussion • Capitalise on news events at a local, regional & global level • Deal with concerns that students bring in with them • Always challenge inappropriate comments 27
Equality & Diversity
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Equality & Diversity What does effective promotion and embedding of Equality Diversity and Inclusion look like? Effective embedding is about creating an environment in which people’s differences are understood and accepted. To achieve this, learners need to be given the opportunity, knowledge and skills to prepare them for working in a society that is socially and culturally diverse. Wherever possible learners should be prepared for the challenges they will face in their future working lives. General advice • At the same time ensure dignity and respect are paramount in the classroom so it is a safe place to debate. • Always look at current affairs – how can issues be incorporated? This will engage debate and touch on democracy. • Always challenge inappropriate comments.
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How to…
When planning for learning, do you make the link between ‘high profile events’ and your teaching activities? Do you make clear links to the context of the subject?
In hair and beauty: ensure students are working with a diverse range of clients’ skin/ hair types. In public services: consider dietary and religious requirements when planning for an expedition.
Some ideas of events are listed below: Human Trafficking Awareness Day Jan 11th
Do all your learners, including apprentices, understand how they will need to adapt their products and services when in employment to meet the diverse needs of different clients and customers?
Holocaust Memorial Day 27th Jan St George’s Day 23rd April
Have you ensured that your materials are relevant and up to date?
International Day of Peace 21st September
Are they representative of the diversity of learners and society? Do your resources encourage consideration and understanding of difference?
International Literacy Day 8th September Remembrance Day 11th November and there are many more...
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Equality & Diversity
Promotion and planning
Maths When embedding maths into your subject area you need to make sure that it is applied in a realistic and relevant way.
This is much easier than you think as maths fits in naturally with all courses. For example, catering students will be weighing, measuring and scaling quantities, looking at costs for ingredients and considering calorific values, cooking times and temperatures. Whereas history could look at the number of deaths in battles or from diseases, chronology and changes in population due to certain events i.e. Black Death or Industrial Revolution. For all subject areas it is important to make sure that when maths is used, it is related to both the subject and the ‘real world’. Reviewing recent news events and news reports can be a useful tool. Many reports use charts, graphs and statistics to convey their information. Surveys often include use of statistical data and national averages.
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• • • • •
Salaries and tax Budgeting Paying bills Working out mobile phone contracts and usage Sharing costs between friends in cafes/restaurants
Any topics that involve costing and pricing can be included; you can also incorporate percentage increase and decrease as an additional element. Mathematics is not just about fractions and algebra, it also includes topics such as: • • • • • • • • • •
Measurement Proportion Enlargement Symmetry Angles Scale Ratio Length Time Shape
Finding equivalents and making estimations are also important elements of maths. For help and advice email the Maths Helpline maths.helpline@gloscol.ac.uk 31
Maths
Once you have given it some thought, you will find that many aspects of maths occur naturally within your subject area as well as other generic uses of maths in everyday life such as:
Maths Below are a few more examples of how maths could be embedded into specific subject areas: Students of English could identify the number of times different literary terms have been used in text or poetry. It can also be incorporated into classroom discussions and writing by comparing statistical data linked to a specific topic.
Sports and Public Services can use statistics and league tables to look at professional performances. Timings can be used to measure personal achievement and work out time plans. Measurement, conversion and ratio can all be used for activities such as orienteering. Students will also need to use maths to calculate BMI, and measure heart rates and blood pressure.
Any subjects that incorporate travel will use maths when looking at timetables, fares, currency conversion, baggage weight, shopping discounts and bargain offers or price comparisons. Planning journeys or business trips will need to incorporate many of these skills.
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Construction students use measurement for equipment, estimating prices for materials and estimating costs for customer invoices.
Problem solving can be easily embedded in most subject areas with the use of student oriented tasks and targeted questioning techniques. Many students struggle with problem solving and how to approach new problems - most still rely heavily on the teacher for the solution. Problem solving in the classroom will enable discussion with other students and allow them to work through problems and find their own solutions. They will learn to identify the facts, apply the rules and look for patterns in order to draw closer to realistic solutions. They will learn through making mistakes, finding their own errors and attempting to find an alternative solution.
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Maths
Lastly, one of the most important aspects of mathematics is problem solving.
Support in the Classroom The role of the learning support assistant (LSA) is to work with the lecturer to support learners within the whole class, or to work with individuals or small groups of learners. The LSA always works under the direction of the subject lecturer.
How do you use additional support to effectively challenge and raise learner aspirations?
How do you know if your learners are being over or under supported?
Be clear and specific with your instructions to the LSA. Do not assume that they know what you want them to do. Review the session with the LSA at the end. What went well and even better if? Information can be shared on how learners achieved and enable you to plan for the next time and adjust and set targets accordingly. A fresh and different pair of eyes and ears can be very useful! Think about the classroom layout. If a learner is receiving 1-1 support, how can you position them so they feel included and not isolated from the group? Have you discussed this with the learner and do you regularly review this? Think about how you introduce a support assistant to the whole group and explain their role. 34
Learners will notice if an LSA feels part of the team rather than an outsider who just comes to support an individual learner because they have been identified. This will have a significant impact on learners who feel self-conscious or embarrassed about receiving extra support and make them feel included. If appropriate, use the LSA to support the whole class. This will increase independence for learners they are assigned against and take away any stigma or embarrassment learners may feel. (This may not be appropriate in instances of very high needs support.) Ensure you share key information with the LSA. Make sure they know what targets learners are working towards and how they can support. What are the behaviour expectations of the learners? Encourage the LSA to share learner progress on targets during the course. Have they reached them and do new ones need to be set? Does the learner understand their targets and what they need to do to achieve them? Can the LSA support the learner to come up with their own targets? In advance of the session, discuss expectations of support and share aims and outcomes. Building a rapport with your support assistant will enable you to find out what their strengths and experiences are to help plan for learning and the best way to support learners. 35
Support in the Classroom
Have regular and honest conversations with both the learners and support worker to evaluate how things are going for all.
Contact Details The Teaching and Learning team consists of:
Teaching Improvement Contact with requests for teaching support, development or improvement. Ruth Evans C202/F115
Rebecca Wilson
3376/2102
C014/F115
ruth.evans@gloscol.ac.uk
3269/2102
rebecca.wilson@gloscol.ac.uk
@MADatGloscol
Digital Technologies Contact for support with any digital technology in learning including training and support on all college systems. Cheltenham
F115
2114
Gloucester
C014c
3244/3269
RFD
A004
8505
moodleadmin@gloscol.ac.uk
@GCDigiTech 36
Library Contact for support with directed study, information about available resources and to arrange purchase of new subject resources for libraries. Cheltenham
G025
2185
Gloucester
C014
3272
RFD
B001
8522
library@gloscol.ac.uk
@LibrariesGC
For help and advice with English Email: english.helpline@gloscol.ac.uk
For help and advice with maths Email: maths.helpline@gloscol.ac.uk
Until you treat everyone as an equal, you have no right to complain about the treatment you receive from anyone. 37
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