Unit 4 - Good Practice in Education

ation in Euroope and thee global woorld. Good practice. p Educa

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4TH U NIT OF WORK: W

GOOD D PRAC CTICE IN N EDUC ATION In this last unit of work you y will lea arn about good practtice in Educcation lookiing at somee exampless and analyyzing them.

O Objectives of this unitt of work: SPPECIFIC COMPETENCIEES:  To start getting soome knowleedge on good practice inn education  Learning about a good practice in education.  To understtand the ma ain ideas in a standard d clear text related to good practtice in education..  To revise how to writte a report in English, using u strateg gies previouusly learnt in i this module or elsewhere.  To work towards exxpressing oneself o in English acccording to B1 level in the European Language Reference R C Common Fra amework.

CROSS CURRRICULAR CO OMPETENCIEES  Learning how h to learnn. mation relate ed to  To be able to deal effectively with different sourcess of inform good pracctice in educcation.  Group woork  To develop positive attitudes a tow wards good practice in education.

up project reesearch and d Presentattion Finall task: Grou 

B the end of By o this unit of o work you will not havve to produce a specifiic task relatted to thhis topic woorked on, but it will neeed to be co overed in thhe following g proposal. Your final task is more m ambitiious this timee: “Your Euuropean Prooject is comiing to an ennd. After diifferent meeetings in which you havee discussed all sorts of topics relatted to education, it waas agreed thhat each parrtner countryy would doo a researchh project coomparing annd contrastiing

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Education in Europe and the global world. Good practice.

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three different education systems and schools: your own education system, another education system in Europe and a third one from the rest of the world.

So, in order to share your ideas, you will need to write your REPORT on the research project you have been working on and an oral PRESENTATION to be given to all the members in your last meeting in Wroclaw”.

Deadline:  

Oral presentation: 28th - 29th March Written report to be handed in: 30th March

GOOD PRACTICE IN EDUCATION: LEAD IN TO THE TOPIC

Step 1 Think about the following questions individually: 1. When you hear the term “Good practice” what different words, ideas… come to your mind? Can you make a list below? ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ 2. If you had to give a definition as to what a “good practice” is, what would you say? ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Step2 Get together in groups and discuss the previous questions taking into account your individual ideas.

Step3 Now we will discuss your ideas as a whole class:     

Any similarities?

Any differences?

Any doubts?

Do you know of any examples?

Can you think of any characteristics Good practices should fulfill?

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Education in Europe and the global world. Good practice.

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WORKING ON PRINCIPLES AND ANALYZING EXAMPLES:

Step 1: Matching principles and content Your teacher will give you a photocopy. You will find two different columns: one with different principles applicable to good practice examples; the other one with possible explanatory information.

You should try to match each principle with its corresponding explanatory information.

Do it individually or in pairs first. Then you will have the opportunity to contrast your ideas in groups of 4. Finally, the whole class will discuss and clarify the given principle.

Step 2: Applying the principles Your teacher will show you different “good practice examples” one by one. Somebody will read the example for the whole class. Then, in groups of 4 (or your project groups) you will have to decide: -

Which of the previous principles apply to the given example(s) and why.

-

If none apply, why do you think it has been considered a good practice example?

You will be given a maximum time to do it. The first group to have a complete answer will win a point!!!

Good luck!!!

Step3: Summarizing: In your groups again discuss the following question: 

Do you know of any examples from your own experience at school? In what you have seen so far in the schools you are analyzing in your project, can you identify any?

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Education in Europe and the global world. Good practice.

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GOOD PRACTICE EXAMPLES IN THE BASQUE COUNTRY IN EDUCATION

Step 1 Get into your usual groups. Each group will be given a “good practice” example (or two) to analyse. The examples are either in Basque or in Spanish, so you will not have any problems to understand them.

Step 2 Each group, taking into account the different Principles for Good Practice in Education worked on in the previous section analyse your example(s) and see how close or how far away they are from fulfilling them.

If the corresponding example doesn’t fulfil the indicators the group should try and decide why it is that they have been considered as GP. You should try and get the following information into a poster:

Organization (name and some information): Brief summary: Indicators fulfilled and why?

If no indicators fulfilled: reasons to consider it a “Good Practice”

Once you have finished the posters we will put them on walls, as a kind of Conference Poster display.

Step 3 All the different groups have analyzed different examples of GPs. Now, you will move around from group to group collecting different information on different GPs. One member-of the group will stay with your poster in order to explain and present the poster to other groups coming to see what you have analyzed.

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Education in Europe and the global world. Good practice.

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As you see other posters take notes on the practices analysed and the different aspects seen in each one. Also ask as many questions as needed to understand the given information.

Step 4 Get back into your groups and decide on the three most interesting GPs you have learnt about, giving reasons for your choice.

1._____________________________________________________________________ 2._____________________________________________________________________ 3._____________________________________________________________________ Step 5 Report to the rest of the class which GPs your group has chosen and the reasons for your choice.

FINAL NOTE:

Remember that the final task for this unit is that this aspect should also be included, analysed, contrasted and compared in your project.

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Education in Europe and the global world. Good practice.

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REPORT WRITING

Step 1 We are going to work on Report writing now. We want you to start getting ready for your final report on your project and, as you have worked on this in previous modules, we are going to use your knowledge from then to refresh your ideas a little bit.

If you remember you have worked on report writing in modules 1.1 and 1.4. In this last one you worked on report writing in Basque, Spanish and English. So you can refer to your materials from those modules.

Get in your usual small groups and try to answer the following points: a. Characteristics of a report b. Important points to consider c. Essential parts in a report.

Step 2 Refer to appendix 1 at the end of this booklet to find out and refresh your ideas on Characteristics of a report.

Then go to appendix 2 look at the checklist given so that you remember important and essential points to consider when writing a report. Remember that the points mentioned there will be taken into account when marking the report you will have to write at the end of this unit and your Project Report.

We have finished this unit of work now. Look at the task below and remember that you have to do it in groups and for the corresponding deadline. Read it carefully and answer the task you have been given.

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Education in Europe and the global world. Good practice.

APPENDIX 1:

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CHARACTERISTICS OF A REPORT

A report is a text which presents information about something, as it is. It is as a result of systematic observation, analysis, comparison or contrast. The topic or concept must be clear and logically-ordered so that the reader understands it. We will analyze some features of a report in this document.

GENERIC STRUCTURE OF A REPORT

The advice below consists of a set of suggestions of material that you might include in your report.

A particular report should only include those parts that are relevant: INTRODUCTION

First and foremost, you should write about the most interesting or important parts of your project. Devote most space and time to this. For example: o o o o o o

What did you learn?

Did you discover anything novel?

Why was it difficult?

What was the most difficult part of the project?

How did you overcome the difficulties?

What design choices did you have along the way, and why did you make the choices you made?

Provide the motivation for reading this report. Introduce the structure of the report (what you will cover in which chapters).

BACKGROUND

You should provide enough background to the readers so they can understand what the project is all about. For example: o o o o o o

What the reader needs to know in order to understand the rest of the report. Try to include some references.

Related work (if you know of any) What problem are you solving?

Why are you solving it?

How does this relate to other work in this area?

What work does it build on?

Explain the process you went through in performing your project work as the results you finally produced. So, make sure your reports concentrate on why you made the particular choices and decisions that you did.

ANALYSIS AND DESIGN

In many projects, the initial design and the final design differ somewhat. If the differences are interesting, write about them, and why the changes were made.

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Education in Europe and the global world. Good practice.

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If your design was not implemented fully, describe which parts you did implement, and which you didn't.

IMPLEMENTATION

It probably won't be possible to discuss everything. In this case, give a rationale for what you do discuss.

RESULTS

Make sure you use the appropriate results for 'research style' projects.

CONCLUSIONS, EVALUATION AND FURTHER WORK

What have you achieved? Give a critical evaluation of your own work - how could the work be taken further (perhaps by another student next year) (perhaps if you had more time) (perhaps if you dedicated more time to it)?

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Give publication details for all the references you have made in the report.

Make sure you use the Huhezi Bibliography criteria.

LANGUAGE FEATURES OF A REPORT

‐ ‐ ‐

Introducing group or general aspect Using conditional logical connection; when, so, etc Using simple present tense

REPORT FORMAT REQUIREMENTS

     

Remember that you are writing a formal report, not a diary of your work.

Organise your material in a structured way along the lines of the suggestions seen in this document and in previous modules.

It is better to keep the look of your project report simple and straightforward.

Students are reminded that the report is an individual/group project and that the work submitted should be substantially your own.

Each project is different, and you should get advice from your tutor about how to structure your report.

Each project is unique and has its own natural length, and you will probably know when you have said everything that you think needs to be said.

APPENDIX 2:

REPORT WRITING - CHECKLIST

When you write a report there are different aspects that you need to consider. First and foremost, remember that you have been writing reports before now in your academic life. Remember whatever you do for report writing in your other languages is also transferable and applicable when you write a report in English, and vice-versa.

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Education in Europe and the global world. Good practice.

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Let’s have a look at the different aspects that you should think about throughout the whole process of writing a report.

REPORT WRITING: MAIN APPROPRIATENESS CHARACTERISTICS ACCURACY Is the structure of the report appropriate?  Front page.  Index.  Abstract.  Introduction.  Analysis of the topic or contributions: o Theoreti cal framew ork. o Practica l framew ork.  Conclusions and proposals.  Bibliography.  appendixes (not compulsory) Title (subtitles):  Are they meaningful?  Are they coherent?

Quotations:  Has the original text been copied?  Is the connection with the original text too close?  Have the used sources been given the corresponding credit?  Are the quotations adequate?

Bibliography:  Are the references correct?  Have you taken into account all the information on how to write references correctly?

AND CONTENT

Spelling Theoretical framework: Vocabulary:  Is it adequate to the given situation or task?  Not-appropriate words used?  Have the different sources given been used? appropriate  Not register?  Have the sources been Grammar supplemented?  Is there a balance  Syntax (subject-verb between the different agreement, sing-plural topics? agreement, sentence order, adverbs...)  Are the topics relevant to the task?  Subject inclusion.  Verb tenses, verb Solving/answering the task: structures.  Is the answer relevant to style the task?  Is there a connection with  Too long sentences? the theoretical  Spanish-type sentences? framework?  Too complicated ideas in  Is the answer complete, just one sentence? having taken into Paragraphing: account the different  One line paragraphs? aspects?  Balanced paragraphs?

Any contributions?  Is the content of the paragraphs adequate and appropriate in general?

Linkers and connectors:  Are the main ideas and the subordinate ones well connected?  Have you avoided repetitions?  Are the linkers and connectors used appropriate?

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