Portfolio 1

LEARNING PORTFOLIO -BLOCK 1-

Irina Fàbrega, Anna Garrido, Laia Pèrez, Mar Soler, Núria Vila i Laia Vilar Pshycology of education Teacher: Berta Vall Double degree of MEI/MEP 18/02/2015 University of Vic

I-1 Let’s form a team

Name of the team: The goats!

Seminar: B

Coordinator: Laia Vilar

Supervisor: Irina Fàbrega

·

Team leader:

·

·

In

charge

of

quality:

Coordinate the group, safeguarding its unity and

·

Make sure that

internal consistency, acting

each member of the

as

group fulfills

an

interlocutor

and

mediator. ·

function

the

(class

attendance,

To collect, group and unify

his/her

task

performance, etc.).

different

contributions in the Portfolio

·

Review all tasks

and the Glossary, in order to

before handling them:

obtain a solid and coherent

orthography,

work.

style,

·

appearance,

written

Make sure that the team

APA

expression,

etc.

meetings are productive.

· Secretary: Mar Soler i Laia Pérez In

charge

of

organization

Spokesperson: Núria Vila and

administration:

In charge of communication: Communication with the teacher:

Control the agenda and calendar, take care

ask for tutorials, clear up doubts,

of the due dates, the tasks to be done and

and answer emails, questionnaires,

the materials needed, and arrange the

etc.

group meetings.

Keep

the

team

Represent informed

about

the

timetables, assessment criteria, activities, etc. (the course syllabus).

the

group

in

the

decisions made, the voting, and the explanations, etc.

Pay attention

to

the

news

or

communications in the Moodle/VC and notify the team.

Technician: Anna Garrido In charge of resources and ICT: Always bring the laptop to the sessions, tutorials and group meetings.

Manage the Producteev, Google Drive or any other cooperative work software.

Design the Power Point, Prezi, Videos...

Manage

the

wiki

for

the

glossary

definitions.

Working in a team is easier if...

Our rules to work efficiently: 

Persistence in the work.



Good communication



Involve all the members in the work.



Work in equal.



Respect all the opinions.

The possible problems that we can anticipate: 

The predominance of someone of the group.



To connect the different ideas, the different points of view and the different opinions of the group.

To prevent and solve those problems we will: 

Learn to listen and to talk between us.



Say what we think without fear.

Team commitment: signature of all the members

Laia Vilar, Núria Vila, Mar Soler, Laia Pérez, Anna Garrido, Irina Fàbrega

I-2 From Theory to Practice

Theory

Example

of Rationale

educational

for

the

example

How do they conceive Author/s the

practice

learning

process?

Main contributions

Educational implications.

What are the teachers’ and

pupils’

roles?

Cognitivism (memory

Watch

a Piaget says that the Piaget

is documentary. do

learning has stages. Bruner

very

They

a For this reason they Ausbel

important

paper where made

the

The interaction and the

The teacher is

cognitive skills.

a guide and in

-

following

they

because the children have stages: bases of the to synthetize learning

is the

1. Watch

main

the

Assimilation (when

-

video.

this

reflect which has

one

Accommodation

solution

she

(when they apply it

chose

to the paper).

pupils have to

ideas,

but

2. Think the main

cognitivist

before

they

ideas alone.

do.

3. Share them in

The

the previous group

in these

knowledge is ideas.

only

individually).

the

process. Also discuss

activity

group.

what

pupils

have

4. Synthetize.

an

active role in

less

order

important).

autonomous.

Cognitivism

to

be

The teachers They have to decide Bruner

By exploring and creating The teacher is

show

how

a way to understand the

a guide and

children

problem.

reality.

make

to

solve

the

that

many

children

materials and

choose

and

children

find

the

choose ones want to juggling.

the

solution (that

they

could be more

do

than one).

Children create own

their

knowledge discussing with

others.

(Is

more

active

than

Piaget’s theory).

Cognitivism

Ask

the Previous

previous

knowledge Ausbel

plus now knowledge.

knowledge

Learning new knowledge

The

teacher

relies on what is already

role is active.

know.

The

pupils

about

fruits.

role is more

Then

show

active than in

them

an

apple

and

ask

them

what

they

Piaget

and

Bruner theory.

think.

Constructivist They built up

-

Groups

(interaction is a

-

Language

and during the activity they

role is active

-

Potential

communicate in order to

(guiding

knowledge by

improve

supporting).

are

interacting

activity.

given

to

with peers.

them.

They

the

story

by

most some

important

sentences that

Vigotsky

By interacting each other The

and

solve

the

teacher

and

She/he creates

the

interaction

have

to

between

the

interact

in

pupils

and

order to build

makes

the

up it (working

group

with

in group)

different characteristics and motivations.

Children’s role is active (more the

than other

theories) and they have to communicate each other.

I-3 An in-depth look at constructivism

I-4 Case analysis. Film forum

Block I: Introduction to Psychology of Education 

1. Which learning theory do you think that the teacher Erin is defending?

And the previous teachers to her? Why?

We believe that Erin is defending the behaviourist theory because she tries to improve their children learning changing students way of act, showing them how to be selfconfident with their selves and to the others, she offers to them more dynamic activities that make them work in different ways. For this reason, the teenagers are more motivated. In other words, she makes that students learning process improve changing their behaviour in a positive way. The other teachers of the school defend the cognitive theory because they don’t potentiate the interaction between children in order to improve their learning process. 

2. From the interactive triangle identify what the main problems of this class group are at the beginning of the course.

At the beginning of the course in this class this triangle was really unbalanced of the group class was that it was a bad relationship between the classmates, mainly for origin and culture reasons. 

3. Does the school work with the families? Do you think that family implication in the school would be necessary? Why? How could it be done? o

We don’t know if the school work with the families in other courses, but in the course that predominates in the film the families do not interact with the school.

o

The relation between families and school is so important because, as a teacher, we should know the different context that the children live and the different roles that they do during the day in order to help them and find the best strategy to teach them. This relation can help also to stablish a relation in order to improve more the education of every pupil, because if we know our students and we believe in them we can give them the self-esteem that they need in order to help them. So, in order to acquire that we cannot only now what it happens in the school, we

also have to know what it happen outside the school, and this kind of information can be given by families. o

In order to acquire this is necessary that both parts, teacher and families, have to be implicated. This can be done by interviews, meetings and activities that imply everyone (teacher, families and students) among other things.

I-5 Glossary

Accommodation: To create new mental schemes to understand a situation. For example, you have in your mind folders for pets, and when you see an elephant that you’ve ever seen, you put this elephant in another folder, for example, one folder for salvage animals.

Assimilation: To add some new skills or knowledge into an existing pattern and idea because they concordat, they are similar. For example, if we learn the 2 table and the 4 table by similarities Behaviourism: Psychology approach that affirm that we know that someone has learnt by their behaviour change. The main authors are Pavlov, Bandura and Skinner. For example, we will know that one child has learnt to control the sphincters when his or her behaviour changes.

Cognitive skills: Underlying brain skills that make it possible for us to think remember and learn.

Cognitivism: Psychology approach that affirm that someone learn by opening her/his “black box” of the mind and understand it. The main author is Piaget. If we learn by memory we are working the cognitivism.

Constructivism: Psychological approach which considers that learning is an active, constructive process, so we learn by doing the actions. The main author is Vygotsky.

For example, if in class we prepare activities where children are active and where they have to interact in order to learn, we are working the constructivism.

Contents: Set of culturally defined knowledge necessary for the students’ socialization.

For example, one content can know what the autumn is.

Cooperative learning: To learn in group with other people. For example, learn by interaction.

Disequilibrium: To provide children new challenges where to get them, they have to create new mental skills in front of some problems. For example, if they are able to

solve a maths problem always in the same way, provide them different ways to solve it that creates in them disequilibrium when they have to change their way to work.

Development: Process through you learns. It can be physically or mentally. For example, the stage between crawling and walking, it is a way to know that the child has developed.

Developmental psychology: Branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change of humans throughout their life cycle.

Education: Process from which you learn and acquire different knowledge.

Educative practice: The act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life. It means to take out children’s abilities.

Formal context: Context of learning where a governmental degree is received, it is inside an institution and it is raised. The educator is a professional. For example, the school.

Informal context: Context of learning where there is no governmental degree, no planification and who gives the teaching process do not need to be trained. For example, the TV. Interaction: Reciprocal action between two persons that provides learning. For example, talking with my mother is an interaction that can provide me some learning.

Knowledge: Contents, facts, feelings that you have. For example, the 2 table is a knowledge that we have.

Learning: The knowledge that you obtain in a school or any other place.

Learning contexts: Places or environments where you learn. For example, one learning context can be the family.

Lifelong process: It i s the process that lasts all the life. The learning, for example, is a lifelong process.

Maturation: A complete development in our body or mind.

Meaningful learning: Connections between the previous knowledge and the new knowledge. The main author is Ausbel.

Mental Schemes: Representations that we construct with our previous knowledge.

Motivation: The reason that makes you learn, each person has different reasons to learn. For example, we can motivate children by potentiating their previous knowledge, Non-formal context: Context of learning where there is no governmental degree, there is planification and the teachers are specialized on the topic. For example, the boy-scouts.

Practical dimension: Methodologies and strategies to improve the teaching and the learning.

Previous knowledge: Contents that you know before you learn another one. The relation between this previous knowledge and the new one, is what makes you learn. In class, for example, we are talking about the crocodiles. We ask children what do they know about them and they say that they can live not only in the water but also outside.

It is a previous knowledge they already have.

Psychology of education: Part of the psychology science which emphasize the importance of education and the teaching practice.

Role: is a behaviour model that somebody has. For example, I can be in the role of a daughter when I am at home, but when I am to the University, I can be in the role of a student.

Scaffolding: Stages that child achieve by the adult guidance. For example, if I give my sister one clue about how can she learn to multiplicity, it is an scaffolding.

Teaching process: Is when a person is learning.

The more knowledgeable other: A person who has more knowledge than you, more experiences. This person will allow you to learn from him/her through interaction. For example, if my mother teaches me about how to cook an omelette because I do not know how to do it, she is the more knowledgeable other.

Theoretical dimension: Dimension of the theories and the approaches.

ZDP: Distance between what a child can achieve by their own (autonomous) and what can achieve with adults’ help (the more knowledgeable other). For example, if you know to sum, but you do not know how to rest and you need the help of an adult to reach this knowledge, the ZDP is the distance between these two knowledge.

I-6 Self-assessment Group Work

It is recommended that you review the rubric and repeat the self-assessment after each block.

Answer the questions and fill in the self-assessment rubric.

1. What are the strengths and weaknesses of your team?

The strengths of our team is that all of us respect the opinion of each member of the group and we don’t have difficulties to reach an agreement. Furthermore, we think the same in different exercises, so it’s been very easy for us to work in this way.

The weaknesses of the group are that sometimes we had some difficulties to organize our schedule to meet.

2. What do you plan to improve in the next block?

In the next block we will try to organize better our work in order to do it more easily.

More organization, more time. We will try to work as much as possible during the class sessions because of our difficulties in order to meet.

3. Global assessment of the block: do you consider that the activities and the dynamics of the sessions have helped you to learn? What aspects would you emphasizes, both positive and negative?

We believe that the dynamics of the sessions are correct because we mixed practical activities with the theory, and this helps us to interiorize better the knowledge that we learn during the classes.

-

ACTIVITY ABOUT THE LECTURE OF MOTIVATION TO READ

CONFERENCE ABOUT MOTIVATION WHEN READING 

Begin giving all teachers that have attended a huge article about motivation and some author’s opinion. Say to them that they have to read the whole amount of papers and that at the end of the session we are going to share ideas and concepts all together.

5 minutes later, tell them it was a joke, just in order to make them realise about the willingness about that proposal and to start talking about motivation. We can make them realise something like:



Maybe you were not feeling like doing this activity because it does not cause you any motivation. This was not what you expected.



You come here after a large day in school, you have enough work to do and maybe you have some other personal problems. Then you find here, and you are asked to read a lot.



Well, our little boys and girls have to fight every day in front of that situation. Do you think we could make an effort in order to allow them work easier and with pleasure?

- After this presentation, we would show a real example of a non-motivation class to make them realize how little children feel: “One day, on a current primary class, teacher asked to students to read, during the whole hour of the session, the book that boys and girls were supposed to read was compulsory. They were asked to read one by one and out loud, and when teacher said the name of another pupil, he/she had do carrying reading from the point the other one had finished. On that way, they were doing a kind of reading chain. If the student who had to read was lost, he/she got punished.

Mar says that being on that class was one of the worst experiences of her school life, and this is because she was not motivated, no way.”

- Tell to the attendees that the session will be divided in three parts, and all of them influence when motivating. (Content, Students, Teachers) - The teacher: (Explain the actions and behaviour teachers should take, try to make them think about their role) - As teachers they should take into account their student’s interests.

- Student’s knowledge - Student’s believes.

- When reading, teachers should let children choose between different books, according to their motivations.

- Promoting not to do an exam, but group activities about the reading book, discussing groups, comparing the book with the real life…

- To fix an hour a week in order to let students relate what they have read with personal experiences and with this, create material. (Diaris, for example) - Use the formative assessment despite of the continuous assessment.

- Also, what is very important is that teachers should recognize that they do mistakes. Should say it to all class in order to normalize the mistakes in the school.

From the mistakes, we learn.

- The content: (About books) - Tell them that the content of reading books should have main characters that live stories which children could be identified. Characters could talk about problems, and children would better understand theirs.

- Books also should be adapted to the level of your student’s previous knowledge. It does not matter if your students have more levers or less, but do not make them read a book for children of 11 years just because they have 11. Take in account the context!

- The Students: - Your students should be able and allowed to take an active role in class taking in account what it has been said about the role of the teacher and the context.

- Your student should be able to work because of intrinsic motivation instead of extrinsic one.

- Your students should not be afraid of doing mistakes. That fact does not allow them to learn.

- Close the session, make a turn of questions, and give them a gift: a book: “Todd Whitaker, Beth Whitaker, Dale Lumpa . (2008). Motivating & Inspiring Teachers: The Educational Leader's Guide for Building Staff Morale. New York: Eye on Education.”