1 Object-based learning Harnessing the power of original, real things, that's what learning in museums is all about … Osborne (2004) Pupils are handling a Second World War gas mask. This is part of their work on the Home Front. They can feel the weight of the gas mask and smell the stifling warmth of the mask on their face. This gives them a depth of understanding that nothing else could. For the moment they are
1.5. Introducing vocabulary How do you introduce new vocabulary to your students?
There is nothing more deadly than being given a list of words and being told to learn them. Utterly essential as this is to language learning, it is probably the most ‘missed’ homework of them all.
Pupil: But they’re hard to learn! Me: Why? How do you learn them? Pupil: I look at the paper they’re written on. Me: And … ? Pupil: 5. Conclusion I hope you now have a better idea of what it means to visualise a piece of mathematics. Visualising is a critically important process when mathematicians and others actually do mathematics. Unfortunately, the process of visualising does not appear in publications, which all tend to be displayed very formally and are mostly restricted to the final results. As teachers we need to ensure that we are very aware of all the processes of mathematics and so we must always attempt to know 2. Starters We all have pictures in our heads but some people use them more than others. ‘Doing’ can often be the most powerful way to learn. Before discussing other people's thoughts on visualisation, it is probably worthwhile to spend some time exploring some visualisation activities with your colleagues. This should enable you to consider the next section from an experiential perspective. Learning outcomes The learning outcomes for this unit are to: engage in a number of activities that involve visualisation and learn from your own experiences what it means; learn the views of a well-known mathematics educator talking about visualisation and find out how your views compare with those of some other secondary-school mathematics teachers; learn some ways that visualising could be incorporated into your classroom and consider a number of resources that mi References 5 Conclusion I hope this unit has made clearer what a business manager can do to impact positively on the school and its core function of teaching and learning as we move forward into a changing future. You may now find it helpful to revisit your job description and the notes you made in Activity 1. Equally, through some of the new developments that are taking place in society, the school itself will need business management in order to best position itself to help pupils, parents and communit 3.3 Responding to these initiatives A key implication of both initiatives is greater interagency working, which necessitates more engagement of school staff with other professionals. The DfES notes in Extended Schools: Providing Opportunities and Services for all that schools will need to work in partnership with other groups and agencies to enable: more diverse activities that involve parents, community members and local groups; a ‘joined-up’ approach 3.2 The Every Child Matters agenda The government's vision for extended schools builds on the Every Child Matters (ECM) initiative. Click on the following links for more information Every Child Matters: Change for children in schools [accessed 26 January 2007]. It is founded on five outcomes: Be healthy. Be safe. Enjoy and achieve. Make a positive contribution (as a citizen). Be employable. In moving t 2.2 Analytical tools To take matters forward, Davies and Ellison suggest the use of analytical tools to assist with practical target setting when data and information have been collected. They suggest some tools including ‘Boston Growth Matrix’ from the Boston Consulting Group and Little's ‘Lifecycle portfolio matrix’. Perhaps most readers will be familiar with a SWOT analysis – strengths and weaknesses are usually internal while opportunities and threats are regarded as external factors. Davies a 1 A revolution in schools The school we are in today will not be the school we are in tomorrow. This is especially apparent when the government's Extended Schools and Every Child Matters agendas for English schools are added to the mix, together with remodelling and the changes to the 14 – 19 phase. For details of the bursar's key role in this process visit Bursar's role in remodelling [accessed 26 January 2007].
Admittedly, there is no ‘one size fits all’ business manager (or bursar) role. The position a Learning outcomes The learning outcomes for this unit are: to review a job description for a business manager that takes account of today's context; to understand how a business manager can support teaching and learning and all stakeholders; to understand and use a range of analytical tools; to apply these analytical tools to your school's situation, in particular responding to government agendas; to understand how benchmarking data can 4 Reading clubs Reading opens minds. Through books, a reader enters different worlds, sees other points of view, experiences new emotions and situations. A reading club is a great chance to read different books, to find books you might never have considered yourself. To share your views with others is much more fun than looking away inside your head. Nicola Morgan There is plenty of support to help you run Learning outcomes Once you have completed this unit you will be able to: clarify your own ideas on literacy criticism; explore with your pupils what makes a good book; produce a range of writing frames to encourage pupils to write book reviews; encourage your pupils to follow some of the award schemes for children's books and perhaps start one of your own. 3.2 Case Study 1: Caswell's cockroaches The setting is a class of nine- and ten-year-olds in Toronto, Canada. The curriculum focus is biology. The classroom has been carefully organised to mirror the way in which a real adult scientific research community operates at the University of Toronto's zoological department, local to the school. Over a ten-week period, the young students are given the opportunity to become immersed in a culture of ‘scientific inquiry’ by their teacher, Beverley Caswell, who has chosen to make the Madag 2 Creative communities and ICT
We oppose ‘any prophetic pedagogy which knows everything before it happens, which teaches children that every day is the same, that there are no surprises, and teaches adults that all they have to do is repeat 1.4 What is creativity? All people are capable of creative achievements in some areas of activity, provided the conditions are right, and they have acquired the relevant knowledge and skills … creative possibilities are pervasive in the concerns of everyday life, its purposes and problems … creative activity is also pervasive … creativity can be expressed in collaborative as well as individual activities, in teamwork, in 1.1 Creating creativity Read the poem below, ‘The Hundred Languages of Children’ by Loris Malaguzzi (translated from the Italian by Lella Gandini). Consider how the school curriculum and environment may or may not encourage creativity in children. Do you agree or disagree with the statements expressed in the poem? Note down your thoughts or the thoughts of your group so you can review them as you continue to work through this unit and engage with some of the debates on creativity. References 5 Summary and conclusion In this unit we have considered questions surrounding the future of school geography. This may at first seem an odd question, but it is salutary to remember that the advocates of geography had to work very hard to make the case for the subject's place in the English National Curriculum. As the unit sought to show, even if we can agree that geography has an important role to play in schools, opinions vary as to the purpose of the subject: Is it a
