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. 4 The student's view Activity 3 should have helped you to clarify your ideas about the aims and purposes of geography education. One of the advantages of doing this is that it encourages you to focus on what you think is important about teaching geography. In our experience, this is sometimes difficult given the hectic pace of life in schools! Missing so far in this discussion has been the voice of the students who are on the ‘receiving end’ of geography lessons. After all, they are the people who will 2 Posture, alignment and balance Posture and alignment are the key to balance and moving through space. It can be tempting to overlook such things when faced with 25 students, of whom a third want to do a routine to their favourite chart song, another third want to have a go at breakdance, and the other third would rather sit and watch everyone else! Posture and alignment are fundamental to dancing, just as they are to other kinds of physical activities, such as martial arts. Learning how to hold and move the body in a 1.2 The warm up The importance of an effective warm up to prepare the body for physical exertion cannot be emphasised enough. Warm-up activities for dance should: mobilise the joints; increase the internal temperature of the body; increase the heart rate and blood flow to the muscles; make the muscles warm and pliable; increase the range of movement around the joints; increase 5.2 Further reading For further reading on the topic of citizenship and democracy, please click on the following ‘view document’ links. Click on 'view document' below to read New Answers to Old (and New) Criticisms 5.1 A story of fox hunting Democracy is a thing, a practice. It is also a word – a powerful one, politically, because we all think it is a good thing. When people take part in politics, they try to claim that ‘democracy’ is on their side, and not on that of their opponents. In November 2004, pro-hunting protesters breached House of Commons security and broke into the chamber to disrupt the debate on banning fox hunting. As a significant minority group, passionately committed to the cause of continuing hunti Acknowledgements Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence This unit was originally prepared for TeachandLearn.net by Diane Ne 4. Balloon debate Another statement from a 14 year-old student: ‘I don't want to do art – it's rubbish’ In addressing such a straight dismissal it is naturally worth considering the student's prior learning experiences, aptitudes and influences. However, this perception nevertheless encodes a declaration of value, which is not fundamentally different to some of the earlier quotes explored. It is perhaps unsurprising that negative perceptions voiced by policy makers, government figures and tho 5.3.3 One-to-one tutorial In this session the tutor should cover the following areas: assessment of the student teacher's subject knowledge development during the school experience placement; review of the student teacher's files; timetable coverage; teaching activities, including marking and keeping records; target achievement and progress against the ITP, assessment outcomes for the level and the standards f 5.3.1 Joint observation and debriefing A focus for the observation should have been agreed with the student teacher, mentor and tutor before the visit. A key purpose of the joint observation and debriefing is to share and enhance the practice of the mentor through observation, discussion and evaluation of the lesson. The tutor will be able to provide guidance for the mentor on supporting, challenging and setting targets for the student teacher for the final stages of the school experience placement. The student teacher will also b 2.3.1 Analysis Have as the starting point the student teacher's perceptions and concerns about the lessons. Consider the evidence collected and impressions formed. Identify the various strengths of the lesson. This is particularly important, as student teachers can become demoralised if the discussion concentrates only on their weaknesses and suggestions for change. Identify those aspects that could usefully have been don 1.2 The mentor role in the OU flexible PGCE What makes a good mentor? Student teachers and mentors generally agree that the good mentor is approachable; offers encouragement; has the ability to listen; gives constructive feedback; and challenges thinking. It is also important that both the mentor and the student teacher have a good understanding of the programme – the aims, assessment and timing of activities. Introduction The OU PGCE has been developed by The Open University and its partner schools to provide an innovative, student-teacher centred approach to initial teacher education. We aim to build on the skills, knowledge and experience that student teachers bring to the profession, and then to prepare them for a career in teaching. The course leads to the award of PGCE, and Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) conferred by the appropriate statutory body. Working with a Partner Schools Network, the OU PGCE provi 1.5.4 The 5 Ds If you don’t use a system at all, then you could suffer from the effects of information overload: losing important information wasting time on trying to find things ending up with piles of physical and virtual stuff everywhere One technique you might like to apply to your files (be they paper or electronic) is the 5Ds. Try applying these and see if you can reduce your information overload.
1.3.2 Search engines and subject gateways Although both search engines and subject gateways will help you find the resources that you need, the types of information that you find will differ. Search engines such as Google and Yahoo! search the internet for keywords or phrases, and then show you the results. These results are not mediated by the search engines, and therefore you need to use your own judgement on the reliability of the results. You may, for example, find websites written by experts, alongside websites written by 5.4 A brief history of scientific revolutions We now go on to look at the history and traditions of scientific discovery. As an early years practitioner, you will find this survey useful in helping you to challenge the prevailing perception of science as ‘absolute truth’. What we call science was once regarded as ‘magic’, ‘alchemy’ or ‘conjuring’. Such knowledge was viewed as ‘black magic’ and feared as a satanic art (Woolley, 2002). In part this may have been because, in the Middle Ages, scientific ideas were e 2.6 Context and language variation As well as contributing to meaning, context can also influence the actual words and sentences that we use. Do you sometimes say ‘Hi’ and at other times say ‘Good morning’? Do you have a ‘telephone voice’? This variation in language may be done deliberately, but often it is not. There are two main reasons as to why we adjust the way we speak: to fit in with our audience or what we feel they expect of us; you may use ‘professional’ langu Learning outcomes After studying this unit you will have: explored your knowledge, attitudes and feelings in each subject area; begun to identify, in each subject, areas of knowledge where you are confident and others where you need to deepen your understanding; extended your knowledge and understanding of the place that language, mathematics and science have in the everyday life of individuals and societies. 3.2 Using a framework to think about communication between yourself and other professionals The objective of this activity is: to use a variety of ‘tools’ to help you examine your practice. 2.1 Thinking about values and beliefs underpinning teamwork While few would contest the value of teamwork, it is important to explore how perceptions of teamwork are reflected in the actual experience of belonging to a team. In Activity 1 you identified the members of your team and you thought about your working relationships. The nature of those relationships large
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