I've been thinking about what to cover in my Micro Teaching session. It really is micro, only 15 minutes or so, so bevity is key, however I'd like to do something that is not only useful to my peers (my willing guinea pigs) but that is not covered in our general syllabus.
I think I'd like to look not at what we write, but how we apply ourselve to writing. I think as creative writers (It can't just be me) we are absorbed in psychology of our characters, and of ourselves and I would like to conciously explore our own neuroses when it comes to the act of writing: the things that hold us back and prevent us from doing our best work.
I've been reading Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott and was relieved when she outlined all the ticks and mental twitches I had thought were uniquely and idiosyncratically mine.
It's a powerful cathartic experience to name and shame our neuroses. Like the story of Rumpelstiltskin, by naming the thing that fills us with fear, we gain some power of it; once it is named, we have the power to change.
When planning lessons it is best to fit the tasks into a framework that you know works and fits your pupose. As we discussed with the signiture pedagogies, it is important that lessons fit into a form that is recognisable and therefore safe for both studants and educators. It also makes the act of planning much easier for teachers - in your first year you may have to produce a lesson plan for every lesson you take, this may take longer than it takes to teach. You also have to produce any resourses or presentations to go with these lessons - it's a big job. After a year you may start to repeat yourself, reviewing or unpdating plans, but the initial effort is huge. Having frameworks, tried and tested to sculpt your lessons (a table based plan for example) makes life much simpler.
In this class we discussed four models of structuring a lesson or work shop.
- Educare
- Double Decker
- CIA
- Divergent Thinking
Here you can see my notes:
Thought I'd share a food technology presentation with you using Prezi. I used this for year 7 pupils to encourage them to think and write about food.
This followed the CIA model, and continued from a sensory activity I had done the previous week.
This week, we read an article by Lea and Street (for those of you who may be interested it's in Studies in Higher Education, Jun 98, Vol 23 Issue 2, p157, 16p.), called Student Writing in Higher Education: An Academic Literacies Approach, in which were outlined and identified, the large gaps between student's and teacher's expectations and achievements. It was really interesting as a university student myself, to see analysed and identified, the problems of education and miscommunication within education, that are the same in 1998 as they are today, in 2012.
I found the term academic literacies (the framework though which they examined student writing) to be very apt, as not only does it concern becoming 'literate' in new subjects and areas of study, but also that the report found that literacy was a problem, with students and educators speaking different languages.
On being asked to create a diagram of the system of academic literacies, my group created this:
In it, we have tried to show the complexity of varying expectations. First you have the Academic Expectations - that of critical, analytical and reflective writing. Then the opposing arms of Staff and Student Expectation, which are often at odds. Staff Expectation is of adaptability, they expect subject/module differentiation of writing technique, style and content. Whereas the Student Expectation is of continuity - they expect standardised academia and a linear continuation of learning, essentially to be continued to be fed the bite-sized nuggets of information, along with definitive boundaries and goals that they experienced in primary and secondary education. These differences are further complicated by Individual Response or the question of Identity where each student and teacher has a personal interpretation of goals, achievements and the work done, which clouds the efficiency of Feedback - the important closer of the loop which should aid better mutual understanding, but is too often (as this report finds) ill-timed, non-progressive and imprecise.
This was an interesting way of condensing a complex subject and in depth article. At first I was overwhelmed by the requirement to turn the article into a diagram, and frustrated by the demand to then simplify it, but I am proud of the result, and found the exercise rewarding. It was interesting to see how other groups expressed their interpretations of the Academic Literacies expressed.
The principles of AL were then given to us, the titles are those given, the discussion of their meanings, mine.
- Identity - the individual response.
- Power
- Epistemology - Theories of knowledge, (such as AL), the frameworks through which we interpret information.
- Contexts - acknowledging the work of others, and the importance of drawing on it.
- Hierarchy
- Nature of Student Writing
- Transferable Skills - skills relevant to many subjects.
- Study Skills/Academic Socialisation - taking responsibility for individual study/goals.
- Privileged ways of writing - academic/informed.
On writing this blog, I realise that the meanings of these snappy subtitles have been lost to me. I have dutifully copied them down, and listened to their explanations in class but now, out of context, they are less transparent. I think perhaps better note taking is in order.
I have, however, found other explanations:
Knowledge of how academic discourse is structured and presented
- knowledge of how arguments are developed and presented within a given field of study
- knowledge of how to incorporate ideas taken from reading, listening and debating
- awareness of what is considered good academic style in both writing and speaking
Knowledge of how academic discourse is produced
- understanding the recursive nature of academic assignment preparation
- understanding the effort required in the elaboration of thought and argument in a typical academic assignment
Communication
- the ability to express ideas cogently, concisely and persuasively in writing and speaking
Creative and critical thinking
- relating to all four skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking and sometimes described as a 'habit of mind'
- a desire to seek connections between ideas while maintaining a rigorous approach to the analysis of arguments and ideas
- striving to test the status of ideas and arguments e.g. as fact, hypothesis, opinion or belief
Independent learning
- recognising the need to take responsibility for study and learning goals
- understanding how to achieve study aims
- knowing when and how to obtain assistance to achieve academic goals
Respect for the work and effort of others
- awareness of the great importance placed in academia on acknowledging authorship and maintaining academic integrity in relation to use of sources
- understanding why it is important within academic study and research to acknowledge the work and thinking of of others
I think that I am lucky that a critical and academic writing style comes easily to me, I learnt to write essays at a young age and enjoyed both the writing and the thought process. I am aware that it puts me at an advantage in comparison to other students in terms of grades, but I know that it does not mean that I am in any way cleverer, or better than any of my peers. It is just the ability to speak the language. Literacy is important, but it is also something which CAN BE LEARNT. It is important that institutions place some emphasis on educating their students in the way to think and to write, as well as the subject they teach. When this breaks down, as we see in the Lea/Street study it leads to frustration and poor education value. I personally feel that as the secondary education system becomes more conscious of performance criteria, the pressure on schools has lead to 'tick box' education, in which students are taught the assessment criteria of coursework or examination subjects to give the illusion of critical and analytical thinking, without being allowed to develop these skills for themselves. This then puts pressure on the Universities to focus more on more on Academic Literacy itself.
