T.P.

Reflection
Week 2 Reflection
Significant and Personally Meaningful Learnings of This Week
From observing the second year group last week, there was one individual
who seemed to cause most of the class disruption. From talking to other
teachers in the staff room this student is well known for disruptive behaviour.
Most teachers seemed dismissive of him and advised me to just ignore him
and focus on the rest of the class. This is failing the student from a humanist
perspective as ignoring him does not attempt to understand the individuals'
point of view; ignoring the student further alienates them from the group
dynamic and impedes their social development,
"These physical, chemical, biological, interpersonal, cultural conditions matter
for the individual
finally to the extent that they do or do not supply him with the basic human
necessities and "rights" which permit him to become strong enough, and
person enough, to take over his own fate." (Maslow, 1954 p.xxv)
I decided to instead give him a role of responsibility, to be a group leader;
this way he would have less time to disrupt the class, but most importantly,
he would be given attention and responsibility that he would not get in other
classes. Giving him responsibility was conferring these 'rights' to him and
after one week I can see a great improvement in his overall attitude.
The group leader checks the progress of the 3 others in his group and raises
his hand if a student is having difficulty. This is very effective in promoting
meta-cognition as the students must analyse their own work.
To reinforce the group leader system I move around the room and assess
students work at a glance. Moving around the class primarily double-checks
the students accuracy of work, but it also allows for formative feedback.
During the lessons I was telling students that they were doing well and it was
clear that their self-confidence was improving as was their interest in the class
and intrinsic motivation. However, saying something positive is not enough,
from a behaviourist point of view, Cox 1991 states:

Robert Marron

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T.P. Reflection
"Avoid value statements such as: Thats great! Such statements do not tell
the student specifically what was great. When giving value statements make
sure the students understand the reasons for it." (Bentham, 2002 p.130)
In each lesson I try to find a specific thing to be positive about and that not
only give value to what I say, but if I criticise their work (ask them to take
greater care with curved lines for example) they know that I am saying this
for a valid reason and as such are more likely to take criticism on board.
Finally, one part of classroom management I am trying to implement is,
Dont starts until there is a conspicuous silence and all students are looking
in your direction never start your lesson over the classs noise (Petty, 2004).
I find that calling the roll is a great way to achieve silence, and ensure
everyone starts the lesson paying full attention.

Bibliography
Bentham, S. (2002). Psychology and Education. New York: Routledge.
Maslow, A.H. (1954). Motivation and Personality. New York: Harper.
Kyriacou, C. (2007). Essential Teaching Skills. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes
LTD
Petty, G. (2004). Teaching Today (3 ed.). Cheltenham, United Kingdom: Nelson
Thornes.

Robert Marron

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