Instructional Transformation
Meaningful instruction cannot be delivered properly unless students have established a respectful rapport with their teacher and classmates, and feel confident in their learning environments. In order to structure a class that supports student participation, students need to trust all aspects of the situation. With any class, it is the teacher’s responsibility to clearly define the course objectives and expectations, but leave room for student inquiry. Teachers need to assess the prior knowledge of their students to enhance the planning and instruction of each class. The students’ knowledge and interests can help design the objectives of the course. Students need to be coached to become active participants in their own learning. Allowing students to set their own learning goals by implementing their prior knowledge and interests, provides them with a sense of ownership and responsibility for their educations. Inquiry-based learning allows a variety of learning strategies to be presented that responds to the needs of all students. The curriculum is integrated, interdisciplinary and targets all levels of learning. An inquiry-based curriculum transforms learning into a process of discovery, reflection and revision. The teacher and students can evaluate their learning experiences throughout the unit and alter paths when necessary. Shared responsibility between the teacher and students communicates that there are thirty people capable of teaching, not just one. Once this dynamic partnership exists between teacher and student, they easily transition to sharing responsibility for delivering instruction.
The instructional models that I am the most attracted to are Freire’s “problem-posing” education and Farrell’s Process Model. Each theorist offered methods that support a course about genocide and mass violence. In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Freire introduces traditional, controlled education (banking method) and compares this concept with violating human rights. He states that “if people, as historical beings necessarily engaged with other people in a movement of inquiry, did not control that movement, it would be (and is) a violation of their humanity. Any situation in which some individuals prevent others from engaging in the process of inquiry is one of violence” (8). It is clear how banishing democracy in a classroom limits the potential of the students, thus robbing them of being fully human. The violation of human rights is an issue that exists individually and socially all over the world. Students can find its theme applicable on multiple levels including experiences with their own schooling as well as current issues of human rights violations in society. Students enter my classroom having been exposed to the fundamentals of the holocaust but are not aware of its magnitude, and are not familiar with existing forms of genocide and mass violence occurring in foreign countries. Two of my course objectives support problem-posing education as a “revolutionary futurity”: 1.) Becoming familiar with the perpetration of genocide and mass violence in Nazi Germany, (and other modern societies including Darfur, Cambodia, Bosnia, and Rwanda, Guatemala, Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Congo, Tibet) and 2.) Examining the question of what can be done to prevent human cruelty, mass violence, and genocide. Students will be more realistic learners if they can identify connections between the past, present and future, accept their role as an individual, and believe in the possibility of change. Friere states that [humans] “who transcend themselves, who move forward and look ahead, for whom immobility represents a fatal threat for whom looking at the past must only be a means of understanding more clearly what and who they are so that they can more wisely build the future” (8). Problem-posing education is inquiry based learning that categories education as a process. Reflection and revision of planning, instruction, assessments and individual learning processes demonstrates recognition for change. Evolving lesson plans to be applicable to modern day society is crucial for students to understand cultural existence. High school aged students live in a world where international communication is not only possible, but simple and common. However, many students that are capable of international communication are restricted from learning about the culture and heritage of the people they talk with. Students need global exposure in order to become actively involved citizens.
Student engagement occurs when students are interested in and feel successful with the assignments. Requiring a curriculum where all students receive the same education, read the same novels and produce the same assignments will not fully engage every individual learner. Students will become engaged when they are presented with a large variety of literature and are able to select, create and decide on how to approach the reading, discussions and assessments for the class. Each unit in my course will offer multiple forms of reading, and include more than just novels. Graphic novels, novellas, diaries, journal articles, web documents, newspapers, advertisements, and other non print sources will assist in targeting a diverse range of learners. Multicultural literature is necessary to implement in order to guarantee support of cultural differences and backgrounds, provide students choice, and still challenges their various learning styles. Literature circles, when utilized properly, can be successful to encourage higher order thinking and structure quality discussion. Establishing an effective format is essential, and students need to be held accountable for preparation and participation. Establishing and communicating guidelines for discussion and providing students with opportunities to reflect on their experience and determine if adjustments need to be made to future formats are ways to ensure success. (On the Literature Circles Resource Center, Katherine L. Schlick Noe and Nancy J. Johnson offer several suggestions for formatting and structuring literature circles and discussion--analysis).
Students will explore several forms of writing that will enable them to respond and relate to literature and the world by validating research and applying personal experiences. These will be spread out over the course of the class, and further requirements will be given. Students will utilize writing as a tool for brainstorming and reflection, as well as construct two formal pieces. Cause and Effect and Compare and Contrast writing can apply to a large number of topics. As students conduct research, they can analyze the causes of genocide, or compare human right violations between two countries experiencing civil conflict. One of my course objectives is for students to be able to take information they learned in my class and apply it to a current or historical instance of human cruelty, mass violence, or genocide of their choice. Products and assessments can alter throughout the course, and students can benefit from organizing their findings in written form.
Student inquiry and literature choice naturally creates scaffolding (differentiated instruction). Differentiated instruction exists in the principles of my classroom. “In a classroom where teachers use differentiated instruction, the responsibility for learning is shared by all. It
becomes a community of learners, characterized by:
· complex, challenging learning environments and authentic tasks;
· social negotiation and shared responsibility as a part of learning;
· multiple representations of content;
· understanding that knowledge is constructed; and
· student-centered instruction” (Driscol 1994).
Differentiated instruction requires that the teacher plans varied approaches to what students need to learn, how they will learn it, and/or how they can express what they have learned in order to increase the likelihood that each student will learn as much as he or she can as efficiently as possible (Tomlinson 151). Student choice and interest guides the curriculum. Prior knowledge assessments can be used to measure what the students knew with what they now know.
The role of the teacher is evaluated in Jamie McKenzie's article The WIRED Classroom. A list of descriptors indicates the ever changing role of a teacher as a Guide on the Side while students are conducting their investigations. "... the teacher is circulating, redirecting, disciplining, questioning, assessing, guiding, directing, fascinating, validating, facilitating, moving, monitoring, challenging, motivating, watching, moderating, diagnosing, trouble-shooting, observing, encouraging, suggesting, watching, modeling and clarifying". The teacher’s role in the classroom determines the dynamics and interactions of the students. Creating a non threatening environment with academic enrichment is key to fostering student achievement. Teachers need to be aware of when to switch roles, when to combine more than one role, and how to switch roles with each individual student in the classroom. Teachers are not the only source of information in the classroom. Students enjoy taking ownership in their education. Setting goals and seeking answers allows them to make choices, set their own pace, and can significantly impact their futures. Students enjoy learning and getting involved in school work if they are capable of excelling with it. Independent learning will come to exist in all aspects of a person’s life once they recognize how to learn.
The instructional models that I am the most attracted to are Freire’s “problem-posing” education and Farrell’s Process Model. Each theorist offered methods that support a course about genocide and mass violence. In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Freire introduces traditional, controlled education (banking method) and compares this concept with violating human rights. He states that “if people, as historical beings necessarily engaged with other people in a movement of inquiry, did not control that movement, it would be (and is) a violation of their humanity. Any situation in which some individuals prevent others from engaging in the process of inquiry is one of violence” (8). It is clear how banishing democracy in a classroom limits the potential of the students, thus robbing them of being fully human. The violation of human rights is an issue that exists individually and socially all over the world. Students can find its theme applicable on multiple levels including experiences with their own schooling as well as current issues of human rights violations in society. Students enter my classroom having been exposed to the fundamentals of the holocaust but are not aware of its magnitude, and are not familiar with existing forms of genocide and mass violence occurring in foreign countries. Two of my course objectives support problem-posing education as a “revolutionary futurity”: 1.) Becoming familiar with the perpetration of genocide and mass violence in Nazi Germany, (and other modern societies including Darfur, Cambodia, Bosnia, and Rwanda, Guatemala, Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Congo, Tibet) and 2.) Examining the question of what can be done to prevent human cruelty, mass violence, and genocide. Students will be more realistic learners if they can identify connections between the past, present and future, accept their role as an individual, and believe in the possibility of change. Friere states that [humans] “who transcend themselves, who move forward and look ahead, for whom immobility represents a fatal threat for whom looking at the past must only be a means of understanding more clearly what and who they are so that they can more wisely build the future” (8). Problem-posing education is inquiry based learning that categories education as a process. Reflection and revision of planning, instruction, assessments and individual learning processes demonstrates recognition for change. Evolving lesson plans to be applicable to modern day society is crucial for students to understand cultural existence. High school aged students live in a world where international communication is not only possible, but simple and common. However, many students that are capable of international communication are restricted from learning about the culture and heritage of the people they talk with. Students need global exposure in order to become actively involved citizens.
Student engagement occurs when students are interested in and feel successful with the assignments. Requiring a curriculum where all students receive the same education, read the same novels and produce the same assignments will not fully engage every individual learner. Students will become engaged when they are presented with a large variety of literature and are able to select, create and decide on how to approach the reading, discussions and assessments for the class. Each unit in my course will offer multiple forms of reading, and include more than just novels. Graphic novels, novellas, diaries, journal articles, web documents, newspapers, advertisements, and other non print sources will assist in targeting a diverse range of learners. Multicultural literature is necessary to implement in order to guarantee support of cultural differences and backgrounds, provide students choice, and still challenges their various learning styles. Literature circles, when utilized properly, can be successful to encourage higher order thinking and structure quality discussion. Establishing an effective format is essential, and students need to be held accountable for preparation and participation. Establishing and communicating guidelines for discussion and providing students with opportunities to reflect on their experience and determine if adjustments need to be made to future formats are ways to ensure success. (On the Literature Circles Resource Center, Katherine L. Schlick Noe and Nancy J. Johnson offer several suggestions for formatting and structuring literature circles and discussion--analysis).
Students will explore several forms of writing that will enable them to respond and relate to literature and the world by validating research and applying personal experiences. These will be spread out over the course of the class, and further requirements will be given. Students will utilize writing as a tool for brainstorming and reflection, as well as construct two formal pieces. Cause and Effect and Compare and Contrast writing can apply to a large number of topics. As students conduct research, they can analyze the causes of genocide, or compare human right violations between two countries experiencing civil conflict. One of my course objectives is for students to be able to take information they learned in my class and apply it to a current or historical instance of human cruelty, mass violence, or genocide of their choice. Products and assessments can alter throughout the course, and students can benefit from organizing their findings in written form.
Student inquiry and literature choice naturally creates scaffolding (differentiated instruction). Differentiated instruction exists in the principles of my classroom. “In a classroom where teachers use differentiated instruction, the responsibility for learning is shared by all. It
becomes a community of learners, characterized by:
· complex, challenging learning environments and authentic tasks;
· social negotiation and shared responsibility as a part of learning;
· multiple representations of content;
· understanding that knowledge is constructed; and
· student-centered instruction” (Driscol 1994).
Differentiated instruction requires that the teacher plans varied approaches to what students need to learn, how they will learn it, and/or how they can express what they have learned in order to increase the likelihood that each student will learn as much as he or she can as efficiently as possible (Tomlinson 151). Student choice and interest guides the curriculum. Prior knowledge assessments can be used to measure what the students knew with what they now know.
The role of the teacher is evaluated in Jamie McKenzie's article The WIRED Classroom. A list of descriptors indicates the ever changing role of a teacher as a Guide on the Side while students are conducting their investigations. "... the teacher is circulating, redirecting, disciplining, questioning, assessing, guiding, directing, fascinating, validating, facilitating, moving, monitoring, challenging, motivating, watching, moderating, diagnosing, trouble-shooting, observing, encouraging, suggesting, watching, modeling and clarifying". The teacher’s role in the classroom determines the dynamics and interactions of the students. Creating a non threatening environment with academic enrichment is key to fostering student achievement. Teachers need to be aware of when to switch roles, when to combine more than one role, and how to switch roles with each individual student in the classroom. Teachers are not the only source of information in the classroom. Students enjoy taking ownership in their education. Setting goals and seeking answers allows them to make choices, set their own pace, and can significantly impact their futures. Students enjoy learning and getting involved in school work if they are capable of excelling with it. Independent learning will come to exist in all aspects of a person’s life once they recognize how to learn.
