In establishing ‘rules’ in your class, how much student involvement are you comfortable with and why? (100 words)
Student involvement is important when establishing rules. As an educator I would like to promote discussion on why rules are in place. I believe students that have the power to make decisions regarding how they would like their classroom, is part of a reciprocal learning environment. However to avoid too many rules or rules that are not practical, I believe the teacher should lead the discussion and help influence the students in making the right choices. The rule making process should be 50% student involvement and 50% teacher guidance.Vygotsky, as discussed by McDevitt and Ormrod (2010, pp. 219-240), maintains that learning is an exchange between both student and teacher. Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal development (McDevitt & Ormrod 2010, p. 223) promotes teacher scaffolding and the support of student learning until they reach a stage of autonomy. By creating a reciprocal environment, self-efficacy and self-determination could be developed within the students. Thus promoting engagement and intrinsic motivation which has been found to have a greater influence than extrinsic motivation (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2010, p548-549).On Porter’s continuum this is the egalitarian approach (McDonald, 2014, p. 99), where the responsibility for classroom management is equally shared. This strategy of reciprocal behaviour management aligns with creating a PLF (McDonald, 2014, p.34-63) and my personal perceptions relating to classroom management procedures.
What is your view on consequences and will your plan include reasonable consequences? (100 words)
Reasonable consequences should empower students to make better choices, which involves respect and negotiating consequences for inappropriate behaviours. I believe in Coloroso’s model, as cited in McDonald (2013, p. 104-105) where students aim to repair damage caused by behaviour, working with the child to establish how this can be prevented in the future, whilst promoting reconciliation.Reasonable consequence should be relative to the behaviour. I aim to avoid overzealous discipline measures as these could contribute to long term problems with students (Smith, 2015).Linking to Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership [AITSL] (2014) standards:
1.1 Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students; Understanding students individual needs to ensure that reasonable consequences are appropriate for the child’s understanding and relative to the behaviour choice the student makes.
1.2 Understanding how students learn; allowing students to learn from their mistakes in an environment that is caring and supportive. Kohn challenges teachers on assessment practices, use of rubrics as well as competition in classrooms. To what extent do you agree with Kohn and what are your points of difference? (200 words)
Kohn challenges teachers on assessment practices, use of rubrics as well as competition in classrooms. To what extent do you agree with Kohn and what are your points of difference? (200 words)
Alfie Kohn understands assessment practice as a process of collecting “information about how students are doing…share that information …with students and their parents. Gather and report.” Kohn also argues in The Case against Grades that students would be better off without grades and tests as these inhibit inquiry based learning (Kohn, n.d.). Further he contends that “Rubrics are, above all, a tool to promote standardization, to turn teachers into grading machines or at least allow them to pretend that what they’re doing is exact and objective.” (Kohn, n.d.) Additionally he maintains, “Not only does excellence not require competition; it usually requires its absence.” (Kohn, 1993)I support Kohn’s guiding principles on Assessment practice.
[AITSL] (2014). Australian Professional Standards for Teachers: Professional knowledge. Retrieved from http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-standards-for-teachers/standards/listKohn,
References
A. (n.d.). Alfie Kohn. Retrieved April 03, 2016, from http://www.alfiekohn.org
Livingston, M.. (2012). The Infamy of Grading Rubrics. The English Journal, 102 (2), 108–113. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23365406
McDevitt, T. M., & Ormrod, J. E. (2010). Child development and education (4th ed. ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Education.
McDonald, T.,(2014). Classroom management: Engaging students in learning (2nd ed.). South Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press. (Original work published 2010)
Zhu, Y., Wang, J., Lv, X., & Li, Y. (2016). Once Failed, Twice Shy: How Group-Based Competition Influences Risk Preference in Young Children. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 145 (4), 397-401.
