Assignment Three
What is your emerging model of classroom management?
Prepare a written description of your beliefs about classroom management. Include reference to the nature of human beings and how they develop, students’ capacity for self direction, how children and young people react to different situations and treatments , they degree of control or coercion that should be used by a teacher, the degree of choice students are permitted and the role of the teacher. Provide a description of the principles on which you have based your module.
The affairs of the heart are directly connected to the brain and it's the heart's natural intelligence that must be unfolded for the brain to operate with greater efficiency.
Joseph Chilton Pearce, Evolution's End
http://thewellspring.com/TWO/32intellectual_love.html
It is of importance to establish a rhythmical structure and clear sequencing in the life of the school. This will reflect significantly on the behaviour of the students in each class. Rhythm contributes to the wellbeing of students.
A physics example that strikes me most to explain the harmonizing effect of structure is the following: when we sprinkle lead particles on a flat glass plate and strike a violin bow vertically along one edge of the glass plate, the particles will form into a beautiful pattern. This kind of “fine-tuning” should happen for the teacher and the students in each lesson. Even with my year 12 students, I begin and end the lesson in such a way that we gather together in a focused circle and concentrate through speaking a verse. This creates an enormous strength which carries the mood of the lesson and is a classroom management tool that I use consistently. This kind of focused circle happens also at the beginning of the day for all students with the guardian of the class. It is embedded into the whole school and weaves through as a habitus (Durkheim), a strengthening structure for each day.
Another aspect contributing to good classroom management is the inner attitude of the teacher. My belief lies in creating a genuine love for learning, based on my understanding of the various phases of human development.( Piaget and Steiner philosophy) The work lies in: when to learn, what to learn and how to learn. The aim is that the student becomes a clear, independent and creative thinker and a sensitive and well-centered adult. I experience that the Steiner Curriculum is designed to be highly responsive to the various phases of development. The needs of the students are more important to cater for than the demands of the government or economic forces.
An example for being aware of the physical and emotional development within the learning task can be given for year 9. This is a phase where the students are strongly experiencing polarities- happy-sad, passive-aggressive. The curriculum allows the student to explore the polarities in a healthy way -in Art with black and white charcoal work, in English with study of Comedy and Tragedy, in Geography polarities of climate and economy, in my subject Eurythmy, exploring the different emotions through poetry and music, working intensively with the major and minor moods. The curriculum should be the connecting point with the human being to him/herself, to others, to the natural world and the cultural heritage. It connects the past, the present and the future, so that the human being can stand in the centre of the curriculum in the Steiner schools.
As a teacher, I have to be deeply immersed in my subject and my area of expertise. My enthusiasm for my subject will spark over to the students. If I apply the right tools to deliver my subject, with the accelerated learning skills for example, then I set the mood for a happy learning environment and will achieve good outcomes.
There are always one or two students in each class who are very self motivated and talented. They stand out of the crowd and they solve task- oriented problems in no time. They contribute lots of new ideas and creativity to the lessons.
A few years ago I had a student who was very distracted and unconstructive. He did not think very highly of Steiner schools and had such rude manners that it got to a point that it was not possible to teach him any more. He also treated his parents with very little respect. We had no other choice than to take him out of school after all sort disciplinary measures did not help. He also got thrown out of his parents’ house for a while. After one year he came back begging to be accepted again. We put very strict guidelines on him. If he did not keep within those confinements, he was to be expelled immediately. The miracle happened that this young man became interested and engaged in every single lesson. I could hardly recognize him anymore. He made suggestions, often very good ones, and started to move and talk in a respectful way. After he finished year 12, he passionately took part in study groups about the Steiner philosophy. It seems that this young man really needed to be “woken up.” In this particular case, the authoritarian style was the only right way to make him realize what he was doing to himself and to his environment.
The teacher has to take a leading role. If he leads by example then he includes all the factors that are necessary to motivate the students to learn. He will have embraced the culture of the school “habitus” (Durkheim/Bourdiev) in his planning of the lesson. It is vital to bring the students into social interaction, and the appropriate Zone of Proximal Development, so that they can achieve, through working with each other, the highest outcome possible ( Vygotsky).
The teacher needs to be the leader in managing and facilitating the constructed knowledge which includes the integration of the five reference points from Glasser. When they are intrinsically motivated, students are able to learn through the teacher’s understanding of Gardner’s multiple intelligences. Constant encouragement and the affirmation of the student’s effort and achievement are vital. The inclusion of all gifts from every individual student makes it possible to heighten the ultimate knowledge, skills and values of the group.
Primarily, what I like to see in students is transformation and development. For life is all about changes. We continually change and never stay still in our growing inside or outside of our self. The more we contribute actively to our transformation in life the more we become harmonized human beings of the head, heart and hand. Mahatma Gandhi describes it so clearly in the following quote:
"Carefully watch your THOUGHTS, for they become your WORDS. Manage and watch your WORDS, for they will become your ACTIONS. Consider and judge your ACTIONS, for they have become your HABITS. Acknowledge and watch your HABITS, for they shall become your VALUES. Understand and embrace your VALUES, for they become YOUR DESTINY."--Mahatma Gandhi
What is your emerging model of classroom management?
Prepare a written description of your beliefs about classroom management. Include reference to the nature of human beings and how they develop, students’ capacity for self direction, how children and young people react to different situations and treatments , they degree of control or coercion that should be used by a teacher, the degree of choice students are permitted and the role of the teacher. Provide a description of the principles on which you have based your module.
The affairs of the heart are directly connected to the brain and it's the heart's natural intelligence that must be unfolded for the brain to operate with greater efficiency.
Joseph Chilton Pearce, Evolution's End
http://thewellspring.com/TWO/32intellectual_love.html
It is of importance to establish a rhythmical structure and clear sequencing in the life of the school. This will reflect significantly on the behaviour of the students in each class. Rhythm contributes to the wellbeing of students.
A physics example that strikes me most to explain the harmonizing effect of structure is the following: when we sprinkle lead particles on a flat glass plate and strike a violin bow vertically along one edge of the glass plate, the particles will form into a beautiful pattern. This kind of “fine-tuning” should happen for the teacher and the students in each lesson. Even with my year 12 students, I begin and end the lesson in such a way that we gather together in a focused circle and concentrate through speaking a verse. This creates an enormous strength which carries the mood of the lesson and is a classroom management tool that I use consistently. This kind of focused circle happens also at the beginning of the day for all students with the guardian of the class. It is embedded into the whole school and weaves through as a habitus (Durkheim), a strengthening structure for each day.
Another aspect contributing to good classroom management is the inner attitude of the teacher. My belief lies in creating a genuine love for learning, based on my understanding of the various phases of human development.( Piaget and Steiner philosophy) The work lies in: when to learn, what to learn and how to learn. The aim is that the student becomes a clear, independent and creative thinker and a sensitive and well-centered adult. I experience that the Steiner Curriculum is designed to be highly responsive to the various phases of development. The needs of the students are more important to cater for than the demands of the government or economic forces.
An example for being aware of the physical and emotional development within the learning task can be given for year 9. This is a phase where the students are strongly experiencing polarities- happy-sad, passive-aggressive. The curriculum allows the student to explore the polarities in a healthy way -in Art with black and white charcoal work, in English with study of Comedy and Tragedy, in Geography polarities of climate and economy, in my subject Eurythmy, exploring the different emotions through poetry and music, working intensively with the major and minor moods. The curriculum should be the connecting point with the human being to him/herself, to others, to the natural world and the cultural heritage. It connects the past, the present and the future, so that the human being can stand in the centre of the curriculum in the Steiner schools.
As a teacher, I have to be deeply immersed in my subject and my area of expertise. My enthusiasm for my subject will spark over to the students. If I apply the right tools to deliver my subject, with the accelerated learning skills for example, then I set the mood for a happy learning environment and will achieve good outcomes.
There are always one or two students in each class who are very self motivated and talented. They stand out of the crowd and they solve task- oriented problems in no time. They contribute lots of new ideas and creativity to the lessons.
A few years ago I had a student who was very distracted and unconstructive. He did not think very highly of Steiner schools and had such rude manners that it got to a point that it was not possible to teach him any more. He also treated his parents with very little respect. We had no other choice than to take him out of school after all sort disciplinary measures did not help. He also got thrown out of his parents’ house for a while. After one year he came back begging to be accepted again. We put very strict guidelines on him. If he did not keep within those confinements, he was to be expelled immediately. The miracle happened that this young man became interested and engaged in every single lesson. I could hardly recognize him anymore. He made suggestions, often very good ones, and started to move and talk in a respectful way. After he finished year 12, he passionately took part in study groups about the Steiner philosophy. It seems that this young man really needed to be “woken up.” In this particular case, the authoritarian style was the only right way to make him realize what he was doing to himself and to his environment.
The teacher has to take a leading role. If he leads by example then he includes all the factors that are necessary to motivate the students to learn. He will have embraced the culture of the school “habitus” (Durkheim/Bourdiev) in his planning of the lesson. It is vital to bring the students into social interaction, and the appropriate Zone of Proximal Development, so that they can achieve, through working with each other, the highest outcome possible ( Vygotsky).
The teacher needs to be the leader in managing and facilitating the constructed knowledge which includes the integration of the five reference points from Glasser. When they are intrinsically motivated, students are able to learn through the teacher’s understanding of Gardner’s multiple intelligences. Constant encouragement and the affirmation of the student’s effort and achievement are vital. The inclusion of all gifts from every individual student makes it possible to heighten the ultimate knowledge, skills and values of the group.
Primarily, what I like to see in students is transformation and development. For life is all about changes. We continually change and never stay still in our growing inside or outside of our self. The more we contribute actively to our transformation in life the more we become harmonized human beings of the head, heart and hand. Mahatma Gandhi describes it so clearly in the following quote:
"Carefully watch your THOUGHTS, for they become your WORDS. Manage and watch your WORDS, for they will become your ACTIONS. Consider and judge your ACTIONS, for they have become your HABITS. Acknowledge and watch your HABITS, for they shall become your VALUES. Understand and embrace your VALUES, for they become YOUR DESTINY."--Mahatma Gandhi
posted by STAR @ 6:22 PM
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