Pedagogy : Perception to Perspective

Dr. Farooq Ahmad WasilCEO, Goldline Education,

Dubai, UAE

Post-Industrial – or knowledge – age (21st

century) though people need to ‘know what and how’ they need more! They need to be able to use this knowledge to

learn (or think) with.

In Industrial Age (20th century) knowledge was

of the – know what’ kind.

In the agrarian or pre-industrial times,

knowledge was of the – ‘know-how’ kind.

Catalyst of Change

01

As educational leaders, classroom teachers, students and parents will agree, 21st century teaching carries with it a complicated mix of challenges and opportunities.

02

Challenges include the issues of teacher turnover, accountability, changing student populations and student expectations, mounting budget pressures, and intense demand to build students’ 21st century skills.

03

Building 21st century skills would lead to further challenges of infrastructure and environment… which means building new spaces of learning to accommodate the new skills of learning.

We have federally mandated higher

academic standards but we have expanded our notion of intelligence

beyond just high scores in examinations – we

want to develop students to be thinkers and life long learners.

Our workforce has become more global

and interdependent – we want students to

acquire teamwork and social skills.

Technology is expanding at an alarming rate and the need of the hour is

definitely the development of

technology skills to move from memorizing

facts that will be outdated to teaching

thinking skills that will serve students well in

life.

Our social structure is changing too – the burden of teaching

social skills, emotional skills, and good

character increasingly falls upon teachers.

The 21st Century

Challenge

SMARTBOARDS

ADVANTAGES

Provides Flexibility

Access to online

information & tools

Interact and share

Going Green

Technology Integration

Communication

ARE SMARTBOARDS REALLY SMART…?.Di

scourages Traditional ResearchTraditional research skills require students to know how to find print materials in a library. When the teacher uses the SMART Board technology in the classroom, students learn how easy it is to find information using an Internet search. One disadvantage of a SMART Board is that the teacher uses only the computer displayed on the SMART Board for research and stops taking students to the library to examine books, magazines, audio and video tapes and other resources.

.Discourages Teacher PlanningOne disadvantage arises because teachers can easily find thousands of SMART Board lesson plans and games online. Using a SMART Board lesson plan to keep students entertained discourages teachers from planning for individual needs of students, also known as differentiated instruction. The SMART Board is a disadvantage if teachers don't look at all ways to teach a lesson before they use the SMART Board lesson found easily online in their lesson plans.

.Passive LearningAnother disadvantage concerns the amount of time students spend looking at the screen during a lesson. If the teacher does not ask students to write down information, discuss what they see or manipulate other materials during the SMART Board activity, students may be engaged only in passive learning. If teachers want students more engaged than when they watch an educational video or TV program, they must design authentic tasks students will perform at their desks while they look at the SMART Board display.

• Collaborative learning has its roots in Vygotsky’ s theory of the zone of proximal development. The purpose of these activities is to encourage the pupils to explore and understand the nature of the subject content by activating their existing knowledge and experience and in making links with the new knowledge they are acquiring through cognition and discussion.

• .The inquiry approach is more focused on using and learning content as a means to develop

information-processing and problem-solving skills. The system

is more student -centered, with the teacher as a facilitator of learning. Students are more

involved in the construction of knowledge through active

involvement.

• Peer Assisted Learning Strategies [PALS] shows great promise as an

effective supplement to conventional teaching methods to (a) promote critical reading skills

and (b) accommodate the increasingly diverse student

population and academic diversity in today’s classrooms

• Students enter the classroom with vastly different needs and readiness levels for learning, so aiming high for all cannot mean the same instruction and work for all and this is the reason why differentiation is a necessity in any classroom.

COLLABORATION CRITICAL THINKING

PEER ASSISTED LEARNING DIFFERENTIATION

STRATEGIC PLANNING

COLLABORATIONCollaborative learning activities can have many different objectives. These may include:

Activities aligned with the theory of multiple intelligences

Activities that involve the construction of new ideas based on personal and shared experiences

and understandings

Activities wherein learners investigate significant, real-world problems through discussion and

questioning thereby using an inquiry-based approach.

CRITICAL THINKINGInquiry based Learning

Inquiry based learning epitomizes the concept of ‘education is not a preparation for life it is life.’

For educators, inquiry implies emphasis on the development of inquiry skills and the nurturing of

inquiring attitudes or habits of mind that will enable individuals to continue the quest for knowledge

throughout life as content based education is no longer a viable proposition as the knowledge base

is constantly increasing and changing.

Teaching using all of the senses, learning

styles, and modalities

Thematic units that combine math,

science, literature, history, geography,

writing, and the arts

Integrating the arts into all aspects of

the curriculum

Hands-on projects with differentiated

products and performances

Pre-assessment, formative

assessment, and data analysis that

drives all aspects of instruction

Individualized instruction and work depending upon how each student learns

Flexible grouping based on skill levels

and individual student needs

DIFFERENTIATION

The important elements of differentiated curriculum, instruction, and assessment include:

PEER ASSISTED LEARNINGPeer teaching…..Research has explored the concept of bolstering the lecture—with peer-teaching activities (see, for example, Goto & Schneider 2010; Whitman & Fife, 1988; Cuseo, 1997). The results indicate that such activities can be very effective in getting students to engage in critical thinking; thus, producing deeper learning outcomes.Students who work in groups perform better on tests, particularly in regard to reasoning and critical thinking skills (Lord, 2001). Having students work with each other is an effective methodology because it forces students to be active learners and to talk through course concepts in their own words.

Peer Teaching Methods:• Think-pair-share• Reciprocal peer tutoring

Peer Assisted Learning Strategies [PALS] shows great promise as an effective supplement to conventional teaching methods to (a) promote critical reading skills and (b) accommodate the increasingly diverse student population and academic diversity in today’s classrooms ; as it makes use of one of the greatest resources in our schools, the students themselves.

Thank You