Monthly Archives: October 2015

Understanding Outcomes Presentations

Click here for the assignment content.

Overall I think the presentation that Annemarie, Brooke, and myself did on communities was pretty good. I believe that the others in our class enjoys our activity as well as they were able to come up with a large variety of community members. While thinking critically about the presentation I believe that three things that could have been better. The first thing that we should have done was think more about our transitions. I know that sometimes we were unsure of how we should bring the class back to our attention. If we thought more about our transitions then there would have been a better flow to our presentation. The next thing that could have been improved was the way in which we asked questions. I feel like this was evident when we asked, “how do these community members fit the needs of the medicine wheel”. I know that our classmates were unsure of what the answer should be because I walked around and had a lot of questions be asked. I believe that maybe we should have explained the medicine wheel in relations to our community cards a little more. Finally I believe that we could have had better time management. We had a timer going, but was unaware that the time we had was not started right away. To end the presentation we were going to share our resources and ask questions, as we believed that there was still another 2 minute’s. However we did finish the most important part of our presentation and so I do not feel like our presentation suffered as much as it could have.

Some things that I have learned from the other groups while watching their presentations include when getting young children to explore items that they are familiar with. This allows the children to learn real life concrete ideas. I have also learned a lot more about FNMI culture. When building the tipi’s in class I think it would have been very valuable to have an elder come in and tell us the ways it which the poles should be placed and the important of the tie at the top of tipi. I also learned that it is very important when in our classroom to use materials that are relevant to FNMI issues in southern Saskatchewan.

Week 2 Reflection

ESST has taught me a lot about differing ways to approach teaching. Some of the teaching strategies in last weeks class alone include, group work, research, collaboration, and many others. The teaching strategy that stood out to me the most would be how we as students had a lot of the power in how the class would run. For this reason ESST has proven to be different than any of our other university classes. We as the students are given the responsibility to direct our learning and work together to come up with common understandings. For example in this class we were asked what the rubric should be for our upcoming presentations, or how do you determine what makes a reliable resource for teachers. Often times our professors just assume that we know what to look for in our resources. Or that rubrics are self-explanatory. However in this class we are challenged to think about all aspects of teaching. For example I have never thought about a presentation by evaluating only what is said. I have always been evaluated based on the look of the presentation, and the differing ways in which I interact with the audience. It was refreshing and enlightening to hear that we should not focus on the atheistic of a presentation that a student gives, but to focus on the information that they have learned while doing their research. Assessments were done in this class by Melissa asking questions to get clarity and understanding. Also word docs were created in which all students would be able to apply their knowledge and understanding. Assessment in this class was never a test, and I as a student was never fearful of feeling stupid during the assessment phase of this class. Often times the students in this class did not understand that we were being assessed at all.

When thinking of power in ESST it is always changing who holds that power. When we are in large groupings Melissa often holds the power as she directs our conversations, and what we will be talking and learning about. However she often gives the power to the students. Melissa understands that we as students are in charge of our own learning. She allows us as students to think for ourselves and collectively come up with new ways of knowing and understanding. When we as students work in small group work the power dynamic is again changed. Sometimes all students hold the power together, as they work collectively as a group. In some groups a single student becomes a “leader” which allows them to hold the power in their small grouping by focusing on what they should talk about.

 

Additional Articles

The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People’s Children.

This article address the power dynamics, and struggles that people of differing social classes have within the school system. More specifically teachers being of a dominant race, teaching students of minorities or from a low social class. There are 5 aspects of power in which teachers need to understand.

  1. Power is enacted in a classroom
  2. Power changes depending on ones culture
  3. These power dynamics change dependent on who’s culture is dominant
  4. Understanding the rules of the dominant culture allow minorities to further understand the dominant culture.
  5. Those who have power are unaware of the power they have, however those who do not hold the power are able to see the differing power dynamics.

Teachers are often aware of their own dominant culture. Therefore the ways in which they teach, and the knowledge they expect children and families to have may vary greatly from their own. Teachers need to understand the cultural norms of others in order to understand the power in which they hold in the classroom.

Delpit, L. (1988). The silenced dialogue: Power and pedagogy in educating other people’s children. Harvard educational review, 58(3), 280-299.

READING IDENTITY NARRATIVES: DEVELOPING STRATEGIES FOR NEGOTIATING AUTHORITY IN THE COMPOSITION CLASSROOM

This article addresses the importance of teachers being reflective of their own learning and teaching styles. Teachers need to be aware of the privilege that  we then portray on the students we interact with. Teachers are able to understand this power struggle as a student but also when they are the teacher in the classroom.

Trexler, M. (2015). READING IDENTITY NARRATIVES: DEVELOPING STRATEGIES FOR NEGOTIATING AUTHORITY IN THE COMPOSITION CLASSROOM. Young Scholars In Writing, 4, 3-14.

Power and Authority

Social Studies Education: First Nations, Métis & Inuit Content & Perspectives Integration  — “The purpose of this First Nations, Métis & Inuit (FNMI) integration guide is to help educators with the integration of Aboriginal content and perspectives” This link has many different websites and resources that are to support classroom teachers in areas of the curriculum where FNMI is required.

 

Worldviews— This link provides different worldviews from many FNMI perspectives.

 

Integrating First Nations and Metis Content and Perspective— A grade 2 power and authority unit plan done by a teacher inPrairie School Division.