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Transcript of Metaphor Creative Teaching Framework Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the...
Metaphor
CreativeTeaching
Framework
Making the simple complicated iscommonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.
Charles Mingus
Workshop Objectives• Identify the impact of creative teaching on student learning• Identify the motivational aspects of experience• Analyse the components of good pedagogic design• Apply Core Principles of Learning to pedagogic design• Analyse the heuristics of creative teaching• Utilize a range of resources (including information
technologies) to construct highly effective learning experiences
• Use the Creative Teaching Framework to teach creatively within your personal style
Teaching Quality – the big factor in Student Learning
“…nothing is as important to learning as the quality of a student’s teacher. The difference between a good teacher and a bad teacher is so great that fifth-grade students who have poor teachers in grades three to five score roughly 50 percentile points below similar groups of students who are fortunate enough to have effective teachers”
(Izumi, T. L. & Evers, W. M., 2002. Teacher Quality, ix)
“The effect of the teacher far overshadows classroom variables, such as previous achievement level of students, class size…heterogeneity of students, and the ethnic and socio-economic makeup of the classroom.”
(Rivers, C. J. & Sanders, W. L., 2002. Teacher Quality and Equityin Educational Opportunity, p.17)
What’s Worthwhile about Creative Teaching
• Turns more students on to learning
• Makes the job more productive and fun
“Against boredom even the gods themselves struggle in vain”
Friedrich Nietzsche
Good Pedagogic Design
In Awesomely Simple Terms (he says hopefully)
A Problem
solved by
which takes
When the learning experience is Painful -many students descend into the World of Bla
ATTENTION
SESSION TIME (minutes)
0 15 30 45 60
(%age)
100
80
60
40
20
Bla
Bla
Bla
Copyright: Dennis Sale
Just what you fancy after lunch at 2pmNewton's second law of motion can be formally stated as follows:The acceleration of an object as produced by a net force is directly proportional to the magnitude of the net force, in the same direction as the net force, and inversely proportional to the mass of the object
Then follow this with 40 mins of exposition and equations
Are there useful Theories of Motivation?
“We know nothing about motivation. All we can do is write books about it.” (Peter Drucker)
Copyright: Dennis Sale
The brain and motivation(why many students are not well motivated)
Cloniger 1987 argued that 3 neural systems run our lives
1. The Cortex’s quest for Novelty
2. The Mid-Brains quest for Pleasure
3. The Lower-Brains desire to avoid Pain
Copyright: Dennis Sale
Meeting Human Needs
• Survive and Reproduce• Belong – Love, Share and Cooperate• Power – Control and Competition• Freedom – Autonomy and Choice• Fun – Humour and Laughter
(From the writings of William Glasser)
Everything is Experience & Perception
As human being we are stuck in a process of continuous Experience – even when sleeping
Given a choice, people seek experiences that are perceived as pleasurable, novel, and pain reducing – because they satisfy needs
As a teacher, you are a major player in Experience Shaping
“I’ve come to a frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can
be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration”
(Hain Ginott, 1995)
Creating Productive Experiences for Learning: Big Questions
1. How do teachers create Experiences that students Perceive as pleasurable, novel, pain reducing and meeting needs
2. Are there verifiable heuristics that can be learned and systematically applied to the design and practice of these experiences?
Is this still the case now?“Teaching is the only major occupation of man for which we have not yet developed tools that make an average person capable of competence and performance.
In teaching we rely on the "naturals," the ones who somehow know how to teach”
(Peter Drucker)
“…few facts concerning teacher effectiveness have been established” (Ornstein, 1995, p.77)
Copyright: Dennis Sale
Good Teaching – Science or Art?
Copyright: Dennis Sale
What is Pedagogy?Pedagogy has evoked much debate in terms of adequatedefinition. Approaches to pedagogy have gone through various phases, focusing on such aspects as ‘teaching styles’, ‘paradigms of learning’, ‘models and methods of teaching’ and the ‘context of teaching’.
…any conscious activity by one person designed to enhance learning in another.
(Mortimore, 1999, p.3)
Pedagogic Design
A systematic approach, using evidence-based principles and practices, for creating learning experiences (strategies incorporating instructional methods, activities and resources) to facilitate desired learning outcomes for a group of students
Good pedagogic design is both systematic and creative – skillfully utilizing available resources and being responsive to the situated context (adaptable to what actually happens in real learning situations)
Education is a Creature of Fashion
Traditional (3 RRR’s) - Progressive Education - Back to Basics (Traditional)PBL - no longer ‘Sage on the Stage’ but ‘Guide on the Side’ (Constructivism)
Failure of Teacher Education ProgrammesReport by the American Federation of teachers (April 2000) called for teacher-training programmes to develop a credible core in pedagogy:
“We can no longer tolerate a ‘do your own thing’ pedagogy curriculum”
“What teachers are told...is that student differences are important and if their teaching is truly creative, energetic and engaging, they will succeed inindividualizing and bringing forth the best from all students. In effect teachers are being taught to make diagnoses that heighten their awareness of differences withoutadvancing their ability to teach”
(Stone, 2002, p.43)
Educational Jurassic Park
The present vogue is Constructivism and the teacher is no more the Sage on the Stage but the Guide on the Side
Copyright: Dennis Sale
“...move educational reform efforts from the fuzzy and unproductive world ofIdeology – which sometimes hides under the various banners of constructivism –to the sharp and productive world of theory-based research on how people learn” (Mayer, R., 2004, p.18)
Paradigms/Perspectives
“Perspectives are neither good nor bad. They are simply philosophical orientations to knowledge, learning and the role and responsibility of being a teacher. Therefore, it is important to remember that each of these perspectives represents a legitimate view of teaching when enacted appropriately. Conversely, each holds the potential for poor teaching”
(Pratt, 2002, p.14)
“What is needed more than a philosophy of education is a science of education. Modern attempts at educational improvement point back to theorists (Piaget, Vygotsky, and Dewey) whose theories are vague by current psychological standards and lack the strong connection to empirical evidence that has become standard in the field”
(Anderson, 1998, p.237)
Copyright: Dennis Sale
Typical framing
Many teaching approaches are embedded in a paradigm oflearning and stress particular methods, such as lectures, PBL, inquiry based learning, technology-based learning,etc. Furthermore, this typically leads to questions aboutparticular approaches and methods, e.g.,:• Are lectures a poor way to teach?• Is cooperative learning effective?• Does computer enhanced teaching help achievement?
Copyright: Dennis Sale
Wrong Questions?
“Maybe these are the wrong questions. Asking which teaching method/technique is best is analogous to asking what tool is best –a hammer, a screwdriver, a knife, or pliers. In teaching, as in carpentry, the selection of tools depends on the task at hand and the materials one is working with.
Books and lectures can be wonderfully efficient modes of transmitting new information for learning, exciting the imagination, and honing students’ critical faculties – but one would choose other kinds of activities to elicit from students their pre-conceptions and level of understanding,or help them to see the power of using metacognitive strategiesto monitor their learning”
(Bransford, 1999, p.22)
Copyright: Dennis Sale
Better frame
• Using a core set of universal learning principles to design teaching strategies (in context of subject matter, learning outcomes, student cohort, etc) will enable teachers to construct effective and situated learning designs without the chaos of competing alternatives and plethora of jargon
• Focusing on how people learn will help teachers move beyond dichotomous views that have long plagued the field of education (e.g., Behaviourism vs Constructivism), etc)
Copyright: Dennis Sale
Towards a Science of Learning
…over the past 3 decades, we have amassed enough research and theory about learning to derive a truly research based-model of instruction.
(Marzano, 1992, p.2)
There are systematic and principled aspects of effective teaching, and there is a base of verifiable evidence of knowledge that supports that work in the sense that it is like engineering or medicine.
(Darling-Hammond & Bransford, 2006, p.12)
Copyright: Dennis Sale
The Serial Position Curve80
70
60
50
40
30
20
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Position on List
Pro
port
ion
Cor
rect
Primacy Effect
Recency Effect
von Restorff Effect
Psychological Effects
• Primacy Effect (the tendency for the first items presented in a series to be remembered better or more easily)
• Recency Effect (the tendency for the most recently presented items or experiences to be remembered best)
• Von Restorff Effect (the tendency to remember distinct or novel items and experiences)
Implications of the Serial Position Curve for the design of learning experiences
• How lessons can be designed and conducted to reduce students drifting into the world of bla
• What are the ways to exploit the psychological effects that affect perception?
Model of Human Memory
SightHearingTouchSmellTaste
SightHearingTouchSmellTaste
WorkingMemory5-9 bits of
information
Long –TermMemory
ENVIRONMENT Forgetting
Effective transfer from Working Memory to Long –Term Memory is crucial. This requires information to be well organised, meaningful and sufficiently rehearsed
Infinite Capacity
Physiology of learningLearning results in connections between neuronsAs we learn neurons connect with each other and pass on information. At the physiological level, learning results from the development of connected groups of neurons. As learning is reinforced, myelin is produced which enhances long term memory.
Learning is part of an Holistic System
Learning is not simply the result of cognitive processes, such as memorizing and thinking, but is profoundly influenced by our beliefs and emotions, which in turn are affected through our interactions with significant others and events in the external world.
How these play out in our minds will shape our psychological state at any point in time.
Magic Eggs - Story
“Mum, Mum, you don’t have to buy eggs anymore coz I’m laying them”
“We forget that beliefs are no more than perceptions, usually with a limited sell by date, yet we act as though they were concrete realities”
(Adler, H., 1996)
“We forget that beliefs are no more than perceptions, usually with a limited sell by date, yet we act as though they were concrete realities”
(Adler, 1996, p.145)
... And they shape our Psychological State (attitude) to the situation we are in
Beliefs
Cognitive Dissonance
ExistingBeliefs
New experience,which creates a
perception that…
I’m laying eggs
Chickens lay eggsI am not a chicken
Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance
ExistingBeliefs
New experience,which creates a
perception that…
I can do this
I can’t do thisI am not smart
Cognitive Dissonance
Imitation & Mirror Neurons
“...when two people are interacting with each other, the same brain structures are simultaneously activated in both of their brains. When you see someone reachingfor a cup of coffee, your brain does not just process the visual percept of hand plus cup – it also reproduces the action. Your brain mimics other people’s actions even if you do not”
(Blakemore & Frith, 2005, p.161)
This has big implications for our we impart beliefs and values to students. To a large extent, what they see in our behaviour – their perception may be central to how we might influence them in the affective domain, for better or for worst.
Beliefs & Emotional Intelligence: Caught in the Act
The Importance of ‘Emotionally Intelligent’ Teachers
How emotions impact learning• Determining attention• Memory and recall• Associate learning with pleasure, novelty and pain – hence
can foster intrinsic interest, perseverance, etc – or kill it• Influence the affective climate of the classroom
“The emotions that teachers display – both consciously and unconsciously – can significantly enhance or inhibit student learning”
(Powell & Powell, 2010)
Understanding Human Learning
“Contrary to common belief, people don’t have different learning styles. They do, however, have different personalities. The distinction is important, because we need to be clear that everybody learns in the same way” (Schank. R., 1999, p.48)
“While our lives and our problems are very different, our brains work in similar ways” (Goulston, 2009, p.3)
Motivation & Learning
ConstructingProductiveSubjectiveExperience
1. Perception (pleasure, novelty, pain avoidance) (Survive, Belong, Power, Freedom, Fun)
2. Positive Psychological State
3. Reframing
Buy into the experience
Rapport Building
PositiveParticipation
4 Results to Crack the Code
Gain attention quickly when desired
Create good rapport
Imbue positive beliefs and psychological states
Make learning relevant
and meaningful
Importance of these Results
• Its biologically impossible to learn anything that you’re not paying attention to; the attentional mechanism drives the whole learning and memory process” (Robert Sylwester, 1998)
• “If you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right” (Henry Ford)
• “The difference between acting badly or brilliantly is not based on your ability, but on the state of your mind…” (Anthony Robbins, 2001)
• “The more we make school learning like real life, the more the brain, with its rich capabilities, will sort it out” (Eric Jensen, 1997)
• “Rapport is the ultimate tool for producing results with other people” (Anthony Robbins, 2001)
Core Principles of Learning
1. Learning goals, objectives and expectations are clearly communicated
2. Learners’ prior knowledge is activated and connected to new learning
3. Motivational and Attentional strategies are incorporated into learning designs
4. Content is organized around key concepts and principles that are fundamental to understanding the key structure of a subject
5. Self-directed learning is encouraged through facilitating the development of good thinking
Core Principles of Learning [cont’d]
6. Instructional methods and presentation mediums engage the range of human of senses (e.g. visual, auditory, kinaesthetic)
7. Learning design takes into account the working of memory systems
8. Learner competence is promoted through active and experiential learning
9. A psychological climate is created which is positive, success orientated and promotes self-esteem
10. Assessment practices are integrated into the learning design to promote desired learning outcomes and provide quality feedback
Core Principles - A Synergetic System
While each principle focuses attention on a key area relating to effective pedagogy, they are not discrete or separate in that they should be considered independently of each other. In fact, they are mutually supporting, interdependent and potentially highly synergetic.
As Stigler & Hiebert (1999) highlight:
Teaching is a system. It is not a loose mixture of individual features thrown together by the teacher. It works more like a machine, with the parts operating together and reinforcing one another, driving the vehicle forward. (p.75)
Using Core Principles Thoughtfullyin the Situated Context of learning
The core principles of learning must always be used thoughtfully in relation to the following situated factors:
The specific learning outcomes (e.g., recall of facts, conceptual understanding, competence, etc)
Learner characteristics (e.g., motivational level, prior competence, learner preferences, etc)
Learning context and resource availability (e.g., learning environment, facilities, resources, etc)
It’s a bit like driving – good drivers are able to adjust situationally to different and changing driving conditions
<>
One dark foggy night in Halifax, as Percy Shaw was driving home, he saw two small green lights, very close together near the edge of the road. He was curious so he stopped and saw the ‘lights’ were a pair of cats eyes reflecting the light from his head lights. Percy got back in the car full of ideas and subsequently invented a small deviceinvolving two marbles placed close together in a rubber casing; this would then be set in the road at intervals between the lanes of traffic.
After a year of experiments, Percy patented the invention and then, in 1935, formed his company, Reflecting Roadstuds Ltd. (That’s Innovation & Enterprise)
What is Creativity?A product or response will be judged creative to the extent that
it is novel, useful or a valuable response to the task at hand. (summarized from Amabile, 1996, p.35)
Creative Teaching
Do you know Java script well?
Yes, I do, I once had a girlfriend
from Jakarta
How technical am I?
Creative teaching occurs when a teacher combines existing knowledge in some novel form to get useful results in terms of facilitating student learning. This may be either planned before the act of teaching, or invented as a response to the demands of the learning situation
Creative PlanningNewton's second law of motion can be formally stated as follows:The acceleration of an object as produced by a net force is directly proportional to the magnitude of the net force, in the same direction as the net force, and inversely proportional to the mass of the object.
What would happen to the ball if these conditions were changed:
1. The opposition played a trick on David and put down a much heavier ball
2. David plays a trick on the opposition by doing extra power training and can now hit the ball some 10% harder
A Creative Solution – Situated Invention
Kolkata Story
What is SHAPE ?
Stories Humour
Act
iviti
es
Presentation Style
Exa
mpl
es
A Heuristic for the design of creative learning experiences
The Power of SHAPE“We understand everything in human life through stories”
(Jean-Paul Sartre)
“Humour is by far the most significant behaviour of the brain”(Edward De Bono)
“Learning activities are the best and most productive way to learn”
(Lambert and Coombs)
“The meaning of your communication is the response that you get”
(Bandler & Grinder)
“A fine example nurtures learners, enhancing their concentration and effort”
(Wlodkowski)
Using SHAPE to Shape the learning experience
• Stories told to provide context, understanding and emotional anchors
• Humour used to achieve rapport and provide novelty• Activities provided to integrate, apply and consolidate
learning• Presentation style employed (e.g., words, tone, body
language – as well as observation and listening) to provide clarity, meaning and influence student attention, beliefs and psychological states
• Examples used to illustrate facts, concepts, principles, procedures
…and use these Resources Creatively
SHAPE as a Metaphor for Expert Teaching
“...expert teachers use a repertoire of strategies, selecting the most appropriate for use in a particular context and adapting it if necessary for a group of learners
A pedagogic repertoire consists of two aspects: approaches, activities, examples, analogies and illustrations for representing facts, skills, concepts, beliefs and attitudes to others; and the skills and strategies used as an integral part of these approaches “
(Turner-Bisset, 2001, p.69)
Importance of Stories to Learning
“People listen well to stories – especially those with a lot of concrete,sensory detail.”
Maggie Bedrosian
“Human beings are touched on a universal level with stories”Grady Jim Robinson
“Storytelling and understanding are functionally the same thing” Roger Shank
“Stories offer entertainment, and humans love to have a good time – which is why we pay entertainers more than we pay educators”
Joanna Slan
The Benefits of Humour for Learning
• Refreshes the brain• Creates mental images that retain
learning• Reinforces desired behaviour and
makes classroom management easier
• Develops positive attitudes• Promotes creativity• Contributes to the enjoyment of
teaching
The Health Benefits of Humour
The medical profession has something to say about humour. Laughter causes lungs to pump out carbon dioxide, muscles to relax tension, the cardiovascular system to be exercised, and blood pressure to be reduced.
Perhaps most important…endorphins, which are chemicals produced by the brain to relieve pain and boost the immune system, are released into the bloodstream when a person laughs
(Barth, 1990, p.170)
"The simple truth is that happy people generally don't get sick." Bernie Siegel, M.D.
Activities
Learning is not a spectator sport. Students do not learn much just by sitting in class listening to teachers, memorizing pre-packaged assignments, and spitting out answers. They must talk about what they are learning, write about it, relate it to past experiences, apply it to their daily lives. They must make what they learn part of themselves.
(Chickering & Gamson)
However, activities for activity sake is as bad as dull lecturing - in fact the second sin of teaching. Good activities must be meaningful, challenging but achievable, and effective in terms of facilitating the desired learning outcomes
Questions: A Powerful Short Activity
“Questions are the primary way we learn virtually everything”
“Thinking itself is nothing but the process of asking and answering questions”
“Questions immediately change what we focus on and, therefore, how we feel”
(Anthony Robbins, 2001, pp.179-8)
Presentation Style: Much more than talking
We experience other people through our senses – do they look nice, sound nice, feel nice, smell nice....
Presentation Style refers to all the behaviours we exhibit in the communication process:
What we say and how we say it Body language and how well calibrated to voice (words and tone) How we respond to others – listening Sensory Acuity – awareness of what’s going on – observation, listening, meaning making
“Its not the matter you cover so much as it is the manner in which you cover it”
James Rohn
Example of Examples and other bits of SHAPE?
Re-defining the World of BlaWhere X = ?
ATTENTION
SESSION TIME (minutes)0 15 30 45 60
(%age)
100
80
60
40
20
XX X X
X
Copyright: Dennis Sale
The Wolf – Stag Effect
RunRun Run
Run
Wolves and stags are equally fast. In a chasesituation the stags run continually, but the wolves stop for rests. Do the stags usually escape?
Rest Rest
A Metaphor for Highly Effective & Creative Teaching
CORE PRINCIPLES
SHAPE
Modelling SHAPE ResourcesSelect a Resource Area below and model what it takes to
develophighly effective use. Follow the question templates provided inthe following slides:
• Stories• Humour• Activities• Presentation Style• Examples
Stories
What are the different ways in which stories can be used to promote effective learning?
How to tell stories for effective learning impact?
Where can I get useful stories to make my lessons more interesting?
“We understand everything in human life through stories”Jean-Paul Sartre
Humour
What are the different types of humour that can be used in the classroom?
What are the different purposes for using humour in teaching?
How to use humour effectively?
Where can I get resources of humour that will work for me?
“Humour is by far the most significant behaviour of the brain”(Edward De Bono)
Activities“learning activities are the best and most productive way to learn”
(Lambert and Coombs, 1998)
What are the different types of activities I could use?
What is important in designing and managing activities?
Where do I get relevant activities that will be challenging but achievable for the students I teach?
Presentation Style“The meaning of your communication is the response
that you get” (Bandler & Grinder, 1990)
What are the various aspects of a persons presentation style that make it effective in creating productive learning experiences?
How can I develop a presentation style that is both effective and fits my personality?
Examples“A fine example nurtures learners, enhancing their concentration and effort”
(Wlodkowski, 1999)
What makes an example a good example?
When is it most effective to use examples?
Where can I get good examples for the topics I teach?
Online Learning in the Creative Teaching Framework
The core principles that underpin good learning design in the face-to-face learning context are equally applicable to designing and managinglearning in the online environment. Learning online does not changethe way the human brain functions or the basic processes of learning.
Colvin Clarke (2005) illustrates this fundamental point when he arguedthat:
The most robust instructional principles are those based on a model of human psychological learning processes….Any given instructional method will be effective or ineffective depending on the extent to which it supports or disrupts basic-learning psychological processes regardless of the delivery media. (p.594)
You also need to get the learning design into SHAPE
Blended Learning – A new term in educationalists picnic basket?
“Blending is an art that has been practiced by inspirational teachers for centuries. It centres on the integration of different types of resources and activities within a range of learning environments where learners can interact and build ideas”
(Littlejohn and Pegler, 2007, p.1)
“Blended learning is the combination of different training “media” (technologies, activities, and types of events)to create an optimum training for a specific audience”
(Bersin, J. ,2004, xv)
Rationale for blended learningCombining online learning with face-to-face teaching (and learning) to gain the maximum benefit in terms of quality and efficiency from both delivery modes.
“The goal of blended learning is to synthesize training media into an integrated mix – one you can tailor to create a high impact, efficient and exciting training program”
(Bersin, 2004, xvi)
A Design Frame1. Irrespective of the platform or software used, the learning
event must be based on ‘good’ learning design2. Good learning design is always grounded on core principles
of learning3. Core principles of learning must be thoughtfully applied in
relation to: desired learning outcomes/subject content learner characteristics (e.g., motivation, background of students,
etc) actual environment & resource availability
4. Various ICT’s are considered in terms of their capability to enhance specific aspects of the learning process (e.g., effectiveness and/or efficiency)
5. The completed blended learning design maximizes the affordances of a range of learning modes and mediums
Utilizing online capability
Firstly, it is important to be aware of what unique capabilities areprovided by online technologies. These are typically:• Anytime, anyplace access to online resources• Hyperlinked multi-modal, dynamic content• Global social networking
Secondly, it is necessary to identify specific technologies and theirpotential learning enhancement capabilities (e.g., which e- tools canenhance specific aspects of learning, for what learners, how and inwhat contexts, etc?). In that e-tools support any of the coreprinciples, there are possible enhancements to aspects of the learningprocess.
Hyperlink the ‘Killer’ online feature?
“…the hyperlink, which is practicably without counterpart in the physical world of traditional academics. Within an internet document, hyperlinks are used to bring multisourced information into the primary text or to give the reader a path to alternative media. In essence, this eliminates the physical separation of material messages that are logically connected. In addition to text, hyperlinked messages may be pictures, sound files, animations, or video clips. External links can refer students to other information-rich Internet sites, including personal Web pages, specialized bibliographies, and professional specialists”
(Hamilton, S. & Zimmerman, S., 2002, p.270)
To O or not to O? – that is the Question
1. Will the online components enhance the quality of student learning (e.g., increase the potential learning effectiveness for a group of learners – based on how the design positively impacts Core Principles and SHAPE)?
2. What are the relative costs in resources (e.g., money, time, etc) in using online components as compared to face-to-face teaching? We may be prepared to trade-off some effectiveness for significant gains in efficiency (e.g., in the case of motivated distance learners)
Stories“We understand everything in human life through stories”
Jean-Paul Sartre
What are the different ways in which stories can be used to promote effective learning?
Introduce a topic/concept; Illustrate key concepts and/or principles in real world contexts-enhance understanding; Create emotional anchors for learning; Model good attitudes and dispositions; Build rapport
What is important in telling stories? Clear lively presentation; Relevance to the topic; Timing and emphasis of key learning point(s) in story; Involve students; Draw out relevance if necessary; Sensitivities
Where can I get useful stories to make my lessons more interesting?
Experience; Colleagues, Newspapers; Books; Students, Internet; Folk tales; Industry journals/personnel; TV/Videos
Humour“Humour is by far the most significant behaviour of the brain”
Edward De Bono
What are the different types of humour that can be used in the classroom?
Jokes; Riddles; Anecdotes; Cartoons; Stories; One-liners, Body Language; Impersonations; Funny’ objects
What are the different purposes for using humour in teaching?
Get attention; Change psychological state; Icebreaker for new class; Break up periods of teacher talk; Illustrate a fact, concept or principle; Build rapport
What must we consider carefully before using humour?
Political correctness (ethnicity, gender, sexuality); Timing; Presentation style
Where can I get resources of humour that will work for me?
Experience; Colleagues; Internet; Joke books; Journals; Newspapers; TV; videos; Create; Watch and learn from a comedian – model jokes and style
Activities“Learning activities are the best and most productive way to learn”
Lambert and Coombs
What are the different types of activities?
Specific learning tasks; Quizzes; Competitions; Projects; Visits; Forums; Simulations; Cases; Work experience; Brain gym/puzzles; Experiments; Role play; Songs
What is important in designing and managing activities?
Relevant to learning outcomes; Challenging but achievable; Real life; Meet logistic/support demands; Clear notes of guidance for students; Assessment opportunities; Clear instructions; Create atmosphere; Maintaining interest and discipline; Resources allocation and use; Monitoring
Where do I get relevant activities that will be challenging but achievable for the students I teach?
Produce; Colleagues; Resource centres, Internet; Local community/industry;
Various media
Presentation Style“The meaning of your communication is the response
that you get” Bandler & Grinder
What are the various aspects of a persons presentation style that make it effective in creating productive learning experiences?
Clarity and Pace of voice; Tone; Body language; Variety of style;
Eye contact; Smile
How can I develop a presentation style that is both effective and fits my personality?
Prepare well; Observe effective presenters; Receive feedback from good presenters; Watch videos of highly effective presenters; Practice, evaluate and modify
Examples“A fine example nurtures learners, enhancing their concentration and effort”
Wlodkowski
What makes an example a good example?
Relevant to concept, principle, skill being taught; Students can relate to it through their own experiences; It has a strong real life current impact. These provide maximum opportunity for understanding
When is it most effective to use examples?
Before or immediately following the teaching of a concept, principle procedure or skill; When concepts are abstract or difficult to visualise
Where can I get good examples for the topics I teach?
Resource centres, Books, Industry journals, Own experiences, Colleagues, Internet, Create yourself, Commercial packages
Developing your Creative Teaching Competence:
• Desire to teach creatively• Understand the science and art of creative teaching• Develop a wide range of Resources, be able to Reframe and
create interesting Strategies (get into great SHAPE)• Willingness to take some risks• Do it – Be the Best You Can (Total Pedagogy)
A bit like a creative life
“Dying is tragic, but dying without having actually ever lived is the ultimate tragedy”
Eric Fromm
Copyright: Dennis Sale