Engaging the reluctant learner : Tuesday meeting 3/3/09
There was an excellent turnout for this meeting, so clearly the issue was one that struck a chord with many people.
Some of the issues discussed were :
How the fear that many students experience can lead to anxiety and aggression.
The interview process and follow-up.
How induction can help with alleviating fear, by building up positive relationships between lecturers and students, as well as between students in the group. We discussed a lot of issues around induction including the class lay-out, expectations of lecturers and students, teaching methods and styles and appreciating cultural differences. For some students this was their first time away from home and therefore consideration needed to be given to feelings of loss and isolation. It was agreed that it would be worth having more information and discussion on how we could develop induction throughout the college.
Feedback from students and how we process this. We discussed how we get feedback on our teaching and how we respond to this. Personal experiences were shared and there seemed to be a general agreement that there needed to be more opportunities for people to reflect on their practice. We thought this may be a good topic for another EDDG meeting.
Blogs as tools for reflection. Discussed how effective these were , and everyone was encouraged to add their comments to the EDDG blog.
There was an excellent turnout for this meeting, so clearly the issue was one that struck a chord with many people.
Some of the issues discussed were :
How the fear that many students experience can lead to anxiety and aggression.
The interview process and follow-up.
How induction can help with alleviating fear, by building up positive relationships between lecturers and students, as well as between students in the group. We discussed a lot of issues around induction including the class lay-out, expectations of lecturers and students, teaching methods and styles and appreciating cultural differences. For some students this was their first time away from home and therefore consideration needed to be given to feelings of loss and isolation. It was agreed that it would be worth having more information and discussion on how we could develop induction throughout the college.
Feedback from students and how we process this. We discussed how we get feedback on our teaching and how we respond to this. Personal experiences were shared and there seemed to be a general agreement that there needed to be more opportunities for people to reflect on their practice. We thought this may be a good topic for another EDDG meeting.
Blogs as tools for reflection. Discussed how effective these were , and everyone was encouraged to add their comments to the EDDG blog.
2 comments:
I agree that today's meeting was very informative.
One point I didn't say but was thinking...we are all professionals who want to create the best learning experience for all our students. And we all go above and beyond to do this at times. But we still must remember that after ALL that trying, sometimes we have to remember that we can never be ALL things to ALL people - just as in life outside the classroom.
Friday's Meeting:
Many of the same issues were discussed at this meeting but some additional items were:
Learning styles, and how we alter our teaching to accommodate a diversity of preferences.
Building positive group dynamics: discussed approaches to this, and agreed to share resources . I will set up a shared folder as a 'teaching toolbox', and run a session on group dynamics if there is enough interest.
Blogs and Wikis: these were discussed in relation to reflecting on our practice and encouraging students to reflect on their learning.
The resistant learning: we discussed the differences between a student who is reluctant, to one who is resistant. We need to consider the difficulties around postively reinforcing negative behaviour, often labelled as attention-seeking , and the need to give attention to individual students.
This led to a discussion around the need to develop positive relationships with students , based on personal (but professional) sharing of experiences and knowledge.
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