Walking the e-Learning Talk

Really? How interdisciplinary can a Year 13 subject be? What is driving what we do? Why do we let competition for students and competition for assessment grades dictate how we structure our schools, and ultimately how we teach? Convincing a Skeptic  We all know that Geography is the most important subject to study. If you don't believe me read this and this as a starter. As a Year 13 Geography teacher, I initially default to a skeptical view of Interdisciplinary studies. Thoughts like "oh, that's something we could try at Y9; perhaps after exams in December when it doesn't really matter if it works" immediately permeate my mind. I wish they didn't. Increasingly I have been reading , reflecting and talking to teachers who are fostering a far more interdisciplinary approach to their teaching. Is that something I want? What about my assessment results? In my experience, the higher level a class, the more protective a teacher becomes. I am the same, I am h...

In a previous blog  I described some of the issues that I am currently perceiving when reflecting on the use of Social Media in Teaching. In this second post, I will concentrate and reflect a little more deliberately on my own use of social media, and how it helps we to gain access to information that I would potentially otherwise struggle to engage in.    Social media has huge potential in teaching. As noted in Sharples et al article, " Where the pedagogy is successful, social media can give learners reliable and interesting content, as well as opportunities to access expert advice, to encounter challenges, to defend their views and to amend their ideas in the face of criticism". This I clearly agree with, although I think the first 5 words of that though need to be bolded , italicised , CAPITALISED, and whatever else we can do to emphasize their importance! Limited Use in my Own Teaching My own experience is less in using Social Media in my teachin...

I would like to think that I am a relatively ethical individual. I think about ethics; and there are certain sectors in our society about whom I am happy to articulate my views regarding their ethical redundancy (property speculators, neo-liberalists, many politicians; the list goes on!)  But what about teachers?    As noted by Hall, even in the nearly 15 years I have been teaching I have perceived a blurring of the socialization roles of families and schools. Schools, and ultimately classroom teachers, are increasing been held responsible for addressing societies ills, be they physical health, relationship based, mental health, road safety et al. With these responsibility come inevitable ethical considerations.  The Social Media in School's Dilemma There is one area with the profession where there is clearly blurred ethical expectations; Social Media. The explosion of social media over the last decade has led to its integration and normalisation within ...

I have spent part of the week reading about Cultural Responsiveness and thinking really carefully about the relevance of these ideas for me, and my pedagogy. Reading the interesting paper entitled " Culturally responsive pedagogies in the classroom: indigenous student" there  was one phrase that really  got me thinking about my own school: "Schools that reflect  a dominant  culture represent invisible  cultures that can effectively  privilege students who share that dominant  cultural identity while simultaneously disadvantaging students whose cultures are different." What if the dominant  culture ofyour school, is in fact not the  dominant culture of its students ?  Thistles, boys in kilts, bagpipes and haggis play a massive role in the culture of our school - but is it our culture. Is there a a clear dichotomy  between the traditions, dress, symbols, religion and ceremonies of the culture that the school defines as being domin...