Leadership Challenge

 

Well, it has taken me a while to blog my reflection from the first session as it was something that I had to think of about what I feel about leadership and what leadership means to me. I believe that a leader is a person who is approachable and is aware of the next steps for the school and curriculum. Is able to motivate but is able to spot the weaknesses of their team but also their strengths. The current Head teacher I currently work for I believe does this and really motivates you to do more for them. From the last session, I have been discussing with my Head teacher what lies ahead for me in my future. When I first started teaching I was not interested in leadership I just wanted to teach but the more I have taught and taught in shall we say some “interesting/ challenging” schools and observed not such approachable leaders I have now become more inclined to become a leader. Hopefully, one day becoming an Early Years Manager or perhaps a Key Stage One leader (aspirations).

However, I believe I have got a few barriers to cross before I become an effective leader. From the Kolb Inventory I learnt that my learning style was a diverging style one where I like to observe situations and let others share their ideas rather than becoming more assertive in the way that I want it. This is completely true of me I HATE CONFLICT and do not want to cause any conflict between people and do not want to feel like I am offending anyone. I love working in a group and thinking of the idea as a group but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and make the decision on your own. To become a more effective leader I think you need to come out of your “comfort zone” and use a different learning style. I would like to use a more converging learning style in my leadership by experiment with new ideas, choose the best solution and make decisions. Making decisions is not always my strongest part. The leadership challenge will take me out of my comfort zone and make me feel uncomfortable in parts.

I have been thinking and discussed with my Head teacher about my leadership challenge. A massive focus for Early Years and Key Stage One is phonics and it something that I am very passionate about. Since I have started at this school I have been worried about the consistency in the way that phonics is taught and by the mixture of different schemes that are used in the school and the pace of each of the session. This is something that I would like to look at and to see if we can improve the results in the Year One phonics test. Last year, Year 1 got 83% of the cohort past the phonics check this was a rise from the previous last couple of years. This is something that I want to investigate further whether this data can be improved this year and to see whether as a school we can improve the consistency of phonics teaching in the school.

 

Well this is my first blog and on many deleted attempts this is what I have come up with for the learning and assessment.

It is hard to give a clear definition of learning but I believe that learning is a personal act. We each place our own personal stamp on how we learn, that we learn and when we learn. We in effect have our own learning style. Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences acknowledges learning as a holistic experience. The act of learning can sometimes come very easily. So simple, that we do not question its presence. Yet, when we encounter difficulties in learning something, we no longer take the learning process for granted. It is only then that our metacognition of how we learn is heightened.

When children first enter school the children think they are just ‘playing’  the children are not just playing they are learning through a “rich learning environment which provides them with the opportunities and conditions in which to flourish in all aspects of their development” (Early Years foundation stage profile). In my opinion, children have got more ownership of their learning in the Early Years as it is stated in the foundation stage that “A child’s embedded learning and secure development are demonstrated without need for overt adult support” (EYFS). In the early years more than in Key Stage One the children are taking complete ownership for their learning so are finding our own learning style.  “Children are strongly motivated to play, and can experience satisfaction and deep learning in play, as they bring their current interests,  questions and thinking together with strong motivation, so that they are able to function at their highest level.” (EYFS)The majority of evidence for EYFS profile judgements will come from the practitioner’s knowledge of the child rather than using the information that has been gained from a test.

As an Early Years Practitioner I have wanted to use some of this style of teaching and learning in my Year One class. There is a lot of evidence of Surface learning in Year 1 teaching the children lots of facts and skills for example how to add and how to subtract. A key area of surface learning in Year 1 is the phonics test especially the alien and “alien words” you are basically teaching the children for the test. Yes it does help them to read but do the children have to read alien words. Since being on this course I have been reflecting on my own teaching and seeing if I can get deeper learning to take place in my class. 

A way that I have been doing this is by children take more ownership of their learning especially there topic work. A clear example of this is Christopher Columbus topic. I asked the children to write on a post it what they have know about him once we have discussed this I have asked the children to write a question about what they would like to find out as you can imagine with a group of 5 year olds some of the questions are level 1 of Blooms Taxonomy Who was he? However, there were some higher level thinking Why do you think Christopher Columbus wanted to explore the world? Using the questions that the children have put I would use these as a basis for my planning and I would link them to the national curriculum for the rest of the half term. In this topic the children were really engaged and researched in their own time about Columbus as they had been part of the planning process and had owned their learning. The final part of the grid that we did at the end of the sessions the L part where the children write what they have learnt the children knew lots of new facts and were able to answer their questions. I am planning to do that in my next topic to see if the same enthusiasm comes from the children. There is a programme called Learning Challenge which supports this idea of ownership for the children’s learning the children think of their own question that they want to investigate and as a small group or individual have the opportunity to find out the answer to their question and present it in the way that they would like to for example a PowerPoint, video or poster. This in particular would be good for Year One as this is given them the independence to answer the question and to present it in the style that they would like to. In my opinion, this would give the children a deeper understanding of what they want to do.

Ellis (1985) described a learning style as the more or less consistent way in which a person perceives conceptualizes, organises and recalls information. The children’s’ learning styles will be influenced by their genetic makeup, their previous learning experiences, their culture and the society they live in.  Sue Davidoff and Owen van de Bery (1990) suggest four steps: plan, teach, observe and reflect. According to their research students learn better and quicker if the teaching methods used match their preferred learning styles. As learning improves, so does their self – esteem which has impact on their learning.  Due to these factors the student teacher relationship can improve because the child is more successful and is more interested in learning. 

As teachers we try to cater to the children’s’ preferred ways of learning. However, we should take into account that it is not always an easy task depending on the number of students that you have and the philosophy of the school. Unfortunately, some schools still see children as blank slates that can only learn from teacher – centred approaches.  The concept of learning styles puts an emphasis on the learner, making teachers rethink their instruction to try to maximize student achievement. The learning style theories should be developed to point that every student would have the right to have an option on how they access new learning material and how they are evaluated.  

The brain is made up of separate parts each with its own function.  The more ancient brain, the one that evolved first is called the limbic system. This is the part of the brain that controls the flight of fight complex. Input into the brain goes through the limbic system which decides where input data will be sent for further action.  When significant stress occurs, the chemical – electrical impulses which allow communication between the limbic system are so overwhelmed that the limbic system and the neocortex shuts down. When a child is placed in a stressful environment, the persons automatic reaction is called flight or flight. This is as creativity is often stifled and the student may react in ways which are confrontational and stressful. Natural learning vs classroom teaching. When young children come to their first year of school they have already learnt a lot about the world around them. They have usually learnt to speak, interact, communicate and know how to please and not please others. They have learnt these bits of information in a natural way without the formal structure and discipline that is evident in schools.  “They learn to pass tests, but fail to use their education for their personal growth. In addition, they leave school unprepared to cope with the increasing complexity of the world in which they live. “ (Edwards, 1994, p.341).

Individuals do not use knowledge learnt in school in everyday life, nor do they use everyday knowledge in school applications. In the natural learning that occurs outside of school, there are no boundaries, which separate one subject from another. Children are used to making inferences about how different subjects are interdependent and affect each other. It is only when children come to school that subjects are isolated from each other.

From the pressure of the curriculum many teachers give the information rather than get the children to understand the information. However, with the knowledge of the brain functioning that is currently available, as educations we must realise that unless information is labelled  and pathways developed, this information provides little help to the ability of a child to be successful in the world. Children need to construct the information in their brain. This construction will allow multiple pathways connecting that information to other stores within the brain. Knowledge should be constructed by the individual rather than being transmitted by the teacher.  Education can easily be confused with learning facts. Until information is process, labelled, stored and cross referenced with other memory in storage, the job of education is not finished.