Week 8

Week 8

This is the last PIDP course that I have to complete before doing the Capstone project. There has been a lot  that I have learned throughout the program. I learned how to use media more effectively, learned how to do journals, create better testing material, and also met a lot of interesting people. I started the program a few years back and in hindsight it would been easier to do one module after another. I completed a couple of the PIDP courses in the classroom and also completed some online. The online experience was new to me and I quite enjoyed it. The online program works well when you are too busy to attend classes. It gives the learner a lot of flexibility. The PIDP program gives you the tools to better prepare for the class. Stephan Brookfield’s book on teaching was a good instructional manual.

Week 7

Week 7 Blog

Brookfield discusses “exercising teacher power responsibly” in chapter 18. I have had teachers that were on a power trip. They would abuse the power they had over their class. I also have had colleagues that relish the power they have over students. The power that we assume as instructors has to be used with care. As instructors we have to exercise that power only when it is necessary. A student should not feel threatened in the classroom. The learner should feel open to ask questions without fear. Here is an article on teacher power abuse:

http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-48-fall-2014/abuse-of-power

Week 6

Brookfield chapter 6 deals with lecturing in a classroom. When I deal with a certain subject I will explain areas we are going to cover, what the outcomes will be and then begin the lecture. In the trades program it is quite common to lecture on various subjects. During the lecture I use examples to simplify the subject. I also use visual aid to further explain concepts that are hard to understand. The lecture has to be interesting or the learner may be bored and inattentive. The lecture must be focused and not dealing with different unrelated things.

https://teachingcommons.stanford.edu/resources/teaching-resources/teaching-strategies/checklist-effective-lecturing

Week 5

Chapter 16 and 17 in Brookfield’s book was understanding and dealing with students’ resistance to learning. I agree with Stephen Brookfield that resistance to learning is based on the fear of change. We are happy with the way we do certain things and do not want to learn new ways of doing these things. When we are learning something new we are changing the way we have always done it. We are not the same person as we were when we learn something new. I find adult students in college who are paying for the program they have enrolled in are keen to learn new skills, as their careers may depend on these new skills. This may not be true in the high schools, where you have to be there and the students have a lower maturity level. If our survival depends on it, we are happy to learn something new. See link below:

http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/resistan.htm

Chapter 9

After reading chapter 9 on racism by Brookfield, I don’t think it is an issue of race as much as it is an issue of class. If you are a member of the upper class you would not experience racism as often as students attending public schools in a lower class neighbourhood. Racism exist is schools in the lower class neighbourhoods because these schools are predominately attended by less wealthier families. This is more of an issue in the United States. Most of the prisons in the U.S. are occupied by the poor. In Canada the families that can afford to send their children to private schools, where the class size is much smaller and more attention is paid to individual students, do not have issues with racism. The public schools are turning into daycare centers as opposed to learning centers due to lack of funding by successive governments in B.C. The instructor spent more time babysitting than teaching due to the large class sizes. Here is an interesting article on classism: http://www.classism.org/about-class/what-is-classism/

Brookfield's Core Assumptions

I agree with most of what Brookfield says in chapter two. The first thing I like to do when starting a new class is to introduce myself and have the class introduce themselves to me and their peers. The introduction process allows me to explain my background in the field I am teaching and what is expected from the class. The introduction allow me to gauge prior learning the learner may have and their background in the field. As an instructor I have to keep up to date because the products used in the field are latest technology.

I don't agree with walking out of the classroom.I find most student want to be in the classroom because they have paid for their course and expect to gain knowledge and experience. A few of the students who are there because of some government funding program do not apply themselves as much because they are not as serious. I have taught electrical programs to high school students and find you have to establish authority with the younger adults early in the process or the class can be hijacked by a few students who don't want to be there.

Here are some links to some of my peers blogs.

https://achangingmind.wordpress.com/
https://pidpwill.wordpress.com/
https://robinm79.wordpress.com/ .
 http://anukumarme.tumblr.com/