Week 14 (23/04/16) – Cultural and Professional
With assignment deadlines looming it has been another
quiet week, with the majority of our time having been spent on our work. One
particular highlight, however, was our visit to ‘Jægersborg Dyrehave’, a huge forest
where we saw lots of deer and, for the first time in a long time, got to
experience the natural beauty of the countryside; this is something that I certainly
take for granted at home and have missed a lot during my time in Copenhagen.
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| With our friend Tom at 'Jægersborg Dyrehave' |
After celebrating Queen Margrethe II’s birthday in
style last week with a visit to the royal palace, we decided to celebrate the
birthday of our own Queen this week by hosting a Royal Tea Party at our flat on
Thursday. Preparations were underway on Wednesday evening; whilst Hannah and
Emma made top-hats, I started on the chocolate cake. To my despair, it came out
of the oven burnt and after sampling, was declared inedible, due to a peculiar
taste. After an initial panic that my baking skills had caused this disaster and
ruined what was to be the centrepiece of our table, it transpired that Hannah
had bought the wrong butter; thankfully my culinary skills were no longer to
blame! The cake was quickly binned and replaced with a traditional egg sponge
topped with cream and raspberries; this looked far more British than a
chocolate cake would have anyway! Upon our return from class on Thursday we
quickly got ready; a quick clean of the flat, some homemade Union Jack bunting
and a batch of scones later, we were ready to welcome our guests. When our
friends arrived, we gathered around the table and tucked into the food; introducing
three Austrians, two Belgians, a Lebanese and an Italian to a traditional ‘cuppa’
accompanied by scones with cream and jam was particularly enjoyable. After food
and a few mandatory rounds of ‘Jungle Speed’ the noise complaint we received
from the flat below was evidence of a great night’s craic had by all.
One class in particular this week, the ‘Learner’s
Academic, Social and Personal Development’, was also particularly interesting
and beneficial for me in my professional development. In Professional
Competence 21, The General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland (2011) outline
that teachers must employ strategies that motivate and meet the needs of all pupils. During class, we examined the
definitions presented by Long et al. (2011) regarding intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation as well as the use of positive and negative reinforcement as
behavioural approaches to motivating students. It was useful to consider a controversial
point discussed by Long et al. (2011); the idea that, in terms of motivation,
punishment is best avoided and positive reinforcement is preferable. When it
comes to praising students in order to motivate them, the authors also discuss
the importance of teachers drawing attention to both students’ efforts and strategies, rather than simply
providing meaningless feedback which is centred only on ability or achievement.
Interestingly, this point is also made by CCEA (2009) who discuss the concept
of an ‘AFL’ (Assessment for Learning) culture with its emphasis on effort
rather than ability. It is evident, however, that different forms of motivation
and praise work for different students and that teachers must adopt the
approaches that they think are best in order to ensure that all children are
enabled to reach their full potential.
It is hard to believe that five weeks from today we
will be boarding our plane to Dublin; with so much still to see and do, we have
a busy time ahead! But, for now, farvel!
Reference List
CCEA (2009) Assessment for Learning: A Practical Guide, Belfast,
CCEA.
General Teaching Council
for Northern Ireland (2011) Teaching: the
Reflective Profession, Belfast, General Teaching Council for Northern
Ireland.
Long, M., Wood, C.,
Littleton, K., Passenger, T. and Sheehy, K. (2011) The Psychology of Education (2nd edn), Oxon, Routledge.
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