Brian's Blog

Reflective practice can be a beneficial process in teacher professional development, both for pre-service and in-service teachers. Reflective practice enables teachers to recognize the authority of their own teaching experiences that includes how students respond to their teaching. Reflective practice as defined by Schön (1996), involves thoughtfully considering one's own experiences in applying knowledge to practice while being coached by professionals in the discipline. Schön (1983) highlighted that the capacity to reflect on action so as to engage in a process of continuous learning was one of the defining characteristics of professional practice. This important interplay between experience and reflection is also influenced by the time of reflection, which has a dramatic impact on what can be seen and acted on. Anticipatory, retrospective, and contemporaneous reflection demand different skills and framing abilities (Loughran, 1996) and interact with experience in a variety of ...

It can be ascertained that by reading Glover et al., (2005), technology can enhance the pedagogy, subject to teachers and students engaging with it and understanding its potential.  It is a pedagogical means to achieve teaching and learning goals. Their outcomes aligned with my experience using the interactive whiteboards. The interactive whiteboard allowed the teacher to portray the information through a variety of illustration enhancing deeper understanding and engagement (Kennewell and Beauchamp, 2003). Examples of Augmented Learning achieved in my classroom that have enhancing deeper understanding and engagement. Many of these were achieved using social media such as Google Hangouts. • Virtual excursions around the Great Barrier Reef • Global games such as “ Travelling Buddies” • Class blogs & Twitter in the Classroom • Experts in the room • Global issues reporter • Mystery Locations • Not Perfect Hat Club • Blended Learning • Problem Based Learning I ...

Why we use video The use of video in the context of a lesson has significant impacts on both content retention and student engagement with McInerney and McInerney (1998, p.166-167) claiming that the technology provides students with ‘greater control over their own learning’ with benefits amounting to enhanced understanding resulting in ‘self-confidence, independence and autonomy’ within learning experiences. In the realm of language education, a key component across all key learning areas (KLA), Mejia (1999) extols the use of video as ‘valuable tool that can enhance a classroom experience’ through the acquisition and development of ‘listening, speaking and writing skills’ and using multiple ‘playbacks’, activities that include independent, group and whole class situations can elicit successful outcomes through ‘planned, flexible lessons, working with the level of the class’. ‘There is no one correct way to use video’ (Stempleski, 1987), however to not use this valuable tool within t...

Emotional Intelligence can be described as an innate response to emotions and the ability to effectively use, regulate and communicate  one's  feelings. It is also encompasses one’s ability to recognise, remember, describe and identify those feelings. As a result one is then able to learn from, manage, understand and explain those emotions. Theoretical Aspect In some circles E.I. has become the new “buzzword” in education since the publication of “Emotional Intelligence” by Daniel Goleman in 1995. Despite this heightened level of interest in E.I. over the past decade, philosophers and theorists have been studying social and emotional development as far back to the Greek philosopher Plato. In 427BC Plato philosophised that “all learning has an emotional base”. The word “philosophy” means “the love of wisdom”. This in  itself  reflects Plato’s words and reinforces that to learn, one must have an emotion or feeling that compels one...