Bernie's MindLab Blog

Activity Eight:  Practice and Changes Reflective Practice and Changes in Practice “Reflection as a slogan for educational reform also recognises that the process of learning to teach continues throughout a teacher’s entire career, a recognition that no matter what we do in our teacher education programmes, and no matter how well we do them, at best, we can only prepare teachers to begin teaching.” Carlgren, Handal, Vaage (1994). I think it’s important to keep abreast with the changes occurring in the educational arena. I’m always feeling challenged by trending new innovations. I worry I will get left behind, therefore crystalizing and redefining my pedagogy is important because it enables me to embrace these new changes. Change can be confronting and yet it can also be liberating. As teachers we often define who we are from the work we do. It is this work of building strong relationships with our students that will enable us to engage with them more effectively.  In ...

Activity Seven: Crossing Boundaries We are always looking at new ways of improving teaching and learning. Interdisciplinary innovation is not really new. I can remember ‘thematic’ approaches to learning, where all subject areas were squeezed in under a theme. At times some subject areas just didn’t fit and consequently had to be left out. Integrated learning was captivated under the umbrella of a specific theme. I can recall ‘Olympic Games’ as one such interdisciplinary; cross curricular theme. Historically there has been no shortage of theorists and educators advocating for interdisciplinary learning; Tyler, (1949) saw integration as the horizontal connection necessary for a coherent curriculum, and similarly, Bloom,(1958) advocated an inquiry-oriented, integrated curriculum that “opened up possibilities,” of understanding and relevance in learning. I have used Bloom’s Taxonomy in my practice over the years in an effort to encourage a broad range of skills across curriculum ...

Activity Six Applied Practice in Context assessment 2 The use of social media is gaining rapid momentum. It has surged globally in recent years and its use; to connect formal and informal learning and allow students to connect in new and meaningful ways is becoming more evident (Mazer, Murphy, & Simonds, 2007; 2009). Over the last eight years I have taken groups of senior students on six week social justice trips across India. We blogged our way around the country and students each had a turn to voice their experiences of our journey, giving their account of events throughout the time spent there. Adding also their choice of photos to add value to the blog. Blogging enabled us to embrace the school values and share our experiences of how we addressed issues around social justice and share personal and valuable insights from recalled events. Students utilized language and writing skills to capture key ideas and their ability to portray vivid imagery of the places we w...