Introduction
In the recent past, especially in the 1990s the purpose of formal education to students in all levels of education has been reexamined and redefined. More emphasis has been placed on converting the students to lifelong learners rather than just giving them the relevant information at the time; additionally, more emphasis has been placed on turning the students into active citizens in their country and preparing them for the challenging, unpredictable, and dynamic life of the 21st century (Barratt, 1998; Bentley, 1998; Boyd, 1998; Delors, 1996; Fullan, 1993, 1999; Hargreaves et al, 1996; Williamson, 1998). Among the key areas that have been noted as being essential in ensuring students get this benefit while in school is the lack of preparedness of teachers in handling learning issues that are outside their training.
Additionally, the world outside the education system is also changing; and looking for candidates who possess more that just the basic skills and knowledge relevant for the particular task at hand. The increasingly competitive job market is looking for a raft of individual qualities in a person that would allow him or her to operate optimally and with flexibility in situations that have been handled before and in new challenges that appear everyday. In this view, some traditional theories and modes of learning have therefore had to be abandoned for a completely different and better approach to the education of students at all levels.
At Underdale High School, where I’m a mathematics and science teacher, the teaching fraternity and management have recognized the need to produce candidates that are holistic in their outlook, not only of academics, but also of their community and indeed of the whole world. The latter has especially been necessitated by the diversity of our clientele in regards to their nationalities and ethnic origins. The main motivation and goal of the institution are to nurture resilient, optimistic and courageous individuals to lead our futures. Underdale offers the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program (IBMYP) in Years 8 – 10 and the South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE) for senior students. The Middle Years Program of the International Baccalaureate has been developed to incorporate the national and state curriculum design (SACSA) Framework.
Learning theories and their application in the program
The debate regarding the theories of learning had been silent for a long time until its revival in the closing years of the 20th century; this revival was seen in all sectors that were intimately involved in the study, formulation and application of education policies including psychology, education management and professional training; and also in the general public (Hargreaves et al, 1996).
In the face of an increasingly competitive world, the different players concerned with the future of the respective countries in regards to economic, technological and social competitiveness have recognized the need to invest in the young people of the country (Bentley, 1998); this means the allocation of significant resources both in terms of funding and creation of favorable policies that promote the creation of candidates that can take the leadership mantle in the future. More importantly however, is the separation between teaching and learning; while the political class can only pay for teaching, they cannot guarantee to learn.
Additionally, there has been recognition that by all players in and outside the academic fraternity that emphasis should be placed on acquisition of general life skills and favorable personal qualities as much as is placed on understanding of the syllabus and the curriculum. Such has been demonstrated by the job market that demands for more than just academic qualification. Therefore, in educating today’s candidates, a delicate balance has to be struck between mastering of the mandatory traditional knowledge, with the adjunct development of critical and analytical academic outlook; and the development of a broad range of personal qualities including flexibility, creativity, independence et cetera.
The process of learning
The process of learning occurs through engagement in two different activities. External interaction processes involve the activities that a candidate engages in relationship to his or her immediate social environment, cultural orientation and material environment. These factors are then processed by the candidate in form of an Internal psychological acquisition and elaboration of the experiences; and results in the production of new impulses that are then associated with prior learning experiences.
Additionally, learning consists of three dimensions; these include the cognitive, the emotional and the social dimensions. The cognitive dimension involves the understanding and acquisition of knowledge and skill. The social dimension involves the development of the ability to communicate and cooperate with people in the immediate environment (Furth, 1987). Lastly, the emotional dimension is concerned with the exploration of feeling elicited from the actual learning process and from interaction with the various people in the system; and the development of motivation not only to learn the standard curriculum material, but also to develop an inquisitive attitude towards acquisition of a broad range of knowledge even outside the constrains of the formal syllabus (Boyd, 1998; Hargreaves et al, 1996). These three dimensions coupled with the internal and external processes of learning are essential in ensuring that teaching activities translated in an equal or greater level of learning.
A lack of any of these factors during the processes of teaching and learning leads to a sub-optimum ratio between the two distinct but related events. At Underdale High School, we have taken this challenge to stride and are tackling the various aspects of well rounded education effectively and on a day to day basis. We aim to develop our young adolescent charges on various fronts including physical wellbeing, psychological, intellectual, moral and ethical needs. This is in addition to the excellent and detailed coverage of the prescribed curriculum relevant to each of the levels of the middle year’s education. At the institution, we always endeavor to satisfy the individual learning need of the diverse selection of students under our jurisdiction; this is achieved through the Special education program, Gifted learners program, Soccer academy and the English as a second language classes.
At Underdale, we have involved the students in activities that help them develop into all-round persons; this is through the development of the correct attitudes and outlook to enable them to adapt quickly and effectively in the 21st century life. We have also recognized that every day, the world is getting smaller and smaller with people from different heritages interacting more often and at more profound levels; I have to admit that the diversity of students that exists in Underdale has helped immensely in giving them a feel of international interaction. However, we still have to do a lot of work in terms of getting the students to appreciate that they are part of a global community; and that they are required to be able to fit in well in any part of the world that the may find themselves in.
Teaching and learning strategies at underdale middle years program
The Underdale Middle years program involves a student centered approach of inquiry and communication; where the student effectively ‘learns how to learn’. We have already appreciated that for effective learning to take place, some steps and processes have to be completed; failure to which a breakdown occurs between the instance of teaching and the process of learning. The program has been put in place in such a manner that it caters satisfactorily to the three dimensions of learning.
In the endeavor to cater to the cognitive dimension of learning, the program has adopted a comprehensive and balanced International Baccalaureate program that covers the traditional subject areas. The aim of this is to enable the learner to acquire knowledge and skills; and to broaden the understanding capacity and ability. This will enable such a candidate to build a personal functionality that is not only well informed, but is also able to cope with an environment that requires an elevated level of innate intelligence (Bentley, 1998). For the purposes of developing emotional dimensions of learning in the candidate, the program has created an environment that motivates the candidate to apply themselves effectively to achieve optimum outcome of any activity. This can only be achieved if such a person can strike a mental balance that allows such to have a sensible outlook not only of the aspects of academics, but also of his or her role in the immediate community.
Psychologists for a long time have recognized strong link between the cognitive and emotional functions of learning (Vygotsky 1986, Furth 1987); the field of neurology has also studied this link at depth; (Damasio, 1994); the link is provided by the internal process of learning where the candidates integrate the formal teaching with the social and emotional environment at the instance and generate emotions that determine whether learning will take place or not (in spite of the teaching). All cognitive learning is therefore driven by emotions that either aid or cripple the process; these include desire, motivation, compulsion and others. Any one of these emotional outcome can be influenced in a manner to increase or reduce and/or replace them with others if new information is acquired through cognitive learning; therefore, the two dimensions of learning can equally influence each other.
The social dimension is as important to learning as its cognitive and emotional contemporaries. The student does not remain in school forever; at some point, he or she should be able to go out into the society and apply the knowledge they have acquired in the various levels of education. The student has therefore to pick up the skills of communication and interaction in school if s/he is to be of any benefit to the society.
The five areas of interaction
The Underdale Middle year’s program has adopted a structure of interaction with the students that has five points and is aimed at ensuring that all the factors required for optimum learning are present; and that there is no break between the two distinct processes of teaching and learning. This is achieved through the engagement of the students in selected courses and in activities involving all the students; where they experience five distinct themes that act to bind all the (formal) subjects together. These five areas include;
Approaches to learning
This is sometimes known as ‘learning how to learn’. As mentioned before, teaching and learning are two different and distinct processes; even though they are related, the presence of one does not automatically lead to the other. There is a big part that the student has to play for effective learning to take place.
Many issues can stand in the way of learning; this includes a feeling of exclusion either from racism, xenophobia, sexism, homophobia and other negative perceptions. On the other hand, there can be a breakdown of communication between the teacher and the student; if the student is not proactive in asking questions during and after the session, then he or she leaves the classroom worse off than his or her contemporaries in the same session. Additionally, a student has to have a natural inquisitiveness that drives him or her naturally towards the acquisition of more knowledge; as such, the student can augment the knowledge acquired in the classroom in spite the failure to grasp such issues during a formal session. The student therefore has to ‘learn how to learn’; that is s/he has to be able to recognize that as much as getting taught is of great importance, the ultimate factor determining academic excellence is himself/herself.
Community and Service
This area is aimed at preparing the student to be productive citizens of their respective countries. As mentioned before, the 21st century is demanding more from a candidate than just academic qualification; one has to have some level of skill to be able to create a niche for himself/herself in the community.
Additionally, with technological advancement, the ability of a person to improve his/her status of living has improved tremendously. However, the ability of a person to harm another from just engaging in day to day activities has increased; for example, carbon emitted in one part of the world from industrial or domestic activities affects everyone on the planet through global warming. Members of the world society have to take more responsibility for their actions than ever before. That is why we have this area of interaction; to encourage our students to be responsible and caring members of the global community.
Underdale high school has various community and service activities through out the year that gives the students an opportunity to horn their skills in this sector. Such include representing the school in sport tournaments, debate sittings, tutoring and mentoring of junior scholars. Additionally, the students participate in activities to raise funds for charities.
The importance of this aspect in learning is emphasized by the fact that a candidate is evaluated for the amount of contribution in the activities and the respective merit recorded in their transitional portfolio. A candidate has to complete Community and Service in order to gain their Bright Futures and International Baccalaureate Middle Years certificates. The learning programs under this area of interaction are;
Co- Curricular Opportunities and Activities to reflect on school policies and practices
Student voice and leadership opportunities
- Academic and Problem-solving Competitions (including: Futures Problem solving, Tournament of Minds and subject-specific competitions)
- Debating & public speaking groups, Chess and Science clubs
- Adventure Skills and Outdoor Education
- Sporting Activities
- Community & Enterprise Opportunities (such as Service to our community, Young Achievers and Australian Business Week)
Health and Social education
This is in line with the institution’s aim of producing well rounded and balanced candidates. This area tackles both the mental and the physical wellbeing of the student.
Environment
Our planet is at crossroads; the cumulative effects of human activities have started to be seen and with a devastating magnitude; experts everywhere have reached a consensus that the global climate change that is causing the increasingly extreme weather phenomenon such as hurricanes, floods and drought is man made; and that a cataclysmic shift in the global climate precipitated by global warming is imminent if the current trend of atmospheric pollution continues unchecked.
At Underdale, the students are helped to understand and accept the reality of the consequences of the destruction of the environment; and are taught the various approaches to environmental conservation.
Human Ingenuity (Creativity and Enterprise)
The ability to think creatively is a gift of human nature that should be natured at every opportunity; at Underdale, we have developed systems that allow the students to express their inventiveness and creativity; one of the major methods used is the personal project discussed below.
Personal project
The International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program offered at Underdale High School has the unique characteristic of having the student complete a personal project before graduating from it. All five areas of interaction are central to the candidate’s ability to complete a viable personal project. This is not a single project presented over one instance; on the contrary, it is a collection of related work produced over a period of time starting towards the completion of the five year course. The candidate has the discretion of selecting a topic that they are comfortable with and enthusiastic about; and the project is not restricted to any single discipline; the projects usually range from original artworks, engineering inventions, creation of a website, new scientific experiments et cetera.
The student is therefore able to nature their creative thinking and practice inventive techniques; additionally, the students learn how to fulfill personal commitments since they get to pick the projects for themselves, and therefore learn personal discipline. Finally, the student is able to apply some of the theories taught in class into practical situations therefore aiding in the learning of these theories.
The role of assessment in learning
There is no escaping the fact that assessment is a mandatory part of any education system in the world; and the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program is not spared. Different systems of education view the role of assessment in learning differently; and the effect of this opinion has a profound affect in determining if learning occurs at an optimum level or not.
In regards to this role, two questions arise. First, is there a positive or a negative affect on learning of an assessment at the end of an academic period? Secondly, can assessment be carried out in a way that it helps the student before it is administered rather than merely gauging if the student learnt or not during such a period?
Among the obvious justifications of assessment is the purpose of gauging if the investment of the society either in the form of resources, policy or goodwill, in an education system is paying off. This leads to a ranking of students, schools systems and even administrative regions; with such ranks being used to determine the allocation or resources in the subsequent cycles. Additionally, the ranks are used to raise the standards of what is considered good performance with the assumption that students will be motivated to beat these new challenges (McLaughlin, 2005).
Formative and Summative assessment
The main separating factor between formative and summative assessment is their goal (Scriven, 1967). Formative assessment involves a feedback system from the student where the academic needs are defined and in turn the student is informed of (their) shortcomings; subsequently; effective solutions are formulated by the two parties for the purposes of remedying this situation; this assessment takes place before grading (Pellegrino, et al, 2001). This requires the participation of the student from the very beginning of the academic period; and s/he is informed of the academic expectations from the very beginning (Boud, 1995).
On the contrary, summative assessment is an ‘end-of-the-period’ judgment of the student’s academic achievements. There is no input from the students; and the results are used mainly for grading and certification.
None of these systems of assessment can suffice by itself; a delicate balance has therefore to be struck between having maximum benefits to the student through day to day assessment (formative) that directly aids in learning and the motivation of achieving a good grade at the end of the academic period. It is my opinion that this balance has been struck in the Underdale High school Middle Years Program.
References
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