Em Holliday

Well I've finally fulfilled a promise I made myself and created a page where I can share all these units of work I've written. I think it is so important to share resources - I've certainly benefitted from others and now it's my turn to give back. I've only added units of work at this point but in the future I hope to add worksheets and activities which I've also developed. Tell me what you think!

Scroll down the page to the links in the left hand bar and click on 'Sharing Resources'

I've just returned from tutoring one of my students. In year six he is working at an extremely low level in maths and english (In which I tutor him) and we've (the family and I) have been struggling to keep his spirits up and keep him in school. After much procrastinating and "We forgot" from the family (who have very valid reasons for being so busy) I managed to get a letter from them which introduced me to the school and so I could talk to his teachers. I popped into the school who were so helpful, the principal jumped on class so his teacher, myself and the deputy principal could talk about how to unify this child's education amongst us.

The school has been working very hard with him and I'm simply another piece of the puzzle. Since I see him twice a week after school I thought (and they agreed) that I could support his homework and prepare him for what would be happening in the classroom that week. The biggest problem has been getting him to feel a part of the class and feel he has something to contribute. To make him not feel "dumb" as he puts it.

Well the plan looks promising, today we did more work than we have ever done in an hour before and he enjoyed it because it was relevant to what was happening at school. I am so glad I spoke to the teachers at his school and am thus able to tutor him so much more richly and relevantly. Teachers, never underestimate the usefulness of a private tutor because they provide the intense one-on-one you simply don't have time for. And I recommend all tutors to contact their student's teachers in difficult cases, you never know how helpful you might be!

I am currently on Prac (the main reason I've been absent for so long) at a wonderful school here in Canberra. I am with Grade 1 which has been a challenging and new experience for me since I've never worked with children under Grade 3. And I must say that I'm having a wonderful time with them. This week I had an external assessment by my university liaison officer as well as a preliminary report from my mentor teacher. I strongly recommend to every student to always ask your mentor teacher to give a mid-prac report as it is so informative.

Well the liaison officer congratulated my on how well I was doing (which was nice) and reminded me to use some strategies which had fallen out of use by me such as positive praise for behaviour management. I'm very glad I took the time to make the lesson the liaison officer watched an extremely good lesson as I found my entire abilities as a teacher were being judged from the single lesson the liaison officer saw. Definitely a flaw in the system but as it is only one part of the system, not fatal.

The best step I took, I believe, was to sit down with my mentor teacher and go through the report that she will fill in in a weeks' time about me. It was not until we both sat down and looked at the report that we saw some gaps in my performance - mainly in assessment. And pursuant to that conversation and lots of reflection I've come to some realisations about my teaching when I'm on prac.

My teacher made the comment "I don't want to see a mini-me" which was a very valid comment as I have indeed been trying very hard to teach like her and have picked up the use of many of her strategies. I had (I thought) good reasons for this - I didn't want to disrupt the class too much and I felt that if I used strategies that worked on the class already I would have less behavioural problems. However I've realised now that I'm not practising/developing my own strategies to use when I have my own class. In essence, I haven't brought my own personality to the practicum.

I only have one week left, two days of which I won't be doing any teaching really, so I doubt I'll have time to change my current methods/report (although I've give it my best), it will, however, be important to me on my next and final prac which is my internship.

The other gap I'm seeing more and more is in assessment. I'm so busy teaching that I'm not assessing, which should be integral. My mentor teacher has been so helpful and given me a lot of guidance in how to design lessons and assessment but I really need to take a more holistic approach. I bought "How to Succeed with Learner-centred Assessment" by Jeni Wilson and Kath Murdoch yesterday and have found it to be a big help. Unfortunately from reading this book I've realised that it is going to be almost impossible for me assess the work I've done with the class on Ramadan because I didn't have a clear reason why I was teaching it! Originally I  had a unit overview for report writing which included some activities on Ramadan and my teacher asked me one day to teach about Ramadan but since we weren't doing reports I simply did the activities. Now I come to assess their work I can't decide what to assess because I never asked my teacher why the students were learning about Ramadan. I taught without purpose. At this point the fairest assessment I can ask is recall of the facts we've learnt which, in my eyes, is not very rich and somewhat pointless.

To my credit, I have taught a great sequence on construction of procedure and I am confident in assessing that as I knew why I was teaching it. So I've lived and learnt a valuable lesson, to teach with a specific and holistic purpose and assess appropriately. Unfortunately my students did not learn about Ramadan with a purpose (although they've thoroughly enjoyed the activities), and my end of prac report will have a poorer mark for assessment. Some may say that "It's okay, you'll improve on internship" which no doubt I will, the problem is that I will sit my panel interview for a job before I start Internship. Ah well, it's all a process.

I have just read an interesting post by Todd on Educational Technology about students taking video of teachers in the classroom. There was a small furore and the murmur continues in the Blogosphere about videos of angry teachers being posted on YouTube.

I agree with Todd's sentiment that teachers are professionals and this is the modern days' way of making teachers accountable. Which we surely must be. I'm sure many teachers out there remember being on the receiving end of unfair teacher behaviour and decisions, I certainly do! Never under estimate the need for a species' young to push the adults and boundaries, every animal on the planet does it, we just do it with video!

I would like to add some more ideas to the argument however.

Yes teachers should be held accountable. Yes students are in a position to do this...somewhat. You see students only see one face of the multi-faceted world of education. They see the actual teaching, they don't see the endless hours of thinking and planning and political games teachers have to play in order to be allowed to teach. Essentially they don't see the reasons behind what we do and because we ARE professionals we don't talk about it.

So when a student (and this would be more relevant to high school I believe) starts pushing a tired teacher because that student isn't getting their own way, or feels they are being treated unfairly it might be good to remind them, not of our owns troubles (we all have them and most people really don't want to know) but of the fact they they have troubles WE don't see. That we're not so different after all.

And if we were to video a student at the end of a horrible week, having a fat/bad hair/pimply day, having a break-down or flip out, post it for the world to see and get our friends to all laugh at it, they might be upset too.

So yes, accountability is necessary and valid but if we are going to encourage it we must educate to it, in that we educate to compassion and humanity. Or we'll send the video home to their parents!

Questioning people with the power of information is one of Australia’s favourite past times, as was seen most recently during the NSW State election. As a democratic society, Australians have the right to exercise free speech and question those with power [1] , as confirmed by The High Court of Australia in 1996 [2] . We all know that when an author puts pen to paper they have a reason to do so [3] ^{, [4] , [5] , [6]} , be it to tell you about a new wonder drug, make a campaign promise or write about a bad day in their journal. The pre-election, three day blackout [7] is real evidence of this. Evidence that society knows that information through all texts; such as television, radio, newspaper, books and the Internet, is created by someone with a motive. [8] ^{, [9]} This three day blackout gives the electorate a chance to make a decision about the truthfulness or fairness of the information given and any campaign promises made. It is time set aside to do some critical thinking.

It is this habit of critical thinking and questioning in society that keeps the wheels of democracy turning. Is IR reform the best for everyone? Should our troops be brought home from Iraq? Is this Internet site telling the truth? This is questioning in its most useful and relevant form. In the Many Voices, One World report by UNESCO, MacBride summed up the power of the media by stating that “communication can be an instrument of power, a revolutionary weapon, a commercial product or a means of education.” [10] With this in mind it is interesting to note that a survey in 1996 for U.S. News and World Report found that 50% of Americans thought that the media’s goals conflicted strongly with those of ordinary citizens [11] proving that the love of questioning those with power of information in democracies like Australia and America is a valid and necessary habit because it protects us from misinformation and injustice.

Every parent would agree that this habit of questioning, an integral part of our political system, is a crucial skill for our children to learn. It would be irresponsible of us to thrust our children into the world with no armour against those who wish to manipulate them. As the Universal Rights Movement (by UNESCO and the United Nations) put it “…control through the mass media could expose helpless masses to political and economic pressures of every kind.” [12] We cannot allow our children to be the ‘helpless masses’.

Today’s children are in charge of tomorrow’s future [13] ^{, [14]} and it is the responsibility of parents and teachers to educate them in social justice and in the habit of critical questioning. In 1990 The Most Reverend Peter Hollingworth (Anglican Archbishop of Goulburn), at the Curriculum Directions for the 1990’s conference called for ‘education for social justice’ and pointed out that children need practise at critical thinking and questioning. [15] The effect on education was immediate. Questioning was revitalised in the curriculum and is now present in most aspects of the curriculum, [16] ^{, [17] , [18]} most prominent in English, through critical literacy, Maths, IT (or ICT as it is now known) and Social Studies (SOSE). [19] ^{, [20]}

The uninformed cry; ‘But critical literacy removes the joy and doubts the Classics’. In truth, as the enlightened among us know, it is through the skills learnt in critical literacy that we gain a deeper understanding of the beauty of a well shot film, the truth from an author’s pen and the improvement from our child’s first piece of homework to the next.

Through critical literacy and the habit of questioning the true beauty of the world is brought to light, as is any undeserved pain or injustice. If it weren’t for society’s questioning of the government, David Hicks would be just another prisoner in an unknown gaol, never being brought to trial [21] . It was Thomas Jefferson that said “No government ought to be without censors” [22] and it is through the habit of questioning, learned by practising critical literacy in schools [23] ^{, [24]} , that censorship and accountability of the government by democratic citizens takes place. Through examining the ‘Classics’ and by questioning the mistakes from the past, schools are arming our children with the tools they need to create a more socially just world and providing children with real ways to instigate change.

Now, more than ever the need for questioning and critical literacy grows as the Internet continues to permeate into our lives. Last year the Australian Bureau of Statistics found that 60% of Australian children have Internet at home [25] , and that figure is growing. All of a sudden children have access, at home and at school to unedited and often unbacked information. Piper, an expert on Internet misinformation, said that “the lack of quality control” on the Internet requires users to critically analyse information themselves. [26] Something many were ill-equipped to do until critical literacy became such an important part of education.

Critical literacy, or the questioning of texts (like those mentioned above), is the answer to the uncertainties of the Internet as well as to the needs of democracy. It not only teaches children responsible consumption of information but opens up a world of opportunity for social commentary and change. The Internet is our most accessible tool for social change, it is even now being used in many classrooms across Australia. [27] How many classes have a ‘myclasses’ space, or even a weblog or two?

By teaching our children critical literacy we are doing more than looking at classic books or simply going ‘back to basics’ in order to placate education critics. We are teaching them the most valuable habit of questioning those with power of information that not only keeps the pollies in check but sets the stage for social change. Through critical literacy we are creating a generation of critical thinkers and future adults who will fight for society’s rights [28] .

[1] ABC News online. (21 March, 2007). ABC Elections, New South Wales. The Poll Vault, The Election Weblog. Retrieved 22 March, 2007 from http://www.abc.net.au/elections/nsw/2007/weblog/

[2] S. Stockwell, (Sep-Oct, 1996). Retooling Rhetoric: has free speech gone the way of the free lunch? In Culture + Citizenship Conference, Australian Key Centre for Cultural and Media Policy, Griffith University, Australia.

[3] D. Jonassen, (1996). Computers in the Classroom: mind tools for critical thinking. Englewood Cliffs. Prentice; cited in S. Selber, (2004). Multiliteracies for a Digital Age. Studies in Writing and Rhetoric. Southern Illinois University Press. Carbondale.

[4] D. Green, (2000). Critical Literacy: a classroom perspective. In D. Green, & R. Campbell, (Eds.). Literacy & Learners: current perspectives. Prentice Hall, NSW.

[5] A. Simpson, (1996). Critical Questions: whose questions? The Reading Teacher, 50, pp: 118-127. In L. Henry, (2002). Critical Literacy: point of view.. Woodstock, Connecticut. Retrieved 22 March, 2007 from http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=23

[6] P. Piper, (2000). Better Read That Again: web hoaxes and misinformation. Searcher. Vol 8, No. 8. Sept, 2000. Retrieved 22 March, 2007 from http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/sep00/piper.htm

[7] Australian Electoral Commission. (1992). Broadcasting Services Act. Australia: Author. Retrieved 24 March, 2007 from http://www.aec.gov.au/_content/when/elections/faq_advertising.htm

[8] S. Yell, (2005). Critical Discourse Analysis and Social Semiotics: re-thinking text and discourse in media and communication. In K. Kwansah-Aidoo, (Ed.). Topical Issues in Communication and Media Research. (pp. 9-23). Nova Science Publishers, Inc.: N.Y.

[9] B. Comber & B. Kamler, (1997). Critical Literacies: politicising the language classroom. Unpublished paper. Language and Literacy Research Centre, University of South Australia and Deakin Centre for Education and Change, Deakin University. Retrieved 22 March, 2007 from http://www.schools.ash.org.au/litweb/barb1.html

[10] S. MacBride, (1980). Many Voices, One World: report by the International Commission for the study of communication problems. Paris: UNESCO cited in P. Lang, (2006). The Power of Language and the Media. Frankfurt: Europäischer Verlay der Wissenschaften.

[11] W. Hachten, (2005). The Troubles of Journalism: a critical looks at what’s right and wrong with the press. Lawerence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.: US.

[12] P. Lang, p. 4

[13] C. Lankshear & P. McLaren, (1993). Critical Literacy: politics, praxis and the postmodern. In C. Compton-Lilly, (2004). Confronting Racism, Poverty and Power – classroom strategies to change the world. Heinemann.: US.

[14] H. Giroux, (2004). Betraying the Intellectual Tradition: public intellectuals and the crisis of youth. In A. Phipps & M. Guilherme, (Eds.). Critical Pedagogy – political approaches to language and intercultural communication. (pp. 7-21). Multilingual Matters LTD: UK.

[15] P. Hollingworth, (1990). What are the New Basics? Curriculum directions for the 1990s. Keynote address. Ministerial Consultative Council on Curriculum, QLD.

[16] NSW Board of Studies. (2006). English K-6 Syllabus. NSW: Author.

[17] NSW Board of Studies. (2006). Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus. NSW: Author.

[18] NSW Board of Studies. (2006). Maths K-6 Syllabus. NSW: Author.

[19] C. Luke, (2003). Critical Media and Cultural Studies in New Times. In T. Lavender, B. Tufte & D. Lemish, (Eds.). Global Trends in Media Education. (pp. 105-118). Hampton Press Inc.: New Jersey.

[20] A. McCall, (2002). That’s Not Fair! Fourth Graders’ Responses to Multicultural State History. The Social Studies. March/April, 2002. p. 85-91.

[21] I. Munro & P. Debelle, Bring Hicks Home. The Age. 2 December, 2006. Retrieved 24 March, 2007 from http://www.theage.com.au/news/in-depth/bring-hicks-home/2006/12/02/1164777845596.html

[22] K. Rafferty, (1975). That’s what they said about the press. New York: Vantage Press. Cited in W. Hachten, p. 30.

[23] S. Selber, p. 44.

[24] L. Semali, & R. Hammett, (1999). Critical Media Literacy: content of process? The Review of Education/Pedegagy/Cultural Studies. Vol. 20, No. 4, pp. 365 – 384.

[25] Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], (2006). Household Use of Information Technology, Australia, 2005-06. Australia: Author.

[26] P. Piper.

[27] C. Luke, p. 112.

[28] P. Hollingworth, p. 9.

(I wrote this article as a part of Language Education 2 at The University of Canberra, 2007.)