OER4Schools/Introductory workshop

Title: 7.2 - An outline for an introductory workshop
Number: 7.2

The OER4Schools Professional Learning Resource

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7.2 - An outline for an introductory workshop >>>

Facilitator's version, Participants' version

Introduction

This is a rough outline for a one-day workshop, aimed at facilitators.

Educator note

If you are facilitating this workshop, ideally you would be familiar with the present programme (ideally through practice). Also refer back to OER4Schools/How to use this resource.

The structure of a workshop session

Observing, thinking, reflecting (15 min) on the structure of a session Go through the structure of a workshop session:

• Review of follow up activities. At the beginning of each session, you should review the previous session (if you are running more than one session).
• Session activitiy 1: e.g. Brainstorm on interactive teaching (new topic)
• Session activity 2: Brainstorming in the classroom (new topic)
• Session activity 3: ICT-based activity
• Session activity 4: Planning
• Discussion of LfL or MSC
• Connecting with overarching goals of the programme
• Agreement of Follow-up activities

An example session

Various activities (60 min) on reviewing a workshop session Go through session 1.1, paying attention to

• the facilitator notes,
• the general structure of the session (see above),
• modelling,
• and using the activity listing at the end (helping with keeping time).

Examples of interactive teaching in Zambia

Educator note

Sample activities

Do a range of sample activities (in the sections below), that illustrate how the workshop progresses.

Workshop participants take turns in facilitating the activity, and after each activity there is a reflection on how this went. You may not need to do all of the following activities or all parts of the activities, but only do those which participants find most challenging.

Many African teachers aspire to be interactive teachers. Yet, interactive teaching is not common in the African classroom. However, it can work in this context!

The following clip shows Eness, a teacher in a community school near Lusaka interacting with a Grade 3 class. Watch the clip of her class discussion about Is a bat a bird?

Observing, thinking, reflecting (5 min): Watch a video of a whole class discussion.

Watch video:

VIDEO

Whole class discussion

Whole class discussion of ‘Is a bat a bird?' Teacher sets unresolved problem as homework

Video/Eness vertebrates 12.mp4, https://oer.opendeved.net/wiki/Video/Eness_vertebrates_12.mp4,This video is available on your memory stick in the video/Eness Vertebrates folder. Duration: 4:19 watch on YouTube, local play / download options / download from dropbox)(Series: Eness Vertebrates, episode 12)(Transcript available here or via YouTube captions.)

Educator note

(Clip shows whole class discussion of ‘is a bat a bird?', set unresolved problem as homework)

Whole class dialogue (10 min): Whole group discussion on the whole class discussion video.

• What have you noticed?
• How are the learners taught?
• How do you think they will react to the homework task?
• Is this classroom different from yours?
• What is interactive teaching?

Educator note

Issues to discuss

• Noisy but productive - A classroom can be noisy and productive at the same time
• interactive = inter-action (with view to sense making; i.e. purpose of inter-action is to make sense)
• Children making sense of ideas for themselves, developing their own classifications, relating to what they already know...
• Teacher not telling answer, asking students to investigate for themselves

Facilitator needs to know how to deal with criticisms (such as too noisy, too much chaos, not productive)

The road is long. But it can be done!

Whole class dialogue (10 min) on the previous activity Because we have done the above activity as part of this facilitators workshop, now come back together as a group and discuss how the activity went. You could e.g. use PMI to say some plusses, minuses, and interesting things. What would you do the same? What would you do differently? What questions can you ask, to find out whether the activity was conducted in an interactive way?

Educator note

PMI is explained further down.

Practitioner reflection on interactive teaching

Observing, thinking, reflecting (5 min): Practitioner reflection on interactive teaching. The key to interactive teaching is teachers shifting “from telling to listening” and learners shifting from receiving information to making sense of it for themselves.

How can we “listen” to learners? What does that mean in practice?

Educator note

Facilitator describes own experience of shifting to interactive teaching and how it is different in his/her classroom now…

Evidence for impact of interactive teaching (optional)

Generally we have experienced that teachers welcome interactive ways of teaching. However, it is possible that teachers may object or have major concerns to the interactive teaching shown in the videos as well as what has emerged from this discussion. For instance, they may say that this just will not work in their classroom, that it may not work with large classes, or perhaps that such styles of teaching would not be welcome by parents or head teachers for various reasons.

At this stage, you could introduce interactive teaching as an international trend. Research evidence from different countries shows that this kind of active learning is both motivating and far more effective for learning than direct instruction (“chalk-and-talk” or lecturing). In particular independent, collaborative or oral work, as well as questioning and whole-class discussion that encourage pupils to grapple with ideas are effective. They lead to long-term and deeper learning rather than memorising facts (resulting in short-term, superficial learning).

The following video clip may help to reinforce the point.

Observing, thinking, reflecting (5 min): Watch a video on one Zambian teacher’s experience of interactive teaching.

VIDEO

Agness Tembo speaking at eLearning Africa 2010 in Lusaka, Zambia

Agness Tembo speaking at eLearning Africa 2010 in Lusaka, Zambia

Video/Agness Tembo at eLA 2010 Zambia.mp4, https://oer.opendeved.net/wiki/Video/Agness_Tembo_at_eLA_2010_Zambia.mp4,This video is available on your memory stick in the video/Talks folder. Duration: 12:34 (Series: Talks, episode 02)

This two minute clip features Agness Tembo, a Grade 2 teacher from Chalimbana Basic School located in a rural area of Zambia. She is presenting at the e-Learning Africa Conference 2010 her own experiences of participating in Phase 1 of the OER4Schools research project. She talks animatedly about the challenges she faced in introducing both ICT and interactive pedagogy into her (mathematics) teaching for the first time, the benefits to students, and the qualities she needed as a teacher to make the shift successful.

Introduction (5 min) of Think Pair Share. This is a technique that encourages cooperative learning by peer interactivity. Here are the steps:

1. Think - Students listen to a question (this may be an open-ended question to which there are many answers) or a presentation and are given ‘think time’ to formulate their responses.
2. Pair - Following the ‘think time’, students work together with a partner, sharing ideas, discussing, clarifying and challenging.
3. Share -The pair then share their ideas with another pair, or with the whole class. Students should be prepared to share their partner’s ideas as well as their own.

You will now use this technique to help you to formulate your ideas on interactive teaching.

Educator note

Think-Pair-Share^(a):

Teachers should cue the progress from one step to the next. In the primary classroom, hand signals for each step can be developed with the students and these can be used along with verbal cues.

Allowing students time to think, sometimes referred to as 'wait time' has been shown by researchers to improve the quality of their responses. Talking through ideas with a partner first before sharing them with a wider audience allows for those ideas to be elaborated on and refined.

Model the think pair share technique in the following activity, remembering to tell the participants what step they are on, what they should be doing and for how long.

Think-Pair-Share (10 min) your ideas on the differences between interactive teaching and traditional teaching

We mentioned that interactive teaching involves moving from “telling” to “listening.” What other words do you feel might describe the difference between traditional approaches and interactive teaching? What are the two kinds of classroom like? Think on your own for a minute and then pair up and discuss your ideas with a partner. Write your ideas on the board for all to see. Aim for each person to write a word or phrase for each approach perhaps under the headings 'traditional classroom' vs 'interactive classroom'.  

Educator note

  Some contrasts people might make (let them suggest their own terms):

• passive - active
• quiet - noisy
• individual - collaborative

  Note: these are not value judgments - they can be positive or negative in different circumstances!  

Whole class dialogue (10 min) on the previous activity Because we have done the above activity as part of this facilitators workshop, now come back together as a group and discuss how the activity went. You could e.g. use PMI to say some plusses, minuses, and interesting things. What would you do the same? What would you do differently? What questions can you ask, to find out whether the activity was conducted in an interactive way?

Brainstorm on ICT

Whole class brainstorm (5 min) on ICT Consider the following questions:

• What does ICT mean to you?
• What different types of ICTs have you heard of?
• What ICTs have you used?
• Which ICTs would you like to use in the classroom?

Educator note

ICT = Information and Communication Technology

Remember to record the brainstorm on the board or a large sheet of paper. Things that may feature are: PCs, laptops, netbooks, tablets, mp3 players, mobile phones, games consoles, web content (images/maps/), software applications etc.

Introducing cumulative talk - creating a story together

Educator note

Cumulative talk is talk in which all participants agree and add to the previous talk (or sentence).

Cumulative talk (10 min): Creating a story together All the participants get up to rearrange the seating. Arrange the group in a horse-shoe seating arrangement^(a) if there is room. If not choose another arrangement allowing participants to see each other. Facilitator starts a story by saying one sentence. All participants then contribute to the story by adding sentences.

A good story would:

• be contextually appropriate: for example, use common names of characters and a setting familiar to participants.
• have a theme relevant for participants such as education (girl-child receiving schooling later supports family), importance of forests and wild-life (saving a snake later becomes useful for invention of new medicine), treatment of diseases (steps taken by a family to treat an ill person) etc.,
• be short and have few characters, and
• have a problem which is collectively resolved in the end.

For instance, you could create a story about welcoming a new child to the school, perhaps a child with an impairment or some kind. Tthe facilitator starts by saying: "The other day, I heard my neighbours talking about whether their child should be starting school, because their child has difficulty walking, and they were not sure whether children like that should go to school." ^{(Relates to Index for Inclusion, A1.1 Everyone is welcomed.)}

Educator note

Facilitator can introduce the notion of Talk Rules during this activity if needed. Some examples are: “everybody listens when one person talks” because they have to add to that sentence, “respect others’ ideas” by adding to rather than changing their idea, “make sure everyone in the group understands”, “try to reach consensus in the end” – participants don’t need to actually come to agreement but the process of trying gets people to listen to each other. You may want to ask participants to generate their own examples of Talk Rules.

The activity we just did is example of “cumulative talk” where participants build on what the previous person has said (“cumulative talk” is one example of whole class dialogue).

Same-task group work (10 min) in pairs: Planning cumulative talk in the classroom Now pair up, and come up with ideas for cumulative talk in the classroom.

• Consider that when this activity is done in the classroom with pupils, themes should be chosen from the curriculum.
• Also consider that the seating arrangement can be modified according to teachers’ classrooms such that pupils see each other. Pupils can leave their tables and just move their chairs (or sit outside if the grounds are suitable).

As you are planning this activity, ask youself the following questions:

• Do your students find it easy to talk?
• How can you encourage students to talk?
• Are some students likely to laugh at other students contributions? How can you create safe environments that enable students to take risks?^{(Relates to: LfL, 2.4)}

Whole class dialogue (10 min) on the previous activity Because we have done the above activity as part of this facilitators workshop, now come back together as a group and discuss how the activity went. You could e.g. use PMI to say some plusses, minuses, and interesting things. What would you do the same? What would you do differently? What questions can you ask, to find out whether the activity was conducted in an interactive way?

Reflecting on current questioning practice

Educator note

The idea behind this activity is to make the need for this session explicit.

You will need mini-blackboards and something for display (blackboard/flipchart).

Choose some topics that they are teaching this week (from the curriculum), and display the topics (on blackboard or flipchart). Some examples are:

• the importance of water^{(Relates to Index for Inclusion, C1.2 )},
• living together^{(Relates to Index for Inclusion, C1.13 )},
• transport^{(Relates to Index for Inclusion, C1.5 )},
• types of fertilizers (organic and inorganic) and their advantages or disadvantages^{(Relates to Index for Inclusion, C1.1 )}, e.g.
• uses of different parts of a plant^{(Relates to Index for Inclusion, C1.8 )}, and
• health^{(Relates to Index for Inclusion, C1.6 )}.

Same-task group work (5 min) in pairs: Coming up with some questions. Choose a topic from the board. Write five questions on mini-blackboards or paper that you normally ask/would ask the pupils in class?

Educator note

Allow only about 3-5 minutes for this activity so that spontaneous questions are recorded.

After 3-5 minutes, explain the types of questions below and ask the other participants to suggest examples from their mini-blackboard that represent these types. Write these examples on the blackboard or flipchart or ask a volunteer participant to do so. Explain one type of question, ask the other participants for examples, record examples on the board and then mention second type.

Observing, thinking, reflecting (5 min) Facilitator talk on open and close questions. Briefly state what open and closed questions are.

Educator note

Ensure that participants do not feel less motivated if their questions are more closed or surface type. To ensure this:

• Refrain from judging questions. Record questions factually without expressing any emotion.
• Mention that all types of questions have value and can be used for different purposes. Closed and surface questions are also important to some extent.
• Maintain positive body language by listening attentively.

Before the session, prepare the workshop room by marking OPEN on one side of the room and CLOSED on the other side. To keep it simple, draw a line on the floor with a chalk and write OPEN and CLOSED!

Game (5 min) on open and closed questions. Categorise your questions as closed and open questions. For each question, you move to the side of the room marked OPEN if their question is open or to the side marked CLOSED if their question is closed.

Educator note

Make this activity interesting by asking participants to run to their side (OPEN or CLOSED) at the sound of clap and ask the participant who gets there first to clap for the second question, and so on.

Whole class dialogue (10 min): Reflecting on current practice. Where are you standing? Is your current practice of generating questions more open or more closed?

Whole class dialogue (10 min) on the previous activity Because we have done the above activity as part of this facilitators workshop, now come back together as a group and discuss how the activity went. You could e.g. use PMI to say some plusses, minuses, and interesting things. What would you do the same? What would you do differently? What questions can you ask, to find out whether the activity was conducted in an interactive way?

Developing my practice: Planning an activity

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Different-tasks group work (15 min): Planning in pairs for an activity with open ended questions. In the activity template, plan for questioning as part of a lesson that participants will teach in the coming week; the questions will follow the ICT pictures activity. They list some open and deep questions to ask in the class in order to challenge pupils and get them thinking! Try out some of the points mentioned in page 3 of the handout. Record specific questions on the template.

Educator note

Ask participants to focus on the questioning part of the activity. Therefore ask participants to record on the template:

• Pictures and their use - What will they be used for? What is/are the purpose(s)?
• Questions to start the lesson?
• Questions while pupils are looking at the pictures? Clear explanation of task.
• Questions after looking at the pictures? Questions about pupils' thoughts that relate to objectives of the lesson? Questions that summarize pupils' learning?

For example, if the topic is clean water, participants can record:

• Pictures - sources of water that show clean and unclean water.
• Questions to start such as, look at the pictures and identify sources that are safe for drinking.
• Questions while pupils are looking at pictures such as, why is water from this source safe? how does the water get contaminated?
• Questions at the end such as, what can we do in our homes to ensure that the water we drink is clean? What are the effects of drinking unclean water?

They can complete the remaining plan later.

Whole class dialogue (10 min) on the previous activity Because we have done the above activity as part of this facilitators workshop, now come back together as a group and discuss how the activity went. You could e.g. use PMI to say some plusses, minuses, and interesting things. What would you do the same? What would you do differently? What questions can you ask, to find out whether the activity was conducted in an interactive way?

Leadership for Learning practical: The five lenses

Let’s take our metaphor of the LfL lens a step further, and suggest that there are 5 different LfL lenses (spectacles) needed in order to ‘see’ all 5 LfL principles:

1. Focus on learning
2. Conditions for learning
3. Learning Dialogue
4. Shared Leadership
5. Shared Accountability

You can print this content on a separate sheet here: OER4Schools/LfL/5 principles .

Consider the 5 LfL Lenses and their usefulness for focusing on learning practices.

• What are the kinds of things you might see in a classroom if you were looking through the LfL lens ‘Focus on Learning’?
• What are the kinds of things you might see in a classroom if you were looking through the LfL lens ‘Conditions for Learning’?
• What are the kinds of things you might see in a classroom if you were looking through the LfL lens ‘Learning Dialogue’?
• What are the kinds of things you might see in a classroom if you were looking through the LfL lens ‘Shared Leadership'?
• What are the kinds of things you might see in a classroom if you were looking through the LfL lens ‘Shared Accountability’?

Small group activity (25 min).

Your facilitator will explain to you how to go about this group activity. Before that, you may like to take some time to refer to the background reading to help you understand all the 5 LfL principles.

Educator note

Pedagogy: Plenary session or Jigsaw

Extending the use of the lens metaphor from the previous think-pair-share exercise, the facilitator can suggest one of the following group activities to help the participants make further use of the LfL lens.

Plenary Activity

1. Ensure that the participants are in five different groups.
2. Assign each group to one particular lens to discuss what are the kind of things they may look out in the classrooms using that one particular lens. This should take at least 10 minutes.
3. One member from each group will share with everyone in a plenary format. (ie. each person to take turn to share what they have discussed in the group)
4. The rest of the participants can ask questions for clarification or raise comments on the overlaps and links across the 5 LfL principles. This should take another 15 minutes.
5. Remind the participants that this is a purely exploratory exercise, with no incorrect answers.

Jigsaw Activity

1. Ensure that the participants are in at least two groups of 5 participants each.
2. Assign each member in each group to one particular lens to think about what are the kind of things that he/she may look out in the classrooms using that one particular lens. This should take at least 5 minutes.
3. The members who are assigned to the same lens from the different groups will meet together as a temporary ‘expert’ group to exchange ideas. This should take another 5 minutes or so.
4. The members return back to their original group and share their findings to the rest of the members. Each person will have about 2 minutes to share their findings.
5. Remind the participants that this is a purely exploratory exercise, with no incorrect answers.

Use the following background reading to explain the terms. There is another educator note below this background reading, that gives further details for each point in turn. Make sure that you have spent time reading and thinking about this before the session as the participants may need your prompting to help them ‘see’ through each of the lens.

Background reading

Focus on Learning

1. Everyone is a learner
2. Learning relies on the effective interplay of social, emotional and cognitive processes
3. The efficacy of learning is highly sensitive to context and to the differing ways in which people learn
4. The capacity for leadership arises out of powerful learning experiences
5. Opportunities for leadership enhance learning

Conditions for Learning

1. Cultures nurture the learning of everyone
2. Everyone has opportunities to reflect on the nature, skills and processes of learning
3. Physical and social spaces stimulate and celebrate learning
4. Safe and secure environments enable everyone to take risks, cope with failure and respond positively to challenges
5. Tools and strategies are used to enhance thinking about learning and the practice of teaching

Learning Dialogue

1. Practice made explicit, discussable and transferable
2. Active, collegial inquiry focussing on the link between learning and leadership
3. Coherence through sharing of values, understandings and practices
4. Factors that inhibit and promote learning are examined and addressed
5. Link between leadership and learning is a concern for everyone
6. Different perspectives explored through networking with researchers and practitioners

Shared Leadership

1. Structures support participation in developing learning communities
2. Shared leadership symbolised in day-to-day flow of activities
3. Everyone encouraged to take a lead as appropriate to task and context
4. Everyone’s experience and expertise is valued and drawn upon as resources
5. Collaborative activity across boundaries of subject, role and status are valued and promoted

Mutual Accountability

1. Systematic approach to self-evaluation embedded at every level
2. Focus on evidence and its congruence with core values
3. Shared approach to internal accountability is a precondition of external accountability
4. National policies recast in accordance with school's core values
5. Choosing how to tell own story while taking account of political realities
6. Continuing focus on sustainability, succession and leaving a legacy

Educator note

This educator note is meant to be read in conjunction with the above background reading. It provides additional prompts for each of the points above.

1. Focus on Learning

1. Everyone is a learner. Are students the only learners in our school? How about the teachers? Parents? Headteachers?
2. Learning relies on the effective interplay of social, emotional and cognitive processes. Do we think about what learning is about? Is it about memorising and applying certain facts? Managing emotions? Being able to make friends with one another? Making good decisions?
3. The efficacy of learning is highly sensitive to context and to the differing ways in which people learn. Are we aware about the differences in ways which people learn and to what extent their background (e.g. family, age, interests) will influence the way they learn?
4. The capacity for leadership arises out of powerful learning experiences. Who are some of the most influential teachers in our lives? When did we encounter such teachers and why did they create such powerful learning experiences for ourselves? How can we do the same for others?
5. Opportunities for leadership enhance learning. Are we given the opportunities to make decisions on our learning?

2. Conditions for Learning

1. Cultures nurture the learning of everyone. What kind of background (e.g. families, age, interests) would be most helpful to support learning?
2. Everyone has opportunities to reflect on the nature, skills and processes of learning. Are there opportunities for everyone to reflect on the nature, skills and processes involved in learning? What are they?
3. Physical and social spaces stimulate and celebrate learning. Are the physical facilities and other forms of support (e.g. community and family support) able to support learning? What are these facilities and forms of support?
4. Safe and secure environments enable everyone to take risks, cope with failure and respond positively to challenges. Are we providing a safe environment for learners to take risks, cope with failure and respond positively to challenges? How are we doing that?
5. Tools and strategies are used to enhance thinking about learning and the practice of teaching. Are we updating ourselves and reflecting on the various tools and strategies to enhance the way we teach and learn? How are we doing that?

3. Learning Dialogue

1. Practice made explicit, discussable and transferable. Do we have the language to talk about learning so that we can discuss and reflect on it more fruitfully? How do we do that?
2. Active, collegial inquiry focussing on the link between learning and leadership. Do we discuss and find out how we can take the lead to decide what learning should be like in our school (and not just be directed by the authority)? How can we go about doing that?
3. Coherence through sharing of values, understandings and practices. Do we discuss and share the values and understanding of the ways we learn and teach? What are they?
4. Factors that inhibit and promote learning are examined and addressed. Do we examine and address the factors that inhibit and promote learning? What are they?
5. Link between leadership and learning is a concern for everyone. Do we prioritise the link between leadership and learning? What kind of concerns about learning do we raise and act upon?
6. Different perspectives explored through networking with researchers and practitioners. Do we network with researchers and other practitioners to explore different perspectives of learning and leadership? How do we do that?

4. Shared Leadership

1. Structures support participation in developing learning communities. Are there ways we can participate in learning or be involved in starting learning communities within the school?
2. Shared leadership symbolised in day-to-day flow of activities. Can we see leadership being shared by various colleagues and students in the day-to-day flow of activities in the school? What is that like?
3. Everyone encouraged to take a lead as appropriate to task and context. Do we take the initiative to take a lead in various learning or research projects in accordance with what we are interested in and capable of? What kind of projects or research can we embark on?
4. Everyone’s experience and expertise is valued and drawn upon as resources. Do we draw on everyone’s experience and expertise and value all of them as important resources to support learning? How do we do that?
5. Collaborative activity across boundaries of subject, role and status are valued and promoted. Do we value and promote collaborative activities across subject, levels and roles within the school?

5. Mutual Accountability

1. Systematic approach to self-evaluation embedded at every level. Is there a systematic approach to self-evaluation that is evident in all aspects of our work?
2. Focus on evidence and its congruence with core values. Is there a focus on documentation of teaching and learning that would be consistent with our beliefs on the values of education?
3. Shared approach to internal accountability is a precondition of external accountability. Do we take the initiative to be accountable to ourselves in ensuring the quality of teaching and learning, rather than be dependent on an external authority?
4. National policies recast in accordance with school's core values. Do we critically examine the national policies and how they are relevant with the school’s core values?
5. Choosing how to tell own story while taking account of political realities. Do we maintain an individual stance of our own views of teaching and learning, while being very cognisant of the political realities that we are living in?
6. Continuing focus on sustainability, succession and leaving a legacy. Do we try to look forward towards the future, on how we can sustain our current efforts and be able to leave a legacy for our future generations?

Whole class dialogue (10 min) on the previous activity Because we have done the above activity as part of this facilitators workshop, now come back together as a group and discuss how the activity went. You could e.g. use PMI to say some plusses, minuses, and interesting things. What would you do the same? What would you do differently? What questions can you ask, to find out whether the activity was conducted in an interactive way?

Brief reflection on modelling

Same-task group work (5 min): Looking through the programme. You may have already noticed that some activities in our programme were labeled "same-task group work", and other activities were labeled as "different-task group work". Can you recall what they were? Check through your workshop handouts and see what they were.

Observing, thinking, reflecting (5 min): Facilitator talk on modelling. You see that we are using very similar approaches in this workshop (such as same-task and different-task group work) as we would use in the classroom. We call this "modelling of classroom practice during professional learning activities".

Whole class dialogue (10 min) on the previous activity Because we have done the above activity as part of this facilitators workshop, now come back together as a group and discuss how the activity went. You could e.g. use PMI to say some plusses, minuses, and interesting things. What would you do the same? What would you do differently? What questions can you ask, to find out whether the activity was conducted in an interactive way?

Talking points on statements about group work

Background reading

“Talking points” are deliberately thought-provoking statements for discussion and reasoning in small groups. Research shows that using these is an effective strategy to promote conceptual learning in a target area because

• it helps to structure the group task yet keeps the discussion open-ended. This is because pupils discuss the points but are free to contribute their own understanding /opinion about the point. In other words, the task is well-defined as well as interactive!
• it helps pupils to discuss different aspects of a concept by providing cues for discussion.
• It helps to maintain the focus of discussion.

Whole class dialogue^(a) with talking points^(a) (15 min): Discussing statements about group work Discuss whether the following statements about group work (talking points) are ‘true’, ‘false’ or ‘not sure’. Explain your reasoning. Tick (“V”) if your group agrees that they are true, cross (“X”) if your group agrees that they are false and question mark (“?”) if your group is not sure.

• Group work should finish in one lesson
• Groups should be formed with the same pupils every time
• Teacher should assist pupils for effective group work
• All pupils in the group should be active during group work
• Noise is not acceptable during group work
• Agreements and disagreements are inevitable during group work
• Mixed pace groups are better than same pace groups
• Group work should always promote competition amongst different groups
• Group work by pupils is free time for the teacher
• Effective group work needs planning and preparation by the teacher before the lesson

Discuss each talking point mentioned above. Each group should explain their stance on the point, giving their reasons.

Educator note

Expect disagreements amongst groups about certain talking points. This is actually productive for the whole group as it promotes further discussion.

Encourage reasoning for all talking points. Get participants to explain why they agree or disagree with something?

Finally explain the concept of talking points: The above points stimulated participants discussion about group work. In the same way, you can use talking points in the classroom, e.g. when discussing a science topic.

Also remind the participants of the idea of "modelling": We use similar techniques in the workshops sessions to what we would use in the classroom.

Whole class dialogue (10 min) on the previous activity Because we have done the above activity as part of this facilitators workshop, now come back together as a group and discuss how the activity went. You could e.g. use PMI to say some plusses, minuses, and interesting things. What would you do the same? What would you do differently? What questions can you ask, to find out whether the activity was conducted in an interactive way?

Traffic lights

See OER4Schools/activities/Traffic_lights

Whole class dialogue (10 min) on the previous activity Because we have done the above activity as part of this facilitators workshop, now come back together as a group and discuss how the activity went. You could e.g. use PMI to say some plusses, minuses, and interesting things. What would you do the same? What would you do differently? What questions can you ask, to find out whether the activity was conducted in an interactive way?

A Taste of Enquiry-Based Learning

In unit we will explore a way of teaching and learning that encourages students to take the initiative to pose questions and explore their curiosity about the world around them, through a process of enquiry.

Whole Group (11 min). In this activity called “PMI” - “Positives, Minuses, Interesting” there are no correct answers.The PMI involves considering the positive, negative and interesting points related to a specific scenario. It was originally developed by Edward de Bono, father of the “thinking skills” movement. It encourages learners to look at both sides of a situation and also to be creative when considering the interesting possibilities.

Consider the following imaginary scenario: Plants can now walk in our world!

(It is important to realise that plants do not need to move because they make their own food by photosynthesis – animals have to move in order to forage for food.)

What would be some positives, minuses or interesting points you can think of, if this scenario was actually true?

Educator note

Possible responses:

• P (positives): the plant could move to where there is more light or water
• M (minusses): the plant would waste energy by moving
• I (interesting): We have to be sensitive and aware of plants walking on the roads and in our houses.

For further examples, navigate to: http://www.azteachscience.co.uk/resources/continuing-professional-development/bright-ideas-in-primary-science.aspx

Whole group discussion (11 min). You may have heard of “enquiry-based learning” (EBL) being practised in other subjects (e.g. geography) or in higher grades through farming or industry projects. For instance, you may have heard of teachers bringing their students outside the classroom to learn about commercial and subsistence farming. The quotes below shows you what two Zambian teachers have thought about enquiry-based learning; read the text, then offer your own understanding of EBL as a group.

Abel: To me, Enquiry-based learning is a flexible, student-centred method of teaching and learning. It engages learners with a complex problem or scenario that is open-ended to allow a variety of responses or solutions. Its success depends on the guidelines teachers give about how students can be involved in self-directed enquiry. This way of teaching caters to different abilities of students and encourages them to learn on their own, even beyond schooling. This is what life-long learning should be. It may also help students to develop leadership skills as they manage complex projects with their friends.

Agness: Enquiry-based learning reminds me of projects focusing on industry or farming, where a teacher can take the learners out of the classroom to experience and analyse the actual farming process, what vegetables are grown within the area or how cotton is processed into a fabric and then designed into a dress. Such a form of learning is stimulating for the students and encourages them to be actively involved in asking questions and seeking out new ideas or evidence.

Whole class dialogue (10 min) on the previous activity Because we have done the above activity as part of this facilitators workshop, now come back together as a group and discuss how the activity went. You could e.g. use PMI to say some plusses, minuses, and interesting things. What would you do the same? What would you do differently? What questions can you ask, to find out whether the activity was conducted in an interactive way?

Connecting with overarching goals of the programme

Open space (10 min). It's now time for the "open space", that gives you an opportunity to discuss issues that have arisen, and to relate those to the broader context of the programme. Do not just gloss over this section, but make time to raise issues, and probe the progress that you are making. You could use this space to:

• Remind yourselves of the of the Most Significant Change Technique, and e.g. collect more of your stories.
• Discuss your assessment portfolios: Is there anything that you are unsure about? Is it going well? What could be done better?
• Check on the work with the classroom assistants: Is this going well? Are there any tensions? Any observations or tips you can share?
• Reviewing individual ICT practise (such as typing practise).
• If you are preparing a presentation for other teachers, you could work on the presentation (about what you have been learning, stories emerging from MSC).
• Remind those who are doing audio diaries, to upload them.
• You could discuss any other issues that have arisen.

You will find notes and summaries of various techniques and concepts on our reference page, and you might want to refer to those for clarification during this activity if needed.

Whole class dialogue (10 min) on the previous activity Because we have done the above activity as part of this facilitators workshop, now come back together as a group and discuss how the activity went. You could e.g. use PMI to say some plusses, minuses, and interesting things. What would you do the same? What would you do differently? What questions can you ask, to find out whether the activity was conducted in an interactive way?

Activity summary

Educator note

At the end of each session, we provide an overview of the activities in this session, together with their suggested timings. Although this appears at the end of the session (for technical reasons), you should keep an eye on this throughout the session, to make sure that you are pacing the workshop session appropriately!

Total time: 372 (min)

Activities in this session:

• Observing, thinking, reflecting (15 min) on the structure of a session
• Various activities (60 min) on reviewing a workshop session
• Observing, thinking, reflecting (5 min): Watch a video of a whole class discussion.
• Whole class dialogue (10 min): Whole group discussion on the whole class discussion video.
• Whole class dialogue (10 min) on the previous activity
• Observing, thinking, reflecting (5 min): Practitioner reflection on interactive teaching.
• Observing, thinking, reflecting (5 min): Watch a video on one Zambian teacher’s experience of interactive teaching.
• Introduction (5 min) of Think Pair Share.
• Think-Pair-Share (10 min) your ideas on the differences between interactive teaching and traditional teaching
• Whole class dialogue (10 min) on the previous activity
• Whole class brainstorm (5 min) on ICT
• Cumulative talk (10 min): Creating a story together
• Same-task group work (10 min) in pairs: Planning cumulative talk in the classroom
• Whole class dialogue (10 min) on the previous activity
• Same-task group work (5 min) in pairs: Coming up with some questions.
• Observing, thinking, reflecting (5 min) Facilitator talk on open and close questions.
• Game (5 min) on open and closed questions.
• Whole class dialogue (10 min): Reflecting on current practice.
• Whole class dialogue (10 min) on the previous activity
• Different-tasks group work (15 min): Planning in pairs for an activity with open ended questions.
• Whole class dialogue (10 min) on the previous activity
• Small group activity(25 min).
• Whole class dialogue (10 min) on the previous activity
• Same-task group work (5 min): Looking through the programme.
• Observing, thinking, reflecting (5 min): Facilitator talk on modelling.
• Whole class dialogue (10 min) on the previous activity
• Whole class dialogue^(a) with talking points^(a) (15 min): Discussing statements about group work
• Whole class dialogue (10 min) on the previous activity
• Whole class dialogue (10 min) on the previous activity
• Whole Group(11 min).
• Whole group discussion(11 min).
• Whole class dialogue (10 min) on the previous activity
• Open space(10 min).
• Whole class dialogue (10 min) on the previous activity

If you have printed this session for offline use, you may also need to download the following assets:

• Video/Eness vertebrates 12.mp4 (local play / download options / download from dropbox)
• Video/Agness Tembo at eLA 2010 Zambia.mp4 (local play / download options / download from dropbox)

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