Part A
I completed a week of observation in St Kathryn’s national school*(pseudonym) in County Galway. The school’s patronage is Roman Catholic and the school is situated in a rural town. The school was established in the 1970s as a result of the amalgamation of three small local schools. The school places a strong ethos on its catholic ethos. Through communication with the school staff, I discovered that the area provided a Hedge school in the penal laws era in Ireland. (Murray K, 2017). Hedge schools provided an education to the children of poor Irish Catholic’s in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. A school master provided the children with an education that usually consisted of the ‘three Rs’ of arithmetic, reading and writing. (Flanagan,2017). …show more content…
Children constructed their own knowledge in a collaborative way through engaging in a whole group discussion with the class teacher. I observed collaborative learning and constructivism through an art lesson on art illusions. The class teacher led the class discussion on impressions and opinions of art illusions and children to required to create their own versions of art illusions. The teacher used the existing knowledge of the children to create new knowledge which reflect the theories of Jean Piaget’s schema, using existing knowledge as a starting point, equilibrium to develop their explanations of the concept, assimilating new knowledge and accommodation of knowledge reflecting on their work. (McLeod,2012). The children were not told what to do they collaborated and constructed their own meaning throughout the lesson. The teacher provides the opportunity for the child to construct his or her own knowledge, facilitates class discussion and acquires his/her own knowledge. According to McLeod, active learning methods such as collaborative learning require an active learner to develop the child’s critical thinking skills to aid one’s own learning. (McLeod, 2012). The children share their constructed knowledge as a class where each child is included in sharing their
I completed a week of observation in St Kathryn’s national school*(pseudonym) in County Galway. The school’s patronage is Roman Catholic and the school is situated in a rural town. The school was established in the 1970s as a result of the amalgamation of three small local schools. The school places a strong ethos on its catholic ethos. Through communication with the school staff, I discovered that the area provided a Hedge school in the penal laws era in Ireland. (Murray K, 2017). Hedge schools provided an education to the children of poor Irish Catholic’s in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. A school master provided the children with an education that usually consisted of the ‘three Rs’ of arithmetic, reading and writing. (Flanagan,2017). …show more content…
Children constructed their own knowledge in a collaborative way through engaging in a whole group discussion with the class teacher. I observed collaborative learning and constructivism through an art lesson on art illusions. The class teacher led the class discussion on impressions and opinions of art illusions and children to required to create their own versions of art illusions. The teacher used the existing knowledge of the children to create new knowledge which reflect the theories of Jean Piaget’s schema, using existing knowledge as a starting point, equilibrium to develop their explanations of the concept, assimilating new knowledge and accommodation of knowledge reflecting on their work. (McLeod,2012). The children were not told what to do they collaborated and constructed their own meaning throughout the lesson. The teacher provides the opportunity for the child to construct his or her own knowledge, facilitates class discussion and acquires his/her own knowledge. According to McLeod, active learning methods such as collaborative learning require an active learner to develop the child’s critical thinking skills to aid one’s own learning. (McLeod, 2012). The children share their constructed knowledge as a class where each child is included in sharing their