Critical pedagogy

Billings (2009) sum up effective professional development through eight characteristics: 1. The professional development program is focused on improving student learning by deepening the knowledge and skills of educators in their subject matter and in pedagogy. 2. The professional development program is based on an analysis of student achievement data and learning needs, is coherent with state standards, and complements the instructional program. 3. Professional development is collaborative, is…

providing opportunities for these learners to engage in forms of higher order thinking because this allows the learner to extend themselves intellectually. This method was again used in closing the lesson, removing the visual aid and stimulating critical thinking by asking the child to think for themselves and share multiple answers with the class. During the body of the lesson the process has again been differentiated by implementing the use of an interactive whiteboard to engage the whole…

After reading the Fires books, they had raised interesting questions, and contained new and unique insights to, teaching, the classroom, and the field of pedagogy as a whole. In Cushman’s Fires in the Mind (2010), we observed the delicate dichotomy of teaching to students one on one, and as a class. On top of that, what it meant for someone to become a “master” in specific subject areas and how to maintain motivation to get there. In Cushman’s Fires in the Middle School Bathrooms (2008), we…

visual nature of geometry enabling the students to be engaged and stimulated (Chambers & Timlin, 2013). Not only this, but since geometry is present in our everyday lives, students have a basic grasp of shapes, however, they have not developed a critical understanding of what properties define that shape (Bell et al., 1983). This basic foundation knowledge can also cause difficulty when it comes to teaching and learning as the students have solidified these ideals in their mind. With this in…

Most of the sessions were enquiry based learning where the students questioned and the teacher clarified their doubts, the teachers and students shared a warm relationship. In the higher classes there was encouragement to ask question that were critical and especially in the maths class the concepts were repeated and the students were encouraged to interact so as to help them have concepts that were clear. In case of science classes it was always associated with enquiry based learning and…

upon pupils to complete work which exceeds their capabilities which may lead to the creation of confusion, misconceptions and misunderstanding (Dracup, 2015). However, Hansen et al. (2014: 1) believes that misconceptions in children’s learning are critical to comprehend how children learn and how to embrace these concepts to support every child’s ‘mathematical cognitive development’. Agreeably, Cockburn (2008) mentions that it should be emphasised that misconceptions are not negative but instead…

neighborhoods. While reading “You Must Learn”: Promoting Hip-hop in Education by David. E. Kirkland he speaks of a Teachers by the name of Craig Kegeler who has already begun implementing hip hop into his teaching curriculum shows me hip hop can be a critical tool at times. Kegler speaks of his outlook on hip hop in English class and why he believes it 's such a critically effective method for…

networking. It is built on the foundation of traditional literacy, research skills, technical skills, and critical analysis skills taught in the classroom (Jenkins White Paper). Lastly, multiliteracies are “the multiplicity of communication channels and media, and the increasing saliency of cultural linguistic diversity. This includes multimodality, changes in both literacy and culture, and design and pedagogy” (New London Group,…

which explain the way human beings exists in the world” (Freire). This implies that by merely giving students information and not allowing them to discover anything for themselves prevents students from developing a sense of creativity to help with critical thinking. In addition, it hides many facts about the current world as education focuses on primarily academic subjects. In contrast, he writes that problem-posing education “involves a constant unveiling of reality” and “sets itself the task…

The implementation of Common Core has created a tremendous push to create student-driven classrooms using technology. Blended learning, with its mix of technology and traditional face-to-face instruction, is an approach to accomplish this task. Blended learning combines classroom learning with online learning, in which students can, in part, control the time, pace, and place of their learning. Blended Learning has positive and negative results. Supporters of blended learning programs believe…