Piaget: assimilation and accommodation

Piaget: assimilation and accommodation

Suppose an infant of 4 months is presented with a rattle. He has never before had the opportunity to play with rattles or similar toys. The rattle, then, is a feature of the environment to which he needs to adapt. His subsequent behaviour reveals the tendencies of assimilation and accommodation. The infant tries to grasp the rattle. In order to do this successfully he must accommodate in more ways than are immediately apparent. First, he must accommodate his visual activities to perceive the rattle correctly, for example, by locating it in space. Then he must reach out, adjusting his arm movements to the distance between himself and the rattle. In grasping the rattle he must mold his fingers to its shape: in lifting the rattle he must accommodate his muscular exertion to its weight. In sum, the grasping of the rattle involves a series of acts of accommodation, or modifications of the infant’s behavioural structures to suit the demands of the environment. At the same time, grasping the rattle also involves assimilation. In the past the infant has already grasped things; for him, grasping is a well-formed structure of behavior. When he sees the rattle for the first time he tries to deal with the novel object by incorporating it into a habitual pattern of behaviour. In a sense he tries to transform the novel object to something that he is familiar with – namely, a thing to be grasped. We can say, therefore, that he assimilates the objects into his framework and thereby assigns the object 'a meaning.'
(Ginsburg and Opper, 1979: 19)

Here is a link with a diagram to explain this:

http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/assimacc.htm

My own example of a recent personal experience that involved both accommodation and assimilation is when I change my daughters nappies – we always have the wet wipes right beside her. When she first grasped for it she had to experiment and found that she could pull tissues from the packet. Now whenever I change her nappie she automatically goes for the packet and pulls out the tissues; understanding the function of the packet.

This experience involved 'constructivist learning' because my daughter has gained knowledge as to the function of the packet. This experience could be more successfully explained in terms of behaviourism as it is a baby’s instinct to grab and experiment with new things

The Montessori method

The Montessori method is primarily designed to support pre-school children in directing their own learning. They are encouraged to choose from among a range of graded materials within their classrooms, created to develop their abilities in the following areas:

• Practical Life (to refine manual and motor skills)
• Sensorial activity (to train the senses)
• Language development (to develop the ability to listen, speak, read and write)

In The Secret of Childhood, Montessori develops this radical principle of child-centred education through a critique of the traditional view of the child as an empty vessel which the adult must try to fill:

The adult has become egocentric in relation to the child, not egotistic, but egocentric. Thus he considers everything that affects the psyche of the child from the standpoint of its reference to himself, and so misunderstands the child. It is this point of view that leads to a consideration of the child as an empty being, which the adult must fill by his own endeavours, as an inert and incapable being, for whom everything must be done, as a being without an inner guide, whom the adult must guide step by step from without. Finally, the adult acts as though he were the child’s creator, and considers good and evil in the child’s actions from the standpoint of relation to himself. The adult is the touchstone of good and evil. He is infallible, he is the good on which the child must model himself. Any way in which the child departs from the characteristics of the adult is an evil that must be speedily corrected. And in adopting such an attitude, which unconsciously cancels the child’s personality, the adult feels a conviction of zeal, love and sacrifice.
(Montessori, 1936: 19)

Scaffolding

David Wood and his colleagues (Wood, Bruner and Ross, 1976) were the first to use the word 'scaffolding' in an educational context. They defined scaffolding as 'a form of adult assistance that enables a child or novice to solve a problem, carry out a task or achieve a goal which would be beyond the child's unassisted efforts'.

Scaffolding is very similar ' to the concept of the 'zone of proximal development'. The scaffolding is the assistance from peers or an adult.

In Thought and Language Vygotsky (1962) referred to several types of assistance that might be given when a child was engaged in a problem-solving activity:

• providing the first step in a solution
• asking a leading question
• explaining
• supplying information
• questioning
• correcting

'Ddifference that makes the difference' (Webster et al., 1996, p. 151) was how teachers 'scaffolded' the learning process. By 'scaffolding' they meant 'the complex set of interactions through which adults guide and promote children's thinking'. This definition emphasised that 'scaffolding' was much more than teachers simply providing help. It was a collaborative process involving dialogue in which learners had as important a role as teachers making the child explain.

Scaffolding involves:

• getting children involved in the task
• helping children to represent tasks in terms they understand
• helping children to adapt and develop concepts
• helping children to externalise their learning. listening to how the children are pursuing the learning activities
• reviewing the process of learning and its worth

Here is an example of using scaffolding is in a recent English as a Second Language (ESL) lesson I taught. The lesson started with a warmer for which I moved all furniture out of the way; this was the prepares for assembly (PFA) stage. I then gave the students instructions “Take it in turns to run to the board, grab a pen, write 1 word which is related to the topic, run back and bass the pen to a team mate, the team with the most words, wins” This is Specific Verbal Instruction (SVI), as I was saying this I ran to the board, grabbed a pen and wrote down a word, then I ran to a student gave them the pen and told them to GO! This was the Demonstrate (DEM) stage. This introduced the topic, which in my opinion was a General Verbal prompt (GVP) stage. Once students were on topic we had a discussion and moved on to the target language for the lesson. I introduced some new vocabulary, "If something is glamorous and shiny, how else might we describe it? Its 6 letters, first letter is G"  another example of GVP. I wrote five blank spaces on the board G _ _ _ _ _ , students started to guess other letters; GL_ _ZY, a student's shouts “Is it glitzy”, I reply ‘Yes, well done”, praising his enquiry skills. This process goes on for other words and phrases using other methods such as mime, pictures and descriptions once again utilising the GVP stage. Later we looked at a reading comprehension with all the vocabulary (which I anticipated would cause problems) highlighted, this was the vocabulary we went through earlier on, this made use of the Indicates Materials (IM) stage. The students answered various comprehension question then we had another discussion followed by a role play. The role play was demonstrated with two strong students, using DEM once again. To finish off students were tested on the target language. I handed out two piles, pile was definitions the other was the target language. "Now, in pairs, I want you to match the correct definition (pointing to the pile of definitions) with the correct word (pointing to the pile of words), Maritsa, what do I want you to do" Maritsa repeats to check understanding and instruction; this incorporated GVP (giving instructions) and IM (pointing to each pile).

The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

Here is Vygotsky's grandly-named 'general genetic law of cultural development':

Every function in the child's cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological), and then inside the child (intrapsychological). This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relations between human individuals.
(Vygotsky, 1978: 57)

I believe that social interaction enhances the mind but it is not the be all and end all. There are other factors involved in cognitive development, these could involve the child’s self esteem, hobbies, interests, behavior and how a child is nurtured and the home environment.

Vygotsky explains how children internalise collective, shared experience through his famous concept of the Zone of Proximal Development (the ZPD). 'Proximal' means 'next to'. Some Vygotskian scholars believe that this Russian phrase should have been translated as the 'Zone of Potential Development'.

I believe potential would be a better translation because it gives more he ZPD is ahead of what a child can already achieve unaided.flexibility and allows for the factors I mentioned above.

I taught a lesson recently on ‘using critical thinking when evaluating the reliability of sources’. Students were able to practice deconstruction skills, understand how claims should be supported by evidence, evaluate evidence and see how it is used in an argument. Most students were able to follow instructions and follow the critical path unaided, occasionally asking questions to clarify their own thinking;; the task challenged them and was within the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and the pupils showed signs of being ‘ripe’ to learn. 3 other students needed guidance and help, they asked me probing questions and needed occasional help on a couple of occasions, they asked their class mates later on, with this guidance they were developing problem solving skills and understood what was expected, their conceptual learning was being developed within the ZPD in collaboration with an adult and peers; when given the same style or similar task in a future lesson these students will be able to do it confidently with no guidance needed. As a conceptual tool for teachers the ZPD is helpful when assessing what year group a student should go into or when developing a curriculum that will challenge pupils and enable them to enquire, it also brings to light scope for effective pupil grouping so weaker students can learn from peers.

Vygotsky's central ideas

Here are 4 famous quotations by Vygotsky:

• Education must be orientated not towards the yesterday of a child's development, but towards its tomorrow (1987a)

I agree with this – it is saying that education should prepare pupils for the future, teaching them the skills necessary to succeed in modern society. Very similar to the view of White, Trilling and Hood.  We must provide students with modern multi media equipment and formulate a relevant curriculum. We must also use modern day teaching methods which appeal to children today.

• It is through others that we become ourselves (1987a)

I somewhat agree with this. From what I understand from this quote is that we learn from society, teachers, parents and peers. Although I think we as individuals have more control over the person we become and the choices we make.

• What a child can do in co-operation today, he can do alone tomorrow (1986: 188)

This I agree with, children who are apprehensive to the approach of learning learn best collectively in groups and from peers. It also states the importance of team work which is a valuable skill to have in a career.

• Therefore, the only good kind of instruction is that which marches ahead of development, and leads it (1986: 188)

I don’t agree with this. This is stating that the only teaching worthwhile is that which teaches about the present and future and our impact in the future, but it is also important for students to have an understanding of history and the past to know who they are and learn from past progressions which could be applied to the future.

Criticisms of Piaget

There are many who criticize Piaget, one is Margaret Donaldson, she was a pupil of Piaget's who challenged his theories in a her 1978 book, Children's Minds.

pre-school children are not nearly so limited in their ability to 'decentre', or appreciate someone else's point of view, as Piaget has for many years maintained.
(Donaldson, 1978: 30-31).

The evidence she gives to support this is that the experiments Piaget uses are not explained properly to younger children, two of the the same experiments were carried out by Martin Huges and explained properly to a child; they were able to do it.

In  another  study,  Hughes  used  a  simplified  version  of the
mountains task and found that it was possible, by taking great care
over the way  in which the problem was introduced, to get a high
proportion · of correct responses  from  pre-school children.  So  this
lends  further  support  to  the  view  that  Piaget's  subjects  did  not
understand.                                                                                                      (Donaldson, 1978: 23).

Donaldson also refers to the ‘mountains experiment’ as being to abstract, she also states that a person preforming these experiments is accustomed to abstract and formal  modes of thought. These abstract experiments seem bewildering and senseless to a child.

Donaldson also shows evidence that Piagets idea that a child belives an object ceases to exsist when it is coverd; Tom  Bower  and  Jennifer Wishart, report that in these circumstances  children quickly reach out in the appropriate direction to find  their  toy  again:  Thus  Piaget'.  claims  about  egocentrism  are once again challenged. They are yet to develop  a  full appreciation of spatial relations  such as on,  in,  in front  of,  and  behind. * They  do  not derive  from  the complete lack of a notion of a world of 'other things'.

Another experiment was done by David Lloyd in which a talking toy panda asked for help. He found that, though the children would try to help the
panda, they were not so ready to signal when they themselves needed help. They were not given to indicating that a message which they had received was inadequate. 

Therfore, the evidence shows that its not so black and white; pre-school children are not nearly so limited in their ability to 'decentre', or appreciate someone else's point of view.

Piaget: theory of stages

Piaget argues that intellectual growth is continuous, he also maintains that particular mental abilities tend to appear at certain stages of a child's development. Some children might show the ability earlier and some later, but children in all cultures will pass through these stages at some point:

• The sensory motor stage (or pre-language stage), which usually occurs between birth and two years.

- lasts until the baby is about 2.

- Action stage before speaking.

- unable to make distinctions between self and other

- ‘object permanence’ – babies realise objects exsist

• The pre-operational stage (usually between two and seven)

- Children are able to represent things eg. Doll = baby

- Spoken language is developed

- childs thinking is; what is seen not logical principles

- can see that the self is different from the rest of the world

- can’t understand anothers point of view

- understand that something remains the same even though it has been transformed in appearance.

• The concrete operational stage (usually between seven and twelve)

- become much better at classification.

- better at conservation operations by the end of this stage but only when the concrete objects are physically present.

• The formal operational stage (or stage of propositional operations), usually from eleven to twelve onwards

- the highest level of thinking

- development of abstract thought.

- become concerned about the future and about ideological problems.

- allows mastery of complex systems like science, religion and mathematics. Teenagers can make and test hypotheses about things which they haven't actually experienced themselves.

Piaget says that all children pass through these stages in the same order but at different speeds. Intellectual development is always an extension of what has preceded it.

My Account of a Formal Operational Student

Here is my account of a child who show characteristics of one of Piaget’s Theory of stages. I will keep the identity of the student anonymous and refer to him as pupil A. Pupils A falls into the formal operations stage. He is a 14 year old who shows leadership skills and concern for world issues and future occurrences. He has full development of abstract thoughts and understands all his subjects by making hypothetical judgments before investigating the answers; an example of this is when he began using a video editing software program of which he had no knowledge, he was able to experiment and teach himself the basics of this program, only referring to a user manual when his experimentation had run its course.

His thinking is very typical of this stage as he likes to know about things in lots of detail, he is very inquisitive. He shows concern and empathy for his peers and at times (when working in groups) will assist others. He recently volunteered to join a mock UN Summit investigating different world organizations which involved taking part in various debates; he has a clear understanding of world issues. A lot of his learning comes from experience, in and out of school and he always comes to school with probing questions regarding an experience or something he has watched on TV. If you are to have a conversation with' ‘pupil A’ it is very adult like and as a teacher and student we are able to have meaningful discussions which result in understandings of new theories and perspectives. His writing has advanced over the year I have known him and he uses many different synonyms and complex phrases.

These are all signs that this student has flourished into a  ‘formal operational’ thinker.

Behaviorist family of learning theory

A human being begins as an organism and becomes a person or self as he acquires a repertoire of behavior... There is no place in the scientific position for the self as a true originator or initiator of action.
(Skinner, 1974: 225)

I think that it is not helpful to ignore the 'self' as an initiator of classroom behavior because we are all responsible for our actions and through the teachings of society and family we know wrong from right.

Skinner is famous for having taught rats to press levers and pigeons to play table tennis for rewards such as food. By comparing animal behavior with the behavior of human beings, he drew the conclusion that learning is achieved by association between stimulus and response (S-R).

Skinner argued that a learner's actual response can be brought closer and closer to desired response through the controlled use of stimulus-response associations. He also developed a 'law of positive reinforcement' which maintains that a stimulus-response sequence which leads to pleasing consequences for the learner is more likely to be repeated.

So far does my classroom experience has lead me to agree with this law, pupils respond very well to rewards and praise and punishments only create bad relationships and a sense on resentment. I need to use more praise and rewards (and follow through on the rewards) in order to train pupils to have automatic responses. If I was to have my own code it would be stimulus – response – apply – reward (S-R-A-R).

Assertive discipline is a structured, systematic approach designed to assist educators in running an organized, teacher-in-charge classroom environment.

The principles of assertive discipline can be linked to Skinners theory as it makes use of the S – R theory, but in this case the response is either good or bad, although the principle still applies that if the response is good a pupil will continue the good behavior. The only difference is that if the behavior is bad it is hoped that a child will change due to a negative response. The main difference is that Skinner believed punishments increased negative behavior gave pupils a feeling of unease and resentment.

The 'assertive discipline' approach has some what been adapted at our school would be very effective in primary school but not secondary. We have to adapt it for secondary students to make the rewards more appealing and all staff have to be consistent with rewards and punishments. I will suggest this method in our next school staff meeting.

Critique of MI theory

Gardner MI theory has documented what most of us already know but never labeled. I agree with Gardner that all of us are individual and have our own learning styles but it is not that black and white. I think every person has all of these intelligences, although we each have different levels of each. Therefore teachers should try to constantly switch and vary classroom activities so each learning style is utilized. The Theory, as a label to how different students learn is very useful and can help with the planning of lessons and a curriculum. The theory also gives children a higher self esteem making them realest and put the label to the fact that although they are not very good at one thing, they are better at another. Although schools and educators can take the theory to seriously and insist that all learning styles should be catered for always, but realistically; rather than include all learning styles to suit each MI in a subject, why not focus on the style needed for the subject being taught, for example; it is almost impossible to include analytical-mathematical intelligence in an Art lesson, why not focus on spatial or kinesthetic and save the analytical-mathematical skills for business studies or Math's; surely this is the reason we as individuals go into different professions. Another problem with the MI theory is although we are staving to educate children with their preferred learning style it is also important that we prepare them for testing in order to preform well in external examinations so they can gain a qualification; these examinations are presented in the MI style necessary for the specific subject so therefore we need to train students to use or practice these learning styles in order to preform well.

My own draft theory of learning

How do I personally learn best?

I learn best in a friendly, comfortable and stimulating environment. I need a stimulating activities and prefer the use of multi media. I like to figure out problems by myself and usually learn by mistakes.

How do pupils learn best in your own classroom?

Pupils in my classroom learn best by having a mixture of stimulating activity. It is best if they are part of the planning process and are taken seriously on ideas. They responded well to competition and lessons with relevance to real life or topics which interest them. It is best if they get on well with the teacher and have formed a trusting relationship.

What is the difference between learning and performance?

Learning can be defined as the ability to obtain new information, performance is how students apply this new information.

How many different kinds of learning are there?

There are 3 types of learning:

1. Listening learners
2. Seeing learners
3. Touch / experience learners

Why is it important to study the learning process?

It is important to study the learning process so we, as teachers can cater for the needs of students and enable them to preform to the best of their ability.

My Theory

A teacher must maintain good relationships with pupils and be active and motivated, this will make learning a pleasurable experience for students and they themselves will be motivated. Lesson plans should be concise detailing when pupils will be engaged in activities as planning enables effective teaching practice, but a lesson plan must also be flexible to allow for discussions which might or might not lead off topic; but still be useful.

Pupils should be part of the planning process for a curriculum which creates good morale and increases motivation. They should be consulted and ask for feedback as to the effectiveness of a lesson or how things could be improved, this makes learners feel as though they are fully involved and in control of their own learning.

Learning should not be confined to the classroom, learners must have the chance to go on field trips where they learn passively through experience or be enabled to use a variety of multimedia. This makes learning relevant to real life and teaches valuable teamwork and management skills necessary for a career. Learning is more effective when it is student lead and the teacher acts as a facilitator, although careful planning must be done so pupils achieve the desired outcome of an activity or task. Students should create long term and short term aims and objectives and these should be reviewed regularly to make sure the student is on track; this allows the student to know what needs to be done to achieve to the best of their ability.

Assessment must not only be testing, some intelligent pupils don't test well and low exam scores will only create low self esteem and unwillingness to learn; therefore assessment should be a mix of tests, course work and continuous class assessment.

Students either learn by listening, seeing or experience, for individuals different styles are more effective although each method still drills information. For a pupil to learn effectively they must be stimulated constantly and have the freedom to enquire rather than be fed in formation; this enables students to have more control of the learning process. Students should be taught using these receptors through many different activities and these activities should only last a set period of time as learners start to lose concentration if activities are drawn out for a long period.

Intelligence tests

After looking at an exemplar intelligence test by Dennis Child created in 2007 I realised that to complete this intelligence test successfully you need to use analytical-mathematical and linguistic intelligence.

The whole concept of a general intelligence has been disputed by a number of commentators. I do not think 'intelligence testing' of this kind can be useful in measuring intellectual ability as it only caters for a certain type of intelligence. To pass this intelligence test a person will have to be trained on how to answer these types of questions. This  may be useful for  IQ testing but it is not relevant to modern day intelligence which comes in many different forms.

What do you mean by intelligence

When comparing the subjets ESL and Global Perspectives, it is understood that each requires a different type of intelligence. ESL requires linguistic intelligence for expressing yourself orally and learning a language, intrapersonal intelligence allowing the ability to understand yourself and Interpersonal intelligence to grasp moods and intentions of people.  GP requires logical-mathematical intelligence to interpret data, it also requires linguistic and interpersonal intelligence to work in groups.

When I think of 2 ‘intelligent’ people I think of my mum and my dad. They are very different. My Dad is a Civil Engineer; he is a logical man who understands physics and math's on a deep level although he is very socially awkward. My mum is the opposite, she is able to pick up on people’s emotions and make friends very easily; she is a people person although she can be very illogical with her reasoning.

Here is my definition of intelligence:

INTELLIGENCE – Intelligence is the ability to learn, understand, interpret and apply information to a high ability. These abilities can consist of many different aspects which require thorough thought processing to complete a task or activity.

Pupil Motivation in English Schools

http://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/cms/Default.aspx?tabid=304

This webpage reports on the findings of a systematic review - Smith, C., Dakers. J., Dow, W., Head, G., Sutherland, M. and Irwin, R. (2005) - of what pupils, aged 11-16, believe has an impact on their motivation to learn in the classroom.

I would say these findings are very similar to the attitudes of pupils in my school. Pupils are motivated by the same factors although we are hindered by the size of the school so the influence of peers is not effective and this school size also effects the ‘Role of Self’ as pupils don’t have much say in the planning or choosing of subjects and curriculum.

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation in Practice

After watching a video about a maths teacher teaching students about trigonometry I witnessed motivation in practice. The teacher took students outside to work out the height of the school buildings. First of all they guessed then went outside to take measurements.

The teaching challenges faced by the math's teacher were that the students were a bit skeptical and afraid of change, but the teacher overcame this by talking the pupils through this. The strengths of this lesson were that it was creative, got learners out of the classroom and related trigonometry to real life. The pupils were both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated by the use of competition, group work, roles and responsibilities, relevance and an energetic teacher.

This lesson would work well in my own school setting, pupils will react well and be motivated. They are likely to go off task so roles are a good idea as well as time limits and competition.

• Write about the ways in which the math's lesson on outdoor trigonometry in the Teachers TV programme motivates pupils and addresses each level in Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

Physiological Needs were meet because the students were outside in the fresh air and provided with all material necessary. Safety Needs were met as the teacher was talking students through the activity and assisting. Needs of Love, Affection and Belongingness were met as each group member had a specific role and responsibility. Esteem needs were not met because the teacher did not give much praise to pupils.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

 

What do you understand by a 'self-actualizing person'?

In my view, I would say a self-actualizing person is a person who is content in life. It is a person who is fully motivated and his words and actions motivates others. A self actualized person is a well educated person who has grown up in perfect conditions allowing all needs; physical, emotional and psychological, to be met. This person would be wise and had life experience. They will have high self esteem and be very successful.

‘educators should respond to the potential an individual has for growing into a self-actualizing person (Simons et al., 1987)’

I totally agree with this statement. Education has a very big influence on the sort of person one might become. Therefore educaters should respond to pupil needs ad provide an environment that allows individuals to flurish into the sort of person they could become. Although I would say that this is not only the responsibility of educators; parents, society and the individual should all work collectively.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in my Classroom

Maslow's five levels of need are met in my own classroom, our school is a very caring school that caters to the individual needs to students, although there are hindrances to achieving the higher levels of this hierarchy as the class sizes are very small and there is not much competition therefore the students settle for mediocre standards this could be overcome by arranging visits to other schools so students are able to see the other standards of work and achievement. Another problem is that we allow pupils who speak little English into the school, they are hindered because all lessons are taught in English, they often feel unmotivated as they don’t understand their lessons. A way to deal with this would be to have intensive English courses when non English speaking students enter the school, they should also have an ESL support teacher who will shadow them and explain things in more detail.

How useful do you find his analysis?

Maslow’s analysis is helpful, he has documented the main categories in which a person needs to become a contented adult. It helps identify which needs are most important and those which are less important. He gives 10 useful points that help educators enable students to fulfill these needs and become well rounded individuals, although they simple state what educators 'should do' not 'how', so his 10 points can be open to interpretation as to how an educator fulfills each need. I can identify theses needs in myself and others and understand how to fulfill these needs in others. On the other hand the analysis does not take into account other factors, other than society, which could stop a person becoming self actualized. It is very black and white. In an ideal world this analysis would be very effective but every person is different and has different needs, therefore I believe this analysis is useful as a base theory but needs rendering when dealing with different students of different ages, from different backgrounds and cultures.

My Own Learning

1. How did you learn?

I have learnt to use a number of computer graphic design and editing programs at University.

When did you learn best?

I am a kinesthetic and visual learner, I learnt best by seeing and doing. I would have to shown examples and try it for myself. I was much better at project work rather than being tested.

What prevented you from learning?

I was prevented from learning if I had distracting class mates or my teacher failed to enforce discipline in class. I also learnt best when I respected and liked my teacher.

What motivated you to learn?

My motivation to learn was achieving successful grades so I could later go to University and get a good job. I was also motivated by inspiring teachers.

How did this vary, depending on time, place and teacher?

This motivation changed when I was at University as I had other distractions. The course I did was unorganized and I disliked the tutors.

Why Are Learning Theories Important?

Teaching priorities right now:

• Coping with workload
• Personal survival
• Classroom management
• Being liked
• Being regarded as a 'real teacher'
• Creating a professional image

My priorities as a teacher at the moment are to prepare students to pass the IGCSE exams. A lot of pupils are at a very low standard when compared externally. It is also a priority to motivate students and get them to take priority for themselves. Another  priority is planning of lessons to make sure work is relevant to the curriculum and pupils enjoy lessons. Being the ESL coordinator I have a priority to bring students level of English to a better standard. It is another priority to introduce new ideas to the school, as it is still a new school there is a chance for experimental change – for example D of E and Work Experience. I do regard learning theories as a priority but have not yet applied any.

Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation

Here are 8 ways in which I motivate my pupils:

PRAISE (Extrinsic)

REWARDS (Extrinsic)

SET INDIVIDUAL AIMS (Intrinsic)

CREATE A POSITIVE CLASSROOM ETHOS (Extrinsic)

USE POSITIVE EMOTIONS (Extrinsic)

GIVE TASKS THAT ARE ACHIEVABLE BUT CHALLENGING (Intrinsic)

BE ENERGETC (Extrinsic)

BUILD QUALITY RELATIONSHIPS (Extrinsic)

Intrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic means internal or inside of yourself. When you are intrinsically motivated, you enjoy an activity, course or skill development solely for the satisfaction of learning and having fun, and you are determined to strive inwardly in order to be competent. There is not external inducement when intrinsic motivation is the key to behavior or outcome.

 

Extrinsic Motivation

Extrinsic means external or outside of yourself. This type of motivation is everywhere and frequently used within society throughout your lifetime. When you are motivated to behave, achieve, learn or do based on a highly regarded outcome, rather than for the fun, development or learning provided within an experience, you are being extrinsically motivated.