MY TEACHING PRACTICE - The english classes

Kulsbjerg Skole

Skolevej 1, 4773 Stensved

Teacher and grade: Per Larsen, 8th grade
Official language taught: Danish

Subject: English

Language spoken by the class: Danish/English

Group members UCSJ: Elisabeth Joensen, Juris Kalnins, Binita Shrestha, Alba Montalbán.

THE ENGLISH CLASSES


The reason why we were only observing the english classes was that it was not an International school, and all other subjects were taught in danish. 

The english class has been divided into 3 groups, depending on their level/difficulties to learn the language. I can see how flexible is their program, and how well does it works when taking in consideration the different needs of each pupil is not only possible, but NECESSARY.

As we can see in their schedule, group number 3 is the one with a lot of difficulties in english, comparing with the other two groups, and  group number 1 was the one that had the highest level of their course.

The school used to promote the work groups as a method of study in the class for all or almost all activities according with the danish system and mentality. And therefore, that is reflected in the way in which tables and chairs are distributed, according also with the idea that teachers are not an authority figure who explains the topics as absolute truths without discussing them. 

I have not seen a teacher trusting on his/her students before. I remember all my school life having a very angry teachers, because it was unbearable the screams during class changes, before the teacher of the next subject came. And now I understand it. We were one and a half hour in silence just listening the teacher, never being allowed to talk with each other, sitting in an individual separate tables (sometimes in couples), writing notes in a little papers to talk with our friends behind the teacher's back...and in the moment the teacher went out of the door...that was the apocalypse!!
However, at Kulsbjerg Skole, the pupils sit in groups and work in groups, and they are allowed to get out of the class and sit in a corner or wherever they decide that are more comfortable, and so they vent in small doses, and usually finish the work and present it on time.

The teacher has not a table in the class, he always stands, walking around,observing his pupils (which makes him realize about things that otherwise he would not). He is always asking one by one making sure they understood the task, answering their questions. In the spanish system, while I was a student on 8th grade, it was considered rude to talk to the teacher while sitting in our chair, and the right thing to do was to stand near the table of the teacher while he/she was sitting. I do not even remember too many times where the teacher was standing, beside while was explaining something in front of the blackboard, or during the exams. Definitely, danish system is more efficient, so that might be a good way to do it. 

During my teaching practice, I have been following closely this special group I have talked about before, because I have not seen this kind of projects before in a public school, and I believe that it is a very interesting theme to observe. They came from special schools, and the teacher at the moment told me that they were sended to the normal school, because perhaps they could integrate in a normal class. If I could, I would get more involved by going every day having also the possibility to see how is the children's progression and how is the process in each case, both when they get integrate in the normal class and when they decide that it is not possible and why. They also had english, and I tried to start a conversation with them, and after hear their english, even though it was very basic, it was sounding like the teachers had been doing a great job with them!They were using tablets (interactive games) and books, and they were working individually depending on the need of each.

Some of the activities during the english classes were, for instance:  a discussion group about generation gap one of the days, talk about the origin and meaning of teenager and talk a bit about their personal feelings. Other day they were analyzing the lyrics and meaning of a song from Cat Stevens called Father and son:

So, as we could see, they were using many resources to get pupils learn dynamically, such as activities on the ipads, videos combinated with powerpoint presentations, playing known english songs, or filling missing words in copies that the teacher made taken from textbooks.

I realized that the teacher was giving feedback always right after the pupils had finished their activities. I did not see him giving negative reinforcements to the pupils, but the opposite: he was only focussing on the mistakes that he considered more important instead of correcting every single error (being always more important the basic grammar and the comprehension of a word or sentence), and he did always combine it with positive reinforcement words that encouraged them to continue learning and increased their self-esteem. In addition, I could observe how it created an environment where pupils were feeling very comfortable about asking any question or try to practise their english proficiency, as that seemed a good way to encourage communication between teacher and student. Therefore, I got to the conclusion that grammatical correctness is actually the less relevant point to focus on when trying to help a group of students who are at a level below the average. Instead, I think it is more effective to focus on the most basic grammatical mistakes, and help them to acquire confidence and fluency.

As we learned in class, we can distinguish between three theories of second language acquisition:

  

Behaviourist theory 

- Memorization/mimicking 

- Rote learning 

- When/how is it applied: 

I would say that there is not only one language acquisition theory that is employed at Kulsbjerg Skolen. They use what they think is better for each activity. They are employing the behaviourist theory when they make different activities to practise the same thing over and over, and they tell the pupils right after positive words to encourage them to keep on working on the improvement of the language (positive reinforcement). 

   

Innatist theory 

- Comprehension

- When/how is it applied:

I think they are aware of the innatist theory the when they are helping them to get to their own conclusions, follow their logic and instincts (self-learning) from some basic guidelines provided by the teacher, who plays the role of a guide who provides them the tools to comprehend why and how, instead of simply believe and follow what I say far away from being authoritarian. 

   

Sociocultural theory 

- Interaction

- When/how is it applied:

They also believe that parents, caregivers, peers and the culture at large are responsible of higher order functions. And therefore they make sure as much as possible that the communication of all these elements is fluid and they get involve together to participate in the positive way to the social and individual development of each pupil. For that, they pay attention on the environment, keep constantly in touch with the parents and frequently organize meeting together with all the teachers to expose their observations and find solutions.