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Assignment 02 PTEAC1X 48816817

Teaching practice FET (University of South Africa)

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PTEAC1X/101/0/2018

Tutorial Letter 101/0/2018

Teaching Practice for FET (grade 10–12)

PTEAC1X

Year module

Department Curriculum and Instructional

Studies

This tutorial letter contains important information

about your module.

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ASSIGNMENT 02 FOR PTEAC1X

Please remove this part of the tutorial letter and submit as assignment 02

In the shoes of a learner.

The purpose of this assignment: In a single school day learners are exposed to a spectrum of
teachers each with their own expectations of learners, each with their own teaching style, each with
their own classroom arrangements, etc. To understand better how your own approach to teaching
and the interaction with learners impacts on them we want you to undertake an exercise where you
follow/shadow a group of learners for a whole school day to effectively experience what they
experience during a typical school day and how it impacts on them.

Assignment assessment criteria: The assignment will be marked using the short rubric below:
Criteria 0-5 6-10 11-20
Observations Some All observations Comprehensive
observations but done but limited detailed
limited or observations on
incomplete every aspect of the
observation
schedule

0-10 11-20 21-30

Reflection Some reflections Some useful Logically derived

but limited or reflections and useful
useless for reflections and an
practice indication of how
they could inform
future practice.

Total 50

Do this exercise within the first week of your practical teaching.

Step 1: Ask your mentor to help you to identify a typical group of learners (a whole class) which you
can “shadow” for a day.

Step 2: Get permission from the mentor and/or school principal and ask him/her to inform the staff
members to expect the student teacher in their classrooms.

Step 3: Complete the attached observation schedule for each period.

Step 4: Complete the attached reflection form.

Step 5: Thank the mentor and the staff members for their participation

Step 6: Submit as assignment 2.

NB: Submit the assignment the same week in which you shadowed the learner. Do not submit
this assignment with your portfolio. Do not wait to complete this assignment until the end of your
teaching practice period. It must be submitted within the first week of your Practical Teaching.
2

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PTEAC1X/101

Student name and surname: Mahabe Benedict Mahatikele

Student number: 48816817

OBSERVATION SCHEDULE WHICH SHOULD BE USED FOR EACH PERIOD

Note down your observations of the following for each period:

The classroom (eg is there enough seating, is it clean, is it well equipped, etc)

The atmosphere (eg is it inviting, interesting, conducive to learning, etc)

The subject

The teaching approach (eg direct instruction, interactive learning, etc) and how learners respond to
this.

The expectations the teacher has of learners (how they must enter, where they must sit, what they
may or may not do, how they may participate) and how learners respond to this.

Time spent on task (how much of the period is used for teaching and learning) and what learners do
if there is time left.

Learner interactions in general.

Learner behaviour in general.

What is expected in general from the learners.

Learners observed/ Class: 6

Grade: 10

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Period 1: August 21, 2018 Tuesday

The observation is Physics lesson. The classroom is well equipped, neat and has enough space.
There is laptop on the table of the teacher equipped with several programs with WI-FI internet
connectivity. The learners seems to be happy because they are actively involved when the
teacher is using real-life examples to make them think and find answers themselves. The teacher
uses interactive learning as his teaching method.

Period 2: August 22, 2018 Wednesday

The subject observed now is Chemistry lesson. The lesson started with starter questions
whereby teacher is asking them about what they have learnt yesterday in the same classroom we
had been Physics lesson. The learners are now allowed to discuss in two groups of three about
Quantitative Chemistry or Stiochemistry. They are busy with mole concept calculations from
chemical equations. There is a conducive interactive discussion going on is going around as a
passive observer and supporting those who struggle with their effort.

Period 3: August 23, 2018 Thursday

The observation is continuing in the Chemistry class lesson. This classroom is big enough with
couple of windows which are now open due to hot weather to provide fresh air. The teacher is
emphasising the importance of balancing chemical equations before one can begin relevant
calculations of the number of moles involved when substances react. The teacher interacts with
the learners frequently showing affection, interest and respect. I am really fascinated by his
respectful manner of talking with the learners using everyone’s name in the process.

Period 4 August 24, 2018 Friday

We are now in the Physics lesson. The class discussion is inviting and the teacher is explaining
the relationship of forces that are collinear. He uses a direct instruction strategy to demonstrate
what they have learnt using their respective rulers, protractors and pencils. The learners’
behaviour is acceptable. Looking at the classroom whether it represents a safe and conducive
learning; I noticed that there is a whiteboard in front of the learners facing them at their eyes’
level. The educator attractively displayed all the learners’ explained work at their eyes level in
front of them to meet the needs of different age groups.

The space is provided at the back of the class for the learners to keep their belongings and one
can walk safely between them to assist with their work while they put in their efforts.

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Period 5: August 27, 2018 Monday

We are now in a Physics lesson. After the learners are greeted, the objectives of the lesson are
stated. The teacher just started the class by giving introduction, the learning activities and
reminds them about the important of participating in a discussion and finishing the work on time.
The discussion is about finding the resultant vector graphically and analytically. After a brief
demonstration from the whiteboard, he provided the learners with the worksheets to discuss and
work on it. Looking at the teacher’s lesson plan, it looks easy to follow with improvement of
contextualised examples. It is during this observation that I am enticed by the way the educator is
encouraging social skills by allowing learners to assist each other and participate in
conversations as they did last Friday. This discussing extents the learners’ tasks to determine the
unknown force in static systems and relative velocities in dynamics of relative motion. The
learners could find the answers from interactive discussion with themselves and their teacher.

Period 6: August 28, 2018 Tuesday

We are in a Physics lesson classroom. The discussion today is about finding the resultant force
of system of forces that lie on the same plane. The teacher starts the lesson by introducing the
learning activities. At the end of the introduction, he further explains the importance of working
out forces component-wise to simplify the systems of forces into two resultant components that
are mutually perpendicular to each other. He demonstrate one of the examples in the prepared
problem-set and then after that led learners to do some of the problems. One of the important
things noted here is student cohesiveness. I just founded that some learners work together and
help each other. This is because the teacher also gives a positive learning environments for the
learners to work together.

Period 7: August 29, 2018 Wednesday

We are now in the Chemistry lesson in a science laboratory. The laboratory looks like the teacher
really maintains a safe and orderly classroom that facilitates learners learning. This is because he
advised them to all leave their bags in a safe nearby room before they enter the laboratory and
should adhere by the laboratory safety rules and regulations. The setup on a workstation was
ready and it showed that it had been prepared before the lesson starts. He begins the
instructional activity with a review of the previous material covered and with an introduction to
what they are coming to observe in an experiment. In this laboratory discussion, I just noticed
that the teacher used methyl orange as an indicator for the acidity and alkalinity of the titrated
solution. It became reddish colouration in acid and yellowish in alkalinity solutions respectively.
The learners who were noticed to be learning slow were questioning their teacher frequently and
the teacher himself paired them with those who had learnt the concept taught, and clarified the
discrepancies assumed.

Period 8: August 30, 2018 Thursday

We are now again, in a Chemistry lesson with the grade 10 learners. They are expected to
develop the skill and discipline of calculating the number of moles of limiting reactants in a
concentration of samples. The theme of the discussion is still on Stiochemestry or quantitative
Chemistry. Worksheets are provided about the calculations to be performed. It is during this time
that I saw that these learners motivated themselves with the use of technology to facilitate a clear
connection of what they have learnt by using their WI-FI which the teacher allowed them to use
with the laptops.

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Period 9: August 30, 2018 Thursday

We are now again, in a Physics lesson with the grade 10 learners. They are expected to develop
the skill and discipline of finding the tensions or forces on systems that are on the same plane.
Worksheets are provided about the calculations to be performed. It is during this time that I saw
that the teacher would be a passive observer while the learners would be busy discussing their
opinions about how to find the tensions on the inelastic weightless or massless strings hanging
weights.

Period 10: August 31, 2018 Friday

My first week of the teaching practice for PTEAC1X took me ten working days. This is because I
am allowed to do the observation for the first 40 minutes of the lesson and from there have to
attend classroom teaching on other assigned grades. I am only able to observe one class lesson
per day except in exceptional cases whereby I will be observing two lessons in one day, like
yesterday. I am now observing a Physics lesson. The learners are discussion about the problem-
set or worksheets to be completed during this lesson. The worksheets provided cover the content
that was taught for the week starting from the 24th August, 2018. A one week of teaching in this
school is considered as 10 working days depending of the length of the content in the Physical
Sciences and Mathematics; whereby at the end of such time the learners would be like in a
formal setting but at the same time allowed to discuss or ask the teacher. The teacher him/herself
would be moving around interactively but also passively observing their interactions and where
necessary giving them verbal constructive feedback. This situation normally precedes informal
assessment that would be recorded as part of term marks.

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REFLECTION

Although one cannot base your practice or changes to it on a single experience like this we would
nonetheless want you to reflect on your experience of putting yourself in the shoes of a learner.
Reflect on how these learners experienced a school day and what the implication may be for the
school, teachers and yourself.

Do you think schools should endeavour to include a learner perspective when they make
decisions on schooling? Explain your answer.

Yes, I think that would be a good idea to include learners’ perspective when making decisions on
schooling system, especially at this adolescent level. However, care has to be taken into
consideration on who the learner actually is, considering the level of mental maturity, ability to
manage one’s own time, honesty and respect of others and oneself. The learners are human
beings and have right to their own opinions. For instance, in setting up the school’s meaningful
goals, the learners are the gist of which the decisions are set. During teaching and learning in the
classroom, the educator works to achieve these goals based on the school’s value system and
vision. Therefore these meaningful goals I believe must be formed with the learners so that the
learners themselves take charge of their own learning and hence accept new challenges easly
and be able to take meaningful risks. The educators should only mediate learning by making it
easy for the learners to accept the challenges of learning by themselves through interaction with
each other. People learn the real things better from real life experience than from an idealised or
glamorous life scenario. In normal situations of life, no one adult makes decisions about another
human adult.

Which insights into the world of a learner did you gain from this experience?

The learners learn well relaxed when they interact with each other in their discussion especially if
the objectives of the discussion makes sense and clear to them. This was noticed to assume a
sense of ownership of the lesson.

Explain why you think these insights are important (or not).

These insights are important in that they give learners opportunity to make decisions about the
objectives of the classroom discussion.

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What learning approach did the learners respond to most positively? Why do you think this is the
case and could you possibly make use of this knowledge for your own practice?

Interactive learning approach and group discussion. Yes I could possibly make use of this
knowledge in my own practice because during interactive learning and group discussion, learners
explore different perspective by considering different viewpoint of the content; and hence develop
a sense of ownership of the lesson.

Which challenges that the learners experienced may perhaps be addressed by the teachers or
yourself to make life easier for learners? (Just remember that schools may have very good
reasons for doing things in a specific way because of their years of experience in practice).

There are some learners who have barriers to learn due to some inconsistence attitudes towards
the subject matter or the teacher. Besides providing opportunities to interact, I think it could be a
good idea to provide an introductory activity by mentioning or addressing certain sensitive points
that may be part of the subject content, this could be a platform for the educator to introduce
some different cultures’ perspective on the idea may be the learners may not know about
because we all come from different cultural background.

Did the learners find it difficult to meet different expectations from different teachers or did they
manage to do so easily? What can you learn from this for your own practice?

No. They really found it easy to meet different expectations from different teachers. I have learnt
that small group of learners is easy to manage and one may report reliably and accurately about
the learner’s learning progress.

Were there in your opinion enough opportunities for the learners to participate in the learning
process? What did you learn from this for your own practice?

Yes, there was enough opportunities for the learners to participate in the learning process. I have
learnt that providing a learning environment that allows learners to access group discussion
creates a positive learning environment conducive to teaching and learning.

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Explain how you think learner-centred pedagogy can be put into practice in your subject.

I understand pedagogy as a way of understanding how one teaches the way they teach.
Therefore learner-centred pedagogy could be the way learners understand how they learn the
way they learn. This method of learning approach can be put into practice by creating a learning
environment that allows learners to participate with each other, especially during a laboratory-
experimental session or physical science group work on class activity; so that they can question
one another why they do what they did during classroom task or activity

On a scale of 1-10, how useful and informative did you find this exercise?

On a scale of 1-10, I would furnish 9 to 10 out of 10; this exercise really opened my eyes to view
teaching and learning in a different angle. This angle is that learning is a shared phenomenon
and democracy during teaching and learning make it easier for the learners be aware of their
learning process.

Which changes or improvements can you suggest for this exercise?

None really. I would just applaud it

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