Adventures in Teaching and Learning

Emmm … not long left of January! It’s not that nothing has happened this month, more that I have been too busy to blog! However, it’s good to be back!

My main exciting event this year so far was the birth of my nephew, Leo, on 14 January. I have been back up once to Scotland to visit him – thanks Megabus for providing a cheap and cheerful way to travel north suddenly! – and I look forward the next visit. His mum (my sister) is also a teacher, but I’ve not managed to get her blogging yet. Shame; that could be an interesting comparison. Life as a music teacher in Tayside as opposed to an RE teacher in London. Anyway. She has other things on her mind now, and I’m guessing not too much time on her hands!

I have just come across an interesting post using Wordle, to add to my previous explorations in that area. Miles Berry and Terry Freedman recently completed some research into how children use technology at home, and the Wordles make very interesting viewing. A really nice way to summarise research findings as well. Wish I’d known about them when I was writing up my Masters! (Now, there’s an interesting challenge … what would my literature review or findings look like as a Wordle? A task for another day, perhaps!) I found these posts through a link from htjoshua (Jocelyn Chappell) on Twitter …

Other than that, I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to RE Today which has given me some great ideas for lessons recently. First of all, the last edition of the magazine came with a free CD ROM on the Jewish Way of Life, which has proved invaluable in teaching my Year 7s about Shabbat and being a young Jewish person as part of our reading of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas in our Integrated Curriculum course. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND it to all RE teachers! There is so much information on the CD ROM and the pupils found it engaging; they also enjoyed some of the interactive tasks, and it provided an excellent stimulus for questions. I learnt loads too, and will definitely be using it lots in the future!

Secondly, there was a very interesting article about a lesson on Transubstantiation and the Eucharist, which suggested videos to watch and a song to teach the students, set to the tune of My Girl by the Temptations. I therefore had a couple of fun lessons with my Year 10s this week, who enjoyed watching the Prince of Egypt and (I think!) watching me singing about transubstantiation, -ation, -ation while dancing in an embarrassing way. At least one pupil said “Thanks for the lesson, Miss!”, which was nice as well!

Lovely to have used new technologies in such straightforward and helpful ways this week.

It’s the end of the year, the time when people reflect on their past year and set resolutions for the new year. So here are the reflections. Resolutions may – or may not! – follow.

January – Made a snowman! Will that feat be repeated this Christmas? Saw Doris Lessing at the Southbank Centre.

February – Loved Sweeney Todd the Barber with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter. Earthquake. Had an excellent FairTrade Fortnight Sixth Form RE Conference, which involved baking, football, FairTrade prizes and taste tests, as well educational input from different departments.

March – Enjoyed a lovely Holy Week and Easter Triduum. Discovered the National Gallery. Led some blogging inset at the Marist School – hope everyone is getting on with their blogging! Summarised some of the many excellent teacher and student blogs out there.

April – Collected my marked dissertation. Heard the sad news that Steve Sinnott had died. It snowed in London. Fiona, a friend from home, visited, and had fun being tourists in London, visiting the British Museum, Tower Bridge, Tate Modern and others. Samson and I watched the London Marathon. My friend Bridget got married. Appeared, with my Year 7 class, on Teachers’ TV.

May – The weather improved dramatically. Saw Chris Rock at the O2. Found the Awesome Highlighter website (which I haven’t really used, so I’m posting this here to remind me!). Spent ages surfing the net and writing about the applications I found there. Enjoyed meeting up with the TTP second cohort to talk about my experiences of Web 2.0. Started some classes on Web 2.0 for teachers at school. Took my Year 9s to the National Gallery as part of a Learning Outside the Classroom project.

June – Discovered Wordle! Presented a session on blogging at the Sixth Form Conference. Visited the Thames Barrier. Went to the Anthony Clark’s ordination as a deacon.

July – Samson’s book, The Jive Talker, was published! Read the reviews here, and buy a copy from Amazon here! The second cohort of the Transformation Teachers’ Programme had a lovely meal. I graduated with my Masters (MA in Education: Teaching and Learning) from Middlesex University. Weather was still very hot and humid. Enjoyed the Doctor Who Prom. Started making videos of clouds, taken using my camera and a tripod. Enjoyed lots of balmy evening walks during the summer holidays. Went paddling at the V&A pool. Bliss. Visited Westminster Cathedral to take photos for the department. Finished the month with the launch of the Jive Talker at Rivington Place.

August – The Jive Talker was published in North America (and can be bought on Amazon here). Discovered the Thames Cruiser. Went to a wedding reception. Enjoyed the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony, and then fulltime coverage, all day, every day! Went to Brighton for the day. Went back home to Scotland for a holiday. Met my little Canadian cousin for the first time. One particularly good day was when we travelled through Fife, visiting the Deer Centre, and my old university town of St Andrews.

September – Celebrated my birthday. Back to school! Very busy, but in a good way. We attended the launch of the New Art Exchange, where Samson was taking part in the opening exhibition, Next We Change Earth.

October – The term did not get any quieter! I became Acting Head of Department, so even more work! Visited East Dulwich for the first time, with a family friend. Visited the Saatchi Gallery. Enjoyed teaching my Year 7 Integrated (Humanities) Curriculum about China. Saw Toni Morrison at the Southbank Centre.

November – Went to the Diocesan Heads of RE Conference. Found PhotoBox and Fotonauts. Went to Martin Creed’s flat/exhibition in Brick Lane. Enjoyed Quantum of Solace. Collected together a lot of different Advent resources. Very excited about the election of Barack Obama, as were all the pupils at school.

December – Have enjoyed meeting up with friends, and look forward to meeting up with more friends and family over the next few weeks. We had a lovely carol service today at school, and I am delighted to finally be on holiday! My camera has pretty much given up over the past few months, so I’m hoping to get a new one to record many of the exciting and interesting events that I expect to experience throughout 2009 – starting with the birth of my first niece or nephew!

Thank you for visiting my blog, whether for the first time today, or regularly over the past year, and I hope to be able to share some of my further adventures in teaching and learning, particularly involving Web 2.0, over the next 12 months. I wish you all a very peaceful and joyful Christmas and a happy New Year!

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Bassey wrote that research is a:

systematic, critical and self-critical enquiry which aims to contribute to the advancement of knowledge

But where did he write this? This is an example of the difficulties I am finding with writing my methodology section for my Masters dissertation. I have the following references:

Bassey, M, Research Matters, c. 1991, R136.

Bassey, Research Intelligence, 35 Part 2:9, undated.

Bassey, 1995.

Bassey, 1999: 38

He (Bassey? not sure) adopts Stenhouse’s definition of research as … (Stenhouse, 1975?)

Bassey (1999) in Coleman and Briggs (2002:5) …

Bassey, 1990: 35

Michael Bassey … Creating Education Through Research, Kirklington, Newark: Kirklington Moor Press, 1996. (I don’t think he says it in here, necessarily, but it’s the only document so far that I’ve found by “M. Bassey” … Having a first name somehow makes him seem more human!)

Aha, I’ve now discovered a document from the ATL that says that Bassey, in 2005, was emeritus professor of education at Nottingham … (I presume Nottingham Uni rather than Nottingham Trent, but that’s only because I did some research there myself back in 2000 and something. Maybe I was in the same building as him at one time!) (Now he’s really becoming real!)

Now I’ve reached Amazon and can see a list of books. Lots to do with primary teaching … but there’s also:

Creating Education Through Research: A Global Perspective of Educational Research for the 21st Century by Michael Bassey (Paperback – 11 Sep 1995)

and

Case Study Research in Educational Settings (Doing Qualitative Research in Educational Settings) by Michael Bassey (Hardcover – 1 May 1999)

He probably has used this quote in numerous situations, and perhaps even in these two books. But what should I write in my dissertation as the reference? You see, I like the quote, and have explained why I think it’s appropriate, but it’s such a long time since I started this essay (I started it around Christmas time …) that I cannot remember where I got the reference I used. I can see another reference in my notes from my tutor, but again, I’m not exactly sure of the publication details, and what does “R136″ mean anyway? Is it some sort of page number?

Well, I’ll go on and see what I can do, but if anyone out there has the answer (Michael Bassey, can you hear me?!) then I’d be grateful to hear from you … preferably by the end of the weekend!!!