There are four
main domains for facilitating Teaching for effective learning (Tfel), learning
for effective teaching, creating safe conditions for rigorous learning,
developing expert learners, and personalizing and connecting learning. To
illustrate quality teaching within my unit plan I will run through the key
domains and demonstrate where and how each part of the Tfel framework is being
implemented.
Domain 1- Learning for effective teaching
In my role as a leader of learning
(instructional leader) I will develop awareness of myself as a learner and a
leader (Department of Education and Children’s Services, 2010)
by continually
planning and developing, in order to create strong, safe learning environments.
I will understand that my preferences for thinking, learning and leading will
shape my lessons and that this leadership must be strong and positive. It is
important to have clear goals and that the students are aware of these goals.
Leadership will define the unit, so in order to be successful I will
continually develop strategies to enhance my leadership and its effect on
learning within my classroom. I will develop an appreciation of the differing
strengths and dispositions of my students in relation to their learning and
adjust plans to suit their needs. Tasks will be aimed at drawing out these
strengths and acknowledging the subsequent good work of students. Students will
be given opportunities to extend their learning practically, theoretically, and
strategically through the use of differentiated task options. The volleyball
journals will give students (and the teacher) a chance to reflect on their
learning and give feedback in future planning of units and lessons. As students
are entering the senior strand of SACSA they will be given more responsibility
and therefore be actively encouraged to have discussions and debates with minimal
teacher guidance. Students learning will be aided by the use of specific and
memorable teaching cues for example to help students remember the “W”
formation, the “westside” hand signal and call (see video) are used, which
allows for students to easily remember the “W” formation for receiving the ball
in volleyball. Another useful way of aiding students learning is to provide
information through a number of outlets in order to cater for the differing
styles of learning. For the volleyball unit I will be providing audial cues
before, during and after games and practice tasks, technically sound
demonstrations throughout the lessons when required for clarification or
consolidation (If you cannot personally show “correct” technique then use a
YouTube clip), and finally a whiteboard will be used to give students a clear
understanding of formations, positioning, and tactics that are required.
Another key aspect to this unit of volleyball will be the implementation and
encouragement of guided discovery, which will enable the students to personally
discover each tactic or movement during the games. This will give students a
deeper understanding of the required tactics and formations and enrich their
overall learning experience. Guided discovery also encourages students to
become more independent learners, allowing them to work with less teacher
instruction and at higher levels. For the effective teaching of this unit I
will need to utilise my strong level of content knowledge. Strong content
knowledge will allow for my instruction and leadership to be more efficient and
effective. With strong content knowledge students also become more comfortable,
as they know that you are teaching them well.
While constructing this unit I was heavily involved in a number of professional
learning communities. Professional learning communities like The PE GEEK, and
FLO (discussions with peers) help in a number of ways, including being able to
work collaboratively, a valuable source of ideas, and great for answering any
questions that arise. Being involved in
professional learning communities is a great way to share experiences and
develop units and lessons that are proven to be effective. During the unit
students will be given information on local community clubs where they can play
volleyball (or other sports) and be encouraged to investigate these. Community
clubs will also be approached to provide a spokesperson or guest teacher to
come to a lesson and spruik their club. Encouraging community participation is
an important aspect of the SACSA framework, and would fall under all of the
Health and Physical Education strands (physical activity and participation,
health of individuals and communities & personal and social development) if
students get involved.
Domain 2- Teaching for effective learning:
Create safe conditions for rigorous learning
For effective
teaching and learning it is important to develop a safe and autonomous learning
environment as well as forming democratic relationships. In order to nurture
these relationships it is important to construct a unit that allows for student
input and suggestions. Giving students a say in the classroom both empowers and
motivates them, while also giving them a sense of belonging within the class. A
key aspect to any relationship is healthy debate, within an effective
classroom, ideas and theories will be unwaveringly, yet sensitively debated to
ensure that all students’ opinions are heard and respected. Learning is not
black and white, so norms should be questioned if it improves learning. During
this unit students will be encouraged to work together and share ideas in order
to form a learning community. Often students when working in a community of
learners can solve problems that they otherwise would have asked the teacher,
consequently giving them more independence and the teacher more time to assist
learning challenged students. Besides forming a community of learners, students
will be given the tools and strategies to become more independent learners.
Encouraging independence will help in their transition from year 10 into year
11, where independent learning and study is crucial to success, and ultimately
in their post school lives of adulthood. A key to being an effective and
independent learner is to continually question things, for example why is that
formation more effective? How can I improve my technique through the use of
biomechanics? Etc. Another way to foster
safe learning conditions is to structure work to suit students zone of
proximal development or readiness, this can be done by differentiating learning
tasks in order to keep students at a level where they are all motivated and
challenged appropriately. Tasks can also be differentiated by interest and
learning styles in order to increase motivation. An example of a task differentiated
by interest could be offering different practice tasks such as spiking,
blocking, digging, which will give the student the opportunity to choose which
area interests them more. The assessment tasks included in the unit are also
differentiated for interest giving students the option of a PowerPoint
presentation, a video presentation, or an online blog style poster. The depth
of analysis can also be altered to cater for different levels of readiness.
Students who complete this unit will be pushed beyond their comfort zones
resulting in increased motivation and a deeper understanding/connection to the
content. Whilst students will be pushed, it is also paramount that they all
achieve success in order to encourage lifelong physical activity, personal
development, and community participation.
Domain 3-
Teaching for effective learning: Develop expert learners
As opposed to
the “traditional” style of teaching physical education, my unit will have a
game sense and TGFU (teaching games for understanding) pedagogy. Using these
new pedagogies allows the students to cultivate a deeper understanding as well
as developing sound tactical skills and knowledge. A games sense approach
allows teachers to use
games as the focus of the session. By focusing on the game, rather than on
technique and skill practice, players are encouraged to become more tactically
conscious and make better decisions during the game, as well as beginning to
think tactically about game concepts whilst developing skills within an
accurate context and most importantly, having fun. Essentially by focusing on
the game (not necessarily the 'full' game), players are encouraged to develop a
greater understanding of the game being played. Therefore players/students are
more tactically aware and for that reason are able to make better decisions
during the game. At the same time skills are being developed within a realistic
and fun context rather than practice in isolation (Towns, 2002). To
implement TGFU successfully a teacher needs to have a strong knowledge of the
sport in relation to sequence of skills, tactics and strategies (Hopper & Kruisselbrink, 2002). It’s paramount that a teacher implements a suitable
progression sequence of skills to develop student’s game knowledge, tactical
awareness and problem solving skills (Hopper & Kruisselbrink,
2002). In the volleyball unit the progression of skills students learn and
develop was created using research and knowledge of the game. Another way to
for students’ to develop a deeper understanding is to promote dialogue as a
means of learning, for example Learners are asked to actively engage with
the content being learned rather than being reliant on the teacher for
learning. Ideas are presented to learners as open questions to be reflected on
and integrated into the learner's own context (Vella, 2004). This promotion of dialogue as a means
of learning encourages independent learning and gives students a sense of
ownership with their learning.
Domain 4-
Teaching for effective learning: Personalise and connect learning
Making
learning personal and being able to connect it to other subjects, aspects of
life etc. is crucial to effective teaching. This will be achieved in my unit of
volleyball by connecting learning to students’ lives and aspirations by
demonstrating how it will be useful to them in a multiple number of ways, not
just when they play volleyball. This can be done firstly through the idea of
transfer of knowledge, where it is commonly known that there are certain types
of games/sports that are similar to each other and therefore there will be some
knowledge that can be transferred between these games e.g. other net games like
tennis, badminton will use similar tactics and formations to volleyball. The
notion of teaching sports with a tactical approach will be useful to all
students in their everyday lives as well, because life is not straightforward
therefore you have to devise tactics and strategies to best deal with
situations that may arise. Strategic and tactical thinking is a must for anyone
in the business sector, so most questioning and thinking skills covered in this
unit will be transferable to the real world, at least loosely. Another great
aspect to this unit of volleyball is the ability to assess students’
performance during game situations (Mitchell et al, 2006) rather than through
drills, this form of assessment gives the teacher a much better idea of whether
the student can perform the skills when they need to, not just during drills.
References:
Department of
Education and Children’s Services (2009) Building Learning Power conference,
Adelaide, 19 March 2009. Conference papers. Teaching for Effective Learning
Team, Curriculum Services, DECS, South Australia
Department of
Education and Children’s Services (2010) SA TfEL Review Tools handbook. DECS,
Adelaide
Department of
Education Training and Employment, (2001). SACSA framework. Retrieved from
website: http://www.sacsa.sa.edu.au/index_fsrc.asp?t=CB
Hopper, T.,
& Kruisselbrink, D. (n.d.). Teaching games for understanding: What does it
look like and how does it. (2002).
Mitchell , S.,
Oslin, J., & Griffin, L. (2006). Teaching sport concepts and skills:
A tactical games
approach. (2nd
ed.). Human Kinetics.
Towns, J. (2002). Game sense. Retrieved from
http://www.activehealth.uow.edu.au/gamesense/
Vella, J. (2004). Dialogue education at work: a case book. John
Wiley & Sons.
