The Business of Education...

I got speaking to Pete today about a recent Radio 4 broadcast – ‘The Education Business’ (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rgmbh) It sounded interesting so I had a listen to the broadcast and have summarised below…

The broadcast was focussed on education as a business – looking at all levels of education. I was most interested in James Tooley – the Chairman of Omega Schools in Ghana. http://www.omega-schools.com/

Omega Schools provide low-cost private education in Ghana and are making the move into Sierra Leone. The general idea of the schools is to provide low cost private schooling to those in the slums in Ghana. Most private schools charge termly which can mean that parents must save a large amount of money before being able to send their child to school. Omega Schools charges by the day (roughly 30-40p).

The reason behind the ‘pay-daily’ set-up is due to the nature of the parents’ pay – most work as farmers, fishermen, market traders etc. and so their wages are daily. Thus, daily payment for school suits the way that these families receive their money.

Government schools in the area are poor and so many choose private school or no school at all. The daily cost for Omega Schools includes a hot meal, uniform and books, which are generally charged as extras in other private schools.

The business works on a low margin, high volume basis and they are currently putting all profits back into developing more schools. They are providing opportunities to families that were not there before – however is it right that they profit from this? Should education be a business?

It is an interesting situation and one that has really got me thinking. Let me know what you think!

Why Do I Want To Teach?

I was lucky enough to be invited along to a Plymouth primary school to join in on an introduction to the new Digital Literacy course for the new starters. Bob Harrison gave a great interactive talk, with a lot of questions for us, getting us thinking – hard to do that when you have had the Summer off!

At midday, we were given hints and tips for interviews by both Bob and the head teacher of the school – I was particularly interested after Pete reminded me that I will be applying for teaching positions in just over a year!

Both Bob and the head teacher said that a question that will always be asked is “why do you want to be a teacher”? As we went around the room, almost all the answers were the same –

“I want to inspire children”.                            “I enjoy working with children”.

This made me think – I’m not sure I have ever really thought, “why do I want to be a teacher”? I just know that I have always wanted this.

I remember wanting to be a teacher at school, mostly because of a few stand-out teachers and so I did my work experience aged 15 in a primary school. Having ‘achieved’ a D in my Science GCSE, I wasn’t able to do a teaching degree and by 16 I had enough of education. I attempted AS Levels and struggled and so entered the world of work, working in offices and later as a Legal Secretary, along with a couple of trips to Asia and Eastern Europe.

Throughout this time, I knew I still wanted to teach, and so I took an Access to Higher Education course (a life-changer for a ‘mature’ student!) and the University of Plymouth was kind enough to let me take a Science equivalency test which meant I finally had a good enough Science GCSE to take the course!

However, I have gotten to Year Three, without really having an answer to why I want to teach. When you decide as a child that you want to be a teacher when you’re older, you don’t think along the lines of being inspiring or changing children’s lives.

When I think now about what excites me about being a teacher, having had experiences in placements, the thing that does stand out is seeing a child go from struggling and not understanding something, to that moment when they ‘get it’ and you know that you have got them to that point.

Another main reason for me, is that having been through a period between the ages of 16-21 when learning did not appeal to me at all, I suddenly reached a stage where I found learning fun and enjoyable. The beauty of teaching is that not only are you educating the children, but you are constantly being educated yourself. Teaching is always changing and developing, even more so in my specialism of ICT, and so I feel honoured to be going in to a career where I every day I get to teach, but also I get to learn myself.

When I do get thinking about it, of course there are many reasons why I am going in to teaching:

-   - The job satisfaction of knowing that you have done something good that day.

-   - To be able to spend my day working with children – having worked in offices for            5 years, I know that working with children is way more appealing for me!

-   - To know that when a child leaves my class, I have changed their life, even if only slightly.

-   - To help children to enjoy primary school, as I did, and to hopefully be a teacher that they can look back on fondly, as I do with a few of mine.

-   - To be a good role model to the children.

-   - On a purely selfish note and looking to the future – teaching is a great career to get in to as a woman in terms of having a family – although this is just a bonus, rather than a reason.

-   - To use my head – I spent way too long working in jobs where I would turn up, do as I was told and leave – I am looking forward to being able to take charge of my class, giving them interesting and exciting lessons and being creative in my teaching.

    The list goes on…!

So, just out of curiosity, why did you go in to teaching? Was it a lifetime ambition or a decision made later on?

Amy :)

I Organised a Teach Meet!

Pete offered our class the opportunity to organise a Teach Meet to get free entry to the PELeCON event and so I jumped at the chance! Along with James Stoner and Scott Parker we set about planning our Teach Meet.

Having only been to the BETT 2012 Teach Meet and having spoken at that one and not taking much in due to the nervousness, we asked JCSheffield to host the event and he did a great job.

I was really nervous that the Teach Meet would be a failure – no one would come; no one would sign up to speak; we would have computer failure! However, despite the microphones not working, everything went smoothly and we had some great speakers, talking about lots of different topics.

What I enjoyed most was seeing fellow ICT education specialists, Kelly Stone, James Horne and Hannah Shelton get up and give talks. I know when I did my talk at BETT it was a huge thing for me – public speaking is not something I had ever done – and so I was really pleased that they gave it a go too, and they had great reactions to their talks! Check out #TMPELeCON on Twitter to see what people had to say!

Having been to two Teach Meets, one of which I spoke at and one of which I organised, I am looking forward to just attending the next one! However, it looks like I am going to be organising the SWLTC Teach Meet which is a great opportunity for me and I will be involving the PES in the running of it as their new secretary as of September.

Being able to organise the PELeCON Teach Meet and it going so well has been the icing on the cake of what has been a fantastic year at university for me! :)

What Do People Think Of Me?

Pete started our ICT lecture asking us to write down how we think our course mates perceive us. We are all great friends and enjoy a lot of ‘banter’ and so I thought I knew what they would write about me, so my page looked like this:

I know that at 24, I am not old! However, as the oldest in the class they like to bring my age up as often as possible, so I thought this would get mentioned! I am a friendly person, and like to think that they see me as this, and I am pretty sure they see me as a hard worker, as I try to put my all in to each lesson, and they can see my blog and extra curricular activities.

We then had to go around the room and write down something on each other’s page, about how we perceive them. This was really interesting and I was expecting my page to look the same as I had written – “old, friendly and works hard”. I went around the room and it was interesting to see how people perceived each other.

Mine ended up being: 

As a future teacher, who is concerned about the way she comes across in a professional manner, I was pleased with the comments, although I couldn’t help think that actually, it made me come across as quite boring!

However, I agree with every comment! I am super organised, but like to think I am fun. I believe I am professional as I have taken on Pete’s comments over the past two years to change myself from having a ‘student presence’ online, to a ‘professional presence’. I work hard – I have a part-time job at the University and I take on as many extra-curricular activities as I can, from being elected as Secretary for the Plymouth Education Society, to taking part in the 1oo Word Challenge. I’m glad that my hard work does show to others!

I am a student, in my twenties and I do like a drink – I won’t deny that! I am determined, and I think this can be seen with how hard I work. I am really pleased that people think I am friendly and good to talk to, as this is how I try to be, but I am not surprised that I was told I am mature – probably too mature for my own good at times!

I liked the full of life comment as I try to be full of life and take every opportunity that comes my way, and its nice that someone thinks I am “really cool” but I’m sure this one isn’t true!

The point of these activities was for us to see how we perceive ourselves, and how people perceive us and how these are similar and how they differ. We then had to write a few words to describe how we want to be as a teacher:

As ‘Miss Parkin’ I want the children to see me as supportive and friendly; someone they can learn from, but who also makes learning fun and exciting, by creating memorable and new, creative lessons.

We then had to write down how we would like to be seen in the staff room, and which areas of ourselves we might need or want to ‘hide’ from our colleagues. 

Having worked full time since I was 17 until I started University, I know how important it is for your work colleagues to perceive you in a certain way, and that this isn’t necessarily the way that you are in your personal life. However, I have also made some of my best friends through work and this wouldn’t have happened had I not been myself.

Personally , I am a fairly sensible person, and I don’t think there is anything I would need to ‘hide’ from my colleagues in a professional environment. Saying this, I did put down that I would ‘hide’ liking a drink and how I can be opinionated. Although, I don’t see either of these things as bad qualities – I like to go out occasionally on weekends, and that is actually all I do at University – I’m not one for drinking three or four times a week, and so, I don’t think this is something that I would ‘hide’.

I do have opinions and I do like to share them, but again, I am a mature and sensible person and I know when it is a good time to share these opinions and when not to!

We then had to Google ourselves… we have had to do this before and Pete managed to find out the address of a girl in the class, and then found out the colour of her curtains by going on Google Maps, and so I was slightly worried about doing this! However, I was really pleased that all I found was:

Since beginning University, Pete has mentioned a few times about our internet presence and our digital footprint, and I have been working to make my personal accounts as private as possible, and create a professional internet presence for myself.

I was happy to find that my Twitter and blog were the main things I found about myself, and I didn’t find anything personal from a basic search of myself.

Again, being quite a sensible person, I would not put any pictures or comments of my personal Facebook page that I wouldn’t want to be found by a prospective employer. However, we see more and more often these days, the mistakes that people make in putting photos and comments on what they think are their private accounts, which eventually lead them to trouble.

Only earlier this month did a teacher get disciplined forcomments and photos made on her Facebook profile. 

When I started University, I had set my Facebook as private, but I had a personal Twitter page and I probably had photos that I wouldn’t want my boss to see. In these two years, I have dramatically changed and I now have deleted my personal Twitter, and I have my Facebook as private as can be. I have deleted any photos that I am not happy to have on my profile, and now the results when searching for my name are my professional Twitter and my blog, which I think is a great result to have!

Today really did make me think about my internet presence and made me consider my Facebook account more in depth – I have been considering deleting it for a while, with the only things keeping me there being the photos and the ability to create groups to help with my University work. I spoke to Pete about this and he suggested that I could have two accounts which is something I might look in to – a personal one, for photo sharing and staying in touch with family and friends that I don’t get to see very often, and a professional one for talking to colleagues and for helping with university work. I’m interested to know what others do.

I’m happy to say that my online presence is now mostly @amyparkinbed and I’m going to work my hardest to stay that way!

Following today’s seminar, I would be interested to know how people reading this, and who follow me on Twitter, perceive me, so please comment!

I am an I.S.F.J.!

I am an I.S.F.J. – that’s an introverted, sensing, feeling and judging person – according to the Jung Typology Test. 

As part of our Psychology and ICT module, Pete asked us to go to this website (http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp) to take a test based on the Jung and Briggs Myers personality aproach. There are 72 questions with yes or no answers and the idea is that you answer as quickly as possible. I actually found it really difficult to answer quickly, without thinking about the answer, and realised that this is because for some questions there is the desire to answer the question with how you would like to be, rather than how you are. For example, some people might like to think they are the life and soul of the party but know that, in fact, they love nothing more than a quiet night in! 

So, we answered the questions and were presented with four letters – mine being I.S.F. and J. 

We were then told to turn off our computer screens – I was perplexed… we were in an ICT lesson! But there is always a method to Pete’s madness! 

We were given a piece of paper and were told to be silent for two minutes. We had to keep a tally, marking each time we wanted to do something. I ended up with seventeen marks on my paper – partly due to being sat next to Scott who kept mumbling under his breath!

We were then told to stand on either side of the room, dependent on what our first letter was – E (extrovert) or I (introvert). We were then told to look at each other’s tally charts and we noticed that the introvert attitudes generally  had fewer tally marks than the extrovert attitudes.

Briggs and Myers suggest that those extroverts draw energy from action, and that they act first, reflect on it, and then act again, compared to introverts who expend their energy through action, reflecting, then acting, and then reflecting again. 

Given the options of introvert and extrovert, I would say I was an extrovert – I like being around people, I feel confident around people and am outgoing – however the meaning in this context is different, and therefore I would say I am an introvert and that the test, for me, was correct – I do think before I act and speak. 

Pete then asked us to go in to two groups again – one side for sensing and one side for intuition. I was ‘sensing’. He then put the picture below on a computer screen for each group, and asked us to discuss the painting with eachother and then describe it to the other group. 

The sensing group stated what was in the picture: a dog, a boat, water etc. The ‘intuition’ group described the picture in detail – they mentioned that they thought it was set in the Victorian era due to the clothes etc. 

Briggs and Myers suggest that sensing and intuion are information-gathering functions and they describe how new inform ation is understood and interpreted. 

Our sensing group formed information that was tangible and concrete about the painting, whereas the intuition group formed information that was more abstract. 

Again, I think the test got it right for me – I tend to take things as I see them, although I would like to be more intuitive! 

We were then split again in to those whose test results gave the thinking function and those who had the feeling function. 

I was a ‘feeler’ as was most of the class. We were given the scenario of being a head teacher and, having sent a TA on an expensive training course, finding out that they had not been attending due to a family member being in hospital. We were asked to discuss how we would deal with the situation.

Instantly, we all agreed that we would talk to the TA to discuss the situation and explain that it shouldn’t have been done, but that they should feel that they could talk to us. The ‘thinkers’ all agreed that they would ‘sack her’. 

The thinkers make their decisions from a more detached position, doing what seems reasonable and logical, whereas feelers empathise with a situation and consider the needs of the people involved.

I agree again with the results, that I am a feeler – the thought of sacking the TA never crossed my mind – but I don’t think that this is necessarily always a good thing! 

The final dimesion of the model is judging and perceiving. I was on the judging side and we were given the scenario of being given £3,000 to plan an end of year university party. We could spend it on whatever we wanted. We found ourselves planning a party with details of money spent, and on what, with lots of details. The perceiving group came up with “Magaluf and a free bar”! 

The judging personality like to be organised and have all details sorted, whereas the perceiving group like to make vague plans and keep decisions open. 

This is the one I agree with the most – I am definitely a very (over!) organised person, with lists of things to do that are endless!

The seminar was a really interesting one, and I enjoyed being taught in this way rather than Pete simply explaining it on the board. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is a complex subject to explain and by learing it kinaestheitcally, it has lodged itself in my head!

I Can Play the Ukulele!

I have a long list of things to do on my ’Bucket List’ – one being to learn an instrument. I played the piano when I was younger but stopped when we moved house and had to sell the piano.

As part of our non-core subjects this term I have been studying History, Religion and Music.

So, when in our third Music lesson, Bob, our lecturer instructed us to open a little cardboard box each, I was very excited to see that we would be learning to play the ukulele. From school experiences, I have seen children playing this instrument and was really impressed with their ability. 

I was sceptical as to how much we would be able to learn about how to play the ukulele in a two hour session, but by the end of it, we had written our own song and played popular songs such as “When the Saints” and “Jingle Bells”.

The great thing about the ukulele is that thousands of songs can be played with just three chords. We began by learning three simple chords and played these together to make a tune. We then found that we were picking up new chords and following the music as if we had been playing the instrument for weeks, rather than just the one hour!

When playing, it is easy to see why schools invest in the ukes – they are cheap (around £12-15) and easy to learn. Once a few chords are learned then full songs can be played.

I have asked for a Uke for Christmas and hopefully will enter the New Year with a few more chords under my belt and the ability to play more songs!

It would be interesting to hear from any other teachers to have experienced the use of ukuleles in schools and how it has benefited the school.

Maybe in a few months I’ll upload a video here of me playing! But for now, have a look at how good this 8 year old is!! ....