Assignment 1 - Reflections on Learning and Teaching

1. PGCE – Secondary
Assignment 1 - 711699
Reflections on Teaching and Learning
in The Secondary School

2. Assignment 771699

3. Aims for the session
I. To give an outline overview of the assignment
II. To consider some core ideas about pedagogy
III. To consider some core ideas about teaching and learning
IV. To have a clear ideas about what we are doing including
I. An outline for the assignment
II. Where to find source materials
III. Where to find support
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4. On the support site …
I. Assessment Guidance Notes
II. Planning Grid
III. Flowchart
IV. Sticky notes
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5. Outline
This is a 5000 word assignment which asks
your to critically reflect on teaching and
learning. You need to think about the wider
epistemology (theories of knowledge) and the
pedagogic ontologies (world views about
learning). You will then think about how this
‘plays out’ in your classroom (or classrooms in
which you are observing / engaging) and how
your work impacts on your own thinking and
learning.
Assignment 771699

6. Reminder: Expectations for level 7
Criticality
Not just describing but using evidence, building
argument and exploring limitations.
Analytical
What is the range of literature / evidence on a
subject? Where is the focus / weight of evidence?
Methodological
What is the quality of the literature / evidence? Is
is valid / reliable?
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7. Assignment 771699

8. Reminder: Expectations for level 7
Wider Literature
Looking for a breadth and a depth of literature –
for the highest grades you are looking for regular
multiple citations to show wider reading.
International literature (be aware of limitations)
adds to and deepens the quality of your study.
Look at the dates unless you are dealing with
“classical” or “key” texts you should only be using
literature which is 20xx and more probably 201x.
Assignment 771699

9. Reminder: Expectations for level 7
Constructed Argument
You assignment has a given structure but make
sure you are supporting your arguments. Watch
out for:
• Assertions – unsupported statements
• Generalisations – “all” “every”
• Anecdotes – ‘this happened to me so …’
Look to created a narrative ‘flow’ with your
assignment. First person is permitted.
Assignment 771699

10. Reminder: Expectations for level 7
Situated
The core of the programme is reflective practice so make sure
that your own practice is reflected in the assignment – refer to
incidents / examples of practice in your own institution(s) /
classroom(s).
Referencing
Use the reference guide provided (UoH – Harvard)
DO NOT use another referencing style. All sources in the
references MUST be cited.
SPAG
Read and re-read (ask a friend) to check for Spelling, Punctuation
and Grammar – ALL teachers are teachers of English.
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11. Reaching for the top …
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12. Assignment 771699

13. Questions?
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14. The Assignment: Overview
Introduction: A brief outline of your situation and then a
general overview about the nature of epistemology (ways of
thinking) in your subject area and ways of thinking about teaching
and learning.
Literature Review: Referring to appropriate literature critically
explore two pedagogic paradigms or ontologies.
Application: Critically explore what you think the application of
these ideas are in practice in your subject.
Conclusion: Sum up your arguments and critically reflect on the
impact on your thinking about teaching and learning and the
(potential) impact on your future practice.
References / Appendices
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15. Learning Outcomes
Assignment 771699
LO1 Make perceptive and complex judgments, critically weighing evidence and
synthesizing understanding of information and literature relating to the
teaching of your specialist subject in secondary schools
LO2 Demonstrate in-depth, perceptive and critically informed knowledge of
how children learn, and apply said knowledge to inform planning and
teaching in your specialist subject
LO3 Effectively and critically deploy established techniques of inquiry to enable
reflections on practice supporting professional development
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16. A simple enquiry model
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17. Introduction (~500 words)
The Introduction should start with a short outline of your
situation – a little about the school but keep this short and
descriptive indicting anything that you are going to incorporate
later in the assignment that will impact on the discussion about
teaching and learning.
The rest of this section should outline some key ideas about
teaching and learning drawing on historic and current ideas about
learning from the literature. This should set the wider and bigger
picture and should include the general epistemology (theory of
knowledge) ideas about learning which we looked at in the
session on pedagogy.
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18. Literature Review (2000 words)
Choose some ontologies or approaches to pedagogy. Pedagogy is
‘about teaching and learning, curriculum and assessment. It also
concerns relationships and values’. (Nind et al, 2016:11).
Underpinning pedagogic (behaviourism, cognitivism, constructivism and
collaborative/connectivism) under these ideas. In this section explore
how these influence teaching and learning in your subject. What
teaching and learning approaches are most appropriate to your subject?
Draw on a wide range of literature both nationally and internationally
being aware of policy and political issues.
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19. Application (~2000 words)
Critically explore how the ‘big’ ideas you have been
exploring in the literature section are applied in your subject.
These will be ways of teaching and learning that have taken place in
classrooms you have worked or observed, in or it might be ideas that
you have heard about or discussed with colleagues. These could be
actions / activities performed by the teacher or by the pupils and might
include directed activities, group work, collaborative learning, peer-
learning, self-directed learning etc...
You should be critically reflecting on the impact of these teaching and
learning activities on the pupils and on their learning.
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20. Conclusion (~500 words)
Start this section with summing up the key things that
you have learnt from the literature and the application
sections above.
Now, reflect, possibly using a model of reflection such as Gibbs (1998),
on the impact that your assignment has had on your thinking about
teaching and learning – linking this back to your overview in the
introduction section.
Finally consider what implications this might have on your own teaching
and learning in the future.
Assignment 771699

21. References / Appendices
Check that you have used the University of Hull referencing
system for your citations:
Hopkins (2018) or Hopkins (2018:24)
And your references
Hopkins, P. (2018) Using Technology in Primary Science Teaching.
London: Routledge.
Appendices should be included if they are items that the marker might
want to see but should not need to see. This might include an example
of a teaching and learning activity or some essential data.
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22. Assignment 771699

23. Questions?
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24. Process
You need to start with a plan (using the planning
proforma) and start to read the teaching and
learning literature and ideas and decide which
areas you are going to focus on – this should also
be informed with the teaching approaches adopted
by your subject area in your institution.
Assignment 771699

25. Process
1. Read and then read some more
2. Using the data sources (ProQuest, EBSCO, Google Scholar ...)
3. Use the support CANVAS / website on how to search
4. Draft a more detailed outline and send to tutor
5. Act on feedback
6. Write the assignment
7. Read and check for formatting and style
8. Submit draft via Turnit In
9. Submit
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26. Timescale
Jan xth, 2021Half TermNow
READING
WRITING
CHECKINGPLANNING Tut Tut

27. Assignment 771699

28. Questions?
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29. Assignment 771699
Contact and Support
tutor@hull.ac.uk
paul_hopkins
@UoH_SCITTs
Via the CANVAS messanger

30. PGCE – Secondary
Assignment 1 - 771699
Reflections on Teaching and Learning
in The Secondary School