Formative Assessment Essay Example for Free

Formative Assessment Essay Chapter IV A Fundamental Duties ARTICLE 51A Fundamental Duties It shall be the duty of every citizen of India(a) to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem; (b) to cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national struggle for freedom; (c) to uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India; (d) to defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so; (e) To promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women; (f) to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture; (g) To protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers, wild life and to have compassion for living creatures; (h) to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform; (i) (j) to safeguard public property and to abjure violence; to strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavour and achievement. CONTENTS Page No. Acknowledgments Preface Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation School Based Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation Continuous Comprehensive Assessment and Evaluation in e-Typewriting- English/Hindi Assessment Rubrics e-Typewriting Syllabus and Scheme of Examination for Class IX TERM-I Unit 1: Introduction to e-Typewriting Unit 2: Keyboard Layout (QWERTY INSCRIPT) Unit 3: Touch Typewriting 10 16 21 XL XLI 1 (I) (II) (IX) TERM-II Unit 4: Introduction to Word Processing 29 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. ADVISORY BODY †¢ Shri Vineet Joshi, Chairman CBSE. †¢ Dr. Sadhana Parashar, Head Innovations Research, CBSE. EDITING COMMITTEE †¢ Prof. Om Vikas, Retd. Prof. from DIT, Government of India. MATERIAL PRODUCTION GROUP †¢ Mr. Yogesh Kumar HOD, Computer Science. Meera Model School, Delhi. †¢ Dr. D. P. Bhatia, Mata Sundri College,University of Delhi. †¢ Ms. Gayatri Subramanian, Consultant, Ministry of Corporate Affairs , Govt of India. †¢ Mrs. Sunita Chug, Senior Lecturer, Mira Bai Polytechnic, Maharani Bagh, New Delhi. †¢ Mrs. Nancy Sehgal, Mata Jai Kaur School, Delhi. CO-ORDINATION †¢ Mrs. Sugandh Sharma, Education Officer (Commerce) CBSE. PREFACE Typewriters were developed to prepare documents with uniform letter prints, to overcome illegibility of hand written material and produce documents faster. Initially typewriters were mechanical, then electric and electronic typewriters came into being. Over a period, QWERTY keyboard layout was in use and it became the defacto standard for Roman Typewriting. Computers also use keyboard as an input device. Keyboard layout has specific letter on key allocation on the basis of frequency and count of letters over a fairly large sample of documents. High frequency letters are on middle/home row, distributed on both sides. For Indic scripts, Standard keyboard Layout is INSCRIPT. Mechanical typewriters are now becoming fast extinct. Computer empowers the user to input information with accuracy, speed and additional features of Word processing. The syllabus of Typewriting is hereby revised as e-Typewriting with an additional unit on Word processing in view of the growing use of computers for typewriting documents. Self assessment and keeping record of progress in Assignment files are encouraged so as to keep students motivated towards excellence. Profuse thanks are due to Prof. Om Vikas for steering the experts members Mr. Yogesh Kumar, Ms. Nancy Sehgal, Ms. Sunita Chugh, Dr. D. P. Bhatia and Ms. Gayatri Subramaniam for contributing towards development of the syllabus on -e-Typewriting and also the Formative Assessment Manual for Teachers. I also thank Ms. Sugandh Sharma, Education Officer for coordinating the meetings and bringing out the manual in this shape. It is expected that the students will enjoy this course even as an additional subject in view of the benefits of touch-typing skills in future career. We would welcome suggestions to improve upon content assessment methodology in tune with the objectives of CCE. (Vineet Joshi) Chairman, CBSE I Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation Education aims at making children capable of becoming responsible, productive and useful members of a society. Knowledge, skills and attitudes are built through learning experiences and opportunities created for learners in school. It is in the classroom that learners can analyse and evaluate their experiences, learn to doubt, to question, to investigate and to think independently. The aim of education simultaneously reflects the current needs and aspirations of a society as well as its lasting values and human ideals. At any given time and place they can be called the contemporary and contextual articulations of broad and lasting human aspirations and values. An understanding of learners, educational aims, the nature of knowledge, and the nature of the school as a social space can help us arrive at principles to guide classroom practices. Conceptual development is thus a continuous process of deepening and enriching connections and acquiring new layers of meaning. Alongside is the development of theories that children have about the natural and social worlds, including themselves in relation to others, which provide them with explanations for why things are the way they are and the relationship between cause and effect. Attitudes, emotions and values are thus an integral part of cognitive development, and are linked to the development of language, mental representations, concepts and reasoning. As childrens metacognitive capabilities develop, they become more aware of their own beliefs and capable of regulating their own learning. Characteristics of learning All lchildren are naturally motivated to learn and are capable of learning. Understanding l Children l and developing the capacity for abstract thinking, reflection and work are the most important aspects of learning. learn in a variety of ways-through experience, making and doing things, experimentation, reading, discussion, asking, listening, thinking and reflecting, and expressing themselves in speech or writing-both individually and with others. They require opportunities of all these kinds in the course of their development. something before the child is cognitively ready takes away real learning. Children may remember many facts but they may not understand them or be able to relate them to the world around them. takes place both within school and outside school. Learning is enriched if the two arenas interact with each other. Art and work provide opportunities for holistic learning that is rich in tacit and aesthetic components. Such experiences are essentially to be learnt through direct experience and integrated into life. Teaching l Learning l II Learning l must be paced so that it allows learners to engage with concepts and deepen understanding rather than remembering only to forget after examinations. At the same time learning must provide variety and challenge, and be interesting and engaging. Boredom is a sign that the task may have become mechanically repetitive for the child and of little cognitive value. can take place with or without mediation. In the case of the latter, the social context and interactions, especially with those who are capable, provide avenues for learners to work at cognitive levels above their own. Learning l Place of Evaluation in the Curriculum A curriculum is what constitutes a total teaching-learning program composed of overall aims, syllabus, materials, methods and assessment. In short it provides a framework of knowledge and capabilities, seen as appropriate to a particular level. Evaluation not only measures the progress and achievement of the learners but also the effectiveness of the teaching materials and methods used for transaction. Hence evaluation should be viewed as a component of curriculum with the twin purpose of effective delivery and further improvement in the teaching learning process. If properly understood, evaluation or assessment will not be perceived as something administered by the teachers and taken by the learners on the conclusion of a period of learning. When evaluation is seen as an end of the learning exercise, both the teachers and the learners will tend to keep it outside the teaching-learning process, rendering assessment broadly irrelevant and alien to the curriculum. Further such a perception associates anxiety and stress with evaluation for learners. On the contrary, if evaluation is seen as an integral part built into the teaching learning process; it will become continuous like both teaching and learning. When evaluation is subsumed into teaching-learning, learners will not perceive tests and examinations with fear. It will lead to diagnosis, remediation and enhancement of learning. The scope of evaluation in schools extends to almost all the areas of learners personality development. It should include both scholastic and co-scholastic areas, i. e. it should be comprehensive in nature. This is in line with the goals of education. Evaluation is continuous and reveals the strengths and weaknesses of learners more frequently, so that the learners have better opportunity to understand and improve themselves. It also provides feedback to the teachers for modifying their teaching strategies. In view of getting a complete picture of the childs learning, assessment should focus on the learners ability to – learn and l acquire a l acquire desired skills related to different subject areas. level of achievement in different subject areas in the requisite measure develop childs individual skills, interests, attitudes and motivation l understand and lead a healthy and a productive life. l monitor the changes taking place in a childs learning, behaviour and progress over time. l III l respond to different situations and opportunities both in and out of school.  apply what is learned in a variety of l work l independently, collaboratively analyze and evaluate. l environments, circumstances and situations and harmoniously. be laware of social and environmental issues participate in social and environmental projects and causes. l retain what is learned over a period of time. l Thus assessment is a useful, desirable and an enabling process. To realize this one needs to keep the following parameters in mind The need to: assess the learner. l use l a variety of ways to collect information about the learners learning and progress in subjects and cross curricular boundaries. collect information continuously and record the same. l give l importance to each learners way of responding and learning and the time it takes to do so. report on an ongoing continuous basis and be sensitive to every learners responses. l provide feedback that will lead to positive action and help the learner to do better l In the assessment process, one should be careful NOT to: l label learners as slow, poor, intelligent etc. make comparisons between them. l make negative statements. l Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) refers to a system of school-based evaluation of students that covers all aspects of a students development. It is a developmental process of a child which emphasizes on two fold objectives. These objectives are continuity in evaluation on one hand and assessment of broad based learning and behaviourial outcomes on the other. The term `continuous is meant to emphasise that evaluation of identified aspects of students `growth and development is a continuous process rather than an event, built into the total IV teaching-learning process and spread over the entire span of academic session. It means regularity of assessment, diagnosis of learning gaps, use of corrective measures and feedback of evidence to teachers and students for their self evaluation. The second term `comprehensive means that the scheme attempts to cover both the scholastic and the co-scholastic aspects of students growth and development. Since abilities, attitudes and aptitudes can manifest themselves in forms other than the written word, the term refers to application of a variety of tools and techniques (both testing and non-testing) and aims at assessing a learners development in areas of learning like : Knowledge l Understanding/Comprehension l Application l Analysis l l Evaluation l Creativity Objectives of CCE are: l To help develop cognitive, psychomotor and affective skills. l To lay emphasis on thought process and de-emphasise memorization l To make evaluation an integral part of teaching-learning process l use To evaluation for improvement of students achievement and teaching – learning strategies on the basis of regular diagnosis followed by remedial instruction l. To use evaluation as a quality control device to maintain desired standard of performance l determine To  social utility, desirability or effectiveness of a programme and take appropriate decisions about the learner, the process of learning and the learning environment l To make the process of teaching and learning a learner-centered activity. Features of CCE are: l The continuous aspect of CCE takes care of continual and periodicity aspect of evaluation. Means assessment of students in the beginning of instruction (placement evaluation) and assessment during the instructional process (formative evaluation) done informally using multiple techniques of evaluation. means assessment of performance done frequently at the end of unit/term (summative) l Continual l Periodicity V l The  comprehensive component of CCE takes care of assessment of all round development of the childs personality. It includes assessment in Scholastic as well as Co-Scholastic aspects of the pupils growth. aspects include curricular areas or subject specific areas, whereas co-scholastic aspects include Life Skills, Co-Curricular Activities, Attitudes, and Values. in scholastic areas is done informally and formally using multiple techniques of evaluation continually and periodically. The diagnostic evaluation takes place at the end of a unit/term test. The causes of poor performance in some units are diagnosed using diagnostic tests. These are followed up with appropriate interventions followed by retesting. in Co-Scholastic areas is done using multiple techniques on the basis of identified criteria, while assessment in Life Skills is done on the basis of Indicators of Assessment and checklists. Source Examination Reforms, NCERT Scholastic l Assessment l Assessment l The functions of CCE are: l It helps the teacher to organize effective teaching strategies. Continuous l evaluation helps in regular assessment to the extent and degree of learners progress (ability and achievement with reference to specific scholastic and co-scholastic areas). evaluation serves to diagnose weaknesses and permits the teacher to ascertain an individual learners strengths and weaknesses and her needs. It provides immediate feedback to the teacher, who can then  decide whether a particular unit or concept needs re-teaching in the whole class or whether a few individuals are in need of remedial instruction. evaluation, children can know their strengths and weaknesses. It provides the child a realistic self assessment of how he/she studies. It can motivate children to develop good study habits, to correct errors, and to direct their activities towards the achievement of desired goals. It helps a learner to determine the areas of instruction in which more emphasis is required. and comprehensive evaluation identifies areas of aptitude and interest. It helps in identifying changes in attitudes, and value systems. in making decisions for the future, regarding choice of subjects, courses and careers. Continuous l By lcontinuous  Continuous l It helps l It provides l information/reports on the progress of students in scholastic and co-scholastic areas and thus helps in predicting the future successes of the learner. VI Continuous evaluation helps in bringing awareness of the achievement to the child, teachers and parents from time to time. They can look into the probable cause of the fall in achievement if any, and may take remedial measures of instruction in which more emphasis is required. Many times, because of some personal reasons, family problems or adjustment problems, the children start neglecting their studies, resulting in a sudden drop in their achievement. If the teacher, child and parents do not come to know about this sudden drop in the achievement and the neglect in studies by the child continues for a longer period then it will result in poor achievement and a permanent deficiency in learning for the child. The major emphasis of CCE is on the continuous growth of students ensuring their intellectual, emotional, physical, cultural and social development and therefore will not be merely limited to assessment of learners scholastic attainments. It uses assessment as a means of motivating learners in further programmes to provide information for arranging feedback and follow up work to improve upon the learning in the classroom and to present a comprehensive picture of a learners profile. It is this that has led to the emergence of the concept of School Based Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation. Source : Ncert VII Scholastic and Co-scholastic Assessment In order to have Continuous and Comprehensive evaluation, both scholastic and co-scholastic aspects need to be given due recognition. Such a holistic assessment requires maintaining an ongoing, changing and comprehensive profile for each learner that is honest, encouraging and discreet. While teachers daily reflect, plan and implement remedial strategies, the childs ability to retain and articulate what has been learned over a period of time also requires periodic assessment. These assessments can take many forms but all of them should be as comprehensive and discreet as possible. Weekly, fortnightly, or quarterly reviews (depending on the learning area), that do not openly compare one learner with another and are positive and constructive experiences are generally recommended to promote and enhance not just learning and retention among children but their soft skills as well. VIII School Based Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation There has been a consistent move towards reducing the load on the student by making public or board examination stress free. Over the decade there has been a high pitched race towards more marks and thus more competitiveness among students and schools. The move of the CBSE to replace marks with grades is a step in the right direction. The paradigm shift is to empower schools by creating a workable school based continuous and comprehensive scheme. School Based Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation system should be established to: reduce stress on children l make evaluation comprehensive and regular l provide space for the teacher for creative teaching l provide a tool of diagnosis and remediation l produce learners with greater skills l Position Paper on Aims of Education NCF 2005. NCERT Aims of School Based CCE l Elimination of chance element and subjectivity (as far as possible), de-emphasis of memorization, encouraging Comprehensive evaluation incorporating both scholastic and co-scholastic aspects of learners development.  evaluation spread over the total span of the instructional time as an integral built-in aspect of the total teaching-learning process. And meaningful declaration of results for effective use by teachers, students, parents and the society. uses of test results for purposes not merely of the assessment of levels of pupils achievements and proficiencies, but mainly for its improvement, through diagnosis and remedial/enrichment programmes. in the mechanics of conducting examinations for realizing a number of other allied purposes Continuous l Functional l Wider l Improvement l Introduction of concomitant changes in instructional materials and methodology. l Introduction of the semester system from the secondary stage onwards. l The l use of grades in place of marks in determining and declaring the level of pupil performance and proficiency. The above goals are relevant for both external examination and evaluation in schools IX Characteristics of School Based Evaluation : l Broader, more comprehensive and continuous than traditional system. l primarily to help learners for systematic learning and development. Aims l Takes care of the needs of the learner as responsible citizens of the future. l Is more transparent, futuristic and provides more scope for association among learners , teachers and parents. School based evaluation provides opportunities to teachers to know the following about their learners: What they learn l How l they learn l What type of difficulties / limitations they face in realising learning objectives together l What the children think l What the children feel l What their interests and dispositions are. The focus has shifted to developing a deep learning environment. There is a paradigm shift in the pedagogy and competencies of ‘controlling’ to ‘enriching’ to ‘empowering’ schools. Traditional Schooling l Teacher centred l Subjects and classes l Sorting and ranking Enriching Schooling Student centred l l Directed Self l Continuous assessment Empowering Schooling Experience centred l l Virtual authenticity l Multi literacies individuals Competency: l Memory l Competitive Competency: l Critical thinking l Collaborative l Creative Competency: l taking Risk l Ethical l Interactive There are four Assessment Paradigms Assessment of Learning Most commonly, assessment is defined as a process whereby someone attempts to describe and quantify the knowledge, attitudes or skills possessed by another. Teacher directedness is paramount and the student has little involvement in the design or implement of the assessment process in these circumstances – X Summative l Teacher designs learning l l Teacher collects evidence l Teacher judges what has been learnt (and what has not) Assessment for Learning The assessment for learning involves increased levels of student autonomy, but not without teacher guidance and collaboration. The assessment for learning is sometimes seen as being akin to ‘formative assessment’ and can be seen as informing teaching. There is more emphasis towards giving of useful advice to the student and less emphasis on the giving of marks and the grading function – Teacher designs learning l Teacher designs assessment with feedback to student l Teacher assesses what has been learnt (student develops insight into what has not) l Assessment as Learning ‘Assessment as learning’ is perhaps more connected with diagnostic assessment and can be constructed with more of an emphasis on informing learning. Assessment as learning generates opportunities for self assessment and for peer assessment. Students take on increased responsibility to generate quality information about their learning and that of others – Teacher and student co-construct learning l Teacher and student co-construct assessment l Teacher and student co-construct learning progress map l Assessment for learning and assessment as learning activities should be deeply embedded in teaching and learning and be the source of iterative feedback, allowing students to adjust, rethink and re-learn. Assessment in Learning The assessment in learning places the question at the centre of teaching and learning. It deflects the teaching from its focus on a ‘correct answer’ to focus on ‘a fertile question’. Through the inquiry, students engage in processes that generate feedback about their learning, which come from multiple sources, and activities. It contributes to the construction of other learning activities, lines of enquiry and the generation of other questions Student at the centre of learning l Student monitors, assesses and reflects on learning l Student initiates demonstration of learning (to self and others) l Teacher as coach and mentor l XI Teachers and students need to understand the purpose of each assessment strategy so that the overall assessment ‘package’ being used by learners and teachers accurately captures, generates and uses meaningful learning information to generate deep learning and understanding. Purpose of Assessment To lascertain what learning, change and progress takes place in the child over a period of time in different subjects of study and other aspects of the childs personality. To find out the needs and learning style of every learner. l To ldevise styles. To improve the teaching-learning materials by adding value. l To help l every learner find out their interests, aptitudes, strengths and weaknesses so that the learner can evolve effective learning strategies. a teaching-learning plan that is responsive to the individual needs and learning To measure the extent to which curricular objectives have been realized. l To enhance the effectiveness of the teaching-learning process. l To l record the progress of every learner and communicate it to parents and other stakeholders. a dialogue between the teacher and the student and also the parents as a collaborative endeavor for overall improvement of the system. To lmaintain To involve the learners in the process through peer and self assessment. l Different stages in Assessment Examination is not assessment; it is only one of the tools of assessment. As we have seen above, assessment is an integral part of the teaching-learning process and hence cannot be seen as the final stage in isolation. The overall aim of assessment is to gather information to improve the teaching-learning process. So it has certain distinct stages. Stage 1: Gathering information about and evidence of the extent of effectiveness of teaching and learning We gather information in a variety of ways, using a number of tools. Observation, conversation and discussion, assignments, projects, different types of tests etc are some of the methods and tools we use for collecting information. Stage 2: Recording of Information The information gathered has to be systematically recorded because it constitutes not only rich inputs that have to be used for improving teaching and learning but also evidence to support the conclusion we come to about the progress made by the students. In order to make the recording effective, we must use different recording devices such as learner profile, XII ancecdotal records, case studies, report books etc. It is essential that the information is recorded in both quantitative and qualitative terms along with well thought out and objective observations by the teacher. It is also necessary to keep samples of students work as evidence to support the report of the teacher. The most important aspect of good recording and reporting is that it shows the progress of the learner in different domains over a period of time. Stage 3: Analysing and Reporting the Information Collected The recorded information constitutes valuable feedback that the teacher, the student and the parents should use to enhance the learning process. To do this, the gathered information has to be analysed periodically so that the teacher can draw conclusions about how a child is learning and progressing. Such analysis and the grading that is done is actually a mapping of the progress of students in a learning environment. Analysis and review also leads to unambiguous statements about the strengths of every child and the aspects requiring further improvement. The report has to be communicated to the learners and their parents so that they are able to collaborate with the teacher to take the necessary steps for improving learning. It is essential that the child is encouraged to compete with self rather than with others. One of the key components of engaging students in the assessment of their own learning is providing them with descriptive feedback as they learn. Research shows descriptive feedback to be the most effective instructional strategy to move students forward in their learning. Descriptive feedback provides students with an understanding of what they are doing well, links to classroom learning and specific input on how to reach the next step. Stage 4: Using the Information for Improvement Assessment should result in improvement. Though the student, the teacher and the parents are all stakeholders in this paradigm, it is the teacher who has to take the initiative to use the analysis of information on each learner to enhance learning. This calls for reflective practices. Some questions that the teacher could ask himself/ herself are: 1. Are all the learners involved in the activities of the class? 2. Are there learners who face problems in coping with the pace and flow of the teaching learning process? 3. What are their problems and how should I help them? 4. Is there something in my teaching strategy that has to be modified to make the class learn better? How should I go about it? 5. Are there some learners who are not challenged by the materials and methods and hence lose motivation quickly? How should I respond to their special needs? 6. Are there some lessons/ chapters/ units that pose difficulties to many learners? How should I add value to these portions of the syllabus? 7. Have I identified certain common errors, mistakes and instances of lack of conceptual clarity from the information collected and analysed? How should I go about an effective programme of remediation? XIII 8. Is my classroom time management effective? What are the changes that I could introduce to make it more learner and learning oriented? 9. Am I getting adequate support from the school management, my colleagues, the parents and the community? How can I involve all the stakeholders more actively in what I am doing for the benefit of my learners? 10. What are my own needs of professional development? How can I fulfil them in a continuous manner? Such reflective questions will help the teacher modify and refine the programme of teaching to achieve the learning objectives as well as to enhance his/ her professional competence continuously. By now it is well established that learning is a continuous process and it involves informal, formal and non-formal modes. It is also widely acknowledged that children learn by constructing their knowledge and it makes learning a process that takes place within the children rather than without. In this paradigm of constructivism, the teacher ought to recognize the importance of different stages of learning i. e. , the initial stage where the existing knowledge of the learner is seen as the entry level, the second stage where new knowledge is understood and accommodated with the existing knowledge and the third stage where the constructed knowledge as a whole is tested by the learner by applying it to real life situations for making sense of the world and the self and for drawing conclusions, problem solving, decision making etc. What constitutes knowledge at the third stage automatically becomes the learners existing knowledge for further learning and thus it is a cyclical process. The main purpose of assessment is to enhance the effectiveness of the learning process and hence it has to be integrated appropriately with every stage of learning. Since learning is continuous, assessment also must be continuous. Otherwise the learner will not be able to know whether she/ he is proceeding along the right lines, what is the stage at which he experiences difficulties, what are the new inputs and strategies that are required to successfully continue the process of construction of knowledge and what is the help that is expected from the teacher. Similarly the teacher also has to know at what stage of learning each learner is at a particular point of time, what are the changes that are to be made to the teaching strategies to make every child learn effectively and what further help can be provided. For instance, when a child in class I comes to school, it is probable that the child has not had any formal schooling earlier. It does not mean that the child has no prior knowledge because learning, as has been pointed out earlier, can be through informal and non formal modes too. So the teachers duty is to identify the prior knowledge of the child while dealing with a particular concept or skill.

Control, Empowerment, and the Fake World: Converging Metaphors :: Metaphors Education Educational Papers

Control, Empowerment, and the Fake World: Converging Metaphors "Metaphors not only structure the way we think about school, they also help create the world of the school" (Cunningham, "Metaphors of Mind" handout). This quote speaks the truth! Metaphors are the tools we use both to structure thinking about our culture and to create culture at the same time. An excellent example of this dual and interconnected role of metaphor is Marshall's belief that "the dominan t metaphor in many schools is SCHOOL IS WORK" (Cunningham, "MOM" handout). Marcel Danesi would say that this metaphor underlies a way to "conceptualize the world" of school (Danesi 107). By thinking about school in this way, the world of school is "crea ted" to be a work-filled experience. Students need to do homework and work harder at their lessons and teachers must manage their classrooms (Cunningham, "MOM" handout). It is in this way that the metaphor is the "cognitive phenomenon that converts fact ual feeling states into artifactual conceptual structures" (Danesi 107). Together, people create metaphorical ideas that turn into "real" artifacts, the representative structures of culture. The metaphorical idea of "school is work" pro duces the artifac tual world that fosters homework, working harder, earning grades, and managing classrooms (Danesi 108). These artifactual signs in turn perpetuate the controlling metaphor. Metaphors, then, are at the heart of understanding the way we view aspects of our culture while we simultaneously build that culture. Umberto Eco stresses that culture is a collective experience. In his view, "there is no such thing as a single mind, un connected to other minds or to their (collective) social cultural constructions" (Cunningham, "MOM" handout). If this is taken as fact, the "social, cultural, historical, and institutional contexts" humans find themselves in contribute to creating their metaphors and in turn, their artifactual worlds. Therefore, the situational context and the metaphors found there are intertwined and must be examined together. For example, I work in a juvenile prison. Prison is an interesting cultural context to investigate from its various perspectives. Many metaphors may be made about the same system depending on a person's immediate cultural group, or what Eco better terme d as humans' "local cultural organizations" (Cunningham, "MOM" handout). The sign of school and its object, the prison school program, has at least three distinguishable interpretants in the facility in which I work. These interpretants can be viewed as metaphors and are different depending on whose point of view and "local cultural organization" one is investigating.

Freedom in a Montessori Environment

Explain in your own words the following: A. FREEDOM IN A PREPARED ENVIRONMENT B. THE SENSITIVE PERIODS C. NORMALISATION D. ABSORBENT MIND A) FREEDOM IN A PREPARED ENVIRONMENT All over the world in constitutions of countries freedom is enshrined. This freedom applies not only to the adult but also to the child. For it is in freedom that a child reveals himself. Therefore a directress in a prepared environment must have the opportunity to observe the child in a free and open environment. Also the child’s inner guide must be allowed to direct the child’s growth.Thus a child will be aided to grow through independence and must be allowed growth through his inn guide. This is because a child uses his environment to grow. A child must therefore be aided in his development through activities that will encourage independence such as self-help skills like wearing shoes buttoning sweeping and other activities that will make him independent. All materials should be given the correc t sizes; materials should be kept orderly; furniture should be child sized. The child must be aided in developing his will by by ensuring coordination and ensuring activities are towards a given end.The child must be given constructive work. Maria Montessori has described a classroom as a room in which all children move about intelligently voluntarily and without being unruly or loud. It is important to note that in allowing freedom, any destructive acts of the child must be limited. All other good and useful manifestations must be observed by the directress. There are however limits to freedom within the prepared environment; they are: Respect for the environment: The child has freedom but must treat the environment with care and respect.He must be courteous and treat all with respect and care. Respect for Himself: It is not enough to treat other with courtesy; he must also respect himself and use the materials respectfully without destroying. Respect for Others: The child is free to carry out activities as long as he is not interfering on the rights of other children in the classroom. Progress at his own rate and development: Each child is allowed to develop at his own rate and pace. No competitions are allowed in the environment. The Montessori environment also allows freedom in many aspects.Freedom of movement as they are allowed to move around the classroom as well as outside the classroom. Thus a Montessori classroom is not divided within work periods. A child is also allowed freedom of choice to choose their own activities in the classroom as this enables concentration and helps develop good working habits. Freedom of speech is also allowed as children speak to each other and initiate activities as a team or individually. Because they are not forced; they naturally develop the tendency to help thy neighbour.Children are expected to observe the rules of basic courtesy; which involves not interrupting other people. Freedom to grow and to construct his own mental capabilities. All materials are with a focus to helping the child build his inner self. Freedom to love and be loved is important as a child must be loved exceptionally and respected for just being himself. An example of Deji a three and a half year old who accidentally defecates on his body. Immediately other children start complaining about the smell and proceed to laugh at the child. The teacher who was also horrified was disgusted and showed this to Deji.The child sat still ashamed of himself. A well trained directress should correct Deji and clean him up and also discourage other children from making fun of him. It is important that love is shown in such circumstances while correcting the boy lovingly. Thus if such an occurrence occurs in future other children will learn to assist and show loving support. Freedom from danger is also important as a child has a right to be protected away from danger. Freedom from competition and pressure is discouraged as a child is free from artificially induced competition reward and punishments.The inner motivation of the child stimulates him to work to the best of his ability and the satisfaction is the reward. He is thus allowed to grow at his own rate and development. In conclusion freedom allow a child grow by removing obstacles which can impede his normal development. The freeing of a child consists in removing as far as possible these obstacles that will deter true development in a child. Thus to objectively achieve these demands objectively a close attention must be on the part of the adult. (B) THE SENSTITIVE PERIODThe sensitive period is a delicate and transitory period helping the child with the purpose of formation. This urge helps him to focus his attention on certain aspects of his environment with such congruency that he excludes other things. As a result of the meeting of minds between this inner urge and this activities; the child completes it and feels excited and stronger. This inner urge can be likened to an intrinsic weaving of the thread of life. The importance of the sensitive period abound as they help in later years to assist in the development of concentration and intellectual powers.Sensitive periods in language have been identified; a child who without prior formal lessons, without conscious effort learns to pronounce the language he hears perfectly. It has been identified that the sensitive period for language has already begun in the child before he can walk and talk. By four months through the watchful eyes of a child he starts making vague sounds. As he progresses the baby will begin got make real sounds. This mysterious urge starts in the soul; its intensity lights up a flame and is turned outward as a light.Under this influence the sounds separate though the child cannot understand the language. As the child interacts more with the environment he listens voluntarily to the spoken language. It had been defined as divine command which the child imitates and do es not know why. A child who is starved of been exposed to the sensitivity of language can lead to having a difficult time learning the structure of his language. An example in Nigeria is where parents refuse their children to learn the local language and speak only english to the child.As the child grows older learning to communicate in their mother tongue becomes a challenge as the child cannot relate to others in his immediate environment. Amazing is also the sensitivity to Order as it reveals itself in the second year of life. The child at this stage displays a possesive passion in the order of things. For example Deji a 3 years old has a pack of balls bought for him in a basket by his mum. Family friends come to the house and one of the younger children removes the pack of balls from the basket. Deji starts screaming as he trys to put all balls back in the basket.He quietened down after he put back all the balls without any interfeence from the guest. It is very necessary for t he child to have order in his environment as he is constructing himself from the elements of the environment. A baby can be helped by an adult through following a general rhythm. Dont forget to add advantages Another sensitivity which occurs in the second year is the senstivity to small objects. Children are drawn to small objects alas miniature scientists. However the adult must be patient,observant and not shout when a child pick up objects.Freedom is also critical to enable a child explore their environment. The adverse effects of sensitivity to small objects will be lack of observational skills passiveness and lack of comparative judgement. Sensitivity to cordination of movement occurs from 21/2 years. This is the period A Child loves to explore the environment by jumping and running. They engage in activity that will cordinate their movement. Constuctive work that will promote good cordination of body movement eg pouring from one jug to another is important. The adverse effect will be lack of good cordination.Children between two to five love to play with their mates. They also want to do things adults and develop social skills. At this time they pick up manners and behaviours from adults. The advers effects are that children remain dependent passice and lonely. Sensitivity through learning through the five senses. Children take interest in sound shape texture. At this time the children are given activities which impress and stimulate the senses refinimg their functions. This period is important especially in adult life especially in some vocations C) NORMALISATION Normalisation has been described as the single most important result of a teachers work. This is when the teacher has helped the child to attain a normal developmental stage where they focus for long periods of time. At this stage they are satisfied and proud of their work. Normalization occurs during the first phase of development at ages 0-6 years. Peter is a three year old pupil and a new st udent at ABC School. Peter is unable to concentrate on a particular task and lacks interest in activities.After careful monitoring and patience by an adult in a prepared environment; Peter transforms and shows keen interest in activities. Children who are young or new to the prepared environment are said to be in the first stage of development. These children are not ready for the freedom and like peter in the example above are invited to work with a teacher keeping an eye on the child. These children increase their level of concentration and take pride in their accomplishment As the child progresses; the child experiences freedom and now have the confidence to move and complete activities.Children at this stage benefit from frequent and different presentations. The role of the teacher s to observe the child keenly to ensure they are receiving the assistance needed for the transformation. By the time Peter in our example above is five or six years, the child is able to focus on one activity; work in teams; teach younger children and work independently without disturbing the work of others. This journey has taken years for the child to become normalized and as such the teacher must patiently and without giving up enjoy the journey towards independence and normalization.In a growing child there is physical energy; especially the muscular energy of intelligence and will and also the mental energy of intelligence and will. These two streams work in unison to make a child complete. A normalized chid develops the following characteristics; a love for order in which a child expresses a love for the environment and a desire to preserve the environment. Also the love of work which in a prepared environment means any activity which the child becomes engrossed in and consumes his personality.A child grows to like work naturally and finds joy in completing his work. Another characteristic is profound spontaneous concentration which has been called attention to life or a w onder of growth. It is the Childs intelligence that is concentrating here and constructing itself through an exchange with its immediate environment. Following closely is an attachment to reality as a normalized Childs mind constructs itself through contact with the environment which is the foundation of the world as taken in by a child through the five senses and later is built on by reason and imagination.When a child works on this intelligence is thereafter raised to the order of intelligence. Obedience: A normalized child is obedient as the child grows through various works undergone and undergoes the development of will. Independence and initiative is what happens to a normalized child. Spontaneous self-discipline is also a feature of Montessori school children. This discipline enables the children to work for long periods in the absence of the directress. Joy also radiates on the children’s faces because they are deeply satisfied.

Dream Interpretation Speech Essay - 956 Words

Topic: Dream Interpretation Specific purpose: After hearing my speech, the audience will be able to explore more about one’s dream and start to understand how their own dreams work. Central idea: The meaning of dream interpretation and how it really works? Introduction: First of all, have anyone here seen or experienced something that you might think is already happened somewhere before? I myself also experienced this kind of experience. If so, I hope that my speech can explain more and help you all to understand more about what happened and how is it relate to your dream. Of course, I will have to go over some basic stuff while hoping that everyone will stay awake. 1. So what is dream interpretation? Dream interpretation or†¦show more content†¦Many dream researchers believe in universal dream symbols, that the images we see in our dreams are the same for everybody. Thus, numerous dream dictionaries are on the market. However, we believe the same image can mean different things for different people. As such a book like a dream dictionary, which gives a very specific meaning for certain images, is usually not much use. One thing here that is important to know is the author of the dream dictionary was not the author of your dream. You were. 4. Steps in dream interpretation†¦. a. Record dreams To Record dreams is of vital importance to an accurate dream interpretation. But in order to record them you must remember them, right? How many of your night time escapades can you remember clearly? If you are anything like me, you will remember from 1-3 dreams every night, record all of them and begin the process of dream interpretation straight away. If not, all those wonderful images and adventures would be lost forever! Once you have recorded your dream, make separate notes on: †¢ How you felt when you woke up from the dream †¢ The main dream images †¢ Overall feeling while dreaming These images show some creative ways to approach dream recording and that ultimately aid dream interpretation. b. Identifying dream symbols The next important step of dream interpretation is to identify your dream symbols. Dream symbols are any dream images that have playedShow MoreRelatedDream Interpretation Informative Speech Essay1675 Words   |  7 PagesName: Holly McCallen SPCH 2010-103 Informative Speech Date: TITLE: Dream Interpretation Type of Informative Speech: Speech Design: Categorical I. Introduction A. Attention Material: â€Å"Dreams feel weird while we are in them. It’s only when we wake up that we realize something was actually strange (Inception, the movie).† Have you ever been curious about what your dreams actually mean? B. 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