PROMOTING VARIOUS INTERACTION IN TEACHING LEARNING PROCESS AT INTERNATIONAL LEVEL OF TEACHING
By: Primaningtyas Nur Arifah (09313244004)
The latest issue in the quality of human resources in Indonesia has led to a debate over the nature of education and its implications for society. Education in its broadest sense presupposes a better understanding of teaching and learning. On one side, teachers are supposed to be able to impart their knowledge through the many approaches, methods and techniques at their disposal. Teaching mathematics, for instance, requires a basic skill in explaining abstract mathematical concepts. Abstract thinking is one of the skills to be introduced to students at an early stage of learning this science. In Indonesia, however, mathematics has often been cited as a “monster” that troubles the students’ progress in learning for a higher level of education. On the other, students particularly those who will continue their studies to a tertiary level are confronted with the various problems of life. They lack books, especially the translated texts, and other learning aids. Unlike in advanced countries, the students in Indonesia entirely depend on the explanation given by their teachers. This is especially true of learning mathematics as the basic science to further their studies.
In reality, there is a big chasm between teachers and students. Teachers believe that they can produce a change of behavior, as is defined in the process of learning, after explaining everything about mathematical concepts. Students, on the other hand, feel that they have not learned enough from their teachers. As a result, there is a kind of “ tug of war” between the two parties. The question is which party should be given more treatment, the teachers or the students.
For the feasible purposes, teachers should be given more training and knowledge on how to teach mathematics. Part of the solution is that the teachers should change their perception about their students. Students are no longer “ containers to be filled” , instead they are curious people with much potential to learn anything new. What is needed today is the cooperation between teachers and students in finding solutions to the problems of teaching and learning mathematics. Both parties must realize the importance of sharing and exchanging experiences. Mathematics must be a very interesting course that can help the students solve the many problems they face. In the United States, mathematics is first taught by relating it to the reality of life before going on with the advanced concepts such as in calculus. Teachers can no longer boast of their overt knowledge of mathematics. Students can be expected to contribute to the understanding of this science. The old saying “ a teacher knows better” is no longer applicable.
This fact raises a question about the quality of teaching and learning interaction in class. The interaction, if it is properly performed, will produce desired results such as a better understanding and appreciation of mathematics in everyday life. Students will be motivated to learn it when their teachers also show some kind of professionalism and positive attitude in doing their job. A mathematics teach do many things to improve his or her professionalism. The Indonesian government has launched improvement programs in the form of workshops, seminars, symposium and other educationally related activities. The knowledge and skills they received from such events can be used to make their teaching performance much better. Professionalism grows from within, that is, they will appreciate their work after reaching a level of satisfaction in the job.
In order for teachers to facilitate student learning several things need to occur. The processes that the teacher as facilitator needs to undertake are as follows:
- assess the students;
- plan the learning;
- implement the plan; and
- evaluate the process.
Assess the students
This aspect is conducted in a number of areas and will develop as the teacher builds rapport with the students. It can be seen as ‘getting to know’ the students. Some aspects to be assessed are:
The student's willingness and ability to learn are key to developing learning opportunities that will engage and extend the students. The willingness is associated with the student's values and feelings about the school learning process. Each student’s ability to learn refers to their understanding of and the skills involved in particular tasks. A part of assessing student's value systems is to understand what is important and interesting to them. These are related to how and why students engage in learning. Students also have feelings and beliefs about themselves and the learning process. These are related to their self confidence, their willingness to take risks, their beliefs about learning and how they view themselves as learners. Cambourne (1989) suggests that students will not engage with the learning unless the following three criteria are met. The learner needs to believe that:
· they are potentially able to do the learning;
· the learning will somehow further the purpose of their lives; and
· they are able to suffer and live through the risks (from an emotional perspective) associated with engaging in learning.
A student’s beliefs about the nature of teaching and learning will interact with a teacher’s beliefs. The teacher therefore needs to understand what students expect and are willing to do as well as what they themselves expect of the students.
As well as assessing the student's willingness to learn the teacher needs to assess the student's ability to learn the material that they intend to teach in their subjects. This is the understanding of and the skills involved in the learning. This is akin to determining where a student is placed in relation to various criteria in either key learning areas (such mathematics, science and technology and so forth) or domains (such as cognitive, social/emotional, psychomotor, asthetic and so forth).
The student’s preferred learning styles. All learners have a preference for how they learn. There are many ways of viewing and assessing learning style preferences. Burns (1989) suggests that first we perceive information and then we process the information. The way we perceive and process information is our learning style. Burns (1989) places the learning styles on a 4-matrix system. With perceiving extending from concrete to abstract and processing from active to reflective approaches.
Plan the learning
Following student assessment the teacher is in a better position to plan learning opportunities that will provide a fit with the student’s needs and interests and thus optimise student learning opportunities. A part of this process is to determine student learning outcomes. The teacher will determine these outcomes as a result of the interplay between what is contained in the course documentation, the teacher’s personal theories about teaching and learning and the teacher’s assessment of student needs. Once the learning outcomes have been determined the teacher plans the unit outline and individual lessons. There are therefore many aspects to the planning. These include:
Understanding the philosophy behind the intended objectives and learning outcomes of the course documents. Kemmis, Cole & Suggett (1983) present three orientations to curriculum, the vocational/neo-classical, the liberal/progressive and the socially-critical. The orientations shape the approach to many important educational issues including knowledge, desired learning outcomes, teaching, learning, assessment, the role of community and so forth. The orientations have embedded within them assumptions about the nature of teaching and learning. The role of teacher as facilitator and the constructivism approach to learning are consistent with the liberal /progressive orientation to the curriculum4. A part of the role of teacher as colleague and community partner is to be involved in what is developed in course documents.
The philosophy embedded in the course documents will interact with the teacher’s theories of teaching and learning. The teacher in the classroom context is able to respond to variables that are different from those that are uppermost on the course document developer’s agendas (Lundgren, 1983; Tylee 1992). The interaction between the teacher’s view and those of the course documents will influence what is actually taught in the classroom. For example, the course may contain a vocational/neo-classical orientation whereas the teacher is oriented towards socially-critical theories. In the classroom the teacher will work with students as co-learners to critique socially important issues such as the nature of ‘work’, while providing the students with ‘work’ related skills.
Teachers build ‘personal theories’ about the nature of teaching and learning. These ‘personal theories’ may be based upon established and researched ideas or substantially upon personal experiences. Teachers need to understand their personal theories as they influence the way they proceed with their teaching (Tylee 1992).
Develop student learning opportunities. This takes into account the course documents, the teacher's personal theories of teaching and learning, the student’s interest, their preferred learning styles and their understanding and skills. It is in this area that the teacher as facilitator is able to provide opportunities for student learning that will take hold of the students' interests and thus motivate them to engage in the learning opportunity. Harrison (1998a & b) has presented the S.P.A.C.E. model for creating optimal learning conditions. The conditions for optimal learning include the following:
Self-affimation – the learner’s view themselves as effective learners and the teachers provide them with feedback to that effect;
Personal meaning – the learners are able to find personal meaning in the learning. That is, the learning is relevant to them;
Active learning - the learners are active in the learning, whether that activity is physically doing something (as for concrete learners) or intellectually doing something (as for abstract reflective learners).
Collaborative – the learners are able to collaborate with others in the learning process and not to view learning as an isolating experience;
Empowering – the learners are able to shape the learning process, to have control over what is learnt and the direction of the learning.
These factors need to be considered as the teacher develops the learning opportunities and as they shape the classroom process.
The teacher needs to give attention to this part of the planning to see that the classroom processes and emotional climate are conducive to optimal learning. The classroom and general school climate needs to encourage students to take risk and try out new approaches. This will interact with the student’s willingness to participate or engage in the learning. Among other things, this means that the learners:
· need to feel safe;
· attempts to solve problems need to be respected;
· unconventional approaches will be rewarded;
· will feel confident that the lecturer knows where to pitch the challenge for them – that is not too hard or too easy or too repetitive;
· will work on real problems with personal relevance to them and is therefore relevant; and
· work on challenging problems that provide opportunities for creative thinking.
Implement the plan
This will include the classroom management and the teaching strategies that will cater for the varied learning styles of the students. It will also include the emotional climate of the classroom and the quality of the interactions between the students and the teacher.
Evaluate the process
The teacher as facilitator will revise their student assessments. At the completion of a classroom session there will be an assessment of the learning that has taken place and this will inform following teaching. The emotional climate will be subject to continual evaluation so that any problems can be identified and a plan developed that is able to deal with the problem.
The assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation process may be extended to include the school. The teacher as colleague will work with others to plan and implement changes that will enable the school, to become more effective in facilitating student learning.
The processes outlined above should not be seen as exclusively linear, although they can function as a structure for thinking. Many of the functions are able to occur simultaneously.
