Berner / Isler / Weidinger Simply good learning (E-Book)

1. Auflage 2021
ISBN: 978-3-0355-1958-7
Verlag: hep verlag
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 280 Seiten

How can students be supported in their learning? How can useful, joyful, and creative learning be furthered? Children and adolescents should be able to successfully shape their learning, to feel comfortable and safe while learning and to assume the responsibility for their educational development.
As in the book “Simply Good Teaching”, prospective and experienced teachers will find numerous suggestions, practice tips and brief theory-based analyses. There are also tips for interested parents on how to support their children in learning. Moreover, special consideration is given to the changes resulting from digitalization.
With statements and learning tips from well-known personalities, such as Stefan Eicher or Nicola Spirig

Autoren/Hrsg.

Berner, Hans

Isler, Rudolf

Weidinger, Wiltrud

Leseproben

2.
This chapter expands on these topics and responds to the following questions
• How do I create secure and quiet learning and working conditions for all students? • What can be used to compensate for the successive decrease of authority? • How can I avoid disruptions and deal with them if they arise nevertheless? • What kinds of intervention methods are effective and useful? • What is required for children and adolescents to remain engaged and attentive for longer periods of time without giving in to spontaneous impulses and distracting themselves? • How can self-regulation of students be practised?   « The storm is getting stronger stronger! – It does not matter. So am I! » Pipi Langstrumpf / Astrid Lindgren (1907–2002) «We do not conquer the mountain but ourselves» Edmund Hillary (1919–2008)   SELF-REGULATION AND RULES
We have done away with the working title «Discipline and self-discipline», although both concepts are still being used in connection with pedagogy. Thus, Roland Reichenbach, professor for general educational science at the university of Zürich, maintains deliberately and without hesitation that discipline is a prerequisite for teaching and upbringing.[1] Jürg Rüedi’s book Disziplin und Selbstdisziplin in der Schule[2] is widely noted. Moreover, many younger people, especially sports enthusiasts, have little problem with both of these terms. At the latest, however, when one thinks of the short hype that Bernhard Bueb's book Lob der Disziplin started ten years ago, one comes to a halt. He argued that teachers and parents should once again have the courage to admit «the joy of power [and] unbiasedly speak of discipline and obedience».[3] In our view, the concepts of discipline and self-discipline are no longer up to date. Discipline evokes punishment and dark pedagogy and – which is even more problematic – views only the external form, in a figurative sense: standing at attention. It requires a paradigm shift, new forms of authority, a new view of questions that deal with optimally regulated learning and working conditions for students. Interestingly, it appears that even in the working world, discipline has had its day; more and more firms emphasize personal responsibility, self-organization and trust, and consider «carrot and stick outdated»[4]. «New Work», the vision of a flexible, digital working world, reflects this change. Even the concept of self-discipline obscures the view of the key issues. Whether students can stay focussed and learn successfully has to do with the ability to self-regulate, which depends significantly on executive functions, which have been broadly discussed in recent years, and not on overcoming internal resistances. It is rather a case of having a conducive environment that fosters quiet, concentration and positive attitude, as stated in his book by the successful soccer trainer Urs Fischer. THIS IS YOUR ASSIGNMENT 1. What do secure and quiet learning and working conditions involve?
In response to the above question, try to come up with categories and compile a list of the most important points. Compare your reflections with the thoughts of your colleagues to complete your list. Highlight the points about which you would like and need to know more in order to optimize your students’ learning and working conditions. In reading this chapter you can expand on this list and mark where you received helpful suggestions and which questions you would like to explore further. 2. Is there a correct position on the issue of authority or must teachers find their own individual position?
The following scheme, based on the pedagogue Rainer Winkel,[5] presents four types of teachers in context with the question of authority. Where would you fit into the scheme – and what would correspond to your ideal self-image? Is there a match between the ideal and reality? Has your position changed over time or not – and why? Illustration
6 Teachers and authority: four types according to Winkel 3. How do you compensate for the loss of authority?
«What do you do if a first-grader sometimes sits on top of or under his desk, depending on his mood? If he attacks other classmates or totally disrupts his teacher’s lessons?» «How is a teacher to react if students smirkingly ignore his request to clean up the waste from the cafeteria table?»[6] Such situations and similar ones can become a daily challenge for every teacher. The reference to a natural or socially guaranteed authority of teachers hardly works there anymore. Think about how you as an individual teacher could act in these situations and how a whole team could act together – to compensate for an authority that is continuously melting away. 4. How long does your working memory hold out without specific motivation?
For successful learning, not only the external framework conditions are important but also the individual prerequisites of the learners, such as their working memory. Conduct an experiment with your students, always in pairs. One says a single-digit number, the other repeats, then a double-digit number, which the other also repeats, and so on. How far can they go? From what point on would their working memory fail? Discuss this with the students – including issues of effort, fatigue and motivation. 5. Should students only do what they are supposed to do?
A mother goes into the room of her son. He is sitting at the computer, looking at the screen without turning to her, unwilling to pay attention to anything but his computer game. The mother reminds him of his promise to first complete his homework assignments before playing games: «Now, you’re playing again! This way, you won’t make it into high school next year!» Similar scenes are daily occurrences in many families’ everyday life. What could help the children and adolescents to refrain from giving in to impulses to do what they like best, instead of doing what is necessary for their academic progress? What can you advise the mother? Are there any tips? Is it a question of attitude, tone, language? Or should children and adolescents always follow their impulses? 6. Test the flexibility of your mind – and the one of your students
Create a word from the following four words whereby all letters of each word are used just once, such as in the following example «meal —> lame»:[7] Exercise Agility doors ………………… steal ………………… dream ………………… name ………………… THIS YOU MUST KNOW Prerequisites for successful learning in school Prerequisites for successful learning in school for all students in the class (Discipline) Regulation and control of one’s behavior and emotions by individual students (Self-discipline) Importance for learning: «1. No successful learning without a secure learning situation Importance for learning: «4. Students’ individual ability to control their own behavior is a prerequisite for learning What I need to know: «2. Old authority and new authority «3. Intervention in case of disruptions What I need to know: «5. Self-regulation and executive functions as a basis for successful learning «6. Intrinsic motivation and further help for focused learning 1 No successful learning without a secure learning situation The central prerequisite for students’ satisfactory and productive learning is a controlled and calm learning situation in class. However sophisticated a learning setting, however interesting a topic, however well-equipped a learning studio – all efforts are in vain if this precondition is not met. Every teacher knows this. In a quiet, controlled learning situation, all students are assured • that they are not criticized by their classmates when they say or show that they like to learn, • that...