Understanding your Pedagogical Alignment

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How to use this activity

For each of the 4 questions below, choose the statement that is the 'best fit' to how you believe things 'should' be (which may be different from how things currently are).

Once you submit the form you will receive an email. In that email your pedagogical alignment will be explained and you will be guided towards support to help you to use these insights as you think about your future practice. (Please ensure that you type in your email carefully otherwise the insights email may not be able to reach you!)

Queries: If you have any questions about this activity please contact fiona@onelifelearning.co.uk

Source: This activity is from the book From EdTech to PedTech: Changing the way we think about digital technology (Aubrey-Smith & Twining, 2024) - available from https://routledge.pub/From-EdTech-to-PedTech

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Pick the one statement that best fits your personal beliefs about learners and learning. *

(1) Learning is about active construction of our individual mental model of the world. We each have characteristics (such as age/stage or prior attainment) which constrain what we can learn. Our learning is intrinsically motivated by trying to make sense of the world around us and remove conflicts within our mental model.

(2) Learning is about remembering knowledge. When we learn, we individually acquire and then retrieve knowledge. We each have genetic predispositions which determine our learning potential. Our learning is extrinsically motivated by our desire to meet expectations and work towards rewards or publicly recognised outcomes.

(3) Learning is about actively developing our identity (becoming) as we participate with others who have shared goals and shared valued ways of working (belonging). Our learning is intrinsically motivated by the desire to belong to particular communities and become competent in socially valued activities within those communities.

(4) Learning is about actively constructing knowledge as we are introduced to it through dialogue, particularly with more knowledgeable others. We each have a set of prior experiences which form a base on which we can extend our knowledge. Our learning is intrinsically motivated by trying to make sense of how others in society have constructed ways of seeing and understanding the world.

Pick the one statement that best fits your personal beliefs about teachers and teaching.
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(1) Teachers provide an environment that supports learners who direct their own learning, with guidance from the teacher to help them develop their individual mental models. Teaching involves providing activities through which learning will occur. For younger children these activities need to involve physical interaction and concrete experiences. Older learners can extend their mental models through problem solving and abstraction.

(2) Teachers create learning opportunities that emerge from learners’ characteristics and interests. They attempt to make clear connections between school activities and valued ways of working in the world. Teachers encourage shared meaning to emerge from activity in the classroom, and make these meanings explicit so that they can be understood and made use of by all the learners.

(3) Teachers have the knowledge their learners need to acquire. They break this down into small steps that need to be learnt in sequence. Drill and practice are used in order for learners to retain knowledge. Pace and competitiveness (e.g. quiz scores, personal best times, competitions) are used to maintain learners’ motivation.

(4) Teachers direct learning through scaffolded activities and dialogue. Teaching is seen as providing the opportunity for learners to work with more knowledgeable others. Within their zone of proximal development learners co-construct their understanding of established subject knowledge claims through interaction.

Pick the one statement that best fits your personal beliefs about knowledge. *

(1) Knowledge consists of objective facts that can be learned, retained and remembered for later application. Knowledge is independent of context and is represented by symbols such as words or numbers. Knowledge is explicit and is held by individuals.

(2) Knowledge is socially constructed; it is a co-constructed mental model of aspects of the world. Individuals acquire knowledge through dialogue, which creates meaning and shared understandings.

(3) Knowledge is individually constructed and is that individual’s mental model of the world. Knowledge can be abstracted, and transferred across contexts. Knowledge can be used effectively if it fits the individual’s own experience.

(4) Knowledge is the ability to act in valued ways in particular contexts. Knowledge can be explicit or tacit.

Pick the one statement that best fits your personal beliefs about the purpose of schooling.
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(1) Schools should aim to help learners develop their identity through becoming competent members of specific communities, who have developed shared understandings of what is valued within those communities and how to be productive within them.

(2) Schools should aim to guide learners so that they develop their mental models and can apply them across contexts.

(3) Schools should aim to scaffold learners in developing their mental models of subject domains and how they are socially constructed, so that their mental models can be used across contexts.

(4) Schools should aim to develop learners’ knowledge.

Which of these best describes you? *

Teacher

Leader - school based

Leader - beyond single school

Other:

A copy of your responses will be emailed to the address you provided.

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