Supportive Learning Environment Essay Example for Free

Supportive Learning Environment Essay Explain how to establish and maintain a safe and supportive learning environment 7.3.1. Explain how to establish ground rules with learner’s to promote respect for each other. 9.3.2. Explain how to promote appropriate behaviour and respect for others. 7.3.2. When considering teaching in Further education, I assumed that managing behaviour and having to establish ‘ground rules’ had been left at the school gates, amidst an onslaught of eggs, signed uniforms and flour. Of course, having had a little experience, I now feel that students in F. E are the most diverse group to teach anywhere in education and with that, equally diverse in terms of behaviour and motivation. In order to establish and instigate ground rules in the first instance, basic rules should be agreed upon from the very start. For example; Mobile phones on silent, no talking while others are speaking and no eating during the lesson. Other rules can be applied as the course progresses. The establishment’s policies and procedures should be observed as a group, as this ensures everybody is aware of them. Observing behaviour, listening to what the students have to say and talking to them in an open forum leads the way to further establishing an agreeable environment in which to learn. Rules can be updated in this way and enable change to be considered depending on how the class develops. In order to remind learners of these mutually agreed guidelines, it is a good idea to display them in the room to refer students to if and when they are breached. Creating a ‘safe’ environment is integral to learning. Disruption, noise, lack of direction, bullying and aggressive styles are not conducive, so it is important in my role to develop good practise in dealing with challenging behaviour and promoting a positive, respectful atmosphere. Once more is known about the students, writing learning objectives for the session and stating what the students will be able to do at the end of the lesson could go somewhere towards promoting expectations and creating order within the room, another point at which to refer to if needed to keep learners on task. A supportive learning environment should be purposeful and task orientated, where the tutor emphasises the need to progress steadily. This can be done by starting lessons promptly, creating a smooth flow to the lesson, involving pupils and monitoring their progression and organisation. A positive effort should be made to ensure pupils have or build on self-respect and esteem by setti ng realistic opportunities for success and helpful support and encouragement whenever difficulties arise. A sense of order within the class can be managed by presenting lessons effectively and establishing positive relationships with pupils- based on mutual respect and rapport. I will, as a tutor, have to develop skills in managing behaviour and use a variety of tactics in order to develop an understanding of students individually and as a group. Hopefully, I will be able to combine that with the correct approach to planning, my approach, the resources to use in order to deal with barriers learners may have adopted towards learning and to maintain a good level of motivation. I believe in creating a relaxed, warm and supportive atmosphere in a group, as in my experience I have found that it creates a positive environment and suits my style when interacting with and enabling others. (Kyriacou, C.1998:65) writes- with regard to this particular style- ‘This better enables pupils to develop curiosity and interest in the learning activities’ However, this may lead to pupils relyin g on help, so it is important to establish and implement boundaries so that the learners initiative and motivation isn’t compromised. Giving feedback in a supportive way can help to encourage students to use study skills by highlighting how making notes or paying attention more closely can better equip them in meeting the demands of the program. Of course, I am aware that not everybody will want to interact fully within the group in this way and some would rather things were direct and less ‘fluffy’. I myself like to find a quiet place during a break and spend time alone. Sometimes I want to stay where I am seated and not move around to sit with other people. In general, promoting this environment and leading by example will in effect have a positive impact on the group. In my previous journal from week one, I wrote about how I try to include pupils who have low confidence in group discussions or activities with other more confident members of the class. In the same way, I also like to try and mix motivated pupils with those who may be struggling to find motivation. In an attempt to understand motivati on and what motivates I have considered Abraham Maslow’s (1987) Hierarchy of Needs in which he describes a series of stages towards achieving ones potential or ‘self-actualisation’. The stages are set as a pyramid with the most basic human need at the base and self-actualisation at the top. The base describes physiology which incorporates basic needs such as food and sleep begging the question, ‘Are the students tired or hungry?’ Safety describes the need for security. I must ask myself, ‘Is the environment safe? Are the students feeling secure and happy? Are they confident in my ability?’ Love and belonging, referring to a need we have as humans to be valued and needed. Looking at this I will need to ensure that all of the students feel included and that they are being respected by the rest of the group. I must ensure that I am using an inclusive approach in teaching. Esteem ‘building this through achievement and by being acknowledged by others’. It will be important to monitor development and ensure growth in confidence through peer support and recognition. Finally, Self-actualisation- the desire to reach what is perceived to be ones ‘full potential’ asking ‘Is there an individual and shared sense of achievement?’ and ‘Are the students operating with initiative, creativeness and independence?’ As a tutor, I will be expected to lead by example in modelling desired behaviour. Not only is it important to treat students with respect, it is important to treat other members of staff and outside agencies in the same way. I have experienced negativity from one staff member towards another member of staff where it was obvious-through body language and facial expressions- that there was a conflict. This impacted negatively on the class, as the students noticed what was going on. As a result, the students ostracised one staff member and took sides. This caused a very difficult atmosphere to work in and the ‘disliked’ member of staff was ignored and treated unfairly. This highlighted the importance of professionalism to me and whenever I have to work alongside people I may not always see eye-to-eye with, I must remain impartial in my views and ensure I keep thoughts and facial gestures very much to myself. References: Kyriacou, Chris (1998) Essential Teaching Skills. Second edition.London. Basil Blackwell LTD

No Wasted Time :: College Admissions Essays

No Wasted Time The first piece of "serious and literary" grown-up fiction I remember reading without duress was All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren. I was fourteen, and for the past two years my pleasure reading had consisted entirely of science fiction-I consumed one book per day in this genre. Not all of this time was wasted, but the diet had become a little monotonous. The students a year ahead of me in high school were assigned to read Warren's novel. I picked up a copy in a study hall, to while away fifteen minutes of tedium. In that amount of time I was hooked. First edge of cynicism on its poetic valences. When I had read more of the book I was taken by the richness of its meanings, how thoroughly and thoughtfully the sense of every action and episode had been interlocked with all the others. I had wanted to be a writer before, but I had known that this was what a book could do, or that this was how you did it. I reread All the King's Men half a dozen times, for me it was a portal to a whole lot of other serious fiction, but the novel itself holds up very well under such intense poring. George Garrett once said that one of the problems of student writers is that they were fed a diet of masterpieces. Masterpiece fiction is too well made for you to figure out how the writer did it. To pick up technique, the thing to do is read genre.

History of modern psychology Essay

Psychology’s history cannot be understood adequately without knowing something of philosophy’s history. All of the important issues that concern modern psychologists have been addressed by philosophers (2008). I will discuss how the philosophers: Descartes, Locke, Hume, Mill, and Berkley. These individuals life work greatly influenced the development of modern psychology. The End of the Renaissance and the 17th century brought to history, the man who is â€Å"sometimes considered the father of modern philosophy, mathematics, physiology and psychology†, the great philosopher, Rene’ Descartes (Goodwin, 2008). Descartes was born in La Haye on March 31, 1596 of Joachim Descartes and Jeanne Brochard. He was one of a number of surviving children (two siblings and two half-siblings). His father was a lawyer and magistrate, which apparently left little time for family. Descartes’ mother died in May of the year following his birth, and he, his full brother and sister, Pierre and Jeanne, were left to be raised by their grandmother in La Haye. At around ten years of age, in 1606, he was sent to the Jesuit college of La Fleche. He studied there until 1614, and in 1615 entered the University of Poitiers, where a year later he received his Baccalaureate and License in Canon & Civil Law (2012). Goodwin (2008) summarized that, Descartes was a rationalist, believing that the way to true knowledge was through the systematic use of his reasoning abilities. Because he believed that some truths Were universal and could be arrived at through reason and without the necessity of sensory experience, he was also a nativist. In addition, he was a dualist and an interactionist, believing that mind and body were distinct essences, but that they had direct influence on each other. It is Descartes’ who is most likely responsible for many of the themes that came from the late Renaissance that are incorporated into the science of psychology today, but since that time there are many philosophers in the Western tradition that contributed to the formation of psychology as a discipline. Western Philosophers that Contributed to the Formation of Psychology as a Discipline John Locke (b. 1632, d. 1704) was a British philosopher, Oxford academic and medical researcher. Locke is often classified as the first of the great English empiricists. Locke, according to Goodwin (2008) â€Å"is important to psychology as a consequence of the concepts expressed in two of his books, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690/1963) and Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1693/1963) (p. 38). Goodwin (2008) explains further that the â€Å"former explains Locke’s views on how knowledge is acquired, how we as humans come to understand our world† (p. 38) and the â€Å"latter is based on a series of letters to a friend and shows how empiricist thinking could be applied to all aspects of a child’s education† (p. 38). David Hume was born near Edinburgh, Scotland. David Hume, was an empiricist/associationist that Goodwin (2008) summarizes was â€Å"known for making a distinction between impressions, which result from sensation, and ideas, which he said were faint copies of impressions† (p. 59). It is also said that he â€Å"identified the rules of association as resemblance, contiguity, and cause/effect† and â€Å"he believed that we cannot know causality absolutely, only that certain events occur together regularly† (Goodwin, 2008, p. 59). George Berkeley was born in or near Kilkenny, Ireland on 12 March 1685. He was raised in Dysart Castle (Flage, 2005). He was a bishop of the Anglican Church in Ireland and was one thinker that was especially concerned about the materialistic implications of seventeenth-century science (Goodwin, 2008, p. 43). Berkeley was one of the three most famous British Empiricists. (The other two are John Locke and David Hume. ). George Berkeley wrote a detailed analysis of visual perception based on empiricist arguments, in the process describing visual phenomena such as convergence, accommodation, and the effects of the inverted retinal image. He rejected Locke’s primary/secondary qualities distinction, and to counter materialism, he proposed (subjective idealism) that we cannot be sure of the reality of objects except through our belief in God, the Permanent Perceiver (Goodwin, 2008). Nineteenth-Century Development of the Science of Psychology John Stuart Mill was a child prodigy and one the leading British philosopher of the nineteenth century (Goodwin, 2008). Mill’s politics derived from and contributed to his psychology. As an empiricist, he believed that all knowledge came through experience and that under the proper circumstances, anyone could become knowledgeable. Thus, he favored government support for universal education and was appalled at the traditional English system that favored the landed gentry, an elite minority (Goodwin, 2008). According to Goodwin (2008), He brought British associationism to its zenith and he provided an analysis of scientific thinking that guides psychological research to this day. He was a key transition figure in the shift from the philosophy of the mind to the science of the mind. Immanuel Kant agreed with the empiricists that our knowledge is built from experience, and he argued that the more important question was how the process occurs. Kant derived the fundamental principles of human thought and action from human sensibility, understanding, and reason, all as sources of our autonomy; he balanced the contributions of these principles against the ineliminable inputs of external sensation and internal inclination beyond our own control; and he strove both to demarcate these principles from each other and yet to integrate them into a single system with human autonomy as both its foundation and its ultimate value and goal (Guyer, 2004). Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) is known as the founder of experimental psychology. He founded the first â€Å"school† of psychology, called structuralism. The main goal of Wundt’s school was to analyze the contents of the mind into its basic structural components or elements, using introspection of mental contents as the chief method (Goodwin, 2008). According to Goodwin (2008), Wundt is justifiably considered the first true psychologist of the modern era and although it is difficult to identify a single Wundtian among the early American psychologists, he had a strong influence on the origins of American psychology. Psychology, as a science is rooted in its origin of philosophy. Descartes, Hume, Mill, Berkeley, Locke, Kant, and Wundt were some of the brightest of their time. The development of modern psychology and its many branches would not be possible without the hard work and contributions of these individuals.

The Crucible And The Scarlet Letter - 1130 Words

The quote â€Å"To belong is to understand the tacit codes of the people you live with† from Michael Ignatieff is explaining that with every group of people in society, there is a certain set of logical unspoken rules that are not written rules. The understanding and following of these rules will allow you to belong in most groups. Unspoken rules are what make a group who they are. The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter both have perfect examples for the relationship between unspoken rules and belonging. Also, these works take place in the 17th century around the same area. This creates almost the same setting for both stories where the unspoken rules will be almost identical. The knowledge and ability to follow the unspoken rules will lead to†¦show more content†¦It was just something you did not do if you wanted to belong. John Proctor, whose wife was falsely accused of witchcraft, was not taken seriously due to the fact that he did not attend church services very ofte n, and he also worked on certain Sunday’s. The fact that he had broken these unspoken rules made it harder for people to believe he was of God and telling the truth about his wife. These examples help show the relationship between unspoken rules leading to belonging. The disregard for unspoken rules cost lives at this time in history. In The Scarlet Letter, an adulterer named Hester was shunned by the church and society. This book also has the church as the main group. The main unspoken rule dealt with was adultery. Hester’s husband had sent her ahead to America. She had an affair with a priest and this was just something that you did not do, and it was a logical unspoken rule that was broken, and, therefore, she was unable to really belong in this town for a very long time. The girl was so shunned, they put an â€Å"A† on her clothes. This was the epitome of humiliation. At this time, no one would associate with a girl like Hester. There was never a feel of b elonging after that â€Å"A† was placed on her clothes. Hester’s actual husband who disguised himself as Roger Chillingworth to avoid the humiliation. Dimmesdale was the man she had an affair with, and he was a minister.Show MoreRelatedThe Scarlet Letter And The Crucible1169 Words   |  5 Pagesof the different ideologies and beliefs of the time period. The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible both take place at a time in our nation’s history that is much studied for its significance. These were times when America was just beginning to become colonized. The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible teach the readers vital information about the time period in which these texts take place. To begin with, The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible relay vital information to the reader about how rule-breakers wereRead MoreThe Crucible And The Scarlet Letter1322 Words   |  6 PagesThe Crucible and The Scarlet Letter have several commodities in common. A basic summary of The Crucible is, it’s about a village, Salem, in the 1600’s, wherein witchery is loose and several conflicted souls must be captured, purified, confessed, or hung. The attempt to dispose of all witchcraft was tampered with by citizens of Salem being dishonest and deceitful. Lots of the deception stemmed from the jealousy, vengeance, and other personal vendettas. The Scarlet Letter summarized is that it is aboutRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter And The Crucible821 Words   |  4 Pagesis one that that is both emitted in the Scarlet Letter and The Crucible. Both literary works share similar ideas, but also have quite a few differences. Nathaniel Hawthorne, the writer, utilizes symbolism for the scarlet letter, to be a symbol of Hester’s shame. The embroidered â€Å"A† on Hester’s bosom symbolizes the sin of adultery which she had committed. Not only was the sign of embarrasment used but also the scaffold had great importance in the Scarlet Letter. The scaffold was used as place of humiliationRead MoreThe Crucible And The Scarlet Letter1337 Words   |  6 PagesThe Crucible and The Scarlet Letter are two literary works that helps to shape themes for generations of inquiry. The books emphasize the themes stated all throughout the deposition of the story. They were also books that spoke about a messages as the social issues were taking place during their time periods known as, ‘The Red Scare’ and ‘Puritan Takeover.’ The two books are especially interesting in the way they display these themes, while going about them differently. The Crucible focuses on theRead MoreThe Crucible And The Scarlet Letter2065 Words   |  9 PagesPuritanis m as well. Both Miller and Hawthorne take negative stances against Puritanism. This can be seen in their works The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter. The Scarlet Letter deals with the Puritan intolerance of those who committed a sin. In Hester Prynne’s situation, her adultery with Reverend Dimmesdale seemed to have sparked a particular hatred for her within her community. The Crucible deals with the Puritan fight against witchcraft. Many people in the town are accused of being witches and are forcedRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter And The Crucible1502 Words   |  7 PagesThe Scarlet Letter and The Crucible are two stories both set in the early days of the Massachusetts colony. Both of these stories have many similarities between them, including setting, situations, and conflict. The two stories were also very different. The effects of sin on the characters, how they deal with their sin, and the consequences of their actions are different in each story. The Crucible and The Scarle t Letter are different works and although they deal with similar conflicts the consequencesRead MoreComparing the Crucible and the Scarlet Letter1071 Words   |  5 Pagesbooks. Two selections that go into detail about some of the different aspects of the Puritan people are The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, and The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. These two particular writers who wrote of Puritan times conveyed, in their text, the similarities of religion, punishment, and adultery in the Puritan community of 17th century. br brBriefly, The Crucible looks at some the actual historical events of the Salem witch trials. It was witchcraft that the story was setRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter and the Crucible Comparison948 Words   |  4 PagesSkyler Vincent English 2333 Amanda Cuellar April 04, 2012 In The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter, they are both known to be a part of the Puritan religion. The puritans are known to be very strict. Often people are put to cruel punishments for mistakes or sins they had committed. The actions they take to â€Å"punish† a person are extreme. The Puritans act and seem so committed to their religion. The people seem â€Å"Holy† but you never really know what happens behind closed doors. The Puritan religionRead MoreScarlet Letter And The Crucible Comparison732 Words   |  3 PagesThe Comparison of The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible Both in the novel The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and the play The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, women play an important role in the story. Whether it’s for the good of the town or for the worse is the main difference in the stories. Both take a different view on women, and make them the main driving feature of the story, leading to be an interesting comparison when put side by side. In The Crucible, the women of the storyRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter vs. the Crucible Essay703 Words   |  3 PagesThe edgy tale of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is comparable in many ways to Arthur Miller’s haunting play The Crucible. Both are set in Puritan New England in the 17th century and revolve around the harsh law enforcement of the time. However, The Scarlet Letter tells the story of a woman as she deals with her heavy Puritan punishment, whereas The Crucible follows hysteria as it spreads throughout an entire town. Hester Prynne, the main character of The Scarlet Letter, was found guilty for