21st Century Learning

In the midst of the rapidly changing educational paradigms, teachers are continuously required to actualize their teaching pedagogy in such a way that it melts in with ethos of the new era. Teaching in the 21st century has its own idiosyncrasies that are, to a far extent, different from the ones that shaped instruction in the previous centuries.We are now living in a conceptual age that demands a host of new and complex thinking and cognitive skills and as such teaching priorities have to adjust to accommodate and foster these new demands.



Our students are no longer passive containers waiting for  their teachers to fill them in with teachable content.They have become active agents who can seek and access information and knowledge through different venues.They are equipped with the power of networks and can in a matter of few clicks crowdsource a topic and come up with all kinds of ideas.


Of course, the requirements for teaching in a conceptual age way transcend traditional ways of instruction. According to ISTE visual below, these requirements perfectly fit in within a blended learning space that makes use of both face to face and online teaching. There are different models of blended learning and here are some of them taken from ISTE visual:
Online
Instruction occurs via an online platform, with periodic face-to-face meetings.
 
Face to Face
Teacher offers primarily face-to face instruction, supplemented with technology in the classroom or computer lab.
 
Rotation
Students rotate between self-paced online learning and face-to-face instruction. Schedules are fixed  but flexible.
 
Flex
Most instruction is delivered online, with teachers providing as-needed support in small group settings.
 
Online Lab
Instruction takes place in a brick and mortar lab, delivered by an online teacher and supervised onsite by paraprofessionals.
Self-blend
Students take online courses to supplement their traditional school's face-to-face course catalog.

 
 SOURCE- www.iste.org

SEN Education: Exclusion or Inclusion

Inclusion in education means that children with mild to moderate special education needs are taught alongside their peers without special education needs.

photo credit: crabtree junior school

Exclusion on the other hand is when children with special needs attend special schools. ( Exclusion is gradually fading in modern education societies). Though children with severe and multiple SEN are adviced to be in special schools where proper provision will be made for their needs.
 

 photo credit: SEN Dairy

Inclusion is well practiced in schools in Nigeria. I believein  inclusion beacause I know inclusion in our schools is the first step towards inclusion in the society. Also inclusion brings diversity into the classroom.









 photo credit: Griffe Primary School

To make SEN inclusion easy, below are seven principles of inclusion :

1. Teaching All Students
Educators should take several different approaches to teaching the same material so that information becomes more interesting and tangible to a greater number of students.

2. Exploring Multiple Identities
Students who are proud of themselves and excited by the world around them will be more compassionate and understanding people; the same is true for educators.

3. Preventing Prejudice
Educators should take a proactive approach to debunking preconceived stereotypes and preventing them from escalating into prejudices and negative biases.

4. Promoting Social Justice
Students are good judges of what is fair, especially when they are affirmatively challenged to consider issues of social justice. Educators should talk to them about issues of social justice and injustice in terms of fair versus unfair, respectful versus disrespectful.

5. Choosing Appropriate Materials
Inclusive classrooms use books and materials that reflect accurate images of diverse peoples and 

 challenge stereotypes.

 

photo credit: crabtree junior school

6. Teaching and Learning About Cultures and Religions
Educators should create curiosity and expand students’ horizons by teaching about others in a positive manner. Students should have the opportunity to learn from their peers as well as other cultures.

7. Adapting and Integrating Lessons Appropriately
Educators should be flexible when using and adapting lessons in our curricula, as well as in prescribed curricula in general. Many of the most teachable moments are unplanned and unscripted.

click on the link to read more 

Biblography:- 

https://tanenbaum.org

The woes of my Nigerian private school pupil

It looks like it is my challenges but they are not mine she bears them all. She is in Nigeria but is learning about Abraham Lincoln and the great London Fire.
She is in Nigeria and understands little of her father's tongue yet is a living,breathing and Eba eating Oxford Dictionary
 


The overpriced school fees and the class projects indirectly sent to me, it looks like my challenges but she bears them all. She knows summer, Autumn, Spring and Winter but can not understand the Dry and wet seasons. Do I blame her? She wrote about what she did during her summer vacation not "long vac" (like I fondly remember) which was spent in the city Lagos.


I once asked what curricula do you use? A British, American, Japanese,Chinese  with a Nigerian strength. That answer will always remind me never to ask such. I have since wondered if the "Nigerian strength" was a metaphor for the poor teacher who is left to make sense of this gibberish. Not at all my headache ,she bears them all.
 

Where are the fields we had to run about and play? They are now classrooms she answered with a defeated sigh. How many subjects do you study? She counted her ten fingers and ten toes. So I asked again how many? Slyly she enquired mummy can I borrow your fingers and toes too? 



Tears flowed down my face, like she read my mind.she looked at me and said mummy don't worry when I become the president teacher  I will make everyone happy.

She  may not understand the tears I shed. But I don't also think we need to wait till she becomes a president teacher (whatever that is) to make the so much needed changes to the Nigerian Education sector.