VOC 2 Themes11-15
In 9.1.2015, we had the first virtual session
of our VOC 2 (themes 11-15). I was so excited to step forward to become a
teacher for the near future. In VOC 2, I am expecting to get new knowledge, and
to apply my previous competences, which I had gained from VOC 1. We had been
grouped into five groups, and assigned into five different topics. My group consisted of three new faces
(persons), which had increased my interest and expectation. It is challenging
and knowledge gaining to work with new people all the time.
WHOLE
PROCESS
The way of VOC 2 teaching was completely
different from VOC 1. In VOC 1,
students/ groups were preparing their assignments, lecturing with each other
and with the tutor, made discussion and finally made conclusion. The aim of VOC
1 was to gain competences in teaching and to discover further, but in VOC 2,
students were completely independent in their preparing, lecturing and even
creating their learning and teaching environments. The aim of VOC 2 was also to
practice students’ competences that they had gained from VOC 1, to be
independent in their teaching styles and their teaching environments.
In VOC 2, students were divided into five
groups, and assigned into five different topics. We had only tutoring and
question sessions. Students had created their learning and teaching environments,
prepared their lectures for their own styles, and finally individual study
assignments had given, which was like personal and group evaluation.
Virtual sessions for tutoring and questions in VOC 2 on
14.1.2015, 21.1.215 and 27.1.2015
In these days, we had virtual sessions, had
an opportunity to ask our questions and clear our points, and to discuss with
the teacher for the proposals we had designed to do our tasks. In the session we had received constructive
feedback from the teacher. These days were fruitful for VOC 2 in general and
preparing for our tasks.
My group and their work
Our group had been assigned to Global and
Multicultural Activities, and the intended learning outcomes of our studies
were:
- The student teacher understands the role of the cultural background in the human behavior.
- The student teacher is able to support the student’s adjustment process in a new environment.
- The student teacher is also able to guide and enhance the learning of a multicultural group.
The core questions of our topic
were:
1.What is meant by culture?
2. What challenges are there in
confronting people from various cultural backgrounds?
3. How to create suitable
conditions for learning with a multicultural student group?
4. What are the ways that a
vocational school participates in international activities?
5. Considering both teachers and
students, what are the benefits for international activities?
GROUP WORK.
Our group consisted of three new faces, which was really interesting and
uplifting. After getting and approved our topic, Global and Multicultural
Activities, first we decided to meet on Skype to discuss the possible ways that
we could prepare and deliver our tasks, dividing tasks, deadlines, learning
environments, etc., because we were living three different cities in Finland. During
our teamwork, we got some difficulties related to our learning environment and
deadlines, but fortunately we had fixed everything quickly. At the first
meeting we had decided to use Open learning as our learning environment, but we
could not use it as we though, and therefore we agreed to change and use Blogs
as learning environment.
Creating
Own Video
It is not an easy job to create a video,
while you did not create it before. It is rally challenging and time consuming
to create it, and it is fun because you learn and gain new skills, which you
will use and benefit rest of your life. It took me days to create 20 minutes
video, even though my own video was not perfect video. I used PowerPoint and taught other students
and the same time had recorded the video. What made my video law quality was,
showing my back to the online viewers, but fortunately after I had attended the
Tools for Teaching course, I had gained huge competences regarding, creating of
own videos and best practices of how to deal with the online viewers etc.
Below is the link of my own video
The tasks we have created for other students.
We divided our task into three topics,
Topic 1: Culture
Topic 2: Multicultural challenges
Topic 3: International activities
In each topic we had created reading
material and videos. Here is link of our actual learning environment
http://multiculturalskillsinaglobalworld.blogspot.fi/Dealing With Other Courses and Groups
Entrepreneurship
This was the first course I have attended
and completed. The aim of the course, tasks were very clear. To me this course
was different from other courses; it gave me new spirit and redefined my inner
competences, which I had forgotten for the last years (ENTREPRENEURSHIP). In
this course I had learned the difference between Entrepreneurship and
Enterprising, which was so amazing, and could enable and give chance to almost
everyone to think beyond the box, and below I made small writing about what I
have learned from the course.
Core questions:
1. What is meant by intrapreneurship? (In Finnish,
"sisäinen yrittäjyys")
2. What are the teaching and assessment methods
that will enhance development of the student’s intrapreneurship?
3. How to further/aid the process from
intrapreneuship/internal entrepreneurship towards (external) entrepreneurship?
4. How to teach entrepreneurship in the best and
most effective manner in vocational education?
Entrepreneurial is referring to the
business context and enterprising referring to general education and learning
processes.
Teaching entrepreneurship education
to youngsters is more about enterprise education and it starts from
kindergarten learning. The aim is to help students to be more initiative, take
more responsibilities for them selves and their learning. It is to develop
young students’ behavior, attitudes and their skills of co-operation and
interaction with others.
Teaching entrepreneurship to adults
is based on entrepreneurial, which is business context. It is teaching them the
knowledge about entrepreneurship, its activities and giving them positive
attitude towards entrepreneurship. It is to motivate them how to come up with
new business ideas, make new innovations and finally convert their inherent
entrepreneurial into real business.
Entrepreneurship education is a
non-traditional teaching method. The Learning environment is attractive,
interactive, innovative, flexible and based on multidimensional knowledge
development (Gibb, 2005).
Through my reading on
entrepreneurship in vocational teaching, I have found a wonder model for
teacher’s development and learning process, which created by Shulman and
Shulman in 2004 and they sad “An accomplished teacher should be a
member of a professional community and be ready, willing, and able to teach and
to learn from his or her teaching experiences” and also they added the model the existence of the Vision to readiness and willing with
having a Motivation.
Teachers are in contact with the
students and the education environment. They are the ones who transform the aim
of education entrepreneurship into teaching activities and into learning
outcomes. Therefore teachers should be trained and have such attributes: Vision, Readiness, Willingness, Ability,
Reflection and Motivation.
REFERENCES
Seikkula‐Leino, J., Ruskovaara, E., Ikavalko, M., Mattila,
J., Rytkola,
T., 2010. "Promoting entrepreneurship education: the role of the
teacher?", Education + Training, Vol. 52 Iss: 2, pp.117 – 127. Available at: http://www.emeraldinsight.com.xhalax-ng.kyamk.fi:2048/doi/pdfplus/10.1108/00400911011027716 [Accessed 12
January 2017].
Ikävalko, M., Ruskovaara, E.
and Seikkula-Leino, J., 2009. Rediscovering teacher’s role in entrepreneurship
education. [pdf] In EFMD conference, Barcelona, February. Available
at: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.515.7355&rep=rep1&type=pdf [Accessed 12 January 2017].
Working Life Orientation
Core questions
1. What does
working-life orientation mean?
2. What are
working-life oriented learning environments?
3. How is
working-life oriented learning guided? ("Guided", as in
"taught", "tutored" and also
"regulated/governed".)
4. How will a
vocational teacher maintain and further develop his/her working-life
competences?
5.
Competence-based qualifications for adults how
is that system connected to working life orientation?
This
course was interesting and well organized. The instructions were presented
clearly.
The
course consisted of 4 tasks and to pass it, all tasks should be done through
commenting on the blog and I did all of them.
The
first task was more practical and related to how these three ways (Lecturing, practicing and inspiring)
that can vocational teacher use during his/her teaching in working life
orientation?. All participants were reflected based on their fields of education.
Mine is business and below is how I have reflected…
Lecturing: is a very
useful tool for educating your students in WLO. For example giving students
information about job markets and how they can compete in competitive markets
will be helpful for their future working-life orientation. It is important to
increase the motivation of your students and give them valid & up-to-date
information about the job markets. Sometimes it is necessary to invite a guest
speaker, who speak to the students and answer their questions. It is also good
idea to attend with your students in work exhibitions, which companies and
municipalities held to motivate and show them the opportunities. In such
exhibitions students can listen, interact face-to-face with employers and get
more valid information and experiences.
Couching and mentoring will be conducted in my future teaching. For example
educating students how to do effectively real life job interviews,
presentations and sometimes coaching them in a particular areas such as sales.
Students will be inspired to have entrepreneurial mind and how to come up with
new ideas.
Practicing is crucial for vocational students for their working
life orientation. For example organizing workshops and seminars. Sending
students to visit different companies, arranging internships to see the real
world of work and get contacts for their future work placement.
Task
three was related to how vocation teacher maintain and develop his/her working
life competences, and below is how reflected on the study blog.
Work experience (part time job)
The biggest advantages in part time job could be practical, daily life experience and up-to-date information from your filed.
I remember one of my teachers, he used to work and the same time was a teacher. The way he used to teach was totally different from all other teachers and he used to say ‘‘don’t be bookish’’. The other way you can develop your working life competences can be exchange in teaching and its advantages are include interaction and communication skills, multicultural awareness, getting experience of different teaching approaches and holiday with learning.
Sustainability (Sustainable development)
Core questions
1. What does the term ”sustainable development” mean?2. How to direct/govern/teach sustainable development in schools (esp. on secondary, vocational and tertiary levels)?
3. In various fields of work, what challenges are there in sustainable development (with vocational education in mind)?
4. How can I apply the principles of sustainable development in the teaching of my own subject?
The learning
environment of this course was challenging, the group used openlearning.com as
their learning environment. What I liked from the course was the survey tool
they have used. During filling the survey I realized that I have never turned
of my Monitor in the office, but after the completion the course I saved a lot
if energy and also educate to my colleagues.
Special Needs Education
Core questions:
1. How is
the vocational special needs education realized/fulfilled in the Finnish
educational system?
2.
How is the special needs education carried out specifically in the
vocational education? (Special needs education, sometimes referred as special
support, inclusive education or intensive education)
3.Which
Finnish legislature governs the special needs eduation?
4. What
elements does an individual educational plan (= IEP = “HOJKS” in Finnish)
contain, and how does the IEP process proceed?
5.
Inclusive models and segregative models, what are they?
This
course was interesting and to me it was different from all other courses. It thought
me the history of Finnish education, and I liked to do more research about the
course and below have summarized what I have gained through my study.
Special
education needs had emerged in 1846 in the history of finish basic education.
Schools for learners with visual and hearing disabilities had started that time
and later on it had been recognized the need for different education for
mentally retarded children. However especial education needs had given priority
at beginning of compulsory education (1921). Even though compulsory education
did not automatically mean for all because regulations concerning especial
education needs dealt mainly with exempting from the basic and general
education. So disabled or unadapted persons were quite easily left out of
education.
In
the beginning of 1900’s, the first remedial elementary schools (apukoulu) had
been started and the education was not regulated yet and so called the idiot’s
class (about thirty students in class) had been used.
During
1950’s especial education was provided in the especial institutions owned by
the state and two main education models (especial schools and especial classes)
had been made and both had been segregated from the general education.
Three Models of Special Needs Education
1) Segregation model
In
segregation model, education have been divided into
- General education and
- Special education
Learners
with special needs have been segregated physically from the general education
either permanently or part-time.
2) Integration model
Integration
model is mean, that all students are educated together. All students have equal
rights and equal possibilities to do everything they want according to their
potential.
Learning
of special education needs happens with the same school with general education
classes.
Levels of integration:
- Physical (students are in the same room)
- Functional (students work together in the class)
- Social (everyone is accepted and communicated with)
- Psychological (students grow and feel equal)
If
all these levels are acquired the distance from integration to inclusion has
become quite short. Integration has succeeded and students of special needs
education feel that they belong to the society and are a part of it.
3) Inclusion mode
Inclusive
model means developing education that’s common for all. The learners attend the
same classes, as they would do without any special needs. It is a school where
every student, regardless of their physical, intellectual, social, emotional,
linguistic or other special needs go to same class with the members of their
age group.
In
Finland there is a part-time special education system, which supports inclusion
and also there are many students who attend full-time especial education that
doesn’t support inclusion.
The
main purpose of inclusive model is that all students feel that they belong to
school and they can participate in the normal of everyday activities in the
classroom.
Yes
it is the right of every student to feel that he/she is part of society and
participate in the normal of everyday activities in the classroom, but in my
opinion it is also needed to consider the situation of every student. In some cases it is for their wellbeing to
have full-time special education classes and that is not discrimination.
I
don’t agree that all learners attend in same classes, as they would do without
any special needs, but I do agree that all should feel that they belong to the
society, while they have their full-time especial needs classes and the education must be provided where it can be done to the
benefit of the pupil.
Some Supportive Measures that Promote Learning of SNE.
Every
student has a right to get a high-quality education as well as an opportunity
to receive guidance and support for learning and school attendance on all
school days. All pupils’ abilities and needs must be taken into account in
schoolwork. To support needed students the listed measures should be taken:
- Physical environment
- Directing own activities
- Building trust between students
- Building and maintaining motivation
- Co-operation with parents, teachers and other professionals.
- Guidance and counseling
- Encouraging other students to understand the situation of special needs education students.
- Flow up and evaluation.
Vocational schools for SNE
There
are seven colleges for SNE in Finland, including one Swedish-speaking college.
And these are the names and their web pages.
1. Aitoo Vocational College / www.aikk.fi2. Bovallius Vocational College / www.bovallius.fi3. Keskuspuisto Vocational College / www.keskuspuisto.fi4. Kiipula Vocational College / www.kiipula.fi5. Luovi Vocational College / www.luovi.fi6. Optima / www.optimaedu.fi7. Validia Vocational College / www.validia-ammattiopisto.fi
Fields
of Vocational Education
- Culture
- Business and Administration
- Health and Social Services
- Natural Resources
- Technology and Transport
- Tourism, Catering and Home Economics
Role of HOJKS in the teaching process
HOJKS
or individual education plan is one of the basic necessary tools, which I do believe
without it, would be very difficult to help the special needs students.
The
teacher will have a detailed picture about the student, the strengths of
student that may support his/her studies.
It
states the student’s needs for supports, where the student needs support and it
is easier to plan student’s support in his/her studies.
Exemptions
and assessments of studies, guidance, co-operations with parents and other
professionals and evaluation of whole process are also in the form.
It
has great importance role for teaching process, and I can say it is the engine
for special education needs process. It is where we can help for those who need
help.
No comments:
Post a Comment