FTL #8: Developing Relationships, Equity, equality, inclusion, diversity

 #8 Foundations of Teaching for Learning: Developing Relationships

we need to recognize that 85% of the language that we use as adults is there before we even start school. 50% of it is there by the time we're three years old.   -- my comment: I don't believe it.

The difference between equality and equity is…

Equality talks about treating people the same way and equity talks about treating people fairly.

we're looking at is relationships as being the glue that is so important to keep all this moving, to keep it all going, to keep it all together.

Week 1

Video: What are the things that promote growth in humans?

Video: The elements of human relationships

Video: Strategies for improving relationships

Video: Codes of conduct for teachers

We are going to look at the four core values that are encapsulated in our codes, the respect, care, integrity and trust.

When we look at respect, teachers should uphold the human dignity and promote equality and emotional as well as cognitive development. This applies to when dealing with our students, when dealing with our colleagues, as well as when dealing with parents. In our professional practice, we have to demonstrate respect for spiritual, cultural values, diversity, social justice, freedom, democracy and the environment.

Trust embodies in our fairness, in treating all equal, in our openness, in our relationships and in our honesty. We should be committed to equality and inclusion.

Because we are entrusted with a lot of kids, we have to respect the privacy, we have to maintain the confidentiality of information that has been shared with us. Hence, as a teacher in our profession, we have to be honest, we have to be the role models for kids.

Professional practice, again another area that is embedded in our code of conduct. And so how do we apply our knowledge and experience in facilitating our students'  holistic  development?

We have to make sure that we act in the best interests of their development (at all times, we have the interests of the student at heart) . We have to make sure that we create mutual respect, be open and responsive and give constructive feedback. So, that's our professional practice. Professional development. We have to take our responsibility in developing ourselves, sustaining and improving the quality of our professional practice. We have to be actively engaged in developing our own self. We have to be reflecting and critically evaluating our own practices.

Week 2

Video: The connection between what we think and how we behave

Questions will always lead to us thinking about what the question means. And, about what the response should be.So, the best way of getting people to think, and that's adults, and it's also our students, is to ask them a question. Now, what we need to think about are what sorts of questions we ask. Because, some questions are better than others. And, in our next lecture, we're going to look at the power of positive questioning. 

The research tells us that all of our learning, all of our memories, are associated with this little thing, which is called the brain cell. And the brain cell is a very important component to learning. And as you can see there, there are various parts. The dendrites connect to other brain cells. The cell body generates electricity, which sends something along the axon. And then the axon terminals, also lead to other brain cells. The most important thing there, though, is something called the myelin sheath. And the myelin sheath is a sort of pillow that builds up over time. Every time electricity goes from the cell body down through the axon, towards other things, this pillow gets bigger and bigger. And what this means, is that our thinking about this thing, gets quicker and quicker.

The reason that this happens, is that although electricity only travels at the one speed, the pillows that are built up, which you can see in this diagram, are actually electrostatically charged. And what that means is, instead of the electricity having to travel the whole length of the axon, it jumps from one pillow, to the next pillow, to the next. And that means the electricity gets from the cell body, to the axon's terminals, up to 12 times quicker. So the more we think about something, the more we do something, the better we get at it, and the quicker that we get.

Video: The power of positive questioning

if we think about how can I help you? How can I work with you? How can I get you to do something? Rather than asking people why. We start to look into the future, rather than into the past. We're not trying to justify the past.

my comment: I see the point but I don't agree. In order to solve problems, we need to ask why. 

Video: Developing good relations in the classroom

The Global Classroom: Activities to Engage Students in Third Millennium Schools

Book by George G. Otero and Tony Townsend

Video: Ethical behaviour with students

Quiz 2

Question 1

Habitual behavior is when we…

…do things the same way we have done them before.

Question 2

What are all the elements that lead to our actions?

Stimulus, memory, imagination, perception, emotions and actions.

Question 3

Intelligent behaviour happens when…

Stimulus, thoughts, memory, imagination, perception, and emotion lead to actions.

Question 4

What is the myelin sheath?

It is the substance that builds up on a nerve cell when electricity passes through the axon.

Question 6

The long term success a student has is built on his/her relationship with…

learning.

Question 7

The highest level a student can reach on the relational learning model is…

Global self-regulated learner.

Question 8

What are the things we remember for the longest periods of time?

Our attitudes and feelings about the things we are learning.

Question 9

Ethics are…

A set of moral principles or values.

Question 10

When we decide whether or not to do a moderately dangerous activity with our students we should…

balance the benefit with the potential harm.

Week 3 Working with your colleagues and school leaders

Video: School effectiveness and school improvement

Video: The role of teacher unions

Video: The importance of trust

nutrients of a hospitable learning culture. 

• being valued
• being encourage
• being noticed
• being trusted
• being listened to 
• being respected.

key components of trust are benevolence, reliability, competence, honesty and openness.

• benevolence: caring, good will, supporting teachers, Expressing appreciation, being fair, unconditional positive regard
• Reliability: Consistency, dependability, commitment, dedication
• competence, , handlign difficulut situations, pressign for results, problem solving , conflict resolution, being flexible, modeling hard work
• Honesty: integrity, Telling the truth, keep promises, honoring agreements, authenticity, accepting responsibility
• Openess: open communication, sharing important information, delegation, shared decision making, sharing power

Video: Working with leaders, teachers and support staff

Week 4 The importance of parent involvement for student success

Video: The connection between parent involvement and student success

Video: The parent is the child’s first teacher

Video: 6 different levels in which parents might be involved

Video: Strategies for strengthening teacher-parent relation

Week 5 It takes a whole village to educate a child: Working with your community

Video:Why do we need to get the community involved?

Video:The asset approach to improving student learning

Search Institute https://www.search-institute.org

The 40 Developmental Assets framework

Video:Inviting the community into our school

Video:The partnership approach to school improvement

Week 6 Recognising diversity: Social, Cultural and Values differences in the school

Video: Important terms: Equity, equality, inclusion and diversity

Video: Types of diversity

Video: Why we need to address diversity

Video: Strategies for addressing diversity in the classroom and school

What the best and wisest parent wants for his child, that must we want for all the children of the community. Anything less is unlovely, and left unchecked, destroys our democracy.  -- John Dewey