Suuret kiitokset minun puolestani Natalia Kalloselle, ahkeralle ja innostuneelle opiskelijalle, joka kävi havainnoimassa Kilonpuiston koulussa muutamia 7. ja 8.luokan suomen kielen tuntejani sekä teki haastattelun, josta saamme tässä pienessä tutkimustyössä lukea.
Työ on julkaistu Natalia Kallosen luvalla. Jostain syystä sisällysluettelo sekä tutkimuksen tarkoitusosio eivät suostuneet tulemaan tähän kopiooni tekstinä hyvin, joten jätin ne pois, myös kuvat. Pahoittelen myös tekstin epätasaisuutta värien puolesta, eriväriset kohdat eivät ole Natalian syytä.
Action-based
Teaching Methods
Research
project
Natalia
Kallonen
Teacher as a
Researcher
student nro:
014805356
Actuality:
Facing the fact of our sedentary lifestyle and our
“addiction” to all types of screens, it’s important to ask ourselves: What kind
of activity do children need in the classroom? Besides new Finnish core
curriculum emphasizes active, student-oriented learning, as well as drama,
which is suggested to be a part of teaching in every subject (in one way or
another), not to mention phenomenon-based learning and cooperation between the
subjects. To reach this goal in education we must use a range of various
methods, one of which is without any doubts action-based teaching.
Inspiration. Nina
Maunu.
The choice of topic for this research wasn’t easy for
me. I was completely lost until our lecturer said: “Just think what topic you
are very passionate about.” And I was thinking, but not about a topic, I was
thinking about a person that inspired me most. I first met Nina Maunu when I
was having my basic practice in Kilopnpuiston koulu, she is the Finnish language
and literature teacher. My mentor told me that Nina had been doing “magic”
called “Toiminnallinen kielen oppiminen” during her lesson, I had no idea what
it was, so I felt very intrigued and was looking forward to observing her
lessons. Can you imagine studying the Finnish Grammar in the form of the game?
Passing the ball to each other sitting in the circle, laughing and having fun,
instead of doing boring exercises from the book? Can you imagine the lesson
when all students are involved and eager to learn? And what about difficult
grammar aspects turned into small theatre performances with the help of
students and the teacher? If that’s hard to imagine, just come and see Nina’s
lessons! Nina has been an active trainer of action grammar and action methods
of teaching since 2011. She is also the founder of the Facebook group “Toiminnallinen
kielen oppiminen”, which has over 8000 members.
When I
started to work on this research project, I sent Nina the email asking for the
interview and got the answer immediately, she was happy to meet and share her
amazing experience. What a surprise it was when instead of an ordinary
interview Nina suggested the walking interview, she explained later that walking
interviews generate richer data, because interviewees are prompted by meanings
and connections to the surrounding environment. Walking interviews give
freedom, change from the meeting routine and innovative, new perspectives on the
issue being discussed. When movement is
involved our brain is stimulated differently, we generate new ideas more
easily. And I agree with every word of that statement,
it was a nice sunny day, we were walking in the forest discussing problems of
action-based teaching methods and I can still recall every word I heard from
Nina, that is amazing, and it works!
In our
interview Nina touched upon such important topics as whether action-based
teaching is suitable for teaching grammar, as well as if it’s good not only for
kids but for teaching adults, as well as how action-based assessment works.
Nina says
that her pupils love action-based activities, especially when learning grammar.
Learning grammar is the organic and dynamic process of using language accurately,
meaningfully and appropriately. It is a well-known fact that the mastery of
grammar is a matter of dynamic use rather than static knowledge. And
action-based methods help to build this dynamic use of grammar in a best way.
According to Nina that that’s the most natural way of learning and applying the
knowledge at the same time. One more positive side of this type of teaching is
that students are not afraid of making mistakes, they know if they are wrong,
they can start over again, it’s not a problem, there’s no pressure of a wrong
answer. It makes atmosphere more relaxed and creates a safe learning
environment for everyone. According to Nina not only children but also adults
enjoy the opportunity when they are allowed to play and move during the lesson,
it makes learning easy and fun, who would not like it?
One more important issue that we discussed was
action-based assessment, it became a hot topic due to the new core curriculum,
which emphasizes the importance of continuous and on-going formal assessment in
the process of learning and teaching. Action-based assessment can be a “magic”
tool helping to make the assessment process easier. Indeed, when the students
are doing the exercise using movements, it’s so easy for the teacher to notice
the level of the skills immediately. The topic of action-based assessment
hasn’t been researched enough yet, but Nina is hoping it will be in the near
future.
The connection between movement and learning.
This
quotation by Benjamin Franklin illustrates the idea that the crucial point in
teaching is involving learners in whatever there is to be learned. But isn’t it
easy said than done? Well, first of all, we should bear in mind that in order
to truly involve learners in the learning process, they will have to be able – and to be allowed – to respond to a topic from their own point of
view. They will also have to be able to engage with others in a constructive
way (Bonnet, 2007, p.134). So, our task as foreign language teachers is to
enable learners to become engaged in meaningful interaction in a foreign
language regarding topics and problems posed by the curriculum of the subject.
Isn’t it astonishing that the dominant model
for formal learning is still “sit and git”? It can partly be justified by the
high status of conventional academic work, which associates intelligence mainly
with verbal and mathematical reasoning. But is it really so? On
the one hand, for decades, scientists seemed to believe that
thinking was thinking, and movement was movement, and each was as separate as
could be. But on the other hand, there had been changes in the works of
the major giants of educational thought like the Swiss educator Johann Pestalozzi, Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. If we
look at their works, we can notice that there is a clearly discernible trend
over the last hundred years or so to recast pedagogy in action-based,
whole-body, experiential terms. The works of those educational scientists help
us understand that the learner is a whole person, not an input-processing brain
that happens to be located inside a body that should preferably sit still while
the input is transmitted, received and computed by the brain. Our task is to see a human being as a whole, where the
body is the center of existence and also center of perception and learning.
Researchers argue that even though it seems that brain controls the
body, thinking is not independent of the body but instead closely bound to it
and also enabled by it. Strong evidence from
different sources (anatomical studies, and clinical data) supports the
connection between movement and learning. The first evidence of a linkage
between mind and body was scattered in various proposals over the past century.
Today, the evidence has become a groundswell, and most neuroscientists agree
that movement and cognition are powerfully connected. The area
of the brain most associated with motor control is the cerebellum. It's located
in the back of the brain, just under the occipital lobe, and is about the size
of a small fist. The cerebellum takes up just one-tenth of the brain by volume,
but it contains nearly half of
all its neurons. In fact, it has some 40 million nerve fibers. Those fibers
feed information from the cortex to the cerebellum, and they feed data back to
the cortex. Amazingly, the part of the brain that processes movement is the
same part of the brain that processes learning (see picture below).
When movement is involved,
the brain is stimulated differently than when someone is passively listening or
watching, so movement elements are essential elements in learning as they refer
both to actual movement and to inner sensations and experiences within a
person’s body, and to
physiological changes due to the movement. It’s worth mentioning that bodily
experiences are crucial for the development of conceptual knowledge. Concepts
are constructed with the same neural systems as moving and perceiving and
because concepts are the tools for thinking, they are largely born through
bodily, motoric processes.
So we can make a conclusion that learning and movement
are interconnected and one is helping another.
Learning and playing.
Learning is equivalent to making sense. The aims of
learning are understanding and giving meaning to experience. There are
infinitely numerous ways of experiencing the world and giving meaning to it
(e.g. from various perspectives or affective states). We can make a conclusion
that learning as an active, cultural process embedded in human interaction of
making meaning. How to enrich the learning and contribute to make it enjoyable,
which is synonymous to making it deeper and more sustainable (especially in vocational
and adult education)? To answer this question let’s remember George Bernard
Shaw words: “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we
stop playing.” What if games came in as a rightful and equal partner in the
learning process? Game place both children and adults on a continuum where
learning is constant and goes hand in hand with pleasure. Game can therefore be
seen as a preparation for adult life, a simulation of work that is free of real
risk and hence promotes experimentation and creativity while conserving a sense
of discipline and a quest for achievement. Especially in the form of
simulation, game requires participants to momentarily accentuate their natural
inclination towards observing, exploring and imitating. The fundamental
mechanisms of learning, namely, assimilation and accommodation, are thus put
into action and keep working as long as fresh stimuli are fed into the players’
perception. We can make a conclusion that in the light of this consistent bond
between playing, working and learning, games are revealed as a valuable
educational tool whose full potential has thus far gone unexploited in the
school system. On the one hand, games entertain students, but on the other
hand, they give them a strong sense of fulfilment every time they meet each
challenge, especially as they have to do so using a foreign language. This
combination of fun and success motivates students to keep improving and to
participate more actively in class activities. Body movement is the central of
the game and has to operate in conjunction with the spoken word. Learners
interact with each other during the game and their visual, auditory and
kinesthetic channels are constantly alert and ready to receive new input. It
makes learning more effective and comprehensive, as all senses are being
activated. Games are governed by rules that need to be followed. Students not
only draw pleasure and motivation from the playful side of the activity, but
also learn to frame their behavior and performance within certain parameters
without feeling restricted. Games performed in a foreign language set a
multiple challenge for people who suffer from insecurity and
self-unconsciousness, they gradually overcome the fear of expressing and
exposing themselves in front of others due to the appeal of the games, the
support of their teams and the sense of fulfilment they draw from reaching
their goals. Not to mention the team work. Students need to help each other, to
compromise and to adapt in order to reach their collective goal. They perceive
information, come up with ideas, express themselves and interact with each
other in the target language. By playing their assigned roles in specific, if
simulated, communicative situations, they internalize cultural and pragmatic elements
that are key to a comprehensive grasp of the foreign language. Summing it up,
we can clearly see the benefits of using games in teaching and learning
process.
Among the most important benefits of using
action-based teaching methods are the following:
·
Creating positive
atmosphere during the lessons.
·
Reducing the stress
level.
·
Helping to develop
social skills.
·
Helping to develop
self-esteem.
·
Increasing of
motivation.
·
Helping to develop
memory.
Now we would like to discuss all those factors more
precisely.
Creating positive atmosphere during the lessons.
It goes without saying that learning
environments where movement is integrated allow students to learn in a
more enjoyable context. Students love being
there, they academically perform better, and the information needs less review
because students retain the content more efficiently. And as we know, creating
a positive and safe atmosphere is one of the most important thing that teachers
should take into account if they want to reach the goal of effective learning.
Reducing the stress level.
On the contrary with the previous paragraph, if
students are uncomfortable or stressed their brain will not retain new
information easily, especially when critical thinking skills are being relied
upon or the student is needing to connect new information to their personal
experiences, prior knowledge or abstract thought. Action-based teaching methods
can help restore joy and stability in
troubled lives, reduce restlessness among antsy
learners, and ease the tensions in schools.
This all happens due to the fact that movement give kids the chance to release
stress. To sum it up, incorporating exercise
and movement throughout the school day makes students less fidgety and more
focused on learning, not to mention improving on-task behavior and reducing
classroom management challenges. These are among the most obvious benefits of
adding physical activities to the process of learning.
Helping to develop social skills.
One of the
biggest advantages of using action-based teaching methods is the fact that it has important benefits for students’ social
relationships, particularly among genders and age groups. It also aims and
to enrich the culture of the schools by cultivating collaboration, respect and
compassion. It helps to create and promote interaction
and collaboration in the classroom, but this is not all, it also helps to
develop emotional maturity and skills to cope with both success and failure, encouraging
students to act, interact, cooperate and compete. Students are expected to have
internalized the dynamics of team work, the need to
help each other, to compromise and to adapt in order to reach their collective goal faster
and more efficiently.
Helping to develop self-esteem.
There is a positive association between physical
activity and self-esteem and self-concept. Physical engagement helps children
build the foundations of their self-esteem, especially for
children who are naturally shy or have difficulty with certain developmental
areas. Kids can learn empathy by sharing and build self-esteem and leadership
skills by working as part of a team. Physical engagement
also enables students to take ownership of their learning and develop presentation
skills.
Increasing of motivation.
It goes
without saying that using action-based teaching methods generates energy,
enthusiasm and motivation.
Helping to develop memory.
Action-based
teaching methods improve memory, concentration and positive
outlook. That happens because when our brains receive input from our
visual, tactile, auditory and olfactory senses, it allows us to engage with the
rest of the world. That means that incorporating activities that involve all the senses make learning more
memorable.
In conclusion
it needs to be said that everything mentioned above demonstrates that that movement can be an effective cognitive strategy to strengthen
learning, improve memory and retrieval, and enhance learner motivation and
morale.
Conclusion.
In conclusion of the theoretical part we would like to
say that some of the smartest things teachers can do are the simplest, when we
keep students active and engaged, letting them move around, use their body
language in learning and exploring the world, we keep their energy levels up,
as well as their curiosity and activeness, needed for the highest performance.
Joy of learning is not measurable on tests and exams, intelligence and
creativity develop as students explore the world, figuring out on their own how
things work. To make this goal of effective education true, we should pay our
attention to active-based teaching methods. A
creative teacher is the one who sees endless ways to bring more excitement into
their lessons and is not afraid to try something new, and the students will
love him/her for it, let’s be those creative teachers, let’s make a difference!
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