Fiona Mauchline echoed Mike’s words on teacher training being a deconstruction of teacher, where teachers tend to be spoken at and not spoken with. Mike said “I learnt as much, if not more, from the other participants on my training course
as I did from the trainer. I’d love see more opportunities for co-construction in teacher training courses- maybe right from the beginning, Revolutionise Initial Teacher Training!”
Fiona described her teaching methodology as an Unplugged one, and yet, she noted, very often in teacher training, teachers tend to be preached at by the ‘knowledgable’ trainer who stands at the front of the room and expects students to passively take notes and learn. So Fiona’s session, and her corner of the Open Space this afternoon, will be about looking at teacher training differently. Reframing the notion of deconstruction as co-construction.
Fiona also talked about overcoming fears and barriers and learning to step outside oneself sometimes in teacher training. “I felt I needed to take a step back from the ‘me’ that I see”, she said, “and be the me that my students needed”.
Fiona’s questions for this afternoon are:
- Can I do it again/better?
- How can I build on it?
- What can I do next?
- How can I continue to experiment with unplugged-style TD?
- Which aspect of of my teaching can I co-construct/de-construct?
The TDSIG PCEs have always been about the participants. And this year we’re taking this a step further by devoting the whole afternoon session to the dialogue among the participants.
The TDSIG factor – I have NO idea what is going to happen in Open Space this afternoon but I know it’ll be right. These participant-centred events is something which I’m really excited by and very proud to be involved in. (Sinéad Laffan).