Sample PGCE Assignments & PGCE Essays
THE USE OF REFLECTION IN WORKING WITH NON-TRADITIONAL ICT LEARNERS
The use of reflection - a case study
This case involves four women learning intermediate computer skills at a community-based training programme for women, targeted at displaced or underemployed workers.
The program was reasonably successful in terms of students attaining the computer skills in its curriculum; however, the directors had noted that some women from particularly disadvantaged backgrounds tended to not hold their jobs for an extended period of time after completing the program, and many experienced teamwork and social difficulties in their new professional environment. There was concern about how this could be addressed, and whether it should as part of the programme given the scope such training might require.
I had been previously volunteering as a tutor for six months, and eventually four of the women I had been working with reached the end of their certificate programme, all at the same time. I had only had one previous student at this time. All four were to complete a capstone project in a popular office software package, a mock project for a imaginary company. The project included a tri-fold brochure with clipart, spreadsheet of project budget, presentation of the project, and overview report.
The women were provided the basic information about the project, but were responsible for some writing and all layout, calculations using provided numbers, and the like. They could be as creative as they wished. This project serves as the main component of their portfolio, which they take when meeting with prospective employers.
Ages ranged from Amanda, in her mid-twenties, to Regina, in her early fifties. Both Joyce and Constance were around forty. All the women except Constance had children; only Joyce was currently with the father of her two children. Most had held very low-level jobs in the past, when they had worked. Regina had worked as a retail clerk for nine years prior to the store she worked in closing, and had the most stable employment record of the work. None of the women had any advanced education.
My concerns were twofold. First, other than Regina, the women did not exhibit very polished interpersonal skills, and would often speak inappropriately to each other, use profanity and slang, and the like. In addition, only Joyce was open to constructive criticism; the rest would become defensive if corrected, and I had to be quite sensitive to how I presented any suggestions. Joyce tended to simply wilt when faced with criticism, and would often cry.
With my previous client on this project, she did not want much assistance on the project but to prove she could do it herself. As I very much respected this work ethic, I did not keep close tabs on her work. Unfortunately she misinterpreted a significant part of the project, which then had to be redone, causing tension between us.
REFLECTIVE MODELS AND TOOLS
I decided to try to implement some sort of reflective tool to address this situation. First, I felt I needed personal reflection and support as I supported the women through their project. I was not feeling particularly confident about either my ability to connect with them or assist them as well as I should. In talking with my supervisor at the centre, she suggested that we meet for fifteen minutes or so each week to review how things were going, and that I keep some sort of journal or notebook of my feelings and questions. (We are already required to keep a log of student progress and any problems or concerns about them).
I decided to use a reflective journaling approach, modelled on a reflective action research model previously used by feminist researchers, in which women planned, wrote, and analysed a given situation, then used what they learned from such writing to formulate strategies of individual and collective actions (Kincheloe 2003, 55).
The idea of meeting with my supervisor sparked another idea several days later. I met with all four women and told them we were going to pretend we were really at work. I explained that in offices people often must work in teams. Others place you often by how you dress and conduct yourself as part of that team. Therefore, during the weeks they worked on their project, they should plan to wear professional clothing to the centre, the same type of thing they planned to wear to their job.
In addition, each day we would stay after and have a twenty to thirty minute staff meeting where we would peer critique each others' projects and make constructive suggestions. Everyone would get to look at what everyone else was doing, each session.
Amanda and Constance were immediately concerned that others would copy their ideas if they showed them, and Joyce didn't want anyone to see her work at all. Regina did not comment but projected that she felt above such proceedings. However, after some discussion, all the women agreed to participate.
I had previously described my plan to my supervisor, who was unsure how much the women would participate but thought it was a good way for me to keep tabs on their work.
The plan was not particularly effective initially; however, by the fourth session the women had begun to become more open with both expressing ideas in a supportive and positive way and with receiving others' suggestions. We worked on getting them appropriate clothing, and just dressing up a bit seemed to have a rather civilising impact on the group. Constance in particular had never had any dress up clothes before, and demonstrated a marked improvement in her attitude and self-confidence with her new look.
I was personally challenged by the situation; I initially found the conflict and tension between the women in our staff meetings difficult, and came to realise through my own journaling that I often avoid conflict, even at my own expense. I was hopeful, however, that if this worked it could be a simple addition to the current curriculum that would greatly assist our students. My hope was that I could elicit a response in curriculum terms which is both effective and efficient such as described by Ecclestone (1996, 151).
I attempted to further model my own reflection and response on the steps outlined by Chown and Last (1993) as discussed in Ecclestone (1996, 152), recognizing how I and the students think about our current and past experiences (including our beliefs and attitudes), understanding and identifying explanations for the current situation, and formulating new ways of addressing situations in light of our reflections. These women felt put down by many of their past work and relationship experiences, and had issues to work through.
Don't believe everything you see in the press...
...sometimes, though, they do tell you the truth!
CASE DESCRIPTION
I was initially frustrated by the women's general lack of cooperativeness and unwillingness to work together. Regina often exhibited and condescending attitude, which particularly infuriated Amanda, who would then retaliate in very inappropriate ways, allowing Regina to further condemn her behaviour. At the third staff meeting, I had had enough; I told them they were all fired. I showed them the statistics of how many women lose their jobs repeatedly even after earning the office certificate and asked them if they wanted to be in this group.
I asked them how they could possibly expect an office to function if they were behaving the way they were behaving. I asked them each to think about how they could be better workers, and how they could make the team better, because if the team failed they would either be fired or out of a job anyway. Then I sent them all home.
I was concerned none of them would return, but to my surprise, they came back the next session a changed group. I gave them all a chance to share what they had discovered about how to improve their own behaviour (no one was allowed to make suggestions about anyone else). There were some apologies, a number of admissions they could do better and a general consensus that all of them were really afraid of failing at their new jobs and wanted to do well. Whilst we still encountered interpersonal conflict and disagreement throughout the remainder of the project, overall the women made a concentrated effort to improve their teamwork and communication habits, and were much more open to receiving correction on their projects than they had been at the beginning.
REFLECTIONS, ANALYSIS, AND EVALUATIONS
Overall, the reflective modeling we did proved to be effective. I could improve on how I implemented and handled the meetings, but given that this was my first time doing this sort of thing as a tutor, it went quite well. I believe if the women at the centre participated in some sort of reflective modeling from the time they enter the programme, rather just at the end, that they would have even more opportunity to sort out some of their social, teamwork and personal issues that might be detrimental to them on the job.
I also discovered areas where I personally need to change to become more effective as a teacher, outlined in the My Response section below. I learned very much from applying several reflective and action research models and tools to the situation, with favourable outcome.
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MY RESPONSE
I personally discovered that I often do not take enough authority as a tutor, and that my students will benefit if I am more firm and not so afraid and avoiding of conflict. It was very difficult for me to confront the women as I did. I was worried that they would no longer respect me, wouldn't like me, or wouldn't come back. My supervisor was very supportive when I revealed these issues to her from my reflective journal, and gave me some good suggestions and support that enabled me to confront the group.
REFERENCES
Ecclestone, K. 1996. The Reflective Practitioner: Mantra or a Model for Emancipation? Studies in the Education of Adults, October 1, 1996, Vol. 28, Issue 2, pp. 146-161.
Kincheloe, J.L. 2003. Teachers as Researchers: Qualitative Inquiry as a Path to Empowerment, 2nd edition, London: RoutledgeFalmer.
Moore, A. 1999. Beyond Reflections: Contingency, Idiosyncrasy and Reflexivity in Initial Teacher Education. In M. Hammersley (ed.) Researching School Experience: Ethnographic Studies of Teaching and Learning. London: Falmer Press.
Please note: The above essay was written by a student and then submitted to us to display and help others. Thanks to all the students who have submitted their work to us.
