Let’s replace old strands
with those that are new;
Coach students to be
good, and to construe;
Teaching facts alone is
no guarantee
Students will learn
concepts, we must agree;
Use topic webs to
stimulate the brain
To receive knowledge and
it will remain.
Student-centred learning,
it must remain;
Cooperative learning is
not new;
But too much chalk and
talk will dull the brain;
Lectures alone make it
hard to construe;
On this matter, educators
agree;
Interactive learning we
guarantee.
Students’ involvement we
must guarantee;
Direct teaching can no
longer remain;
Nor seating charts for
students we agree;
To replace worn-out
techniques with the new
Constructivism, so
students construe;
And learn from teaching
that rouses the brain.
Thematic teaching webs
enrich the brain;
Are also planning tools
to guarantee,
That those concepts
taught students will construe;
The knowledge gained in
their brains will remain;
These progressive ideas
are nothing new;
Lesson planning is vital,
we agree.
With this paradigm shift
you will agree;
All parts of the body
support the brain;
No regurgitating facts
old or new;
Concepts transfer and
learning guarantee;
And on-going assessment
will remain;
Quick feedback will help students
to construe.
Portfolios help students
to construe;
Technical teachers on
this do agree;
Visit their classrooms
for a while remain;
Their demos and designs
stir up the brain;
Attention span becomes a
guarantee;
Thus, John Dewey’s ideas
are nothing new.
That, self-growth will
remain when modes are new?
How can we agree to a
guarantee?
Teachers must construe
ways to stir the brain;
(January
2002)
Genre: Social Commentary
Form: Sestina
Tags: Barbados White Paper on Education Reform, Constructivism,
Edutech 2000 Master-plan, envoi,
student-centered learning, interactive learning, instructionist, topic webs, thematic teaching, portfolios,
on-going assessment, lesson planning, cooperative learning
student-centered learning, interactive learning, instructionist, topic webs, thematic teaching, portfolios,
on-going assessment, lesson planning, cooperative learning
“Constructivism
in the Classroom” is in the form of a sestina. The sestina has a fixed form
since it adheres to the rules governing fixed form poetry. These rules state
that there must be a specific name and specific number of stanzas identified,
and which is the embodiment of a highly structured arrangement on meter, rhyme
patterns, and or topics that define a poem. The prescription for constructing a
sestina poem is as follows: The poem must consist of six, sexain stanzas and a
concluding terset envoi. The end words of verses in the first stanza should
have an identifiable rhyming pattern and should appear as end words in the remaining
five stanzas in a successively rotating order. Then, they again appear at the
middle and at the end of the verses of the concluding envoi in the form of a
terset.
“Constructivism
in the Classroom” has an evolving rhyme scheme aabbcc established in the first
stanza and is structured along the fixed form rules applicable for sestina
poetry as follows:
The end word (remain) of the last verse in first stanza recurs as the end word (remain) of the first verse in stanza 2;
The end word (guarantee) in last verse of the second stanza becomes the end word (guarantee) of the first verse in stanza
3;
The end word (brain) in the last verse of stanza 3 becomes the end word (brain) of the first verse in stanza 4;
The end word (agree) in the last verse of stanza 4 becomes the end word (agree) of the first verse of stanza 5;
The end word (construe) in the last verse of stanza 5 becomes the end word (construe) of the first verse of stanza
6;
The
concluding envoi
The end word (new) in the first verse of stanza one becomes end word (new) of the first verse of the envoi; the
end word (remain) found in the last verse of stanza one becomes the middle word
in first verse of the envoi;
The end word (guarantee) found in the third
verse of stanza one becomes the end word of the second verse of the envoi; the
end word (agree) found in the fourth verse of stanza one becomes the middle
word of the second verse of the envoi;
The end word (brain) found in the fifth verse
of stanza one becomes the end word of the third verse of the envoi; the end
word (construe) found in the second verse of stanza one becomes the middle word
on the third verse of the envoi as shown below:
Stanza 1
Let’s replace old strands with those that are
new;
Coach students to be good, and to construe;
Teaching facts alone is no guarantee
Students will learn concepts, we must agree;
Use topic webs to stimulate the brain
To receive knowledge and it will remain.
That, self-growth will remain when
modes are new?
How can we agree to a guarantee?
Teachers must construe ways to stir
the brain;
A tercet is made up of three verses. An
envoi is the concluding verses or postscript of a poem.
This
social commentary poem written by Paterika Hengreaves, an Erdiston Teachers’
Training College Tutor’s (Emeritus) is in response to crucial aspects of the
reform process in the Barbados educational system. The educational reform
initiative was spear-headed by the Barbados Ministry of Education Youth Affairs
and Culture in collaboration with Erdiston Teachers’ Training College as far
back as 1990 at a time when new technology insinuated itself into more and more
aspects of the lives of all Barbadians. The need to train and to retool
teachers in both the elementary and secondary schools for the 21st century
became a top priority with the implementation of EduTech 2000.
In
assessing the “EduTech 2000 Masterplan for Barbados it is worth noting that
educators consider education reform the key corrective to Barbados contracting
economy and ailing society. The Barbados Ministry of Education, Youth Affairs
and Culture’s (1995) White Paper on Education Reform and EduTech 2000 Master-plan
constitute the blueprint to education reform in Barbados. The five year plan
for EduTech 2000 started with the introduction of information technology,
pedagogical changes, and changes in the curricular foci. The document outlines
the specific objectives of EduTech 2000 as being:
To increase the efficacy of the
teaching/learning process by encouraging teachers to utilize available technologies
in their classrooms;
To prepare students for life in a
technologically-advanced society by ensuring that all students who leave school
in the 21st century have good knowledge of, and adequate skills in
the use of information technology.
The
pedagogical objectives in EduTech 2000 report relate to conceptual, curricular,
teaching, and learning strategies. The suggested aim is to transform the educational
system from one that is “instructionist” towards, one that is constructivist.
Hence, the task confronting teachers using traditional teaching methods was how
best to turn this technological intrusion into a powerful tool for teaching.
Teachers were cognizant that traditional ways as applied to the
teaching-learning process had outlived their usefulness and they increasingly
looked at those benefits that the philosophy of constructivism brought to the teaching
learning process in a world driven by modern technology. Authorities in
education saw the need and implemented educational reform goals for national
development. Thus the training and the retooling of teachers shifted to
constructivist theories of learning in classrooms. The focus among teachers in
the school setting shifted to that of teaching strategies which make
information meaningful and relevant to students, where students have ample
opportunities to discover and apply ideas themselves and consciously use them
in their own strategies for learning. Constructivism
involves a change in the relationship and culture of the traditional classroom.
Under the traditional method (instructionism) the role of the teacher is to
manage and convey ”expert” subject-matter information to the student, but under
constructivism, the teacher manages and facilitates active and generative
learning in an environment that is intellectually challenging; the student
collaborates rather than listens; the classroom is interactive and student-centered
rather than teacher-centered; and rather than standard objective tests, the
student engages in performance tasks and criterion-referenced exercises. The
new reform curriculum emphasizes the importance of socializing students for the
acquisition of a basic set of social skills, especially those relating to
“adaptability,” “self-discipline,” “self monitoring,” and “team work.”