Hi All,

My preference is Scenario 3, followed by 1 and lastly 2.

I think scenario 3 is the most challenging as well as the most rewarding one to work on, for 2 main reasons. John, the key character, is presented in the context of a relatively more complex web of human relationships than the other 2 scenarios. In addition, the problems here cover most of the issues presented in scenario 1, other than those related to the application of pedagogy. So, overall it offers a greater scope for exploration. Secondly, the root of the problem appears to be a family break-up, a situation not covered in the other 2 scenarios. Based on our course outline, this apparently isn't a topic that going to be covered in great depth. Yet, it is a very real and important issue which we will all face in the profession, and hence included as a choice in this assignment. So, whatever we learn from this project will be beneficial for us. Perhaps also, what we finally present will more likely be original and a direct reflection of our group's unique perspective and creativity.

Scenario 2 was rather limited to issues of pedagogy. So not much prospects there.

Based on all our votes, it looks like scenario 3 is it. Ade, are you OK with this?

Suggestion:
Before our next meeting this Wed:
(1) Let's discuss the problems we have each identified in the scenes for 3. I think we need to consider how we will present it. For example, I started by profiling John based on his cognitive, social, moral and emotional state of development.

(2) As we do (1), let's relate the problems identified to theories. We haven't come across many of them yet but can certainly ask questions that will direct us towards them during our research i.e. identify the "gaps" in our curent knowledge and understanding.

(3) Come up with a problem statement.

I agree with Aloy that Blogger may not be the best form of communication. Thanks for suggesting an alternative, Aloy. Shall check out wordpress shortly.

PBL Selection III

Hi guys,

After reading all three scenarios, my first vote is on scenario 1, followed by 3, then 2.

Scenario 1:

I feel that Scenario 1 allows for the most in depth discussion and application of theories (that we have been taught and that are easy to research on) so far. It also allows us to study the scenario from the many different roles mentioned (the teacher, the main character himself, the “enemy” Bee Chu, and the “friend” Ahmad, as well as a rough insight on Andy’s family background.)

The problems are easily identifiable. There are clearly loads of problems with the classroom management of Andy’s teacher Ms Wong, as well as with the students in the class (partially Ms Wong’s fault for allowing them to behave in certain ways). I think during our meeting last Thursday, Devi also mentioned problems with pedagogy (boring lessons), etc.

Not to mention, Andy is 13, going through a period of early adolescence J and clearly displaying the obvious characteristics of an adolescent. Besides Erikson’s theories which could come in handy here, I have also found some useful article on the 3 interlinked causes (environment, person and situation) of behaviour (I’m pretty sure there are more in the library J).

Because there have been many hints of the causation of Andy’s behavior, perhaps we can draw out something which looks like that, shown below!

OH AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, it’s the best scenario for our idea of making a video of the scenes, pausing the video to state what’s wrong, and also showing what could have been done better.

Unfortunately, as Scenario 1 seems to be the easiest scenario to discuss, and do loads of problem-solving with, HAHA I don’t know, it might be really popular and therefore there's nothing new/amazing that we can expect from it? I’m definitely open to other ideas, but just really excited about the video thingy that we can work out

Scenario 2:

I feel that Scenario 2 does not have as much problems as Scenario 1! Having said that, this scenario seems to be very real to me. Students do share a lot about their teachers and make comparisons all the time. It could be a good learning experience to study how we can cope with the large difference in the teaching capabilities of our colleagues, and how we may bridge that gap. I have no idea what theories could come in here yet. Perhaps we have not been taught!

Scenario 3:

Scenario 3 allows for a lot of discussion as well. However, I feel that the scenes are a bit messy. and that there is too much focus on the family background of the child that we could get carried away discussing that, if we're not careful. While the problems are very real, they are not as inter-linked and related to each other as much as those in Scenario 1.

Nevertheless, again, the main character displays a lot of useful characteristics and situations that can be studied thoroughly, for e.g., low self esteem, gaming addiction (maybe not so much), brilliant but not up to his potential, ostracism, acceptance among peers, family background, etc.

Actually all three scenarios look pretty interesting to me, I would love to hear more about your opinions

xx

PBL selection

I vote for Scenario 3. First off, the rationale for my choice. Thus far we have learnt four theories:
Bronfenbrenner's Theory
Erikson's Life Development Theory <-> Developmental Patterns
Marcia's Identify Status Theory
Pygmalion Effect

Scenarios 1 and 3 allow us to engage all five of these models. Try as I might, I cannot identify elements of the Pygmalion Effect at play in Scenario 2. I see Scenarios 1 and 3 as currently having more potential in terms of depth.

Additionally, there is issue of presentation. In Scenario 2, we are presented with points and counterpoints very explicitly. What a bad teacher is like is juxtaposed to what good teacher is like. Similarly bad and good learning processes are spliced right beside each other. While this makes things clear in addressing the problems and identifying solutions, it might also restrict us in terms of novelty and presentation. In Scenarios 1 and 3, we encounter just the problems themselves. There are only subtle, if any, hints at the possible ways of resolving them. Here there is greater freedom in terms of a). suggesting solutions and b). presenting our findings.

Now between Scenario 1 and Scenario 3. Here is my breakdown in terms of the issues in both.

Scenario 1	Scenario 3
Mainly bad teacher-student rapport	Mainly bad parent-child relationship
Biasness in recognition and discipline	Broken family - loss of role models
Poor lesson delivery and unrealistic expectations	Loss of nurturing home environment
Issues of addressing developing maturity in the student	Issues of addressing developing maturity in the student
Dread of subject	Poor self-belief with rationalization of being a "born loser"
Fear of failure	Escapism into self-harm, gaming and bullying
Poor understanding and ability to apply knowledge	Bad rapport with classmates
Some elements of home environment (middle SES and make-up of family) as challenges to student learning	Very subtle but potentially potentially power elements of teacher-student rapport (teacher as role model)
Some elements of prior knowledge (primary school) as challenges to student learning	Very subtle but potentially powerful elements of teacher-parent partnership (teacher as mediator)

Initially I would have chosen Scenario 1 but the analyses and solutions to the issues in it are rather more straightforward than the ones in Scenario 3. The latter scenario is potentially more challenging but also presents a tough yet very real situation we as teachers will have to face. I find it worthwhile to pursue this as our PBL project.

PBL selection

I chose Scenario 3. The problems presented in this scenario are the result of child-parent and student-teacher relationship. We can employ Bronfenbrenner's theory to look at how parent could influence the child development. We can also research into the different parenting styles(Authorative, Authoritarian, Permissive and Uninvolved). I would feel that the parenting style adopted by John's parents is intermediate between the Authoritarian and uninvolved styles.
We can look into some of the ways which we can promote parent-teacher interaction, because school-family relationship is one of the main components in the mesosystem (Bronfenbrenner’s theory).

We can also apply Erikson theory to analyse the factors that influence the development of self-identity in a child. Both Andy and John seem to be suffering from low self-concept. Hence, I would think that Erikson theory could contribute more to our analysis of scenario 1 and 3 than scenario 2, which compares the pedagogical approaches among the different teachers.

John appears to be lacking in many aspects of moral development as compared to Andy in scenario 1. Thus, it could be appropriate for us to bring in the Piaget and Kohlberg theory of moral development into our analysis if we choose scenario 3.

John's gaming addiction is another interesting area which we can look into as we know schools are actively promoting cyberwellness among the students. It would be good to research on the factors contributing to gaming addiction among students.


In summary, scenario 3 enables us to approach the problems from different angles and this will ensure that our project would have a wider content coverage and greater depth. Moreover, a wider scope would provide us with more opportunities to put our theories into perspective. As for scenario 1, the scope of analysis might be narrower but certainly we can look into ways to increase the depth of content. The focus on scenario 1 would be teacher-student relationship.
As for scenario 2, the problems are easier to spot and hence less challenging for us.

Testing uploading of pictures

HAHA HEY!
I exceeded the quota for my uploading of pictures
so im deleting my other pictures and testing this out

what aloy!
looks cheem!

Am i allowed to blog nonsense to test first?

OK TEST TEST :)

A Journey Of A Thousand Li

Starts with a single step. Time to learn about what makes us tick, recall what made us tick back in school and figure out how to get the tick-tocks of our students to make a nice melody instead of a cacophony!