2.1 Content and teaching strategies of the teaching area
2.2 Content selection and organisation
I completed a placement in a Year 5 class with 24 students in a Metropolitan Brisbane area. During this placement I taught mathematics, and I was required to deliver a sequence of lessons teaching location, in particular describing locations and routes using landmarks and directional language (ACARA, 2022). The specific situation involved addressing the challenge of engaging students in the concepts of location while ensuring I had a comprehensive understanding of both content and teaching strategies. The specific lesson I will be discussing involves an activity where students worked in groups of 4 to use a theme park map to locate routes from one landmark to another using directional language (Artefact 4). I will discuss the content and teaching strategies (APST 2.1) I practiced in this lesson and how I selected and organised content to teach it to the students (APST 2.2)
Prior to this lesson, I felt confident with the content of location in mathematics. To ensure I delivered the content appropriately and effectively to the students, I carefully designed an activity (Artefact 4) that incorporated cooperative learning strategies and real-life contexts (APST 2.1). I structured this activity to integrate social interactions into the regular classroom routine and curriculum delivery, fostering a collaborative environment (APST 2.2) (Perkins, Boyle, and Anderson, 2019). The use of cooperative learning aligns with my teaching practices grounded in constructivism (Arends, 1998). Students actively constructed meaning through personal experiences, interacting with prior knowledge and new events. The real-life context of navigating a theme park map added relevance to the content, allowing students to apply classroom knowledge collaboratively.
The impact of this approach was significant. Students not only grasped the concept of using directional language to describe locations and routes but also developed crucial social skills through collaborative learning. According to Johnson, Johnson and Holubec (1994), cooperative learning is one of the most effective class-wide interventions in education as it provides students with the opportunity to collaborate to maximise their individual and collective learning (APST 2.1). Additionally, Caroselli (1998) recognise that effective implementation of cooperative learning, fosters student socialisation, better equipping them for the expectations of the real-world. This learning experience reinforces the value of incorporating real-life contexts, referencing Dewey’s (1938) philosophy. Students were actively engaged in problem-solving within a meaningful context, enhancing their understanding of the content (APST 2.1, 2.2). I understand it is my role as an educator to demonstrate expertise in the content and teaching strategies and also prepare students with 21st-centry knowledge and skills for life and work (ACARA, 2022). Therefore, I believe it is important to incorporate authentic learning and real-world application in students’ learning. As I transition into beginning teaching, I will continue to utilise constructivist principles, integrating cooperative learning to not only enhance content understanding (APST 2.1, 2.2) but also foster positive social interactions among students.
