STEM

Part of the reason I wanted to go to Australia for my CFE was because Australia was where the term STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) originated. They started the trend of making science and design integrated, both with each other and into everyday lives. Just like back at home, some teachers have been more successful at implementing this in the classroom than others.

I have been fortunate enough to have a very forward-thinking mentor in Brauer College, here in Warrnambool. She is a big fan of using large design challenges as a way to encourage students to learn math and science concepts. She transformed a class on memorization of physics concepts and formulas into a challenge for students to design roller coasters using straws and hot glue guns. The results are amazing

I have been getting so many ideas for my own teaching. What they have done here (or at least tried to do) pairs so well with the new BC curriculum, focusing on big ideas and students learning through hands-on doing.

The also have amazing tech to help them with their designs, including 3-D printers, spheros, Lego Mindstorms, etc. They are constantly testing out new tech, and we got to test out some of their new gadgets today. They plan on incorporating some new tech to study neuroscience in the classroom. They had simple Arduino-based kits that can record muscles firing to study how our body works.

On top of that, it can use those impulses in real time to control surrounding gadgets.

And then, the final layer: Using those muscle impulses to control the muscles of ANOTHER PERSON.

I can only imagine the chaos this would cause in a classroom full of grade 8s. It would be beautiful.

I need to learn more about what is out there and be more inspired to integrate it into the classroom. EVERYTHING is a learning opportunity if you look at it right. And the more you hit on things the students will enjoy, the more likely it is that they will come to class, do the work, and retain the information.

Technology in the Classroom

At a public secondary school with a reputation for having students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, all students are required to bring an electronic device, such as a laptop or ipad. I have a lot of mixed feelings about this. 

On one hand, it is great for working on individual projects and for working at their own pace. Each student has individual goals in class and in the overall course to match their abilities and where they stand in the subject. I love the differentiation and I think we could take a lot away from this model. The integration of technology is a critical part of all students meeting their own needs and the teachers here seem to have embraced technology wholeheartedly. This would have been especially great for my students at the practicum school who were not able or willing to come to school regularly. They would not be completely lost when they did show up, since they could work on their own thing. Plus, they would have the ability to work on their assignments outside of the classroom.

The classrooms are also great at integrating the technology into things like science labs. Students are encouraged to take pictures and videos to include with their lab reports. They are given electronic templates for their work and submit electronic versions of their slides for presentations. Their exit slips in class are emails to the teacher - it is all fully integrated and is very inspiring.

The other bonus is that students have learned to work well independently. I was shocked to see grade 8 students plugging away at online assignments individually for the majority of their class time. They have gradually been brought into it. But I wonder if this takes away the humanity in teaching. Back home, I would wander around the class and ask students what they were up to. They would happily describe what they were working on and ask questions about where they are stuck. But that doesn't seem to be the case here. When I talk to students, even the younger ones who, in my experience, are more excitable and happy to talk to you, they just say they are fine and try to get me to leave them alone. The computer has become their teacher when they are working on individual projects, and the classroom teacher is almost an annoyance. It's great that they are independent, but do they need to learn how to ask for help?

What's more, I wonder how they manage the low socioeconomic students. How can they ensure that every student has access to the required technology? Are there programs in place to assist students who have trouble affording uniforms and laptops?

Uniforms in Australian Schools

My first few days in Australia have been spent shadowing teachers at Brauer College (a year 7-12 school) in Warrnambool, Victoria. The first thing that really struck me at Brauer College was the emphasis on uniforms in Australian Schools. Even public schools have strict uniform policies, though some teachers are pretty lax on enforcement. 

On my first day, I noticed students being spoken to for wearing the “wrong” socks for their uniform, and one girl got a talking-to for having an extra piercing in her ear, to the point that she was sent home for the day. I wonder what is the benefit in these rules? Why is it so important to have them conform? I can appreciate that the uniform makes it difficult to tell the socioeconomic status of the students, especially in a school that is known for having a lot of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, but prohibiting piercings and a few other things won’t help achieve that goal.

I have never been a fan of sending students home from school, unless they are somehow harming the well-being of others around them. I would be interested in learning more about the logic behind these actions.

Before arriving in Australia I had heard that, in general, the men here were very chauvinistic. It’s not entirely been my experience with the adults, but the boys in the school are definitely more rowdy. And while classrooms are mixed gender, they do tend to separate into boys and girls, sometimes intentionally. If there are an uneven number of students, the extra student is placed in a group that is the same gender as them. 

This all leads to so many questions. I wonder if the separation of genders is related to the uniforms. Are gender roles more enforced here than in Canada overall? Does this lead to less understanding between men and women or is it just a symptom of it? If students are given very tight control of what they wear as boys and girls, how will that affect their gender identity? I wonder how open these schools are to transgendered students and how they would integrate them, given the tight uniform controls?

Warrnambool is a fairly rural place. Are things different in larger cities, or are the gender roles enforced just as strictly?

Just a few musings on uniforms in Australia.