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Education Fieldwork

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Welcome to the Education Fieldwork Seminar at Bryn Mawr/Haverford Colleges 2013, a culminating course for Education minors that focuses on these three interconnected goals:

To facilitate multiple perspectives on and ways of learning from an ongoing field placement, including (where possible) gaining additional practical experience as an educator

 To support students in exploring complex issues of educational policy and practice in meaningful contexts

To help students gather together and extend their learning across the courses and contexts that have comprised the minor for them in a variety of ways, including through the completion of a final portfolio or comparable final project.

(Image: http://warwicktechnology.wikispaces.com/)

Welcome to the on-line conversation for Education Fieldwork.  This is an interestingly different kind of place for writing. The first thing to keep in mind is that it's not a site for "formal writing" or "finished thoughts"; it's a place for thoughts-in-progress. Imagine that you're just talking to some people you've met. This is a "conversation" place, a place to find out what you're thinking yourself, and what other people are thinking. The idea here is that your "thoughts in progress" can help others with their thinking, and theirs can help you with yours.

Who are you writing for? Primarily for yourself, and for others in our class. But also for the world. This is a "public" forum, so people anywhere on the web might look in. So, your thoughts in progress can contribute to the thoughts in progress of lots of people. Feel free to comment on any post below or to create a post via the left sidebar.

Syllabus
Password Protected File of Readings
Instructions for Preparing Your Final Portfolio

dshu's picture

Individualism

In the beginning of the party, Bryn sat in her seat. However, just a few minutes later, she kept standing up and sitting back down. Over time, she then began to move around her seat causing Mrs. G to tell her, "Please sit down." This continues for some time as Bryn's classmates are presenting their book reports. Eventually, Mrs. G makes Bryn to go next for her presentation. During the presentations, one could notice the distraction of Bryn standing up and down in her seat, as well as the shifting and moving of her body while at her chair. This caused a distraction to the other students sitting on the floor while they trying to pay attention to their classmates' presentations.

mencabo's picture

field notes 1

Knowing How to Wait

           Last semester I was placed again at School A, my placement since Spring of 2011. An advantage to this is that I can continue to build a good relationship with the students and faculty and I even get to see the students grow, literally. Being a part of a school means you begin to really get a sense of the person behind the image of a student. You can predict how some students behave if they are having a good time in school and also how they will react if they are having a hard time. As a teacher, building good relationships with your students is a continuous goal. Your reaction to a student in certain situations can either propel your relationship toward the positive route or the not-so-favorable way.

               This is an excerpt from my field notes last semester that highlights one particular moment:

Observations

Reflections

4th period

11:45 a.m. – 12: 40 p.m.

 

transitfan's picture

field notes from climate justice teach-in

1/25/13: Part I: Before (written at 11:10AM)

Last night Students for a Livable Future had an almost-two-hour planning meeting over dinner for a 1.5 hour teach-in today during lunch at the dining center. (Wouldn't it be amazing if teachers could do that? Though on second thought, that degree of planning would probably prove tiresome and unnecessary for experienced educators.) We are calling our event a climate justice teach-in but really it is all about our campaign for Haverford to divest its endowment from fossil-fuel companies. (Is that misleading? Will people be upset? Or will no one come at all? We advertised quite heavily with posters hanging from trees, tons of Facebook posting, etc. I'm pretty nervous about it all right now.)

jccohen's picture

syllabus

Education 311: Field Work Seminar

Spring 2013

Bryn Mawr College and Haverford College

 

Jody Cohen

Bryn Mawr/Haverford Education Program

Office: Bettws-Y-Coed 303 (BMC)

Meetings by appointment

Phone: 610-526-5214 (office), 215-206-6832 (cell)

jccohen@brynmawr.edu

 

Course Overview

This is the culminating seminar for students completing the Minor at Bryn Mawr or Haverford Colleges, and is open only to students completing the minor.  Drawing on the diverse contexts in which participants complete their fieldwork, this seminar will explore how images and issues of practice emerging from students’ fieldwork inform and are informed by cross-cutting issues in the field of education.