Application of Modern Educational Techniques for Active Education and Enhancing the Quality

FLEXIBLE METHODS OF TEACHING AND LEARNING AND THE WORKING MODELS OF TRAINING IN PRACTICE

The issue of integrating Bulgaria into the European Union calls for a change of the educational system, which has to be connected mainly with socializing, human values and tolerance. The ideas and principles grounded at the new frame of reference for development of the secondary education premise process which is one of the opportunities for modernization of the educational system and for comparing its effectiveness with the educational sisters of European countries. Nowadays a major transition process is being held at high-school educational level by introducing anew educational scheme, the approved National Educational Requirements and the relevantly adopted new educational programs for every subject, as well as new books and additional materials. The above program started in 2003/2004. That is why, the problem of effectiveness of school process and the utilization of modern educational techniques for a new kind of education should be considered within the frame of the abovementioned changes. In searching for the contemporary aspect of the Bulgarian school, we-the teachers at ‘’Hristo Botev’’, Secondary school find numerous ways for its democratization by using flexible methods of teaching and learning. One of these methods is the Teamwork. The substance of training in all subjects give good chances for applying this method. Teamwork- It develops the child’s ability to adapt socially, to react in a group of peers and to interact as well as to obey their personal interest to the ones of the group; to consider the wishes, intentions and activities of their partners; to render and get assistance. Certain rules are to be kept to when working in a team and each and every participant has to keep them. They are:

1 Sincerity and free expression of feeling and problems;

2 Creation of safe and untroubled atmosphere for group work;

3 Concreteness and spontaneity;

4 Child’s activity within its own abilities;

5 Unconditional acceptance of the other participants;

6 Group rules and personal responsibility;

7 Sanctity of the individual;

8 Freedom in expressing;

9 Giving support;

To accomplish these rules of great importance here is the teacher’s role who is a producer, an expert, a judge, a guardian of the group rules and sometimes – an arbiter. The child also learns how to come over difficulties, to control the performance of activities and to evaluate their results. Teamwork also suggests development of skills for communication. Children discuss the task together, seek for a solution, exchange ideas, argue, and with mutual efforts come up with a decision by defending their own viewpoint. Teamwork allows the development of interpersonal skills, e.g. children grow to know each other and appreciate one another within the relevance of the work done by the team. In the course of work, the children elicit a leader, who presents the task results. The number of students in a group can vary, so that children who can’t perform well in one group may find their right place in another. Such groups comprise of no more than two to four students, and in 5th to 8th class they are from five to six pupils in a group. We have already convinced our selves that the group learning is an alternative for the apathy and the approved stereotype in the Bulgarian school.The application of the group learning requires the use of new interactive methods of education. They help to create a new educational reality based on a dialogue, searching for and finding resolutions. The interactive methods are a natural different interaction between the teacher pupil. In our school the interaction methods give a chance to children to commune naturally, to acquire the unknown for then rules of behavior and group activity, to acquire the ways of the joint solution of problems, to learn to share and respect each other.

Work on projects- The so-called project education is somewhat similar to teamwork. The new school program gives an opportunity for its application more often for much more subjects. Mutual efforts are required so that a project is developed, as well as participation of various students with various capacities because the final aim is to exchange values. The achieved results bring reward and appreciation. A typical characteristic of project education is its inter-subject description, which requires integrity of knowledge and tasks of various school subjects; furthermore it establishes a connection between theory and practice. By teaching through projects, the participants are assigned to solve real problems, which mean they have to utilize their actual knowledge and experience. Working over a project requires development of separate steps for the achievement of a certain task, e.g.:

-selecting and assigning the topic;

-planning, organizing and performing the project activities;

-teamwork with the purpose of project completion;

-presenting the achieved results (project argumentation and evaluation).

The purpose of project education is not only to enrich students’ knowledge but also to build up critical attitude towards actual environment, to gain social experience and skills for teamwork.

Another vital point in project education is the opportunity to coordinate knowledge and activities in the process of teamwork. That requires building up forward thinking, planning, communicating, flexibility, leadership, utilization of various sources of information and a series of other skills, which prepare the children for their future as adequate members of the society and the world.

Project education requires that children should master a number of skills, which might help them in the process of project development. Such skills are:

-organizing work;

-teamwork;

-actively collecting, processing and handling information from various sources;

-planning, distributing and performing the project activities;

-acquisition of social experience and skills essential for real life;

-giving feedback with the results of the research.

Another method that our children like very much is the “Brainstorming”. It makes possible to suggest money ideas to solve a problem for a short time. We don’t use this method in its entirety but we have many ways for stimulating child’s thinking and her creative effords. Main phases of the method are:

1 The teacher puts the problem – in a simple and short way, clearly, in a way draws the attention;

2 The “Brainstorming” rules have to be explained;

3 We don’t comment nor criticize the suggestions that are made;

4 The important thing is the quantity not the quality;

5 We are trying to use the suggestions of the others and to develop them further;

6 The suggestions have to be written down the way they are made;

7We take part only when the guiding figure points us;

8 The time for making suggestions is fixed – five minutes. Thus we stimulate the pupils to think creatively, their activity heightens, the accumulation of ideas comes naturally.

Another method is the “Visualization”. Some events, processes and facts can be easily remembered by visualization. Thinks to this method can be formed a positive attitude to wards the processes. An often-used technique for visualization is the elaboration of “cards of mind“. It makes possible the visual elaboration of problems by drawings, photos, symbols, words, proverbs, and slogans. The children like to transform their experience or event – they took part in, into a picture.

As we teach at at primary school we use “Tales and Proverbs” to form moral categories and universal values. Weobtain the appropriate atmosphere - by music, visualization-and in order to help their reading we use the maximum of guiding question in our discussions. Our aim is, by the wealth of the literary texts, to sharpen the children’s sensitivity towards certain problems, to enrich their imagination, to make them formulate problems and questions by their own, to from moral categories.

The“Solutionofproblem” is one of the most often used interactive methods. For its application we are led from the following steps:

1 Fixing the problem - clearly, in a short and exact way, telling the result of its solution;

2 Specifying the main reasons which have caused it;

3 Finding possible solutions of the problem-narrowing gradually the circle of the most probable solutions;

4 Selection of the most appropriate solutions after consolidating the criteria on which these solutions will be estimated;

5 Creating a concrete action plan which includes person in charge, terms, expenses;

6 Application of the plan and evaluation of the achieved progress.

We apply this method in a rather simplified version. The most important thing is the children, by their own, to formulate a problem which is close to them and for which they can get an information from the teacher, the parents and other means of communication. The children themselves suggest concrete steps for the solution of the problem, undertake concrete activities. We often use this method when we have classes in ‘’Man and nature’’, ‘’Man and society’’ and others.

The “Game Methods” differ from the discussions ones in solving the problem from the ‘’inside’’ by playing, simulating a situation- and not from the ‘’outside’’ by analysis and discussions. This group includes role-games and non-verbal techniques to form social sensibility.

The non- –verbal techniques demonstrate depiction of different psychical conditions and wordless roles using only the language of the body- a gesture, a pose, a facial expression. With of the game methods different wordly situation are staged, as the pupils enter the variety of social and professional roles. In this way we succeed to engage their personality, intellect, their emotions and natural behavior. This heightens considerably their influence, facilitates the forming of adjustments, values, conviction, social skills and which is especially important, makes easy their transforming into the social practice.

There is a great difference between the traditional training which lowers the status of the pupils, when they study and the co – operative learning in its variety when the classmates interact, the trained ones receive support from the others and their status raises. A synthesis is achieved between the sense – emotional and the verbal – logical knowledge. It makes possible the obtaining of socialization in the process of training. Thus the pupils prepare for different social roles and we achieve a certain leveling between the different kinds of skills, adjustments, values and knowledge.

As the primary school level we apply role – games in their variety: business – games, interview, intellectual – training games.

The method of the cube

The idea is that children should work over a certain problem looking for the necessary information, describing, analyzing, comparing and discussing it. The sides of the cube are:

Side 1- Describe it;

Side 2- Compare it;

Side 3- Associate it;

Side 4- Analyze it;

Side 5- Apply it;

Side 6- Pros and cons.

The strategy is especially useful in Literature classes when describing literary characters. Each group of children works on one of the questions. They have three to four minutes to think it over and then the speaker of the group announces its position and the teacher makes conclusions. The other team can ask questions: “Why do you think so?”, “How do you know?”, and “Support your ideas with quotes”. Examples from the whole book can be given, if only an extract is being discussed.

Another strategy is “Reading from the chair of the author”. The idea is that a student plays the role of the author in order to present his work and to defend it. I use this strategy in classes for developing speech, when retelling texts and describing pictures or finishing a started story. The child is sitting on a chair with all the participants around him. The former is reading the retelling or the composition while his classmates ask questions and express opinions about their likes dislikes and additional ideas for writing. The “author” defends his viewpoint. After all the questions have been answered, each student shares his opinion in written form.

1.“From ______’s composition I have learned that…”

2.”What I liked in ______’s work is ……….”

3.”I’d like to know more about………………”

Another strategy is “A diary with two columns”. It can be done as class work or assigned as homework. The sheet is divided in two, with the first column used to copy a quote from the text and the second to write a commentary. The teacher gives leading questions, connected with:

1.The idea of the passage:

-What is to be remembered?

-What were you thinking while reading?

-What’s the main message?

-Which of your questions hasn’t been answered?

2.Thje text as a literary form:

-If you were the author, what would you change?

-What are the merits of the text and why?

3.The author’s mastery:

-How did the author keep your attention?

-Which words helped you?

After the commentary questions are asked, e.g.:

“Why did this extract attract your attention?” After three answers I ask another question: ”Is there another student who has also chosen this passage?”. I listen to the other commentary and elicit the similarities and differences.

Another strategy is “The five-lined verse”. The aim is to extract the most essential information in only five lines. Students work in teams of two. It is suitable for language classes, for example:

1. Title- volcanoes;

2. Description-red, hot;

3. Action- erupting from inside;

4. Feeling- a natural furnace of fire;

5. Repetition of the same (a synonym of the title)- hell.

Application of modern educational techniques for active education and enhancing the quality of educational process.

Such project work is the preparation of a children’s newspaper in class 3A, entitled “The Big Break”. The purpose of this project is to stimulate creative thinking and imagination, to boost learning motivation and the ambition to write in order to be published for a larger audience, forming of interest in and ability to exchange information in a team. Revision of acquired knowledge is done easily in class in a way, which is not boring- by means of texts, riddles and pictures. In this way the field of a certain subject is abandoned and inter-disciplinary connections are established more easily.

Our work of preparing the newspaper has passed the following stages:

-presenting the ideas; choosing a title, a logo and a message for it;

-defining the areas and titles of the editorials;

-assembling the teams of editors, artists, etc.;

-preprinting activities- the consultants have chosen the script, graphic design and layout.

By brainstorming, certain ideas have been collected and divisions within the paper have been established. For example: ”What comes to your mind when you hear the word newspaper?” The children gave ideas and came up with the solution that the following areas should be covered in their newspaper:

-crosswords, riddles, puzzles and competitions;

-riddles and puzzles with pictures;

-presentation of the best essays;

-presentation of books, films and bands;

-interviews with teachers and parents, participating in school life;

-imaginary interviews with characters from books;

-poetry, short stories, fairy tales and anecdotes;

-mum’s and granny’s recipes;

-new games;

-sketches, jokes, funny stories, scary stories;

-extracts from children’s encyclopaedias;

-tests;

-news from the class;

-competitions;

-musical charts;

-wise thoughts;

-learning an international game;

-getting to know a typical character of a foreign country.

After defining the areas together with the class, we formed the teams- each started its work gathering material, writing short stories, poems, drawing, etc. It has been decided that the newspaper came out once a month and circulation has also been defined. A portion of its price was decided to be used for competition prizes and author’s copy.

Here are some examples from the first issue of the newspaper. The area “Rules of Life” stated rules of students themselves, as well as attitudes towards and between people.

“I have learned that I should always look forwards, not backwards.”

“I have learned that teachers can tell when I try to cheat.”

“I have learned to look for good inside me.”

“I have learned that sometimes I have to make a step back.”

In the area “Pages of Wisdom” the students were given the chance to look for and write down the best sentences, the wisest thoughts from literary works which were read during the holidays. Here are some of them:

“The best things are to be seen through the heart.” A.S.Exuperie

“One experiences happiness here on earth only by bringing happiness to and sacrificing for the others.” The Honey Pie by K.Konstantinov

“I prefer making minor promises that bigger and then delivering more than I have promised.” When I Was a Student by E.Kestner

In the area “My Interview” the children had to answer the questions of their peers: