Have you ever wondered what it is like behind the scenes as an English teacher?
Is the process through NCEA English deliberate or do we just make it up as we go along?
Find out by reading this blog.
1. The NCEA English Overall Goal
The goal for NCEA English teachers is to not only build on your literacy skills, but to aim to develop effective communicators (reader, writers and speakers). In order to achieve this, we follow a process and cognitive learning structure called Bloom's Taxonomy. This is used to develop your literacy skills.
But what on earth is Bloom's Taxonomy? Let's take a look!
2. Using Bloom’s Taxonomy to develop structured NCEA lessons
It is essential to understand the six levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy:
Remembering: Recall facts and basic concepts. For example, list the main characters and settings in a novel you are studying.
Understanding: Explain ideas or concepts in your own words. You might summarise the central theme of a story.
Applying: Use information in new situations. This could involve discussing how a theme appears in a different literary work or historical context.
Analysing: Draw connections among ideas. For instance, compare two characters' motivations in a text.
Evaluating: Justify a stance or decision. You could argue whether a character's actions were justified based on the context.
Creating: Produce new or original work. Write a poem inspired by themes from your readings.
Comprehending these levels will help you understand the journey your teacher takes you on to get you to a place where you can do things on your own.
Let's break down these six levels in a step-by-step process so you can see how we support you in a structured way.
Step 1: Building the basics with memory skills
When we prepare you for an assignment, such as the 'Unfamiliar Text' exam, we use remembering (memory skills) to build on the basics. For instance, you will learn the terminology and definitions of language features.
Your teacher might provide you with a chart and it may even contain examples.
Step 2: Identify and understand language feature purposes
Once you have started to remember the language features for the 'Unfamiliar Text' exam, you will then learn to identify and understand their effects.
Your teacher might get you to locate examples within various texts. For instance, you might read a poem or a short story and find similes, metaphors, onomatopoeia within them. You will know what the uses for each language feature is and should be able to recall information from your language feature chart/worksheet.
Step 3: Apply and use language features
At this point you will have a basic knowledge of how to locate and describe language features. It is now time to give it a go yourself. This is known as applying the skill you've been taught. In this case, you would use language features and locate language features without assistance.
Your teacher might get you to write the definitions in your own words and/or create some examples. They might also get you to locate the language features on your own too.
Step 4: Analysing
Now we are into the complex thinking levels. During this stage, in particular, you'll start looking beyond what you see and start analysing and thinking about connections.
Your teacher might get you to compare aspects within the text. You might consider the beginning and ending of a text, two moments that differ in tone or meaning, or how two language features were used. This will allow you to start noticing language features are deliberately chosen to show the reader an image, moment or perspective.
You may find connections to the text that link with the wider world, a demographic or your own self. You will likely explore how to find connections by asking and answering questions to figure out how a text becomes timeless and how it does not, based on the choices the writer has made.
Step 5: Evaluating
Here is the stage which requires you become a critic. It is one of my favourite stages as it is here that you start exploring your own point of view.
When you evaluate pieces of text, you are appraising them. You are carefully looking at the writing decisions and inquiring into what has influenced these decisions. The beauty of inquiry is that this really can be delved into. You can look at a plethora of influences, such as, historical influences, media impacts, societal expectations, causation, genetics, situation, expression, language, culture, popularity, reason, theorists etc.
There really is a beauty in individual life journeys and writing is one doorway into this.
You will likely explore how to form opinions by asking and answering questions and refer to evidence from the text.
Step 6: Creating
Once you arrive at this point, you may feel a sense of freedom or pride. You have now learned all the aspects needed to do things on your own - now all that is left is developing your own material and experimenting with creation. The devising process is a work in progress, and with practice and reflection, it will become a meaningful final stage of Bloom's Taxonomy. It is known as the highest level of thinking, because you will take all that you have learned and then realise concepts - all on your own!
Being in high school, you will likely receive a brief from your teacher to begin with, as an "empty canvas" is too latitudinous, and the scope of possibilities can be daunting or overwhelming. But the end goal at this curriculum level is to write works with the intention of becoming a professional communicator (reader, writer or speaker).
Imagine if you were a professional writer and sold your published works to readers all around the world?
Imagine if you could inspire others in the future to become lifelong readers and writers based on your own writing decisions?
It all starts with one step... learning what language features are!
All the best,
Tovah
Tovah's Tutoring Company Ltd ®
NCEA tutorials are currently available
Phone
0274530411
Useful links:
Using Bloom’s Taxonomy to Write Effective Learning Outcomes | Teaching Innovation and Pedagogical Support Bloom’s Taxonomy | Center for Teaching | Vanderbilt University
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