Magazine - ESHA

• How can an understanding of multiple intelligences impact on
how we regard all our students? How might it change what we
did in the classroom?
• We have learnt more in the past 20 years about how our brains
work than we did in all the previous millennia. Would we be
impressed if a brain surgeon did not incorporate new knowledge
into their practice? What do our teachers know about recent
developments? What changes should we consider making in our
practice? Would you open your mouth to a dentist who qualifi ed
10, 20 or even 30 years ago and had not acquired any new knowl-
edge or skills since?
• What is Assessment for Learning, as opposed to Assessment of
Learning? How could we go about using it? What might the ben-
efi ts be?
• When we open our mouths in classrooms, we use (and perhaps
sometime overuse!) the most obvious communications tool we
have. Yet, students observe and hear much more than our words.
What do we know about non-verbal communication? What effect
does it have in our classrooms?
• What are the differences between Open and Closed Questioning?
Is one type better? Is either more appropriate at different times?
• “How am I doing”, I was once asked by a young teacher, eager
for feedback. In truth, I did not really know, except to say that
no complaints had been made. How can we have their ques-
tion answered in a way that is non-threatening, non-hierarchical
and not driven by performance management? How do we go
about setting up peer-observation, mentoring, coaching, video
observation?
• Can students learn thinking skills? Memory skills?
EXPLORING LEARNING & TEACHING
• How much of a say do we give learners in their learning? If we
want them to become active, self-directed, independent, curious
learners what must our teachers do in the classrooms?
ESHA MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 2011 25