How does the IRP help you as a beginning ELA teacher?
As a beginning teacher, I find the amount of resources available on ELA teaching to be overwhelming. For this reason, I find the B.C. English Language Arts (ELA) Integrated Resource Package (IRP) helpful not only because it is a required government document, meaning that it is reliable, but also because it tells teachers what to teach and children what to learn. This may seem to limit teachers’ choices, but because it does not tell teachers how to teach, I feel that the IRP standardizes the goals for each grade, while still allowing teachers creativity and flexibility in lesson planning. In fact, it allows for a teacher’s input and recognizes that modifications can and do need to be made to fit the learner. The IRP states, “[w]here necessary, modifications can be made to the Prescribed Learning Outcomes for students with Individual Education Plans” (IRP, 12). Furthermore, I find the IRP helpful because it highlights the most important information and aspects of teaching upon which a beginning teacher should focus. For example, the IRP highlights the six language arts dimensions, which include speaking, listening, writing, reading, representing and viewing (IRP, 4-5). These are very important because they are used to explore and achieve mastery in the classroom. Moreover, I find the IRP useful because it helps to pinpoint important research, laws, teaching methods and assessments. For example, it suggests that teachers seek advice and support of local Aboriginal communities when planning lessons that are culturally sensitive (IRP, 13).
How does the IRP hinder you as a beginning ELA teacher?
However, the B.C. ELA IRP also hinders me as a beginning teacher because it does not address problems that teachers might face such as classroom composition with students of diverse needs and abilities, increasing classroom sizes and lack of funding in schools. Additionally, it is left unclear as to how teachers are held accountable to ensure that students meet all of the PLOs, or how teachers can be certain that students have completed all of the previous grades’ PLOs. Finally, the IRP hinders me as a beginning teacher because it is vague about specific methods of how to assess students. There are, for example, no concrete examples of high quality student work and poor quality student work. However, I should note that there are other government resources available that give examples of students’ qualities of work. Personally, I would find it helpful if the Federal Government of Canada and the B.C. Provincial government merged the IRP with other useful government documents on teaching and learning so that they could all be in one place. However, this too might have its drawbacks, such as a lack of clarity and being overwhelming due to large amounts of information.
Who are today’s ELA students?
The possibilities in the world of teaching are wonderfully endless. Each school year, there is a classroom full of new faces and old, which means that countless opportunities are available for using the many teaching materials, methods, and assessments. The choice of these however, all depends on the diversity within the classroom. Today’s ELA students come from various socioeconomic, family and cultural backgrounds. They will have different learning styles, personalities, health and fitness lifestyles and might not have English as their first language. According to Statistics Canada in 2001, “Canada now has some of the most culturally and linguistically diverse cities in the world [… with] approximately 40 percent of Canadians claim[ing] their first language is a language other than English” (Constructing Meaning, 15). This diversity is commented on by Joyce Bainbridge et al., in the book Constructing Meaning, where it is stated that the “first step in dealing with diversity in language arts classrooms is becoming aware both of the knowledge and abilities children bring with them to school and of [… teacher] biases and preconceptions about the learning abilities of different children. Only with this awareness are [… teachers] in a position to provide a learning environment that is equitable for all children” (Constructing, 21). This means that teachers must consider the diversities within their own classrooms and be culturally responsive in their lesson plans.
How do today’s ELA students learn?
Although people learn in a variety of different ways and at different rates, there are some learning conditions that apply to all. First, learning is a natural process that begins from birth. Children absorb the language environment around them, learning new words from listening and talking to parents and other caregivers (Constructing, 35). Second, learning requires the active participation of the child. For this to occur, the child needs to be engaged in what they are doing. And third, children are driven to learn by purpose. For example, according to Bainbridge, “[c]hildren learn language because there is something they need to do, and in order to do it, they need to communicate their intentions to another person” (Constructing, 45).
However, when discussing student learning, it is important to consider the role of the teacher. First, Bainbridge states that students learn best when they have a teacher who acknowledges children’s funds of knowledge, meaning the cultural, intellectual, and physical resources they bring to school (Constructing, 9). In recognizing students’ funds of knowledge, a teacher is able to see them as ‘at-promise’ and as capable learners (Constructing, 9). This view of students helps ensure that they are not limited by a narrow vision or expectations and can help them to learn and grow. Second, in order to foster language learning, teachers need to provide many opportunities for students to interact with different people in different contexts to accomplish different purposes. This is because children “come to understand language from their own experiences of language in use” (Constructing, 45). This is also important because it gives opportunities for authentic discussion, meaning that which is meaningful conversation. This is essential because, according to Robert E. Probst, “recitation, rather than authentic discussion, is the common mode of discourse in most classrooms” (Tom Sawyer, 46). Finally, it is important for teachers to be aware of Cambourne’s seven conditions of learning, which include immersion, demonstration, expectation, responsibility, use, approximation, and response (Constructing, 24). An important aspect of these conditions is that while they are essential in the classroom and in each lesson plan, they are easily applicable. For example, a teacher could immerse students in language through a text rich environment through classroom design, resources, and experience for students to engage in, such as discussion, play, and exploration (Constructing, 29).
Grade 4 Students Learning English Language Arts
The 2010 quantitative study, “Does Math Self-Efficacy Mediate the Effect of the Perceived Classroom Environment on Standardized Math Test Performance?” by Lisa A. Fast, James L. Lewis et al, found that grade 4-6 students achieved better academically on standardized math tests when they perceived their classroom environment to be challenging. This means that the students achieved better academically when they were being provided with progressively difficult tasks as their proficiency increased (Does Math, 729). Although this study looked at math proficiencies, it raises the important concept of the zone of proximal development (ZPD) in students’ learning and achievement. This concept is about stretching students’ learning and abilities by providing them with new and challenging strategies and material just beyond their independent level, while maintaining attainability through limited teacher assistance (IRP, 18). ZPD is crucial in grade 4 because students are expected to delve deeper into learning activities by, for example, providing details and examples to enhance meanings, compare and analyze ideas, read strategically, defend choice of text and write to express and extend thinking (IRP, 7). Additionally, there is a large leap from grade 3 to grade 4 with regards to time allocation in reading and viewing. In grade 3, 20-40% of time is suggested to be allocated to that curriculum organizer, while in grade 4, 40-50% of the academic year’s time should be allocated to reading and viewing (IRP, 8). Consequently, it is necessary that grade 4 students have the guidance of a teacher who creates enough of a challenging classroom so that students may learn through the ZPD concept.
Bibliography
- British Columbia English Language Arts Kindergarten to Grade 7: Integrated Resource Package (IRP) 2006.
- Joyce Bainbridge, Rachel Heydon et al. Constructing Meaning: Balancing Elementary Language Arts. Fourth Edition. Nelson Education Ltd.: 2009.
- Lisa A. Fast, James L. Lewis, Michael J. Bryant, et al. “Does Math Self-Efficacy Mediate the Effect of the Perceived Classroom Environment on Standardized Math Test Performance?” Journal of Educational Psychology 2010, Vol. 102, No. 3, 729-740.
- Probst, Robert E. “Tom Sawyer, Teaching and Talking,” Adolescent Literacy: Turning Promise into Practice. Heinemann: 2007.
