Part 3 : Reflection

Each teaching session has its own strengths and weaknesses. Through reflection I

would be able to improve the weaknesses for the effectiveness of the next session. I believe

that a teacher needs to provide meaningful experiential and motivational activities that will

encourage the pupils to learn.

The weakness of my teaching is that I am not able to implement cooperative learning.

Artz and Newman (1990) define cooperative learning as a small group of learners who work

as a team to solve a problem, complete a task or achieve a common goal. Cooperative

teaching involves the formation of small groups consisting of mixed abilities and sit together

to discuss the assignment to understand the learning content. Cooperative teaching is a

dynamic teaching and it can involve all pupils in the learning process. This can result in a

pupil not deviate from the following activities and can encourage passive pupils involved in

group activities. Teaching cooperatively basically gives the pupil the floor. Learners have the

opportunity to think and talk together and this makes the evaluation process so much easier.

There is always a role for someone, the spotlight on individuals is off which helps the whole

group to move forward. According to Barbara Gross Davis, “Researchers report that,

regardless of the subject matter, students working in small groups tend to learn more of what

is taught and retain it longer than when the same content is presented in other instructional

formats.”

I found out that in cooperative learning, the teacher needs to provide a

conducive environment and appropriate task for equal opportunities such as giving students

learning assignments which are on par with their current level or giving marks for the

improvement of scores compared to the previous test scores (Biehler & Snowman 1997).

The element of team competition should also be incorporated once in a while in cooperative

learning between well-matched competitors and without grading them for the norm-

referenced grading system. This is because team competition can spur students to achieve

the group‟s goal.

In my opinion, during the teaching session, cooperative learning is very suitable

for improving and transforming the pupil interest in a subject. I believe that pupils are more

interested and confident when learning with their peers. Pupils find it easier to speak to

groups of three or four than to an entire class. During production phase, I divided pupils into

small groups and let them them discuss to write a paragraph on where they live and another

paragraph on their neighbours.

In cooperative learning, it’s easier for a teacher to implement “Student-centered

teaching methods”. Student-centered teaching methods shift the focus of activity from the

teacher to the learners. According to Collins & O'Brien, (2003),

“Student-centered instruction [SCI] is an instructional approach in which students

influence the content, activities, materials, and pace of learning. This learning model places

the student (learner) in the center of the learning process. The instructor provides students

with opportunities to learn independently and from one another and coaches them in the

skills they need to do so effectively. The SCI approach includes such techniques as

substituting active learning experiences for lectures, assigning open-ended problems and

problems requiring critical or creative thinking that cannot be solved by following text

examples, involving students in simulations and role plays, and using self-paced and/or

cooperative (team-based) learning. Properly implemented SCI can lead to increased

motivation to learn, greater retention of knowledge, deeper understanding, and more positive

attitudes towards the subject being taught”.

I have come to realize that as a teacher they should give the students opportunity to

speak more often than the teacher themselves. So, by letting the students have opportunities

to participate most in the class activities will lead student to master the language skills that is

taught.

My lesson plan was based on behaviorism learning theory. Behaviorism is a theory of

learning based upon the idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning.

Conditioning occurs through interaction with the environment. According to behaviorism,

behavior can be studied in a systematic and observable manner with no consideration of

internal mental states. Behaviorism is based upon observable behaviors, so it is easier to

quantify and collect data and information when conducting research. The founder of this

theory is John B. Watson but later further constructed by Ivan Pavlov, John Thorndike and B.

F. Skinner.

The lesson begins in preparation phase by asking to the pupils about what is their essential

staple . In a way, it is encouraging pupils to make connections between their prior knowledge

and the new situations.. The pupils have knew some of the malaysian dishes, there are

encourage them to relate what they have knew. This is in line with the concept of

behaviourism where learning occurs whenever a person is able to make connections

between his or her previous knowledge with the new learning process (Mok Soon Sang,

2008).

In the second step during analyzing the teacher asks pupils to listen to the how to

pronouce a few words for example plough and pesticide. After that the pupils imitate sounds

of animal and practice what they hear. Lightbown and Spada argue that children acquire

language as fast as they hear more and more from the environment, and receive more

reinforcement, so when children start to select what they hear that mean they started to

realize the concepts of the language which they are learning. Lightbown and Spada indicates

that behaviorists consider that language learning process is "imitation, practice,

reinforcement (or feedback on success) and habit formation". Crystal (1992), points out that

language acquired by imitation and reinforcement, in this operation learners of language

imitate the environment around them, and by practice what they hear constantly, they

achieve habits in that language. Crystal indicates that the quality of the habits, which transfer

from the first language to the second language through the learning process affect the results

of the learning process positively or negatively. Crystal illustrates that if the habits from first

language are well match to the second language that called positive transfer, but if the habits

from the first language make mistakes in the second language that called negative transfer.

On the other hand, crystal shows that imitation only insufficient because learners from time to

time will face new concepts, so they have to understand and realize unfamiliar utterances.

While synthesizing pupils idea, drills and practices technique were used to make sure

the pupils remembered the words used in the textbook. Drill and practice is a behaviorist

aligned technique in which students are given the same materials repeatedly until mastery is

achieved. The pupils are shown a flash card containing the words, they are asked to repeat

the words . Sammons (2010) states that drill and practice strengthen the exhibition of desired

behaviour. This will make sure the pupils master each lesson taught before moving on to the

next lesson.

Throughout the lesson plan, the teacher also applies the usage of reinforcement.

Reinforcement technically means the process or technique which uses the reinforcer or

stimulus to strengthen and sustain the relevant responses. Behaviorism uses a system of

rewards and punishments to cultivate wanted behaviors and diminish unwanted behaviors,

respectively (Laureate Education, 2010).. As for punishment, the positive punishment were

used to put a stop on certain unpleasant behaviour made by the pupils. For instance, giving a

warning gesture to pupils who keeps on disturbing his friend while the teacher is explaining in

front. As for reward, the pupils that are able to answer the questions correctly will receive

compliment such as “Huda, you are so smart!” and “Excellent! Good!”. These types of

positive reinforcement motivate the pupils to answer more questions correctly in the future

since they know that they will be given rewards. In other words, reinforcement strengthens

behaviour and punishment weakens it. The teacher uses these two concepts of the Operant

Conditioning in the teaching and learning process.

Mergel (1999) declares that behaviourism focuses on a new behavioural pattern being

repeated until it becomes automatic. Reinforcement by way of repetition is also used by the

teacher during the English lesson. The teacher asks the pupils to repeat when pupils are

making mistakes in pronouncing the words. The teacher will repeat the words a few times

before asking the pupils to repeat. To make it more effective, the teacher will point out a few

pupils who have problem in pronouncing the words. This is in line with Skinner’s Operant

Conditioning Theory in teaching and learning as stated by McLeod (2008) where a newly

learned skill or technique ought to be given continuous reinforcement. This is mainly

proposed so that the new learned skill can be strengthened and sustained. As for the lesson,

repetition is done so that the pupils will know and remember the correct way to remember

certain words and will make lesser mistakes in the future.

Conclusions

After listing the weaknesses and strengths of my teaching, I found out that the perfect

planning and the right choice of teaching methods will be able to produce teaching and

learning process more effective and fun. I will take the appropriate steps to ensure the

improvement of teaching and learning to be more fun and effective in my future teaching.

Good teaching is less about what the teacher does and more about what the teacher gets

students to do. Behaviourism is one of the vitally important learning theories in the learning

process of an individual. Behaviorist theories of learning can be easily found in most

classrooms, particularly in the form of practice worksheets, drills and homework. In

Behaviorism, role of imitation, repetition, reinforcement and reward is very important in

language learning. If a response is reinforced it will be repeated and becomes the part of the

behavior. However, despite all the advantageous benefits that one can gain by applying this

theory, one should remember that sometimes behaviourism is not applicable in certain

situations. Pupils who are given punishment may continue the unpleasant behaviour since

they know that by doing that, they will get the teacher’s attention. Thus, teachers should not

solely focus on drilling, practices and reward and punishment, but may as well apply other

learning theories in the teaching and learning process so that the lesson is more varied and

interesting. Everybody has weaknesses but everybody have also chance to make it better

and better than before. Nobody is perfect but it is okay to try to be perfect.