Assignment 1: Task 4
Ground Rules:
As a teacher I believe that establishing and applying an organised set of ground rules is vital in order to achieve control and discipline over a group of learners. It is important to organise the class in a way that would help them to establish their own set of ground rules that can be applied to everyone. Atherton, J.S (2005) defines ground rules as “the minimum necessary conditions required for getting learning work done in a class.”
There is a number of different ways of establishing ground rules within my class. Before starting, I am sure to gain feedback from my class to understand what they believe ground rules are and possible reasons for wanting to enforce them. Then I split the whole group into pairs and asked them to discuss specific ground rules that they thought were important. Each pair then presented the rule to the rest of the group and, if accepted, the rule was written on the white board for confirmation. A similar method can be used, involving groups of 4 or 5, depending on class size. The groups discuss amongst themselves, then present their chosen rule to the class and write the finalised rule on the board. Using group and class discussions to set ground rules is beneficial as it gives learners a sense of ownership over their learning. This will help the learners to respect and understand why the rules are in place. Atherton, J.S claims that it is the teachers’ job to “help clarify them, not to impose them.” Ground rules only really work when they are shared. To avoid any conflict between groups of learners a method can be used that involves each individual learner writing down their own set of rules and picking the one they think is most important. This will be presented to the group and written on the whiteboard. If a rule has already been used then the learner will pick another of similar importance. This process is repeated until each leaner has had an input and all rules have been recorded....