Sense of Place Assignment continued.. Practitioners

Practitioners and Inspirations

Karen Harwell is a philosopher who I explored information of how her work was influenced by her own sense of place which was where she lived as a small child. She explains that her ‘early years were imprinted living in the beauty and majesty of the Colorado Rockies, where she always found the natural world intriguing as well as coherent.’ It sounds as though Harwell was privileged as a child in the sense of the beauty which surrounded her and the comfort which she embraced from her home. I felt as though she worshiped her home and memories because she uses the word “majesty” to depict the image of the Colorado Rockies. Her sense of place is somewhere which re-connects her with the natural world, which influenced why she became a philosopher of the natural world. Harwell’s work has influenced mine in the sense that I love my hometown and grew up recognising and appreciating the beauty of seasons, places and the general outside world.

Another person who I researched was one hundred year old Georgia Brown who has lived in the same home in Hampshire for her whole life. Georgia says ‘I was born here and I will never leave.  ‘I have so many happy memories here. It is a perfect little village and I know almost everyone here.’ She remembers seeing Winston Churchill passing her house when she was younger and also watching the soldiers leave for the First World War. Georgia is an icon to my work because she finds happiness and comfort in her home where she has lived her whole life and no one can take it from her, she has truly imprinted herself there.

An article called “Is the feeling of home ‘being constructed’” talks about a woman who left home but said she did not ever imagine she’d be leaving for such a large space of time. She states “thinking of home for me conjures memories of spicy food, sticky backs, sleepovers with childhood friends, and the immeasurable freedom of driving in a car, among many others”. This is significant to my research about the feeling of being at home because it outlines typical aspects of childhood memories at home and is similar to thing which I associate with home as a child. The poster which I have included in this section fits in nicely with the element of information which has been described. 'Childhood is the most beautiful of all life's seasons' was the quote which I decided to put on the top of the poster. I made the background orange by using the paint bucket on photoshop and the orange conotes the bight, childish nature apparant in the rest of the poster. I drew a flower for the eyes using the paint brush tool and coppied and pasted that one eye onto the other side to make the eyes even. I then painted a catapiller as the smile based on the book 'The Hungry Catapiller' as it is well known to children and so they can identify the animal and become attracted to the poster as well as the vibrancy of the colours.

..more continued below.

Sense of Place Assignment continued..Some final Productions and Evaluation

A few of my final production pieces about home and childhood

This design is based around when I used to pick backberries in the late summer time around my village. It was fun to put them into boxes and baskets and then to bring them back and show my mum. I have created this poster on photoshop and it was simple to design because I used the paint-brush tool to create a smooth drawing of the basket and used a bigger, zoomed in brush for the bushes. For the writing I used the text tool.

This design was inspired by the love for my mum and the feeling of home comforts such as a cup of tea. I felt that the pink background was appropriate to connote the flowery sort of feel to the production, I achieved this background by using the paint bucket.The design is meant to look like a window and draws the audience into feeling as though they are looking through the window at some cakes. I drew the cakes, again using the paint-brush tool to give it a smooth, but realistic feel.

                                                                                     

An emotive design is one I drew with two sisters walking arm in arm towards a rainbow. I have based the drawings of those two girls on my sister and I because she is a big part of my life and the quote “A sister is a little bit of childhood which will never be forgot” is appropriate to the memories and love cherished by my sister and I. I will always remember dressing up in fairy-tale costumes with her and feeding ducks in the summer. The love and desire which pervades upon my sister and me when we are together is depicted by the rainbow in the picture because the different colours represent sad, happy, fun and hard times. The colours used for my sisters dress and my dress are the colours we used to wear as little children so therefore I felt it was successful in conveying the realistic element of the design.I managed to create the misty look of the rainbow by using a format on the paint-brush tool which allowed me to get the brush bigger and create different textures. This is also how I created the leaves surrounding my sister and I. This is my favourite design because it represents something close to me.

The rest of the images you will have to wait and see... :)

 Evaluation

I feel that my final production was successful in envisaging and engaging the concept of my own ‘Sense of Place’ because the works of practitioners used and the quotes, lyrics, media and pictures I found and researched came useful in demonstrating how home is a lovely place to be and how the comfort of memories can be found in that place. My production was to be presented in an appropriate format of ICT and I feel as though it succeeded in this because I used Photoshop Elements 8 to edit pictures, writing and drawings to create an outcome which proved appropriate in understanding what my sense of place was about. I reached the intentions and idea’s which I wanted to portray to a target audience in a different range of media/ICT forms such as Photoshop, Tagxedo and Word-Image. These created smooth, simple posters to allow the presentation to be understood. ICT, in my opinion, is a successful tool in representing and presenting visual communication because there are so many different creative options to explore and try. I feel some things could have been improved such as the technical skills which went into producing the posters because they were simple and if I had the time to expand on it I would try to create more complex posters to show different technical skills in different ways.

Finding out about people’s childhood memories and retracing my own has given me a great deal of pleasure and I have enjoyed creating and exploring both ICT formats and descriptive pieces of writing to help me with illustrating childhood memories via ICT formats. I also felt a great deal of happiness in exploring and researching the joy that a lot of homes bring and from the positive feedback and findings from my research questionnaire, it is safe to say that there’s no place like it.


References:

Quotes about home: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/home.html

Final design: http://www.tagxedo.com/

Karen Harwell -‘Exploring a Sense of Place’-http://www.exploringsenseofplace.org/guidebook/authors/

Quotes about home: http://thinkexist.com/quotations/home/

‘The History of Visual Communication’- http://www.citrinitas.com/history_of_viscom/

An article by Daily Mail reporter (name not stated) ‘There’s No Place like Home’- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2090143/Theres-place-like-home--100-years-Centenarian-lives-house-born-days-running-water-electricity.html#ixzz1r59oIa00

Is the feeling of ‘being home’ a construct?’ http://lynni.wordpress.com/2008/03/14/is-the-feeling-of-being-home-a-construct/

Quotes about childhood- http://www.quotegarden.com/childhood.html

Quotes about childhood- http://thinkexist.com/quotes/with/keyword/childhood/2.html

What is Education For-Ken Jones

Ken Jones delivered an informative lecture about PISA (Programme for International Students), SEF (School Effectiveness Framework) and PLC (Professional Learning Communities).

I shall talk about some of the information Ken talked about as well as some background research into the topics which he discussed.

The Directorate for Education states that ‘PISA is an internationally standardised assessment which was developed by participating schools and administered to 15 year olds in schools.’ Ken touched on effectiveness of education systems from different countries from years 2006 and 2010 and stated improvements which needed to be taken place in the UK to allow education to become better. 

Ken also talked about School Effectiveness Framework (SEF) which aims to develop better learning outcomes for children and young people in Wales. 

Directorate for Education states that the Professional Learning Communities (PLC) promotes and sustains the learning levels of professionals in schools and learning communities and environments.

Directorate for Education- http://www.oecd.org/department/0,3355,en_2649_35845621_1_1_1_1_1,00.html

Directorate for Education- http://www.sefwales.co.uk/sef-p2-home/sef-p2-about-sef/sef-p2-about-sef-sef-and-schools/sef-plcs.htm

What is Education For-Mike Day

Mike Day, Cabinet Member, gave an interesting lecture on Education Policy. He talked about what education was for and what the policy is and provides.

As well as discussing Mike’s lecture I shall include information from research which I found and my own personal interpretation of education and the policy which it provides.

Education is found in different environments and for different purposes and reasons.  My interpretation of the purpose of education is that it should provide both adults and children with the skills and understanding that they need to help prepare them for a successful future. I believe this education could take many forms from work-based learning for adults to more basic skills with young children. Whatever form education takes, I believe that it should be done in partnership: student, staff and peers, helping the individual to learn through their own interpretations and shared understandings, ultimately leading to greater independence economically, socially and personally i.e. having choices..

Mike Day suggested that the most important thing about Educational Policies is that they have the power to keep children in schools with minimum truancy. This can be done by supporting the children and providing lessons which will inspire them and excite them and allow them to thrive in their abilities.

Mike stated that the education policy is developed by:

·         Welsh Government- The Welsh Government make valid decisions on matters regarding Education as well as other things such as health and the economy. The Welsh Government make decisions in Education for Wales as a whole, they develop policies and build on them to get the best possible support to schools and educational environments.

·         School and Governing body level-The governing bodies help with providing advice to the National Assembly Government about schools and to aid the head-teacher by giving constructive advice in areas which may need supporting.

·         Local Authority- the local authority provide local transport for schools, provide and support services in schools and allocate finance within schools. These are just a few of the things which comes under the role of the local authority

'Value premises which serve as inputs to decisions' is a quote which Mike provided us with from H.A Simon (1964) and suggested it was used to explain what some people believe education policy means. I believe this is a fair statement in showing what Education means because it does show value to peoples decisions by the input of governing bodies, the advice given to welsh government and the way the local authority supplies benefit and support to schools in areas which they need help with.

I found Mike’s lecture enjoyable and informative and I learnt a lot from the information he provided and the background research which I explored.

References

The Local Authority - http://www.essex.gov.uk/Education-Schools/Schools/Delivering-Education-Essex/Pages/The-Role-of-the-Local-Authority.aspx

The Department for Education -http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/leadership/governance/governingbodyprocedures/a0056619/chair-of-governors-and-vice-chair-of-governors

The Welsh Government - http://wales.gov.uk/about/organisationexplained/responsiblefor/?lang=en

What is Education For-Steve Gulluck

Guest lecturer Steve Gulluck

Steve Gulluck, the Director of the All Wales Centre for Governor Training and research provided an informative lecture about Governors within schools

I am going to explain the information Gulluck talked about and explore in more detail about governors within schools from research which I found.

School governors make combined decisions to help increase educational standards and performance of a school by standing alongside the head teacher and staff. Governors help to provide answerable information to parents and the wider community and their aims are to:

1)       Promote high standards of achievement

2)     Budget, allocate and control

3)     Plan the school's long-term future

4)     Set the school's aims, values and ethos

5)     Appoint senior staff

To become a governor, volunteers will need specific skills which will meet the criteria. These include

•        Willingness to challenge assumptions they may not agree with,

•        Work in a team,

•        Inspire and promote improvement; and

•        To contribute to decision-making.

Steve suggested that there were 4 types of governing body. These include:

1)       The Abdicators- the Abdicators do not have much input within the school and leave a lot of the decisions to the head teacher or the experts.

2)     The Adversaries- have high standards and watch the school carefully to see if there are any improvements needed regarding how the school is run and make the decisions surrounding the running of it.

3)     The Supporters club- The supporters club work together to establish and observe how the school is spending their funds and offers advice on what to spend their expenses on, for example, sports equipment or school dinners.

4)     The Partners- These governors work alongside the head teacher and staff. They have equal responsibility in making decisions and ensuring the importance of team work by communally respecting each other’s views and opinions.

Steve  went into a lot of detail on how to become a governor. It was an interesting discovery to find out how much determination and effort it takes for someone can become a governor. Steve mentioned how long someone can become a governor for before their ‘term of office’ time ends, this is about four years.

Steve Gulluck stated that only those who are related to a member of the school are allowed to become a governor, for example, parents, staff and those who live within the community who portray ambition for the job. He stated that there are round about twenty-three thousand governors and that they are required to meet three times a year to discuss factors of improvement and decisions.

In Wales it is compulsory that you are eighteen before you can become a school governor however those who attend schools in England are able to become school governors from ages sixteen to eighteen.  

Steve’s lecture was very useful in helping me to determine the ambitions which people have and the skills needed to become a governor of a school. I have learnt that even though it is down to volunteering, it gives people a chance to be heard and to give their input into what they think needs improving, providing and changing within schools.

http://tsn.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/977/~/the-role-of-a-school-governor-in-england-and-wales

What is Education For-Dr Russell Grigg

Dr Russell Grigg, head of South West Wales centre of teacher education did an interesting lecture about Estyn, their works, policies and his involvement with them. He talked about how he has worked with Estyn and the intentions it holds.

Estyn examines and reviews the criteria’s, quality and standards in primary and secondary schools as well as other educational environments such as special schools and the Local Authority Education Services for Children and Young people. Estyn strives to ‘inform policy development and to monitor progress’ and inspects the wellbeing, performance and development of young people attending education.

   Estyn provide three main purposes of their work, these include:

·         Accountability- to provide the uses of services and other stakeholders through public reporting on providers.

·         To promote to education and training

·         Inform – Make sure that the government in education and training are up to date with information and inspections and to give advice to the National Assembly Government.

There are two types of reports which Estyn are in charge of writing and reviewing. These include:

 ·         Annual- The first annual report saw a great importance on how well schools and education providers are encouraging skills-based learning and self-evaluation within the learning environment. The Annual report is presented to the Education Minister Layton Andrews who will then provide it to the National Assembaly for Wales, for debate. Chief HMI (Her Magisties Inspectorate for wales) Ann Keen states that the annual report focuses more on the general successes in the Foundation Phase to all children aged three to seven years old. Keen suggests that it is clear that a large majority of children of this age enjoy engaging in the more diverse activities being offered in the Foundation Phase and that this has helped in developments to their wellbeing, behaviour and physical development. The annual reports also look at the wellbeing of the children in educational environments and Keen states that ‘it is a significant feature of the new inspection framework’. Overall standards of wellbeing are high in most schools and post-16 educational settings.

 · Thematic- A thematic report looks at development of progress made by children in schools and give them the best possible chance to work to their best abilities and reach the stages they need to develop further.
 
Dr.Grigg then gave us two websites which might come into use to find more information on the work of Estyn. These include: estyn.gov.uk and ofsted.gov.uk.

As it came towards the end of Dr.Grigg’s lecture he provided us with some key points about what a typical inspection holds. We learnt what an inspection was like and he told us who was involved in these inspections and the significance of the results and data from the inspection.

Dr Russel Grigg gave an impressive lecture and I learnt a lot from the information he provided. I found it useful in establishing Estyns rules and imperatives which goes towards inspecting an educational/learning environment. 7

http://www.estyn.gov.uk/english/thematic-reports/overview/

http://www.estyn.gov.uk/english/annual-report/annual-report-2010-2011/

Placement

Placement diary-The Dell Primary School

Day One:

On my first day at ‘The Dell Primary School’ I arrived into a vibrant, lively class full of smiling faces and the loud giggling of the reception class who I would be with for the next week. The staff and children were very welcoming and I got involved in activities with the children such as colouring pictures and helping them with their nativity play. As I looked around and explored the classroom I saw the sparkling colours and the useful letters which were scattered out to help the development of basic writing and reading. I loved seeing the way the children got involved with activities and how they played together with consideration for each other, and by the end of the day I knew all their names because each personality was different and remembered those personalities attached to their name. Inclusion based on SEN proved successful in accommodating children with speech difficulties and other minor learning disabilities.
The way the children learnt and the questions which they enthusiastically asked provided me with the understanding that, as four and five year olds, their skills and knowledge are forever blooming and will continue to do so in time and practise. There were play resources such as apparatus for P.E and play area’s with books and cushions. Overall I enjoyed my first day at the school. I hope to develop more skills and knowledge over the next few days.

Day Two:

On the second day at ‘The Dell Primary School’ I came into the classroom, again greeted by the happy faces of the reception class. Today we did some more colouring, painting and running around on toy reindeers. Before break time the children showed us the things they built with the Lego and building blocks and the beautiful pictures they drew.

From speaking to the teacher of the class I have learnt about the different levels of ability which exist from those who are highly developed in speaking and spelling, whereas others are less so, or struggling. The teacher also stated that the wellbeing of the children is the utter-most important thing before numeracy and literacy.

As I was walking around the school I noticed that the doors had different things on them, some said ‘pull’ and some said ‘push’ to help the children differentiate between contrasting learning areas.

Day Three:

On my third day of placement I watched the proud parents support their children in the Christmas nativity play. The staff made sure that each and every child had a part to play even if it was a short sentence. This helped to build their confidence and self-esteem and with the parents watching develops individual attention as well as working together as a class. Watching this play made me feel proud of the two reception classes, even though it was only day three I felt like I had played a minor role in a very small fraction of the children’s learning because of the questions they asked and the respect they showed me and I feel that they showed affection towards each other and sympathy when they upset someone.

Day Four:

On the fourth day of placement I watched the children read and write basic letters which had little anecdotes attached to them to understand the sounds of letters, for example, “f” is “fffff-lower” with the stem of the ‘f’ going down and then across the leaves. I found this a useful method in helping the children to gain more knowledge of the letters and the way they are interpreted by the children. In January the reception class joined the year ones for some reading and writing sessions to check and monitor their abilities.

Day Five:

On my final day of placement I learnt the seven areas of learning which they used in the school. These consisted of:

·         Developing ideas

·         What they did and how they did it and then be able to share it with the other children

·         Thinking for themselves

·         Observing

·         Copying staff

·         Understanding their own feelings

·         Numeracy, literacy and thinking skills

The children also participate in compulsory welsh and physical education.

The children thanked me for coming and asked if I was coming back. It was emotional for me to leave them, even though I had only been there for a week, I felt as though I knew them all so well. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at “The Dell” and would love to go back there again sometime soon.