Episode 4
Episode 4
The Learners
Development
and
Environment
Episode 4
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES AND LEARNERS
INTERACTION
(focusing on differences in gender, racial, religious backgrounds)
Name of FS Student: Ruschelle L. Cossid
Course: BSED - ENGLISH
1st Year
Resource Teacher: Mrs. Rowena Magdayao
2014
My Map
The learners individual differences and the type of interaction they bring surely
affect the quality of teaching and learning. This episode is about observing and
gathering data to find out how student diversity affects learning.
Step 1. Observe a class in different parts of a school day. (Beginning of the day,
class time, recess, etc.)
Step 2. Describe the characteristics of the learners in terms of age, gender, and
social and cultural diversity.
Step 3. Describe the interaction that transpires inside and outside the
classroom.
Step 4. Interview your Resource Teacher about the principles and practices that
she uses in dealing with diversity in the classroom.
Step 5. Analyze the impact of individual differences on learners interaction.
My Tools
Use the activity form provided for you to document your observations.
1. Find out the number of students. Gather data to their ages, gender, racial
groups, religious and ethnic backgrounds.
There are 40 students in the classroom. As I observed them, they feel
comfortable to interact to those students/classmates who are at their age and
gender. They talk topics that are based to their interest. They have their
individual differences and you can see that there is really diversity in the
classroom. They grouped commonly according to their gender. Boys grouped
themselves and girls grouped themselves.
During class.
1. How much interaction is there in the classroom? Describe how the students
interact with one another and with the teacher. Are there groups that interact
more with the teacher than others?
As I observed the classroom, I can say that the interaction is quite good
because there is learning and rapport established in the room. The students
more interact to each other when they are grouped. The interaction of the
students to the teacher is by participating in classroom activities and talking to
their teacher during free time.
2. Observe the learners seated at the back and the front part of the room. Do
they behave and interact differently?
The students seated at the back are commonly boys. They sometimes dont
listen to their teacher and they are the noisemakers in the class. On the other
side, the students seated at the front are focused on listening to the discussions
of the teachers. There are interactions among the learners if they are grouped by
their teacher.
3. Describe the relationship among the learners. Do the learners cooperate with
or compete against each other?
The relationship among the learners is good because I can see that the
students are united and they are cooperating with each other. Sometimes, the
compee because I know its for the sake of their grades but most of time they
are really helping each other especially when they find the questions/problems
so hard.
4. Which students participate actively? Which students ask for most help?
The students who participate actively in the class are those students who are
seated in the front. Theyre more focused and attentive in listening to their
teacher so they get higher scores when they have quiz. The students seated at
the back needs help because they dont understand the lessons always.
5. When a student is called and cannot answer the teachers question, do the
classmates try to help him? Or do they raise their hands so that the teacher
will call them instead?
When a student cannot answer the teachers question, sometimes his/her
other classmates will help him/her by telling him/her the answer but most of
his/her classmates are competitive and raises their hands so that the teacher will
call them instead. The cooperation/unity and competition of the students in the
room is balanced.
Outside the Class.
1. How do the students group themselves outside the class? Homogenously, by
age? By gender? By racial or ethnic groups? Or are the students in mixed
social groupings? If so, describe the groupings.
After the class, the students will separate and go to their groups. Most of the,
are by age and genders and some of them are in mixed social groupings, from
other section mingles with the other sections. Theyre enjoying their groups.
2. Describe how the learners interact with each other. What do they talk about?
In the classroom, the interaction of the learners to each other is not so active.
I observed that those students seated at the back have their own business while
student seated at the front sometimes dont interact at students at the back/.
Their common topic is about their incoming JS Promenade and graduation.
OBSERVATION REPORT
My Analysis
1. Identify the persons who play key roles in the relationships and interactions in
the classrooms. What roles do they play? Is there somebody who appears to
be the leader, a mascot/joker, an attention seeker, a little teacher, a
doubter/pessimist?
In terms of relationships and interactions in the classroom, I can see that all
them are having a good relationship and interaction with each other. They talk
to each other, laugh, play, study, etc. If there is no teacher involved in the
interaction, there are students who appear to be the entertainer of the class. He
jokes and makes the class laugh, then after that, they will tease and talk to each
other and I can see it that theyre having fun. If everything goes wrong, of course
there is a little teacher who will manage the class and ensures that interaction
must be good and favorable.
2. Are students coming from minority group accepted or rejected by the others?
How is this shown?
In the classroom, I can see that the students are all equal to each other and
respecting each other. They dont care whether what minority group you came
from or what religious or racial background you are as long as you belong to the
classroom, you are accepted. The students are not choosing who they want to
talk, they are interacting well in the class and so the teacher.
3. How does the teacher influence the class interaction considering the
individual differences of the students?
The teacher can influence the class interaction by considering the individual
differences of the students. In this way, the students are acknowledged that they
have individual differences in the classroom. Everyone can accept and
understand each other and through this, they will interact more because
interacting with each other can help them know more about their classmates.
Its natural that we have our individual differences because we came from
different social and cultural backgrounds so it is understandable that everyone
has unique differences from others that will cause others to be interested and
mingle to them. If everyone is interested to each other, then interaction
happens.
4. What factors influence the grouping of learners outside the classroom?
When the class is done, I can see students grouping outside the classroom.
They grouped themselves by their age and gender. Boys go with boys and girls
go with girls. They also grouped accordingly to their interests like those students
who loves to play games and go outside and also those students who wants to
study will group themselves and just stay in the room.
My Reflections
1. How did you feel being in that classroom? Did you feel a sense of oneness or
unity among the learners and between the teacher and the learners?
Every time Im in the classroom, I feel good observing them. I feel good
because I feel sense of oneness/unity among the learners and between the
teacher and the learners. Learners unite when there are groupings or in every
questions or problems that they find difficult to solve. The teacher and the
learners unite when you can see that the classrooms atmosphere is good and
favorable because you can see that everyone is participating and active in the
class.
2. In the future, how would you want the learners in your classroom to interact?
How will you make this happen?
As a teacher, all I need to do is to adjust as I have been teaching for a while
now, I will establish effective procedures or strategies that can be a way to
develop rapport and interaction in the classroom. I must be creative in creating
these strategies in order to have an desirable outcome. I must use some
techniques, methods, styles and approaches to make my plans work. I must put
into my mind that interaction is one of the most important things in the
classroom and it should be observed every day. I can make this by encouraging
the students to participate and interested during class discussions, grouping
them to establish unity and camaraderie and of course making myself
approachable to the so they will not hesitate to come to me whenever they have
problems or concerns. If this all will be realized, then there is an effective and
good interaction in the classroom.
My Portfolio
Post a collection of quotations advocating for celebrating diversity in the
classroom. Using these quotations, explain how you will encourage all learners,
regardless of religious, ethnic or racial background to interact and participate
well.
Diversity may be the hardest thing for a society to live with, and
perhaps the most dangerous thing for a society to be without.
William Sloane Coffin Jr.