Examine these extracts from lessons on the same topic and discuss the questions that follow:
| Lesson A Teacher: Now class, keep quite and listen because this information is important. All mammals are warm-blooded creatures. They belong to a class of animal that suckles its young and is covered with varying degrees of skin and fur. Some mammals eat meat and others eat only vegetation. Most mammals have four feet, but in some cases, such as the whale, the forefeet have shrunk through lack of use to become fins or wings. Now I have written these points down on the board and would like you to copy this down and learn it for a short test tomorrow. |
| Lesson B Teacher: Look at these 6 pictures of mammals and try to identify ways in which they differ. Discuss your observations with your group. Learners make observations and share them with their group members. Teacher: Who can tell me about some things that you have identified as being different? (teacher pauses and observes hands volunteering information). Yes, Sipho? Sipho: I notice that some mammals have eyes on the side of their head, but others have eyes facing forwards. Teacher: An excellent observation! Sipho: I wonder why this is so. Teacher: Good question Sipho. Who would like to try to explain a possible reason for some mammals having eyes on the side of their head and others in front? Teacher pauses for learners to think about this and then asks Wendy, whose hand was not up. |
Now review the two lessons and make observations in your group about:
Lesson A |
Lesson B |
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| The role of the teacher |
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| The role of the learners |
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| The resources used |
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| The role of information |
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| The importance of skills (and which skills) |
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| How each lesson would be assessed |
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| Which critical outcomes have been addressed in the lessons |
Refer to these comments after having completed the task.
Examine this Physical Education lesson
| Lesson C: After an introduction where the teacher used activities to warm up different parts of the body, the teacher told the pupils to find any clear space and sit down. The teacher asked the pupils to think of a way that the body could travel which involved the body touching the ground all the time. One pupil suggested sliding along the ground. The teacher told all the pupils to show him what that would look like. All the children tried to slide along the ground. The teacher then asked them if they could think of a way that the body could move, touching the ground all the time but moving from one part to another. One child put his hand up but could not explain so the teacher asked him to show the class. This child performed a forward roll and the other pupils tried to do the same roll. The teacher then asked the rest of the class if they could find other ways the body could roll. He wanted no discussion; they should show him. The pupils were all experimenting with different ways of rolling. This went on for some time and the lesson was quite noisy before the teacher asked half of the pupils to sit down and watch all the different ways of rolling that the other half of the class had done. Pupils were asked to comment on the different types of rolls they could see. The teacher named the different rolls and then they tried to do them. The teacher then explained the most important points for the forward roll, tucking in the head, curving the back, only using the hands once and keeping the legs straight. He asked the pupils to try to improve their style. He walked around helping individuals. He encouraged those who required assistance and physically supported some. He suggested less difficult types of rolls to the less able pupils. He divided the class into groups and then asked them to perform their best roll while the rest of the class watched them. The spectators were encouraged to name the different rolls they saw. The teacher explained that in future lessons they would be trying to perfect other types of rolls that they had thought of. |
Review the Physical Education lesson in your group using the following table:
Lesson C |
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| The role of the teacher |
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| The role of the learners |
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| Ability of the learners to achieve the outcomes. |
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| The importance of skills (and which skills) |
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| How each lesson would be assessed |
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| Which critical outcomes have been addressed in the lesson and give examples |
Refer to these comments after having completed the task.
Summarise, in your own words, the essential ingredients of a lesson that reflects the principles of OBE. Then share them with your collaborative partners and discuss them. Conclude by writing a list of "essential ingredients" of an OBE lesson with which you all agree.
Publish this as a web page.
Copyright (C) Nikana - January 2000
