Louise Quinn: 275234174

Artefact: Series of images of my lesson resources and a sample of the children's work.

Poster Books

Hands on activity (The sun containing all of the children's ideas surrounded by cut outs
they made of their hands).

Video
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Task 2: Using artefacts to demonstrate Graduating Teacher Standards (15 marks)

Standard 6D: Promote a learning culture that engages diverse learners effectively .

I have selected this artefact as I feel it reflects the number of different approaches that I
included in my lesson and therefore underlines how I have met GTS 6D promote a learning
culture that engages diverse learners effectively. This GTS relates to the varied
backgrounds and styles of learning that exist in classrooms and emphasises the importance
of acknowledging and catering for these different styles.
Students learn in different ways and so in my science lesson I attempted to engage all
students by breaking the lesson down into parts, with each part supported by a different type
of resource. I began the lesson with a poster and pictures from a book (Children of the Sun).
I then moved to a class discussion session. I read aloud the book (The Sun is my Favorite
Star). We then moved to a hands on activity and finished with a video. Choosing a range of
resources to support the students learning meant that students who are weaker in the area
of oral language, or reading, or those who excel during practical activities all got a chance to
engage with the lesson. Using only one type of instruction or resource might have resulted in
some students struggling to connect with the content and therefore to really learn.

Task 3: Your response (15 marks)

Dear Mike,

Thank you for your email. As a teacher it is great to hear feedback from parents. I am also
glad to hear that Michela really enjoyed the science lesson on Tuesday. In relation to your
question, I can honestly say that I wholeheartedly disagree with the thinking that science is
too hard to be taught at primary school. I have taught two science lessons during my
Tuesdays in school, the first on living things, during which we developed a guide to animal
care and one on the Sun. During both lessons the students were engaged, enthusiastic and
really open to asking questions, discussing, and sharing their knowledge of these topics.
Lesson plans are developed by teachers in New Zealand based on the New Zealand
Curriculum (MoE, 2007). The curriculum consists of four levels with each level gradually
introducing more complex science concepts. This means that lessons taught in science (and
all subjects) are appropriately challenging for students as they align with students age and
ability. If you would like to read more about science in the NZ Curriculum you can refer to
this website:

http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum/Science

Secondly I think it is vital that I outline how important science is in relation to developing
students investigative, analytical, evaluation and critical thinking skills. Learning science at
primary school will equip students from an early age with the skills needed to question
knowledge presented to them, in television programmes or on the internet for example, in
order to test its reliability and validity (Heap, R, 2013). Starting to critically engage with
information at an early age is very important given the vast array of information young
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people are exposed to nowadays. The lessons that I have taught so far have supported the
development of these skills by encouraging discussion and the sharing of ideas and by
encouraging students to question their current knowledge and misconceptions.
Other misconceptions that many people have about science include the idea that science is
a Western construct, that scientists are mostly old, grey haired and male, and that science
provides little opportunities for creative thinking (Heap, R, 2013). Once embedded these
misconceptions can be hard to challenge and so teaching science to students as early as
possible will decrease the likelihood that these misinterpretations will gain a foothold in
students minds.
I will end by saying that as a teacher, I am well equipped with the knowledge and skills
required to teach science. My secondary and tertiary education, my passion for the subject
and the many resources available to me such as books, journal articles, websites and videos
all enable me to deliver an excellent science programme to my students. Merely doing a
decent job would be falling well below par.

I hope I have addressed your concerns. If you would like to discuss this further, please do
not hesitate to get in touch with me.

Kind regards,

Louise Quinn.

References

Heap, R. (2013). Grappling with teaching science as content, process and human
endeavour. In A. Fitzgerald, Learning and teaching primary science (pp. 91-108). Melbourne,
Australia: Cambridge University Press.

The Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand:
Learning Media.