Alternative Teaching Practice – Reflection

By Nrityam Bandhu-Nundlall
PGCE PT 2020 – 2021 (Business Studies)

Critical Analysis of an Unalike Teaching Experience

My alternative teaching practice was a lesson on ‘Sustainable Development’ meant for Grade
11 students. The rationale for selecting this topic was for students to learn about sustainability
to become better decision makers as they will be consumers of today and tomorrow. A
detailed lesson plan was organised in a logical sequence to explore students’ prior knowledge
and to encourage students’ input.

To start with, a brainstorming activity was carried out whereby students reflected on how
industrialisation impacted nature across the decades. The aim was to generate ideas on effects
of global warming which encouraged students to think out-of-the-box. However, the best
answer did not bubble to the top as the teacher did not prompt the right question to trigger
critical thinking. To bridge this gap, the teacher should examine and breakdown information
by making inferences to support generalisations which is pre-requisite for 21 st century skills.
(Marzano, 2010).

Worksheets were distributed which mainly focused on case study based learning, thus
enhancing learning experience by prompting higher order thinking as it facilitates
independent and critical thinking. It furthermore values acquisition of pedagogical content
knowledge (PCK) rather than simply content knowledge (CK) because the evaluation
question was in the form of a Venn diagram where students had to discuss the usefulness of
adopting sustainable development by businesses. Venn diagram was selected as it enable
students to organise information visually.

Ensuring feedback from learners

I created a conducive atmosphere for learning to take place to ensure that students’
participatory rate was high due to the critical questions, making the class to be more teacher-
centered. Constructive feedback can propel students’ growth while sharpening critical
thinking skills. Unfortunately, providing students with insightful feedback is often easier said
than done — especially in virtual classrooms, which pose challenges to effective teacher-
student communication. As coronavirus-related school closures drive more students to attend
class remotely, it is necessary for educators to understand how to ensure efficient and
effective feedback in the online classroom. As highlighted by Winne (2010), feedback from
the teacher is one of the essential heuristics to promote learning. During online classes, the
teacher’s presence by giving feedback has the potential to reduce the insecurity of lonely

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 Alternative Teaching Practice – Reflection
By Nrityam Bandhu-Nundlall
PGCE PT 2020 – 2021 (Business Studies)

study, keep awareness of learning purpose (Reppa, 2003), and improve self-confidence and
self-esteem of students (Tait, 2003).

Encouraging feedback from learners with the use of online learning platforms should be user-
friendly, with features that allow students to have a discussion, check grades and access
documents (Wang et al., 2013). The use of video communication has a positive impact on
students developing an emotional connection with the teacher (Borup, West, & Graham,
2012). Many of my students indicated that using video-based communication makes the
experience of communication more real, and for the majority, it helped them develop a
connection with their teacher (Borup et al., 2012). The integration of technology can help
facilitate real-life interactions in a manner that is amenable to the asynchronous nature of the
online classroom. For example, Flipgrid (flipgrid.com) provides a social learning
environment through a video website discussion platform through which I pose a question to
the class and then students respond by recording a 90-second video. This creates a discussion
thread since students can respond to other classmates as well and this ultimately leads to a
forum where I can identify any loopholes or weaknesses and based on their feedback,
appropriate measures are taken such as reinforcement strategies which act as remedial.

Increasing student engagement in online teaching

To ensure active learners’ engagement, plastic balls were used allowing students to compare
the used ball with the new one and they were also asked what should be done with the used
ball. This artefact was selected as plastic is a main pollutant and can be recycled. A poster
was used to show the procedures of how the ball can be recycled given that the class is made
up of mixed ability students.

I further explored the teaching aids to make sure level of students’ engagement is high. For
example, when students are viewing the video, I occasionally ask them to go back and replay
parts they had previously observed, this is followed up by pausing the video to write brief
summaries of what they just saw and heard (thus generating new material) and this become
constructive when they work with their classmates to construct a summary or draw a concept
map of the video content or discuss and resolve points of disagreement, to make the lesson
more interactive and engaging. Research suggests that learning would increase from each of
those options to the next one (Chi et al., 2018; Menekse et al., 2013).

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 Alternative Teaching Practice – Reflection
By Nrityam Bandhu-Nundlall
PGCE PT 2020 – 2021 (Business Studies)

However, before ending the class, I made use of generic enquiries (Any questions?’) which
resulted into dichotomous answers. Upon a self-check, this lacunae can be addressed by
reviewing my questioning skills to develop students’ cognitive structure in order to redirect,
refocus and increase their critical awareness. (Atwood, 1991). As far as teaching aids are
concerned, more emphasis will be laid on selecting the most appealing video. Audio-visual
aids are of utmost important for students with visual intelligence; hence, the adequate
spacing, distinct size, proper spacing between words and lines, and use of relevant diagrams
or sound are the key components to an effective teaching and learning.

In a nutshell, my teaching practice experience has elevated my aptitudes as an educator

particularly when dealing with upper-secondary students. I shall indeed devote myself in
making in-depth research and planning to be a pro-active and skilful teacher in order to
prepare students to engage in this rapidly changing world.

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 Alternative Teaching Practice – Reflection
By Nrityam Bandhu-Nundlall
PGCE PT 2020 – 2021 (Business Studies)

Reference list:

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 Marzano, R., 2010. Teaching inference. Educational Leadership, 67(7), 80-01.
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Accessed on 29 December 2021.
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