Presentations

Character 1: St. Augustine

What called my attention from this character was his theory of the question-answer teaching philosophy. 

Character 2: John Dewey

Dewey propones something so simple but so necessary, that the students should relate all the information that they have been taught to experiences to have a better understanding.

Character 3: (I can't remember this character's name)

What was interesting about this character was that he related his believes in religios to the classes, for example, he related Jesus and his disciples to the teacher and his students.

Co-evaluations

I think co-evaluations are good for us and for the people that are presenting. This help us to start to learn how to evaluate and to be subjective, and the presenters to improve all their fails or weakness.

Reflection about Workshop 3

This workshop was really interesting. We have the possibility to analize the theory of Comenius, which is really common, but we didn't realize it. I think the theory should be aplied in every school, every country, so the children could be more prepared to face the superior courses.

John Amos Comenius

1. What is the historical context of this character?  A: He was born during the 16th century in the southern of Moravia, Europe during the reign of King Charles One.

2. Describe the character. Mention the main aspects of his life. A: He studied in the University of Heidelberg. In course of his study he became acquainted with the educational reforms of Ratichius. He was a teacher, educator and also a writer.

3. What does this character propound in education? A:  According to Comenius, since man is a part of nature he should obey its general laws, and all educational methods should conform to nature. While asserting that upbringing must be in conformity with nature, he also believed that education must rest on a study of the laws of man’s spiritual life and the coordination of all pedagogical influences with it.

4. What is the role of the teacher in his model? A:  According to Comenius, the teacher must be skilled in the art of instruction and enjoy his work. He must stimulate independent thought in his pupils and train them to become active persons concerned with the general welfare. Comenius contended that it was necessary to develop from childhood such positive moral qualities as justice, moderation, and courage, by which he particularly meant persistent endeavor. He ascribed an important role in moral upbringing to the example of adults and to the systematic training of children in useful activity and in the observance of rules of conduct.

5. What is the role of the student in his model? A: The role of the student is just to collaborate with his/her teacher and participate in all the tasks, workshops, etc. Maybe debate with his/her partners. And the most important thing, to be receptive.

6. Give an example of his model in a specific situation A: Comenius proponed that education should begin from the childhood, as soon as possible. So, a good example would be a workshop for kindergarten children in which the aim is to teach them the colors (their mother tongue is Spanish) . They can’t read or write, so it must be didactic, adapt to their possibilities and needs. So maybe a good idea would be to show them different objects with a variety of colors and make them recognize the colors in Spanish and teach the by repeating the names in English. After that make them search by themselves objects and say the colors.

Identifying the Fields of Study in Didactics

Definition of Didactics:

Many authors have different definitions of didactics. For example for Claparède is “teaching’s methodology”, for Mattos are “the techniques of efficiently directing and guiding students”, for Stöcker is “the principles, phenomenon’s, ways and laws of the whole teaching” just to name a few. The term didactics comes from the Greek “didajein” that means to teach, instruct and expound clearly. Is the nominative and plural accusative, neuter, of the adjective “didactics” derived from the verb “didajein”, “didasco” (teach) that means the related to teach, to the activity for the instruction. So we can define didactics as “the cience or the art of teaching, that focuses on the process of teaching-learning”.

Domains:

During the beginning of the XX century, many areas such as Psychology, Sociology or Medicine burst in with many contributions that spark off many trends like psychology, pedagogy, philosophy, sociology the theory of information and general of systems, communication theory, the new school or the pedagogical renews movements. From so many perspectives the concept didactics it’s not homogeneous, so it’s open to the perspectives of flexibility and dynamism that would probably change in a near future.

Members:

Diego Acevedo

Karla Ardiles

Norman Vergara

Monserrat Yañez

Expectations on the subject

My expectation on this subject it's to learn more about didactics, better ways to transfer my knowledge to the students in a fun, interactive but most importantly in an organized way. For now, I think it will be very useful for facing my first practical.