MY COMPETENCES AND VOCATIONAL TEACHERHOOD
Diagram from Descriptions of professional teacher's core competences
What are the starting points in my vocational teacherhood?
I am excited
about the learning theory connectivism suggested by George Siemens. According to
his learning theory, we are living in the digital age and learning is a process
of connecting specialized nodes or information sources. Supported by the
connectivism learning theory, we need to utilize available technologies for the
education and we have to change quite much the ways of traditional teaching. In
that sense that I am quite confident to become a digital age teacher, who has
computer science as a core competence and rich cooperation experiences at the
global technology companies, NCR Korea, Nokia Networks and Nokia.
As I considered my 14 years of work experiences in Information and Communication Technology filed, I have built experiences in the various roles of international project management, software design, development and maintenance, customer consultation and support. My great strength would be the technical competence in the various jobs, so that I can teach many different groups of students and provide appropriate advices for their carrier plan.
My second strength would be the understanding of the globalism or internationalization. Based on that I have experiences of how we as individuals with different language and culture could technically cooperate together. Without my multinational work experiences, it would be a challenging task to teach the student for collaborating with diversity in the world of work. In the global world, collaboration skills are not only from the English language skills but from the attitude of openness and respect toward the diversity of individual persons in their color of language and culture.
In addition to that my other strength would be I like the use multimedia resources for my teaching. I have learned photography and computer graphic applications as my hobby. It is my interesting to see how these tools can enhance my teachings and motivate my students. I am quite sure that using multimedia resources will help my teachings to fill the gaps of non-native speaker teaching and learning environments.
As I considered my 14 years of work experiences in Information and Communication Technology filed, I have built experiences in the various roles of international project management, software design, development and maintenance, customer consultation and support. My great strength would be the technical competence in the various jobs, so that I can teach many different groups of students and provide appropriate advices for their carrier plan.
My second strength would be the understanding of the globalism or internationalization. Based on that I have experiences of how we as individuals with different language and culture could technically cooperate together. Without my multinational work experiences, it would be a challenging task to teach the student for collaborating with diversity in the world of work. In the global world, collaboration skills are not only from the English language skills but from the attitude of openness and respect toward the diversity of individual persons in their color of language and culture.
In addition to that my other strength would be I like the use multimedia resources for my teaching. I have learned photography and computer graphic applications as my hobby. It is my interesting to see how these tools can enhance my teachings and motivate my students. I am quite sure that using multimedia resources will help my teachings to fill the gaps of non-native speaker teaching and learning environments.
Pedagogical
competence
I believe that pedagogical competence will be developed as I am going to participate in the iVET program. We have 5 study modules in the iVET program and they are VOC1, VOC2, Teacher Practise, EDUSCI and Optional Study. At this time of writing my blog, I have done VOC1 module and Tools for Teaching in English as an optional study. After these studies done, I can see myself that I have learned so much from the courses how to plan, execute, develop teaching, use ICT technology in teaching and etc. Furthermore I am expecting to see much more development in pedagogical competence when I finish the rest of the study modules.
I believe that pedagogical competence will be developed as I am going to participate in the iVET program. We have 5 study modules in the iVET program and they are VOC1, VOC2, Teacher Practise, EDUSCI and Optional Study. At this time of writing my blog, I have done VOC1 module and Tools for Teaching in English as an optional study. After these studies done, I can see myself that I have learned so much from the courses how to plan, execute, develop teaching, use ICT technology in teaching and etc. Furthermore I am expecting to see much more development in pedagogical competence when I finish the rest of the study modules.
Substance (Core Competence)
Development
I have core competences in computer software, for
example UNIX/Linux administration, Oracle Database and SQL, Shell programming
and Network environment. However, I would like to develop Media technology as
for my future core competence. I am interested in participating Media related courses
as an optional study.
Competence in
value integration
I have learned from the VOC1 study that the values to be
integrated in my field of teaching are equality, sustainability and entrepreneurship.
However, I do not see that those values are all equally important at this time
of changing world. When I see the critical situations in the ecological
environment and problems in developing sustainability, I feel that we need to
take stronger actions to change the critical situation into be cured. What are the
fundamental values to be integrated into all the human education in order to bring
some hope for the future? I as from the
oriental country where the value of ethics are much stronger than western
country, we respect the nature as a living being. In my view, it is quite contrast
with the western view of the nature as an object of development for encouraging
entrepreneurship. My questions are remained as it open and searching for the
better ideas in what values and how to integrate to help the nature and its ecosystem.
What studies support and nurture the development of your core competences?
I think all the study modules in iVET program are supporting the development of Pedagogical competence as the first development needed area for me. And from the Tools for teaching in English course, I have enhanced my English teaching skills and making a teaching video skills.
I have learned to make a lesson plan for sustainability integration into my IT subject as a practice of competence in value integration.
Teaching practice will nurture my working community competence and teaching skills in substance competence.
I think that there are courses to developing my global competence by participating the Global Education in Vocational Teacher Education courses.
How do you schedule your studies?
At this point, my schedules are opened. I will carry out the courses in the iVET program as it planned and participate some optional studies to develop my competences.
Consider the possibilities teaching practise in your own field of work. In which vocational institute or polytechnic or other institute can I carry out my teacher practise? What core contents shall I concentrate on? Which target audience shall be my students? Or shall I go abroad for Teaching Practise?
At this point, these are open questions which I need to figure out.
What former competences or learning shall I present to be accredited?
I have completed pedagogical studies in Korea. Not all but some of the studies have been recognized as prior learning and accredited as optional study.
Those recognized prior learning are:
My future plan at this point, I would like to be a teacher who will teach adult students computer technology. And I would like to use the advantages of on-line teaching and student-centered teaching method with holistic approach. Also I as a Korean and an immigrant citizen in Finnish society, I would like to consider the foreign immigrants living in Finland as one of my target students.
I would like to prepare well organized lessons, and make the enjoyable learning experiences for the student. And my teachings will be well aligned with the student’s practical needs, and also other programs in the curriculum.
FAMILIARIZING MYSELF WITH THE STUDIES AND PLANNING AHEAD
What studies support and nurture the development of your core competences?
I think all the study modules in iVET program are supporting the development of Pedagogical competence as the first development needed area for me. And from the Tools for teaching in English course, I have enhanced my English teaching skills and making a teaching video skills.
I have learned to make a lesson plan for sustainability integration into my IT subject as a practice of competence in value integration.
Teaching practice will nurture my working community competence and teaching skills in substance competence.
I think that there are courses to developing my global competence by participating the Global Education in Vocational Teacher Education courses.
How do you schedule your studies?
At this point, my schedules are opened. I will carry out the courses in the iVET program as it planned and participate some optional studies to develop my competences.
Consider the possibilities teaching practise in your own field of work. In which vocational institute or polytechnic or other institute can I carry out my teacher practise? What core contents shall I concentrate on? Which target audience shall be my students? Or shall I go abroad for Teaching Practise?
At this point, these are open questions which I need to figure out.
What former competences or learning shall I present to be accredited?
I have completed pedagogical studies in Korea. Not all but some of the studies have been recognized as prior learning and accredited as optional study.
Those recognized prior learning are:
- Ethics
- Curriculum and Evaluation
- Educational Administration and Management
MY FUTURE AS A VOCATIONAL TEACHER
My future plan at this point, I would like to be a teacher who will teach adult students computer technology. And I would like to use the advantages of on-line teaching and student-centered teaching method with holistic approach. Also I as a Korean and an immigrant citizen in Finnish society, I would like to consider the foreign immigrants living in Finland as one of my target students.
I would like to prepare well organized lessons, and make the enjoyable learning experiences for the student. And my teachings will be well aligned with the student’s practical needs, and also other programs in the curriculum.
___________________________________________________________________________
Why do senior citizens need life-long education?
- My most memorable learning experiences
When we see from the view of educational social well-being, people who live in developed country like Finland are so blessed. In this country, there are focuses on quality of education and also educational availability for different groups of people as well. Every year we have heard the news about how Finnish young students (15-year-old) had performed well in the PISA (OECD Programme for International Student Assessment). Their mathematics has been a place near to the top of the tables for many years and reading and science also have been proven to be very excellent. With the help of PISA test results, Finnish education system is very well known to others countries as a leading model.
However, somehow Finnish adult education system has not been on the news’ focus and may not be well known to other countries. In my opinion, it offers to citizens with very well designed courses and lectures based on the needs of adult’s life. Early in this year 2013, I had 9 weeks teaching experience as a trainee for Information and technology courses in Helsinki adult education center. During this time, I was so impressed to see so many of self-motivated senior students who were eager to learn in the education center. There were courses designed in many different fields: Human and social science, culture and nature, personal development and health leaving, information and technology, languages and etc.
When I was observing the many different IT courses, their relationship between teachers and students were not one-time relationships but continuous on-going relationships. And most of courses were offered with very economic prices and furthermore some lectures were free of charge for its members. From the teachers’ point of view, they have more like free to design and develop own courses and lectures according to needs of students and new trend of IT subjects. It was quite amazing to see the adult students with a full of enthusiasm when they learned new technologies like Windows 8, social media, and multimedia software and so on.
My teaching experience in the adult education center has brought me very good understandings of Finnish education system for adult citizens. And I have found many of good answers for the questions like: What is the true meaning of life-long learning especially those who are over 60 years old? What are the most interesting and motivating IT subjects for adult students? How teachers should develop their course methods and learning process? How teachers with different teaching styles could perform successfully to achieve its goals by students?
In many aspects, adult education is quite different than school systems for young students. In overall, it was great experience for me to open my eyes towards the needs of the adult education in the field of information and technology. And it was quite rewarding experience to get to know about the teachers and students who had very good attitude and manners for teaching and learning, and who stimulated positive energies to the class rooms with their life stories put into the technology formats.
Continuous learning is to be continued
- My formal studies & learning history
Most of my formal studies were done in South-Korea, where I originally come from. I have a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science at Chonnam National University in South-Korea. At the same time, I have done pedagogy studies in the university in the late 1980’s, I have received a teacher’s certificate for the secondary school teacher of Computer.
In 1990s and in the early 2000s, while I worked as a computer software engineer for global companies like NCR Korea and Nokia Networks, my learning continued to get the latest technologies for development and managing computer systems, e.g. ORACLE database, UNIX system administration, shell programming, Network system management, problem solving skills etc.
In the mid-2000s at Nokia, there was an excellent Learning Center for employees, as its motto said “Continuous Learning”, employees made training plans for themselves to develop their skills and knowledge to perform their tasks. While I was a project manager to lead customers’ joint projects, I learned management skills, leadership skills, communication skills and etc. through the Learning Center.
While my time of unemployment period, during the late 2000s and in the early 2010s, at Helsinki Adult Education Center and at Palmenia in Helsinki University, I learned Finnish language for improving the skills for the sufficiency level of working in Finnish. However, it needs to be developed more. Continuous learning is to be continued.
Computer technology as a tool for creating life stories
- My personal teaching history
My first teaching history goes back to the late 1980s, at a girl’s commercial high school in Kwangju city, South-Korea. I was a university student and I was there for a month as a teacher trainee. I taught a class of the high school girls about the basics of computer technology. At that time of the computer class, there was no computer exists. Such like a PC was not only introduced to the high school but also other public schools in Korea.
Teaching in Information and Technology in business environment, competence transfer is quite a challenging task, due to its complexity and new technology (there have been always new technologies). When I worked for NCR Korea in the mid-1990s, I involved in competence transfer tasks for a bank customer. Our solution called BAS system was developed for the bank customer and it was taken in use by them at over 300 branches. Thus, it was quite important to teach the IT team to maintain and develop the system. Because of the complexity of BAS system, it took one year to transfer my technical knowledge to them. On-the-job training, workshops and personal couching and consultation were used for as training methods.
When I worked for Nokia as a customer project manager in mid-2000s, complexity of the software development was much more than before. Thus for competence transfer training, we produced many categorized subjects with different levels. Furthermore, when we organized trainings for customers, we needed to consider multi-cultural and multi-linguistic classroom situations. For three years of my project management time, I planned and executed competence transfer trainings and workshops for the customers of Nokia smartphone integration project. The customers were located in Oulu, Paris and Seoul. The competence transfer was a part of consultation services.
When I learned Finnish language at Palmenia in Helsinki University, I had some work experiences as a trainee at Töölö primary school (Töölön ala-asteen koulu) in Helsinki. I was motivated by the school experience and wanted to be a teacher. When the language course was ended in February 2013, I was offered to teach 2 days Microsoft Word class for highly educated Finnish immigrants at Palmenia Helsinki University. I used Finnish language for the class teaching. In the class there were around 20 adult students with different nationalities. I felt quite confident with what I was teaching. And also I discovered that there was an interesting work in the education area, which I would like to contribute. After then I moved onto Helsinki Adults Education Center (Helsingin Työväenopisto) to get more ICT teacher’s work experience in Finnish. This story is described in the first topic on this PSP page.
The holistic approach for human education
This topic touches the following questions:
- My preferred learning styles
- The traits of effective teacher
- How the curriculum directs the development of studies?
Firstly, I’d like to share this YouTube video with you.
I am sure that you are also interested in your health as your primary concern for living. Cardiovascular disease is a main cause of the death for the world of people. Now it is possible to prevent and cure by the holistic approach of medical treatment, says by Dr. Mimi Guarneri, medical director of Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine.
I am absolutely agree with her on the holistic approach, which implies that we need to see human as not as one component of physical body but with all other bodies including mental, emotional, spiritual body. A solution for the patient is totally different, when we understand the big picture of human itself. I think that we can apply the holistic health-care method to the educational world, the teacher as like the doctor for the patient. I hope our educational approach is to be more developed like this; how we can draw the holistic curriculum for nurturing human body and mind and soul, which is for deepening the experience of well-being.
I’d like to be more inspired by her lecture ‘The Science of Natural Healing’, published in www.audible.com, so that it can be my bases for developing effective teaching methods and preferred learning curriculum and etc.
There is no doubt that we are living in the world heading to ubiquitous computing society. Like in Finland as a high developed country, during the last decade lots of public and private services have moved from the office to the internet. It tells us that people without capability of using computer and internet technology would face difficulties to handle their life events. It motivates us as an educator to encourage students to get familiar with technologies for enhancing their life styles and further more developing their potential.
When I see myself as a computer science teacher in the future, I would educate students who will be professional work forces in the information technology industry. Thus it is quite natural to put the great emphasis on how to utilize all the technology devices and applications in educational environment. As how we are learning at OAMK in this virtual learning environment, it is a very good example of computer technology used in the field of education. For example, we have a good information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructures in OAMK website and Adobe Connect software used for online sessions. And all the students in our iVET program should have participated in lessons with their own laptop. In order to setup this good ICT environment, both of the institution and the students should have invested quite a big money for equipping with all the needed devises and software.
If I would teach students with learner-centered paradigm in my field of pedagogy, I think computer technology would empower the students to lean much more actively and openly. And also it could be used for motivating and bring student attention to the subject of teaching. By using materials like video, photo, music or internet website, students can explore widely where their interesting flows. Their experiment and information learned from the technology media would enhance their field of knowledge and encourage them to communicate with others. I as a teacher would like to guide and coach them how to find good quality of sources in the internet and how to effectively learn computer software designing and development.
Please take a look at this interesting YouTube video. It is about how ICT integrated in Finnish primary school:
As I have observed various teaching in the IT field, the way of assessment has been changed from the traditional tests to the observation of the students’ processing of learning. I think contemporary teachings are based on the constructivism learning theory, which expected learning outcomes will be developing the students’ social and communication skills, problem solving skills, collaboration skills and critical thinking skills (Higher-order thinking skills). And those skills have been used in the IT field of work as the essential skills for software engineers.
If my teaching takes place in a vocational school, I would like to align the forms of assessment to help the student to develop the skills needed in IT world of work. For example, planning, analysis in requirements, implementation, testing, presentation, demonstration, simulation, report, documentation etc. Of course, self-reflection using a blog tool is one of the best way to observe the students’ process of learning.
For this topic, please take a look on the top of this PSP page title with “MY COMPETENCES AND VOCATIONAL TEACHERHOOD”.
Information and communication technology for developing students’ potential
- How do I use technology in my field of pedagogy?
- How do people learn the best in vocational settings?
There is no doubt that we are living in the world heading to ubiquitous computing society. Like in Finland as a high developed country, during the last decade lots of public and private services have moved from the office to the internet. It tells us that people without capability of using computer and internet technology would face difficulties to handle their life events. It motivates us as an educator to encourage students to get familiar with technologies for enhancing their life styles and further more developing their potential.
When I see myself as a computer science teacher in the future, I would educate students who will be professional work forces in the information technology industry. Thus it is quite natural to put the great emphasis on how to utilize all the technology devices and applications in educational environment. As how we are learning at OAMK in this virtual learning environment, it is a very good example of computer technology used in the field of education. For example, we have a good information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructures in OAMK website and Adobe Connect software used for online sessions. And all the students in our iVET program should have participated in lessons with their own laptop. In order to setup this good ICT environment, both of the institution and the students should have invested quite a big money for equipping with all the needed devises and software.
If I would teach students with learner-centered paradigm in my field of pedagogy, I think computer technology would empower the students to lean much more actively and openly. And also it could be used for motivating and bring student attention to the subject of teaching. By using materials like video, photo, music or internet website, students can explore widely where their interesting flows. Their experiment and information learned from the technology media would enhance their field of knowledge and encourage them to communicate with others. I as a teacher would like to guide and coach them how to find good quality of sources in the internet and how to effectively learn computer software designing and development.
Please take a look at this interesting YouTube video. It is about how ICT integrated in Finnish primary school:
What methods of assessment can I use and in which contexts?
As I have observed various teaching in the IT field, the way of assessment has been changed from the traditional tests to the observation of the students’ processing of learning. I think contemporary teachings are based on the constructivism learning theory, which expected learning outcomes will be developing the students’ social and communication skills, problem solving skills, collaboration skills and critical thinking skills (Higher-order thinking skills). And those skills have been used in the IT field of work as the essential skills for software engineers.
If my teaching takes place in a vocational school, I would like to align the forms of assessment to help the student to develop the skills needed in IT world of work. For example, planning, analysis in requirements, implementation, testing, presentation, demonstration, simulation, report, documentation etc. Of course, self-reflection using a blog tool is one of the best way to observe the students’ process of learning.
Analysis of my competences in teaching
For this topic, please take a look on the top of this PSP page title with “MY COMPETENCES AND VOCATIONAL TEACHERHOOD”.
No comments:
Post a Comment