Teacher - communication, methods and technique of work

Emilia Saulescu

Starting from the aim of the project, the pedagogical methods used within the English classes were adapted to the target group they were addressing. The children coming from disadvantaged social environments constituted an especially sensitive target group to which we paid special attention. Thus, the pedagogical methods that were used combined the traditional teaching style with a non-conformist one. The communication between the instructors and the students played a very important role for the good development of the workshops.

1. Work methods used:

Group work
Encouraging as many course attendants to seriously get involved in discussions (by means of group work). The work in closed groups allowed each child to develop his/her personality and creativity. The groups were built according to the skills and interest of the children in the theme that had to be accomplished but also according to their wishes of being part of a certain group of children. The communication within the group was achieved more easily for the shy children who found it easier to communicate with the others in a closed group. The instructors encouraged especially the lonely children to express their thoughts and creativity within these mini work groups.

Brainstorming
This method was used especially when a decision at the level of the whole group had to be reached. During certain important moments of the workshops, the brainstorming was used very successfully, the method being very popular among the children as it allowed them to express their originality and creativity without being criticised or judged by the other children.
For example, the drafts of the scripts were outlined in this way.

Discussion
This method was the most used during the classes. The discussions are held by the children and only mediated by the instructors.
The discussions were the basis of the communication during the workshops.
The discussions were held on certain themes and also at the level of sub-groups, groups, student-teacher. The small difference of opinions that appeared sometimes between the children, on certain themes, were always directed by the instructors towards a positive end.

The interactivity
The interactivity represented the main component of the work methodology that the instructors used with the children.
All the information given by the instructors to the children was achieved interactively. The interactivity at the individual level (instructor-student) as well as at the level of the group (group-instructor or group-group) led to easier acquiring of information by the children, taking into account the high volume of information they had to assimilate, and also to the animation of the workshops so that they didn't fall into a boring or disinterest mood for the activities they were performing.

The game as learning means
The game was used both at the computer science classes as well as at the English classes. Through the computer games, the instructors tried to keep the children's interest for the computer, as during the breaks, the children played small games (perspicacity, ability, speed) that captured their attention immediately. These games were at the same time a good stimulation for getting used to starting an application, learning the notion of shortcut and also searching in the network in places where they had been used to find these games. At the English classes, the children were captivated in different games that helped them learn the numbers and new words. At the same time, the rebuses were used in order to help them remember the newly learnt words.

Using open questions
The use of posters constitutes the starting point in such a discussion. The questions which are asked are based on the objects that form the image of the poster.

The role play
The children play different roles through which they communicate with the others.

The projects
The works groups developed small projects to which each child contributed.

Basic rules for discussions:

- each person has the right to express his/her opinion; with no fear that the others will laugh at him or ask him to keep silent;
- speaking in turns, if someone wishes not to speak he/she will not be forced into doing it;
- discussion will take place among members of work groups.

The student is a partner of teacher or even the activity leader of this material?
The essential point of these exercises resides in the process taking place inside the minds of the course attendants and the communication between them.

2. Teacher's personality - the key of the optimum student - teacher relationship

The instructor - student relationship has been one of collaboration, trust and reciprocal respect. The student has never been "checked" in the activity he/she performed, but supported. The instructor has set up as the organizer of the learning situations who mediates and facilitates the access to information.The instructors have followed the following aspects throughout the workshops:

compliance of the instruction process with the needs of each child by identifying the needs for development of each child and the rhythm of development of each of them;
compliance of the learning situations, contents and educational materials with the individual characteristics of the student;
encouraging the spirit of initiative and creativity;
maximizing the potential of each child;
holistic evaluation of the performances: the capacity to adapt the evaluation means to the global development of the students and to use the evaluation information for projecting teaching-learning activities;
adaptation to change: by evaluating the activities of the students and suggesting and implementing the necessary changes;
involving the students in the learning process, developing their motivation, negotiating with the students different types of rules;
favouring the constitution of a professional project of the students through team work (in our case, the animated cartoons).

From the evaluation done by the children resulted that they were satisfied with the performance of the instructors and their teaching methods. The answers of some children to the questions related to the training of the instructors and the teaching methods were very interesting.

Do you consider that the training of the instructors was appropriate? - they answered:

"I consider that the training of the instructors was excellent because they didn't torture us"

Were the teaching methods interesting and attractive for you?

"The teaching methods were interactive and they taught us how to behave."

The evaluation of the workshops done by the children was the best method to realize if we reached our goals and if the result was very good both for us as well as for them.

3. Teambuilding

The teams were built among groups of children that worked together for carrying out the tasks. As for any complex mechanism, the well-functioning of a team does not depend only on the individual performances of the members, but especially on the way they prove the capacity to synchronise, to cooperate and moreover to integrate the added value achieved separately. By creating these relationships within the workshops, we aimed at setting off certain reactions of reciprocal trust between the members of the team, making them aware of the abilities of each team member and focusing all the creative energy of the team towards achieving common goal.

In order to build an efficient team, the following conditions were taken into consideration:

The group must have a reason for working together that makes sense to the team members;
Team members must be mutually dependent on one another's experience, abilities, and commitment in order to accomplish mutual objectives;
Team members must believe in and be committed to the idea that working together as a team is preferable to working alone, thus leading to more effective decisions and improved productivity;
The team must be accountable as a functioning unit within a larger organizational context;
Team members need to understand that they will be recognized (rewarded) for their team efforts and accomplishments.

The norms for effective group were:

Before evaluating a member's contribution, others check their assumptions to ensure they have properly understood;
Each person speaks on his or her own behalf and lets others speak for themselves;
When the group is not working well together, it devotes time to finding out why and makes the necessary adjustments;
Conflict is inevitable but will be managed and dealt with positively.

Benefits:

clearly defines objectives and goals
increases the degree of friendship between the members of the team
improves communication
finds the barriers that thwart creativity
improves processes and work procedures
improves organizational productivity
reduces conflicts (as frequency and amplitude), etc.
motivation.

The communication processes facilitated by the teambuilding answered certain individual needs of human interaction. Thus, this method (of "forcing" the communication between the mates) contributed to the motivation of the team.

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