School Work Procedures - Colegio Luso Internacional do Porto - A Study by Artur Victoria By Artur Victoria At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

The production of school magazines teaches pupils a great deal about co-operation. Sometimes these magazines are of a relatively modest kind, being primarily a manifestation of the energy of an individual pupil or friends, or else they may have resulted from assignments within a teaching subject. In other cases they are edited by a class or a pupil association. Sometimes a magazine can represent the entire school.

Work on simple, duplicated magazines or more sophisticated printed publications provides useful experience which schools should support and show interest in, partly by giving pupils the advice and assistance which they want. If a form master or other teacher is included in the editorial committee, this will provide him with a natural means of establishing contact with the pupils outside the classroom. In addition the school magazine can very often stimulate the pupils' capacity for cogent argument in both speech and writing in their regular school work.

School magazines are not to be censored. The principle of the freedom of the press applies no less in schools than elsewhere, whatever the end product may look like. On the other hand, schools have no reason to supply support in the form of equipment and materials for journals which are manifestly opposed to the goals of the school system.

Pupils and teachers can agree to organize their work in a variety of ways. Different work procedures have their various advantages and disadvantages, and their suitability varies according to subject matter, the end in view or the working material used. One of the main tasks of teachers in the course of joint planning is to questionnaires and group discussions. Pupils can work on common tasks in class or in smaller groups, in pairs or quite individually. The teacher may address himself to the entire class or else take groups or individual pupils. Efforts should be made to vary work procedure according to the nature of the subject matter. If teachers operate together in work teams, it is easy for them to alternate between different work procedures within a project.

Many pupils need a great deal more help than others. This can above all be the case when they are working to acquire a necessary core of knowledge. But it can also apply to pupils who are more in need of emotional support and encouragement. In order for these pupils to be given the best possible assistance, they may need to be assembled in smaller groups. This is an advantage to them, but it also entails a risk. If a grouping of this kind is retained for any length of time, it may affect the pupils' self-image. Grouping of this kind also leads to a lowering of standards, with the result that, contrary to what was intended, the pupils learn less than they would have done in mixed ability groups.

Schools must therefore make sure that groupings of this kind are not retained for any considerable length of time and that they are not identical as between two or more subjects. One term is the absolute maximum permissible duration of this type of arrangement. If, in spite of extra support for such a long period, the pupil should still be laboring under considerable difficulties with his studies, the school will have to consult both pupil and parents in the matter of grouping. In cases of this kind the pupil welfare conference must decide whether the pupil is to work for a longer period in a special teaching group for one or more subjects.

The duration of lessons is also a question of work procedure to be decided locally. The scope of the course of studies is expressed in the time schedule in terms of school level of 40 minutes. But this does not in any way determine the length of lessons. The natural procedure here should be for teachers and pupils to feel their way ahead and decide the duration of lessons according to what is appropriate to different subjects and what is feasible in terms of timetable construction. Decisions concerning the planning of the school timetable rest with the headmaster.

The normal school work procedures can be interrupted for activities of various kinds. The following are some of the elements which school work can thus be made to include.

The headmaster may cancel lessons to enable teachers and pupils together to participate in evaluation days, so that everybody can have an opportunity of participating in the evaluation of activities during the past school year and of the extent to which the goals expressed in the working plans of the school and the work units have been attained. Project studies or the presentation of work done on various assignments can sometimes be made to occupy a complete day. Joint assemblies can make it possible for all members of the school to attend theater performances, concerts, film shows, discussions and information sessions.

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