“Methodological basis for constructing an educational lesson in the system of additional education for children”
Currently, very high demands are placed on the educational activities of a children's association of additional education, both in content and in organizational terms. Very often, additional education teachers do not have the technology to write a lesson plan, especially newcomers and young specialists. There is no clear understanding of such concepts as types, structure of classes and much more. They experience difficulties in goal setting, in determining methods and technologies. Additional education teachers (both those with special pedagogical education and those without) often experience difficulties in modeling an educational lesson, determining its type, stages, tasks, content of each stage, and self-analysis of activities.
Classes in the system of additional education, what can be common and unusual in these classes?
The training session is the main element of the educational process. In the system of additional education, the form of its organization changes significantly. The main thing is not the communication of knowledge, but the identification of children’s experience, their inclusion in cooperation, the active search for knowledge and communication.
Knowledge of the types and characteristics of training sessions will help to develop the need and ability to correctly model a lesson, improve your constructive, methodological knowledge, skills and abilities.
First of all, we must not forget that any activity pursues a common goal, specified by the requirements of the program. It is important for a teacher of additional education to remember that the goal of all classes is to raise and maintain students’ interest in a particular area, and to increase the effectiveness of learning.
Another common point is the traditional structure. It can repeat the usual course of the lesson with its argument, communication of new knowledge, control of what has been learned, or it can be original, with a modified sequence of usual stages, with transformed methods of organization, with a game basis, etc.
Classes in the additional education system require a creative approach, both on the part of the teacher and on the part of his students.
Therefore, the content, means and forms are more unusual, which gives the activity the necessary acceleration for personal development. True, it’s different every time. It all depends on what position the teacher takes. However, students in such classes develop more successfully.
Such activities are a transition to a different psychological state, a different style of communication, positive emotions, a feeling of oneself in a new quality. All this is an opportunity to develop your creative abilities, evaluate the role of knowledge and see its application in practice, feel the interconnection of different arts, this is independence and a completely different attitude to work.
For a teacher, this is an opportunity for self-realization, a creative approach to work, and the implementation of one’s own ideas.
It is important for a teacher to reveal and realize his creative potential, regardless of what type of art he teaches. Therefore, methodological recommendations are given in the form of simple and accessible algorithms, presented in organizational, methodological and content scenarios of classes.
Methodological basis for constructing a lesson in the system of additional education for children
The training session is:
— model of activity of the teacher and the children’s team;
- a time-limited form of organizing the educational process, which involves not only the transfer of knowledge, skills and abilities to children in a specific subject and their assimilation of educational material, but, above all, development;
- the time during which students, under the guidance of a teacher, are engaged in educational, educational, and leisure activities.
The training session presents all elements of the educational process: goals, content, means, methods, organization. The quality of the training session depends on the correct definition of each of these components and their rational combination. However, the main requirement for a training session is to achieve the goal set by the teacher and accepted by the students.
Depending on the goals of the lesson, the following types of training sessions can be distinguished:
- actual training;
— general developmental;
- educational.
The actual training sessions pursue purely educational goals: teaching something, children mastering specific knowledge and skills in the subject being taught. These are the training sessions:
— on knowledge transfer;
- to comprehend knowledge and consolidate it;
— to consolidate knowledge;
— on the formation of skills and application of knowledge in practice;
— training sessions (practice of skills);
- generalization and systematization of knowledge.
General developmental classes set goals for the formation and development of certain personal qualities of the child. Such activities include a debate session, an excursion, a quiz session, and various collective creative activities.
Educational activities aim to create a positive psychological climate in the children's team, introducing children to moral and cultural values. For example, traditional holidays: “Initiation into circle members”, “Birthday Days”, “Skills Competitions”, etc. These classes also involve learning tasks, but differ from educational classes in that learning, as a rule, is not of a specially organized nature and is not necessarily related to the academic subject. Quite often, the lesson of a teacher with a group of children is difficult to classify as any one type, since during one lesson most teachers solve both teaching and educational tasks in a complex manner.
The educational session, being a time-limited process, is a model of the activity of the teacher and the children's team. In this regard, the training session must be considered in the logic of organizing the activity, highlighting the goal, content, methods, results of the activity, as well as the stages of their achievement.
Methods of organizing classes in a children's creative association in an educational institution:
- reproductive;
- verbal teaching methods: lecture, explanation, story, reading, conversation, dialogue, consultation.
- methods of practical work;
- observation method: recording observations, sketches, drawings, recording sounds, voices, signals, photography, video filming, taking measurements;
- research methods: conducting experiments, laboratory classes, experiments, experimental work on the site.
- methods of problem-based learning: heuristic conversation: posing problematic questions; explanation of basic concepts, definitions, terms; creating problematic situations: posing a problematic question; independent formulation, formulation and solution of the problem by students: search and selection of arguments, facts, evidence, etc.;
- design and construction methods: creation of works of decorative and applied art; design (planning) of activities, specific cases;
- method of play: games: didactic, developmental, cognitive, active, folk, computer, for the development of attention, memory, eye, imagination; competition game, travel game, role-playing game, business game;
- visual teaching method: paintings, drawings, posters, photographs; tables, diagrams, drawings, graphs; demonstration materials;
- use of art means, active forms of cognitive activity, psychological and sociological methods and techniques in the classroom.
Psychological and sociological methods and techniques used during classes:
- Questioning: development, implementation and analysis of a questionnaire, interviewing;
- psychological tests;
- creating and solving various situations (psychology of communication, social environment);
- psychological theater;
- business game.
Basic principles of training
The organization and content of classes in children's associations is integrated around the basic principles of education, formulated by Ya.A. Kamensky, and, later, improved by E.N. Medynsky for out-of-school adult education in Russia:
- scientific nature (there can be no false knowledge, there can only be incomplete knowledge);
- conformity with nature (training is organized in accordance with the psychological and physiological characteristics of students);
- consistency and systematicity (linear logic of the process, from particular to general);
- accessibility (from the known to the unknown, from easy to difficult, assimilation of ready-made knowledge, skills, abilities);
- consciousness and activity;
- clarity (involving children’s various senses in perception);
- individual approach in conditions of collective work in a children's association;
- interest and mobility (the educational process is organized in accordance with the changing interests of children);
- providing selected information.
An approximate model of a lesson at an educational institution
A lesson in an institution of additional education for children is a sequence of stages in the process of assimilation of knowledge, built on a change in the types of activities of students: perception, comprehension, memorization, application, generalization, taxonomy.
When developing a lesson, the additional education teacher carefully studies:
- educational and thematic plan of the educational program being implemented;
- coordinates a specific section and topic of the section with the content of the program;
- determines the relationship between the content of classes and previous and subsequent ones;
- the type and structure of the lesson are determined;
- its theme, purpose, objectives.
Target settings of the lesson should be aimed at certain, specific goals of this lesson (educational, developmental and training), leading to a real, achievable result. The preschool education system is characterized by the implementation of the fundamentals of pedagogy and the development of the student’s personality, therefore, the tasks of developing the real creative abilities of children and the tasks of moral and emotional influence through the implemented educational field are brought to the fore.
The teacher thinks through the specifics of the lesson, the logic of construction (the interconnection and completeness of all parts of the lesson with summing up the results of each part on practical and theoretical material), and determines the volume of the educational component of the educational material.
At the initial stage of the lesson, the teacher creates a favorable moral and psychological climate, setting children up for co-creation and collaboration in the process of cognitive activity; at the final stage, all the work performed by the children is analyzed and even the greatest achievements of the children are celebrated.
An important point in preparing a lesson is the reasonable distribution of material at all stages of the lesson in accordance with the chosen forms of organizing educational activities: group, individual, etc.
An educational and methodological complex is prepared for the lesson: handouts, audio, video library, etc. The teacher needs to think through the methodology for the most productive use of the visual material used.
Next, individual tasks are determined for children with advanced development, the volume and form of independent work with children, and a brief summary of this lesson is developed.
A teacher of additional education is obliged to comply with all state sanitary and hygienic standards, the time schedule for classes for various age categories of children, and to improve the methods of health-preserving systems in his teaching activities.
Constructing a lesson in accordance with this model helps to clearly structure the lesson, define its stages, tasks and the content of each of them. In accordance with the objectives of each stage, the teacher predicts both intermediate and final results.
General requirements for writing a lesson plan
General requirements for the lesson notes, which should reflect:
- goals, objectives, methods and techniques of raising a child within the boundaries of the topic of the lesson;
- educational goals and objectives that expand the theme of the basic program;
- samples of tasks, questions, products, visual material;
- leading activities of class participants;
- structure of the lesson and justification for the sequence of its stages;
- content of the activities of the teacher and children at each stage of the lesson;
- motivating children's activities at each stage of the lesson;
- forms and methods of interaction with children, communication;
- diagnostics (determination) of the initial level of knowledge of children developed during the lesson;
- techniques for managing attention, activating children;
- typical difficulties of children, reasons and necessary actions of the teacher to eliminate them;
- samples of corrective exercises;
- methods of working with auxiliary literature, manuals, additional material;
- diagnostics of lesson results, summing up.
Basic requirements for a modern occupation.
- Setting and comprehensive solution of teaching (educational) development tasks in the classroom. Creating motivation for upcoming activities.
- Organizing the structure of classes. The use of active forms of organizing the educational process in an institution of additional education.
- Contents of the lesson. Teacher's knowledge of the content of additional education programs. Development of students' methods of cognitive and practical activity, personal development, skills and abilities of educational work, interests in the lesson. Individual approach to the student. Taking into account the psychological and pedagogical characteristics of children, etc.
- Education technology. Techniques, methods, means of form, methods of activity in the classroom.
- Ecology classes. The state of health of children, their mood in class. Degree of load. Creating a situation of success by the teacher. Indoor learning conditions, organization of learning space, etc.
- Psychological culture and professionalism. Love for children, knowledge of their psychology. Availability of specialized knowledge in the subject being taught. Inspiration, imagination, artistry, individual style of the teacher. Problematic presentation of material, ability to pose questions, attitude to incorrect answers, etc.
- Personality-oriented interaction between the teacher and students;
- Practical significance of the acquired knowledge and skills.
To conduct an effective educational lesson, the teacher needs to be quite seriously prepared for it. Will the lesson be a success? How to keep children's attention and develop interest in the subject? These and many other questions concern almost every teacher. What is most important for a teacher when preparing a lesson?
Classification of training activities
Based on modern scientific ideas about an educational lesson, its substantive goal is triune in nature and consists of three interconnected, interacting aspects, cognitive, developmental and educational, which are reflected in the goal for the content of educational material.
Goals are the mechanism by which the teacher encodes the main content and predicts the results of his activities and the cognitive activity of students.
The stages of a training session and its structure are designed in accordance with the didactic purpose and laws of the learning process. The movement towards the realization of the goal as a predicted result determines the transition from one part of the lesson to another, from stage to stage. The methods of work of the teacher and students at each stage depend on the content, purpose, logic of mastering educational material, the composition of the group and the experience of creative activity of the teacher and students.
The didactic goal is the most important structural element and determines the type and structure of the educational lesson. Taking into account the active position of students in mastering the material and developing skills, training sessions can be classified according to the didactic goal as follows: studying and primary consolidation of new knowledge; consolidation of knowledge and methods of activity, comprehensive application of knowledge and methods of activity; generalization and systematization of knowledge and methods of activity; verification, evaluation, correction of knowledge and methods of activity. Each type of training session has its own structure, the main component of the lesson is encoded in the name of the type of training session, the common stages for all types of classes are organizational, goal setting and motivation, summing up.
The organizational aspect of a training session involves the creation of productive conditions for interaction between the teacher and students.
The stage of goal setting and motivation ensures the desire of participants in the pedagogical process to work in the classroom through setting goals and updating the motives of educational activities, through the formation of attitudes towards the perception and comprehension of educational information, and the development of the student’s personal qualities.
When summing up, the level of achievement of goals, the degree of participation of all students and each individual, an assessment of their work and the prospects of the cognitive process are determined.
The relationship between the type, didactic purpose and structure of the training session is presented in Table 2 “Types of training sessions, their didactic purpose and structure.”
Methods of preparing and conducting various forms of training sessions.
The most established, traditional in the system of additional education is thematic training session, during which one educational topic is studied, reinforced or repeated.
Approximate structure of a thematic training session (in the classroom):
Stage I – organization;
Stage II – theoretical part;
Stage III – practical part;
Stage IV – end of the lesson.
Organization of the lesson
The first 10-15 minutes of the lesson must be devoted to performing a number of organizational actions:
- Collection of children;
- Preparing them for class (changing clothes, etc.);
- Preparing student jobs.
- The teacher should greet all children and, if possible, each of them; take an interest in their affairs at school and at home. Then you need to create a working environment in the group and set the children up for productive activities during class.
The organizational part ends with the announcement of the topic of the lesson and the setting of educational objectives.
Theoretical part of the lesson
The theoretical part of the lesson includes the following elements:
- Presentation of historical data on the topic of the lesson;
- Oral description of the object of practical work (disclosure of its historical and practical purpose, relationship with other elements of this activity);
- Explanation of special terms on the topic of the lesson;
- Description and demonstration of the basic technical techniques for performing practical work and their sequence (techniques for implementation);
- Safety regulations.
The theoretical part of the lesson should not exceed 25-30 minutes, so the teacher needs to carefully consider and select the content and methods of presenting theoretical material.
To make the theoretical part of the lesson as meaningful and intensive as possible:
- Use of visual and handout materials;
- Use of technical teaching aids;
- Involving the students of the children's association in the preparation and presentation of theoretical material (starting from the second year of study);
- Using game teaching methods.
Practical part of the lesson
The teacher must divide practical work into certain stages, each of which will be performed sequentially and represents a certain completed part of the work.
The next step is the selection of specialized literature, handouts, selection and discussion of the most rational and technically correct working methods.
Then the teacher, together with the children, prepares the materials and tools necessary to perform specific practical work.
When performing collective work, the teacher distributes parts of the work among students and determines how they will interact with each other.
Next, the children begin to perform practical work, and the teacher monitors their activities, provides assistance and advice, sums up the results and checks the correctness of each stage of the work.
When choosing the content of practical work, the teacher must consider:
- Children's age;
- Calendar period of the educational process;
- Theme of the school year;
- Level of preparation of children;
- Latest current trends in this type of creative activity.
The following rules are very important when performing practical work:
- Bringing every job started to completion;
- The obligatory nature of its “external finishing” (i.e., bringing practical work to a level that allows it to be demonstrated);
- Encouraging children's desire to show the results of their creative activities.
End of class (last 15-20 minutes)
A few minutes before the end of the lesson, the teacher needs to warn the children about this.
Completion of the lesson includes:
- Summing up the results of practical work;
- Consolidation of educational material;
- Homework explanation;
- Organization of duty (if necessary).
Then the teacher says goodbye to the children and reminds them of the day and time of the next meeting.
Features of homework in the system of additional education for children:
- The optionality of its presence and implementation;
- Creative character;
- For independent completion at home, only those stages (types) of work are given that do not require constant supervision from the teacher and mastery of complex technical techniques.
The presented structure is approximate, i.e. optional. Possible options for organizing training sessions:
a) Consistent change of activities, each of which includes elements of theoretical and practical training;
b)Performing practical work with the inclusion of selected theoretical knowledge;
c)Performing only practical work (on-site classes).
Detailed compliance with the conditions for the effectiveness of the lesson, the basic requirements for its preparation and construction will ensure a high result of the lesson.
Conditions for achieving the effectiveness of the lesson:
— Complexity of goals (training, educational, general developmental tasks);
— Adequacy of the content to the goals set, as well as their compliance with the characteristics of the children's team;
— Compliance of work methods with the set goals and content;
— The presence of a clearly thought-out logic of the lesson, continuity of stages;
— Clear organization of the start of classes, motivation of children for educational activities;
— Presence of a favorable psychological atmosphere;
— Active position of the child (intensification of cognitive and practical activities, inclusion of each child in activities);
— Full methodological support and material and technical equipment of the lesson.
The constant transfer of the student from the zone of his actual to the zone of proximal development is the main indicator of the effectiveness of the educational lesson.
The structure of a training session in the system of additional education
— thematic discussion;
— protection of creative work; — business game, role-playing game; — presentation (type of activity, exhibition, project, etc.).
The main thing is that the motto of the non-standard lesson is “Where the kids are, there’s play!”
and the main task is to excite and maintain lively interest
to learn, educate and develop
Structure of a training session
An educational session is a process, albeit limited in time, representing a model of activity for the teacher and the children's team. Therefore, it is legitimate to consider a training session in the logic of organizing the activity, highlighting the goal, content, methods, results of the activity, as well as the stages of achieving them.
In general, a training session of any type as a model can be represented as a sequence of the following stages: organizational, testing, preparatory, main, control, reflective (self-analysis), final, informational. Each stage differs from the other in the change of types of activities, content and specific task. The basis for distinguishing stages can be the process of assimilation of knowledge, which is structured as a change in the types of activities of students: perception - comprehension - memorization - application - generalization - systematization.
Stage 1
: organizational.
Task: preparing children for work in class.
Contents of the stage: organizing the start of classes, creating a psychological mood for learning activities and activating attention.
Stage 2
: checking.
Task: establishing the correctness and awareness of completing homework (if any), identifying gaps and correcting them.
Contents of the stage: checking homework (creative, practical), checking the assimilation of knowledge from the previous lesson.
Stage 3
: preparatory (preparation for new content).
Objective: ensuring children's motivation and acceptance of the goals of educational and cognitive activity.
Contents of the stage: communication of the topic, goals of the educational session and motivation for children’s educational activities (for example, a heuristic question, a cognitive task, a problem task for children).
Stage 4
: basic.
The main stages may include the following:
1) Assimilation of new knowledge and methods of action.
Objective: ensuring perception, comprehension and primary memorization of connections and relationships in the object of study. When mastering new knowledge, it is advisable to use tasks and questions that activate children’s cognitive activity.
2) Initial check of understanding.
Objective: establishing the correctness and awareness of mastering new educational material, identifying misconceptions and correcting them. Use trial practical tasks, which are combined with an explanation of the relevant rules or justification