ERA is a major subject in the primary school curriculum in Sri Lanka (see Chapter 1, figure 2, p. 10).
The ERA primary curriculum consists of major themes, for example: Our home our school
Animals in the garden
Festivals and we are Sri Lankans Things we eat
Water
The sky we see
All these themes relate to the everyday life of children and all learning activities are focused almost exclusively on “learning through the environment.” As mentioned in Chapter 1, the philosophy that underpins this approach is that children learn more effectively when new ideas are introduced in their natural settings and surroundings. In this way children construct new knowledge and develop new skills on the foundations of their past experiences and in the real life context.
Therefore, the ERA teacher education curriculum is focused on achieving the above purpose. To fulfil the above goals students who are following the teacher education course will be able to:
Understand the nature and objectives of the primary ERA curriculum, including a thematic integrated approach
Work effectively with the primary school ERA teachers’ guide in the preparation of lessons and learning aids, including adapting the content to local situation and needs
Understand the varying developmental levels and learning needs of pupils through gathering and assessing what environmental knowledge, experience and attitudes primary children bring with them
to school and also at the three key stages in regard to the learning objectives in the primary ERA curriculum.
Acquire strategies to help pupils develop investigation skills for gathering, recording, interpreting and reporting information in all learning areas
According to the definitions within the research and from the analysis of student and teacher educator responses it appears that the PBL approach used in the Integrated Curriculum: Science and Technology teacher education course fits with the New Zealand curriculum goals. Similarly, the ERA teacher education programme in Sri Lanka would fit the PBL approach as it focuses on similar goals.
As mentioned earlier, the researcher’s aim was to explore the potential suitability of an alternate teacher education programme in Sri Lanka. PBL starts with problem scenarios and selecting a suitable problem scenario is one of the most important aspects of the PBL approach. Two teacher educators who contributed to the designing of this particular course described the importance of choosing the correct scenario in order to balance the technology and science aspects in the science curriculum. One teacher educator commented on the necessity of choosing problem scenarios that were manageable. Based on this comment, the researcher finds it is important to present a number of sample scenarios and analyse one to determine how PBL could make a difference in the classroom in order to understand the potential of PBL for an alternative teacher education programme for ERA in Sri Lanka. An example of a problem scenario that would fit the Sri Lankan context is presented in order to justify the suitability of PBL for the ERA curriculum. These problem scenarios would give an idea of the starting point for an alternative teacher education programme in Sri Lanka.
5.1.1.1. Example. Theme: Water
Sub theme: Contamination of water
The news article below describes an environmental problem which occurred in the Mahaveli River in Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, the Central Environment
Authority is the governing body that controls and investigates environmental problems in the country. Further, this organisation conducts awareness programmes for school children on environmental protection and reducing environmental pollution.
If any environmental problem occurs in a particular area in Sri Lanka the Regional Environmental Officer in charge of the Central Environmental Authority in that particular region is responsible to find out what is the problem with his/her team and needs to submit a report on every aspect of the problem and give suggestions to mitigate it.
This is a real, contextual and local problem scenario that could be used in an alternative teacher education programme. Student teachers could use PBL approach and find out the solutions by assuming they are the team of Environmental Officers in the Gampola region in Sri Lanka. The PBL tutor could provide the memo and the newspaper article given below to student teachers at the beginning of the PBL process.
MEMO
Date: 11 Jul 2007
To: Environment Officer –Gampola Region From: Central Environmental Authority Subject: Contamination of Mahaveli River
Drawing your attention to the attached Newspaper article on 10 July, 2007 in Daily News. It provides details of contamination of Mahaweli River due to garbage dumping practices and mismanaged sewage systems in your area. In addition to that it is the only source for pipe borne water to that area.
As the environmental officer in this area you need to determine how this contamination will affect the drinking water in this area.
There also needs to be a report on how you will solve this problem and do the environmental clean up. I would appreciate a report from you
by……(Date)
The above problem can be matched with the steps given in the PBL approach used in the science and technology course as follows:
Student teacher
Lecturer as ……….
Facilitator
“What do we know”…… 1.from the memo
2. from the news article
“What do we need to know”
……1.Contamination
2.Health risks
3.People involved
“How can we find out”
………….1.Impact 2.Sanitation 3.Research . ………Cleanup/ protect Attitude
Figure 12: Matching the steps used in PBL with possible application in Sri Lanka
Problem scenario Meet the problem
Gathering information and discuss – Issues/ debates Define problem statement Generate questions/hypothesise Gather and share information Generate alternatives/ Advocate solutions/Present the solution Water Contamination in Maweli River
Matching with “What do we know” templates used in the PBL approach at this particular College of Education in New Zealand
What do we know (from the memo) ?
Bad practices in garbage dumping in this area Mismanaged sewage systems
Contamination at the Mahaweli River Newspaper article has more information
What do we know (from the newspaper article) ?
There will be a major water pollution problem if the situation is not controlled
Health risk for public as it is affected by drinking water
Gampola Regional Council is responsible for managing the environment
There is warning from the National Water Supply and Drainage Board Hepatitis epidemic spread in this area due to bad drinking water Advanced purification methods are very costly
What do we need to know?
What are the main causes for water contamination? How it happens?
From where the garbage comes from? Who is responsible for keeping it cleans?
Are there any leaky home septic tanks near the river? How it would it affect the drinking water?
What type of bacteria are found? How will it affect public health?
How can we find out?
Causes for the contamination Evidence of contamination Possible solutions
As demonstrated by the model described in Figure 13, the above example provides evidence that PBL could be transferred to the Sri Lankan context. Following the key steps demonstrated of the PBL process used in the Integrated Curriculum: Science and Technology course at one university will help in understanding the way to proceed in an alternative teacher education programme in Sri Lanka.
Student teachers are presented with a problem. They work in groups, organise their ideas and previous knowledge relating to the problem and attempt the broad nature of the problem. This is the basic principle supporting the concept of PBL. In other words, learning is initiated by a problem scenario.
Student teachers are continually encouraged to define what they know and, more importantly, what they do not know.
Student teachers and the lecturer also discuss what resources will be needed to research the learning issues and where they could be found. A variety of questions is used to get more information
Student teachers are integrating their new knowledge into the context of the problem. They are encouraged to summarise their knowledge and connect new concepts to old ones. They continue to define new learning issues as they progress through the problem. Students soon see that learning is an ongoing process and that there will always be (even for the teacher) learning issues to be explored.
In addition, to find possible solution for the above problem student teachers are able to develop their skills relating to multi-dimensional community based research, developing questionnaires, recording qualitative and quantitative data, communicating, etc
Students understand the integrated nature of the science and technology units and interpret what is possible to do in the primary school
Students work in teams to plan primary school lessons
5.1.2 Lecturer’s role as a facilitator - facilitator role found in the PBL