Reflections of teacher education students learning of rhythm: Orff to an African beat

This article reports on students' reflections, gathered from questionnaire and interview data, on their learning of rhythm and on their attitudes and  motivation from having engaged with African music as non-music specialists using the Orff approach. The "traditional" Orff approach to classroom music was supplemented with African repertoire which builds on the nexus, identified by Amoaku (1 982), between the Orff method and the traditional way of music learning in African cultures. This article describes my experience as a South African working with Australian non-specialist primary teacher students of predominantly Anglo-Celtic background within the context of a music education unit at Deakin University's Melbourne (Burwood) Campus. As Nketia (1988) points out, I - like many expatriate music educators - have selected music from my own country of origin as the foundation to develop curriculum materials teaching rhythm through non-Western music. The results demonstrate worthwhile experiences and outcomes for both the students and myself.

Montessori place-value and number expander cards

Montessori Cards are shown in the recently reprinted classic curriculum handbook (yellowcovered) 'Guidelines in Number' (1985, p 18). Unfortunately, exactly what this small, and limited sketch-picture might mean, in practice, is not necessarily clear. The use of Montessori number cards is discussed.

Halving, and beyond

This article provides examples of the teaching of fractions, particularly halves.

What is the on-campus experience? Engineering student study and work

Accreditation for off-campus engineering programmes has proven to be problematic. In Australia, off-campus programmes are compelled to contain mandatory residential sessions so that offcampus students can have an `on-campus experience'. This paper explores the nature of modern oncampus undergraduate engineering study, and finds that it now typically involves at least part-time employment and has more in common with off-campus study than the on-campus experience enjoyed by most of the current institutional (education and professional) administrators when they completed their undergraduate studies. Rather than ignore student term-time work, engineering programmes should use it to enhance the development of desirable graduate attributes.

Decimals and percent - walls, and clocks

The diagrams of fraction-walls, and beyond, may be useful aids for teaching those fascinating topics of fractions, and their cousins decimals and percentages.

Fractions Versus VELS : Making sense and teaching richly

Fractions are different from other numbers: they need new ways of working - right? No. That’s a recipe for relying on unexplainable rote rules. Fraction calculations are sensibly based in properly understood whole-number operations. If we really know how to multiply and divide (and add and subtract) whole-numbers, doing the same kinds of things with fractions will be easy, and memorable. But how does this fit with VELS and Progression Points? What is the Fraction Curriculum, and how could we teach it?

Appearing pedagogy : from embodied learning and teaching to embodied pedagogy

In this paper images are used to support the conceptualisation and recognition of embodied pedagogy. Analysis of data gathered during an arts-based teaching project in pre-service teacher education revealed the presence of an embodied pedagogy and supports the further deployment of embodied teaching and learning in teacher education. Embodied pedagogy includes embodied teaching and embodied learning but is conceptualised through ‘pedagogy as relational’ – between teaching and learning and between teacher and learner. Through image this paper presents traces of embodied pedagogy from the classroom. These tracings of embodied pedagogy in classrooms defy baseline certainty and instead assert Benjamin’s thesis that knowledge can only ‘stand up’ through multiplicity, through all acts of knowing.