Skype Chat with Adesola - Refining and Looking into what already exists

I've just come off a Skype call with Adesola and there were some interesting points we discussed.

General thoughts and how I will explore what I do not already know...

After working out the things I would like to know, we discussed the fact that as much as it would be interesting to find these things out within a lesson, it's important to remember that the school is not there to accommodate my BA course.

I of course can use creative elements within my lessons, but to go as far as letting the children decide what they learn is not something that I will be able to do, due to the fact that I have to stick to the school curriculum structure and ethos. I myself know that the same form of work, although differentiated, still needs to be shown in their books as evidence. 

Adesola did, however, encourage me to look at other teachers and practitioners who had already attempted these inquires and have asked the same questions that I have recently asked and encouraged me to look at the things that are already happening around me. 

I also talked about my idea of getting the children writing and commenting on their learning throughout the process but wasn't sure what the point of it was. Adesola was of the opinion that what it would show me what the children thought they knew about their learning and what they would think I would perhaps want them to write or respond with, so it is now making me question whether or not this would be of much use.

Religious Education - the new topic I am teaching

I discussed with Adesola my new role from teaching music to teaching Religious Education and how the switch from the two topics itself is incredibly vast! 

I started off by talking about my idea of a lesson on a story such as The Good Samaritan, splitting the children into groups and getting them to create their own freeze frames of the story. 

However, Adesola mentioned the possibility of looking at some Religious dances, paintings and even portrayals of God through various artwork. 

This made me reflect on the current lesson I undertook with the Year 5 classes creating Islamic prayer mats and how the entire class worked as a team to produce their own Islamic Artwork, using Google images in order to assist them and inspire them with their creations. At the time, we made this a competition, which Adesola advised maybe isn't an element I should continue with, seeing as everyone's interpretation is creatively different and should be respected for what it is, but the ethos of these types of lessons can enable me to see how the creative arts is used within lessons to educate pupils. 

Organising my Thoughts...

There have been some useful points of discussion from this Skype and now it is set for me to start organising my thoughts and putting together what I feel will be of interest and use. I have created a draft schedule which I have sent to Adesola to look at, but after this Skype it's now making me ask questions like:

What is it I really want to know? What already exists that I can learn more about? What are people currently doing out there?