Oona Tikkaoja // First version of the PLP // September 2003

Personal Learning Plan

CONTENTS

1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
    1.1. Important educational experiences
    1.2. Competence in the Content Are
    1.3. Teaching Experience

2. COMMON VIEW OF ME AS A LEARNER IN VT
    2.1. Motives - Why Do I Want to Be a Qualified Teacher?
    2.2. Starting Point
    2.3. Study Orientation - Special Interests
    2.4. Learning Needs
    2.5. Learning Goals - What Kind of Teacher Do I Want to Be?

3. CONCRETE PLANS FOR THE STUDIES
    3.1. Timetable
    3.2. Development Project
    3.3. Teaching PractiCe
    3.4. Strategies, Evidences and Resources

1. Background Information

1.1. IMPORTANT EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES

I started to study fine art at the age of nineteen after finishing the Upper Secondary School. I studied very traditional techniques and my major was sculpture. We worked very little with computers and didn’t have very many lectures about art theory. Mostly we actually studied different techniques and discussed about art. I remember I was so naïve and didn’t know anything about art. I had also very districted conception about studying – I thought it would be enough if I'd be at school from 9 am to 4 pm and do the tasks teachers give me. Now I consider myself as quite more advanced student: I’m very independent, can define my own needs and goals and combine different entities to bigger wholes. I learned very many different skills at the art school, for example the technical skills of sculpting, the analytical way to observe art and some learning skills. The last ones were not taught us explicitly but I learned them at work. I also learned kind of holistic attitude towards art and studying – I learned to combine the different experiences I had at school and free time. I grew up to understand the work of artist as a way of life. But on the other hand, I learned also that I'm not very talented artist, from which thought I have got rid only recently.After finishing my traditional education I wanted to supplement my knowledge and study computer and media skills. I also wanted to learn scientific research so I went to university. Getting acquainted with research methods and scientific world was very inspiring experience to me. I also learned to make 3D-graphics and multimedia and to understand basics of computers, which have later been very important skills to me. I remember when I red the first book for some exam in the university I thought that maybe I can't do this, maybe this is too difficult to me. But I continued reading the books and by the time academic thinking came important part of my life. My studying was much more effective compared to the earlier studies because I had now more experiences in learning and knowledge with which to bind the new  information. I think the most important thing I learned is that I am able to do anything if I only have motivation and patience to study the different contents.

1.2. COMPETENCE IN THE CONTENT AREA

I have been thinking a lot about the target of my specialization, because I have studied quite many different branches of cultural studies. I’m interested in several professions and branches, so I have had quite a big problem: if I’ll study all I’m interested in, I can’t be a specialist in any issue, but on the other hand I have felt that I don’t want to concentrate only on some little field when there are so much interesting branches in the world. Now I have some kind of decision to the problem: within time I have been able to focus and restrict my areas of interests. First I’ll list my professional interest areas and then I’ll define the background and core knowledge areas which are important to me personally and professionally.Professional Interest Areas
1. Working as an artist
2. Working as a teacher
3. Studying, researching
These are the roles I want to have and work in. I think the roles of an artist and a teacher work good together. If  I look at these three areas from a very concrete viewpoint, I can see that it could be difficult to have time to do all. I’m going to divide my working hours two: half for making art and half for teaching. So I think I’m not going to be a professional researcher at the same time as an artist and a teacher, but researching and studying can be a “hobby” which supports both the artist and teacher roles. Making art is also researching, and from that viewpoint I’m planning to make an artistic PhD thesis. So I think these three roles can support each others quite nicely.Different Levels of Knowledge
The picture (Figure 1) is meant to read so that the most common knowledge areas are on the top. On the bottom are some more special branches of that big three called visual culture. You can see my expertise path marked with the gray colored boxes. So I have to know something about all the branches of my tree, but the real interest and expertise is focused on the electric art. The amount of the knowledge needed grows when we go more far towards the bottom of the picture. Electronics, computers, future studies etc. are areas outside commonly thought art branch, but as this picture shows they are relevant branches for me to study. Actually this picture is more a map for future studies and work than a picture of the situation at the moment because I have just understood which are my interest areas at the moment – until now I have been doing all this with a more basic and wider sense. In the other words, I have been building the structure of my basic knowledge.Figure 1:

1.3. TEACHING EXPERIENCE

I have very little experience on teaching. After my graduation last autumn I worked two months as a part-time teacher in a vocational school. I made my first courses without any advice and pedagogical knowledge, so it was very hard but interesting. Then I worked next spring term in the same institution as a full-time head of media studies. I was far too inexperienced in that job, but I learned much. I didn't want to continue in that position, so I quit the work after five months. Now I'm working in the same institution as a part-timer again - I teach some courses in January-February 2004. During this winter I'm also getting acquainted with the folk high schools: I teach one course in the Folk High School of Salo and another in the Folk High School of Loimaa.

2. Common View of Me as a Learner in VTE

2.1. MOTIVES - WHY DO I WANT TO BE A QUALIFIED TEACHER?

I have been thinking about becoming a teacher quite a long time now, since my first year in art school. One practical reason is that I don't want to live only by my art but I don't want to do any jobs out of my branch either.

I'd like to be a teacher because it gives me opportunities to
· work with people (making art is quite alone work but I'm a social person)
· try to give good experiences to people and improve their self-esteem
· use my professional skills and improve them (compared to out-of-own-branch jobs   some artists do to finance their art)
· be a part-timer (to have time to do art as well)

So, there are many reasons why do I want to work as a teacher. And why do I want to be a qualified teacher then?
· when I worked without pedagogical education I noticed I really need more knowledge about learning and teaching.
· I want to be a "proper teacher" instead of working without qualifications because I am a perfectionist.
· it's easier to get jobs with qualification (as I wrote earlier I want to have part-time jobs which are maybe more often also short-time jobs)
· It's also nice to get more salary…

2.2. STARTING POINT

As I wrote in chapter 1.3. I have very little experience on working as a teacher. On the theory side I have done only 15 cu Basics of Educational Science. So I am quite a novice in educational issues. Of course I have a long history as a student so I have seen plenty of teachers at work and have a conception of good and not-so-good teaching. I have done many studies independently, so the arrangements of VTE studies suit me very well. So my starting point for these studies are: plenty of experience about the form (study process) but little about the content.I expect to get a deeper sight in my work because of the studies. Now I have time to really think for example the methods I use. I'm very happy about the group and I expect to have good discussions and contacts. Now I have time also to read more literature and improve my weak theory basis. I'm expecting actually more from myself and the other students than from the college because I know that the results are dependent on the amount of the work done.

My Strenghts and Weaknesses as a Student

Strenghts
I am

-          a very experienced student - I think my study techniques are quite efficient
-          hard-working
-          motivated and interested
-          able to work with others

Weaknesses
-          I tend to take too many projects at the same time and get always too busy…
-          I am sometimes impatient if I have to study some contents many times in different contexts

2.3. STUDY ORIENTATION - SPECIAL INTERESTS

My main interest area concerns different teaching methods. I need to find the best ways of teaching for myself, because I want to develop my own teaching more efficient and at the same time more inspiring and enjoyable for the students and for me. More strictly, my special interest is experiental, active learning. I'm also interested in the phenomenon of motivation because it's very important factor in learning. I want to understand and approach meaningful learning process. My goal is to be a teacher who gets her students think themselves and understand the big relations instead of memorizing some little facts for a particular test without connections to "real life".

2.4. LEARNING NEEDS

I considered the skills needed in my present situation and in the work I plan to do in the future and organized them under the headings of the competencies presented in Handbook. I'm concentrating in the practical, present skills I personally need in my work, not in the common skills a teacher might need.

Continuous Learning
I consider this is very important part of teacher's competence, but I don't think I need to learn it during this education, because I think I have understood and implemented this idea quite well in my life (I have done different studies about 60 cu in all levels from vocational school to open university after my graduation last autumn).

Cooperation and Interaction
I need to improve my intercultural knowledge. During this education there are great possibilities to do that because of the multicultural group. Working in small groups will be good practise for team work in institutions.

Development of Educational Environment
I got some kind of picture of this area when I worked as head of media assistant studies last spring. This is not so important area for me nowadays because I'm going to be a part-time visitor in the schools I teach. Of course it is important to know how the schools work, but I don't want to do administrative work any more. I just plan my courses and go to the schools to implement them. I don't want to do more because my another occupation needs also time.

Facilitating Learning
This is the most important competence area for me, because I want to do everything as good as possible.  I want to be an ordinary teacher, not more (because my greatest attention is on the fine art field), but I want to be a good ordinary teacher. My Development Project deals with teaching issues. My biggest task is to do the DP properly, because in that work I can improve all the areas I need: managing the teaching situation, researching the new methods, getting a firm theory basis.

2.5. LEARNING GOALS - WHAT KIND OF TEACHER DO I WANT TO BE?

As I mentioned earlier in the chapter 2.3. I aim to be a teacher, who is more interested in students' holistic understanding of relations than their ability to remember meaningless  "school-knowledge". So I have a big task because the younger students for example in vocational education usually think that studying is something boring and out-of-life action.I want to be a researching teacher who evaluates and develops the working methods and contents all the time and is interacting with students trying to get her teaching as good as possible. I hope I can consider the learners as a whole human being and understand the diversity of learners.My motto:
To understand without remembering is better than to remember without understandingLong- and Short-term Goals
My short-term goals can be seen in the timetable of the Development Project, because it includes all the most important things I want to learn. I list here some more common goals:I'd like to improve- my knowledge of learning process- my performance in front of audience- my english conversation skills

3. Concrete Plans for the Studies

3.1. TIMETABLE

Contains only the dates for Teaching Practise and Development Project because I'm going to do all the smaller assignments within the courses' timetable. I have already done
· Basics of Educational Science (6 cu)
· Digital learning material assignment for Vesa Vuorimaa (2 cu)· Orientation (1 cu)
· Optional Studies (1 cu)

so I have 25 credit units left. I have also started to work with the first Teaching Practise and Development Project.

3.2. DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

My DP in a nutshell

3.3. TEACHING PRACTICE

I will do the practise periods in the schools I'm working anyway.

3.4. STRATEGIES, EVIDENCES AND RESOURCES

Learning Strategies and Evidences

Learning Resources

· Literature, Internet and other media
· Trial and error -method in practical work
· Fellow students: Small Group, Narrative Friend
· Supporting teachers, other teachers and professionals
· Students in my courses