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Undergraduate Research

The Let Me Learn Process: An Agent for Intentional Teaching and Learning

by Rachel Tabone, University of Malta, 2009

Abstract

This dissertation focuses on what is intentional teaching and learning and on how the Let Me Learn (LML) process contributes to this. One characteristic of an effective teacher is ‘intentionality’ – doing things with a purpose and goal in mind. Teachers thus need to understand how students construct and make their learning process work best for them. Students do this by using their unique combination of all the four learning patterns; Sequence, Precision, Technical Reasoning and Confluence. Structured participant observations of teachers, who received training in the LML Training Programme, are carried out in four primary classrooms. The classroom environment, teacher effectiveness and the teaching and learning process are observed and analysed in depth and in relation to intentional teaching and learning characteristics. The data collected from the observation sessions is corroborated with interviews with the same four teachers and with questionnaires to pupils observed in Grade 4 and Year 5. Results indicate that teaching with intention is a way to reach the unreachable learners. In learning intentionally, the student becomes an independent and responsible learner. This facilitates the path to life-long learning success. Reflective practice and the teacher’s own personal will and beliefs are additional agents in developing intentional teaching and learning.