Marcus Wallis
I’m originally from Dunedin City in New Zealand but have been living in Japan since 2004. I work as a full time English Instructor.
Location Sendai City, Tohoku, JAPAN
Achievements
Activity
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Marcus Wallis replied to Marcus Wallis
I think electronic images on a screen work very well in class Polly.
I’m not sure that I would use the images in class but I would judge each one on its merits.
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Marcus Wallis replied to Marcus Wallis
@PollyLynn No, I don’t mean red carpet and tea. But, I could have written my question more clearly. I’ll try again.
“Would a student of european heritage be made to feel welcome in a CARGO classroom?”
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I thought the presentation of information through pictures was well done.
Perhaps this is a little outside of the scope of what this course is about but how is European history to be handled by CARGO history teachers?
Is European contribution to history going to be ignored? Will any positive impacts of European arrival be explored?
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I think the pictures are a means by which to make history more accessible.
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Marcus Wallis replied to Marcus Wallis
@SarahElliott I completely agree that it is educational to hear history told from another perspective.
I also see the point that you are making regarding the use of the words discovery and invasion.
I acknowledge that throughout time various groups of people have behaved badly.
My concern is that terms like discovery and invasion have a bias. In my...
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Marcus Wallis replied to Marcus Wallis
I have not mentioned any lack of evidence. I’ve stated that I would prefer a more impartial evaluation before I come to my own conclusion.
I’m ready to think but prefer to avoid forming an understanding of history by drawing from biased source materials.
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Marcus Wallis replied to Marcus Wallis
Why would few people disagree with this comment?
Because it is sage like wisdom - I doubt that many people would question it.
Why is it good to know where you came from?
Because you can understand your own life situation better.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
This course provides a positive depiction of African historical figures and events. Conversely, the depiction of European involvement is portrayed negatively. Do you see any difficulties with using this approach? Would a student of European heritage be welcome to attend a CARGO Classroom?
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Marcus Wallis replied to Marcus Wallis
@PollyLynn I’m no expert in Māori culture but as New Zealand kids we certainly were exposed to a fair amount of Māori culture. We learnt Māori songs, visited Marae and attended a Hangi.
Looking back (and trying to be impartial) I think it was biased. The depiction of European settlement was portrayed as being inherently evil and the Māori response as being...
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Marcus Wallis replied to Polly Lynn
Hi Polly, thank you for the thought and consideration you invested in responding to my comments.
I agree with you that choices need to be made. Exactly what to take out is a tricky question isn’t it? I guess the best approach is to leave it to the discretion of the teacher to decide what is the best fit with their class.
If I was attending this course I...
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I think the illustrations are a useful resource for the introduction of historical figures to students. They do look good and would be effective decorations for a history classroom.
I have an issue with the way the historical information is being presented. The language used is loaded and the conclusions seem to have already been drawn. In my opinion this...
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
The images are effective at presenting information in a quick easily digestible form.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
Well, from the above information I gather that she was a tactically capable person. That there were difficulties in her dealings with the Portuguese which she dealt with successfully.
However, I would prefer a more impartial evaluation before I come to my own conclusion.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I disagree with the extraordinary statement that
History is a recorded story constructed from questionable facts
Which have been used to create myths masking horrendous actsHistory is collating the currently agreed upon facts. Researching and analysing those facts and then drawing conclusions (with an acceptance that there will be disagreement)
From...
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Firstly, thank you for participating in this course in a thoughtful and considered way. There doesn’t appear to be much of that going on in this course as far as I can see so far.
Similar to you, I noticed the use of the word ‘disrupted’ when discussing European intervention. I felt that this was unfortunate. I am no expert in African history - in fact,...
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
The images do look nicely done. I feel there is a lot to be learned from this visual approach to teaching/learning history.
This is straying a bit off topic but I recall as a 15 year old studying Israel/Palestine history in NZ. It was taught in a text heavy way and I recall not really understanding what it was all about. Some pictures and imagery would have...
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Good question Martin.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I would wish for objectivity.
Present the information to students in a balanced way. Discuss, debate and draw conclusions.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I think the material in the course is interesting and can be swiftly breezed through.
It a shame that there is not more interaction or thought being invested by contributors in the comments section.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
A lot of this material was new to me.
I would be happy teaching this information.I thought the image of Imhotep was a good resource. It presented him in a positive light and would be a good way to introduce his legacy to new learners who are unfamiliar to him.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
These are multiple representations of his legacy. Perhaps the most striking thing is that the Papyrus is held in New York.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
In this image he appears to be majestic, proud and visionary.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
To be honest, it’s the first time that I’ve heard of him. I guess that’s the issue that this course is addressing.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I grew up in New Zealand where African History was not really taught. We studied extensively the history of early Māori and European settlement. It was done with objectivity and care.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I have never taught in a history classroom but I take note of the change of language used.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I understand that consideration of language is important and that CARGO Classroom involves framing questions to explore the histories of people of African descent.
The example given is one of celebrating Mary Seacole as an alternative to Florence Nightingale.
So what will happen to the history of Florence Nightingale in the CARGO classroom? Will her...
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I’m not really sure what to say about this comment. I think few people would disagree with it.
It’s good to know where you came from.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I have never taught history but I did some history in high school.
What I like to see, and feel should be seen, in history education is objectivity. A statement of the facts without bias followed by discussion and debate.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
Hi, I’ve joined this course to widen the scope of my teaching skills. I have taught English for about 20 years and have some tertiary STEM training but this will be my first venture in social sciences.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
Hi, I’ve joined this course to widen the scope of my teaching skills. I have taught English for about 20 years and have some tertiary STEM training but this will be my first venture in social sciences.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I thought the course was good, especially the case studies from various educational institutions.
An area that could be improved is the lack of interaction, discussion and debate - as it was not existent - and in my opinion is a critical component of education.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I would make sure that there was a direct link between student satisfaction/enrollment and educator compensation. That would ensure that course content was relevant and did not become a ‘dead letter’.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
Universities have always relied upon peer exchange to refine and perfect ideas.
That the importance of peer exchange and learning from each other is now under question indicates that the universities of 2023 are guided by very different forces that they were in the past. Market forces perhaps?
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I understand the importance of benchmarks and using them as a standard to measure the University (and its courses against).
Watching these videos I wonder how much attention the universities pay to the ‘enjoyment’ of students who are now undertaking their courses.
Historically university was a life experience for students. A chance to meet new people,...
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I agree with all of the critiques as online learning has an image problem. It lacks interaction, debate and academic rigor.
I only place a value on assessment that involves a one on one, face to face interview and associated questioning to ensure understanding.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
The central stakeholders would be the teaching staff and the paying customers (students) who attend the university.
I include the city or town in which the university operates as a secondary (or indirect) stakeholder. Universities are major contributors to local economies so it’s important that the community sees that they are are held accountable for the...
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
A thought provoking course covering a subject which is rapidly evolving.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
Yes - As it could not remain in business without adapting.
No - As the quality of the education provided has decreased.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I agree that culture is important in managing the implementation of any new strategy in any organization.
One challenge to this is the divergence of interest of the various groups involved in an organization. Let’s take a look at the interests of those involved with a university for example. Is it possible for these 3 groups to reach a...
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
My organization sees the potential for cost cutting and are positive about progressing the level of digitization.
The response from staff to this strategy is one of concern and frustration with the technological constraints.
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I think there is an option missing = Saving money.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I mentioned in an earlier comment that I am a big fan of in-classroom learning.
There is interaction between members, debate, discussion and spontaneity. In addition to this there is a requirement that participants are. At least to some degree focused.
In my experience these factors are absent from online learning.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
Personally, I lack trust in digital learning.
For motivated participants it can be a good way to flexibly learn new information and up skill independently.
However, this is counterbalanced by the course’s evaluation being treated with mistrust.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I’m a New Zealander who has settled in Japan. After high school I dabbled in a bit of chemistry study before doing a business degree in Training and Development. Living in Japan, I am active in the fields of education and training and do online courses to keep my skills up to date.
I’m a fan of real classrooms, discussion and interaction so I’m watching the...
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I have used this course as a way to gain an introduction and some understanding of Braille and it has been most useful.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
Numbers seem relatively straight forward.
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Marcus Wallis replied to Poe Yoon May
I wonder how visually impaired people’s imagination differs from that of people with regular sight. Could it be that visually impaired people have a deeper or more vivid sense of imagination to compensate for their lack of sight?
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Marcus Wallis replied to Marcus Wallis
Sure. Thanks for your reply. It was just a thought that crossed my mind as I went over the course material.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
45 minutes seems like quite a long time for this activity. Does anyone agree or disagree?
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
It’s interesting that people with no vision produce the bull in a different form (3D) to people who are partially blind.
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Marcus Wallis replied to Tamera Sullivan
I find the videos sometimes do not work too but the audio is available. I think it may be related to the strength of the WIFI.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
How about bringing the activity to life with slices of apple as a snack before the task?
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
Handy that they click together.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
These early activities appear to be quite simple.
How quickly is it expected for kids to take to progress through them?* I'm not being critical. I guess that kids would sweep through these tasks quickly.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I consider Pre-Braille as being the stage where people become familiar with and explore the intricacies of the new learning resource.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I agree that mindset is crucial. In my teaching role I sometimes find myself getting frustrated - especially when an activity that I have planned is not working as well as I hoped. At this time I like to take a moment to remind myself
“I’m here to help learning happen - if it takes a bit more time or has be done differently then that is what I’ll do.”
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
Hi, I’m an Assistant Language Teacher in Japan.
I improve my skills and stay up to date with educational developments by completing courses on this platform.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
Sendai, JAPAN.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I enjoyed the course and am a big fan of the Lego Technics products which I work through with my son.
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Yes, it’s true.
We do plan games/activities with the best intentions. Also, we can incorrectly assume people will understand the point and purpose of a given activity with minimal explanation.
I like that this presenter recognizes that moment of understanding.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I think meaningful means the child already possesses relevant past experiences.
The new situation (and the learning associated with it) can be attached to an existing framework of understanding.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
The thing I found useful/interesting was early on when the presenter said “What you know is not as important as what you can do (with what you know)” (Apologies if I’ve misquoted but it was something quite similar to that.
This is quite a powerful statement and if correct it hints at the redundancy of a lot of the teaching I see happening in the classroom.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
Yes, I chose exploring. After initial reluctance she began to gradually explore and test the water the resources at her disposal.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
Hi, I’m a New Zealander but I live permanently in Japan. I work as a teacher.
I’m keen to keep my skills up to date and stay familiar with developments in education.
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Fair enough point Cordelia and your interpretation of the model (and what it measures) is correct.
My ideas are a bit out of date regarding pass and fail. I just feel a bit uncomfortable with the degree of progress model. It all just seems a bit easy to me.
Thank you for your comment.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
New Zealander living in Japan. I’m involved in education through a range of work activities but I am not leading a school. I’m continuing to improve my knowledge of education through work and completing online courses while I sit on the train.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I can easily imagine how the extract from the report could occur.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
The very first thing that springs to mind for me is that if they are taught in the less familiar teaching language they are going to get tired faster. I think learning in their home language is preferable.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
Agree that self assessment is not appropriate for younger learners. Is it also possible that elderly learners can understate their own capabilities?
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Completely agree with what you say here. In particular, where you mention reverting to former behavior after the training has been completed.
A possible explanation for this is that adults are often quite competent at what they are doing. They are then made to retrain and have what they already know told back to them in today’s politically correct language....
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I expect that a high proportion of students would breeze through the initial skills.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
It is commonsense that having well developed core skills will be beneficial for a students learning, employment and lives. Indeed there maybe some benefit in breaking down, labeling and teaching these skills in a logical order.
However, deep down, I think it is compensating for shortcomings in young people’s lifestyles. They are socializing online,...
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
Good core/soft skill development = A well rounded, functioning, adaptable individual.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
Aren’t several of these soft/core skills (collaboration, communication, leadership), skills that used to be developed by kids interacting in the playground? Perhaps the kids who appear to be deficient in these skills are spending too much time on their phones or playing Nintendo Switch.
I spoke to a University student approximately two years ago. I would...
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
A good education should allow kids to pursue what they are interested in. If a person is motivated they can achieve a surprising amount.
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Thanks for your reply, I do agree that there is some ambiguity regarding how the word creativity can be used and applied. @JamesPrideaux
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Thank you too. @EthelMungoshi
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Yes, sometimes I collaborate with others and it works out OK. However, my best work is what I do by myself.@EthelMungoshi
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I agree with the British Councils’s direction but I do have one question.
Does a person have to be creative to achieve career success? I don’t think so. I think creativity is a buzz word and something that people are told they should be. Being content with routine and order is not necessarily a bad thing.
When I was at school we were told that we had to...
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
A lot of knowledge falls into the category of commonsense.
So many university graduates have degrees which are comprised almost entirely of knowledge based learning. Often they have been unable to reach the career aspirations that they held in their twenties as they can’t actually do anything.
It’s a tough truth but surprisingly accurate.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
Reflecting on this course I have become familiar with the direction that assessment is moving in within high schools. Personally I am not entirely convinced by some of the things I have read but reading different ideas adds depth to my knowledge.
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Marcus Wallis replied to Francesca Gratani
The first paragraph that you have written here is very good. It sums up the positive components of this new way of looking at assessment.
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I have a question about this new way of looking at assessment?
Does any student ever fail?
Where is the line drawn in the sand and it is said that a student has not succeeded?If the answer to this is ‘No student ever fails’…..then I see a problem.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I think change is occurring but I’m not convinced that the way it changing is a good thing.
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Marcus Wallis replied to Jim Hill
Hi Jim, A fair point you raise here. I was a little surprised that when I commented I didn’t get a single response.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I’m not sure I understand the ‘Active Citizenship’ competency.
Do you have to act in the best interests of the community to show your competency? Sure, it’s a nice thing to do but is this relevant to the assessment of capability?
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I think they are transferable but it varies depending on the circumstances.
This part of the course reminds me of a story my brother told me. His company had a problem that customers were complaining about the lack of professionalism and bad manners of his company’s delivery truck drivers. They hired replacement drivers and the same problem persisted....
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Aren’t these complex competencies just a measurable way of saying that a person is ‘a good people person’ or a lack of complex competencies that ‘he’s a bit awkward’ ?
I wonder how significant the affect of widespread online learning will be on the complex competency development of today’s young generation?
Like many of the people enrolled in this...
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I apologize in advance if this sounds cynical.
When I read the following quote from the pdf a few questions come to mind.
“Over 50% of all students who have gone to university in the last two years didn't need an ATAR, and were chosen, primarily, before ATARs were delivered at the end of the year. So, already, universities are a little bit ahead of us...
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
Helping people find what interests them. Let their motivation grow and provide them with the resources they need to pursue the interest further.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
What the young person said was interesting and concerning.
“I don’t do anything for fun. I do it to compete. To get good grades. We become so focused on good grades and we forget about learning. I just focus on getting good grades, I don’t learn for passion! When I started Year 11, my passion for learning just disappeared.”
I suspect that if young people...
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
Excellent summary style presentation of information. Condensed and easy to read. Nice one University of Melbourne.
What’s happening/resonates with me?
Learning has changed. When I was a student it was about memorizing facts/ideas/concepts and regurgitating them in examinations. The smartphone has made this type of education obsolete.
Today’s workers...
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I’m a Kiwi living in Japan. A training, teaching and development guy. I use these courses to keep my skills up to date and fill in little gaps of free time as they arise.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I would say at the beginning of the course I was probably a 3/10. I am now maybe a 6/10.
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Marcus Wallis replied to Jo Williams
Good to see you mention personalities as a variable here. @JoWilliams
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
From the list I suppose I value ‘Respect for Diversity’ the most.
I don’t think that I am the most skillful, organized or professional teacher but I do give everyone a chance to participate regardless of their circumstances.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
B, C and A I would be genuinely interested in meeting.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
I think unconscious biases tend to be flexible rather than inflexible.
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Marcus Wallis made a comment
When we talk about inclusion in schools we are talking about all students (and staff) being given a fair crack at benefitting from what the school environment has to offer.
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Marcus Wallis replied to Marcus Wallis
Absolutely, it should be ensured that girls, boys, men and women are empowered equally in and through education.
So, if a special needs person’s actions in class are impeding another person (male or female) from accessing their right to an education; how should that be handled?
