Learning Journal

It seems that there's quite a lot of work to do this semester - a considerable amount more, I would have to say, than the previous one.
Being as it is halfterm I've had some time to start to figure things out, however. I can develop an IT package on the theme of child psychology and use it in lessons, as my A2 psychology classroom features an electronic whiteboard. The only downside could be the rash of stealings of projectors that could strike at any moment and leave me sans pretty pictures.
I'll be sure to print off my slides and make OHPs, if possible.
I am as yet not entirely decided as to what to do for a curriculum research area. I am very interested in the concept of 'employability', the effect of local business on colleges, the place and use and esteem of vocational qualifications, and how this informs a wider debate on participation in FE and HE. My biggest concern is the 'factory' metaphor for education, whereby it's seen as just a machine for taking in and retaining students (and perhaps spitting out the most absoluteliest bad seeds) and attempting to net the highest number of 'funding units' to keep everything running smoothly - an the battle is entirely conducted in terms of intake. But once the students are in there, surely you must actually do something worthwhile with them? Being in a college and getting £30 a week in EMA isn't the solution for all problems. There have to be much bigger changes, and it's mindboggling that anyone could ever think that jamming kids into the system is somehow a cure.
So it's time to hit the books and figure out a way of tackling some aspect of these issues for a project. Or I could cop out and do student support in a dry and uninterested manner to make my reflective practice portfolio either. How much do we have to do for that 'bad boy'? If the portfolio was a shank of beef, not even a whole tub of Bisto instant gravy would be enough to wet it satsifactorily! I think it's the portfolio which concerns me most. I'll have to find a way to make the units in this interesting as well, because it would be very easy to take a surface learning approach and tick the boxes perfunctorily rather than, ahem, critically engage with the subject matter.