The driving force for innovation in teaching and learning

Widespread movement

Ms. Luu Thi Huong Sen, Vice Principal of Dai Hop Primary School (Tu Ky), has so far had dozens of grassroots initiatives, 4 industry-level initiatives and 2 individual initiatives recognized at the provincial level. This year, Ms. Sen and Ms. Nguyen Thi An, a teacher at the school, wrote the initiative "Some measures to improve the quality of teaching natural and social subjects for grade 2" and was recognized at the provincial level. The 2022-2023 school year is the second year of implementing the 2018 general education program for grade 2. Ms. Sen said that in order to better meet the objectives of the subject and develop capacity, create excitement for students and encourage teachers to be more bold in using active teaching methods and techniques, they wrote this initiative.

Writing initiatives always comes from practice. “In the process of teaching, I pay attention to the advantages, difficulties as well as good teaching methods and then summarize them in a systematic and scientific way. Therefore, my initiatives are always easy to apply, not only in natural and social sciences but also in many other subjects,” Ms. Sen shared.

To make the initiative writing movement more vibrant, every year, in October of the previous year, Nguyen Du High School (Hai Duong City) will deploy for staff and teachers to proactively register the topics and content of their initiatives. In January of the following year, staff and teachers will submit their initiatives to the school. After being evaluated by the school, the selected initiatives will be consulted and supported by the school's Initiative Evaluation Council to edit and complete them for submission to the provincial competition.

Ms. Pham Thi Van, Vice Principal of Nguyen Du High School, said: “The school has 56 staff and teachers, and on average 20 staff and teachers participate in writing initiatives every year. 100% of the initiatives are recognized at the school level and 10-30% of the initiatives are recognized at the provincial level.”

Effective

The creative writing movement has created momentum to promote teaching and learning using new methods. Ms. Nguyen Thi Lieu, a teacher of grade 2A at Dai Hop Primary School, shared that she previously encountered difficulties in teaching natural and social subjects for grade 2 due to the new general education program. She struggled for a while but could not find a suitable method. After applying the teaching method from the initiative "Some measures to improve the quality of teaching natural and social subjects for grade 2" by Ms. Luu Thi Huong Sen and Nguyen Thi An, Ms. Lieu no longer felt as pressured as before. "I have switched to taking students as the center, allowing students to freely create lessons, visit and experience more than teaching from books. The children absorb the lessons quickly and enthusiastically express their opinions, so the lessons are very fun," said Ms. Lieu.

The initiative of Ms. Sen and Ms. An is not only applied by teachers in Dai Hop Primary School but also by many teachers in other schools. Ms. Nguyen Thi Duom, Ha Ky Primary School (Tu Ky) shared: “Applying Ms. Sen's initiative in teaching and learning makes us feel more relaxed, students can visit, experience, and directly carry out activities, so they are more confident in life. Not only me, some teachers in the school such as Ms. Sim and Ms. Phuong also apply this initiative of Ms. Sen”.

Epic is a difficult genre in literature, so students and teachers are not interested in learning and teaching this genre. However, since Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, Head of the Literature Group, Nguyen Du High School, applied the knowledge in the initiative "Some solutions to teach reading comprehension of the epic genre - grade 10 literature according to the orientation of the general education program of literature subject 2018" written by herself, students are much more interested in the lessons. Student Pham Hoang Thao Ly, class 11A said: "We can play the roles of characters, build contexts and use appropriate costumes to express literary works. When we are free to be creative, we are more interested in learning, no longer just listening to lectures and answering questions like before. I find her teaching method close and I hope there will be more lessons like this so that we feel that studying is no longer a pressure."

The movement to write and apply the results of the initiative to teaching and learning has created significant changes in teaching and learning.

According to the Department of Science and Technology, the number of initiatives by teachers in the education sector increases year after year. In 2022, the education sector had 142 recognized initiatives. In 2023, this number increased to 157. The initiatives are written to ensure that they meet requirements and are capable of bringing practical benefits. In particular, many initiatives have the potential to be replicated, bringing high efficiency in teaching and learning.