MEDITACIJA PRI POUKU ANGLEŠKEGA JEZIKA

The practical action research study in this diploma thesis, Meditation in the English Language Classroom, was performed as a mini-experiment which was initially set up to explore meditation and assess its potential and use in education. Regarding English as a foreign language, language learning combined visual and auditory information, and it was based on visual and verbal memory. One of the objectives in the theoretical part was to find a ‘universal formula’ which could help bring meditation closer to a classroom setting. Among available techniques, we chose mindfulness meditation for its simplicity. In addition to having this exercise included in the lesson, the participants received the element of visualisation, which is often found in meditation traditions. Guided visualisation or the so called guided mental imagery was presented as a vocabulary learning strategy in the form of multisensory interactive story including multiple intelligences and mindfulness aspects – the pupils had to pay attention to what the teacher was saying. They were supposed to self-generate the pictures in their minds to repeat new vocabulary items or simply listen to the story with their eyes closed. The main purpose of using mindfulness was to create a more harmonious classroom atmosphere and better concentration by helping the participants become more centred by directing their attention inwardly. The main purpose of using visualisation was to remember words by giving them a mental image. We presented lesson plans from the study performed by two volunteering teachers. In total, 8 classes with 114 pupils were included in this mini research. Results are not so clear-cut and promising, mainly due to limitations. Teachers need more training, better school organisation and curriculum for the practices to be seriously implemented in education.Praktična akcijska raziskava v diplomskem delu z naslovom Meditacija pri pouku angleškega jezika je bila izpeljana kot manjši eksperiment, ki je bil začetno pripravljen tako, da je raziskal meditacijo ter ocenil njene potenciale oz. uporabnost v izobraževanju. Pri predmetu TJA je učenje jezika združevalo vizualne in avditivne informacije ter je bilo osnovano na vizualnem in verbalnem spominu. Eden od namenov teoretičnega dela je bil najti ‘univerzalno formulo’, ki bi približala meditacijo učencem v razredu. Med razpoložljivimi tehnikami smo izbrali čuječnostno meditacijo (ang. mindfulness), in sicer zaradi njene preprostosti. Poleg te vaje, vključene v pouk, so udeleženci prejeli tudi element vizualizacije, ki ga pogosto najdemo v različnih tradicijah. Vodena vizualizacija ali t. i. vodene miselne podobe so bile predstavljene kot strategija učenja besedišča v obliki multisenzorne in interaktivne zgodbe, ki je vključevala raznotere inteligentnosti in aspekte čuječnosti – učenci so morali biti pozorni, kaj učiteljica govori. Ob tem se je pričakovalo, da si samostojno prikličejo miselne podobe za ponovitev besedišča ali preprosto poslušajo zgodbo z zaprtimi očmi. Glavni namen vpeljave čuječnosti je bilo ustvariti bolj harmonično vzdušje v razredu in boljšo koncentracijo ob pomoči udeležencem, da postanejo osredotočeni z usmerjanjem pozornosti navznoter. Glavni namen vpeljave vizualizacije je bilo pomnjenje besed s posredovanjem mentalne podobe. Predstavili smo učne priprave iz raziskovalne študije, v kateri sta prostovoljno sodelovali dve učiteljici. V našo manjšo raziskavo je bilo vključenih 114 učencev iz 8 razredov. Rezultati niso očitni in obetajoči, zlasti zaradi omejitev. Učitelji bi potrebovali dodatno izobraževanje, boljšo šolsko organizacijo in kurikulum za resnejšo implementacijo teh praks v sistem vzgoje in izobraževanja