Describe_What_Your_Role,_Responsibilities_and_Boundaries_Would_Be_as_a_Teacher_in_Terms_of_the_Teaching_Training_Cycle.

Describe what your role, responsibilities and boundaries would be as a teacher in terms of the teaching training cycle. When planning to teach we need to be mindful of what we are teaching, and how we will teach it. There are many considerations in this, these will be educational considerations based on the course you are teaching, there will be environmental considerations and certainly there will be boundaries that will need to be identified and respected from the very start of the teacher / student relationship. “You will have professional boundaries within which to work and it’s important not to over step these. You will need to find out what these are at your place of work. It’s about knowing where your role as a tutor stops” (Gravells 2008 P.10). We need to be aware of our roles, the boundaries that influence our roles and the expectations of our learners in order to ensure a safe and productive learning / teaching experience. One way for me to quantify this is to reference the learning cycle and to explain how the role of the teacher is influenced by this process. The learning cycle is a five stage process with no definitive start or ending point. We use it as teachers to inform our practise and guide us to be proactive in our approach and develop a reflective practise that benefits us as educators and our students as learners. The perceived starting point is Identifying Needs. I say “perceived starting point” as a good teacher will often identify needs as the teacher / student relationship develops and the teacher gains new insights in to the needs of the learner in relationship to where they are at any given stage of the course. As a teacher identifies needs they have a responsibility to keep records of students needs and update them as appropriate. This is done through continual assessment and good reflective practise. This prompts a supportive working relationship and may even identify aspects of a learner’s need that the teacher may not be able / qualified to meet and at this stage a teacher should consider referral to another service or a more experienced colleague. At this stage the teacher is facilitating learning and it is important that the teacher respects certain boundaries. One example is that the teacher should consider no personal contact outside the college. This is not exactly black and white in its application however. “For example you might feel it sensible to make a telephone call to a learner who has been absent but making regular calls would be inappropriate” (Gravells 2008 P.11). One boundary that is more rigid in this stage of the cycle (and throughout) is that there should never be any inappropriate behaviour between teacher and student. This could be sexual behaviour, lewd comments or simply not respecting the teacher / student dynamic. Once needs have been identified the teacher is in a better position to Plan / Design the Course. At this stage the teacher would need to prepare schemes of work, lesson plans and handouts. The teacher would need to consider resources and any additional requirements of the learners. For example in my teaching role I may have a scheme of work that covers interpersonal relationships for students with Aspergers Syndrome. Some of my students are quite able with literacy and numeracy and would benefit with written handouts. Others however may have little or no literacy skills and I may need to consider delivering the same information in a more auditory or kinaesthetic way. At this stage of the learning cycle I am managing the learners experience and must be seen to follow professional ethics. After Identifying Needs and Planning the course the teacher is ready to deliver the course. The teacher now takes the role of trainer and as in the majority of my teaching sessions the role of a mentor. At this stage consideration should be on ensuring that teaching is done in a suitable manner. A good teacher will not only consider the learners needs at this stage. They would also be mindful of the learner’s physical and emotional needs, ensuring the working environment is safe and conducive to learning and that all the learners are treated fairly from an equal opportunities and equality and diversity point of view, this does not mean everyone has exactly the same treatment and resources, in fact it is quite the opposite. The teacher is obligated to ensure that learning is facilitated to the very best standard to all learners, and that he / she is mindful and respectful of physical needs and cultural boundaries of each individual learner. Where a teacher feels they are not equipped or trained adequately to facilitate a good standard of education to all learners they may need to re-visit the identifying needs and planning to explore the possibility of changing the lesson plans or referring the learner to a more appropriate service / colleague. During the delivery of the course the teacher needs to assess what the learners have learned. This is a process of evaluation and the teacher will do this through reflective practise and tracking documents. This will include looking at homework to ensure the learner is learning at the expected rate. There will often be one to one tutorials with action plans / appraisals to ensure assessments are valid, reasonable and fair. This of course needs to be respectful of the teacher / student dynamic and would be considered as inappropriate if conducted outside the college. It would not be respecting the dynamic of the teacher / student if the teacher were to conduct one to one tutorials or appraisals outside of the college environment. As a part of my role there is the need to conduct appraisals in the home environment, I always ensure that the learner is appropriately supervised at all times and that my intentions are clear prior to the visit. I also ensure the visits are documented. The fifth stage of the cycle is evaluating the course. The teacher evaluates their work and effectiveness of their work. They also look at the suitability of the course and the progress the learner has made. This is by no means done only at the end of the course. A good teacher that engages in reflective practise will use evaluation as a part of all work done, and the information required in evaluation may often identify the need to refer back to other stages in the teaching cycle such as identify needs and planning lessons. A teacher will look at teaching strategies, course documentation and learn from his / her mistakes. They should use this to improve the quality of learning experiences for future learners and to improve the quality of their teaching. Bibliography: Gravells A. (2008) Preparing To Teach In The Lifelong Learning Sector. Exeter. Learning Matters Limited.