Dfa_7130

DFA7130 Teaching, Learning and Assessment: Initial Teaching assignment. BY I am currently teaching at College in the hair and beauty sector and also skills centre I work 3days a week teaching and also work within a salon in industry as I feel it is essential to keep my practical skills and knowledge up to date. I teach level 1 basic hairdressing services to 15-16year old students at skills centre which is for students who have either taken hairdressing as part of an option for one of their GCSE s or the student are no longer allowed to stay in main stream school. The group consist of only 6 students and all are female. These students will be taught at a basic level of knowledge in theory and practical which will give them a foundation ready for them to continue the course at college level 2 hairdressing if they wish to do so. This course also gives them the equivalent of 4 GCSE s at a grade C. At college I take 2 groups of W.B.L (work based learners) 1st and 2nd years both in the theory and in the commercial salon , 2nd year students which are full time and I currently take them in the commercial salon observing students working with clients in a busy salon environment. The last group I teach are adult V.R.Q students (Vocationally related qualification) which are full time and are currently working on both theory and practical in this session .This group is one of the new courses which enable the student to qualify with in the 1 year. I agree with Knowles on the assumption that adults learn in different ways as I have experienced this throughout my teaching sessions when teaching adults and children. An andragogical approach places more emphasis on what the learner is doing.Andragogy is all about how adults learn. Knowles (1970) stated that adults prefer to learn in a different way from that of children. Much of educational theory is based upon assumptions. Knowles identified assumptions such as ,adults prefer to be self-directing rather than being totally dependent on a teacher and adults have fund of experience which helps them learn.Mezirow(1981)considered andragogy to be organised and sustained effort to assist adults to learn in a way which enhances their capability to function as self-directed learners. My roles and responsibilities throughout my session consist of making sure I follow the required elements of the course embedding the correct information in a way in which my students absorb and understand the information I have given them. The sessions need to be stimulating by integrating different teaching strategies and activities to get all the students engaged through the session, using all resources available such as demonstrations,d.v.d and other visual aids, group work, questions and answers, reading resources such as relevant booklets and other reading material, by doing this it also enables them to understand the aims and objectives they need to achieve their qualification .I also incorporate different teaching methods as all my students learn at different rates and the ages I teach can be a big factor in my session. I have to consider pedagogical and andragogical this can affect my teaching methods as children and adults learn in different ways. I believe the learning cycle described by Kolb enabling students to learn new skills applies to my session as it is a realistic setting and reflects on the concept that experience they will gain within college. Concrete experience Observation reflection Active experimental Abstract conceptualization Experimental Learning Cycle (Kolb 1984:21) I need to teach my students practical skills which will come with the learning experience within college and also within the hair industry and also learning to have a professional rapport with clients. At the very beginning of the very first session i set out ground rules within my sessions this sets a good foundation for my students and they understand the importance of following rules and regulations. These rules will not only stand within college salon but they will have to follow rules within the work place within industry. The ground rules consist of arriving on time to all my sessions, having all the correct equipment needed for the session in hand, correct uniform, personal appearance to be tidy, be professional and respectful to others, no food or drinks other than water, be polite, respect them self and others. I am also responsible for observing and assessing all my students giving feedback which helps the student understand their strengths and weaknesses and then adjust their skills appropriately to achieve. I also embed the every child matters legislations which consist of: being healthy, staying safe, enjoying and achieving, making a positive contribution and achieving economic wellbeing all of these factors are embedded into every session. The hairdressing department are given the course content and the standards in which we have to follow, these are devised by HABIA (HAIRDRESSING AND BEAUTY AUTHORITY) .The standards are up dated every 5yrs.The update usually depends on what is happening within the hair and beauty industry such a fashion and other influences that may arise within the public sector.Edexcel are awarding bodies who offer the hairdressing N.V.Q this create the programme which myself and all other tutors, trainers and assessors discuss and conforms to the HABIA standards. All assessors have the responsibility to ensure all students follow and meet these standards and gain knowledge and understanding to allow them to successfully complete their required qualification. As well as the awarding bodies within hairdressing there are also other aspects to consider such as the Further Education Act of 2007, as education is rarely out of the public eye including the news which focuses on the government. The College also receives visits every 3 years form OFSTED.This body is a very important part throughout all aspects of education.OFSTED make sure that all required standards are being met through all departments of the college this is done by OFSTED observing specific session, they also make sure that all tutors are up to date with their continual professional development (, CPD) checks. These checks are relevant to make sure the curriculum is developed and maintained to a high standard throughout the college. The college does not only wait for OFSTED to observe the tutors, the tutors regularly get observed by their line manager to make sure they are following the course modules. This is one important piece of legislation; Further Education Act of 2007: Act to make provisions about the learning and skills council for England; to make provision about institutions within the further education sector; to make provision with respect it to industrial training levies; to make provision about the information of and investment in, companies and charitable incorporated organisations by higher education corporations; to enable the making of Assembly Measures in relation to the field of education and training; and for connected purposes. All my students are individual and all have different learning abilities which means if there were specific students which need additional learning support I would need to meet with the course tutor to find out if what support I would be able to offer in my session to enable the student to feel more comfortable and also be able to achieve. The college have 2 policies that are particularly relevant to all my sessions, the first is the equality policy which is to create an environment which people treat each other with mutual respect, regardless of race,colour,gender,marital status,disability,religion,sexual orientation or age and the other is the inclusive learning policy which aims to make the college a place where people including those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities can attend, learn or train and whenever necessary and possible, receive additional support. This also means I have access to individual learning plan (I.L.P).This then enables me to discuss learning support and other aids I may need such as specific aids to help the learner in my sessions, note takers, loans of technical aids such as radio aids and personal loops, access to minicoms if needed and special exams arrangements can also be put in place. Whilst working within my sessions I promote inclusive environment to make sure all students are able to work to their own individual needs by giving them clear aims and objectives making sure they practice their strengths and weaknesses. Hairdressing is repetitive processes were skills and knowledge are constantly revisited in order to embed vital information to successfully achieve the qualification they need to complete the course. Throughout the hairdressing course the students are constantly being assessed. This is done formatively whilst they are learning and gaining knowledge to prepare them for their actual assessment which then enables them to work towards gaining assessment ready to go and work within the hairdressing industry. The students have their own portfolios which all information is recorded and this is then their own personal recollection on the assessment outcome which they have completed. The student then uses the information and can use it as evidence to say they have completed modules needed for the completion of the course. During a course the hairdressing students take part in filling in weekly reviews. The reviews take place during their tutorial sessions to ensure that aims and objective are being met. At the end of each year the course tutors complete the student’s course review. This then allows the tutor to evaluate the progress of the student and make sure the student is coping with the work load of the course. This is a very essential part and very useful as it can improve things for the student and also the future of the course. All findings are then sent to the head of division who incorporate into the college self assessment report(SAR).In the hairdressing department we also have a team of internal verifiers(I.V) which check course work that tutors have marked to make sure every tutor is working to the same standards. During the year the college also receives visits from an external verifier. The awarding bodies employ external verifiers (E.V’s) to visit the college to make sure they are assessing fairly and competently. The EV will write a report and if they find areas of concern they will put in place an action plan which then will be complete before his/her next visit to ensure all assessment planning and verification planning is met. Failure to do this will result in the college being sanctioned. The importance of incorporating functional skills is crucial and these are embedded into all my session whether it is practical or theory .I include literacy, numeracy and I.C.T as much as possible. These skills are embedded into my sessions by incorporating them whilst the student are carrying out services such as colouring, the student will have to measuring chemicals needed to carry out the service require, numeracy in used throughout our practical session students will work on the reception in the commercial salon this will entail adding and subtracting when working out a clients bill, we also use angles whilst working in the salon as students need to understand how to create hair styles this would incorporate using angles such as 90 degrees this is for a uniform layer cut,45 degrees is used when performing a short graduation cut and so on. Throughout the theory sessions the students use the computer suits to complete modules and use them for gathering research which they need to piece together assessments. Computers are also used within the hairdressing industry as most salons now work with storing all relevant information needed for day to day life within the salon on computer systems, this is then embedded through the student’s theory lessons as students provide evidence that they can competently work around a computer system with comfort and ease. References Reece, Walker (2006) A practical guide to teaching Training and Learning 6th Edition, Sunderland: Business Education Publisher. Kolb, Experimental Learning: Experience as the source of learning and develop. DFES (2007) Further Education Act. London; HMSO Available on line. Last accessed (7/11/10) http//www.dius.gov.uk/policy/furthereducation.html. OFSTED last accessed (7/11/10) http//www.ofsted.gov.uk/ References Reece, Walker (2006) Teaching, Training and Learning. A practical guide: Sixth edition. Kolb, Experimental Learning: Eperience as the source of learning and develop. DFES (2007) Further Education Act.London; HMSO Available on line. Last accessed (7/11/10) http//www.dius.gov.uk/policy/furthereducation.html. OFSTED last accessed (7/11/10) http//www.ofsted.gov.uk/