Introduction_to_Teaching_Learning_Assignment_1

Module 1: Introduction to Teaching Learning Assignment 1: Group Profile | Date: 01/01/12 I am a lecturer at Lambeth College, Vauxhall Centre, teaching the IMI Awards specification on motorcycle engineering, maintenance and repair. The Faculty of Technology also includes plumbing, electrical installations, building construction, electronics, IT, music production and other vocational subjects and all must be augmented with Literacy and Numeracy classes. I cater to a variety of learners seeking a basic introduction or to achieve Level 1, 2, or 3 Certificate or Diploma. They may be school-links, special needs, 16-18s and adults of mixed gender, ethnicity and backgrounds. The majority of them intend to work for dealers in the motor trade, start their own business or get a fundamental insight to motorcycle technology on their way to university. In the following pages I will be attempting to develop a profile for a L3 group, studying for a Diploma in M/C Maintenance & Repair. The group consists of 14 male adult learners between the ages of 19 to 47 and they originate from Portugal, Jamaica, Ireland, U.K. and Brazil. In this group I have a lawyer, a chef, a delivery driver, a stunt rider, a couple of ex-inmates, a car mechanic, motorcycle technicians, couriers, unemployed and 3 have their own families. They all exhibit a passion about motorsports, technology and the motorcycle industry. Most of them have some experience or subject understanding from their own bikes, some are already employed by M/C dealers, a few progressed from last year’s L2 group and a couple have no theoretical background whatsoever. A minority finds it hard to grasp the theory concepts involved without repetition and visual aids but most fair better during practical assessments. Their level of key skills and ability is varied and reflected in their practical and written assessments and classroom participation. It is obvious that a group of students with such differences between them will require careful thinking with the lesson planning, inclusion and differentiation to make it work. It is a diverse group of learners and to determine their suitability, they have to go through on-line assessments reflecting their lit/num skills. When the results are in, interviews are conducted by me and other course tutors. During those interviews, it’s established whether their academic background meets the entry requirements, if they have any previous subject experience or knowledge, what their career intentions are, if they have any special needs in reading and writing, language issues that could inhibit classroom participation, financial and personal issues or disabilities that could affect attendance, employment and other study commitments. At this point, a breakdown of the required coursework is outlined to them in order to gauge any issues with commitment and completion. All relevant responses and conclusions are recorded by hand and individual files are created. Once their suitability is established, they are enrolled and copies of their records are passed on to the Student Support teams and the Key Skills tutors, who in turn will make appointments with the learners in order to establish the best assistance with their needs. I also use those records as a reference for deciding on lesson plans, aids and classroom control that can be effective for the whole group. During the course, the group is required to sit Profiler exams that help with monitoring of key skills and allow me to identify areas that will affect coursework and grades. Special needs verified in this group include dyslexia, family and employment concessions, mental stress, language and scripting support. The dyslexic learner is sometimes unable to interpret assignment or exam questions and can be slow at taking notes. This can disrupt the flow of a lesson delivery or exam session and can sometimes lead to his frustration and the group’s agitation and loss of focus. It is a similar situation when it comes to the students with an inadequate command of English. Often, repetition of terms or use of simpler language to describe concepts as well as frequent explanation of exam questions is needed and this may sometimes elicit boredom and sarcastic remarks from their peers. The effect is that those students eventually become reluctant to ask for help or clarification which impacts their comprehension and exam performance. The student suffering from mental stress tends to get easily overwhelmed when the pace or demands pick up, becoming liable to leave the classroom or require a break from the lesson activities, which again can upset the delivery and class control and also retards his personal progress. Absences due to family or work concessions are sometimes unavoidable and even though students are able to keep up with assignments, they are liable to miss important information that could offer them a clearer understanding of concepts. Occasionally, those absences may promote the rest of the group to question the importance of their own regular and consistent attendance. All those idiosyncrasies must be considered against skills, aptitude and ability when signing students up, making allowances, providing feedback or selecting and developing resources for lessons. It becomes evident that a number of mechanisms have to be in place, in order to help the students with coursework according to their abilities and level of commitment and promote retention and achievement for the whole group. The selection of resources used for the theory lessons is based on their suitability to present the subjects I need to cover in a comprehensive but easy to follow manner. I make the more in-depth details and complex scientific aspects available as links or references in the handouts or I upload the relevant papers and information to our Virtual Learning Environment ‘Moodle’. I also request that all assignments are completed electronically with the aid of a word processor which is a great help with spell checking, thesaurus and word count for the students and, for me, legibility. A reader/scriber from Student Support is assigned to assist individual learners with reading and writing during theory lessons and exam sessions. The delivery of the lessons is always accompanied by Power Point and Smart board support, which helps with comprehension for the more kinaesthetic or visual learners and for those where language is a barrier. The hand outs distributed to the students include the Ppt and the main lesson for easy reference. The important points can therefore be highlighted and noted at a less stressful pace, so interruptions for note taking and misunderstanding are kept to a minimum. Longer exam times and a Digital Dictaphone is also provided to the dyslexic student and I permit mobile phones set to utility mode, to be used during lessons for voice recording and photographs by any students that find it helpful. Of course, this being an engineering course, I have to also utilise actual components, animations and videos for demonstrating concepts and procedures which all students, regardless of ability, find very helpful. I have also scheduled in my timetable and after agreement with the Student Support, weekly one-to-one sessions for the students that need extra help with theory or assignments. What has become obvious through my activities with this group is that for all students to progress and achieve, I must provide an environment where language, social and cultural background, gender, personal issues and disability do not become obstacles in learning. To remove those obstacles, the classroom, and in extent the college, should become a ‘community’ promoting equality, openness and team spirit. That creates a sense of shared commitment and a common goal, promoting acceptance and peer support and allowing the integration or inclusion of all students. The LLUK standards (2006,BK1.1 & BP1.2, p.5) stipulate that for the teacher to achieve this, it is necessary to find or know of “ways to maintain a learning environment in which learners feel safe and supported” and “establish procedures with learners which promote appropriate behaviour, communication and respect for others, while challenging discriminatory attitudes”. In the full inclusion setting, students with special needs are educated alongside students without those needs and are treated as equal members of the class. This eliminates segregated special education classes, since the required services are brought to the student, the classroom structure and the curriculum strategies instead of removing the student to meet his or her individual needs. Inclusivity brings with it Diversity and when planning for the diverse needs of the group, it’s important to implement strategies that ensure inclusion in a teaching context, known as differentiation strategies. They refer to a range of different approaches and resources to meet the needs of different groups and individuals and eventually make learning accessible to all students (inclusive learning). In an inclusive group of people learning together, there will always be differences in how they learn, what progress they make and how they feel from day to day. Planning and teaching in ways that take those differences into account, becomes crucial for achieving agreed targets. What facilitates this is knowing the students well and not only adapting lessons according to support needs, but also ensuring those lessons will be intellectually challenging enough to contribute to all learners’ progress. It can make the difference between passing and failing for many students and so it becomes a very important step towards their success. The tasks and assignments that I prepare for the group can be differentiated by learning outcomes, activities, teaching methods and resources, learner groupings, assessments and learning support. Some of my teaching activities incorporating differentiation for my group may include: * Various levels of difficulty and interactivity of learning resources to suit group diversity * Group work where more advanced learners can provide peer support to less able learners * Additional learning support and personal tutorials for individuals or small groups * Choice of collaborative or independent activities to challenge all ability levels * Flexible completion schedules and student assessment techniques * Multiple pathways to reach an objective * Choice of learning activities, such as case studies, discussion, and video presentations that would cater to all abilities * Ensure that the learning environment is safe and allow for individual physical differences * Encourage individual and group responsibility for safety issues * Provide an environment in which students feel comfortable expressing ideas and differences in opinion * Provide prompt, effective feedback * Use of examples that are relevant to the learners’ experiences * Break down of information into smaller chunks Through personal reflection, a teacher should acknowledge when something works well and to understand why it does. Having a good understanding of the processes involved with comprehension, can provide a teacher with the ability to predict what may work and what may not and then measure his or her assumptions against what actually happens. If learners achieve at a constant, high rate, the consequences on their own lives and on society at large may be substantial. Social inclusiveness, work ethics, the reduction of crime, drug abuse and even ill health, all require an educated citizenship and workforce. Many of our society’s ills have a remedy in the classroom. Teaching and learning aimed at supporting learners with learning difficulties benefits all learners in the class, since the tools and aids utilised in increasing perception and comprehension would also support cognition in the brighter students. A group profile analysis to determine the best possible strategies for inclusion and diversity, can demonstrate that by adopting those strategies, a teacher can have a big impact upon the learner’s achievement and also improve the educational experience of learners and enable them to display their strengths in the classroom. I would like to close this paragraph with the following excerpt: “An educationally inclusive school is one in which the teaching and learning, achievements, attitudes and well being of every young person matter. Effective schools are educationally inclusive schools. This shows, not only in their performance, but also in their ethos and willingness to offer new opportunities to pupils who may have experienced previous difficulties”. OFSTED 2000 References: Tisdell, E.J. (1995). Creating inclusive adult learning environments: Insights... ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career and Vocational Education. Ohio State University: Centre on Education and Training for Employment. LLUK Standards, (2006). New overarching professional standards for teachers, tutors and trainers in the LLS. Domain B: Learning and Teaching. Francis, M., Gould, J. (2009). Achieving Your PTLLS Award: A Practical Guide to Successful Teaching in the LLS. London: Sage Publications Ltd. Crawley, J. (2011). In at the Deep End: A Survival Guide for Teachers in Post-Compulsory Education (2nd Ed). Oxon: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. Moll, A.M. (2005). Differentiated Instruction Guide for Inclusive Teaching (2nd Ed). New York: Dude Publishing.