Ptlls_Assignment_1

Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning sector 1.1 Describe what your role, responsibilities and boundaries would be as a teacher in terms of the teaching/training cycle. “It is the supreme role of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge” Albert Einstein The role of the teacher is to teach in a way that involves and engages the learner. Gravells explains this in terms of the teaching and learning cycle which has 5 key stages. These are identifying the needs of the learner, planning the learning, enabling the learning, assessing the learning and quality assurance and evaluation. Identifying the needs In my remit to deliver training in schools/colleges I would ascertain needs by means of an informal interview with the school senior management team. Usually the needs can be addressed by delivering workshops or training around Career Education Advice and Guidance (CEIAG. Planning the learning Often the learning takes place on school premises but sometimes I am training a Headquarters. In this case I need to book the board room or other suitable training venue. There is no set syllabus for CEIAG so I would put together a scheme of work and lesson plans having agreed the learning outcomes with the school manager. I would write and put together all the resources I need for the session trying to ensure that the materials are differentiated and inclusive. Enabling learning This involves using a variety of teaching and learning approaches to motivate learners. This could include kinaesthetic activities, for example going to a corner of the room, icebreakers, card sorts and so on. I would incorporate these into my lesson plan that I have prepared. I also ensure I create a positive impression by dressing and acting appropriately. Assessment I incorporate assessment by using quizzes, questionnaires or observations. Sometimes I would also build in a one to one review. This is particularly so when delivering one to one consultancy and training. Quality assurance and evaluation To evaluate my teaching I would constantly be aware of the possibility of having to adjust my session and make amendments as a result of learners needs. I also always have an evaluation form which I ask learners to complete at the end of the session. I would analyse these evaluations subsequently and try to act on any constructive criticism to improve future teaching. I also ask learners to complete an attendance sheet. This is important both for health and safety reasons but also in terms of quality assurance. At the end of a year I can look back and see which schools have participated in training and which I need to concentrate on. I was recently asked to deliver a teaching session on post 16 options in a school to ten teachers. This was a twilight session on school premises. Initially I had a discussion with the Deputy Head to discuss such things as the learning environment. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs states that when learners satisfy their needs at one level they should be able to progress to the next. I therefore wanted to ensure that the learning environment was comfortable and that there would be tea/coffee available. I also wanted to make sure I was aware of the school’s health and safety requirements in terms of fire procedures. As it was a twilight session I was very conscious that this was a potential boundary and I would therefore have to take this into account in my teaching by having a mixture of interactive learning activities to keep them awake and stimulated. I planned the programme content to incorporate different learning styles – visual, aural, read/write, kinaesthetic( Fleming 2005) and created resources and materials to reflect these. In addition I positively promoted equality and diversity within the content by incorporating an activity on gender stereotyping in terms of post 16 options. Another possible boundary here was access to computers and technology as this can sometimes be problematic when using other people’s premises. I therefore made sure I had printed copies of my PowerPoint presentation and could tailor my teaching to accommodate this. When teaching sessions are delivered at twilight the learners are often at a low point too, so I made sure that I started the session with a fun icebreaker. The training session was something that had been imposed on the learners, some of whom did not necessarily want to be there. I therefore felt it was doubly important to establish good ground rules at the beginning of the session in order to enable learning for everyone and minimise the possibility of disruptive learners. The table in Gravells 2011 p12outlines many of the boundaries that might hinder learning. I can very much identify with these. In order to engage the learners I had prepared information on the post 16 destinations of students from their school and the destinations of all leavers in Kirklees. However once I started the session it was apparent that there would not be enough time to go through these as the learners were asking more questions than I had anticipated. I therefore identified that the needs were to answer the questions and to give the destinations slides as hand-outs. Time is often a boundary that I encounter and I need to be flexible to accommodate this. At the end of the session I did a quiz which I did as an assessment tool to see whether the learners had understood the information given on post 16 options. This was a good method of evaluation and involved all the learners. Finally I asked them to complete an evaluation feedback form. References Gravells A (2011) Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector 4th Edition