Ptlls

OCR PTLLS Unit 7: Theory Kathryn Vigna London City Business School September 2010 The role of a teacher, although defined differently by every school, college and university remain unchanged throughout history: to share information, knowledge and values with students. While the role of the teacher is to write objectives, goals and outcomes for every student, it is the role of the student in most western schools to be responsible for absorbing and understanding the information given to them by teachers. (Dow et al, 2010) Although the role of the teacher is to set and meet learning objectives, their responsibilities differ greatly by situation. For example, the responsibilities of a primary school teacher may include looking after the basic needs of students, such as using the toilet, etc. whereas a college lecturer would not have these responsibilities. One main responsibility of teachers that differs from 9-5 office jobs is attendance. Teachers must be present in class in order for things to proceed; therefore, teacher absence is usually frowned upon and highly unusual during school term. Illness is usually the obvious exception to this responsibility, but in some cases, lesson plans must be left for a supply or replacement teacher to carry on the day’s lessons. It is the responsibility of the teacher to have class registers, seating charts, school information and back-up lesson plans available for supply teachers in the case of an unplanned absence. While teachers have many responsibilities both in and out of the classroom, there are also certain boundaries a teacher must uphold to maintain the respect of the students. The most obvious boundary is to maintain a professional distance from students, keeping the teacher-student ‘relationship’ in the classroom only. While it is common, especially with social networking sites, mobile phones and email to have contact with students outside of school, it is imperative that the teacher maintains a professional demeanor with students in these arenas as well to assure the boundaries are upheld. It is important to treat all students in a professional and equal manner at all times, regardless of age, race, sex, etc. The most important legislation to be passed in the United Kingdom regarding equality and diversity is The Equality Act 2010. The Equality Act 2010 was passed in spring of 2010, with multiple phases to be put in place in the future. “Most of the new Equality Act was already in place in the previous anti-discrimination laws that it replaces. This includes the Race Relations Act 1976, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. In total there are nine pieces of primary legislation and over 100 pieces of secondary legislation being incorporated.”  (EHRC, 2010) The Equality act looks to protect people from being discriminated by “age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex (gender) or sexual orientation. It is there to strengthen protection, advance equality and simplify the law.” (IDEA, 2010) In addition to The Equality Act 2010, The Equality and Human Rights Commission ensure that companies in the private sector adhere to equality and diversity legislation as well. While there are various equality legislations for different sectors of employment and society, it is also the responsibility of the citizens to maintain personal and moral codes of equality, as well as keeping a watchful public eye on local schools, councils and businesses within their community. It may seem that it would be difficult for a large organization, such as a further education college, to maintain perfect equality amongst all of its employees without smaller systems of internal checks and balances. In an educational setting, for example, the head principal would be responsible for employing a highly diverse and qualified staff. Within that school, each teacher would be responsible for ensuring all of the students, regardless of age, disability, race, religion or belief, gender or sexual orientation, are treated in a fair and equal manner. The teacher is also to ensure the students treat each other with equality and respect. For example, an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher may have a class with students whose first languages vary from Russian to Hindi. Once the students, teachers and parents have discussed the rules and expectations it is the teachers role to provide a well-rounded and inviting learning environment for all students. Using the learning styles quiz and diagnostic tests performed earlier; the teacher can then prepare lessons that are suited to the students. For example, a lesson using video and audiovisual stimulation may be excellent for visual or auditory learners, but it is the role of the teacher to add some tactile stimulation as well to engage more hands on learners in the process. The ESL classroom is primarily speaking and listening, with very little room for hands on work. As a tactile learner, I try to hand movement and tactile activities such as memory games, flash card or real objects into my lessons to try to include some of the tactile as well as visual learners. As a teacher in a multi-cultural class, it is imperative to include the information and knowledge of the learners in the classroom. Discussing a musician that is only famous in the United States to a classroom of Russians and Ukrainian students would not include them into the lesson and possibly alienate them. Discussing ‘American’ or ‘English’ only topics and examples in class would exclude the foreign students and dissimilate them from the classroom. By including Russian and Ukrainian pop stars in a discussion about music would not only encourage students to participate, but would give them immediate knowledge and familiarity with the topic, allowing them a sense of ownership and belonging which is essential to inclusion. By having more knowledge and being accepted as being more knowledgeable on a particular subject, students are also more likely to participate in subsequent lessons. (Franquiz et al, 1998) By altering seating arrangements in class, students can also have a feeling of inclusion. In a visual arts class in a junior high school, I was faced with teaching 12 physically disabled students alongside 12 mainstream students. At first, there was a large rift in the class and the mainstream students had never met or even seen the disabled students as they were only integrated with other students in this class. Over time, by gradually mixing the students seating arrangements on a weekly basis, the students were allowed to ‘mingle’ with each other and many new friendships blossomed as a result. As a part of pre-planning, I ensured that the seating chart placed students with new classmates on each project, thus giving them an opportunity to build a community within the classroom, which they felt a part of. Establishing ground rules from the beginning of a course establishes the atmosphere and expectations that are to be upheld in the class. “Good classroom management skills are essential to the smooth and efficient running of any classroom.” (Budden, 2010) By laying down what the teacher expects, as well as what the students expect of the class is a good way to establish an atmosphere of open communication, but also let the students know exactly what to expect from the class and the teacher. For younger learners, allowing them to decide five to six basic ground rules is a good way to give back some classroom control and give the students some ownership over what is expected in class. At the further education level, it may be more appropriate to lie out expectation in a course syllabus at the start of class. Adults do not enjoy being treated like children, and thus should expect to be treated as mature adults. The most difficult task for most teachers is finding a balance between friendly and strict. A good teacher should be approachable and friendly with the students, but also respected. “The idea is to start reasonably strict so as to get off on the right foot. It’s always easier to lighten up when you and the students have a mutual respect than to start off too soft and then have to get stricter as the weeks go by.” (Budden, 2010) If the students understand that in an ESL classroom English is the only language to be spoken, as a matter of respect it may impact them differently then just saying “English Only”. By taking the time to explain that English is spoken in the classroom as a matter of respect to all students, as it is the only common language in the classroom. With adult students, it is always helpful to explain “why” rules exist; to encourage respect and equality amongst all students and staff in the class. It is also important for the teacher to treat all students equally and not have a separate set of rules for different students. If a student is fifteen minutes late and the rule is to not allow students to enter after fifteen minutes, the student who tries to come to class sixteen minutes late may not be let in, no excuses. Treating students as equally and fairly as possible will build respect for the teacher as well as fellow classmates. English and Fine Arts are no exception to underlining the importance of functional skills. Literacy and numeracy assessments are important in many subjects, and should be assessed before beginning a new subject. Identifying literacy or numeracy weaknesses in students will allow teachers to plan for peer buddies or special ‘help’ sheets for students with weaknesses to stay caught up with the class, especially if the class is not literacy or numeracy based. For example, if you are teaching a history class and have a student with a lower than average reading level, it would be beneficial to know this in advance, so the teacher can prepare ‘help’ sheets or pair the student with a stronger reader to keep the students at the same pace. In the visual arts classroom, I was required to note on every lesson plan how maths and English were being taught in each project, assignment or lesson. These state guidelines forced me to plan lessons, which highlighted on certain methods used by the artist community that were both highly beneficial to the students as well as fun and challenging. One simple way of integrating maths into art is by discussing perspective. By introducing the idea of designing a city landscape using perspective students had to use rules and linear movements to design and build a virtual 3-D city. This exercise was particularly enjoyed by the male students, who may not have chosen to take the art class, but excelled in maths. It also gave a chance for students who struggled with maths but excelled in the arts to gain a small grain of self-confidence in an area that is usually difficult, frustrating and challenging. “Numeracy is the ability to cope confidently with the mathematical demands of everyday life in the home, workplace, and community” (Cockcroft, 1982; Withnall, 1995). Giving the students the information that numeracy can be seen in the art world may encourage strong maths students to look towards careers in architecture or design. As the ESL classroom is primarily based around literacy skills, it goes without saying that literacy skills are an essential part of the ESL classroom. However, integrating numeracy in the ESL classroom can be more or a challenge, yet highly rewarding and essential in living in a foreign country. Numbers and maths are a universal concept accepted globally and therefore a possible window of commonality in a world or chaos and confusion of the ESL learner. When discussion matters such as measurements including topics such as lengths, weight, distance, area and volume are all concepts known in other countries by adults. Introducing the metric system in the UK is an excellent way to integrate not only numeracy skills, but also some information about English culture into the ESL classroom. (Ciancone, 1996) Keeping records in education is imperative to remember where teachers have been in the past to see where they should be going in the future. “Keeping records is a very important reflexive tool for both teachers and learners in the educational setting. Accurate records taken throughout a course enables both teacher and students to continually reassess the effectiveness of the teaching/learning relationship by giving an ongoing measure against which to view learning objectives.” (Wayt, 2008) Attendance records are important tools for teachers, as it maintains a record of what lessons students have attended and missed. By using this information, teachers can analyze if a students poor understanding of a topic covered is due to lack of attendance or some other misunderstanding. If many students are present on a given day, yet don’t seem to understand a topic covered, attendance can be used to point out possible flaws in teaching style or structure. Assessment, in both formative and summative forms, can also be used to record student progress and learning. By keeping records of student scores, teachers, principals and even parents can attain objective evidence of what is being learnt in class. “Monitoring student achievements, skills, abilities and progress through ongoing assessment tracks their progress with feedback given to confirm that learning objectives have been met.” (Wayt, 2008) Lesson plans and schemes of work are essential records kept by all teachers to mark out a path of where the class will go, how the objectives will be met and what materials, preparation and assessment methods will be used in the course. Creating lesson plans in advance may be difficult for some subjects, such as ESL, where the learners may need more or less time on certain topics depending on speed of understanding and use of the language. However, operating on a scheme of work both the students and the teachers know exactly what must be covered in each class in order to meet the objectives of each term. Every teacher is different, and therefore may choose different methods of keeping records, but in the end certain documents must be created to document learning. In addition to lesson plans and schemes of work, teachers may choose to document behavior, study habits or other important non-lesson based information about each class. “Programs such as Markbook and Maplewood allow for teachers to keep an accurate record of students work, and note any behavioral concerns.” (Coles) While some teachers may choose to keep records with a traditional pen and paper method, it is important that copies be made and kept in a safe place to ensure they can be located if needed. I prefer to keep my files organized online, with lesson plans and schemes of work available at anytime by accessing the web. Daily attendance and behavior I tend to use a digital gradebook, which keeps everything organized, and in one file which can also be easily accessed. The Initial assessment plays a pivotal role in the teaching process. It is important for a teacher to know where the students have been in order to determine where they are going in the future. There are many different kinds of initial assessment that take place before students being their studies; a few examples are diagnostics, levels of literacy and numeracy, learning styles, and disabilities and needs. Diagnostic tests can be used to see the students’ prior knowledge in a particular subject area. It can also be used to evaluate strengths and weaknesses in the subject or subjects. Diagnostic tests are most useful if given sporadically throughout the year, at first to analyze what needs to be learned and later to see what students have absorbed and what still needs to be taught. Literacy and numeracy assessments are important in many subjects, and should be assessed before beginning a new subject. Identifying literacy or numeracy weaknesses in students will allow teachers to plan for peer buddies or special ‘help’ sheets for students with weaknesses to stay caught up with the class, especially if the class is not literacy or numeracy based. For example, if you are teaching a history class and have a student with a lower than average reading level, it would be beneficial to know this in advance, so the teacher can prepare ‘help’ sheets or pair the student with a stronger reader to keep the students at the same pace. Learning styles assessments can prove invaluable to a teacher. Identifying students’ learning styles will allow you, in combination with diagnostics and literacy and numeracy, not only what to teach, but how to teach your students. Although it is important to understand what each students learning style is, lessons should appeal to all learning styles, in order to engage all students. It may be difficult to create well rounded lesson that reaches out to all students, it may be possible to account for two styles, say auditory and tactile in one lesson, and cover the other two in the next lesson. Resources: Budden, Jo. (2010) Establishing the Ground Rules. Retrieved from: http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/language-assistant/teaching-tips/establishing-ground-rules Burns, G. J. (2007). Invitational leadership in public schools. Retrieved from http://edt.missouri.edu/Winter2007/Dissertation/BurnsG-033007-D6624/research.pdf Ciancone, Tom. (1996). Numeracy in the Adult ESL Classroom. (ERIC Identifier ED392316) National Clearinghouse for ESL Literacy Education Washington DC Cockcroft, W.H. (Ed.). (1982). Mathematics counts: Report of the Committee of Inquiry into the Teaching of Mathematics in Schools. London, England: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Coles, Bobby. (N.D.) Best teacher record-keeping system to use. Retrieved from: http://www.helium.com/items/1573297-how-do-teachers-keep-records. Dow, Frances & Truman, DES. (2010) Roles and Responsibilities. Tutoring and Demonstrating: A Handbook. Equality and Human Rights Commission. (2010) Guidance for Education Providers: Further and Higher Education. Retrieved from: http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/advice-and-guidance/equality-act-guidance-for-education-providers-further-and-higher-education/ Government Equalities Office. (2010) Equalities Act 2010. Retrieved from: http://www.equalities.gov.uk/equality_act_2010.aspx Imel, S. (1995). Inclusive adult learning environments (ERIC Digest No. 162). Columbus, OH: ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education. Local Government Improvement and Development. (2010) Equality and diversity legislation. Retrieved from: http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do'pageId=5145524 The National Archives. (2010) Equality Act 2010. Retrieved from: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/part/2 Purkey, W., & Novak, J. (1996). Inviting school success: A self-concept approach to teaching and learning (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Ross-Gordon, J. (1993). Multicultural issues in adult education: Where we've come from, where we are now, where we're going. PAACE Journal of Lifelong Learning, 2, 43-56. V. Kubálková and A.A. Cruickshank, International Inequality (London: Croom Helm, 1981), p. 15. What is Invitational Education', (2010). Retrieved from http://invitationaleducation.net/ie/ie2.shtml Withnall, A. (1995). Older adults' needs and usage of numerical skills in everyday life. Lancaster, England: Lancaster University. (ED 383 879)