Pttls_Unit_008

Unit 008 – Roles, Responsibilities and Relationship in Lifelong Learning. 1.3 Evaluate own role and responsibilities in lifelong learning I consider my main role as a teacher is to teach my subject which I am enthusiastic and passionate about – art, especially painting, and drawing. I feel as a teacher I should teach my subject in the way that actively involves, engages my students and motivates them to learn, practice and develop their skills further. As A. Gravells states “Communication is the key to encouraging student motivation and respect, managing behavior and disruption, and becoming a successful teacher. It should always be appropriate and effective, and to the level of your students. You can help maintain motivation and good behavior by including all students during discussions and activities, keeping your sessions active wherever possible and teaching your subject in an interesting and challenging way.” Also effective teaching means not only approaches I use to teach my subject, but many other factors that go before and after the taught session. The teaching and learning cycle, which I also relate my role as a teacher includes identifying needs, planning learning, and facilitating learning, assessing learning, quality assurance and evaluation. All stages should be related to teaching and learning to be effective and the cycle can started at any stage and keep on doing. Indentifying needs involves me in such activities as finding out what my organisation, my own and potential students’ needs are, carrying out initial assessments, following organisational policies and procedures, attending promotional events to publicise the programme, undertaking CRB checks and others. Planning learning means I have to prepare a scheme of work, session plans and teaching and learning materials and activities to ensure I cover the requirements of the syllabus, agreed individual learning plans, create a safe, positive and accessible learning environment for students and visitors, liaise with others, write realistic aims. Facilitating learning shall involve me in carrying out tutorial reviews, establishing ground rules, conforming to professional codes of practices and values, promoting equality and valuating diversity. I shall be expected to act professionally and with integrity, be experienced and knowledgeable about my subject and teach in inclusive and engaging way. This I can do using variety of teaching and learning approaches to motivate students. Assessing learning I will be doing by checking my students have gained the necessary skills, knowledge and experience. I will be assessing my student’s progress following awarding organization and external body requirements, using variety of assessment methods: initial, formative, summative, formal and informal. Assessing learning also involves keeping records of individual achievements, maintaining confidentiality and giving feedback to students. Quality assurance and Evaluation includes evaluating how well the programme was planned and delivered in order to make improvements for the future, improving the teaching and learning process. My responsibilities in this stage will be attending meetings, encouraging student’s progression and helping students achieve their full potential; leasing with others e.g. .external verifiers and inspectors. As a teacher I also need to be aware of what motivates my students to learn more. To help motivate my students I could do : ask open questions, be aware of their attention-span limits ( normally 20 minutes), make tasks interesting and relevant, treat them with respect, give praise and encouragement and vary my teaching approaches to reach their learning styles. Maslow stated that there five needs which represent different levels of motivation which must be meet (Maslow Hierarchy of Needs 1954). There are : My students will be able to progress to the next level only when they satisfy their need at previous level. To help motivate my students I always must ensure that the learning environment I create meets my students first-level needs. This will enable them to feel comfortable and secure to learn more and progress to the higher level. As A. Gravells says “Always try to establish a purposeful learning environment where your students can fell safe, secure, confident and valued.” 1.4 Review own role and responsibilities in identifying and meeting the needs of learners My role as a teacher involves the important stage of identifying and meeting the needs of my learners. Identifying my students needs can take place as part of application process, during an interview or when they start the programme. Identifying any individual students needs before the beginning of a course will help me planning my teaching to meet them. My programme could have particular entry requirements for my subject and I should carry out initial assessment or interview to be sure if these had been met. I should not take students just because I need to make a group, my programme can be unsuitable for them and they may leave wasting their and my time. “Diagnostic assessments can be used to evaluate a student’s knowledge, skills, strengths and areas for development in a particular area. The results will give a thorough indification of not only the level at which your student needs to be placed for their subject but also which specific aspects they need to improve on. Diagnostic tests can also be used to ascertain information regarding literacy, language, numeracy and computer skills. Information gained from these tests will help you plan your session to meet individual needs and/or to arrange further training and support if necessary.” states A. Gravells (A. Gravells 2012) I also can identify learning styles as a part of initial assessment. Flemming (2005) suggested that learners can be grouped into four styles of learning: visual, aural, read/ write and kinaesthetic. Honey and Mumford (1992) stated that people can be a mixture of four learning styles: activist, pragmatist, theorist, and reflector. Identifying learning styles will help me when I decide what the teaching approaches better to use to reach their learning styles. It also helps my students to adapt information in a way that they are more comfortable with. Some students may have needs, barriers or challenges to learning that may affect their attendance and achievement. They could be lack of confidence, motivation, social skills, age; culture and language difference , luck of support, fears, learning difficulties and disabilities, financial issues, housing problems, family commitments, emotional and psychological problems, limited basic skills such as literacy, numeracy and ICT, lack of time, past experiences, etc. I can ascertain them before my programme start. I should be proactive and notice potential needs before they became issues. I may encounter students with a variety issues for example behaviour difficulties, depression, mental problems and different degrees of needs. I should deal with these sensitively, professionally and remain impartial. Sometimes I may feel I could deal with them myself, but it is the best to seek advice or refer my student to someone who can help, like to appropriate specialist or agency. “Members shall take reasonable care to ensure the safety and welfare of learners and comply with relevant statutory provisions to support their wellbeing and development” states Behaviour Code 3 of IfL Code of Professional Practice. I