Review_What_Your_Role,_Responsibilities_and_Boundaries_as_a_Teacher_Would_Be_in_Terms_of_the_Teaching_Training_Cycle.

Introduction This document reviews the role, responsibilities and boundaries of a teacher in terms of the teaching/training cycle. When reference is made to students this refers to all people of all age ranges within education. When referring to the role of a teacher, this includes that of a trainer/lecturer within all educational establishments both private and public which for the purposes of this document are organisations. Reference is made within this document to CPD, which refers to continued professional development. Review what your role, responsibilities and boundaries as a teacher would be in terms of the teaching/training cycle. The recommended words count 500-700. The teaching/training cycle (see image 1) is critical for success in the learning environment for the students, teacher and organisation. Image 1 The Teaching Training Cycle Image 1 The Teaching Training Cycle Starting with identifying student needs and where possible removing barriers to learning. These barriers can manifest in or out of the learning environment and so the teacher must be vigilant when observing learners. Identifying students with literacy or numeracy difficulties and signposting them to learning support where the student will be assisted. The teacher has to be observant when working with learners with disabilities both physical and mental ensuring that they have equal opportunities within the learning environment as all the other students. Barriers to learning may also be outside of the learning environment, financial and social needs may also need to be addressed and so the teacher needs to be aware of the organisations policies and procedures regarding referring the student to the correct department for further assistance. Throughout the cycle it is important to keep organised, accurate and up to date records showing actions taken and students’ progress. The organisation’s procedures dictate the records required for students and teacher. Records are required for each step within the cycle and are important. These records may have legal implications as well as indicating students’ progress. Records may include sensitive information which only authorised people can access. Breaks in protocol may result in breaking the law which will have a negative impact on the organisation and the teacher’s professional standing not to mention the possible embarrassment and distress caused to the student. Once the baseline has been identified, planning and design can start. Initially this process will be time consuming especially where students may need individualised learning programmes. These may be designed by the learning support department. Planning requires the teacher to know the aims and objectives and communicate these clearly to the students’. These objectives should in the main be measurable to aid in evaluation. Within the plans a teacher should be aware of the abilities of students they teach, and tailor the lesson plan accordingly. The plan needs to meet organisational requirements, however there should be flexibility in how the information is delivered. The initial meeting between teacher and students should include a discussion establishing ground rules which promote good learner behaviour. The organisation may have rules that are inflexible however where there is flexibility this can promote a sense of ownership which will result in better co-operation between students and teacher. This will lead to students policing their peers, which is likely to remove conflict between students and teachers. Where rules are not set at the start this could result in students not receiving their entitlement to a safe and conducive learning environment. A teacher whose class reflects diversity must be aware of their legal obligation to protect individual rights e.g. sexist, racist or homophobic remarks. Such breaches must be dealt with immediately and appropriately as per organisational policies and procedures. Within an information technology environment the organisation should have an AUP (acceptable use policy) in place, this will indicate the behaviour expected by the organisation from the students when around electrical/computer equipment i.e. All students must agree to this policy prior to using the equipment e.g. Students do not remove any cables from the equipment or do anything else that will disrupt the running of the system/network in any way. Teachers working for an organisation will be required to follow the practices laid down in the policies and procedures as well as making sure all relevant legislation is followed however if the teacher/trainer is self-employed and using their own office/learning environment then they will still be required to fulfil their legal obligations as per health and safety legislation but would have documentation requiring the learners signature prior to them entering the information technology environment. When planning a session a teacher should keep in mind the abilities of students and ensure that targets are obtainable and have built in contingencies. Although there is no guarantee that nothing will go wrong with a plan, the alternative of not having one will be obvious to students and organisation. Contingencies in lesson plans such as additional work for the more advanced will aid in ensuring that students who are ahead of the group continue working rather than disrupting the session due to boredom causing unacceptable behaviour. Where there are students of various abilities the teacher must plan and make sure that they have broken down their session plans to account for various abilities within the group e.g. where the teacher sets a task for the more advanced they must also break that same task down to smaller chunks for any learner that is finding the objectives difficult to achieve. Once a student has completed one of those smaller chunks the student must be praised for completing the task which will encourage them to progress and tackle the next task. Although this will take longer to plan for and put in place within the learning environment the learner will be more at ease, and so prevent a barrier to learning. The session plan is a basic document to show the teacher the path of the lesson and the objective will indicate what knowledge the students will leave with at the end of the session. Teachers must be prepared to be flexible with the session plan to include all students. They may be running micro classes within the group depending on students abilities. In an information technology environment, teaching a group with mixed abilities would mean that there would need to be a top level scheme of work which would need to be broken down in to session plans, the session plan for an individual session would then be broken down into smaller chunks for students that may have difficulties with the content or may have other learning difficulties which if not addressed will become a barrier to learning. This would result in the teacher being in a position to be able to assist those students who find the session difficult whilst monitoring the more advanced students making sure to keep them occupied with the required tasks. Teachers must take learning styles in to account and so their scheme of work and session plans must reflect those learning styles by using various materials and methods for passing on the knowledge to the students, I hear – I forget, I see – I remember, I do – I understand (GRAVELLS, Ann, 2008) is a Chinese proverb that reinforces that all of the learning styles must be addressed to be an effective teacher and reach all the students. Teachers who provide a positive, valuable, safe and comfortable learning environment are more likely to gain respect from students. A teacher’s professionalism includes respecting the students, being a role model and ensuring favouritism does not occur. Depending on time allocated to the session and curriculum, the plan should include various teaching materials e.g. hand outs, practical work and presentations. Reusable materials should be updated regularly. Using a multi-modal approach in the learning environment ensures differentiation on delivery which is a student’s entitlement. Ensuring differentiation is a must within the teaching profession, the definition of which is ‘about using a range of different approaches and resources to meet the needs of different individuals and groups’ (GRAVELLS, Ann, 2008). Differentiation is one of the main criteria that a teacher must work at to making sure that each individual student gets their entitlement to a quality education in a safe environment. The responsibility lies with the teacher to ensure they follow a CPD programme ensuring they close knowledge gaps and improve within their job role providing the students with a good education. When teachers first meet their students they must be able to establish boundaries, these highlight to all students what is and is not acceptable behaviour within the learning environment. The students will also see what they can expect from the teacher. Teachers need to be aware that there are specific boundaries that they must not under any circumstances cross, otherwise their professionalism will be brought into question and may well have legal implications, i.e. A teacher who makes physical contact with a student such as a hand on the shoulder whilst helping the student when sat at a computer . A teacher also needs to be aware when they are potentially overstepping their professional boundaries when dealing with a student who has for example behavioural issues or a student who has dyslexia need to be signposted and or referred to the staff/department that are trained and qualified to deal with the particular issue. Another reason why a teacher should not get over involved with issues that they are not qualified to deal with is that whilst they are spending time on that issue they are ignoring the rest of the students who will lose interest and potentially cause other issues/problems. Dual professionalism is an area that all teachers and trainers are strongly encouraged to pursue, this is where a specialist in for example I.T. through support from their organisation also through a teaching mentor will gain the expertise that is required for the benefit of their students. Teachers who are already professionals in their specialist area (e.g. Accountancy, IT, Engineering, Nursing) are being supported to develop the dual professionalism of combining that with teaching expertise. Mentoring from a teaching/ training professional within the same or similar area can help this transition in a variety of ways. The subject mentor who has already made this successful transition from subject or occupational professional to educational & subject/ occupational professional is a crucial figure in supporting the trainee to make the necessary links between the two to blend them for the benefit of their students. (ROBSON, JOCELYN, 1998) Teachers who are already professionals in their specialist area (e.g. Accountancy, IT, Engineering, Nursing) are being supported to develop the dual professionalism of combining that with teaching expertise. Mentoring from a teaching/ training professional within the same or similar area can help this transition in a variety of ways. The subject mentor who has already made this successful transition from subject or occupational professional to educational & subject/ occupational professional is a crucial figure in supporting the trainee to make the necessary links between the two to blend them for the benefit of their students. (ROBSON, JOCELYN, 1998) When asked a question they can’t answer teachers should be honest and say either that they will find out, or supply the student with the tools to find the answer for themselves. Marking students work and returning it in a timely manner with constructive feedback encourages students’ progress. Once delivery is complete the teacher should assess, evaluate and reflect on how the session went and answer the following (see image 2). Image 2 Assessment & Evaluation Questions Image 2 Assessment & Evaluation Questions Within my own field of I.T. and once I had completed a session with students I would ask myself ‘were the objectives met’' If not what was the cause for lack of achievement' Identifying the reason for this would be done by addressing the following * Did I aim too high or too low with the subject matter for the students' * Was my delivery at fault' * Did I make the chunks of information too big or too small' * Did I update any recycled learning materials to present date' * Did I ensure that I used a multi-modal approach' * Did I ensure inclusivity' * Did I ensure differentiation' * Do I have knowledge gaps' * Did I use diversity to help students to understand' * Did I ensure equality and fairness took place throughout the session' Answering the above questions would aid me in making any improvements to the next scheme of work and session plans ensuring that the students get their entitlement to a quality education in a safe and conducive learning environment. Another approach is to obtain student feedback, asking them questions e.g. * Did they find any part easy/hard * Was the pace of delivery to fast or to slow or just right' * Is there anything they would like to see included/excluded' * Did they meet their objectives' If not what could have been done to help them' These questions would then be contributing to the teachers development directly which in turn would benefit future students. Schemes of work and session plans are only a guide, depending on the individual and group needs the teacher will need to be flexible and able to adapt the session accordingly to suit all learners’ needs. This may mean that the initial session plan will need to be broken down in to smaller chunks for students who find the subject matter difficult to understand. For example in I.T. holding a session on creating a database in Microsoft Access to explain the concept of creating a primary key within a table to identify the link between two tables may need to be explained in several ways. If there are still students who do not understand then using another learning style to explain a primary keys job: such as actually displaying through the use of technology each and every step of what a primary key is, why we need one and how it is used within the database and creating one through a working example. There may still be students who are unclear which may require the teacher spending time with individual students. Teachers must plan for these eventualities when writing their schemes of work and session plans to ensure inclusivity and differentiation. Bibliography FLEMMING, Neil. 2001 -2010. VARK -- A Guide to Learning Styles. [online]. [Accessed 12 September 2011]. Available from World Wide Web: GRAVELLS, Ann. 2008. Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector. Exeter: Learning Matters. GUNAY, Jacky. 2011. A Teachers Role, Responsibilities and boundries. [online]. KOLB, David. 2003-2010. kolb's learning styles, experiential learning theory, kolb's. [online]. [Accessed 29 September 2011]. Available from World Wide Web: PETTY, Geoff. 2009. Teaching Today. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes Ltd. RICHARDSON, Hannah. 2010. BBC News - Students only have '10-minute attention span. [online]. [Accessed Wednesday September 2011]. Available from World Wide Web: ROBSON, JOCELYN. 1998. Itslife - Learning for Teaching - Professionalism. [online]. [Accessed 15 October 2011]. Available from World Wide Web: