Review_Your_Role,_Responsibilities_and_Boundaries_as_a_Teacher_in_Terms_of_the_Teaching_Training_Cycle.

Review your role, responsibilities and boundaries as a teacher in terms of the teaching/training cycle. A teacher is like an oil lamp on a post, if its flame is steady and bright, a hundred lamps can be lit by it, without in any way diminishing its brightness. For ensuring the brightness of the lamp, it is necessary that the wick be in good order and the oil supply be sufficient. Thus a teacher is a facilitator of learning, who sparks intellects and encourages learners to pursue knowledge on their own through enabling active participation and engagement with their ideas. Teaching is a cycle. It’s a process of training that may be fully envisioned, planned and executed. This cycle is made up of five components which are naturally interlinked to one another. The five components of this cycle are: • Identifying the needs of your student, • Designing or planning to suit those needs, • Facilitating learning through effective teaching, • Assessing what learners have made in what you have offered them. • Evaluating whether learning has taken place and also to review your own pedagogy. Identifying the needs of learners: This is the description of the learners’ needs and the learning environment. As a teacher, the profile of the learners and their needs create a huge impact on what I teach and how I deliver it. In institution in which I work, for example, there are some learners who are learning English as an additional language. Others start with no English at all. It is therefore vital to work with these learners to identify what they can do and use them as evidence to inform planning. The physical environment from which these learners are coming from, play very important role in their learning. I create a welcoming learning environment where learners feel safe and supported where there is flexibility and friendly atmosphere, where individual needs and uniqueness are honoured, where abilities and life achievements are also acknowledged and respected. This is what stimulates them to learn and develop; which also supports Malcolm Knowles (1913-1997) theory on how individual differences affect the learning process. Designing or planning to suit students needs: This involves the planning of lessons and the physical environment in relation to the curriculum and the needs of the learners. The needs of the learners have great impact in what is being planned and delivered. As a teacher, I have come to realise that simply following the curriculum alone or the course book do not provide what learners need. There are lots of ideas that come from learners themselves; and therefore I involve my students by asking them what they feel they need to learn. With reference to the course module, I use this feedback, additional resources and specific examples reflecting inclusion and diversity to plan lessons to inspire and challenge them; this helps to raise them for further level of achievement. Facilitate learning through effective teaching: To facilitate effective teaching and learning, I state the objective for the lesson I am teaching. The learning objective provides the basis for selecting the appropriate materials, resources and instructional strategies that suit the need of the learners. As part of my teaching strategies, I break the ice with informal talk outside the classroom to help learners feel relaxed and comfortable before the introduction of my lesson. I reach all learners using gestures, eye contacts, visual aids, specialist equipment, artefacts and books that reflect inclusion and diversity. By using open ended questions as part of my key questioning skills, I am able to arouse the thinking skills of learners, which help them to make connections in what being taught and what they are learning. To meet the needs of learners in relation to their readiness level, interest and learning profile, I differentiate my teaching instructions by modifying the contents, process and product to make it interesting and effective at the same time meeting the needs of all learners. In addition to this, I used focused group discussions and ‘peer’ modelling teaching strategy to help get all learners involved. Assessing what learners have made in what you have offered them: Assessment involves analysing and reviewing what I know about each learner’s learning. As a teacher, I make a pre assessment for learning about learners’ progress, and this helps me plan next learning steps to meet their needs. To determine the extent to which each learner has met the objective of my lesson, I use the formative type of assessment as an integral part of every step of my teaching. This helps me gain feedback on whether learning is taking place. Also as part of the requirement from the institution I work, I use summative assessment at the completion of the course module to determine whether a learner has ‘passed.’ This is normally done at a formal basis, with reference to all the objectives or outcomes of the course modules. Evaluation: As part of my best practices, I reflect on all processes and outcome of my teaching. This helps me identify the effectiveness of my teaching method; the challenges I face as I teach and how I can improve if I’m to teach the topic again. I also use feedback that learners have provided through questioning, answers, their involvement etc to help me modify and adapt new approaches to planning where necessary. The teaching cycle helps me as to identify different ways students learn. It also helps me to identify and follow I flexible approaches and provide right training to meet those needs. There are however, other scopes of a teacher’s role that extent beyond the context of the teaching cycle. As part of my teaching practice, I have acquired working knowledge of the current legislative requirements and codes of practice relevant to the subject I teach. This helps me understand my own responsibilities and role as a teacher, and the implication for the institution I work with. I have used this as guide to evaluate, develop and modify my own practice. In addition to this, I manage behaviour of the learners I teach. I have come to understand as a teacher, learners behave and respond well when their needs are met. I therefore manage my teaching resources and activities to create an environment that communicates positive message to all learners. I also work together with them to establish patterns of behaviour in the learning environment. I worked together with learners for example to establish what they are allowed in class, setting up deadlines for submission of work, punctuality etc. In conclusion, teaching and training people on a whole must be focused on individual’s potential and learning style, as well as on the needs of the surrounding environment. It is therefore essential, as teacher to adopt balanced methods that satisfy students’ needs, and at the same time helping them to grow in confidence and become contented.