Role,_Responsibilties_and_Boundaries

My understanding of the role of the teacher is to teach and reach the levels of all students. In order to achieve this, a number of steps need to be followed; these can be clearly explained through the five steps of the training cycle. “It’s called a cycle as you can start at any point, but you must follow through all the other points for teaching & learning to be effective”. (Gravells, 2008, p27) At the identifying needs and planning stage I would need to obtain an awareness of all of my students and their specific needs. The initial route for this would be at the interview stage where I would question each student, gain an understanding of their previous experience and their motivations for participating in the course. I would also set a pre course task which would enable me to assess the perspective learner’s varying styles of writing and the amount of help required to complete the course. This in turn could help me identify the most useful methods of teaching to implement during the course. It is essential for a teacher to know their boundaries within their role, obvious boundaries would be the appropriateness of the teacher/learner relationship and also understanding when a student requires further support beyond my remit, it is therefore essential to understand my limitations of my role and be aware of the referral opportunities so that I can do so appropriately Session planning would encompass specific requirements from the necessary educational body which would be providing the qualification. For example for my students to obtain a City & Guilds qualification would mean that I would have to follow their syllabus and not deviate from their criteria. This is a huge responsibility for a teacher, I would have to create a safe environment, establish open and trusting relationships and to deliver the learning to the students in an interesting and engaging manner to ensure a successful level of learning. It would be essential to set up a course file, containing the course syllabus, my scheme of work, session plans, hand outs, assignments and activities. The designing stage of the cycle would include preparing the environment, ensuring a duty of care to my students and ensuring that I had the necessary resources to deliver the session plans. To teach effectively planning and preparation are key to its success. I would treat all learners fairly with structured sessions containing clear aims and objectives and also have a contingency plan up my sleeve in case it did not go as planned. I believe that the main role of a teacher is to facilitate communication in such a way that all students are encouraged to be involved by giving everyone the opportunity to share and discuss will involve the learners actively and make the learning more interesting. It needs to be fun and enjoyable but above all it needs to be challenging as active learning helps people remember and increases confidence. During this stage of the cycle my role would change to that of a guide, coach and listener. It would be of paramount importance to encourage feedback from all of my students and it is my responsibility that everyone is treated equally and fairly. . ‘What is essential to be taught (the must), what is important (the should) and what is helpful (the could)’ (Gravells 2008 p38) I agree with this statement as it allows the teacher to prioritise the learning to include all of ‘the must’ but also enables you to add individual flair to delivering as much of the should and could as possible. Also during this stage I would revert back to teaching mode and check and assess everyone’s learning through effective questioning. This would lead onto the assessment stage, ensuring that all my students have learnt the necessary skills delivered. The most effective way for me to establish this would be through oral questioning. I would use open ended questions to gain information and probe for more details, thus ensuring my students have a good understanding of the session. Continual reassessment and change during the course must take place, this is known as evaluation. It will be essential to think and reflect on my own sessions, analysing the strengths and weaknesses of the content and delivery. Student and colleague feedback is an effective way of gaining an understanding of this. I would need to look for opportunities to evolve the session plan, improving the quality and effectiveness of delivery and seek ways of implementing the improvement. It is also essential for a teacher to understand their boundaries. Firstly professional behaviour is a priority, your professional values, rights and responsibilities are more important than any sense of needing to be liked by others or needing to please others. You must always conduct yourself in a professional manner. It is also important to use caution with self-disclosure and physical contact or touching. It is your responsibility for eliminating any misunderstanding.