Roles_and_Responsibilies_of_a_Teacher

1. Review what your role, responsibilities and boundaries would be as a teacher in terms of the teaching/training cycle. (Recommended word count 500 – 700 words.) According to Cengage Learning EMEA (2009), roles and responsibility of a teacher is a complex one, where a teacher has to make sure that learners learn in a manner which is favourable to their own individual learning needs. Considering above, the roles and responsibilities have been constantly evolved through teacher training cycle. Gravell (2008) states that teacher training cycle clearly emphasises on each and every step that need to be considered before and during the whole teaching process. Whole teacher training cycle has been classified into main five sections: Identifying the needs of a learner, Planning and designing, Delivering, Assessment and finally Evaluation. My future role would be of a Biology teacher in further education sector. Considering my role as a science lecturer, I would have to embed the whole teacher training cycle in my job role to make my learners understand better and more effectively. a) Identify Needs: Prior to the needs of a learner, there are certain needs of the organisation itself, for e.g. to follow the curriculum already set. Then comes the learner’s need, in further education, which is a much more diverse sector as compared to schools, learners come from different backgrounds and could be from different countries, so they might have some language and ethical issues. They would also be different in their ability levels. As this is post 16 education, I have to assume that learners will have some prior basic knowledge of the topic to be delivered. Besides, I would also have to identify if any learner suffers from any sort of disability for e.g. Dyslexia. Learners in a science class needs more of practical knowledge then just lecturing, they are more likely to be pragmatist, need logical reasoning for doing something as stated by Honey and Momford (1986). Some learner’s might have some financial or personal problems during the course of study that can have a negative impact on their learning. b) Plan & Design: Planning will involve Scheme of work, prepared in advance and will include the entire syllabus based in the curriculum, which further need to be broken down into sessions/lesson plans. The scheme of work will state clearly, what need to be covered during each session with allocated timing and activities, Gravells (2008). If I have come across any learner with special learning requirement, I can take that in account in my scheme of work. Inclusion of a proper specified aim, with clear objectives of what to deliver along with resources like use of interactive projectors, hand-outs, inclusion of functional skills and worksheets during the session is very important for effective learning. If it’s my first lesson, I would also need to add some icebreaker activity. I would have to include some laboratory experiments for practical knowledge. c)Deliver: For effective learning teacher have to create a suitable learning environment, which includes resources and proper attitude of the teacher towards learner, that need to be very positive and supportive. Before starting the session, I would have to test learners on their prior knowledge. While delivering my session I would have to keep my learners motivated at all times by including some kinaesthetic activities based on team work. Providing some hand-outs to follow the lesson, make. I can sometimes include some scientific videos. At all times I would have to be patient, very polite and also understand the needs of any challenging learner. I would have to give learners a chance to ask questions and clear their doubts related to the lesson. Also arrange some educational trips. d) Assess: Assessment is one of the important part of the teaching process. I would have to make sure at all times if learners understand the lesson. To know this I would have to engage learners in some sort of assessment activities. Provide them with some quiz/test questions or worksheets to work in groups. Give them homework, to research on latest scientific development, or write a report or give them a coursework topic. As a biology teacher in further education, learner’s final assessment will be through exams, conducted by different boards (Edexcel, OCR, and AQA) in May and June and assessed by external assessor. e) Evaluate: Evaluating my own session by setting up course files: Gravells (2008), making notes, and keeping records of the progress of learners and maintain proper attendance records of learners. Constructive feedback from the line manager and feedback from learners is important to evaluate my own teaching. To summarise all, the teaching cycle plays and important role in teaching profession. Proper inclusion of all steps of teaching cycle results in effective learning and gives a more balanced approach to a teacher to deal with learners at their own individual level.