The_Role_of_the_Teacher

Assignment One: The Role of the Teacher I have used the following criteria when observing other teachers;  Equal opportunities – Welcoming diversity – Important to include all learners and treat everyone with equal respect. All students must feel that they are positively and equally valued and accepted, and that their efforts to learn are recognised, and judged without bias. It is not enough that they are tolerated. They must feel that they and the groups to which they belong (e.g. ethnic, social class or attainment groups) are fully and equally accepted and valued by you, and by the establishment in which you work. Translated into studentese, this reads: “Teachers should be fair, with no teachers’ pets, and no pet hates.”  Clear aims and objectives given out at the start of the lesson – Lets learners know what is expected and what they will get out of the lesson, this takes away any initial fears creating a relaxing learning environment.  Follow a lesson plan – Allow for flexibility – Important to have organised planned out lessons with relevant learning and teaching resources, having extra work if needed, allocating enough time for activities and being aware that not all plans go to plan and some lessons can go over time due to various factors.  Consider student entry behaviour (SEB) – Being aware of learners key skill levels, prior knowledge, learners personal circumstances can sometimes interfere with attendance, never assume a students’ capabilities  Safe, warm, secure learning environment – Learning development  Value all opinions and comments - Respecting everyone equally and acknowledging comments made, find faults and fix, praise learners for input and successes.  Good student/teacher relationships – Over time students build trust with their teachers’ and peers, feel confident to answer questions and work in groups.  A variety of teaching methods – To engage learners, encourage learners to become independent learners “One of the phrases that Rogers used to describe his therapy is "supportive, not reconstructive," and he uses the analogy of learning to ride a bicycle to explain: When you help a child to learn to ride a bike, you can't just tell them how. They have to try it for themselves. And you can't hold them up the whole time either. There comes a point when you have to let them go. If they fall, they fall, but if you hang on, they never learn.” Rogers uses the above analogy of learning to ride a bike, I feel this is similar to teaching in that you can’t just tell students what they need to know, you have to let them have a go on their own. This is incorporated when using a variety of teaching methods and allowing students freedom to use their own varied learning styles (VAK).  Pace to suit learners – So as not to cram too much in to one session, speak clearly not rushed or too slow. Learning isn’t about feeling inadequate i.e. not being able to keep up if pace is too fast.  Good quality handouts/resources – Relevant to course material, interesting and eye catching, not too much information as this can steer students away from independent research and active learning  Enthusiasm – Teachers need to show enthusiasm for the subject they are teaching for  Encouragement & Praise - Students need to know how they are doing, where improvements can be made and that they have done well so far, help learners to realise they can achieve their goals.  Good attendance/punctuality (tutor & student)  Effective time management  Scope for students knowledge to progress – Adapt to suit learners needs  Communication – Clear and concise communication skills, positive body language, brief eye contact with all learners. Light humour, yet not over friendly.  Allow time for group interaction and discussion – Encourages students to build rapport with peers, build team working skills, be aware of the mix Observation of a Teacher Group – Entry to Employment Lesson – Personal Development – Teambuilding 12 Students – Aged between 16 – 19 years of age – Male and Female This is the second week for students on this course, Attendance is good and punctuality is improving, this is a reflection of the teachers reminders to students’ of the agreed group guidelines, the impact being late can have on a group etc. The idea of this lesson is to encourage learners to function as a group; some members of the group have worked together on other courses and tend to stick together. Teambuilding enables students to integrate and function as a whole group as opposed to 2 or 3 groups. A good introduction gives student’s a clear idea of what to expect throughout the lesson. A lot of communication is used, questions and positive body language. Assessment; checking of learners understanding of what we need to work and why, this is achieved by asking questions and observation of students’ working together on set tasks. Students’ in this group like to talk, however they remain focused on the lesson when they have something to do, however several student’s complete tasks before others, I would suggest pre prepared work or peer support to eliminate any boredom from quicker students’. Encouraging independent active learning is crucial to learners finding understanding. The Teacher gave the group a task (the Stick Game) to complete, this involved working as a team, students had to stand in a circle holding a stick between each other using only their finger to support the sticks, they then had to navigate around the room without dropping the stick, if they did they had to start at the beginning again, the difficulty of this being tables and chairs to walk around. Students’ were split into 2 groups creating an air of competitiveness. For assessment purposes the teacher was able to observe how learners reacted and which roles students automatically adopted within the team. Games are a good way of facilitating learning, providing the rules of the game are explained and understood prior to starting. Another game the teacher set for the 2 teams was a numbers game where numbers were randomly placed in a circle from 1 – 40, students had to count out loud in turn touching the number as they said it, this was timed by the teacher to see who could complete the quickest, at first students’ commented that it would be easy, however students’ found that it did test their team working skills. After several attempts student’s increased their time to complete the task. A simple game that develops team skills, individuals can identify their own strengths and weaknesses when working as part of a team. Students who tend to lead others give instructions on the best way forward where players tend to go along with it, thinkers have ideas and strategies and express theses to the rest of the group, as a teacher I feel it is important to encourage everyone to have a go at the varied roles within a team, even if this does take them out of their comfort zones, as this enables students’ to recognise their own strengths and weaknesses, especially when theory work is completed before and straight after as a group to reflect on what has been learnt and understood. The teacher discussed factors important when completing a task as a group the following were agreed: Motivation, Co operation, communication (body language, speaking and listening), instructions, space, patience, time, tools/equipment, confidence, encouragement, mobility, determination. Questions were asked to the whole group to identify the above needs’ learners were encouraged to think, which progressed their current knowledge and understanding. Leading questions were also used to establish any missing needs, learners were asked to explain why these needs were important and how they would apply them in their own lives and future work. Students were also asked if they could think of any jobs’ that didn’t require any of the identified needs, This was particularly interesting because students’ came up with several job roles to include; postman, cleaner and a refuse collector, however opinions soon changed once an explanation had been given, students’ could understand the importance these ‘needs’ are in all areas of employment and even, any task they choose in life. The teachers’ role holds many responsibilities to all students’; these include equal opportunities, a fairness to all, to include all students in the learning process, to give learners support, guidance and appropriate referrals to relevant other areas such as counselling, other courses, financial help, all of which ensure students’ get the right help. I have included the eight principles of conduct and practice for registered teachers from the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) The eight principles of conduct and practice published:12 Oct 2009 Registered teachers: 1. put the well-being, development and progress of children and young people first 2. take responsibility for maintaining the quality of their teaching practice 3. help children and young people to become confident and successful learners 4. demonstrate respect for diversity and promote equality 5. strive to establish productive partnerships with parents and careers 6. work as part of a whole-school team 7. cooperate with other professional colleagues 8. demonstrate honesty and integrity and uphold public trust and confidence in the teaching profession. As I am a trainee teacher carrying out voluntary work in colleges and commercial learning environments I have a responsibility to provisionally register with The Institute for Learning (IFL), I have also registered with recruitment agencies that specialise in finding teachers and trainee teachers temporary work assignments. Reference List Cherry, K. (2010) The Five Levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/hierarchyneeds.htm (Accessed 26/04/10) General teaching Council (2008) The eight principles of conduct and practice http://www.gtce.org.uk/teachers/thecode/fulltext/eightprinciples (Accessed 26/04/10) Petty, G. (2009) Teaching Today 4th Edition, Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes.