Teaching is a challenging and rewarding career when you see your student’s achievement and the transition they make throughout their education life. Being a teacher come with a lot of skills that you encounter through experience and skill. The main role of a teacher is to engage all students to the learning experience through active learning. As Gravells, A (2011) mentions that the main role of a teacher should be the teacher who can get the learners involved during every lesson. However to do this the teacher should have passion for the subject and enough subject knowledge. Armitage, A (1999) argues that it is not always effective as from “common experience” teachers who tend to know they subjects and have enough knowledge but lack in communication. Rogers, A & Horrocks, N (2010) mention the human communication theory that explains the importance of communication and indicates its two way process. Also state how communication links people into an organisation to achieve a common purpose. To be effective teacher communication is vital for both the teacher and the student. Reece, I& Walker, S (2000) argue that there is no good way to teach and many good teachers have many different skills and methods that contrast from teacher to teacher. An effective teacher is who has a clear notion of they own learning and how to develop them. ‘To enable effective learning, you need to plan what you are going to teach and when’ (Gravells, 2011:53).
Teaching does require other skills for teaching to be effective as Gravells, A (2011) involves not only the approaches you use for the subject, but other assets before the lesson and after the lesson. Overall theses skills can include the planning, materials, how the teacher assesses the learner, marking students work and providing relevant feedback.
Reflection is how teachers will learn from practice and be able to know they own strength and weakness and be able to reflect from they own experience, Minton, D (2005) Teaching is the learning experience for the teacher as well as the students. As every lesson for the teacher will be opportunity to assess they own teaching and evaluate themselves from the lesson. Also to understand how they learners learn best and use different teaching methods to full engage all participants.
The roles vary from teachers but each teacher will have they own expertise. All teachers are expected to have a responsibility of engaging the learner to the lesson. Many teachers will have a variety of, methods that allows them to engage the learners to the subject that is being taught.
According to Ann Gravells (2011:7) ‘the teaching and learning cycle can start at any stage and keep on going’ all stages need to be addressed for the teaching to be effective. The cycle has 5 stages: initial assessment, planning learning, delivery of course, assessment and quality assurance. Reece, I& Walker S (2000) mention the use of the experience, reflection, learning model. They mention that the design of the format will form the lesson itself. The model suggests that teachers should start with the objective or “terminal behaviour” of the students and what teachers want the student to learn. Then go through entry level, this is to check what the students may already know about the subject before the lesson begins. Finally towards the end of the lesson is “instructional techniques” this process involves experience and reflection before assessing how much has been learned.
Reece, I& Walker S (2000) describe the model to be the basic teaching model that indicates how a teacher can establish positive attitudes towards the learning by the students.
The initial assessment should be completed at the beginning of a learning cycle. The importance of an initial assessment and why they take place is because to identify each learners needs and learning style. This can also be used to acknowledge any barriers that the learners may have and to establish professional boundaries and ground rules. There are some limitations what can occur when identifying needs and also boundaries that may affect the process. For example the lack of information of learner requirements as the teacher isn’t aware of the learner’s prior knowledge or behaviour/action before the assessment which can have a negative effect on the process of the assessment. Communication issues between the teacher and learner can also make the initial assessment very difficult to take place
Each lesson should be different and teachers should use a range of teaching and learning strategies that meet the style of the learner’s ability. There are barriers that teacher should be aware of as this could affect the learners performance. These barriers can include: lack of confidence, negative attitudes and forms of learning difficulties e.g. dyslexia.
Teachers should ensure learner’s needs are addressed and that learners are making progress. In order to do this the teacher have acknowledge of the techniques and learning style that suits the learners they are teaching. Teacher should plan accordingly and make sure they plans reflect the learning outcomes, which they expect the learners to achieve at the end of the lesson. A Wright (2008) cites listening to the students builds a good classroom environment. All students learn in a different way as Reece, I& Walker S (2000) mention different learning approaches maybe appropriate for some students and maybe inappropriate for others. Therefore a teacher will need different learning strategies and hope to appeal to all the learners. As the level of participation of all learners is the important factor in the learning process. Honey and Mumford (1986) published the learning styles. This manual learning style has four main learning styles. The four main learning styles they discussed are activists, reflectors, theorists and pragmatists. Activist learners like involving themselves to new experiences and learn by doing. Reflectors learners are more observant and tend to be thoughtful. The theorist learners need materials such as theories, models and facts in order to learn. The theorists learners like are keen to understand the theory behind action. And finally, the pragmatists are keen to experiment and look for new ideas that relate to the lesson.
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Daily interaction with staff; individual lesson planning and target setting for learners are all skills that a teacher within the sector is expected to possesses. Additionally, an emphasis on the appreciation and utilisation of differentiated learning strategies, and the development of schemes of work, along with the need to reflect upon one’s own practice. The students who have benefited from these advances in education will, at some point, possibly attend university; the transition, therefore, from school to higher education will be sharper than ever. Given the widening participation of diverse students in the higher education sector, further support for pupils struggling with challenges will be increasingly important but is far from fully addressed and indeed calls for further development within higher education, as is noted by Pickering (2006, cited, Rodaway, 2007, 2).
The learning needs to be measured; this can be done by using the summative and formative assessment techniques that allow students to have feedback on their progress. From these assessments the teacher can be a reflective and use this to inform future practice. Feedback from students could also facilitate this
A crucial role of Teachers is to be responsible for following policies, procedures and also keeping up to date with legislation acts. To act professional toward learners and to ensure learners are on the right level of study, giving appropriate advice, guidance and keep records of any agreements made by the learner. To maintain confidentiality especially if students need to undertake a CRB check to enrol on a course or placement programme.
Overall the roles, responsibilities and boundaries as a teacher are to deliver effective lesson, encouraging the learner and to maintain a positive and safe learning environment. Teachers are responsible for the health and safety and physical welfare of learners. There are many boundaries which could affect teaching. For example: time constraints, the learning environment and the teacher’s organisational requirements. Effective teacher take into consideration these boundaries may occur and always have a backup plan that will not affect learners.Self-evaluation is also necessary for the teacher to improve their practice.
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Every teacher must abide by professional values and ethics, teachers do have a duty of care for learners but there are certain boundaries they can’t cross. If a student has a particular need that crosses the boundaries the teacher must refer to relevant organisation. This doesn’t mean teachers cannot be supportive towards the learners. Teachers need to be support learners individual needs but ensure that professional boundaries are maintained. It is important to have a professional distance is kept between the teacher and learner. As Gravells, A. (2010) mentions boundaries are about knowing where the teacher role stops and for teachers to work within the limit of that role.
Teacher should value each learner as an individual and treat them equally regardless of the learners needs/background. Teachers should create effective opportunities for all learners and encourage progression that enable the developments and progression of all students.
It is important for a teacher to keep up to date with all relevant legislation as there can be changes or updates made so –it’s vital for a teacher to ensure they remain current with legislation and codes of practice. Each organisation will have they own codes of practice some examples of generic legislation for teachers in the lifelong sector is code of professional practice. Gravells, A.(2011) discusses the seven behaviours which the code is based on. The seven behaviours are professional integrity, respect, reasonable care, professional practice, criminal offence disclosure, responsibility during institute investigations and responsibility. This code outlines the professional behaviours expected of teachers for the benefit of learners. Therefore a teacher should do their upmost best to comply and recognise their obligations as a professional teacher to ensure high standards of practice.
The Legislation requirements are designed to protect the welfare of teachers and students. The equality act 2010 is there to advance equal opportunities. Gravells, A. (2011) mentions the equality act (2010) brings “disability, sex, race and other grounds of This legislation is a key one in teaching as it dictates that learning and assessment must be accessible to all learners regardless background of the individual. This act is there to protect rights of individuals and advance equal opportunities. Armitage, A.(2012) states it’s a “crucial factor” for a teacher to plan for diversity and for teachers to recognise the connection between equality and diversity as a requirement as the teachers role.
Wallace.(2004) discusses inclusiveness and indicates what FENTO (2000) say, which is “equality, and inclusiveness are of fundamental importance to teachers”. The teacher therefore should plan and prepare a lesson for all the learners without making a student feel excluded. Wallace. (2004) indicates the use of indiual learning plan (ILP). Learners maybe at different levels and have different needs therefore the teacher can produce a ILP. The ILP will include individual targets and activites suitable for the individual This will allow the teacher to monitor the progress and achieveme-nt against the learners ILP.
Other legislative requirements that impact teaching include the Data Protection Act 1998, the Human rights Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The Data protection act is how information relating to learners is stored within the organisation. Any personal information should be kept confidentially and stored in a place that is only accessible to those who need to access the information. if students need to access personal information of what the organistion holds about them they have the right to request to see the information as this complies with the freedom of information act 2000.
Record keeping is also a process to support teaching and learning process. Record keeping can include information about learners progress, achievement and attendance. The purpose of this is to measure learning of your learners and the programme overall. It is for a teacher to identify learner’s needs. Cohen, L.(2007) mention the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority suggest that these records “recording students achievement can be used to raise standards.” So teachers need to have a clear understanding of the outline of records that contain information which will benefit the performance of they learners. Record keeping can be useful for other purposes as Gravells, A.(2011) explains it can be used for the purposes “such as accident, appeals, equal opportunities and funding purposes.” It can also be used for external organisations such as inspectors etc.
Honey, P. and Mumford, A. (1986) the manual of learning styles, Peter Honey
Wright, A (2008). How to be a brilliant trainee teacher. USA: Routledge. p105.
Roadway, P. (2007). ‘Changing perspectives in teaching’. Journal of Further and +Higher Education. Vol. 31(1), pp. 1-6.
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