The Role of the Teacher and Teaching Process

Unit Overview

• This unit describes the role of the teacher and teaching process
• By the end of the course students should be able to describe the teacher in the teaching and learning process
• After completing this unit learners should be able to:
  • Explain teaching concepts
  • Describe teaching competencies
  • Explain the roles of the teacher
  • Discuss factors that promote effective teaching and learning

Who is a Teacher?

• A teacher helps students acquire knowledge, competence and virtue
• They help others learn and develop new ways

Qualities of a Good Teacher

• Communication skills are essential
• They must be good listeners
• Collaboration skills facilitate learning
• Adaptability is an important teacher quality
• Teachers need to be engaging
• Empathy and patience are essential
• Value real-world learning
• Share best practices
• Teachers should be life long learners

What is Teaching

• Teaching could be a mother teaching their daughter how to make soup
• Or it could be a professional training people how to read and write
• Teaching can be formal or informal

Institutionalized Teaching

• Formal teaching is where a teacher controls the class, decides on curriculum and determines the methods used
  • These may be lectures, class discussion, or brainstorming
• Informal teaching is where a teacher helps facilitate learning instead of directing it
  • The teacher will organize material and encourage learners to interact with themselves
  • The teacher acts a guide, counselor and motivator
  • The learning activity may be guided by learning problems
    • These problems can be set by students and the teacher
• Informal teaching is not as structured as formal teachings
  • Informal structure should be flexible and loose

Deeper Look into Teaching

• Teaching can be an activity of imparting knowledge, skills, attitude and values
• This creates situations to facilitate learning
• And motivate learners to be interested in what is being transmitted to them
• Teaching does not occur without a learner
• Teaching in a strict sense is the behavior of someone in the position of teacher

Teaching as an Art or Science

• Teaching as art depends on an individuals teacher and their personality
• The art of teaching has been undertaken by people of different walks of life from ancient times to present
• Some people include Socrates, Plato, Aristole
• Teaching as a Science has a body of systematized knowledge
• Knowledge on Teaching methodology, Human development and Human Learning or Educational Psychology
• Modern science does not leave things to chance
• Findings are scientific so teachers can assess effectiveness for classroom teachers.

Roles of the Teacher

• The 21st century teacher is a facilitator of learning and creator of productive classroom environments
• These environments enable students to further develop their skills

General Teacher Roles

• A teachers primary role is to deliver classroom instruction to help students learn
• Teachers should prepare effective lessons
• Teachers should manage classroom materials
• Productively guide the class through curriculum
• And collaborate with staff

Specific Teacher Roles

• Controller: Teacher is in charge, sets methodology and uses techniques that need to be accurate.
• Prompter: Encourage students and give them suggestions, and nudging students.
• Resource: Available for student assistance, but not spoon feeding.
• Assessor: Gives teachers an opportunity to correct learners, while helping raise their self-esteem.
• Organizer: Setting up activities, instructions, demonstrations and providing feedback.
• Participant: Enlivens and engages the class activity.
• Tutor: Coaches the student to develop their skills.
• Interpreter and Designer: Teachers must be able to choose how lessons are taught with sensitivity to all learners.
• Leaders, Administrators and Managers: A teacher is responsible for managing the classroom.
• Scholars Researchers and life long learner: Teachers should be committed to their learning area.
• Community, citizenship and pastoral role

What are teaching competencies?

• Teaching competencies include skills and knowledge that enable a teacher to succeed
• To maximize student learning, teachers must have expertise in a wide-ranging array of competencies

Categories of Teaching Competencies

• Includes instuctional delivery, classroom management and formative assessment
• Plus personal competencies like empathy and cultural sensitivity

Phases of Teaching

• Teaching is complex and thus systematic planning is needed
• Teaching should be considered in terms of various steps called phases
• Teaching can be divided into three phases, each with operations that are key to creation
  • Planning Stage (Pre-Active Phase)
  • Execution Stage (Inter-Active Phase)
  • Evaluation and Feedback (Post-Active Phase)

Inter-Active Phases

• Involves setting up the class
• Then getting to know your learners
• And starting to teach

Pre-active Phases

• Formulate or fix goals
• Select content or subject matter to be taught
• Plan the arrangement of ideas and style of teaching
• Select instructional methodology
• Develop teaching strategies
• Decide the duration, place, and management of classroom teaching
• Decide about evaluation and techniques

Post-active Phases

• Consists of some Evaluation activities
• Summing up teaching tasks (1) Determining the exact dimensions of behaviour changes (2) Selection of testing devices and techniques (3) Changing strategies of testing

Reflective Teaching

• Is a process where teachers think over their teaching practices
• This includes analyzing something that was taught, and how to improve or change better learning outcomes
• This is self assessment of teaching, where teachers examine their tactics, articulate reasoning behind strengths and identify areas for revision
• Points of consideration in the reflection process might be:
  • What and why is being done?
    • How well are students learning?

Curriculum Evaluation Approaches

• Curriculum Evaluation can be performed in 5 ways:
  • Bureaucratic Evaluation
  • Autocratic evaluation
  • Democratic evaluation
  • Norm-referenced evaluation
  • Criterion-referenced evaluation

Bureaucratic Evaluation

• Usually initiated by government or ministry of education
• The ministry of education makes the assessment
• Government or the Ministry of Education uses the evaluation results

Autocratic Evaluation

• Focuses on educational needs of a curriculum.
• Government or ministries usually ask independent evaluators such as consultants to conduct this evaluation.
• The government or ministry is not obliged to accept the results of the evaluation.

Democratic Evaluation

• Focuses on experiences and reactions from curriculum initiators related to programme
• Evaluation does not lead to firm recommendations related to said programmes

Norm-Referenced Evaluation

• This evaluates student performance relative to their peers
• Results can be compared to current or previous students

Criterion-Referenced Evaluation

• This evaluates student performance and compares it with the instructors objectives

Functions of Curriculum Evaluation

• Functions include Informing decision makers about program/syllabus effectiveness for certain curriculums
• And enabling teachers to evaluate themselves

Self Evaluation

• The principal purpose of evaluation is to contribute to decision making
• Curriculum evaluations are done to address deficiencies and establish new priorities
• Decisions must have supporting evidence from evaluation exercises
• Puts teacher at the centre of evaluation
• Teachers are developers
• Allows teacher to change curriculum if changes make it more effective

Focuses of Evaluation

• Evaluation generally focuses on 4 things about the curriculum:
• Objectives
• Content
• Methodology
• Outcomes

Evaluation of Curriculum Objectives

• Necessary as they are the foundation of a curriculum
• Important questions include is the curriculum worthwhile, can it be achieved and what are the results
• Should also align course content, objectives, and methodologies

Curriculum Content and Methodology

• The content must be evaluated in order to establish whether it is relevant to the:
  • Needs
  • Aspirations of the society
• When evaluating content the focus should be on the effects its has on learner
• Methodology must be consistent with curriculum objective

Curriculum Outcomes

• Evaluate objectives, content and methodology
• The point is to supply curriculum designers with info to enhance the teaching material

Evaluating Teaching

• Evaluation can be formative or summative
• Both can be conducted to provide necessary info

Formative Evaluation

• Designed to improve instruction
• Focuses on student performance
• Integral part of instructional design and delivery

Formative Evaluation Q/A

• Seeks evidence of success or failure
• Is the instruction successful?
• If not, what can be done differently?
• Does the curriculum ensure success?
• Does it offer info that can be used to stop problems from being implemented?
• Carried out before a programme completes

Summative Evaluation

• Designed to test if programme will preform as intended
• In order to do cost effective tests in term of money, time and personnel
• Assess whether the project or programme is as good as one its intended to replace
• It needs to implemented properly
• It is conducted at the end of programme cycles

Evaluation Exercises

• Exercises which exist in the curriculum/existing programmes can be evaluated
• Teaching individual subjects can also be evaluated

Evaluation Methodologies

• Include:
  • Observations
  • Interviews
  • Tests
  • Questionnaires

Evaluation in Practice

• Questionnaires and interviews can be helpful in evaluating the entirety of the curriculum programmes or projects
• One technique that is helpful in curriculum programmes is performing structured tests
• Can test students academic performance