teacher
Motivation for a varied life in teaching
(1385 Words)
What motivates a teacher to start in the profession? For sure many reasons make someone begin a career in teaching. Is it pay or job security or is it a fall back option? This being said, initial motivation does not mean that years later the same can be said. The fact of the matter is the evolution of the new teacher into a mature tutor. This is then the professional person who has recognized the true meaning of teaching. This person recognizes their role in helping to shape young minds and impart moral values through education. Teaching has to be a vocation. In part an autobiographical story highlighting aspects of Asian teaching and also analysis, there are many aspects that any teacher has to realize to fulfill true potential.
Certainly, ongoing professional development highlights certain challenges in teaching that a teacher has to face up to. A focal point has to be the realization that students do not really know how to learn. How can any teacher, great as they may think they are, not realize that the students are naive about how to get the most benefit from a lesson? Any teacher has to look at the students’ own learning traits in light of today’s imperative that they both foster lifelong learners in their classrooms as well as become lifelong learners themselves. It’s the teacher’s inspiration that plays a huge part in a student’s education although every student and the class as a whole have to progress to help the teacher get the most out of them.
Different countries have varying approaches to learning and teaching. How does a foreign teacher survive in another country’s learning environment? Any foreign teacher working abroad has to adapt and work within the culture. It can be hard to change teaching methods to what has been ingrained from school through to university. Motivation to rise above some of another country’s inequalities as you see them is paramount. In some of these cultures, students tend to be passive and may be reluctant to participate in communicative exercises. A change in the style of teaching to suit these learners’ needs is essential because completely following an Asian model would be alien to any foreign teacher; a balance has to be met. A new foreign teacher would think it is strange to see no encouragement given to the students to think independently while just following the examples of the teacher, who is held in high esteem. Progression as a teacher means drawing attention to many facets of teaching. Inspiration has to come from somewhere. Breaking the barriers that slow students’ learning and build foundations that provoke students’ development has got to be a motivator.
Of course, any teacher would not automatically change their style of teaching. The question is: should they focus more on themselves as a teacher or the students? Which one deserves more thought? It must be believed that deeper thinking about the children’s role in learning is paramount. It’s just when you see children who have so much energy, who are not lazy per se, using their energy into ignoring the learning process. This does not mean every one of them is mentally challenged; it is the direction they are taking. For example, a fifteen-year-old student kept saying the word ‘brio’. What it meant in his language or English language was not clear, but he would say things like ‘do you brio?’ and ‘I am brio’. This was actually when ‘present tense’ was being taught. The co-teacher thought this student was being disruptive and after class, she had a word with the teacher about it. She went on to mention that he was a hyperactive kid who had problems at home and she was sorry. Basically, that was the end of the story. Many factors come into one’s learning and potential, but there was a child who had energy. He was contributing in his own way. It was the way the teacher dealt with this child’s attitude that had the major factor in his learning. The teacher was glad to have this student taking part. He felt it was a bit negative just to put him down as having problems and forget about it. It was felt the teacher just had to channel that liveliness and educate him to use it properly. To put in bluntly teachers need to see what role the students actually play in the classroom. Similarly, Beth Buchler, educational consultant and director of New-Learning Educational Services wrote that you need a ‘student who is responsible, who takes charge, and who self-regulates in the context of today’s changing learning environment’. A teacher does not change these children overnight and many will take time. Every student has potential. The issue for the teacher is how to overcome their learned behaviors they have in class that is being detrimental to them.
So, why are they not performing? One other factor could be a boring teacher. How can any teacher help a student change their learning style if the students (or even the teacher) do not have any interest or enthusiasm? Referring to Alexandra Frean’s piece written in the Times newspaper about ‘boring teachers blamed for rowdy classes’. It seems obvious that students will show their bad side when they are bored, but according to Ofsted, at that time, this was a problem in English schools. The report drew an angry response from the National Union of Teachers which was understandable but it happens. An example of a disruptive class comes from watching an Asian teacher conduct a lesson. The students were naughty, but why were they naughty? Was it because they were disobedient or because the lessons were not so interesting? The teacher was shouting at the noisy students at the start of the lesson. They were quiet once the teacher started shouting, but after that, they were back talking again. The teacher asked them to look at the questions in their book and find the answers in the reading. It seemed a very easy lesson plan. Were the children interested? Maybe, they were not interested. All they needed to do is fill in the blanks which were being done by a couple of people, namely by the best students. The others were just waiting for the answers happily relaxed talking to each other. This teacher was not making the class interesting, no wonder the students were back talking. After exiting the classroom for five minutes then entering an ‘okay let’s check the answers’ loud voice, the teacher went through the answers. The teacher started speaking in their native language then asking for one English word answer at a time. The English teacher’s speech was mixed with their native language. The answers were now being given anyway so the ones who did not bother can just fill in their book. What was the teacher’s purpose in this class? Where was the motivation to learn? If you had filled in the answers you would have finished. It must be said that “Yes, you have finished but isn’t the purpose of learning a foreign language for using it in a context that is valuable for the future. The weaker students are just copying the answers while laughing about something not involved in the subject at hand. This new information they should have learned will stay in their minds for a short time”. Basically, it is hard for a native English teacher to see this whole episode and not feel sorry for everyone involved because everyone walks and carries on regardless.
The irony of all this is that the more the students become independent learners; a process “in which individuals take the initiative, with or without the help of others” (M. Knowles), the teacher’s job will hopefully become more manageable. Motivation and interest will take over idle chat and disruption. Teachers can then confidently feel that they are succeeding and be motivated to take their teaching to another level. This will be not only with themselves but also with the other students. Hopefully, the pride the teacher feel from making these students ready for the world outside school and their future will show them the true meaning of teaching and encourage them for many years. Hopefully, this piece of writing has tried to open teachers to this fact.
References
Bernard-Powers, J., Darling-Hammond, L., Der Ramos, A., Kass, M., LaBoskey, V., & Markowitz, M., et al. (2000). Principles of high quality teacher development. San Jose, CA: The Teacher Quality Collaborative. Retrieved January 23, 2002, from http://www.jointventure.org/initiatives/21st/tqc/principles.html
Boring teachers blamed for rowdy classes
By Alexandra Frean, Education Editor
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article624308.ece
Critical Issue: Terms of Engagement—Rethinking Teachers’ Independent Learning Traits – Beth Buchler, M.A., educational consultant and director of New-Learning Educational Services
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/educatrs/profdevl/pd400.htm
Malcolm knowles, informal adult education, self-direction and andragogy
http://www.infed.org/thinkers/et-knowl.htm
Supporting and Facilitating Self-Directed Learning
http://www.ntlf.com/html/lib/bib/89dig.htm
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Reflective Essay – A Critical Incident
A “prudent understanding of variable situations with a view to what is to be done” (McCarthy, 1984, p.2) encapsulates that moment when a teacher is met with new experiences that need resolving. Teachers are met with acts that define their personalities. While working in Asia, I was faced with one such dilemma as two students had complained to my manager that I was rude to them. All I was mentioning after class (in a respectful way and in the least words possible) on the first day of a new term that they had entered the class late, ignored me, and sat down to subsequently talk with their friends. Asian culture may ignore this nonchalant kind of attitude, although I felt the need to deal with it. What is called a ‘technical rationality’ (Schon, 1983), namely my reaction, I hoped, was a means to an end by telling them in not so many words that I would like them to respect the learning students, process and the teacher teaching. In this given situation, and given they were both adults, who was right as we both had views? For this essay, I would like to like to draw on Gibbs’ (1988) six step process of reflection to examine this classroom experience.
Firstly is the ‘description’ (Gibbs, 1988) of what happened? This can be said to be the ‘critical incident’ (Flanagon, 1954) which emphasizes a direct observation of human behavior to examine the point of myself, the teacher, keeping two students behind after class to talk about their behavior towards the learning process. This is also the ‘concrete example’ (Peters, 1984) which shows that we have to step back and test ourselves. Then, the next test is my ‘feelings’ (Gibbs, 1988) towards the students’ attitude of nonchalantly arriving late and traipsing past me. I felt a bit of frustration as the class had been disturbed, myself disrespected as a teacher while not forgetting being unsupported by my manager who told me to apologize to them.
Moreover, to ‘evaluate’ (Gibbs, 1988), the third stage of Gibbs’ model, which highlights the good and bad, is first to say that I chose a quiet moment to explain myself; this being after class. The bad would be the students’ reaction to a situation they felt was not to be worried so much about which in Asian culture made them lose face. So, to make sense of the situation and thus ‘analyze’ (Gibbs, 1988) it, I was left feeling that I was in the wrong. My manager was now telling me to apologize and forget about it, although he was driven by the Asian culture and business ethics of the customer is always right and do not say anything bad.
Furthermore, the “conclusion” (Gibbs, 1988) is to highlight and reflect on what more I could have done, seeing as I had to apologize (or risk losing my job). Culture was an issue, but also I think attitudes to lateness of another teacher to which they had had the previous term was an issue. The sixth stage, my ‘action plan’ (Gibbs, 1988) is now to see if the situation arose again what I would do. Of course, there are reasons for being late, and also for reactions to negative things said about someone. Culturally, maybe I was too abrupt and too serious. Finally, laughter and a smile work in the Asian culture while also getting the students’ personal feelings as to the right behavior instead of pushing my personally held beliefs is also a factor; hopefully, we all become wiser.
(Words 591)
References
Peter Scales, 2008. Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector. 1 Edition. Open University Press.
Geoff Petty, 2009. Teaching Today: A Practical Guide. 4 Edition. Nelson Thornes.
Yvonne Hillier, 2005. Reflective Teaching in Further and Adult Education. 2 Edition. Continuum.
Andrew Armitage, 2011. Developing Professional Practice, 14-19. Edition. Longman/Pearson.
Form Meaning Use – Lesson Evaluation
I used Prezi presentation for this class. I used the same material, but this time I put it up on the screen for the students to see. I think this worked a lot better. I think sometimes the students do not follow you that well when you hand out sheets and start talking about it. I have noticed they do not follow that well. So, this time I had both, sheet and Prezi. This went a lot better. I also added a story for them to follow as I was teaching an understanding of sentences and the use of a story very much highlighted the concept that I was putting across. It was amazing as well how many students kept asking questions for clarifications. Of course, they are native speakers and the story had missing information, but I thought it was great because as an English teacher they were asking questions in English. One point of issue is that at the end of my presentation I asked the students to try Form Meaning Use in a sentence, but they just used my last example and thought they had to copy that. I did not follow that they only thought they had to copy my last example and not make up their own. I thought I made it clear.
Reflection
Firstly, I started using Prezi for this class as it was new to me and I certainly found the benefits of it worked for the class. This was part of my reflection process as I was debating from the last class how to improve. It was hard to just get the students to follow me on the sheets, so Prezi worked well. I also improved my explanation of Form, Meaning, and Use. I now started to include a demo lesson to explain the point which highlighted the lesson subject far clearer. I feel all my thoughts and subsequent changes to my lesson relate to points made by Richards and Lockhart that “much can be learned about teaching through self-inquiry” and also that “much of what happens in teaching is unknown to the teacher” (1994, p.3). I feel now that this lesson is where I want it to be, but it would not have been there if I had not made that ‘self-enquiry’. Moreover, as I mentioned in my first reflection that it was ‘amazing how many students kept asking for clarification.’ The students now have material that is of some quality for their studies that encourages questions and understanding.
Richards, J. C., & Lockhart, C. (1994). Reflective teaching in second language classrooms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Write an assignment of around 500 words explaining how you would prepare an IELTS candidate for the exam
Outline the process you would follow and identify some of the possible problems you might encounter and address cultural nuances with regard to the method of teaching using the teacher-student approach.
Preparation has to be important for any aspect of life and IELTS is no exception. The test is certainly a challenge. The greatest challenges are faced by candidates themselves who are having to adapt and adjust their learning styles to cope with a test that is making new demands on them. Candidates have to be honest with themselves and make sure that they are capable of doing the test. It is important for the teacher to grade candidates before they sit a preparation course. The teacher has to ascertain which candidates are at least at an intermediate level of English which means they can have a genuine chance of passing.
For an IELTS preparation course, I would set a timetable for the candidate to study. This could be in the region of 3 or 4 weeks before the test although their preparation should start earlier. Candidates may well be unfamiliar with IELTS test so I would expect 30 or more hours just to teach the ins and outs. This would mean each candidate gets at least 8 hours of training on each module. Candidates need a pre-preparation course IELTS test. This allows them to get a feel for the format and what they are faced with while highlighting difficulties. From the start, I would encourage candidates to read widely, e.g. newspapers, journals, magazines and books for pleasure, due to the fact that the reading module can be the most difficult. I would focus on developing their vocabulary in the topic areas to enable them to comprehend terms, expressions, and terminology they may encounter. I would advise the candidate to spend a minimum of 1 hour per day on individual self-directed study. I would advise writing every day and give the candidate enough writing test formats so they become instinctual. I would show the candidate that a lot of material can be found on the internet such as practice tests. I would also set regular homework including practice exams and individual tutorials where problems can be discussed.
My job as an IELTS teacher would be to set out to challenge, motivate, and build confidence. This would be done with task and communicative based activities, appropriate to the candidates’ needs. Group work and pair work would play an integral part. I would pay special attention to those questions that individuals get wrong. I would encourage the group to help others understand why they were wrong. I would be well prepared with the resources, especially when proving those wrong answers. I would be also wary of other problems that arise such as students being familiar with multiple-choice tests and tending to listen to every word in a test conversation without extracting main points. Moreover, cultural difference can also arise, for example, Asian students are not used to arguing a point and tend to give short answers in speaking. I would recognise that some candidates have grammar knowledge but their speaking is limited.
Furthermore, I would recognise where difficulties may arise. I would encourage peer checking. I would encourage students to underline keywords and phrases when they read, as well as paying attention to keywords in the questions. When writing about bar and line graphs, pie charts and tables, I would make sure candidates understand what the axis on the graph(s) or the percentages in the pie chart(s) represent. This includes writing within a specific time recognising that time pressure can worry candidates. I would focus also on grammar and spelling, highlighting that points can be lost in the test. I would expect the students to be conversant with each module a week before the test.
As a final thought, I would advise the candidate to make sure that the week before the test is not a time for intensive study. Stress and worry come with doing the test. The week before is a time to review skills and their test techniques. I would be their advisor if problems arose. I would say the candidate must be relaxed and ready for the test.
(669 Words)
Teacher’s Classroom Reflection Questions
- When you have completed your lesson, ask yourself these questions.
1. Did the students co-operate with their peers or seem to have much contact outside of class with proficient L2/Foreign Language users?
The students did co-operate with their peers. I think the best way to do this is through the instructions of the teacher. I said ‘talk to four people’, this made them at least talk to more than their partner. I think the next time I will get them in groups but mix the groups up.
My thoughts are on building a community spirit
2. Did the students often ask for clarification, verification, or correction?
All these factors are important for the lesson and I encourage them. I thought the students were using them. There were still some students relying on other students to help. I wrote some Concept Checking Questions (CCQ) for the students to ask. At least, it highlighted factors to address.
3. Do your lesson plans incorporate various ways that students can learn the language you are modelling, practising or presenting, in order to appeal to a variety of learning styles and strategies?
I got the students up in lines, and they had to sort out an order. I had pictures to relate the words. I think I should have done the opposites of some of the words to make the words clearer. Also, I think they could have learnt more, so I could have got them out to write more words on the board, although I did put three pictures on the wall and let the students get up and write their ideas.
4. Does your teaching allow learners to approach the task at hand in a variety of ways? Is your LLS training implicit, explicit, or both?
I think I use a variety of ways for the students to learn. Also, I go around the students when they working and ask them questions and check their work to see how they are tackling the task. This gives them a chance to ask questions.
5. Is your class learner-centered?
At times, I still feel I talk too much although I used a lot of group work. This group is tempered because the students always like to chat.
6. Do you allow students to work on their own and learn from one another?
I encourage students to talk to their partners. I try and focus them on asking their partner questions. I also had it in mind to get them conversing with each other. I have a feeling that at times I should allow the students to do my work and then they ask me questions. For example, in this class, I reviewed some sentences the students had written on the board about three pictures and all the students were quiet. This I thought was valuable time wasted. I think I should have given the pictures to the students and checked their work as they worked in a group.
7. As you circulate in class, are you encouraging questions, or posing ones relevant to the learners with whom you interact?
I think I do this well. It is fascinating because some of the students do not understand the questions you ask. This shows that they still need a lot of one-to-one practice. One lady in this lesson kept saying ‘I do not understand’. I made it a focus of mine to get her to understand. I feel as though some students are not real learners. They come to our school thinking that just following the teacher and speaking a few words makes them a student. So, by circulating in class, and encouraging questions I can install the learning spirit in them. I think also my relevant questions about their learning and showing that we are all in this together, they will benefit from asking questions and learning in this class.
8. Do students seem to have grasped the point?
My first exercise was to get the students to write some sentences about what they feel they want from this class. I think I should have explained it better. They were not sure why we were doing the exercise. Saying this though I feel if I give them the answers they will just copy and give the answers that are the right answers but not what they really feel. Again I can look back at the questions for understanding. If they do not understand they should ask.
9. Did they use the LLS that was modeled in the task they were to perform?
They were hesitant to use the sentences I gave them about understanding. Some were not sure why they had to do it. They do the task but for some reason, they hold back. I think this idea of LLS was new to them. I have 30 hours with the class and I will try to improve their ideas on how they learn.
10. What improvements for future lessons of this type or on this topic might be gleaned from students’ behaviour?
I think I will try to have the students working together more and mixing the groups up also. I need to install some questions for understanding that will always be needed. I will try and keep them thinking that they can ask the teacher when they do not know.
11. What did you do at the start that got them thinking?
For this lesson about general appearance, I first asked questions about their height, and length of hair. I then talked about my general appearance. I did this by using my hands. I also wrote a spider’s web on the board to help with the words.
12. How did the students show they were trying to acquire the knowledge?
I said to them ‘Am I short?’ and the students answered ‘No, you are short.’ This showed to me who was listening. Some students asked me for clarification. This was good because it became more personal. I also said ‘am I young?’ which most people said ‘no’.
13. How did the students show they had learnt the grammar point?
I made them write some sentences on the board about the pictures I had put up. I let them write freely without any checking then once they had finished I checked over the work. I also had them write in the book about themselves and their partner and I went around and checked this.
14. With respect to language acquisition, how can you show this factor has been achieved with your students?
This was the first lesson and I do not think that they could have acquired the grammar. I think for this first lesson it was just to show them the words. I think in the next lesson I will allow them to try and use the words as it is easier to write than speak.
15. What do you wonder about in your teaching and your students’ learning?
I wonder why so many students when they do not understand either forget about it or ask their friends. Their friends may tell them the answer but it is in their native language. This dismisses their chance to listen to a native speaker explain. I wonder why they think they can not ask for clarification.
16. What puzzles you about your students, the content, or the organization of your classroom?
I think the organization of the room is fine but the class is too big. My content needs to be more learner-centered and less talk from the teacher. I need to have exercises that allow the students to be puzzled and ask questions.
17. What aspects of the students’ learning do you want to understand better?
I want to know how much they have learned in the class. I want them to show that they have understood the lesson and like speaking their new language
18. What are some of your teaching situations that you are intrigued by or want to change? Why?
I want to change the way I use the board and teacher talking time. I notice sometimes that I can be talking and the whole class is listening but I could have done this task a bit differently and got the students to do the work.
19. What do you know about your teaching or their learning that you are interested in verifying?
I want to know that my language is not too slow or fast for the level and also am I testing them to their fullest.
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