Question about Teaching Religious Education - Essay Example

? Roles, Relationships and Responsibilities in Lifelong learning Teaching religious education: key aspects of legislation, regulatory requirements and codes of practice The teaching of religious education is bound by the legislative and regulatory requirements and codes of practice of the teachers. The religious education has been included as a part of the basis curriculum in the education institutes. The legal and regulatory requirements require equal emphasis to be given to religions of other places apart from emphasizing on the principal religion of the place. The religious teachings must not be aimed at spreading the lessons of a particular religion to influence the idea, thoughts and beliefs of the learners. Such acts of religious teaching are prohibited by the law. The teachings of different religion and faith are, however, not prohibited. The teaching of religious education should not be biased and should give equal respect to the faith and belief of all the religions. The regulatory requirements although imposes limitations on the schools to impart religious education on a particular belief or faith but allows flexibility to the teaching of religious education in the terms of the time and process of exploration of religious ideas and beliefs for dissemination to the learners. The codes of practice for teaching of religious education offers liberty to the teachers of religious education to engage into teaching of as many religious lessons and faith to the students but disallows confinement or stress on a particular religion. Thus the role of teachers is very important in developing a non-biased environment during the process of teaching. There is ample scope of questions related to values of life in religious teaching. The codes of practice allow teachers to address such question in an effective manner in order to impart complete teachings in the field of religious education. The teachers should work to build a non-faith background for the students and encourage development of ideas and beliefs based on a wide range of exploration of different religious learning and teachings (Avis, Fisher and Thompson, p.47). Responsibilities for promoting equality and valuing diversity: strength and weakness factors The teachers must remember the strength and weakness factors that affect their responsibilities in the teaching of religious education. The promotion of equality and valuation of diversity in religious teachings is a key area of responsibility for the teachers. The teachers should be responsible in imparting the religious beliefs of all faith to learners. The strength of religious teachings lies in the inclusive aspect of the field. The teachers are responsible for non-discrimination of primary or specific religion among the vast field of religious ideas and beliefs. The learners should have the freedom to question on any aspect of religion keeping due respect to the teachings of other religions as well. The students irrespective of their notions on different religions and culture should be treated equally by the teachers. The students should have the freedom to raise the queries on the subject. The teachers should distribute equal emphasis to the teachings of all religion in order to attain equality in religious teachings. The weakness factor is presented by the aspect of diversity in religious teaching. Thus the teacher also has the responsibility of managing diversity in religious teachings. The teacher should be able to value diversified ideas and beliefs of different religions. The fundamentals of various religious faiths should be clearly explained to the learners. The responsibilities of the teacher demand avoidance of any bias and value the diversified ideas by developing a comprehensive study of religious teachings. These are the factors that influence the responsibility of the teachers in achieving equality and valuing diversity in religious teachings (Gravells and Simpson, p.56). Evaluation of roles and responsibilities in the Lifelong learning The evaluation of roles and responsibilities in lifelong learning in the subject area is based on the planning and implementation of plans to spread the benefits of learning in the field of religious teaching. The diverse functional area in the field of religious teachings requires proper planning of the methods of teaching. The evaluation of the teachings delivered depends on the adherence of the roles and responsibilities undertaken for the fulfilment of plan. The roles and responsibilities of the teachers include a professional approach for spreading the learning of the subject. The teachers should not engage in a discriminatory fashion with the students and encourage the spread of equality in religious teachings. The development of healthy relationship bonds between the students and the teacher is encouraged but there should be no personal favour granted by the teachers to their students. Instead of personal inclination, the professional behaviour should be promoted during the course of teaching. Thus professional approach determines the effectiveness with which the role and responsibilities have been fulfilled. The responsibilities delivered by the teachers and the role played by them is evaluated on the progress and continuous professional development as a result of the teachings. A professional approach increases the interaction between the teachers and the students and keeps them focussed on the subject. The teachings on the subject help the students to keep themselves free from the bias over a particular religion. Thus the students are able to develop a professional attitude on the subject and continuously explore the idea and learning of different religions. Thus the evaluation of roles and responsibilities fulfilled depends on the level of continuous professional development (Gravells, p.67). Own roles and responsibilities: identification and fulfilment of needs of the learners It is important to understand own roles and responsibilities in identifying and fulfilling the needs of the learners that is required for effective dissemination the teachings on the specified subject. The roles and responsibilities include initial assessment of the learners and identification of specific needs of the group of the students and then adopt appropriate delivery methods to fulfil the needs of the learners. The initial assessment includes identification of the social, cultural and religious background of the students and an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the students. The expectations of the students on the subject is also recognized and addressed by designing the deliverable in accordance with the needs of the students. The initial assessment is done by interviewing the students, engaging in open discussions and by engagement in practical tasks. A specific plan is then prepared to address the needs of the learners. Plans to meet the intellectual needs, demand on the areas of teaching, ways to avoid the areas of difficulty are developed in the plan. The requirements of the participants in terms of style of delivery, pace of progress, expectations from the learning process, etc are required to be considered in the plan. The required modifications are developed in the style of delivery and efforts are made to plug the gaps. The delivery methods include imparting the teachings to a group as well as individuals in case of need. Apart from this, activities on the practical areas of the subject are also conducted. Group discussions and debates are undertaken to bring out the ideas developed through learning. These delivery methods serve to fulfil the needs of the learners (Fleming, p.35). Boundaries between teaching roles and other professionals Although the collaboration of the teachers and other professionals is important in the field of learning but there are obvious boundaries between the teaching roles and other professionals in the environment and place. The teaching roles are focused on the efficient dissemination of the learning on the subject to the students. The teaching roles have the primary objective of dealing with the students and in taking necessary measures for fulfilment of their expectations. The role of the teachers is aimed at creating an environment of learning in accordance with the legislative and regulatory requirements. The codes of practice of the teachers are aimed at promoting inclusive teaching and also focusing on the attainment of equality and management of diversity among learners. The teaching role is considered to the primary tool for efficient impart of knowledge to the students on the subject. The boundary with the role of other professional lies at the fact the other professionals play a secondary role in the learning process. Although other professional are not directly responsible for the delivery of the teachings to their students, the roles played by them are significant in creating and maintaining an environment of systematic learning. The other professionals perform a support function in the field of teaching in the specified subject. The roles and responsibilities of other professionals include taking part in maintenance activities; ensure proper administration and also keeping proper storage of records. However, support functions played by the other professionals are equally important in creating a safe and healthy environment for the learners (Kolb, p.27). Points of referral to meet the need of learners The points of referral are important for consideration to meet the needs of the learners. The points of referral include identification of support needs for the learners. The learners resort to the points of referral for self understanding and discussion within the groups. The points of referral act as additional sources of study for the purpose of learning. A diagnostic assessment of the needs of learners is required to identify the referral points and sources to fulfil the needs. The referral points are the support available to the learners in order to gain a wide range of access to information required for the study. The availability of the learners support forms the point of referral that helps to meet the need of the learners. The points of referral complete the range of sources accessed by the students during their course of learning (Reece and Walker, p.58). Evaluate own responsibilities in relation to other professionals The responsibilities in relation to other professionals could be evaluated with the degree of respect maintained in the environment of learning towards other professional, degree of confidentiality maintained on the information on learners, quality of teaching imparted, professional conduct and ethics and teamwork. The quality of teachings is very important and depends on the wide knowledge available with the teacher. The encouragement of teamwork and sustainability of an environment of respect and delivery of professional conduct and ethics determine the efficiency with which responsibilities have been fulfilled in relation to other professionals. The engagement of the participants as a team fosters the growth of learning process due to open interaction and exchange of ideas, thoughts and beliefs (Wilson, p.59). Process of establishing and maintaining a safe and supportive learning environment The safe and supportive learning environment is required to be established and maintained in line with the legal and regulatory requirements. The responsibilities of a teacher include maintenance of a safe and supportive learning environment that meets the legal and regulatory requirements. For this, an assessment of risk of the place of the teaching is essential and necessary rules are to be put in place for maintaining the safety of the participants. A safe and supporting environment ensures physical and psychological protection to the learners against possibilities of harm to which the students may be exposed. The actions of the young learners and the behaviour of vulnerable adults are controlled to create a safe learning environment. An environment of respect and collaboration is built which enables support for each other and develops the process of teaching. The provision of safe and supportive learning environment provides a sense of assurance to the learners which brings out the creative traits in their character and improves the process of learning. The policies of the organization on safety and supportive environment are promoted to establish and maintain the growth of learning. An environment of safety needs to be developed where there is no probability of falling sick or getting hurt in the course of learning. The accountability for implementation of safe and supportive learning environment lies with the educational organization but the teachers are also responsible for execution of the policies and pursuance of code of practice for proper implementation of the deliverables. The teachers are responsible for safeguarding the students from any sort of abuse which may be physical or mental. The teachers need to safeguard the students from sexual abuse, discrimination due to age, gender, race, etc. A supportive environment for learning may be created by promoting inclusive learning. Inclusive method of learning includes students from all religion, culture, race, gender and age and allows freedom for expression of thoughts and ideas. The students are also free to raise queries for resolution. An interactive atmosphere provides scope for support towards each other and thus produces a supportive environment. The disabled students are also given equal attention and they are also provided safety and support during the course of learning. The confidentiality of information and data of the students is maintained by the teachers. Safekeeping of information and records are part of the responsibilities of teaching in order to create a safe and supporting environment (Wallace, p.34). Promotion of behaviour and respect for others The promotion of behaviour and respect for others could be developed through establishment of ground rules. The ground rules play a vital role in establishing the platform for exhibition of improved behaviour and respect for each other during the process of learning. There is no one way to set the ground rule during teaching. For setting the ground rules, the teacher is required to be flexible to the behaviour of the students and should be open to their suggestions. The ground rules are designed by taking feedback from the students which helps them to adapt in a far better fashion through open acceptance. The entire group of students is divided into smaller groups of two or three. The groups of students put forward their views and expectations on the ground rules for teaching and learning on the subject. The ground rules range from timely starting and completion of the classes, disciplinary activities of the participants, acts of equality and safety, etc. The suggestions are taken from the students and a final list of ground rules are prepared for implementation. The teacher has the right to introduce or modify the ground rules according to the requirements of teaching. The final is shown to the students and after acceptance by a majority of the participants, the final set of ground rules are declared by the teacher for implementation. This process of setting the ground rules is followed as the scope of deviation on the part of the students is minimal. The ground rules framed by the suggestions of the students have a greater scope of adherence as these are not imposed on the set of students. Acceptance among the students improves their behaviour and enhances respect for others. The difference in opinion among the participants of learning process could pose a barrier for the entire process which is not desirable. The removal of barriers could be achieved through promotion of equality and management of diversity. The classroom management plays an important role in the promotion of behaviour and respect for others. The students should be given equal attention and encouraged for open interaction in order to resolve the queries. This develops an openness of thoughts and ideas and increases the acceptance of others’ inputs. The above activities help to promote the behaviour and respect for others in the process of learning (Williams and Gravells, p.29). Works Cited Avis, J., Fisher, R. and Thompson, R. Teaching in Lifelong Learning. UK. McGraw-Hill International, 2009. Print. Fleming, N. D. Teaching and Learning Styles: VARK Strategies. USA. N.D. Fleming, 2006. Print. Gravells, A. Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector: The New Award. UK. SAGE, 2011. Print. Gravells, A. and Simpson, S. Equality and Diversity in the Lifelong Learning Sector. UK. Learning Matters, 2012. Print. Kolb, D. A. Experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and Development. New Jersey. Prentice-Hall, 1984. Print. Reece, I. and Walker, S. Teaching, training and learning: a practical guide. USA. Business Education Publishers, 2006. Print. Wallace, S. Teaching, Tutoring and Training in the Lifelong Learning Sector. UK. SAGE, 2011. Print. Williams, J. and Gravells, A. Study Skills for PTLLS: Second Edition. UK. Learning Matters, 2012. Print. Wilson, L. Practical Teaching: A Guide to PTLLS and CTLLS. USA. Cengage Learning, 2008. Print. Read More