What does It Mefns to be an Effective Teacher - Article Example

Every teacher has to perform the varied and inevitable duty of molding children – a responsibility which can be only be undertaken by those literate human beings who have good moral standards and deep psychological understanding. Success in teaching depends almost entirely on the nature, attitude and approach of the teacher. An effective teacher is one who can create a learning environment which is positive as well as progressive and stimulate students to take responsibility for their own learning, and thereby, enhance the process of teaching for learning. In this paper, we shall discuss some qualities – importance of maintaining professionalism and following an ethical code of conduct, creating a positive learning environment, the need to become proactive, and develop successful teaching strategies based on Bruner’s constructivism theory like collaborative teaching, and lastly, the aptitude to create a good lesson plan – that are essential for becoming an effective teacher. We know teachers majorly influence students’ lives and therefore, maintaining professionalism and following an ethical code of conduct is deemed necessary for them. According to ACT, students come from different subcultures and families with different values of life, religious beliefs, and ethical moral standards, so it is important that a teacher imparts learning without offending anybody’s sentiments. In addition, instructors should show high level of knowledge and skill in teaching children, and also work hard to help them achieve good results. An effective teacher maintains regular records to supervise scrutinize and improvise students’ learning. An ethical teacher has the duty to impart the qualities of responsibility, honesty, cooperation, integrity, and respect for law; for other people; for self needs to the students. The ACT further mentions that all educators should work cooperatively and collaboratively with students as well as other teachers to achieve school and system goals. Moreover, teachers should adhere to school rules and regulations, and communicate all relevant information to parents necessary for the enhancement of the students. Thus, teachers who can provide a safe and secure teaching and learning environment to their students and protect them from any harm are professional in the real term (“ACT government”, n.d). However, Carter (n.d) states that although the code of conduct does necessitate specific behaviors in particular situations but doesn’t endorse individual adherence to ethical principles. There are some grey areas that teachers have to face regularly which arises due to competing interests and values. In such situations a teacher cannot be expected to behave according to the rules and regulations. Therefore, according to Carter, these codes of conduct can help but cannot clearly define teacher’s decision making. An efficient teacher is one who has the ability to reflect upon and acknowledge the implications of different decisions through professional dialogues and effective communication (Carter, n.d). Besides being professional and ethical, a teacher needs to create a positive classroom environment in order to control such behavioral problems of the students. By creating a positive learning environment in the classroom teachers can enhance their efficiency. The physical layout of the classroom majorly contributes in making the classroom ambience appropriate. This includes proper arrangement of furniture, proper storage of materials, attractive and appealing bulletin boards and most importantly suitable temperature, lightning and noise level. According to research, students tend to perform better and learn more effectively if the classroom environment is well developed by the teacher. A classroom depicts the teaching and behavior style of the teacher; so it is the responsibility of the teacher to have clearly defined areas for different purposes in the classroom. For example, teachers can create a separate area in the class where students suffering from any learning or behavioral problem can work independently (Kaser, n.d). However, according to another relevant source, a teacher cannot build a positive environment only by concentrating on the physical aspect of the class. They also need to build cordial relationship between themselves and their students, among students, and a motivating environment which helps the students in their personal development as well as helps them grow as learner (Dennis, n.d). Furthermore, an effective teacher creates a warm and orderly classroom environment by making himself/herself approachable, amicable, and supportive and most importantly, by displaying great enthusiasm in teaching. However, too much enthusiasm can impede learning and so teachers can make their teaching interesting by using body language, surprise and suspense. Further, teachers should keep high expectations from their students since they perform better when they know that teachers expect them to perform very well. However, by high expectations teachers should never mean unrealistic goals or achievements (Dennis, n.d). According to some researchers it is not necessary that a well developed classroom environment will remove all behavior problems; there are situations when a good environment doesn’t help. A successful teacher is one who can handle all situations positively and intelligently. Moreover, a good teacher is one who is proactive and prepares herself/himself well in advance for the class. Teachers can become good classroom managers only if they can put proactive plans in their class. Proactive teaching refers to the practice of teaching where the teacher prepares himself/herself in advance, in order to handle the classroom and the students effectively. This can be done by making clear plans of what is expected from the class, outlining the behavioral expectations from the students and making rules that need to be consistently followed daily in the classroom. To achieve this, teachers should first gather and infer every student’s information, understand each student’s individuality and then try to develop a healthy relation with each one of them. Further, as Crawford (2004) states that teachers will always have someone who might become a behavior problem, so they should be mentally and physically prepared for whatever happens. Secondly, for becoming good proactive teachers, they should plan their lessons to be taught well in advance. Determining the objectives of the lesson, the knowledge and the skills that the students are required to learn as well as perform, making plans for handling unfavorable results if students fail to follow, and also involving students in decision making are some of the important tasks of a proactive teacher. For example, involving students in making decisions regarding the rules as well as the rituals to be followed daily in the classroom will help teachers in managing the class more efficiently (as cited in “Be proactive, not reactive”, 2006). However, it may not be possible for a teacher to be prepared for every behavior problem of the students that may arise in a classroom. Moreover, there are cases when reacting instantly becomes necessary for the teacher like taking action immediately when one student severely hits another in a fight. It might become necessary for the teacher to call the police and the parents of both students, and take action against the culprit student. An effective teacher is one who has the capability to react quickly and intelligently when unexpected situations arise, although remaining proactive always helps (as cited in “Be proactive and not reactive”, 2006). Further, being proactive also means deciding the instructional skills and teaching strategies which will help the teacher in arousing the interest of the students in learning. To succeed in teaching, a teacher should apply different instructional strategies in delivering the lesson and facilitate student interaction. A capable teacher chooses the appropriate instruction strategy which he/she knows will be able to deliver the course content to the students in the most righteous way. According to Bruner (constructivism theory), learning should be a process where the learners are able to build new ideas based on their current knowledge as well as past knowledge. The role of a good instructor is to guide and encourage the students to discover the principles themselves. An effective teacher can achieve this by engaging in an active conversation with the students in a language that is easily understood by everyone. In other words, a good teacher is one who can transform the materials to be learned in such a way that it meets the learner’s cognitive level. Further, Bruner adds that the teacher’s way of delivering the material should be spiral so that it allows students to reflect as well as construct upon what they have already learnt. Thus, according to Bruner’s theory (1966) an efficient instructor is one who addresses four major aspects: inclination towards learning; the ways in which a body of knowledge can be structured so that it can be most easily comprehended by the learner; the most effective arrangement in which to present material; and the progression of rewards and punishments (as cited in Cherry, 2004). However, there are certain drawbacks to the constructivist view of learning for instance; they are best suited only for methods of instruction that involve cognitive ability and not behavioral activity. Moreover, it becomes difficult to apply as it focuses on pure discovery rather than instructional strategy and unstructured exploration instead of the school curriculum (Mayer 2004, 14). However, Bruner’s theory states that if a teacher is precise in organization, helps the learners to focus on important aspects, encourage them to practice what has been already learnt and praise their efforts regularly, they can make the instruction strategy (based on constructivism theory) successful as well as prove their own efficiency (Cherry, 2004). One of the instructional strategies that follow the constructivism theory is Collaborative learning. In order to make their teaching successful, many teachers use Collaborative learning as an instructional strategy. This is a pedagogical strategy which encourages students to form groups to achieve a common goal. According to various researches, students who work in collaborative groups tend to learn their lessons better and also retain it longer than when the same lesson is taught in other instructional strategies. The primary task of the teacher in collaborative learning is to design the group work effectively. Collaborative learning as an instruction strategy will do well only when the teacher creates tasks which promote interdependency as well as provide an equal opportunity for every student to give an input despite of individual differences. For example, when a tutor gives the groups the task to make a project on alternative sources of energy; he/she should ask each member of the group to research on one source of energy and later, work together to assimilate their individual inputs into the final project (Davis, 1993). However, a teacher should always compare students’ work against set standards rather than against each other. Moreover, it is not necessary that every student would be comfortable working in collaboration and the bright students might tend to dominate the projects leaving the weaker ones behind. Therefore, lot of careful planning and preparation is essential if teachers want to integrate this technique in their course. In addition, teachers should be efficient in making good lesson plans if they want their instruction strategy to be followed properly. Making effective lesson plans is one of the primary goals of a dedicated instructor. It is however true that such plans are not only necessary for novice teachers but for all the teachers in general. A well drawn lesson plan guides a teacher through their course curriculum effectively. It is the teacher’s plan which decides what students’ need to learn and how it will be done effectively during the class time. A good lesson plan is one which includes these elements – the teaching objectives, pre-assessment, list of materials to be used for teaching, a proper introduction, presentation, evaluation and lastly application. Therefore, to succeed in creating a superior lesson plan, an educator needs to follow a few distinct steps: (1) outline the objectives for student learning, (2) develop a creative introduction, (3) explain the body lesson in an interesting and innovative way, (4) identify unbiased strategies to check for understanding, (5) develop a conclusion to summarize the discussed topic. Moreover, creation of a realistic timeline to teach a lesson and also gathering feedback of one’s own plan will facilitate a teacher in forming an effective lesson plan (Milkova, n.d). However, a teacher should keep in mind that the lesson plan doesn’t turn out to be an extensive document rather should give a general outline of the objective, the teaching goals and the method to achieve them. In addition, if the planning is poor it will prove frustrating for both teachers and the students. Moreover if the teacher does not organizes the lesson plan in an appropriate way for example, the plan lacks the materials needed or has unrealistic objectives his/her teaching will turn into a waste of time (Duff, n.d). Therefore, a lesson plan may not always happen exactly as planned but an efficient tutor is one who can turn it into a good learning experience for both himself and the students. Conclusion Thus, by an effective teacher we mean a teacher who takes up the responsibility of imparting education to the students with a positive attitude and strives hard to make his teaching a success. From the above discussions it is clear that effective teaching is intellectually demanding as it requires the teachers to know the subject being taught, in depth. Also, to be efficient, a teacher needs to be professional, ethical and treat all his students equally despite of socio-economic, academic, or cultural differences. It is the responsibility of a good teacher to create a positive learning environment not only by creating a well developed classroom structure but also through forming cordial relations with the students. Further, to teach effectively, a teacher should be proactive, that is, be able to think and solve problems, to evaluate a topic, to decide upon what will be a valuable teaching skill, to select appropriate strategies and materials for teaching, and to organize and develop ideas, information and works for students. Another important task of an efficient teacher is to be concerned about what the students know, to communicate clearly to them, and encourage them to learn and get involved in the activities of the class with enthusiasm. As we know that teachers have to perform all these tasks within the framework of an institution or a school which may have some set traditions and rules, it becomes a socially challenging task for them to prove their efficiency. Therefore, effective teaching does not solely depend upon the teachers; the students too have to take the responsibility to learn and the school authorities to support the teachers in becoming effective. References ACT government (n.d). Teachers’ Code of Professional Practice. Retrieved from the Australian Capital Territory Website: http://www.det.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/17692/er_CodeProfessionalPractic e.pdf Be Proactive, Not Reactive (2006, July 19). In Shouting won’t grow Dendrites (Chapter 1). Retrieved from http://www.sagepub.com/upm- data/12140_Chapter_1_from_Tate_(Shouting)_Final_PDF_2.pdf Carter, M. (n.d). Professional Ethics in Teaching: The training and development challenge. Retrieved from New South Wales Department of Education and Training Web site: http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/edu_leadership/prof_read/ethics/carter.php Cherry, G. (2004, March 18). An Overview of Jerome Brunner His Theory of Constructivism. Retrieved from http://www.odu.edu/educ/roverbau/Class_Websites/761_Spring_04/Assets/course_docs/I D_Theory_Reps_Sp04/Bruner-Cherry.pdf Davis, B. G. (1993). Collaborative learning: Group Work and Study teams. In Tools for Teaching (Collaborative learning). Retrieved from http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/collaborative.html Dennis, K. (n.d). Creating a positive classroom environment. In School of Education: University of Michigan. Retrieved from http://sitemaker.umich.edu/keldenn/chapter_7__a_positive_classroom_environment Duff, V (n.d). Effective Lesson Planning. Retrieved from faculty.ksu.edu.sa/25200/Teaching/effectivelessonplanning.ppt Kaser, C. H. (n.d). Series on highly effective practices – Classroom Environment. Retrieved from http://education.odu.edu/esse/docs/classroomenvironments.pdf Mayer, R.E. (2004, January). Should There Be a Three-Strikes Rule Against Pure Discovery Learning? American Psychologist, 59(1), 14-19. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.59.1.14 Milkova, S. (n.d). Strategies for Effective Lesson Planning. In Centre for Research on Learning and Teaching: University of Michigan. Retrieved from http://www.crlt.umich.edu/gsis/P2_5.php Read More