Proper Planning and Pupil-Teacher Relationships are Fundamental in Good Teaching - Essay Example

Contents Contents 1 Introduction 2 Teacher-Pupil relationship 3 Planning Skills and Practices involved to enhance Good teaching 7 Educational theories on Good Teaching 11 Challenges Facing School Organizations 12 Conclusion and Recommendations 15 References 16 Introduction Good teaching is a practice, it is an act and it is a process that requires utmost diligence, dedication and talent to enable the children understand the complexity of the information being passed by the teacher. It is considered as an act of generosity, a craft that grows through continued practice and expose and a risk that individuals in this profession have to take to deliver to the kids. It cannot be considered as a blanket technique or even technical knowledge for it comes from the integrity of the teacher and his/her dedication. A good teacher also develops greater relation with the subjects to enable him/her create a better environment that encourages teaching and the dissemination of knowledge (Kirkpatrick, 2001). The chemistry developed between good teachers with his students enables him/her to understand that one approach that may be considered highly effective is highly ineffective on other students. In saying this, (Kirkpatrick, 2001) alludes to the fact that good education lights fire and keeps every student attentive in one class while it leaves the other class extinguished and bored. It is worth appreciating that the daily interaction between a teacher and a student in class lays the foundation for effective personalized learning environment that allows one on one delivery of knowledge to the students within the different contexts that they are raised in. In this paper, good teaching and its values to pupils shall be critically evaluated in the context of a primary school to explain how good teaching influences teacher-students relationships (Lin, and Gronlund, 2000). The process of curriculum development in line with good teaching practice will also be evaluated in line with how the process of planning and implementing teaching modules can be done (Rust, 2002). Teaching gives a way of creating space to the community to integrate and practice truth in our midst and this stems from the guiding abilities of good teachings. Good teaching should thus seek to provide enough bases upon which a student can use to learn to speak and listen in the community of truth. It thus enables us to understand that truth is not in conclusion as in the process of conversation but that it must be observed in the processes of conversation. Good teaching does not just cover the process of information delivery but also involves the processes of planning, designing and skilfully delivering the learning materials to the students in an environment that allows them to understand. Instincts are also critical in good teaching process for it enables a teacher to instinctively understand the different needs of the pupils and device appropriate delivery methods that suits the special needs (Schwartz & Webb, 2002). A good teaching process must thus begin with an inclusive question to develop a better establishment of the course content and elevate the level of challenge on the pupils. Teacher-Pupil relationship Good teaching cannot be highlighted without mentioning good teacher pupil relationship in the class set up. The moment of interaction between a child and the teacher provides a great opportunity to develop an interactive positive relationship that shall create basis for good teaching and learning environment. The process of building good positive relationship can adopt a number of methods such as the development of good listening skills when talking to the children, maintaining eye contact with them to enhance the process of confidence building and developing a one-on-one interactive sessions with the pupils (Roblyer, Edwards and Havriluk, 2003). All these methods enhance the process of developing a good teacher-student relationship that can enhance a positive learning environment and good teaching. At an early age, children are sensitive to sound and the voice used in delivering different messages to them whether positive or negative. Good teaching that integrates good teacher-student relationship involves the use of soft voices with children, simple languages and good facial expressions (McFadzean and McKenzie, 2001). Cohen (2001) stated that a good teaching model based on the development of a positive child-teacher relationship contributed to the socio-emotional development of the child thus influencing their ability to understand various concepts being taught and integrate them to their various life experiences. This implies that insecure relationship with teachers that results from poor teacher-child relationship results into difficulty in learning and interaction thus reducing the chances of the pupil understanding any of the concepts being taught. A good teaching model thus applies the use of affectionate words, smiling and friendly demeanour and appropriate physical contact which promotes positive and more competent peer relationship (Yorke, Bridges & Woolfe, 2000). Good teaching must also enhances security among the pupils especially between them and the teacher if the model used is to be considered successful. A better enhanced teacher-child relationship creates an environment through which sensitive and responsive interactions with children develop relationships that are considered key to the security of the child. Personnel preparation, practice guidelines and quality measures put in place by different schools must thus put in place sensitive and responsive practices that avoid an overly controlling behaviour that may impair the development of the child. In disseminating knowledge to developing children, harshness and strict guidelines does not enhance the process of knowledge understanding but instead creates an insecure and intimidating atmosphere (Berkowitz & Bier, 2005). In times of conflict and arguments during teaching, a good teaching process should not seek the winner in a competitive situation but instead develop a win-win scenario that leaves all pupils feeling great despite their wrong or right answers. The response to students that fails in their attempts in answering questions should also be positive and encouraging in a good teaching environment as it encourages the student to try again next time (Laurillard, 2002). Students have personal and private weaknesses and strengths and thus require approaches that are customized to suit their personal abilities (Barker & Baron, 2003). A good teaching exercise is based on the development of one-on-one interactive sessions that enables the teachers to understand the abilities of each pupil. Finally, the tone and voice used in delivering information in within a class setup also determines the effectiveness of a teaching process and whether it can be categorized as effective or ineffective. A good teaching process employees an appropriate tone and volume that addresses the specific needs of the pupils while maintaining professionalism at all times (Baume, 2001). The determination of the nature of a teaching phase cannot be studied and evaluated in isolation without discussing how the qualities of a teacher shape the nature of a lesson. A critical evaluation of the right attributes that a teacher should possess will enable us develop a proper discussion on the effectiveness of good teaching. Teachers, just like any human beings have personal traits and characters that may either improve their ability to deliver good teachings or not. Some of these traits are developed through experience, exposure and training and they significantly influence the ability of the class to succeed in achieving its objectives (Hallas, 2008). First, it is important to understand the fact that a teacher is a person and much is expected from him that makes it imperative to provide critical but balanced critique of good teachings. The personal presentation of the teacher before the child demonstrates the beliefs and the image of the administration of the institution as a whole. This shows the benefits that good teaching should lead to development of enthusiasm and competence (Phillips & Lowe, 2003). Effective and good teaching thus begins with the positive personality and attitude of teacher which are exhibited before the students in a class. In line with this background, good teaching is thus accompanied by a number of distinctive characteristics that are known to have significant influence on the attitude that the child develops and his level of understanding. Good teachings assume ownership of the learning setup like a classroom and develop the feeling that the pupil’s success is the success of the teacher. In giving examples and illustrations, a good teaching should give personal examples and experiences in life both as a youth and as an adult. Pupils in elementary and primary schools have many emotional problems that affects in one way or another their ability to integrate and synthesize the information being passed to them. A good teaching should therefore understand the feeling of the children and factor such into the delivery methods and instruments used in the lesson (McLoughlin, 2002). The age bracket of children in elementary or middle schools requires simple and clearly articulated words for them to understand and synthesise the information as it is delivered. Good teachings thus seek to communicate clearly and pass the information without using unnecessary jargons which may confuse the children. In the process of teaching, mistakes and errors are common even in good teachings, but admissions and corrections clearly separate good teachings from any other form of teaching (Lynch, 2002). With the changing society and the needs of the world, the educational goals are quickly changing to adopt a method that involves creating a correlation between the content of the lesson with the real world. This statement alludes to the fact that good teachings should provide a critical thinking and reflective environment to enable pupils relate the lesson with their real life experiences as they grow up. Tension and seriousness also characterize class environments making it difficult for pupils to understand the objective of the lesson and thus benefit effectively. Good teachings use the essential and reflective humour and jokes and defuse the tension that may exist in such a class environment. Good teaching does not just end on the way it is delivered or even the effectiveness of the instruments used to deliver it but the behaviour and etiquette of the teacher. A good teacher should thus endeavour to dress appropriately and in a manner that demonstrate the beliefs of the institution and the administration (Torrisi and Davis, 2000). Planning Skills and Practices involved to enhance Good teaching Good and effective teaching cannot also be complete and efficient if it lacks proper planning on the teacher’s part. Unplanned and haphazard teaching has been shown to produce little effective results on pupils and is a waste of much time for it fails to critically touch the desires of the pupil and meet their needs. Planning adds a lot of value to the quality, value and substance to the process of teaching and thus makes it quite possible to enhance the learning process and improve the education levels of pupils. A lesson cannot be an impromptu meeting between a teacher and a pupil if that lesson is to be effective for planning provides an opportunity for the teacher to evaluate the areas he/she would like to handle with the pupils well in advance before the class (Milne and White, 2005). This provides enough time for such a teacher to prepare test question to use in class well in advance. This will also allow him to identify the aims of the lesson and how each will be beneficial to the pupil bearing in mind the weaknesses and strengths of all his pupils. Planning also enables a teaching to lay grounds for a pupil’s experience and determines how the lesson will be used to shape their imagination and development. Methods and instruments used in delivering elements of a lesson must be planned in advance, if the class is to be considered effective and efficient according to the principles of good teaching. Prior planning thus enables a teacher to identify the key instruments and methods to use in delivering his message to the students (Cruickshank, Jenkins and Metcalf, 2003). The process of planning for an effective and a good teaching act is a process that requires the teacher to dedicate a lot of time to. The effectiveness of the planning process and the preparedness of a good teacher can only be demonstrated through the interactive and well engaging lesson that he undertakes at the end (American Psychological Association, 2003). Is saying this, APA places much weight on the daily objective of teaching as laid down by a teacher to be adequate to illustrate the level of engagement and the impacts that a lesson will have on the pupil. Thus, it is imperative to say that class objectives and prepared plans provide an illustrative guide on whether a teaching process is good or not. A good teaching is based on a well-developed lesson plan that stipulates how the content of the syllabus shall be covered within a specified period of time (Benninga, Berkowitz, Kuehn & Smith, 2003). Good teachings have lesson plans that are prepared based on the student assessment criteria and the data and resources available for use in the classes. Within the lesson, the objectives of the lesson that form part of class planning are stated and these guide the teacher during the teaching process. Questions and study notes are also clearly provided to assist the teacher measure the understanding of the learners as highlighted in Prosser & Trigwell (2001). The process of good teaching to ensure enhanced teacher-pupil relationship requires the development of great classroom management and organization to ensure effectiveness and objectivity. The way a class is managed and operated provides all the information that a first time observer may need on whether the teaching process is effective or not. A well-organized class based on the needs of the different subjects taught must possess neatly arranged postings on the walls, books and different classroom supplies that facilitate the learning process. The furniture arrangement and classroom display also affects significantly the impact of the lessons on the pupils and how exactly it impacts on the pupil (McDermott & Rothenberg, 2000). Salmon (2000) and Ramsden (2003) explained that good teaching should thus first seek to create an environment that encourages good learning and interaction between individual pupils and their teachers. This can only be achieved through the proper class planning and arrangement of furniture a way that creates a proper interactive and learning atmosphere. The classroom procedures and engagement process should be well managed to eliminate any situation where chaotic scenes may arise thus compromising the process of achieving good teaching. In creative a proper interactive procedure during a lesson or a practical teaching process, a good teacher seeks to manage and guide the overall student’s behaviour through putting forward clear expectations. This can be achieved by the use of firm and consistent responses to students depending on the questions and the concern that each pupil raise on the progress of the lesson (Holryd, 2000). The instructional materials within the class are meant for effective delivery of the message and enable the pupils understand the concepts being taught with ease. However, their effectiveness depends heavily on proper planning and management as this will determine when such materials can be used in which situations. In good teaching, such instructional materials are strategically placed in a position that enables the students to use them at any moment without interfering with the general learning progress (Parker, 2006). Student progress evaluation forms an integral element of good teaching as it provides basis upon which the potential of a child can be evaluated. A variety of formal and non-formal methods are available that can be used to monitor and access the mastery of the pupils and the skills they have gained from the lessons. Good teaching should also empower students to monitor the progress of their personal studies (OECD, 2001). These views strengthen the importance of good teaching especially in situation where students are assigned homework and assignments that require personal monitoring. Good teaching also borders on professionalism and the respect of the ethical requirements of the teaching profession (Stratford and Brown, 2002). A teacher who has the ability to teach well must be able to inspire courage and determination in his students using various available channels within the profession. Effective teachers are seen, heard of and sensed in every corner of the academic circles due to their engaging dialogue qualities and the ability to demonstrate the potential in student. In the process of identifying the effectiveness of teaching methods, the respect, accessibility and expertise of the teacher must be adequately monitored. A teaching professional who desires to command the respect of being a good teacher must thus practice honesty through their interaction with fellow teachers, parents and pupils. In the process of communicating with the families of the pupils during school occasions like open days, an effective teacher must be able to show high level of professionalism and his experience in the teaching profession (Cohen, Mccabe and Michelli, 2009). Young (2004) and Walker (2002) referred to this model as the fit-for-purpose teaching due to the practicability of the pupils’ knowledge that it seeks to create. As good teaching seeks to motivate, encourage and provide guidance to pupils, these traits must be visible in the pupils through demonstrative processes. Assessment cannot be achieved through isolation methods that adopts the use of texts, essays, reports and exams but through a one-on-one verbal experience in which the pupil is allowed to demonstrate what he has learned and in which area such knowledge can be applied to (Thompson and Greer, 2004). Educational theories on Good Teaching According to Borich (2000), a number of theories have been advanced to explain the different aspects of good teaching and how such teaching influences the development of a child. The best teacher, it is argued, does not just empty the mind of the child but device ways of kindling the inner fire in them to make them seek more information. Good teaching must thus factor in the different views of the theories advanced on the development of a child because such theories affect the ability of a child to understand the different problems being addressed. The biological-maturational theory highlights the importance of developing a teaching approach that factor the brain development and maturation levels of the child. A teaching program that also incorporates the views of the behaviourist theory will lay emphasis on the environmental impacts of a child and how this affects her understanding of the different problems being tackled at the class level. Good teachings involve positive application of behaviourist theory and this has differing impacts on the development of a child (Character Plus, 2002). Good teaching employs positive behavioural theory in which the child is appraised and corrected in the best tone possible whenever need arises. Rebuking a child with negative behaviour results into the development of an attitude towards a teacher and this reduces the effectiveness of the lesson. Good teachings thus rebuke children positively by showing them how well they should behave and such behaviour will influence their education (Irvine, 2001). The process of developing good teaching practice in schools has faced a number of challenges ranging from environmental, social and developmental problems. The process of adequately passing knowledge to pupils in a class is a problem that requires coordination and in depth understanding of the child development environment. This section of this paper will evaluate the challenges that schools face in developing proper teaching environments that can enhance good teaching practices (Wayne & Young, 2003). Challenges Facing School Organizations At an early age of a child development, communication becomes very critical as their language and communication systems are still fragile and less developed. This makes it important for schools to develop proper ways of communicating with children especially in a classroom setup to enable the child benefit from the program (Chauncey, 2005). Communication with the parents is also a critical challenge facing schools, as adequate channels that can effectively lead to proper delivery of the message are restricted. The use of newsletters was the traditional way of communicating with parents but this has been replaced with technology that has seen the rise in the use of blogging and emails. Proper communication between the school and the pupil provides a better ground and environment for the child to develop and benefit from the school program (Coburn, 2003). In Rice (2003), the advancements in technology have also created a new challenge to the traditional good teaching practices, as teachers must be able to integrate these skills with their delivery methods. The technology used by teaching in delivering their contents differs depending on the situation of the class and the level of competency of the students. The advancements in technology thus leaves teachers with a situation where they have to develop better skills that can enable them interact with the children and deliver their message appropriately (Bandura, 2001). The planning, programming and assessment phases of good teaching also have different challenges facing it and these vary depending on a teachers understanding and preparation for the classes. There is need for teachers to be able to constantly store information about the children they teach to enable them develop better teaching skills that are custom made for the different children’s needs (Cohen, Mccabe and Michelli, 2009). Many changes need to be done to help change the current state of education in the country and to ensure the achievement of good teaching practices. These depends on the challenges identified in this paper and will enable the school organization develop into better and more enhanced institution (Billingsley, 2004). The various administrators and policy implementers within the education sector to help improve the learning environment and delivery of knowledge to children must thus put a number of steps in place. Good teaching can only be possible if the teacher endeavour to know his pupils and create an environment that can enable the knowledge dissemination (Adelman and Taylor, 2005). Children join schools with different levels of knowledge and end up learning the same things within a class setup. Individual children with poor knowledge background must be elevated into the level of the other students to enable all the students within the class to benefit. The arrangement of the class in such a situation should be one that groups pupils with similar backgrounds together and those with identified weaknesses allowed mixing with others to gain more knowledge. Good teaching can only therefore be achieved through developing a prerequisite knowledge of the pupils and their individual weaknesses (Catalano, Berglund, Ryan, Lonczak, & Hawkins, 2002). In mitigating delivery challenges affecting teachers, it is essential for the curriculum developers and school coordinators to stress the need for the development of learning objectives and lesson plans. Such plans should be written in the format of what the students will be able to accomplish and the lesson will assist them address the challenges that they will meet while learning. In an attempt to eliminate the challenges facing schools and the education system in their pursuit to deliver good education, the process must first seek to implement changes that can result into the development of teachers themselves and solve the problems that face them at individual levels (Phillips, 2005). According to the research dubbed ‘measuring of effective teaching’ done in the united states, student perceptions are mathematically combined with observation based events and this allows the brain to reach a specific level of understanding. Good teaching and the ability to deliver good teaching is highly dependent on the active hours he/she has spent in class trying to deliver his content to the pupils. Experience thus plays a very essential role in the development of good teaching environment and the modelling of a teacher into a good teacher (Blum, McNeely & Rinehart, 2002). Classrooms are also exposed to different conditions and moments that influences the ability of the pupils to understand and grow from what the teacher has taught within a lesson. The critical moments are the first few minutes that a teacher enters a new class and how he interacts with students during this time. This phase has been shown to affect the ability of a student to form an attitude towards the teacher and this will determine how future classes will be like. Critical moments are those when the tension and dissension fill the class and this creates an urge which results into students interacting verbally within the class in an attempt to understand the topic of the day (Catalano, Haggerty, Oesterie, Fleming and Hawkins, 2004). Good teachings are thus characterized by moments of brainstorming when students are allowed to think through a problem and develop workable solutions in their own. Such sessions provides a basis for better understanding of the pupil’s strengths and weaknesses socially and can be acted upon by the teacher. Pupil-pupil interaction and communication in class especially when such a conversation is guided reaps more fruits as there is a lot of honesty and truthfulness on the student’s part thus providing a way of gauging whether the pupil understands the concept as expected (Boyd et al, 2006). According to Cohen & Michelli (2006), to enable such a pupil to benefit from the power of the groups, it is important for a good teacher to create a classroom community that is all inclusive based on the attitudes and behaviours of the students towards one another. Such inclusive groups should be build at the beginning of the year to enable the pupils grow fond of each other and understand the problems that they encounter at different levels of education. Students with special learning problems must be placed in groups they feel safe in and those in which their erratic behaviours can be tolerated (Cohen, 2006). Conclusion and Recommendations Good teaching also allows for pupils to interact with the question and are thus given time to answer and respond to the questions. It is thus important to write a question down as you ask it to enable the special group pupils to understand and attempt to provide rational answers to such questions. Pupils can also be asked to jot down the answers in an attempt to avoid a situation where the good students override their colleagues with learning problems in answering the questions. When a student who has a diagnose problem is attempting to answer a particular question, it is necessary to ensure that other students in the class have their hands down (Torrisi-Steele & Davis, 2000). This is meant to reduce the intimidation that may arise whenever such a pupil is struggling to attempt a question while those who are better have their hands up in a gesture of knowing. Other or’s of special education needs that a good teacher must be able to understand in his class are the visual/hearing/physical and mental impairments. All these conditions affect the ability of a pupil to understand the topic being handled as he may be unable to understand what the teacher is actually saying (Brown, 2004). References Adelman, H., and Taylor, L., 2005, The school leader’s guide to student learning supports: New directions for addressing barriers to learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. 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Young, C., 2004, In search of online pedagogical models: Investigating a paradigm change in teaching through the School for All community. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 20, 133-150. Read More