Transitions to Effective Practice in the Teaching Occupation - Essay Example

Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Class Name: Date Assignment is due: Transitions to Effective Practice in the Teaching Occupation Introduction Teaching Occupation-High School Level Teaching career particularly at high school level is indeed a noble venture. Therefore, the teacher must have the conviction that drives him/her to teach the young students of this level. This is driven by the great satisfaction that is perceived when ultimately the young individuals make it to be great people in the society through offering their service to the community. One’s choice to develop a career in teaching the secondary going students often is related to the passion for teen and with particular interests to see them develop through young adult, stage to be adults of value in the society. Most students in high school are at teen age; therefore, such students are faced by the changes that occur in the biological state of their bodies and need and thus they need more guidance from teachers on many areas. The task of teaching is comprehensive, and this is the reason why the learner teachers do not only are trained in the Universities, but they have to undergo a practical based learning exercise through the teaching practice period. This paper will outline a number of issues as pertains with the teaching occupation with regard to the practical learning exercises and the appropriateness of these learning to these learners. Teaching is value addition [skills/knowledge/competency] to the learner first and to the teacher too. This paper discusses this type of learners who are in transition from being learners to be professional teachers. Nature of Learning Required for New Comers in Teaching Occupation. The new comers in teaching occupation are made of the new teachers, who are posted to teaching practice centers. The nature of learning that is required is that which has given priority to educational practices; this learning is often focused on the individual teacher being trained and it concerns itself with the improvement of the outcomes of the teaching that the teacher trainee will offer to learners in the future (Bramald, Hardman and Leat 23-31). The learning models of ‘competencies’ as well as benchmarks, have now and again led to this thinking, and these have been useful models. The nature of learning for high school teacher trainees should be able to encompass the following areas of learning that are relevant for good service delivery. (a)Professional Knowledge and Understanding As a learner in the teaching field, one is required to be well conversant with the teaching professions knowledge, as well as understanding. As a new comer, into the field of teaching, one is required to be able to be well versed with the skills and knowledge with regard to the educational context, particularly the knowledge that will help a learner to be able to know the professional conduct and approach that is required as one will be teaching. In the actual context, a learner being trained to be a teacher goes through practical learning which in many countries, is referred to as teaching practice exercise; this program is often designed not particularly to instill new skills, but to equip the new teacher in the market with the knowledge that will make him/her4 to be able to uphold professionalism that is required in the field. Teaching occupation unlike many other occupation, is a sensitive field for the students would often ape what they can see and listen from their teacher’s; this is why it requires the application of professionalism. Through the practical; learning in the school a teacher is posted to, the teacher is able to acquire new skills that are relevant for effectiveness in teaching (Wong and Wong 32-43). In addition, a graduate finalist in education is also posted to teaching practice centers/schools where he/she is able to be taught skills of understanding. To be an effective teacher, one must be very understanding to the situation of the students, the issues that they are facing and how best they can be helped. This is why the nature of learning that they go through is also based in helping the teacher trainee to be able to have skills of understanding, so that as he/she teaches a concept, then it is easier for students to follow along. Through the practical lessons, the mind of the teacher trainee is stretched to go beyond the theoretical concept about teaching that they were taught, to the pract6ical things that students go through; which unless a teacher is able to understand, then the teaching process may not be helpful; to such students. At high school, the students go through so many things, and this is why understanding is a basic requirement for a teacher to be effective in attending to the learning needs of the students. In the teaching practice sessions, a teacher trainee is involved in the practical teaching which is focused, in helping him or her to be able to understand the situation that occurs in the classroom session as well as other things that such students face as they learn. (b)Professional Skills and Abilities The learning that the teacher trainee undergoes is also designed in a manner to develop the professional skills and abilities. It is one thing to have the knowledge that will help you teach, and a different thing to have the ability to be able to teach the students. For effectiveness in the teaching profession, it is required that learners be go beyond the knowledge to has the ability to be able to teach the learners well. This is why the nature of learning that is required, from the teachers, is that that contributes to making the teacher have the ability to teach professionally. This implies that the content that the teacher learned should have made him/her confident and well versed with the practical aspect of teaching in the classroom. (c)Professional Values The kind of leaning that is required for a teacher to be effective in service should be the one that has instilled the professional values to the new teacher who enters the teaching occupation. A teacher plays other critical role to the learner which calls that he/she should not just be limited to the academic knowledge but instead should be filled with the professional values. Without the appreciation of value, it may be difficult to effectively work as a teacher. A teacher is viewed as a role model by the students that are taught. This means that the values that the teacher teaches as well as those that the teacher practices are likely to be absorbed by the teachers. This is why it is very important and a requirement that a teacher should have been taught with certain professional values that will increase the effectiveness while in the field. (d)Personal Commitment A teacher is required to have learned on the impacts of personal commitment to the effectiveness in teaching the learners. Teaching occupation being a noble profession often demands that the teacher be well committed to his/her work. Commitment at personal levels is such a great aspect that makes the difference between an ineffective teacher and an effective one. A new teacher into the teaching profession, is required to have learned to be personally committed to his or her responsibility of not only instilling knowledge to the learners but also to be able to teach them life skills that will make those students in school to be effective citizens after school. This responsibility may be difficult for a teacher unless he is fully committed to the occupation also posses the passion that makes him or her to be concerned about the well being of the learners thus the need to help them grow and develop well. Kinds of Learners/Teacher Trainees The learners in this context are the graduate finalists who have finished their lecture studies and have to go through the practical lessons in the field, often in school. They are posted to school to teach as they learn and their lecturers are able to asses them during and after the teaching practice period. In this period, learning is not by being taught rather it is by the teacher trainees teaching the students as they learn on their own of their strengths and weaknesses in the occupation. The learners here learn by doing as opposed to learning by being taught by their lecturer. The kind of learning they undergo is practical based learning where they learn from their own experience they are exposed to as they teach the students. These finalist graduate students in education from the universities have to learn practical aspects of teaching by themselves being involved in teaching the learners in the classroom context (James, Fisher and Thompson 38-46). These learners are expected to learn the following from the experience they will go through as they practice teaching: (i)To be equipped with a broad framework that will make them conceptualize the teacher education. This often serves a useful purpose of facilitating a shift from the arid debate of the need to balance the place of theory and that of practice. The teacher trainees who are learners in this context have the advantage of being fed on information on contemporary teaching practices that relate to evolving knowledge. This one can only learn when at the field, for through the practical experience then the contemporary practices can be learned when teaching is based on the mutual relationship between a teacher and a learner (Rao, 24-39). Through the practical experience in teaching, the teacher trainees are able to build within them the capacity to incorporate new knowledge, dynamic skills, current technologies and innovation much more. (b)The kind of learners here are not just exposed to the dubious premise that defends that it is possible to highlight the range and corpus of knowledge, skills and values required for the professional teacher. However, the emphasis on the teacher being involved as an active learner depicts an alternative paradigm that would be much more relevant in today’s world of change and flexibility (Veer 35-46). (c)The kind of learners here are those that are conversant that the teacher is a clear the model of ‘the whole person’. The ‘person’ refers to the whole being of the student and the society that is build up through the skills and knowledge that the teacher offers. They are taught to know that the students they teach are on a journey characterized by an ever-changing environment that needs to be understood by the student, and the teacher should be able to facilitate this by his/her professional teaching practices being constantly improved. Learning Skills Required It is evident through the finalist of the teaching practice learning session; that Practice Based Learning is an important component for effective work performance. Essentially, practice based learning in the teaching occupation is an important component that increases performance of the teachers, through the following three functions it plays: a).It gives the teacher trainees expose to the practical aspect of what happens in the field/classroom context. A number of things might have not been mentioned during the formal lecture lessons they underwent. b).It builds up the confident and ability of the teacher trainees as they are exposed to the real students whom they interact with, share skills and knowledge. c).The teaching practice experience, builds up the capacity of the teacher trainee to deal with challenges that are often associated with teachers in school. For the trainees will also experience those challenges and be able to know how they can go through them as they teach students. Kinds of learning required by newcomers (new teachers in the field) Basically, there are two kinds of learning that is required by the new teachers who are to get into the teaching occupation. These include; (i).The theoretical learning sessions. This is the kind of learning that the teachers go through in the classroom as well as in the lecture halls. This kind of learning is the longest for it begins at the earliest ages even before one identifies himself/herself to be a teacher in the future. It involves all the basic skills of communication and living that the student was taught at elementary levels and at secondary levels. This learning grows from a generalized form to a specific from at the university level, where now the student is exposed to knowledge about education and teaching occupation. This kind of learning is knowledge based, and often it is in the passive form. (iii)Practice Based Learning This is the second kind of learning that a potential teacher has to go through just before being given the powers to teach in a particular country. Often, teachers are given the mandate to teach through certification by the respective teaching and regulation bodies. This kind of learning is active as the learner learns by doing as opposed to learning by hearing. In many countries, the teacher trainees have to be posted to schools for some period to be able to teach and be assessed to see if they are fit to teach the learners (Kishan 44-53). Effectiveness in Practice Based Learning Experience Practice Based learning experience in the teaching occupation may be made effective for teachers in the teaching profession through the following; (i)Work Based Learning This implies that as the teachers work through teaching the learners, they are able to learn by extension. In other words, the practice based learning experience effectiveness builds up when the teachers are able to identify new concepts, knowledge and skills while teaching their learners. This calls that teachers have to be sensitized to give room for their own learning as they teach the students; for every teaching, experience is a learning experience not only for the student but also for the learners (Greer 32-43). (ii)Work Integrated Learning Effectiveness in the practice based learning that teachers go through can also be increased when the teaching experience is redesigned by the educational stakeholders in a manner that learning is integrated into the teaching exercise. Appropriateness of Practice Based Learning for the Teaching Profession. Practice based learning is appropriate for the teacher learner because of the following major functions plays: (i) Builds up the teacher’s competencies, Training and Job experiences. Through the practice based learning experience, the teacher gain skills that will increase his/her competencies in the field of education. These competencies build up the ability of a teacher to attend to key needs of young people, which include; increasing their confidence, making them connected to the learning process, offering learning opportunities where they can actively participate and finally impact them to be lifelong learners (Bhamrah and Romesh 40-52). (ii).Mentoring Skills. Mentoring skills cannot be learned in the classroom effectively but can be learned from the practical situation. A teacher is a mentor who is supposed to guide the young students in school on how to grow up well. Through the practice based learning experience, the teacher is able to learn on how they can influence the learners positively by being relevant to them. Issues involved in integrating Practice Based Learning (PBL) in the Education Program They may include; (a)Issues of whether Practical based learning increases satisfaction of the teacher who has gone through the process. Job satisfaction issues A number of educational scholars have questioned the value that integration of practice based learning contributes to the satisfaction levels of the teacher/teachers. (b).Justification of the costs. In many countries, the researchers on the practice based learning have raised eyebrows on how the costs used to run such programs can be justified. A number who are opposed to this opinion, claim that the training teachers go through at the university is sufficient for them to effectively teach. Work place Assistance to Teacher Trainees/ Learners The newly posted teachers into the schools for practical lessons may require to be assisted at the work place. The work place can assist them in the following ways; giving them room to co-exist equally as other members of the work place. It may also provide basic necessary, tools that the teacher trainees may need to use as they teach the students. In addition, the workplace/school can offer them other responsibilities that they can play so as to build up diversity in the skills that the teacher trainees posses. Conclusion In conclusion, the paper has addressed several concerns with respect to the finalist graduates who have to go through the practice based learning experience in teaching before as they go through the transition from being learners to full to teachers. The paper flows from introduction, to explaining the nature of learning required by the new comers in teaching occupation, the kinds of learners who are the teachers in transit from universities to schools to teach the learners. The paper also outlines the learning skills that are required in the teaching field as well as the kind of skills required by the new comers. In addition to the mentioned, it also looks at the appropriateness of practice based learning to the teachers, the issues that are involved in integrating the practice based learning into the educational program and finally how the learners can be assisted in the school which is their work place (Hodkinson and Hodkinson 273-285). Practice Based Experience contributes to a smooth transition of the teacher trainees from being learners into being effective teachers to their students. This is because it equips them with skills that make them effective in service delivery. It also makes them to adapt to the common challenges that are faced by the teaching professionals and finally it contributes to increasing their scope of knowledge about the practical aspects of teaching that may not have been learnt theoretically (Hansen and Moore 28-37). The learning provision can be made effective through application of three basic concepts to the teaching program (Singh 48-57). First, there’s need for consistency in the kind of knowledge that is being taught by the teacher, secondly practice based learning experience should build up from the unknown to known concept. In other words, the teacher trainees should be given an opportunity to begin with what they know as they advance to what they are not familiar with. Finally, there is a need for integration of the learning experience with what the teacher trainees were previously taught at the university (Hazel and Welton 34-42). This harmony makes learning to be fast and effective. Works Cited Bramald, R., Hardman, F., & Leat D. Initial teacher trainees and their views of teaching and learning. Teaching and Teacher Education, 11.1(1995): 23-31. Bhamrah, Romesh R. Modern Trends In Teaching Technology. Texas: Anmol Publications PVT. LTD, 2004. Greer, Douglas R. Designing teaching strategies: an applied behavior analysis systems approach Educational psychology. Ottawa: Academic Press, 2002. Hodkinson, Hodkinson P. Teaching to learn, learning to teach? School-based non-teaching activity in an initial teacher education and training partnership scheme. Teaching and Teacher Education, 15.3 (1999): 273-285. Hazel, B. and Welton J. Teacher training and development. London: Routledge, 1995. Hansen, J. and Moore K. Effective Strategies for Teaching. New York, NY: SAGE, 2011. James, A., Fisher, R. and Thompson R. Teaching in Lifelong Learning. Ottawa; McGraw-Hill International, 2009. Kishan, Ramnath N. Global Trends in Teacher Education. New York, NY: APH Publishing, 2006. Rao, Ranga R. Methods of Teacher Training. London: Discovery Publishing House, 2004. Singh, S. Teaching Practice lesson. New York, NY: APH Publishing, 2003. Singh, Y. K. Education Technology: teaching Learning. New York, NY: APH Publishing, 2007. Veer U. Modern Teacher Training. Texas: Anmol Publications PVT. LTD, 2005. Wong, H. and Wong, R T. How to be an effective teacher: The first days of school. Mountainview, CA: Harry K. Wong Publications, Inc, 1998. Read More