The New Lecturer in the Work Place - Assignment Example

The Work Place Tutor: College: Course: Date Abstracts The nature of expertise and pedagogy are essential in teaching student and developing the teacher’s knowledge. There are several work practices that can be applied in order to help any new worker in an institution or organization to establish an efficient learning environment for the learners (Harris 2006). The research will allow teachers to have more objective measures for knowing and learning expert pedagogy. Introduction This assignment explains how the practice based learning can be effectively applied to equip a newcomer in the work place .At the transition entry level the law graduate who is joining the teaching profession will be transformed to become an experienced teacher who will perform just as well as those trained in the profession. At the entry level the young man will be taken through an orientation program to be able to equip him with the necessary knowledge, altitudes and skills to be able to handle the students (Billet, S., 2001).This is because the newcomer has no knowledge in the field but has a lot of interest in joining the field. A learning pathway is structured to help the learner get to adjust in the workplace more easily. When deciding to join this work place the new teacher trainee, was aware that in the industrial economy most programs in higher education had become more specific and there was the rising demand to offer more vocational education which was what he believed he would deliver appropriately. By working in the university the graduate had very high expectations of enjoying a smooth transition into the professional practice (Boud, 2001). The students were supposed to be provided with numerous chances to practice the knowledge that they will have learned in their classrooms. The young graduate who will be working in the institution is supposed to understand clearly the way in which the students should be organized in order to achieve their educational purpose and how they integrate this to realize the purposes. How practice-based learning might be made more effective for new teacher trainees The university will be the new workplace for the teacher trainee and all the experiences that help the newcomer develop the knowledge required for the profession will be realized through the curriculum. The new teacher needs to be introduced to the new technologies and tools so that they can be able to effectively apply them effectively. This will definitely require regular training from the senior authorities and this should be built in within the academic calendar (Bova 2007).To be able to motivate the trainee by awarding him with a certificate to show his efforts. The curriculum should also be one that is giving the teacher trainee a chance to engage in the school activities so as to ensure full participation hence gaining more knowledge about the teaching environment. Proximal guidance should also be given to the teacher trainee by the mentors to allow for their growth in the workplace. The physical and social environment of the school should also be conducive enough to provide indirect guidance to the new teacher It is necessary for the new teacher and the administrator to come up with formal arrangements on how to interact with one another. They should be able to distinguish which role each will be playing so that the learner can be satisfied and they are able to realize their goals (Billet, S.2009).The lecturer was also a learner and was given clear instructions on how to realize the effective realization of how to integrate the knowledge and skills that they had acquired in their learning days hence gaining a better working experience (Bova 2007). At the entry level, the lecturer was informed about the kind of curriculum that was supposed to be followed as well as the pedagogic practices that were supposed to be enacted so as to secure the educational worth. The lecturer should put in mind that the program they will set, is derive from the needs of the learners and the environment they are learning from. In this era where change is inevitable, higher education is one area where the government has been very keen to control the expenditure. The rise in the population number has also led to the rise in the demand of the students who wish to join the university (Billet 2009). It is very important for the lecturer to understand that he will be dealing a diverse number of students who come from different backgrounds and due to this they have several needs and attitudes which the teacher will have to put in mind. The resources available are proving to be insufficient to cater for all these learners so there is great need for the tutors and the administration to come up with strategies that will be able to accommodate the continuing innovations that are coming up in the universities. There are several challenges that have been identified to be affecting the changes experienced in the higher learning and that is why several solutions are been suggested to eliminate this (Boud, 2001). The main one that has been approved is the use of new forms of work-based learning. It has still not been proved if this will be a minor or a major way of responding to the learning problems in the higher learning. Kinds of learning required by the trainee to become effective teacher practitioners Work based Learning (WBL) The Work based Learning has been identified as a major innovation that was more engaged in changing the economic, social and educational demands of our era. With its introduction in the teaching and learning in higher education it is poses the possibilities for post-secondary pedagogy and education. The lecturer was expected to be aware of the main features of the work based learning and how it could effectively be applied to when teaching in the university (Harris 2006). The Work based learning is general term to refer to university programs that unite a number of work organizations, and aim to create new learning opportunities in the workplaces. It is thorough the implementation of such programs that needs of these learners are met and they contribute to the longer term development of the organization and formally becomes a university course. The already existing workplace course is the one that should be modified to suit the needs of the diverse learners. In most cases these programs are extracted from the universities’ disciplinary frame work of the university studies hence developing the pedagogies necessary for learning. Most of the Work-based Learning Programs are known to have six common characteristics. The first one of these is the partnership between an external organization and the educational institutions which serve to foster learning (Bova, B 2007). These partnerships help to make the private and public communities to improve the economy and the infrastructure that facilitate learning to occur. In order to ensure that any learning takes place in the universities is suitable to ensure that the learning projects are in co operation with the needs of the workplace. In other words it is always advisable to ensure that a relationship is established between the educational institution and the employer. The other characteristic is the formal arrangements which are overseen by the establishment of partnerships. These partnerships are of benefits to both parties that is the employees and the organization itself. In the university, there will be creation of new areas of educational need and in this way their source of income is diversified. The organizational arrangements will always be formal and will be in form of contracts and memorandum of agreements where the need of each of the partners is identified ((Harris 2006)). Most of the matters that will covered will include the number of students who the lecturer will be handling as well as the period that they were meant to take in school. The nature of the support that will be provided by the organization is also catered for. The teacher who is an employee is also a second learner and is expected to be in some form of contractual relationship with external organizations and they select the program they would be involved in according to their priorities. It is very common for the learners to negotiate within themselves about which learning pans they would instill as long as they had been approved by the educational institution and the organization as well (Boud 2001). On the third note the program that was followed was mainly derived from the needs of the people in the workplace rather than being controlled by the set framework of the curriculum. This is to ensure that the learning process does not become a trend that even the learners can predict. The new framework is set to ensure that all the needs of the students are considered (Billet 2009). The learning environment should not be designed in a way that it coincides with the disciplinary and the professional structures that are within the university faculty. Through teaching the students should be able to take in the know ledge in different forms both in the industry and the business sector to generate different purposes at the end of the course. The fourth characteristic is that the starting and the educational level of the program should be established after the learners are able to successfully identify how competent they are and this is determined by their educational qualifications, their training opportunities as well as their aspirations (Jorgenson,C.H. 2004). This is very helpful to the learners rather than following what is previously set by the institution at the entry level. The learners are given the freedom to commence their studies whenever they wish but all their qualifications should be put in place. Prior learning is often applicable to the work based planning and this is important because what matters is what students can be able to do at the moment meaning that the lecturer should always try to focus on the current competence. It is also possible for this lecturer to apply and develop his current know ledge and with timed he is able to come up with very realistic plans that are effectively implemented. In this case the graduate teacher may not find it necessary to pursue a postgraduate degree through the work based learning. The fifth significant element is that the work based learning is that most of the projects are undertaken in the workplaces. They are mostly developed from the work challenges and the future needs of the learner and the organization. The routine trainings are not done in the institutions and the learners are expected to draw their support and advice on how to formulate their learning only from the institution. For the projects the learners are expected to fund for the resources that they will require as well as for their overall learning (Bova, B.1987). The projects that the learners will develop in the workplace tend to form the guideline for the work based programs. Through learning the knowledge and skills of the individual is ext ended so as to ensure a different aspect of the organization is realized. The lecturer and the managers of the university should ensure that the learning that takes place is not in any way helping the individuals alone but there is a link between the organization and the learners. Lastly, once the Work based Learning is applied in the education institution then the major outcomes are brought out with respect to the framework of standards and levels. Thought he leaning that is going on in the institution is important to the institution it is important to ensure that it is learning that is beneficial to the students (Benner 2004). Since in these days employment is not guaranteed then it is important for the facility to open up employment pathways so as to help the learners. There are no specific courses or syllabuses that should be followed except for those units that have to be included in order to hold he course together. Work integrated learning (WIL) As a way to shift the attention from the liberal arts it is important to put more emphasis on the industrial economies as a major Way of preparing the learners for their future occupations. In this aspect the learners are expected to have acquired major professional practices that will enable e them to immediately get employed and perform well. The work integrated Learning is concerned with taking different forms in the different disciplines around the world (Billet 2009). Most of the university courses will be more privileged in the education sector than others. The lecturer should aim to instill knowledge that is adaptable and is able to easily meet the social and economic goals of both the institutions and the country at large. It is clear that the work based learning does not leave any place for the academic disciplines since they leave the students to achieve their desired outcomes as well as their requirements in other fields. Role of practice-based learning in transition to workplaces There were several practices that were established in order to develop a good work integrated plan so as to offer a link between the learning and the work opportunities thereafter. The lecturer should always ensure that there is a sand witch course that is incorporated so that the learners will not only have to spend their entire time in the professional courses but they will also show their creativity in the authentic work (Bova 2007). Most of the institutions are slowly adapting this work-based learning and they are considering more of the prior experiences and the placement of work and this helps to ensure that the learners get a lot of experience that they will be able to apply in their future. The second element is the independent studies and the negotiated learning that ensured that the l earners were not given education that followed the normal traditional pattern but there were negotiation that were carried out between the teachers and the students. In case there was need to change the infrastructure of the organization then it was always necessary to provide ways of recognizing the academic achievements (Jorgenson, C.H.2004). It was also necessary to include any prior and experimental reading that the learner could have acquired. Several programs have been established to be able to decide the courses that would not be exactly as those that were in the university course structure. The university activities could not be supervised by the university disciplinary groups. Another element that was related to the work Integrated plan was the nature of completing a number of activities and capabilities by a shorter time than could normally be done. For the students to acquire their degrees their cultural practices were also supposed to be instilled by the lecturer (Benner 1984). The other element was the connection that is linked to work and learning based on the philosophical roots. This according to Dewey was only an import ant principle when it came to organizing the curriculum. The lecturer who is working in the institution is enrolled as a part timed student with the university and at the same time continues to attend to his lessons. The lecturer will be able to study and use the resources that the universities will offer (Jorgenson, C.H.2004). This program should be negotiated in advance with the employer to ensure that the content is up to the national standards. There are some unique learning opportunities that the university board of Governors and the lecturer who has been employed. This is clearly is a unique opportunity for the employer and the employees to be able to create a program of work at an academic level where the appropriate professional skills for the workforce are instilled. There is a three way agreement between the organization and the employees to try and recognize all the skills and technologies that are nationally approved for the qualification framework .However; there is a wide range of the university choices away from the liberal arts (Billet, S.2009).This particular change has made most of the universities to be involved in a more vocational education due to the shift in occupation that the lecturer would be able to transform the learners from being the common learner to becoming professional practitioners. The North American co-op movement was very famous with its provision of the extensive periods of workplace placement in form of internships. Through the courses that are offered in the universities and there are great results that are achieved in the most higher education students (Harris 2006). To be able to realize great outcomes it is necessary for the program to put in place more efforts of that help to develop the occupational capacities. It is also important for the lecturer to remember that he must not ignore anything from learners and should be honest with them so that he could understand their likes and dislikes. The learners will in most cases follow different pathways since they have different needs and with time this changes. In most cases, their requirements do not fit in any standard pattern hence the lecturer has to come up with a learning plan for each learner and the provision of the resources is also made possible if all the parties are in agreement (Billet, S. 2009).). The negotiations that are undertaken mostly provide an opportunity for both of the parties to express their demands for them to be agreed upon or rejected. The learners encounter a lot of frustration since they arrive immediately from high school and others come after years of involvement in the work force so they have attitude in learning. Learners sometime get affected psychologically, socially and economically since they have families to rise, some are working and others have financial constraint and have limited funds (Bova 2007). The lecturer must involve learners so that they may come to him as an active learner to seek assistance at every opportunity they encounter so that they succeed in academic. In such circumstances learners will be able to ask question at every aspect of their learning and understand how their can solve problems they are encountering. The practice-based learning is the most effective for the lecturer who is new in the institution since it will help him become better teacher and even help him cope in the new environment very fast. The teacher who has successfully undergone vocational training is able to bring out a link between him, the institution and the learners. They are also able to bring organizational development and efficiency improvement (Jorgenson, C.H.2004). Through the practice –based learning it is possible to effectively separate the social life from the personal life since in the historic perspective most people spend their entire youth life in the schools and they only work in the late years hence they are in a position to self determine where their interests fit. Through the reflexive self determinacy the individuals are able to come up with their own economic and social necessity (Boud 2001). In order to improve the practice based learning it is necessary to encourage the innovation of new ideas from the learners and the teachers as well. This can be made possible through the projects that are undertaken in the process of learning. The curriculum should also be modified to suit the needs of the learners especially because they all have different interests. Conclusion In the current learning institutions it has been proved that the practice –based learning is responsible to bring a diverse change in the education sector. The new graduate trainees are able to acquire skills and knowledge that they applied to change the future career paths of their students (Benner 1984). The entry level learning is the most important in determining the performance of the new employee in the workplace. In addition to explaining to the employees about the different learning practices it is also important to have some role models and mentors that would help the new employers into getting used to the system they should follow faster. This would be a better strategy since they would also be corrected in case they went wrong or they had difficulties in their line of work. References Benner, P. (1984). From novice to expert: excellence and power in clinical nursing practice. London: Addison Wesley Billet, S. (2009). Realizing the educational worth of integrating work experiences In higher education, Studies in Higher Education, 34(7), 827-843, DOI: 10.1080./03075070802706561. Boud, D., Solomon, N., & Symes, C, (2001). New practices for new times, Work-based learning: A new higher education, Buckingham, Open University Press (pp. 3-17). Bova, B. (2007). Mentoring as a learning experience, In V. Mar sick (Ed.), Learning in the Workplace, (pp.119-133), Croom Helm: New York. Harris, R, Simons, M, (2006). VET practitioners working with private enterprises: A ‘third space’, Journal of Workplace Learning, 18(7/8), 478-494, DOI: 10.1108/1366520610693033, Jorgenson, C.H. (2004) Connecting work and education: should learning be Useful, correct or meaningful, Journal of Workplace Learning, 16(8), 455-465, DOI: 10.1108/13665620410566423, Read More