Education and Training: Introductory Level Introduction to Teaching and Learning emcett Learning Support
About this resource Training. Click here to view This is a video introduction to the second of the three emcett blendedlearning resources designed to support (a) the induction of new teachers within the wider FE System and also (b) accreditation for the new (2013) Award in Education and
Knowledge and Understanding Overview The following table outlines the essential underpinning knowledge required to be successful in completing the Award in Education and Training (AET). This has been broken down into two thematic areas of learning support, each with its own Learning Support guide. This particular guide introduces you to teaching and learning within the vocational education and training sector. The teaching role and associated responsibilities Related professions: boundaries, relationships and referral Legislation, regulatory requirements and codes of practice (relating to the teaching role) Ethical issues, values and beliefs Safeguarding, behaviour and mutual respect Inclusive and engaged learning: approaches, resources and individual needs Embedding English, maths, ICT and wider skills Communication and feedback skills Session Planning Purposes, principles and practices of assessment
Inclusive and engaged learning: approaches, resources and individual needs Reflect on, and ideally share, both good and bad personal learning experiences. Discuss what made the bad experiences bad and the good, good. Compare your own experiences of learning passively (e.g. listening to a teacher) with learning actively (e.g. engaged in a project). Have you ever felt excluded from learning, and if so, why? The AET criteria require you to understand how different learning strategies and choice of learning resources can impact positively or negatively on the learners experience and motivation. You will need to plan and deliver learning opportunities that engage all the learners in the group (and are therefore inclusive). The most direct way to achieve this is to design activities that: a) require active learning (e.g. projects, group-based tasks, problem solving, practical tasks, etc); b) enable learners with diverse needs and backgrounds to access and engage with the learning. The latter point (b) refers to inclusivity and needs further exploration. In the simplest terms, learning will be inclusive if it does not cause any learner to be excluded ; and learners may become excluded for a variety of reasons. Consider reasons why a learner may find it difficult to engage with - be included - in a learning activity. Further, consider what you might do to help prevent such exclusion. (It might help to refer back to Promoting Equality and Diversity, in the AET Professionalism support guide, for clues.)
The essential starting point for inclusion is to know your learners and to plan to avoid creating unintended barriers to learning. For example, consider the following needs and characteristics. NEED OR CHARACTERISTIC WHAT WOULD TEND TO EXCLUDE? WHAT WOULD TEND TO INCLUDE? Visual impairment Auditory impairment Low confidence/esteem Low literacy Female Muslim students Low achievers Investigate, via colleagues or the internet, typical teaching strategies used by other teachers in your vocational area. Think about how well these strategies are able to meet the needs of a diverse group of learners. You should consider whether common teaching strategies need to and can be adapted to make them more inclusive. You will also need to consider your choice of learning resources to ensure that they do not unintentionally exclude certain learners and also that they are likely to actively engage learners. Whatever you do, do not use Powerpoint slides like the one to the right to do so should be considered a crime against learners! X
Powerpoint can, however, be used effectively to punctuate a presentation with high impact graphics, embedded video or web-links; present key information that the whole group needs to keep in mind, whilst doing an activity. A Beginners List of Teaching Resources Flip Chart (for them or for you) Post-its Web-enabled PCs Handouts/Task Sheet Photographic material Work-related artefacts Magazines, newspapers, media Mobile phones multiple uses (!?) If your Powerpoint does not add value to your presentation, do not use it. It is worth noting, however, that a Powerpoint presentation that is made available electronically can be effective as a source of notes for learners to refer to, after the session. At this early stage in your teaching career, it is important that you consider how you can select a range of inclusive resources to actively engage learners in tasks, but remember that any particular resource may suit some individuals better than others. This, incidentally, is one of many reasons why active engagement in group-based learning is such a powerful tool in that it enables peers to support each other and opens up the possibility for learners to learn from each other as well as from you. Embedding English, maths, ICT and wider skills Put simply, learners will find it very difficult to succeed in education, work and life without a solid grounding in basic level of English, maths and technology skills. The ability to communicate effectively with others, read and understand information, use maths to solve problems and use a range of current information and communication technologies (ICT) are all essential in any vocational education and training context. Literacy, language, numeracy and ICT skills have been called by various names over the last 30 years: Core, Key or Basic Skills; Skills for Life; and more recently, Functional Skills; and more recently still, there has been a return to the simple terminology - maths and English and the inclusion of GCSE level English and Maths as an integral part of study programmes.
Consider a real-life activity such as planning a celebratory party for a large number of people (say, 75 guests). Discuss perhaps mindmap - what literacy, language, numeracy and ICT skills are likely to be necessary to complete this activity successfully. If possible, speak to teachers in other vocational areas. Talk about your collective vocational teaching areas and share examples of how vocational activities are clearly underpinned by elements of functional skill requirements. At this stage, you should consider how you can plan opportunities for learners to practise relevant maths and English skills and benefit from related feedback within your subject specialism. This should then be reflected in your teaching and learning plans. This theme will be addressed again, below, when you consider how to produce your session plan. Let s now consider what is meant by the term wider skills. These might be known by a range of other labels all broadly similar: personal learning and thinking skills; employability skills; enterprise skills; etc Whilst these wider skills seem very diverse, what they have in common is that learners need all of these skills if they are to achieve economic and social wellbeing. At the simplest level you should consider how your sessions can encourage effective team-working and personal management skills.
Communication and feedback skills Communication skills lie at the heart of effective teaching and you will need to demonstrate them well in your assessed micro-teach. In this context, the important and fundamental communication skills are those relating to listening and questioning: active listening skills; assertiveness skills; effective questioning. Active Listening (sometimes called Reflective Listening) is a vital skill in all occupations that involve relationships with people; arguably, every occupation, but especially those such as Teaching and Health & Social Care. If this form of listening is new to you, be clear that it is beyond what we normally understand as every-day listening, and can be surprisingly difficult the first time that you practise it. With practice, however, the skills can be quickly acquired and even enhance the quality of our listening in every-day situations. Assertiveness is often misunderstood as being outspoken, argumentative or even selfish. It is none of these things and, rather, should be considered simply as straight talking, adult-to-adult, respectful communication. Assertiveness involves being very clear about what you need to say (no hidden meanings, manipulative devices or value judgements), whilst respecting others at all times. Both these skills can be explored through the following web-based resource. Teaching Speaking and Listening (this resource is designed to support the teaching of these skills, but is equally useful for the teacher)
Consider how the skills of Active Listening and Assertion relate to the role of the teacher. You might also consider how these skills might be useful in ensuring a safe environment that is conducive to learning. Why is important that you should model these skills to your learners? Good active listening and assertion skills are very useful when giving constructive feedback to learners. Feedback is essential in allowing learners to understand their achievements and their development needs and could relate to either learning or to issues of respect or behaviour. Poorly delivered feedback can be very damaging to a learner s self-esteem, future motivation and confidence. It may also, under certain circumstances, feel quite uncomfortable for you to have to deliver. For these reasons you need to ensure that you understand the principles of constructive feedback and, also, have some effective strategies for delivering it. A good working definition of constructive feedback can be found in Excellence Gateway: Giving Feedback The LSIS on-line resource on Motivational Dialogue provides a very useful and deeper look at communicating with learners, particularly in situations in which aspirations and motivation are currently low. It also includes video demonstrations of Reflective (Active) Listening and related skills. This is a comprehensive and interactive resource and is worth spending time to explore thoroughly.
Session Planning It hardly needs to be stated that every teaching session should be well planned. The physical format of a session plan is, arguably, less important than the purposes that it must fulfil. It is likely, however, that your employing institution will have a proforma that you will be expected to use. A very basic session plan format is shown in the graphic on the left, but be aware that many working formats also include more detail on how you will differentiate learning during the session (differentiation will be covered in the resources to support the Certificate in Education and Training). The key components of a session (lesson) plan are: the session aim/s: these are broad statements of what you need to cover within the session as part of your overall planned programme of delivery (e.g. To explore health and safety issues in the workplace ). the session objectives: very specific statements of the type, By the end of this session, you will be able to describe ; explain.. ; make ; etc.
the learning activities: these need to be a varied set of activities that are inclusive and engaging (as discussed in the first section of this guide). the (approximate) timings for the activities: the time you should allocate for activities should be realistic but flexible sometimes it is useful to let an activity run on longer and sometimes it is better to cut it short. the resources you will need: paper, computer workstations, Powerpoint projection, handouts; technologies; etc. a reminder of literacy, language, numeracy and ICT skills: necessary for learners to succeed in the session (e.g. Numeracy - estimating the amount of. ; ICT - websearch.. ; Language group activity on.; etc). notes on how you will assess progress: you will need to consider how you will check to ensure all the learners are able to keep up with the session and are improving their knowledge and skills and if they are not, what help they will need. Find out, from your manager, colleagues or teacher trainer what formats are currently in use for session planning. You might also try searching the internet for a range of examples. Note: you will need to deliver a short ( micro ) teaching session of between 15 and 20 minutes as part of the assessment for this module. It is recommended that you produce a session plan for a longer session (an hour or longer) with the intention of delivering part of it for your micro-teach. This will ensure that your session is more realistic and achievable, with regard to content.
Purposes, principles and practices of assessment Assessment is usually thought of as something done to learners, by teachers or learning institutions, to check that they are good enough to move on to other things (e.g. employment, higher courses). Whilst this is true, in part, there is much more to assessment than this and it is a subject that is explored in greater depth at the Certificate and Diploma levels. Assessment needs to be considered as supporting teaching and learning and an integral part of it, rather than something that stands apart - and usually only at the end of a period of learning. We need to consider three different types of assessment: 1. Initial Assessment 2. Formative Assessment (also known as Assessment for Learning) 3. Summative Assessment Initial Assessment: It essential that you have knowledge about what your learners are able to bring to your learning programme. It is obvious that these prior experiences, expectations and concerns will vary from learner to learner and will impact on how you engage and include them within your programme. Initial Assessment is usually carried out at the start of a new programme of learning, as a fairly formal assessment process. It is important to be aware, however, that you can and should initially assess your learners, quite informally, at the start of any new topic.
Check with experienced teachers and/or managers what Initial Assessment procedures your learners are expected to complete at the start of the programme. Whose responsibility is this? Consider methods of informally assessing learners prior knowledge, understanding and/or experience when introducing a new topic. Discuss whether it is possible to use your learners existing skills and knowledge to contribute to the delivery of the session. Formative assessment: is most definitely part of the process of teaching and learning. It is, for that reason, often also known as assessment for learning. Formative assessment is the only means you will have of knowing for certain that a learner is engaged with the learning process and whether they are developing their knowledge, understanding and/or skills. Formative assessment methods can be a very quick and informal and might include, for example, learners: explaining, presenting or demonstrating their understanding back to the group; producing a mindmap, individually or as a group effort; carrying out a short task, or solving a problem, to check correct understanding; peer evaluating each other s work individually or in groups; producing notes individually or collaboratively. etc Self-Evaluation as Formative Assessment Ask learners (or get them to discuss in groups) WWW = what went well? EBI = even better Assessment for Learning Good Assessment Overview Get more ideas, here, about creative ways to formatively assess learners.
Summative Assessment: is what non-teachers is a more traditional perception of assessment, carried out at the end of a period (could be a segment) of learning, as a more formal and quality assured process. It will usually lead to certification or some other formal recognition of achievement. You may have summative assessment as part of your teaching role; in which case, you will likely have an assessor qualification (D32, D33, A1 or a later version of these) and be very familiar with the processes involved. You may also have no role for summative assessment other than preparing learners for it. Summative assessment may involve a test of knowledge and understanding (e.g. a timed examination under formal exam conditions), an observation of real or simulated work performance or associated product evidence (such as examples of work outputs and testimonials from reliable witnesses). A recurring theme within this module is the need to ensure that methods are inclusive and meet the needs of learners. You will need to apply the same type of thinking as you did for earlier, in relation to inclusive learning, to ensure that you create initial and formative assessment opportunities that do not unfairly exclude some learners. Consider in what ways assessment methods might unintentionally prevent some learners from demonstrating their true knowledge, understanding or skills. How might you overcome this? It is important that learners are able to understand the outcomes of assessment and use it to support their learning. It is therefore important to involve them as much as is possible in the process. Giving learners feedback, following assessment, may involve them but asking them to self-evaluate will engage them more. Involving peers in the feedback process is also a valuable way of engaging and benefiting both the recipient and the giver of the feedback (you may want to reflect on why this is). The web-based resources, above, also explore the value of self and peer assessment (Assessment for Learning Good Assessment
Overview). You will also find the Excellence Gateway resources, hyperlinked via the graphics, to be very useful. It should be clear that summative assessment will certainly require some level of formal record keeping and if you are a practising assessor you will be familiar with these procedures. Initial Assessment may be recorded following an institutionally agreed procedures, and most likely in the form of an Individual Learning Plan (ILP). At this stage, you should particularly consider how you will capture and record formative assessment information. Consider how you might involve the learner in recording their own progress in a way that you, as the teacher, can review periodically. Don t forget that self and peer assessment can be built into most learning activities.