Om Varma

Director, MIE

Content Who is a teacher?

Expectations

New & altered roles.

Teacher stress

Assumptions of teachers on teaching

Assumptions of teacher educators

What research reveal

Where do we go from here?

Who is a teacher?

Teacher

Classroom Manager

Monitor of student’s

progress and potential

Inventor.

Knower

Carer

Inspirer

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The teacher as a person Caring- for the emotional

and physical well being of

the child; supportive &

warm

Ensure fairness and respect-

shapes self esteem, equity,

respect, creates opportunity

Enthusiastic- pleasure in teaching, innovative

Motivating- high quality work, timely response, meaningful feedback

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The teacher as a personDedicated to teaching

positive attitude to life and teaching.

prepares, participates in collegial activities.

accepts responsibility for outcomes.

Reflective Practice

uses reflection to improve practice.

sets high expectations.

demonstrates efficiency.

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Teacher as classroom manager & organizerClassroom Management-

Ensure smooth transition, continuity, variety.

Has awareness of all activities.

Anticipates, encourages attention.

Organisation

Of routines & materials space.

Disciplining students-

Is prompt & fair.

Has positive expectations.

Uses appropriate disciplinary measures.

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Organizing for instructionsGives Importance to instruction focuses time on instruction. links learning to real-life.

Time allocation follows schedules. prepares in advance. maintains momentum. limits interruptions.

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Organizing for instructions…Teacher’s expectations-

Has high expectations for self and students.

Instructional planning- Organises contents.

Checks students’ understanding. Gives attention to students’

learning styles…

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Monitor of student progress and potentialHomework

Clearly explain; grades, comment, discuss

Monitoring progress Monitors for misconceptions;

Gives clear feedback; Re-teachers to encourage mastery

Respond to students’ needs & abilities is aware of individual needs and ready to attend to

them

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Expectations

Inventing

Knowing

Caring

Inspiring

Ornstein & Hunkins - 1998

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Inventing

Realistic, methodical, structured in their thinking

Strive to help students think Give importance to “having students

solve problems”Make students apply learning to real

situation

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Knowing

Hold all students to high standards

Consistent with rules, without consideration of who the student may be or what prior experience or disadvantages they may carry into the classroom

Expect every student to rise to academic challenges

Accept no excuse for failure

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Caring

Tremendous passion for students & subject they teach.

Tuned in to emotional needs of every student

Make sure that all students feel importantand cared for.

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Inspiring Teachers A flair for making subjects come alive

Trend setters and innovators who are constantly reinventing themselves...Creative... even non-conformists

Strive to make students think deeply in order to understand themselves and develop unique identities.

Broaden student’s horizon about what they can achieve in life.

Instead of memorizing facts, they challenge students to think deeply about things they encounter in new and different ways.

New Roles.. Altered relations

From Provider to transmitter & facilitator

Multiple source of information and knowledge

Competing references- teacher is no longer a role model?

Expectations Autonomous

Flexible

Creative

Critical

Accountable

New Roles.. Altered relations

Multiple Roles

Director

Collaborator

Organiser

Generator of Knowledge

Psychologist

Sociologist

Teacher stress Fast pace of change

Lack of appropriate textbooks!

Mastery of subject area and challenging pedagogy

Knowing content v/s knowing learners and learning

Producer of knowledge v/s enabler and eye opener

Isolation

Assumptions / expectations which teachers have about teaching

It is about transmitting content knowledge and prepare for examinations- hence the focus is on explaining and re explaining

Teachers learn their content and the tips/ golden rules about teaching on the job and from teachers who have field experience.

Teaching is about common sense and remote from theories which adorn book

Teachers should emerge from training ready to take on any challenge and having recipes for any practical situations- the value of a training is assessed by its capacity to match the real lived situation of the teacher.

Assumptions of teacher educators

teaching is a science - the almost clinical application of theories- you must know the theories in order to practice.

If teachers cannot practice the theories, it is because the conditions in schools are not optimised

Teachers should abandon their beliefs and embrace that of the TE.

What Research reveals?

Teachers have their own beliefs about what teaching is, constructed over years of apprenticeship as learners.

These beliefs are tenacious and hard to crack.

These beliefs are tested by teachers and in time lead to a personal practical theory

What Research reveals? Teacher learning and transformation are self driven-

we cannot train teachers like seals to perform an act.

training should provide a diversity of learning experience which will cause teachers to drive developmentally their own professional growth agenda.

This drive to progress is nurtured by a vibrant learning community at school and at training institutions

What Research reveals? the knowledge generated for teaching is always

situated within the context for which it is used.

Good teaching is not fixed to one single model.

Models of good teaching will be context dependent

Where do we go from here?

How to create with the school the learning community Mentoring- is a key area to ensure adequate induction of new

entrants to the profession v/s killing our young?

Schools as partners? (Support of QA team)

help the school to develop their training needs chart and evaluate their own resources to engage in in-house professional development scheme with MIE’s to support

programmes of teacher education to integrate a component of practicum to ensure trainees can adopt a stance of reflection in action-

“when people move from being unconsciously effective to being consciously effective they teach the principles to others by both precept and example”

Changing pedagogy for the teacher Teacher education to be more realistic- but not

necessarily technicist

Back and forth between practice and analysis to progress incrementally- Examples from practice

Identify the hurdles and tackle them

Time tabling inline with teaching and learning needs

School leadership as facilitator

Teacher’s understand and value peer support

Build relationship with the community

Working with parents- what research shows.

Working the extra mile? ...

Parents, whatever social background need to be comforted & supported!

Families are the biggest influence on a children’s mental health and play a very important role

Bridging the gap between a child’s home life and their schooling or childcare environment is what makes children successful

Letting each other know their involvement and support is valued.

Acknowledging both can learn from each other. (example of old man)

Create Support- breaking teacher isolation Need to network- international v/s

local

Intelligent use of networking platform

Intra & inter school networking?

Help development of a community of practice Collegial preparation and sharing on

networking platform?

School a place for learning Reinstate the legitimacy of our teachers.

Not a decree, but earned

Optimise use of school hours.

2 options - Work more? Work smart.. !

Naughty calculation..

Help change mind set about schools and schooling

. Rebrand your school!

Teacher should prepare for life not just examination...

Awareness of needs of the world of work – How? (EE- Dragons’ Den- Teacher placement – example from

Singapore)

How to counter students’ resistance?

Teach the way the child wants to learn

Teach the child to learn “I used to write everything that was not in the book.”

Understand how the brain functions. Brain based learning- (Brain: research on retention)

Help develop a sense of pride – I am your teacher!

A common social language is basic in culture building

Average Retention Rate After 24 Hrs

Le

ctu

re:

5%

Reading: 10%

Audio Visual: 20%

Teacher Demonstration: 30%

Discussion Group: 50%

Practice byDoing: 75%

Teach Other-Immediate Use

Of Learning90%

Increasing cognitive demand

Receiving information

Application of learning

Source: National training Laboratories, US

Common social language: Living the 7 habits: Stephen Covey Habit 1: Be proactive Habit 2: Begin with the end in mind Habit 3: Put first things first Habit 4: Think win-win Habit 5: Think first to understand then be understood Habit 6: Synergise- producing a third alternative Habit 7: Sharpening the saw: constantly renewing ourselves in the four

areas of life: physical, social/emotional, mental and spiritual. Build and Emotional Bank Account: by seek first to understand-

being kind, making and keeping promises, being loyal to the absent.

Daniel Goleman: (1)Emotional Intelligence – ability to identify, assess, and control the

emotions of oneself. Of others, and of groups (2)Social Intelligence- the capacity to effectively negotiate complex

social relationships and environments

Status of the teaching profession Establish oneself vis-a-vis other professions

Avoid negative attitudes that have set in some professions –(“Your money or your life”- Clint Eastwood)

Personal grooming? Importance of the ‘image’ in the postmodern world.

Understand new role and evolving role Get out of the comfort zone ?

Who detains knowledge and what is my role ?

We cannot get rid of the teacher..

Computers do not cater for emotional needs the way teacher can do... Yet!

But teachers should accept change– for their own survival!

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ENTHUSIASM

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and CREATIVITY… find new ways to do old things?

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Our teacher says it’s a mysteryWhy dinosaurs died long ago.They just disappearedAfter millions of yearsAnd why, we may well never know

But I’ve got a theory about it-They didn’t just run out of breath.Like us they had schoolsWith lessons and rules

Problem Solved

And the teachers just bored them to death

There are no seven wonders in the eyes of the child. There are seven million. W. Steightiff