A Critical Exploration of Roles and Professionalism - Coursework Example

Teaching profession has gained much progress in England over the years. The teacher is expected to educate or instil knowledge to the learners formally and informally. This is in a school setting in other areas other than in the school setting e.g. through involvement of learners in outdoor activities. In the process of teaching the teacher assumes various roles that they execute in the set professional standards. Some of the roles are; being a facilitator, role model, planner among others that this paper will deeply go into in expressing the roles’ importance in facilitating life long learning sector in England. Professionalism in this respect and in relation to this paper and that of teaching profession in England shall be taking to encompass teacher’s conduct, their commitment to quality and to learners and upholding of positive attitude. Introduction A desirable teacher is the one who assists the learners to learn. The roles undertaken by the teacher require both educational expertise as well as content knowledge. As briefly indicated earlier, the teacher acts as a facilitator, as a role model to the learners, as an information provider, as a leaning resources developer, as a planner and as an assessor. Roles undertaken by teachers In England the teacher is supposed to pass on information as well as knowledge to the learners. This is presumably the primary role that the teacher plays in facilitating leaning. Here the teacher is expected to share their thoughts in assisting to illuminate the ideas that underlie a certain subject of study. As a role model the teacher should uphold good moral grounds that every learner should emulate. The teacher on the other hand should at all time act as a learning facilitator and a mentor to their learners (Shirley et al. 1984). In England there has been a move towards having a more learner centred learning. Therefore, the teacher has become more of a facilitator in the learning process. The teacher is also taken to be an assessor of learners’ competence. This is where the teacher is supposed to be an excellent examiner who is able to incorporate all the assessment issues. The teacher is supposed to come up with the required learning outcomes as well as assess the learners’ leaning outcomes. In the process of assessing the learners’ competence in grasping the content taught, the teacher also assess themselves as the results indicate the effectiveness of the teaching processes applied there before. This encompasses the evaluation role that the teachers should play in instilling knowledge which forms a critical part of the teacher’s professional role (Ron 2008). Lifelong learning UK Lifelong learning UK (LLUK) is that sector that is given the responsibilities of developing teachers’ standards as well as the frameworks to be adopted. The teacher roles have been exemplified in the preceding paragraph and in rather general terms. With respect to LLUK, teacher roles as well as the accompanying responsibilities have been well elaborated. The roles have been particularly been identified into two (David 2001). Those roles of a full teacher who is expected to be attaining Qualified Teacher, Learning and Skills (QTLS) status and the role of an associate teacher who happens to have fewer responsibilities and one who receives Associate Teacher, Learning and Skills (ATLS) status. The above two have been developed after thorough research in the sector. However, roles of a teacher are not in any way executed by learning support practitioners; they are supposed to work being directed by another person in charge of learning. Also those undertaking teacher related roles and do not teach are not holders of teaching qualification. From September 2007, the role of the teacher became the determinant of the initial teaching qualifications. From this time even the one on part-time teaching are required to through a teaching qualification to be in either associate or full teacher role (David 2001). For all new teachers in the beginning of their teaching career, undertaking ‘Preparation to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector’ (PTLLS) is a must. The various roles of the two categories are outlined below and the differences between the two well highlighted. However, of importance to note is that those teachers having the full teaching role have significantly more responsibilities than their counterparts (Jonathan 2009). Roles undertaken by teachers in UK First, both have the responsibility to promote and apply principles and codes of practice. Here they have the responsibility to come up with individual learning goals for the learners but through negotiations with the learner. They should make sure that individual learners needs have been taken care of. They should ensure that the learning environment is in line with the area of expertise as well as learner cohort. They should also abide by the current legislative requirements and arrangements. They need to introduce rules that ensure proper behaviour and mutual respect for all. The teachers are to ensure that equality is upheld and reduce as much as possible discriminatory attitudes and behaviour. The difference under this between the two arises where for the full teacher role, the teacher is supposed to take care of individual learners needs in personalised learning approach (Office of Public Sector Information 2008). Second is that the two are required to perform initial assessment. This is supposed to be done in ones specialist area maybe in form of interviews which are informal. They are required to be aware of initial assessment methods and their purpose as well as their proper application. Further to this the teacher under the full teacher role is supposed to be aware of the methodologies of the different initial assessments and be able to apply methods of assessment and is supposed to use the outcomes from the initial assessments in coming up with personalised learning programmes. The third role is that of planning for learning and developing the curriculum. The two categories of teachers are supposed to come up with session plans that aim at meeting individual learner’s needs as well as planning for teaching sessions (Shirley et al. 1984). Under this role, the teacher under the full teacher role shall go ahead and make the schemes of work, come up with learning programmes that suit the learners, include contingencies in the teaching session and exhibit planning skills (Robert 2009). The forth role is that of applying theories of learning where both are supposed to be aware of the various learning theories and their applicability in reality. They are supposed also to have sectional plans that aim at meeting the learner’s individual needs and in the same breath apply appropriate strategies that ensure that learner’s individual needs are met. They should have the knowledge of their boundaries in the execution of their duties. The teachers are supposed to work together in order to support the learning process and seek for opportunities that enhance professional improvement and collaboration with others (Office of Public Sector Information 2008). The main differences that exist between the two are that for the full teacher role the teacher is supposed to make a comparison among the various learning theories adopted in trying to uncover their effectiveness. This teacher is also required to develop their mode of teaching out of their study of the current as well as relevant learning theories. The fifth involves the teachers making sure that the learners fully understand the respective areas of specialisation. They should also provide learners with the sources of relevant information as appropriate. Here the full role teacher should go ahead and promote leaning contribution aimed at social as well as personal development. The other one is where the teachers are to be involved in the organisation’s quality cycle. Here, the teachers are required to observe learner’s progress and keep up to date records in relation to this. The full role teacher should take the findings and make the necessary improvements on the learner (Shirley et al. 1984). Lastly, the teachers from the two divides should evaluate their own performance. This should be on regular basis and collaboration is important so as to collectively improve on quality. In this regard, the full role teacher should go ahead in conducting relevant research and share it with relevant people and authorities in order to come up with a better system, curriculum or teaching and evaluation methods. Conduct and values expected of teachers in UK Teachers are expected to uphold certain attributes in order to execute their duties accordingly. Teachers should ensure that they exhibit positive values, behaviour and attitudes towards learners the same way they would expect the same from them (Geoff 2001). They need to understand fully their duties and the rules, regulations as well as the legislation governing their profession. They should show mastery of good and appropriate language in addressing learners, parents and other stakeholders. They should engage in practices that aim at improving themselves personally and professionally (Geoff 2001). They should demonstrate good ICT skills and have good understanding of their areas of specialisation. They need to have well planned schedules of events and learning sequences. They should teach the right content that suits the age as well as that which will cater for the individual learner’s needs. On monitoring, the teacher is expected to use a wide range of assessment and recording strategies and analyse the outcomes of so as to initiate corrective measures where appropriate. They need to review their teaching methods, the learning environment they are in and engage in collaborations activities that build on team work skills. Conclusion Teaching in UK has taken a huge shift since September 2007 with the adoption of Lifelong learning UK. This model aims at developing the sector into a more productive one in terms of the quality of teaching and consequently the quality of education. The model has proved to be effective in its implementation as teachers have had to follow new guidelines. These guidelines ensure that teachers are well aware of their roles and responsibilities towards the learning process (Jenny et al. 2008). The conduct and values they need to uphold are also well elaborated and the legislation that governs the profession. It hereby shows that teachers are professionals in their own right who follow laid down guidelines in conducting their teaching duties in UK. References David, NA 2001, International handbook of lifelong learning, vol. 2, NY, Springer. Geoff, M 2001, Essential professional conduct: Legal ethics, London, Routledge. Jenny, H, Susie, K &March, JH 2008, A short scoping study to inform the future work of LLUK. Jonathan, T 2009, Curriculum studies in the lifelong learning sector, England, Exeter Office of Public Sector Information, 2008, Education and skills Act. Robert, D July 2009, White Assessing learning in the lifelong learning sector, Studies in Continuing Education, vol. 31, Issue 2, pp. 223 – 225. Ron, T & Denise, R May 2008, Changing step or marking time? Teacher education reforms for the learning and skills sector in England, Journal of Further and Higher Education, vol. 32, Issue 2, pp. 161 – 173. Shirley, F, Heck, C & Ray, W 1984, The complex roles of the teacher: An ecological perspective, New York, Teachers college press, Teachers College, Columbia University, ‘Coaching and mentoring in the lifelong learning sector in England’. Read More