Evaluative introduction to roles, responsibilities, and relationships in lifelong learning for new teachers

As a new entrant to the teaching profession, one of the first things you will learn will be your roles, responsibilities and relationships within that profession. Teachers are expected to perform many different roles and responsibilities and abide by general rules of etiquette and legislation with regard to tutor/learner relationships. It is important that the new entrant to the profession understands all these, and more roles, and doesn’t just see a teacher’s role, solely ‘ to teach’. As Petty states, “ A common error is to see the teacher’s role as mainly to present information to students.

To send information is one thing, but to get students to understand this information by making their own meaning of it is quite another” (Petty, 2009: 20) To help you facilitate effective learning, you will learn about The Teaching and Learning Cycle. This is a cyclic table of events comprising the following elements; identifying needs, planning learning, enabling learning, assessing learning and quality assurance and evaluation. Each of these elements demand different roles and responsibilities of the teacher. Each part of the cycle is essential, and it is a continuous loop that can start at any point.

Identifying needs is not just about identifying your learners’ needs, but also yours, and your organisation’s. It would include, for instance an initial assessment of your learners. This is essential as without assessing, you won’t know of any issues that may inhibit the learning process, and will not understand what their outcome desires are or what learning styles they prefer. Although most people will have at least one preferred method of learning, it is important to vary teaching styles. Petty cites research that “ shows that a student’s understanding and recall are improved if all styles are encountered”.

The teacher can and should use various methods for the initial assessment, including written tests, interviews, or perhaps a piece of written work or physical demonstration of ability. It is important that the teacher uses initial assessment methods that are suited to the lesson subject as well as the expected abilities of the learners and is inclusive so as not to discriminate in order to ensure that all learners have been fairly and effectively assessed. When identifying needs, you have a number of other responsibilities, such as referring learners to other people or organisations.

For instance, a student may have financial issues that prevent them from effectively undertaking a course; it would be your responsibility to signpost funding bodies that may be able to help. These are known as points of referral. As a teacher, you have a responsibilty to the reputation of other professionals, including other teachers. You should evaluate this by making yourself aware of the IfL code of practice and checking that you are abiding by all the requirements. Also, consider joining the Institute for Learning. This is the official body for teachers and will help you in your continued professional development (CPD).

Depending on the framework for the learning, you may also have a responsibility to your employer or an awarding body, and their reputations. You also have a responsibility to be aware of what your boundaries are as a teacher. According to Gravells, “ Boundaries are about knowing where your role as a teacher stops and working within the limits of that role” (Gavells, 2011 : 11) This definition would include, for instance, keeping a professional relationship with your learners, however, there are also other limitations, for instance, classroom space, availability of equipment such as computers and other technical equipment.

One initial activity that all teachers should undertake is the setting of ground rules. Bahr and Pendergast state that “ Research suggests that students’ learning is more effective and rewarding if they have a ‘ voice’ in and ownership of aspects of the curriculum and teaching/learning process” Bahr and Pendergast (2005 : 164) Establishing ground rules paves the way for a safe and supportive learning environment.

Depending on the group, sometimes these ground rules will be policed by the group themselves, however, in other instances, it will be necessary for the teacher to take charge as the key authority in the group and ensure the rules are adhered to. Roles and responsibilities exist throughout all elements of the learning cycle, for instance, in the ‘ planning learning’ element of the learning cycle, it is the teachers role to not only plan the scheme of work and lesson plans, but it is also their responsibility to ensure that any learning targets are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time bound (SMART).

For instance, you might state that, by the end of a basic maths lesson, all students would be able to multiply two single digit numbers. This would be a SMART objective as it adheres to all five of the SMART requirements. It is also the teachers responsibility to plan for and provide relevant materials and resources, as without planning, learners are likely to become frustrated resulting in a poor learning experience.

In order to effectively enable learning part of your role is to teach in an inclusive and engaging way and part of this process is to use the learning methods that best suit your students. There are three key learning styles, one or more of which will suit most people. These are visual, aural and kinaesthetic. Visual teaching suits people who learn better by seeing, so for instance, they may learn more easily by reading off a whiteboard, or seeing a demonstration.

Aural is best suited to people who learn by listening and talking. They would prefer to receive information verbally and then have the opportunity to question it. Kinaesthetic learning is best suited to people who learn through touch. They would prefer to learn by having a hands on opportunity to actually have a go at a physical task, rather than be told how to do it or read about it. Without assessing and providing for your learners preferred methods, you will not be able to effectively enable learning

You are also responsible for ensuring any legal requirements are adhered to, for instance, the Health and Safety at Work act 1974, states that any member of staff within an organisation is “ to take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and of other persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions at work” UK Legislation (2012) online In order to properly address this, it might be that you cite any health and safety messages to all learners at an induction session at the beginning of the first session to ensure that all learners are aware of all health and safety procedures (such as fire exits etc).

Examples of other legislation that you should be aware of when entering the profession are The Human Rights Act (1998), Equality Act (2010) and The Protection of Children Act. This last piece of legislation requires teachers wishing to work with children or vulnerable people to be checked by the Criminal Records Bureau. Teachers should also adhere to the Code of Professional Practice, introduced in 2008 by the Institute for Learning which outlines the benefits expected of its members.

And as the IfL state, “ The Code was developed by the profession for the profession and it outlines the behaviours expected of members – for the benefit of learners, employers, the profession and the wider community – Integrity, respect, care, practice, disclosure and responsibility Institute for Learning (2008) online To ensure that learning has taken place, it is part of the teacher’s role to assess and evaluate the learning. As with initial assessment, there are a number of methods of assessing including spoken answers, written exams, and physical demonstration.

Assessment criteria may be set by awarding bodies, but in other areas, it is the teacher’s responsibility to devise realistic assessment systems and materials. This is essential as, if the assessment criteria/methods aren’t relevant to the learning or sensibly graded, students may easily become disillusioned, or alternatively, overly optimistic about their potential results. Although some form of evaluation will be on-going throughout the learning process, the final element of the teaching and learning cycle is that of evaluation.

It is your role to not only evaluate the planning and delivery of the teaching and learning process, but also use the evaluation to improve the process; To aid in this, you should evaluate each individual session, as well as the overall programme, and possibly liaise with others to prevent a ‘ one sided’ view from just your own perspective This is a brief introduction for new entrants to the teaching profession, and as such, is not a full and exhaustive explanation of all the issues involved.