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Essay, 6 pages (1400 words)

Planning and enabling learning.

PLANNING AND ENABLING LEARNING. Initial assessment usually takes place before a student starts a course. Gravells (2007, p. 75) states that the purpose of this is to ??? ensure they are on the right path???.

Depending on the course or subject, students may need to have prior knowledge or experience. Students may also need a certain level of numeracy and or literacy. An initial assessment ensures that students have the ability to complete the course; it also provides the tutor with information which will enable them to plan future learning. Minton (2005, p. 50) describes the initial assessment as ??? the critical starting point of a process of building up a spirit of trust between students and teacher???. It is also important for identifying students??™ needs for any additional learning support, such as basic literacy.

It is important to share and agree learning goals with your students. Minton (2005) suggests that students need to know what they are setting out to learn and what you are planning to teach, and these should be the same. Clearly defined goals have numerous benefits including the more willing students are to engage in learning activities and contribute to the group, the greater the learning that takes place, the teacher can choose appropriate teaching learning strategies, materials and methods, and it??™s easier for students and teachers to evaluate progress.

There are three different styles of learning, aural, visual and kinaesthetic. Gravells (2007) explains that most people learn form a combination of these three. By finding out how your students learn, it enables you to plan your sessions to deliver effective learning. The use of different delivery methods will depend somewhat on the subject you are delivering. Delivery can be formal, such as a lecture or informal in the style of a discussion, or a mixture of both. Methods may be divided into four categories, presentation, participatory, discovery and evaluator (Appendix 1). Choosing a variety of delivery methods will facilitate learning for all your students, irrespective of their different learning styles.

Minton (2005) describes the methodology from which teachers may choose ranges from total control by the teacher to total control by the student of their learning (Appendix 2). Reece and Walker (2000, p. 195) define resources as ??? a support to teaching strategies which assists learning.

??? By using different resources, it should ensure that all students learning styles are covered. Resources may include handouts, worksheets, an activity, a specialist speaker, DVD??™s, the internet and power point displays. Gravells (2007) states that when you are planning what resources to use, you should consider the five W??™s and one H, who, what when, where, why and how. Resources will also depend on your organisation and budget and what is available to you.

Minton (2005) states that concentration falls after fifteen minutes, and therefore resources should change often to keep the learning steady. Minton (2005) advises that any materials used should be as brief as possible; you can elaborate on the idea in the classroom. A visual aid is meant to focus attention, not to present all the information. The author has in the past used power point slides containing too much information, which was highlighted during feedback on a previous micro teach.

Having also since read somewhere that a slide should contain a maximum of ten words, this is another area the author has addressed when using power point as a resource. Using different delivery methods and resources when delivering your teaching, makes it more interesting for your students to learn. Minton (2005) explains that new teachers frequently lack the courage to take risks, they adopt a pattern of defensive behaviour, and this may become embedded. They find it difficult to challenge what seem to be established patterns in the classroom. The author has personally experienced this, which was highlighted during the feedback to their teaching session on this assignment. Having taken over from another trainer, whose teaching material was reliant on power point presentation, the author needs to have the confidence to rely less on power point and more on her own ability to deliver the required information.??? The appropriateness of chosen methods of teaching and learning is vital in attaining agreed goals. ??? Minton (2005, p.

151)Functional skills are practical skills in English, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and mathematics that equip learners with the necessary knowledge and understanding to use these in everyday life. They should enable learners to get the most out of work and education. Functional skills were found to be already present in some of the training delivered at the author??™s workplace, Essential Nursing, and since commencing this course; the author had deliberately added more of these elements to existing courses and ensures any new training has functional skills embedded. Mathematics is practiced when teaching nurses and carers to complete patient??™s fluid and weight charts, and in calculating drug doses.

ICT is incorporated by getting students to do their own research on the internet into certain subjects and to access Essential??™s policies and procedures which are on the Essential website. English is included in the completion of workbooks, questionnaires and assignments by students.??? Better functional skills will help raise standards…

.. and improve employment prospects and further learning opportunities for all learners, regardless of age or ability.??? (QCDA)Communication involves the passing of information or message from one person to another. Communication is not a one-way transmission, no matter how good your communication is, your students need to be receptive to your message. Communication has two base types, verbal and non verbal.

Verbal communication is generally thought as spoken language. Some of its components are sound, words, language, rate, volume, pitch, pronunciation and articulation. Verbal communication includes face to face, discussions, speeches, telephone conversations, seminars, DVD??™s etc. Non-verbal communication includes facial expressions, eye contact, gestures, posture, appearance, proximity, touch and non-verbal signals. Prof. Albert Mehrabian identified three major parts that convey meaning in human face to face communication, body language and voice tonality and the words.

Mehrabian established a statistic for the effectiveness of spoken communications (Appendix 3). His model is particularly useful in illustrating the importance of factors other than words alone when trying to convey or interpret meaning. In practice there are factors which distort the message or signal, theses are barriers to good communication, and are referred to as noise. Noise is a problem affecting all forms of communication, because it diverts the learner??™s attention. Barriers to verbal communication include monotony of delivery, excessive information, excessively clever presentations, the environment, classroom layout, difficult acoustics, seats to hard, any distraction, jargon, specialised vocabulary, pitching the level of learning too high or too low, tone of voice, emotional or attitudinal barriers, cultural and language differences, physical disability such as deafness, speed of delivery and personality clash.

Barriers to non-verbal communication include; failure to gesture while speaking, you may be perceived as boring, stiff and unanimated. Head nods communicate positive reinforcement to students and indicate that you are listening; lack of this will have a negative effect. Lack of eye contact signals disinterest in others. If you smile frequently you will be perceived as more likeable, friendly and approachable and students will react favourably and learn more.

The author received positive feedback of this during evaluation of her teaching session. Lack of smiling will have the opposite effects. Speaking with your back turned communicates disinterest to your class. Barriers include those students bring with them and those as teachers we create. People can bring a history of painful learning experiences of the past, Minton (2005) describes students with this mind set as presenting one of the strongest barriers to communicating and learning, and the teachers role as recognising the barriers that students present. Communication is a two way process.

It needs to have a sender, a receiver and a message. In order to have a successful communication we need to send the message clearly. The key to a great communication is understanding each other. Without feedback we do not know if we have been understood. This essay is based on research undertaken by the author on the internet and from books, and is backed up by experience gained from the authors training environment, and during this course. REFERENCES & BIBLIOGRAPHY. GRAVELLS, A., 2007.

Preparing To Teach In The Lifelong Learning Sector. 2nd Ed. Exeter. Learning Matters. GRAY, D., GRIFFIN, C., and NASTA, T., 2005.

Training to Teach. 2nd Ed. Cheltenham. Nelson Thornes. MINTON, D.

, 2005. Teaching skills in further and adult education. London. Thomson Learning.

REECE, I., and WALKER, S., 2000. Teaching, Training and Learning.

5th Ed. Tyne & Wear. Business Education Publishers. ROGERS, A., 2002.

Teaching Adults. 3rd Ed. Berkshire. Open University Press. http://qcda. gov. uk/ [Accessed 6 February 2010] WORD COUNT: 1, 356 (with quotes) WORD COUNT: 1, 284

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