Secondary School TeachingA Guide To Methods and Resources
Chapter Two Secondary School Teaching Today:Teacher Professional Responsibilities
13 Key Points- of Chapter 21. 4 decision-making and thought processing phases of instruction2. Operational awareness of materials and resources used in teaching3. Copyright laws for printed and media materials for teaching4. Using community resources, speakers and field trips5. Competent use of standard classroom tools for teaching6. Importance of locus of control and its relationship to professional
responsibilities7. Instructional and noninstructional responsibilities of classroom teachers8. Basic safety and legal guidelines for the classroom9. Contrast teachers use of praise and encouragement and
situation in which each is more appropriate10. Compare and contrast teacher facilitating behaviors
with instructional strategies11. Teaching style and its relevance to classroom instruction12. Importance of reflection to the process of constructing
skills and understanding13. The concept of multilevel instruction and its use
Four Categories of Teacher Responsibility
1. Responsibility as a reflective decision maker
2. Commitment to children and to the profession
3. Noninstructional responsibilities
4. Instructional responsibilities and fundamental teaching behavior
Instruction can be divided into 4 decision-making and thought-processing phases:• Planning Phase or Preactive Phase: consists of all
the intellectual functions and decision you make prior to actual instruction– Content selection, goals, objective, homework assignments etc.
• Teaching or Interactive Phase: decisions made during the act of teaching– Maintaining of student focus, teacher questions,
student feedback and adjustments to the lesson plan
4 decision-making and thought-processing phases: Cont• Analyzing and Evaluating Phase
or Reflective Phase: time used to reflect upon, analyze, and judge the decisions and behaviors that occurred during the interactive phase– Decisions of student learning, student
grades, feedback to parents and adjustments on what to teach next
• The Application or Projective Phase: projecting you analysis into subsequent teaching behaviors
Locus of Control, Teacher Responsibility• Internal: likely to persist against
formidable odds
• Self –Efficacy: (feeling of I can)more likely to instill in their students the same sense of empowerment
Please Note: just because a teacher think they “can” teach does no mean they “will” teach
Students Right Against Discrimination• Federal Law Title VI of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964– Prohibits discrimination based on race,
color or national origin, or gender
• The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990– Prohibits discrimination against
individuals with disabilities
• Federal Law Title IX of the Education Act Amendments of 1972– Prohibits discrimination among students
based on their gender. In all aspects of school all students must be treated the same
Cell Phones and other Handheld Devices• Whatever the school and district
policy, as a classroom teacher you should have the policy common in most theaters and concerts; that is , students are expected upon entering your classroom to turn their electronic devices completely off and keep them off until students are dismissed from your classroom.
Teaching Style
• The way teachers teach, which includes their distinct mannerisms complemented by their choices of teaching behaviors and strategies
• Two contrasting styles– The traditional– The facilitating
Traditional Style
FacilitatingStyle
Teacher Autocratic, DirectCurriculum-centeredFormal, InformativePrescriptive
Democratic, IndirectStudent-centeredInteractive, InformalInquiring, Reflective
Classroom Teacher-centeredLinear (seats facing front)
Student-centered(group or circular seating)
Instructional Modes
Abstract learningCompetitive learning
Transmission of information from teacher to students
Teacher centered discussion/lecture
Concrete learningCooperative learning
Reciprocal teaching (using dialogue) between teacher and small group
Discussions and peer and cross age coaching
Multilevel Instruction
• Individual students and groups are working at different tasks to accomplish the same objectives.
• In other words individualizing both the content and the methods teaching.
Theoretical Origins of Teaching Styles and Their Relation to Constructivism• Constructivism is not a new concept
– Found in the writings of Arthur W. Combs (1962), Jean Piaget (1970) and John Dewey (1902, 1910)
• Cognitive Experimentalism (constructivism) – Is the assumption that the learner is
neutral-interactive, purposive individual in simultaneous interaction with physical and biological environments.
– The main focus in teaching should be on facilitating the learner’s gain and construction of new perceptions that lead to desired behavioral changes and ultimately to more fully functioning individual
Noninstructional Responsibilities• Knowledgeable about activities of interest to the
students• Familiar with the school campus and community• Acquainted with members of faculty and support staff• Knowledgeable of the school and district policies• Familiar with the background of the students• Your expected to teach common elements of the
curriculum, reading, writing and thinking• Your expected role in the advisory program
• Maintaining a cheerful, pleasant, safe environment, obtaining materials needed for each lesson, keeping supplies orderly; and supervising students who are helpers
• Your expected role in the parent-teacher organization and other community participation meetings
• Conferences: teacher-teacher, teacher-student, teacher-parent, teacher-administration, teacher-community rep.
• Professional meetings
• Time to relax and enjoy family and hobbies
Instructional Responsibilities-highlights
• Knowledgeable of expected learning outcomes• Planning lessons, reading students papers• Preparing the classroom, providing class
instruction• I. D. resources and sources, devote time to
planning• Assessing and recording student progress• Develop a effective classroom management
system
Characteristics of the Competent Classroom Teacher: An Annotated List• Teacher is knowledgeable about the
subject matter– Historical and current knowledge
• The teacher is an “Educational Broker”– You can not know everything but you should
know where to find out
• The teacher is an active member of professional organizations– Reads professional journals, speaks with
colleagues, maintains current methodology about the students and the subject content the teacher is expected to teach
Characteristics of the Competent Cont.• The teacher understand the process
of learning– Ensure students understand what is
expected of them– Consider the unique learning
characteristics of each student, see that content is presented in reasonable small doses and in a logical and coherent sequence
• The teacher uses effective modeling behaviors
• The teacher is open to change, willing to take risks and willing to be held accountable
Characteristics of the Competent Cont.
• The teacher is nondiscriminatory towards all unique human differences
• The teacher organizes the classroom and plans the lesson carefully
• The teacher is a compatible communicator– The teacher uses thoughtfully selected
words, carefully planned questions, expressive voice inflections, useful pauses, meaningful gesture and non confusing body language
• The teacher functions effectively as a decision maker
Characteristics of the Competent Cont• The teacher is in perpetual learning
mode, striving to further develop a repertoire of teaching strategies
• Demonstrates concern for safety and health of the students
• Demonstrates optimism for the learning of every student, while providing a constructive and positive environments for learning
• Demonstrates confidence in the students ability to learn
Characteristics of the Competent Cont
• The teacher is skillful and fair in employment of strategies for the assessment of student learning
• The teacher is skillful in working with parents, colleagues, admin. and support staff and maintains professional relationships
• The teacher demonstrates continuing interest in professional responsibilities, challenges and opportunities
• The teacher exhibits a wide range of interests. The school, community etc.
Characteristics of the Competent Cont• The teacher shares a healthy sense of humor– Helps a teacher become resilient and career
longevity– You and your students will see and face many of
life's challenges
• The teacher is quick to recognize a student who may be in need of special attention
• The teacher makes specific and frequent efforts to demonstrate how the subject content may be related to the students’ lives
• The teacher is reliable
3 Basic Rules for Becoming a Competent Teacher
• First: you must know why you have selected a particular strategy– Secondary school students learn best when
physically (hands on) and intellectually (minds on) active. Touching objectives, feeling shapes and textures, moving objects and share what they learned that is, learning collaboratively
• Second: teachers behaviors create conditions needed to enable students to think and learn– Students are physically and mentally
engaged, instruction time is efficiently used, classroom distractions and interruptions are minimal
3 Basic Rules for Becoming Cont.
• Third: The effectiveness with which a teacher carries out the basic behaviors can be measured by how well the students learn– Structuring the student learning
environment, accepting and sharing instructional accountability, providing a variety of motivating and challenging activities
Structuring the Learning Environment
• Establishing an intellectual, psychological, and physical environment that enables all students to act and react productively, Specifically– Attend to the organization of the classroom
as a learning laboratory, positive, safe, efficient
– Establish and maintain clearly understood classroom procedures, definitions, instructions and expectations
– Help students assume task and responsibility thereby empowering them in their learning
– Provide scaffold of instruction– Uses techniques for students’ Metacognition– Plan units and lessons that have clear
beginning and ending– Provide frequent summary reviews
SummaryThis chapter has covered the fact
that as a teacher your responsibilities as a classroom teacher will extend well beyond the 4 walls of the classroom, the 6 hours of the school day, the 5 day work week of the school year, and the 180 day or so of the school year.