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.