The Nature of the Teaching Profession Sri G Padmanabha Patra Lecturer in Education KHEMUNDI COLLEGE, DIGAPAHANDI
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Effective Teachers are… • Made • Born
Beyond knowledge of self…knowledge of why you are teaching: • A well developed educational philosophy • Unpacking your deeply held assumptions about: what is education, the nature of the learner, what subjects are most important, the role of schools in society
Pedagogical Content Knowledge • Knowledge of the organization and presentation of subject matter in a way that makes it understandable to and applicable by others • Teachers are able to “psychologize” the subject matter for students. (Dewey) • Scaffolding from the known to the unknown (Vygotsky)
Knowledge about how Students Learn and Grow • Educational psychology studies how students develop physically, socially, and cognitively • Our conceptions of ourselves and of others develop in a unique way as we interact with our world…who we think we are, who we think others are, and what we think is the purpose of being here
Good Teachers Through History • Greece: • Socrates • Plato • Aristotle • The Sophists
Good Teachers Through History • Rome • Quintillian • Europe • Erasmus • Comenius • Montessori
United States: A Diverse Universe of Examples • Elizabeth Palmer Peabody • Mary McCleod Bethune • Leonard Covello • Louise Hikel Butterfield • Jonathan Kozol • P’ikea Miyamoto • Donna Graham Harris • Parker Palmer
Teaching Terminology • Methodology • Discipline • Pedagogy
Knowledge of Curricular Content • No Child Left Behind Act defines a “highly qualified teacher” as: holds at least a bachelor’s degree, full state licensure, subject area competence, has passed rigorous state tests in the subject(s) s/he is teaching
The Knowledge Base of Effective Teachers • Culturally responsive teachers: 1. believe all students can achieve and succeed, 2. build a community of learners, 3. build connections to families and the community, 4.are continual learners, 5. vary instructional methods, 6.know their students, 7. are introspective and reflective
Good teachers have • Pedagogical skill to implement teaching strategies…and pedagogical content knowledge • Reflective skills to analyze and act of teacher-generated data • Communication and collaboration skills to build relationships • Management skills to arrange successful learning environments • Technological skills
The attitudes and Dispositions of Effective Teachers • Star teachers tend to be nonjudgmental, are not moralistic, not easily shocked, truly listen, recognize their own weaknesses, don’t see themselves as “saviors”, network, see themselves as “winning”, enjoy their interactions with kids, see their primary impact as raising kids self esteem and helping them be more humane, derive satisfaction of lots of needs teaching kids…but not power needs
Teaching as a Profession • Theoretical Framework • Methodology supported by research • Lifelong learners • Social Institutions • Certification and Accreditation
It is most important that a teacher has high levels of • Knowledge that s/he is teaching the students • Skills in teaching the subject to the students • Positive dispositions, values, attitudes
Effective Teachers Employ These Tools • Structure and Clarity • Motivation • High Expectations • Questioning
Styles of Teaching on Ends of a Spectrum • Authoritarian – characterized by: • Teacher-Centered • Traditional Structures • Rules-Based • Transmission of Knowledge • Centrality of Teacher Knowledge
Styles of Teaching on Ends of a Spectrum • Constructivist, characterized by: • Student-Centered • Democratic, egalitarian ideals • Student experience of learning • Teacher as Learner who Models
Styles of Teaching and Management • Constructivism…Alfie Kohn • We punish and reward too much. Student learning should be motivation in its own right. • Behaviorism…Assertive Discipline….Lee and Marlene Canter. Use of rewards and punishments.
My most effective teachers were…. • Authoritarian • Constructivist • Somewhere in the middle
Academic Learning Time • This concept is dynamically intertwined with styles of teaching. It has to do with curriculum (more on that later), but also how a teacher thinks about using time available. • Allocated Time • Engaged Time • Academic Learning Time
Classroom Management • A direct function of teaching style • Group alerting • “withitness” • Overlapping • Least intervention • fragmentation
The Pedagogical Cycle • What is the set of actions, responses, communications that define activity in the classroom? • 1. Structure • 2. Question • 3. Response • 4. React
Academic Structure as a Goal: • Objectives • Review • Motivation • Transition • Clarification • Scaffolding • Examples • Directions • Enthusiasm • Closure
Questions and Effective Teaching • Learning to Question well is part art, and part skill: • Lower order questions – factual, naming, etc. • Higher-order questions – evaluate, analyze, compare, solve a problem….
Bloom’s Taxonomy: • Knowledge • Comprehension • Application • Analysis • Synthesis • Evaluation
NBTS Description of Effective Teachers • Committed to students and their learning • Know their subject matter and subject matter pedagogy • Responsible for managing and monitoring student learning • Teachers think systematically about their practice and learn from experience • Teachers are members of learning communities
Stages of Teacher Development • 1. Survival • 2. Consolidation • 3. Renewal • 4. Maturity
Knowledge about the Community • Connecting students to the outside world requires that teachers know their students’ community • Eating in the community, living in the community, reading local community papers, talking with community members, going to meetings of the community
At present, my most developed teaching tools are: • Content knowledge • Pedagogical skills • Reflective skills • Communication skills • Management skills • Positive attitude and dispositions
Reflective teachers • Open-minded • Wholehearted • Responsible • An ethic of caring relationships • Learning communities
It’s most important for me to build • Pedagogical skill • An ethic of caring • An educational philosophy • Reflective practice • Pedagogical content knowledge
THANK YOU
