I am curious to see how teachers feel about the limitations or freedom within which they work and the level of decision-making they have or feel they should have. I'm also interested to see how people perceive the relationships in the three-sided context that most teachers and students are involved in: learner, teacher, school.
Here are some questions - they don't have clear boundaries and I don't expect 'answers' as such - in fact I hope they will lead to lots more questions. Any input would be helpful.
Who chooses / should choose the programme or general 'method' that learners follows?
Should there be a planned programme in the first place and who decides this?
Is assessment of learner-progress beneficial and who provides it? What could or should consequences of assessment be?
Is learner assessment of their programme and their teaching beneficial and how can this be implemented?
On what basis do a) teachers and b) learners choose one school rather than another?
What are teachers' experiences of a 'good' school and a 'bad' school?
teacher-student-school
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Sally Olsen
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Thougtful questions and the basis for a great Master's level course. I did take a course like that at Carleton and will glady send you the notes, iain.
You can tell from my posts that I don't follow the main road usually. If it doesn't work I try to do something about it. However, I have always been well supported by my colleagues and institutions and by my family so didn't have to worry about bucking the establishment. Now I have age on my side.
You have to be realistic about what you can do in a situation. I like the mantra of one my colleagues at UBC. Don't promote REVOLUTION but rather EVOLUTION within the institution.
Who chooses / should choose the programme or general 'method' that learners follows?
You can't deny your educational history. We come from traditions and parents who are shareholders in the educational process will be strongly for tradition because it worked for them. But you can take the best from the past and meld it with the present.
The more you understand where you are coming from, the easier it will be to justify any changes. The more you understand how people learn, the better you will be able to justify changes if you need them.
It is always a balancing act of moving forward enough for the students who are eager for the future and pleasing those who have found value in the past. The more you talk about this with the students and shareholders, the better.
Should there be a planned programme in the first place and who decides this?
Everyone has a piece of this pie. But when you are in the classroom and that door closes on the outside world, you can influence the programme a great deal.
Being humans means that there is always a programme. We are capable of making future plans and we always do. It is finding out the hidden agenda that is difficult. There are always some political and personal agendas behind what is proposed as programming and we need to discover these to see if they are necessary and productive for learning.
You are not only teaching English but teaching students to fit into their society as it was, is and will be in the future.
Is assessment of learner-progress beneficial and who provides it? What could or should consequences of assessment be?
Again, this is based on the needs of the society. In the past, school was a way to keep the children out of the work force or so that they didn't have to work. Many societies use school as a way to prepare students for the work force.
Even if you don't assess learners they will assess themselves and their peers. As they have seen in North America, in the television reality programme called, "Kid's World", some children become leaders and some followers, some are good at one skill and some at another.
When you have human beings you have values. If we were put on a new planet, we would still have values and that would influence how we adapted to that new planet. We would start right away with questioning whether the ground was sturdy enough for us to stand on and how we could fix it if it wasn't. Whether that plant was edible or poisoness and what we would do if it was poisoness and so on. This is assessment at its most basic.
What are teachers' experiences of a 'good' school and a 'bad' school?
I have never been in a bad school. I tend to see the positives and work to overcome the negatives.
You can tell from my posts that I don't follow the main road usually. If it doesn't work I try to do something about it. However, I have always been well supported by my colleagues and institutions and by my family so didn't have to worry about bucking the establishment. Now I have age on my side.
You have to be realistic about what you can do in a situation. I like the mantra of one my colleagues at UBC. Don't promote REVOLUTION but rather EVOLUTION within the institution.
Who chooses / should choose the programme or general 'method' that learners follows?
You can't deny your educational history. We come from traditions and parents who are shareholders in the educational process will be strongly for tradition because it worked for them. But you can take the best from the past and meld it with the present.
The more you understand where you are coming from, the easier it will be to justify any changes. The more you understand how people learn, the better you will be able to justify changes if you need them.
It is always a balancing act of moving forward enough for the students who are eager for the future and pleasing those who have found value in the past. The more you talk about this with the students and shareholders, the better.
Should there be a planned programme in the first place and who decides this?
Everyone has a piece of this pie. But when you are in the classroom and that door closes on the outside world, you can influence the programme a great deal.
Being humans means that there is always a programme. We are capable of making future plans and we always do. It is finding out the hidden agenda that is difficult. There are always some political and personal agendas behind what is proposed as programming and we need to discover these to see if they are necessary and productive for learning.
You are not only teaching English but teaching students to fit into their society as it was, is and will be in the future.
Is assessment of learner-progress beneficial and who provides it? What could or should consequences of assessment be?
Again, this is based on the needs of the society. In the past, school was a way to keep the children out of the work force or so that they didn't have to work. Many societies use school as a way to prepare students for the work force.
Even if you don't assess learners they will assess themselves and their peers. As they have seen in North America, in the television reality programme called, "Kid's World", some children become leaders and some followers, some are good at one skill and some at another.
When you have human beings you have values. If we were put on a new planet, we would still have values and that would influence how we adapted to that new planet. We would start right away with questioning whether the ground was sturdy enough for us to stand on and how we could fix it if it wasn't. Whether that plant was edible or poisoness and what we would do if it was poisoness and so on. This is assessment at its most basic.
What are teachers' experiences of a 'good' school and a 'bad' school?
I have never been in a bad school. I tend to see the positives and work to overcome the negatives.
Who chooses / should choose the programme or general 'method' that learners follows?
I think the school administration should choose the general method, but that the teachers should be afforded a great deal of freedom and support within that method. For example, the administration should choose the main text and format of the class, but the teacher should be free to and supported in suplementing and modifying material in order to maximize the abilities and goals of any particular class.
Should there be a planned programme in the first place and who decides this?
Yes, I DO believe there should be a loosely planned program. I believe this helps both the teachers and the students. I believe it that some pre-planned structure frees the teachers up to spend more time on modifying and supplementing lessons. Also, if students change from one class to another or teachers are called upon to teach a different class, it affords enough consistency so that such a change need not be a disadvantage. I think the administration should make this decision, but, when I say administration, I assume that they would act upon the recommendations of the teachers who have been with the program the longest and are considered by the students to be the best at maximizing their potential.
Is assessment of learner-progress beneficial and who provides it? What could or should consequences of assessment be?
Hmmm . . . I really don't know that answer to that one. My experience is with adult learners from around the world at a private school. They are highly motivated to learn and, therefore, may be the best assessors of whether the program has been successful in meeting their goals. I could probably be easily convinced otherwise, though. I don't have any firm convictions about this one.
Is learner assessment of their programme and their teaching beneficial and how can this be implemented?
Oh . . . what do you know . . . this question addresses my answer to the previous one. YES . . . it can be VERY beneficial. In the school where I teach/taught the assessments are administered by the administration when the student graduates. Both teachers and administrators realize that what one student values, another might believe to be a fault and vice versa so they are most beneficial in terms of looking for any feedback which tends to be fairly consistent among the students rather than taking to heart each and every criticism or praise.
On what basis do a) teachers and b) learners choose one school rather than another?
I only have experience with one school. The director is phenomenal. If she ever left, I would be tempted to follow her wherever she went next.
What are teachers' experiences of a 'good' school and a 'bad' school?
I've only experienced the good. Hope to never experience the bad.
I think the school administration should choose the general method, but that the teachers should be afforded a great deal of freedom and support within that method. For example, the administration should choose the main text and format of the class, but the teacher should be free to and supported in suplementing and modifying material in order to maximize the abilities and goals of any particular class.
Should there be a planned programme in the first place and who decides this?
Yes, I DO believe there should be a loosely planned program. I believe this helps both the teachers and the students. I believe it that some pre-planned structure frees the teachers up to spend more time on modifying and supplementing lessons. Also, if students change from one class to another or teachers are called upon to teach a different class, it affords enough consistency so that such a change need not be a disadvantage. I think the administration should make this decision, but, when I say administration, I assume that they would act upon the recommendations of the teachers who have been with the program the longest and are considered by the students to be the best at maximizing their potential.
Is assessment of learner-progress beneficial and who provides it? What could or should consequences of assessment be?
Hmmm . . . I really don't know that answer to that one. My experience is with adult learners from around the world at a private school. They are highly motivated to learn and, therefore, may be the best assessors of whether the program has been successful in meeting their goals. I could probably be easily convinced otherwise, though. I don't have any firm convictions about this one.
Is learner assessment of their programme and their teaching beneficial and how can this be implemented?
Oh . . . what do you know . . . this question addresses my answer to the previous one. YES . . . it can be VERY beneficial. In the school where I teach/taught the assessments are administered by the administration when the student graduates. Both teachers and administrators realize that what one student values, another might believe to be a fault and vice versa so they are most beneficial in terms of looking for any feedback which tends to be fairly consistent among the students rather than taking to heart each and every criticism or praise.
On what basis do a) teachers and b) learners choose one school rather than another?
I only have experience with one school. The director is phenomenal. If she ever left, I would be tempted to follow her wherever she went next.
What are teachers' experiences of a 'good' school and a 'bad' school?
I've only experienced the good. Hope to never experience the bad.