Overview:
In this chapter, we shall cover
• The inequality in educational opportunities and outcomes
- concepts and issues
• Home and environmental factors affecting educational achievement
• Characteristics of schools which affect academic achievement
Key Terms
• Restrictive culture
• Compensatory education
• Social status
• Socialization
• Urban and rural location
• School culture
• Teacher’s expectation
• Effective schools
Suggested Activities
Further Reading
Banks, O. 1976. Sociology of Education. London: Batsford Ltd.
Calfee,R. 1986. Curriculum and Instruction: Reading. In B.I. Williams,P.A. Richmond, & Mason (Ed). Designs for compensatory education: Conference proceedings and papers. Washington,D.C. : Research Evaluation Associates, Inc.
Cheng, Y.C. 1993. Profiles of organizational culture and effective schools. In School effectiveness and school improvement 4, 2 : 85 –110.
Deal,T.E.1993. The culture of schools In Educational Leadership and school culture edited by Marshall Sashkin and Walberg,H.J. Berkeley: McCutchan Publishing.
Doyle, W. 1986. Vision and reality: A reaction to issues in curriculum and instruction for compensatory education. In B. I. Williams, P.A. Richmond & Mason (Ed)
Designs for compensatory education. Conference proceedings and papers. Washington, D.C.: Research Evaluation Associates, Inc.
Fraser,E. 1973. Home Environment and the school. London: University of London Press.
http://www2.moe.gov/~bpgEng.html
http://www2.moe.gov-my/~bpghlbestari_htm.
Suggested Input
1.0 Compensatory Education
1.1 Compensatory education programs has traditionally been informed by the belief that disadvantaged students can benefit most from a less challenging curriculum and limited achievement goals.
1.2 The purpose of compensatory education is to help the child make the progress that she or he would have made if an appropriate program had been available. The specific services provided must be tailored to the child’s needs. Compensatory education can mean extra instruction or related services provided during the school year.
1.3 It provides for learning opportunities in both cognitive and affective areas, in skills of learning how-to-learn and learning how to be a student. It emphasizes mastery learning techniques that may improve scores, but fail to help students learn how to work independently and develop coherent mental representations for school work in general.
1.4 Peterson (1986) concluded that low achieving students can successfully be taught a variety of cognitive strategies such as memory, elaboration, self-questioning, rehearsal, planning and goal setting, comprehension, problem-solving, hypothesis generating and study skills; and that compensatory education should give greater emphasis to their development.
2.0 Factors Affecting the Development of Educational Inequalities
2.1 Social Class
- Social class is a product of the distribution of valuable resources in society and not of a particular ethnic group’s historical experience. It is measured by the indexes of socioeconomic status (SES) These indexes are based on weighted combinations of parental education, occupational prestige and income.
- Students from more advantaged homes and neighborhoods are more likely to enter school with a base of knowledge and values that encourage school success; be surrounded by an atmosphere of parental support for and active involvement in schooling; have economic resources to purchase instructional materials and educational services that are available to students whose parents have less money.
2.2 Race and Ethnicity
- In countries like America, racial and ethical differences are always the most important basis of inequality. Why do race and ethnicity sometimes matter so much and sometimes so little in a group’s ability to take advantage of school opportunities? Sociologist argued that ethnic groups migrating voluntarily to a new land have strong incentives to assimilate to the culture of the new country. In the long run, the new group will be integrated into the host country.
- In contrast, racial and ethnic groups conquered by a technological superior power are unlikely to be assimilated as easily, both because the majority group is unlikely to fully accept those it has conquered and because the colonized rarely accept their conquerors.
- An important reason that ethnicity is properly characterized as the varying divider is that some immigrant groups become assimilated and move up the socioeconomic ladder faster than others. The success of fast-rising minorities is often attributed to their superior drive or intelligence. However, some minorities typically come to their new country with a host of advantages, not enjoyed by other groups, quite apart from their drive and intelligence.
2.3 Gender
- Countries with higher per capita incomes were more likely to have greater gender equality in schooling. Economic progress is strongly associated with conditions that make women’s lives less restricted. Countries with many ethnic groups generally had less gender equality, perhaps because it is politically difficult to extend educational opportunity when many ethnic groups are competing for preeminence.
- In the industrialized world, a great deal more equality exists between men and women. In secondary school and higher education enrolments, women are either equal to men or actually over represented compared with men.
- Although women now experience fewer disadvantages in educational access and educational attainments, they continue to experience many disadvantages in how they are treated in schools. Classroom interaction is one area of continuing unequal treatment.
- There are good reasons to believe that gender will become a less significant factor in the future, even in the area of jobs and salaries. One is that as women gain ground, men’s sensibilities change, however slowly and unevenly. Moreover, as the pool of career-oriented women increases, men have more difficulty hiring and promoting men on grounds other than demonstrated competence. Women’s organizations and women’s support networks contribute to equalization of opportunity by continuing to challenge discrimination in an active way.
3.0 Factors Affecting Educational Achievement
3.1 Home Factors
- The first five or six years are crucial foundation years, and even after starting at school the child continues to live with his parents and to be deeply influenced by their behavior and attitudes. The family shares in the socialization process alongside the school. and the family environment is likely to encourage a favorable response to school. The school has become the focal socializing agency
- The family background, for example working class children to perform less well in school. There is the relation ship between social class background and educational achievement.
- The tendency of the working classes to under-achieve is consistent. Parental interest may affect one kind of school system than in another whilst achievement motivation may count for more in one kind of teaching situation than in another.
- Relationship between social-class background and educational achievement. The influence of different social class milieu of the school affecting the level of educational and occupational aspirations and academic achievement of children from different social backgrounds have been found.
- Home conditions – pride, confidence, affection and interest of parents in their children, as shown in instances in which parents read to their children, play with them or attend school functions with them appear to affect the achievement of the children. On the part of plus achievers, there is a general tendency to respect their parents, to take them into their confidence, and to return the love their parents show. Minus achievers do not appear to be so much exchange of affection or mutual respect, or desire to measure up to expectations. The climate of affection within the home for a particular child and its various manifestations appear to be related definitely to school achievement.
- Motivational aspect of the home environment whereby parents who are well educated and provide the child with favorable environment are likely to motivate him to study well. They will take an interest on their children’s school work.
- Emotional aspects such as emotional stress, insecurity and anxiety are factors which will affect the child’s achievement. Thus a child from a well to do home with good cultural background may have high innate ability and high intelligence test scores but because of an unsettling home environment may do relatively poorly in school.
3.2 Material Environment
- The effect on school performance of extreme poverty. Malnutrition and poor living conditions are bound to have an influence on the health of the child, and so directly or indirectly on his ability to learn.
- Pre-natal damage may occur to the child as a result of inadequate pre-natal care. Poverty can also influence indirectly, by limiting the family’s ability to forego adolescent earnings.
- Poor housing and overcrowding can impede the child’s homework and his opportunity for reading or constructive play. Poverty, poor housing, overcrowding and other slum conditions affect a large number of children in ways which are likely to depress their educational performances.
- There is a close relationship between material deprivation and the whole way of life of the family. Poverty can make a parent less willing to keep a child at school; can make it difficult for him to afford books and toys, or expeditions which help a child to learn; can enforce housing conditions which make the whole family strained and unhappy or deprive the parent-child play or talk together. Thus school achievement should be related not so to isolate factors in the environment but to family life as a whole.
4.0 Characteristics of school that affect educational achievement
4.1 The Social milieu of School
- School factors in terms of the quality of teaching, grouping and differential prestige and status attached to the schools have exerted great influence on the aspirations, expectations and achievement of students.
- A variety of school conditions in terms of physical facilities, school size, quality of teachers, geographical isolation, medium of instruction, financial resources and social class milieu affect the achievement of students.
4.2 School Culture
- It is defined as the historically transmitted patterns of meaning that include the norms, values, beliefs, ceremonies, rituals, traditions and myths understood, maybe in varying degrees, by members of the school community.
- It has been found that healthy and sound school cultures correlate strongly with increased student achievement and motivation and with teacher productivity and satisfaction.
- Recent studies found support that students are more motivated to learn in schools with strong cultures. Implementation of a clear mission statement, shared vision and school wide goals promote increased student achievement.
- School culture also correlates with teachers’ attitudes towards their work. It was found that strong school cultures had better motivated teachers. In an environment with strong organizational ideology, shared participation, charismatic leadership and intimacy. Teachers experienced higher job satisfaction and increased productivity.
4.3 Teachers’ expectation
- Teachers’ expectation of the students’ ability had a significant influence on their performance. The teachers who had high expectations for certain students, somehow communicated this message to them in the classroom. The expectations of the higher intellectual performance could have been communicated to the group by the teacher in the classroom by giving them more attention, encouraging them more, demanding more of them and treating them more pleasantly. The students whom the teachers expected to do well, performed better, although their ability was similar to that of the unselected group.
- The Drop-out Study (1973) found that if the students perceived that their teachers’ academic expectations of them are high, then a higher percentage of the students were enrolled in school compared with those who perceived the teachers’ expectations to be low.
5.0 Effective Schools
5.1 Effective schools are distinguished from inefficient ones by the frequency and extent to which teachers learn together, plan together, test ideas together, discuss practices together, reflect together, grapple together with the fundamental vision and focus of developing students to fullest capacity.
5.2 Effective schools are a learning community, a place where teachers and administrators study, work and learn together with the mission of improving student achievement.
5.3 All efficient school has a culture and it is the information one gets from a culture that sends a message to the student that they will be productive and successful. The effective teacher thinks, reflects and implements. The efficient teacher models what is expected from the students- the ability to think and solve problems on their own. Effective teachers use their cumulative knowledge to solve problems.
5.4 All effective classrooms start on time. Students know the classroom procedures. Teachers understand how to teach for mastery. Teachers have high expectations for student success. All effective classrooms are managed by effective teachers.
6.0 Smart School
6.1 Apart from the role of education to fulfill national development goals and aspirations, the project also meant to address various educational needs :
- to prepare school leavers from the information Age
- to bring about a systemic change in education, from an exam-dominated culture to a thinking and creative knowledge culture
- to re-emphasize science and technology education with a focus on creativity and innovation
- to equip students with IT competence
- to inculcate Malaysia values among the students and produce a generation of caring, peace-loving and environmentally concerned citizens
6.2 The smart school uses technology to support and enhance teaching-learning. With the aid of multi-media technology, self-accessed, self-paced and self-directed learning can be practiced. This will allow students to develop their strengths to a level of excellence and breed a generation of inventors and innovators.
Curriculum for smart school emphases through 4 subject areas that is science, Mathematics, Bahasa Malaysia and English Language. The emphases are knowledge acquisition, analytical creative thinking and the ability to make decisions and solve problems, IT competency proficiency in an international language, inculcation of values towards the development of the good person.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
CHAPTER 8: DEVELOPMENT OF THE EDUCATION SYSTEM IN MALAYSIA
Overview:
In this chapter, we shall
• The characteristics of the early education system in Malaysia
- before British
- during British Colonial rule
• The implications and effects of the various educational reports on the development of the national education
- Razak Report 1956
- Rahman Talib Report 1960
- Education Ordinance 1967
- Cabinet Committee Report 1979
- Education Act 1995 and 1996
• The characteristics of the current education program
- smart school
- information and communication technology
- distance learning
Key Terms
• Pre- Independence
• Early Independence
• Razak Report
• Rahman Talib report
• Education Ordinance
• Cabinet Committee Report
• Education Act
• Smart school
• Distance learning/Open university
• Information and Communication Technology
Further Reading
Ministry of Education Malaysia.(2001). Education in Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur.
Majdalany,G. & Guiney, S. 1999. Implementing distance learning in urban schools. No. 150.
Rowntree,D. (1998). Exploring Open and Distance Learning. London: Kogan Press Ltd. Schlosser, C.A. & Anderson, M.L. 1997. Distance education: review of the literature. Washington : Association for educational Communications and
Sherry,L. 1996. Issues in distance learning. International Journal of Educational Telecommunications, 1(4): 337 – 365.
http://www.unesco.org/webworld/infoethics_2/eng/papers/paper_23.htm.
http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/courses/ed253a/dk/GLOBPM.htm
Suggested Input
1.0 Pre-Independence
1.1 Prior to attaining independence from the British colonial rule in 1957, there was an absence of uniformity in the provision of formal education in Malaysia. There was separate schools with different media of instruction, curricula, methods and standards for children of the various ethnic groups that is Malays, Chinese and Indians.
1.2 Two types of schools emerged : the English medium and the vernacular schools. English medium schools, established by the then British government, individuals and missionary societies, provided a western education for a mixed urban population. Education was not free..
1.3 Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools were set up by their respective communities. Free education was provided in the Malay vernacular schools which were established by the government
1.4 Secondary education was only available in English government and mission schools as well as in independent Chinese schools. Malay medium and Tamil medium education were limited to the primary level.
1.5 Under British colonial rule, higher education in Malaya was dictated by the British policy of producing the necessary personnel for the Malayan Civil Service with senior posts reserved for and filled by the Europeans. The first institution of higher education was not established until 1905 when King Edward Vll College of Medicine was founded in Singapore. The second institution was the Raffles College which was established in 1928. These two colleges developed side by side until 1949 when they were amalgamated to constitute the former University of Malaya in Singapore.
1.6 The upsurge of nationalism and desire for self-government resulted in the setting up of two Committees, popularly known as the Barnes (1950) and Fenn-Wu (1951) to look into the problems of and recommend improvements to Malay and Chinese education. As an outcome of these two Committees, the Education Ordinance of 1952 was passed but it did not produce the desired changes in the system. As a result, a special committee was set up in 1956 to work out a policy based upon the decision to make Malay the national language whilst preserving the languages and cultures of the other domiciled races of the Federation of Malaya. The recommendations of the Committee contained in the Report of the Education Committee 1956, commonly referred to as the Razak Report, formed the basis of the Education Ordinance of 1957, which laid the foundation for the national education policy.
2.0 Post Independence 1957-1960
2.1 The post independence era is the period during which the foundation of the national education system was laid. The early years was a period of post –war reconstruction and the nation had to contend with the communist insurgence until 1960s.
2.2 The ultimate objective of the education policy as stipulated in the Razak report was to bring together all races by progressively and gradually making the Malay language the main medium of instruction. Chinese and Tamil would continue to be the media of instruction as the primary level in the vernacular schools.
2.3 In 1960, a Review Committee looked into the implementation of the recommendations made by the Razak Report of 1957. The findings of this Committee, commonly referred to as the Rahman Talib Report, confirmed the soundness of educational policy as laid down by the Razak Report and its general acceptance by the public. The recommendations of these two reports became the integral components of the Education Act 1961. In January 1976, the Act was extended to the states of Sabah and Sarawak, which had been incorporated into the formation of Malaysia in 1963.
2.4 The two most important tasks facing the new nation since independence were education for unity and universal education. The process of consolidating the diverse school system into a cohesive national educational system, with the National Language as the main medium of instruction, was initiated during this period.
2.5 In 1957, all existing primary schools were converted to national and national type-schools. Malay medium primary schools were renamed national national-type primary schools. Whilst Malay was the medium of instruction in national-schools, the medium of instruction in national type schools were English and the vernacular languages. The national language was made a compulsory subject in these national-type schools.
2.6 English and Chinese secondary schools were converted to national-type secondary schools. Such schools became fully assisted schools. In 1968, the process of conversion of English medium national type schools into national schools began in stages with the teaching of five subjects in Bahasa Melayu in Standards 1-3.
2.7 1958 marked the beginning of Malay medium secondary education. Malay medium secondary classes were started as an annex in English secondary schools. These classes eventually developed into national secondary schools.
2.8 The Language Institute was established in 1958 to train Malay Language specialist teachers. The Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka was founded in 1956 to produce textbooks and reference books in the National Language.
2.9 The entrance examination into secondary school, the Malayan Secondary Schools Examination, was abolished in 1964 and universal education was extended from six to nine years in Peninsular Malaysia. This examination was abolished in Sarawak in 1974 and in Sabah in 1977.
2.10 Curricular reforms focused on reviewing the existing syllabuses and designing a common content curriculum with a Malaysian outlook. Common content examinations were implemented in all schools.
2.11 A comprehensive education system of the lower secondary education was introduced in 1965. Technical and vocational education was given an impetus with the establishment of the Technical and Vocational Education Division in 1964.
3.0 Educational Development 1970-1980
3.1 Social and economic issues shaped the development of education from the seventies to the 1990. Racial harmony and eradicating economic imbalances in the society were crucial to sustained development, stability and progress. This is the period of the New Economic Policy, which is a socio-economic policy to achieve national unity and development by focusing on eradicating poverty and restructuring the Malaysian society to eliminate the identification of race with economic function and geographical location.
3.2 The medium of instruction of instruction was converted in stages beginning in 1970 and by 1983 it became the medium of instruction at the tertiary level. Today Bahasa Melayu is the medium of instruction in all national schools and it is compulsory subject in Chinese and Tamil Schools. English is taught as a second language.
3.3 In 1980, the Malaysian Certificate of Education examination was conducted in Bahasa Malaysia only. In 1970, English ceased to be the medium of instruction in primary teacher education programmers.
3.4 The administrative machinery of the education system was expanded and improved to enable the government to implement the two pronged strategies of the New Economic Policy using education as a vehicle. The Curriculum Development Centre was established in 1973 to evaluate, review and develop the school curriculum in line with national goals.
3.5 In 1979, Cabinet Committee Report recommended new approaches and strategies to further consolidate, strengthen and expand the national system of education. In 1980s several recommendations of this Review Committee were implemented to bring about greater democratization in educational opportunities and reduce the imbalances between the rural and urban areas.
3.6 A major reform was in the introduction of the New Primary School Curriculum in 1983 and by 1989 the Integrated Secondary School Curriculum was implemented. The national philosophy of education was formulated of education1988 which further reinforced the direction and goals of education in Malaysia.
4.0 Educational Development 1990-2000
4.1 The last decade of the twentieth century witnessed unprecedent and accelerated change at a pace that has never been experienced before. Advances in information communication technology(ICT) have hastened the pace of globalization and the trend is irreversible.
4.2 Vision 2020 initiated in the early 1990s may be perceived as Malaysia ‘s first step into the Information Age and a globalize world. To enable Malaysia make the quantum leap towards an industrialized nation status and eventually into a knowledge economy, the country needs to build a world class education system.
4.3 1996 saw the change when the Education Act 1961 replaced by the Education Act 1996 to regulate the expansion of education. Of paramount importance was the enactment of the Private Higher Education Institutions Act 1996 which made provision for the establishment of privately run tertiary institutions.
4.4 The last decade of the twentieth century has witnessed concerted quantitative and qualitative developments in primary, secondary and tertiary education. re is an increased access to tertiary education with the setting up of public and private universities, university colleges, matriculation colleges, community colleges, private colleges as well as foreign university branch campuses.
4.5 To ensure greater access to education and basic education for all, children were assured eleven years of school after 1997 when most students were promoted to the upper secondary after sitting for the lower secondary assessment examination. The curriculum was continuously reviewed and updated to incorporate thinking skills with greater emphasis on science and technology. It was during this stage that saw the emergence of the smart school concept and the introduction of computer literacy in the schools and in teacher training.
4.6 The launching of a training program for school heads and the setting up of a university for teachers, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris in 1997. The diploma level pre-service teacher training program was introduced. Another development is the introduction of the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) and Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia(STPM) Open Certification examinations.
5.0 Education Ordinance 1952
5.1 Features of this policy:
- to promote a National School system by the gradual introduction of the English Language into Malay vernacular schools and Malay Language and English Language into Chinese and Tamil Vernacular schools.
- To maintain the existing English medium National type schools
- To develop vocational secondary schools
6.0 The Report of the Education Committee 1956 (Razak Report)
6.1 Major Recommendations:
- orientation to a Malayan outlook by the introduction of common content syllabuses and time tables for all schools.
- The national language (Malay Language) to be the main medium of instruction in all schools
- The national language and the English Language to be compulsory subjects for all primary and secondary schools
- Conversion of existing primary schools to National schools (Malay medium) and National-type schools (English, Chinese or Tamil medium)
- The establishment of one types of National Secondary school open to all races using common content syllabuses, with a flexible curriculum
7.0 Rahman Talib Report (1960) and Education Act 1961
7.1 Major recommendations:
- universal free primary education
- automatic promotion up to Form III
- enhancement of Technical and Vocational education
- setting up of the Federal Inspectorate of schools
- introduction of Bahasa Malaysia, the National language as the main medium of instruction
- An examination system which uses only two main languages that is, Bahasa Malaysia and English Language
- Expansion of teacher training program
- Provision of Religious and Moral Education
8.0 Report of Cabinet Committee 1979
8.1 Major recommendations:
- emphasis is given to the basic education of 3Rs- reading, writing and arithmetic
- emphasis is given to spiritual education and required disciplinary elements
- emphasis is given to a curriculum tailored to Malaysia
- two mainstreams of secondary level of education, academic and vocational
- the opportunity to extend schooling from 9 years to 11 years
- well managed plan for educational management to enhance the overall quality of education
9.0 Education Act 1995
9.1 Main recommendations:
- the national education system is designed to produce world class quality education to achieve the country’s aspirations
- the National Philosophy of Education is the basis for the National Principles of Education
- the duration for primary education is 5 – 7 years
- pre-education education is part of the national education system
- improved technical and polytechnic education
- provisions are made for the monitoring of private education
10.0 Open and Distance Learning
10.1 An open learning system is one which the restrictions placed on students are under constant review and removed wherever possible. It incorporates the widest range of teaching strategies, in particular those using independent and individualized learning
10.2 Open learning: arrangements to enable people to learn at the time, place and pace which satisfies their circumstances and requirements. The emphasis is on opening up opportunities by overcoming barriers that result from geographical isolation, personal or work commitments or conventional courses structures which have often prevented people from gaining access to the training they need.
10.3 Distance learning can be defined as an instruction and learning practice utilizing technology and involving students and teachers who are separated by time and space. It can occur between schools, between schools and colleges and universities and even within school buildings and districts.
10.4 Distance learning first emerged as a concept in the nineteenth century, when it was characterized as a correspondence course. It reappeared as the open universities of the 1970s and then as the video tape, broadcast, satellite and cable productions of the 1980s. Today, distance education refers to the use of audio, video and computer video conferencing technologies as delivery modes.
10.5 Distance learning is learning while at a distance from one’s teacher-usually with the help of pre-recorded, packaged learning materials. The learners are separated from their teachers in time and space but are still being guided by them.
10.6 Distance learning encourages students to be creative, to participate actively in their own learning, to experience others and to prepare for the kind of world that they will enter as adults. Further, computer learning activities that employ multiple interactive media encourage active listening, focused attention, and the ability to work independently.
11.0 Information Communication and Technology
11.1 ICT is defined as any computer-based resources, networked and stand alone, including both hardware and software, currently available as teaching and learning resources.
11.2 Examples include tailored multimedia teaching packages; information sources such as the internet ; data management tools such as word-processing , software or spreadsheets.
11.3 The ability to use ICT effectively and appropriately is now seen as essential to allow learners to acquire and exploit information within every sphere of human activity. The school curriculum already reflects the perceived value and importance of developing ICT literacy and information literacy in all students.. IT is integrated into the curriculum.
11.4 Changes in the perception of what constitutes a ‘learning environment’ have been highlighted in a number of recent developments which seek to exploit the potential of ICT. Today libraries in higher education have developed and exploited a networked environment.
11.5 Successful integration into the curriculum depends on teachers being convinced of the relevance of ICT as a means of providing access to a richer range of resources for themselves and students. This emphasis must be on using appropriate technologies to enhance and support effective learning. Teachers need to be able to exploit modern information sources for themselves as continuing learners even when they are teachers.
In this chapter, we shall
• The characteristics of the early education system in Malaysia
- before British
- during British Colonial rule
• The implications and effects of the various educational reports on the development of the national education
- Razak Report 1956
- Rahman Talib Report 1960
- Education Ordinance 1967
- Cabinet Committee Report 1979
- Education Act 1995 and 1996
• The characteristics of the current education program
- smart school
- information and communication technology
- distance learning
Key Terms
• Pre- Independence
• Early Independence
• Razak Report
• Rahman Talib report
• Education Ordinance
• Cabinet Committee Report
• Education Act
• Smart school
• Distance learning/Open university
• Information and Communication Technology
Further Reading
Ministry of Education Malaysia.(2001). Education in Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur.
Majdalany,G. & Guiney, S. 1999. Implementing distance learning in urban schools. No. 150.
Rowntree,D. (1998). Exploring Open and Distance Learning. London: Kogan Press Ltd. Schlosser, C.A. & Anderson, M.L. 1997. Distance education: review of the literature. Washington : Association for educational Communications and
Sherry,L. 1996. Issues in distance learning. International Journal of Educational Telecommunications, 1(4): 337 – 365.
http://www.unesco.org/webworld/infoethics_2/eng/papers/paper_23.htm.
http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/courses/ed253a/dk/GLOBPM.htm
Suggested Input
1.0 Pre-Independence
1.1 Prior to attaining independence from the British colonial rule in 1957, there was an absence of uniformity in the provision of formal education in Malaysia. There was separate schools with different media of instruction, curricula, methods and standards for children of the various ethnic groups that is Malays, Chinese and Indians.
1.2 Two types of schools emerged : the English medium and the vernacular schools. English medium schools, established by the then British government, individuals and missionary societies, provided a western education for a mixed urban population. Education was not free..
1.3 Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools were set up by their respective communities. Free education was provided in the Malay vernacular schools which were established by the government
1.4 Secondary education was only available in English government and mission schools as well as in independent Chinese schools. Malay medium and Tamil medium education were limited to the primary level.
1.5 Under British colonial rule, higher education in Malaya was dictated by the British policy of producing the necessary personnel for the Malayan Civil Service with senior posts reserved for and filled by the Europeans. The first institution of higher education was not established until 1905 when King Edward Vll College of Medicine was founded in Singapore. The second institution was the Raffles College which was established in 1928. These two colleges developed side by side until 1949 when they were amalgamated to constitute the former University of Malaya in Singapore.
1.6 The upsurge of nationalism and desire for self-government resulted in the setting up of two Committees, popularly known as the Barnes (1950) and Fenn-Wu (1951) to look into the problems of and recommend improvements to Malay and Chinese education. As an outcome of these two Committees, the Education Ordinance of 1952 was passed but it did not produce the desired changes in the system. As a result, a special committee was set up in 1956 to work out a policy based upon the decision to make Malay the national language whilst preserving the languages and cultures of the other domiciled races of the Federation of Malaya. The recommendations of the Committee contained in the Report of the Education Committee 1956, commonly referred to as the Razak Report, formed the basis of the Education Ordinance of 1957, which laid the foundation for the national education policy.
2.0 Post Independence 1957-1960
2.1 The post independence era is the period during which the foundation of the national education system was laid. The early years was a period of post –war reconstruction and the nation had to contend with the communist insurgence until 1960s.
2.2 The ultimate objective of the education policy as stipulated in the Razak report was to bring together all races by progressively and gradually making the Malay language the main medium of instruction. Chinese and Tamil would continue to be the media of instruction as the primary level in the vernacular schools.
2.3 In 1960, a Review Committee looked into the implementation of the recommendations made by the Razak Report of 1957. The findings of this Committee, commonly referred to as the Rahman Talib Report, confirmed the soundness of educational policy as laid down by the Razak Report and its general acceptance by the public. The recommendations of these two reports became the integral components of the Education Act 1961. In January 1976, the Act was extended to the states of Sabah and Sarawak, which had been incorporated into the formation of Malaysia in 1963.
2.4 The two most important tasks facing the new nation since independence were education for unity and universal education. The process of consolidating the diverse school system into a cohesive national educational system, with the National Language as the main medium of instruction, was initiated during this period.
2.5 In 1957, all existing primary schools were converted to national and national type-schools. Malay medium primary schools were renamed national national-type primary schools. Whilst Malay was the medium of instruction in national-schools, the medium of instruction in national type schools were English and the vernacular languages. The national language was made a compulsory subject in these national-type schools.
2.6 English and Chinese secondary schools were converted to national-type secondary schools. Such schools became fully assisted schools. In 1968, the process of conversion of English medium national type schools into national schools began in stages with the teaching of five subjects in Bahasa Melayu in Standards 1-3.
2.7 1958 marked the beginning of Malay medium secondary education. Malay medium secondary classes were started as an annex in English secondary schools. These classes eventually developed into national secondary schools.
2.8 The Language Institute was established in 1958 to train Malay Language specialist teachers. The Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka was founded in 1956 to produce textbooks and reference books in the National Language.
2.9 The entrance examination into secondary school, the Malayan Secondary Schools Examination, was abolished in 1964 and universal education was extended from six to nine years in Peninsular Malaysia. This examination was abolished in Sarawak in 1974 and in Sabah in 1977.
2.10 Curricular reforms focused on reviewing the existing syllabuses and designing a common content curriculum with a Malaysian outlook. Common content examinations were implemented in all schools.
2.11 A comprehensive education system of the lower secondary education was introduced in 1965. Technical and vocational education was given an impetus with the establishment of the Technical and Vocational Education Division in 1964.
3.0 Educational Development 1970-1980
3.1 Social and economic issues shaped the development of education from the seventies to the 1990. Racial harmony and eradicating economic imbalances in the society were crucial to sustained development, stability and progress. This is the period of the New Economic Policy, which is a socio-economic policy to achieve national unity and development by focusing on eradicating poverty and restructuring the Malaysian society to eliminate the identification of race with economic function and geographical location.
3.2 The medium of instruction of instruction was converted in stages beginning in 1970 and by 1983 it became the medium of instruction at the tertiary level. Today Bahasa Melayu is the medium of instruction in all national schools and it is compulsory subject in Chinese and Tamil Schools. English is taught as a second language.
3.3 In 1980, the Malaysian Certificate of Education examination was conducted in Bahasa Malaysia only. In 1970, English ceased to be the medium of instruction in primary teacher education programmers.
3.4 The administrative machinery of the education system was expanded and improved to enable the government to implement the two pronged strategies of the New Economic Policy using education as a vehicle. The Curriculum Development Centre was established in 1973 to evaluate, review and develop the school curriculum in line with national goals.
3.5 In 1979, Cabinet Committee Report recommended new approaches and strategies to further consolidate, strengthen and expand the national system of education. In 1980s several recommendations of this Review Committee were implemented to bring about greater democratization in educational opportunities and reduce the imbalances between the rural and urban areas.
3.6 A major reform was in the introduction of the New Primary School Curriculum in 1983 and by 1989 the Integrated Secondary School Curriculum was implemented. The national philosophy of education was formulated of education1988 which further reinforced the direction and goals of education in Malaysia.
4.0 Educational Development 1990-2000
4.1 The last decade of the twentieth century witnessed unprecedent and accelerated change at a pace that has never been experienced before. Advances in information communication technology(ICT) have hastened the pace of globalization and the trend is irreversible.
4.2 Vision 2020 initiated in the early 1990s may be perceived as Malaysia ‘s first step into the Information Age and a globalize world. To enable Malaysia make the quantum leap towards an industrialized nation status and eventually into a knowledge economy, the country needs to build a world class education system.
4.3 1996 saw the change when the Education Act 1961 replaced by the Education Act 1996 to regulate the expansion of education. Of paramount importance was the enactment of the Private Higher Education Institutions Act 1996 which made provision for the establishment of privately run tertiary institutions.
4.4 The last decade of the twentieth century has witnessed concerted quantitative and qualitative developments in primary, secondary and tertiary education. re is an increased access to tertiary education with the setting up of public and private universities, university colleges, matriculation colleges, community colleges, private colleges as well as foreign university branch campuses.
4.5 To ensure greater access to education and basic education for all, children were assured eleven years of school after 1997 when most students were promoted to the upper secondary after sitting for the lower secondary assessment examination. The curriculum was continuously reviewed and updated to incorporate thinking skills with greater emphasis on science and technology. It was during this stage that saw the emergence of the smart school concept and the introduction of computer literacy in the schools and in teacher training.
4.6 The launching of a training program for school heads and the setting up of a university for teachers, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris in 1997. The diploma level pre-service teacher training program was introduced. Another development is the introduction of the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) and Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia(STPM) Open Certification examinations.
5.0 Education Ordinance 1952
5.1 Features of this policy:
- to promote a National School system by the gradual introduction of the English Language into Malay vernacular schools and Malay Language and English Language into Chinese and Tamil Vernacular schools.
- To maintain the existing English medium National type schools
- To develop vocational secondary schools
6.0 The Report of the Education Committee 1956 (Razak Report)
6.1 Major Recommendations:
- orientation to a Malayan outlook by the introduction of common content syllabuses and time tables for all schools.
- The national language (Malay Language) to be the main medium of instruction in all schools
- The national language and the English Language to be compulsory subjects for all primary and secondary schools
- Conversion of existing primary schools to National schools (Malay medium) and National-type schools (English, Chinese or Tamil medium)
- The establishment of one types of National Secondary school open to all races using common content syllabuses, with a flexible curriculum
7.0 Rahman Talib Report (1960) and Education Act 1961
7.1 Major recommendations:
- universal free primary education
- automatic promotion up to Form III
- enhancement of Technical and Vocational education
- setting up of the Federal Inspectorate of schools
- introduction of Bahasa Malaysia, the National language as the main medium of instruction
- An examination system which uses only two main languages that is, Bahasa Malaysia and English Language
- Expansion of teacher training program
- Provision of Religious and Moral Education
8.0 Report of Cabinet Committee 1979
8.1 Major recommendations:
- emphasis is given to the basic education of 3Rs- reading, writing and arithmetic
- emphasis is given to spiritual education and required disciplinary elements
- emphasis is given to a curriculum tailored to Malaysia
- two mainstreams of secondary level of education, academic and vocational
- the opportunity to extend schooling from 9 years to 11 years
- well managed plan for educational management to enhance the overall quality of education
9.0 Education Act 1995
9.1 Main recommendations:
- the national education system is designed to produce world class quality education to achieve the country’s aspirations
- the National Philosophy of Education is the basis for the National Principles of Education
- the duration for primary education is 5 – 7 years
- pre-education education is part of the national education system
- improved technical and polytechnic education
- provisions are made for the monitoring of private education
10.0 Open and Distance Learning
10.1 An open learning system is one which the restrictions placed on students are under constant review and removed wherever possible. It incorporates the widest range of teaching strategies, in particular those using independent and individualized learning
10.2 Open learning: arrangements to enable people to learn at the time, place and pace which satisfies their circumstances and requirements. The emphasis is on opening up opportunities by overcoming barriers that result from geographical isolation, personal or work commitments or conventional courses structures which have often prevented people from gaining access to the training they need.
10.3 Distance learning can be defined as an instruction and learning practice utilizing technology and involving students and teachers who are separated by time and space. It can occur between schools, between schools and colleges and universities and even within school buildings and districts.
10.4 Distance learning first emerged as a concept in the nineteenth century, when it was characterized as a correspondence course. It reappeared as the open universities of the 1970s and then as the video tape, broadcast, satellite and cable productions of the 1980s. Today, distance education refers to the use of audio, video and computer video conferencing technologies as delivery modes.
10.5 Distance learning is learning while at a distance from one’s teacher-usually with the help of pre-recorded, packaged learning materials. The learners are separated from their teachers in time and space but are still being guided by them.
10.6 Distance learning encourages students to be creative, to participate actively in their own learning, to experience others and to prepare for the kind of world that they will enter as adults. Further, computer learning activities that employ multiple interactive media encourage active listening, focused attention, and the ability to work independently.
11.0 Information Communication and Technology
11.1 ICT is defined as any computer-based resources, networked and stand alone, including both hardware and software, currently available as teaching and learning resources.
11.2 Examples include tailored multimedia teaching packages; information sources such as the internet ; data management tools such as word-processing , software or spreadsheets.
11.3 The ability to use ICT effectively and appropriately is now seen as essential to allow learners to acquire and exploit information within every sphere of human activity. The school curriculum already reflects the perceived value and importance of developing ICT literacy and information literacy in all students.. IT is integrated into the curriculum.
11.4 Changes in the perception of what constitutes a ‘learning environment’ have been highlighted in a number of recent developments which seek to exploit the potential of ICT. Today libraries in higher education have developed and exploited a networked environment.
11.5 Successful integration into the curriculum depends on teachers being convinced of the relevance of ICT as a means of providing access to a richer range of resources for themselves and students. This emphasis must be on using appropriate technologies to enhance and support effective learning. Teachers need to be able to exploit modern information sources for themselves as continuing learners even when they are teachers.
CHAPTER 7: CHALLENGES OF THE TEACHING PROFESSION
Overview:
In this chapter, we shall cover
• The role and challenges of the teacher in the new millennium
• The characteristics of the teacher in the new millennium
• Forecast and plan for changes in education
Key Terms
• Innovator
• Nation-builder
• Knowledge disseminator
• Interpersonal relationship agent
• Management of change
• Globalization of education
Further Reading
Arnold,R. et.al. 1991. Educating for a Change. Toronto: Doris Marshall Institute for Education and Action.
Burbules,N.C. & Torres,C. (2000). Globalization and Education: critical Perpectives. London: Routledge.
Beck,U. 1999. What is Globalization? Cambridge: Polity Press.
Scholte,J.A. (2000). Globalization: A critical introduction. London: Palgrave.
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/scholte.htm
http://www.unesco.org/webworld/infoethics_2/eng/papers/paper_23.htm
http://www.canr.msu.edu/aee/extension/oct96.htm
Suggested Input
1.0 Innovator
1.1 Teacher as an innovator demonstrates evidence of keeping current with recent research and significant literature. He/She is involved in organizations and projects, particularly leadership roles.
1.2 He/She also implement an integrated curriculum, restructuring the learning environment through the transparent and informational use of information and communication technology. The teacher consistently works with colleagues in the
school, ensuring ICT programs are integrated across the curriculum areas and year levels. The teacher critically reflects upon ICT skills and functional knowledge and actively addresses social, legal and ethical issue in relation to learning technologies. The teacher is actively involved in school planning and utilizes the school community to actively design ICT learning environments.
1.3 The innovator also make references and recommendations indicating excellent performance and potential for success. He/she will develop and continue to refine a well-reasoned educational philosophy that includes receptivity to new ideas. He/she also expresses strong commitment to one or more educational values.
1.4 An innovator also instigate change in small ways, collaborating with other staff, working on joint projects. He/She changes strategies, techniques, texts and materials when better ones are found and/or when existing ones no longer provide a substantive learning experience for her students. This teacher also employs a combination of lecture-discussion, simulation, service learning, cooperative learning, visual media, role-playing, guest speakers and debates and whatever is age and grade appropriate in order to accommodate diverse learning styles and to present the subject from different angles to facilitate insights and connections. This teacher values and uses students’ ideas about how to enhance their own learning.
1.5 An innovator continues to develop, to seek evidence of best practice, to take on board innovation, and to keep up-to-date all the time. For the teacher this means updating their subject knowledge as well as their skills and knowledge of new approaches to teaching, managing and planning.
2.0 Nation-Builder
2.1 A teacher is a marvelous entity and no tool has been able to replace it as yet. The teacher has been rightly called ‘nation-builder’ because he holds the remedy for problems like illiteracy, population explosion, poverty, employment, erosion of values etc. Society in general and parents in particular continue to have a blind faith in the teacher.
3.0 Knowledge Disseminator
3.1 The teacher is a knowledge and skill disseminator and he/she disseminates concepts, principles, guidelines and rules of the thumb, essential facts and essential skills. There are several tasks that the teacher undertakes as a knowledge and skills disseminator.
He/She :
- exudes enthusiasm in the way he gets attention of his student all the time and this facilitates learning.
- Focuses attention to important areas of the subject and areas that are likely to be problematic to comprehend;
- Set objectives for learning task
- Checks prior learning
- Tries to make learning meaningful and memorable
- Facilitates encoding/recall of information so that the student is able to retrieve when this is needed
- Assesses learning
3.2 The teacher facilitates encoding/recall of information so that the student is able to retrieve it when this is needed. One way is through the use of mnemonics. The idea behind mnemonics is to inject sense into apparently senseless material.
3.3 Another way of helping the student learn is to get the students to go beyond ‘what is it?’ to think about “how and why’ to relate the new information to his existing knowledge and to use the new information as often as possible.
4.0 Interpersonal relationship agent
4.1 The teacher fosters relationships with school colleagues, parents, and agencies in the larger community to support students’ learning and well-being.
4.2 The teacher uses knowledge of effective verbal, nonverbal, and media communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration and supportive interaction in the classroom.
4.3 The teacher possesses communication skills such as:
- builds and maintain rapport
- uses active listening skills
- possess an awareness of individual’s needs and anxieties
- handles confrontation
- offers constructive criticism and suggestions
- accepts varying teaching styles, value systems and levels of autonomy.
4.4 The most effective interpersonal relationship agent should possess the following characteristics:
- empathy
- respect
- warmth
- genuineness
- concreteness
- self-disclosure
- immediacy
- congruency
- spontaneity
- non-judgmental
5.0 Management of Change
5.1 Change is inevitable in education and it is a process that involves learning. As an educator/teacher, one has to be able to understand the social, organizational and political identities and interests of those involved; focusing on what really matters instead of getting caught up in peripheral issues; assessing the agendas of all concerned
5.2 In managing change, the following suggestions may guide the process:
- Pay attention to the context. Whether acting as a change agent in an organizational or with individual students, understanding the context is critical to success. Both organizations and individuals are shaped by factors that it is important to address the process of change. Individual learners have norms and values that will influence the direction of change.
- Be prepared to be proactive. Underlying the managing aspect, one has to be able to initiate the change process even though fulfilling this role may raise questions about the ethics of facilitating change including use of power in giving students tools they can use in their lives.
- Attend to learning. Since learning and change are interconnected, the teacher can assist those who are undergoing the change process in understanding the different kinds of learning as well as the learning cycle of the change process. In managing change, the teacher should allow for periods of reflection to incorporate and/or practice new ways of thinking.
- Build in action. Any change will not be complete unless it involves action. Taking action related to a new mental concept or to organizational change will increase flow of information surrounding it and allow those involved to test it out, receive reaction to it, and involve others in learning about it. Action will provide the proof that the change has occurred.
6.0 Globalization and Education
6.1 The process whereby political, social, economic and cultural relations increasingly take on a global scale, and which has profound consequences for individuals’ local experiences and everyday lives.
6.2 It refers to ‘a process of removing government- imposed restrictions on movements between countries in order to create an open, borderless world economy. Globalization is also being defined as a process which embodies a transformation in the spatial organization of social relations and transactions- assessed in terms of their extensity, intensity, velocity and impact-generating transcontinental or inter-regional flows and networks of activity.
6.3 Globalization has impacted upon the nature of the agencies that ‘school’ children, and students. At a glance, it would seem that national governments still have considerable freedom to intervene in the education systems.
6.4 Globalization has found expression in some direct ways such as the de-localization of schooling. Since the 1980s, there has been a degree of parental choice within state schooling. It has been possible to choose which schools to apply to both primary and secondary levels.
6.5 To these developments must be added changes in educational technology-especially the use of the internet and other computer forms and the growth of distance learning. These involved highly individualized forms of learning and may not lead to any additional interaction with neighbors or with agencies. They allow people from different parts of the world to engage in the same program –and student contact can be across great physical distance.
6.6 As the educational systems becomes more marketized, colleges, schools and non-formal education agencies seeks to build relationships based more on viewing learners as customers rather than participants. The main role of the teacher-turned-classroom manager is to legitimate through mandated subject matter and educational practices a market-based conception of the learner as simply a consumer of information.
In this chapter, we shall cover
• The role and challenges of the teacher in the new millennium
• The characteristics of the teacher in the new millennium
• Forecast and plan for changes in education
Key Terms
• Innovator
• Nation-builder
• Knowledge disseminator
• Interpersonal relationship agent
• Management of change
• Globalization of education
Further Reading
Arnold,R. et.al. 1991. Educating for a Change. Toronto: Doris Marshall Institute for Education and Action.
Burbules,N.C. & Torres,C. (2000). Globalization and Education: critical Perpectives. London: Routledge.
Beck,U. 1999. What is Globalization? Cambridge: Polity Press.
Scholte,J.A. (2000). Globalization: A critical introduction. London: Palgrave.
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/scholte.htm
http://www.unesco.org/webworld/infoethics_2/eng/papers/paper_23.htm
http://www.canr.msu.edu/aee/extension/oct96.htm
Suggested Input
1.0 Innovator
1.1 Teacher as an innovator demonstrates evidence of keeping current with recent research and significant literature. He/She is involved in organizations and projects, particularly leadership roles.
1.2 He/She also implement an integrated curriculum, restructuring the learning environment through the transparent and informational use of information and communication technology. The teacher consistently works with colleagues in the
school, ensuring ICT programs are integrated across the curriculum areas and year levels. The teacher critically reflects upon ICT skills and functional knowledge and actively addresses social, legal and ethical issue in relation to learning technologies. The teacher is actively involved in school planning and utilizes the school community to actively design ICT learning environments.
1.3 The innovator also make references and recommendations indicating excellent performance and potential for success. He/she will develop and continue to refine a well-reasoned educational philosophy that includes receptivity to new ideas. He/she also expresses strong commitment to one or more educational values.
1.4 An innovator also instigate change in small ways, collaborating with other staff, working on joint projects. He/She changes strategies, techniques, texts and materials when better ones are found and/or when existing ones no longer provide a substantive learning experience for her students. This teacher also employs a combination of lecture-discussion, simulation, service learning, cooperative learning, visual media, role-playing, guest speakers and debates and whatever is age and grade appropriate in order to accommodate diverse learning styles and to present the subject from different angles to facilitate insights and connections. This teacher values and uses students’ ideas about how to enhance their own learning.
1.5 An innovator continues to develop, to seek evidence of best practice, to take on board innovation, and to keep up-to-date all the time. For the teacher this means updating their subject knowledge as well as their skills and knowledge of new approaches to teaching, managing and planning.
2.0 Nation-Builder
2.1 A teacher is a marvelous entity and no tool has been able to replace it as yet. The teacher has been rightly called ‘nation-builder’ because he holds the remedy for problems like illiteracy, population explosion, poverty, employment, erosion of values etc. Society in general and parents in particular continue to have a blind faith in the teacher.
3.0 Knowledge Disseminator
3.1 The teacher is a knowledge and skill disseminator and he/she disseminates concepts, principles, guidelines and rules of the thumb, essential facts and essential skills. There are several tasks that the teacher undertakes as a knowledge and skills disseminator.
He/She :
- exudes enthusiasm in the way he gets attention of his student all the time and this facilitates learning.
- Focuses attention to important areas of the subject and areas that are likely to be problematic to comprehend;
- Set objectives for learning task
- Checks prior learning
- Tries to make learning meaningful and memorable
- Facilitates encoding/recall of information so that the student is able to retrieve when this is needed
- Assesses learning
3.2 The teacher facilitates encoding/recall of information so that the student is able to retrieve it when this is needed. One way is through the use of mnemonics. The idea behind mnemonics is to inject sense into apparently senseless material.
3.3 Another way of helping the student learn is to get the students to go beyond ‘what is it?’ to think about “how and why’ to relate the new information to his existing knowledge and to use the new information as often as possible.
4.0 Interpersonal relationship agent
4.1 The teacher fosters relationships with school colleagues, parents, and agencies in the larger community to support students’ learning and well-being.
4.2 The teacher uses knowledge of effective verbal, nonverbal, and media communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration and supportive interaction in the classroom.
4.3 The teacher possesses communication skills such as:
- builds and maintain rapport
- uses active listening skills
- possess an awareness of individual’s needs and anxieties
- handles confrontation
- offers constructive criticism and suggestions
- accepts varying teaching styles, value systems and levels of autonomy.
4.4 The most effective interpersonal relationship agent should possess the following characteristics:
- empathy
- respect
- warmth
- genuineness
- concreteness
- self-disclosure
- immediacy
- congruency
- spontaneity
- non-judgmental
5.0 Management of Change
5.1 Change is inevitable in education and it is a process that involves learning. As an educator/teacher, one has to be able to understand the social, organizational and political identities and interests of those involved; focusing on what really matters instead of getting caught up in peripheral issues; assessing the agendas of all concerned
5.2 In managing change, the following suggestions may guide the process:
- Pay attention to the context. Whether acting as a change agent in an organizational or with individual students, understanding the context is critical to success. Both organizations and individuals are shaped by factors that it is important to address the process of change. Individual learners have norms and values that will influence the direction of change.
- Be prepared to be proactive. Underlying the managing aspect, one has to be able to initiate the change process even though fulfilling this role may raise questions about the ethics of facilitating change including use of power in giving students tools they can use in their lives.
- Attend to learning. Since learning and change are interconnected, the teacher can assist those who are undergoing the change process in understanding the different kinds of learning as well as the learning cycle of the change process. In managing change, the teacher should allow for periods of reflection to incorporate and/or practice new ways of thinking.
- Build in action. Any change will not be complete unless it involves action. Taking action related to a new mental concept or to organizational change will increase flow of information surrounding it and allow those involved to test it out, receive reaction to it, and involve others in learning about it. Action will provide the proof that the change has occurred.
6.0 Globalization and Education
6.1 The process whereby political, social, economic and cultural relations increasingly take on a global scale, and which has profound consequences for individuals’ local experiences and everyday lives.
6.2 It refers to ‘a process of removing government- imposed restrictions on movements between countries in order to create an open, borderless world economy. Globalization is also being defined as a process which embodies a transformation in the spatial organization of social relations and transactions- assessed in terms of their extensity, intensity, velocity and impact-generating transcontinental or inter-regional flows and networks of activity.
6.3 Globalization has impacted upon the nature of the agencies that ‘school’ children, and students. At a glance, it would seem that national governments still have considerable freedom to intervene in the education systems.
6.4 Globalization has found expression in some direct ways such as the de-localization of schooling. Since the 1980s, there has been a degree of parental choice within state schooling. It has been possible to choose which schools to apply to both primary and secondary levels.
6.5 To these developments must be added changes in educational technology-especially the use of the internet and other computer forms and the growth of distance learning. These involved highly individualized forms of learning and may not lead to any additional interaction with neighbors or with agencies. They allow people from different parts of the world to engage in the same program –and student contact can be across great physical distance.
6.6 As the educational systems becomes more marketized, colleges, schools and non-formal education agencies seeks to build relationships based more on viewing learners as customers rather than participants. The main role of the teacher-turned-classroom manager is to legitimate through mandated subject matter and educational practices a market-based conception of the learner as simply a consumer of information.
CHAPTER 6 : THE TEACHER AND SELF DEVELOPMENT
Overview:
In this chapter, we shall cover
• The sources of motivation, knowledge and skill enhancement
• The teacher as a learner in self development program
Key Terms
• Action research
• Reflection-on action
• Reflection-in action
• Reflection about action
• E-learning
• In-service courses
• Collaboration
Further Reading
Elliot,J. (1991). Action research for Educational Change. Open University Press
Jolliffe,A.,Ritter,J. & Stevens, D.(2001). The online learning handbook: Developing and using Web-Based learning. London: Kogan Page Ltd.
Kember,D. (2000). Action Learning and Action Research. London: Kogan Page Ltd
Kemmis,S. & McTaggart, R. (1988). The Action Research Planner. Victoria: Deakin University Press.
Moon, J.A. (2000). Reflection in learning & Professional Development: Theory & Practice. London: Kogan Page Ltd.
http://www.learnativity.com
http:// www.stanford.edu/dept/SUSE/csm/features/collaboration
http://www.etc.sccoe.k12.ca.us/2002/01_currint/02 currsumm3.html
Suggested Input
1.0 Action Research
1.1 The study of a social situation with a view to improving the quality of action within it
1.2 The study of a social situation, involving the participants themselves as researchers, with a view to improving the quality of action within it.
1.3 Action research is concerned with social practice; aimed towards improvement ;a cyclical process; pursued by systematic inquiry; a reflective process; participative and determined by the practitioners.
1.4 Objectives of action research
- develop and improve practice through research based on the interest of concerned parties
- develop knowledge and practical understanding of the research process
- develop professional knowledge of teachers
- develop and improve education as a discipline
1.5 Characteristics of action research
- carried out by teachers directly involved with the social situation studied
- carried out in groups and collaboratively with the commitment to increase their practical understanding
- begin with practical questions arising from daily teacher routine with the aim of developing practical situation and knowledge on teaching practice
- continuous process: ascertain focus, clarifying situation, develop strategies and present findings
- journal writing to record reflections and progress on the research
- reflective process by teachers
2.0 Reflection-on- action
2.1 Reflection-on-action is the form of reflection that occurs after action and relates, via verbalized or non-verbalized thought, to the action that the person has taken-in other words, it is a relatively narrow concept that is retrospective and has a role in learning, in informing action and in theory building.
2.2 It is a systematic, considered process of deliberation enabling analysis, reconstruction and reframing in order to plan for further teaching and learning.
2.3 It opens up possibilities for talking with others about teaching
3.0 Reflection-in-action
3.1 Reflection-in-action occurs in association with action and guides the process of action via knowledge in use, which is derived from theory in use, and makes limited contact with espoused theory and according to Schon, reflection-in-action only occurs in situations where the action yields unexpected consequences and is not part of actions that go according to plan. A conscious process and the knowing-in –action that led up to it, asking ourselves” What is this?”, and at the same time,” How have I been thinking about it?” Our thoughts turn back on the surprising phenomenon and at the same time, back on itself. It is thinking while “ in the thick of things” or “ thinking on one’s feet”
3.2 Reflection-in-action has a critical function, questioning the assumptional structure of the knowing-in-action. We think critically about the thinking that got us into this opportunity and in the process, restructure strategies of action, understandings of phenomena, or ways of framing problems
3.3 It gives rise to on-the-spot experiment. We think and try out new actions intended to explore the newly observed phenomena, test our tentative understandings of them, or affirm the moves we have invented to change things for the better.
4.0 Reflection- about-action
4.1 This represents a broader, critical stance which involves inquiry into the moral,ethical,political and instrumental issues embedded in teachers’ everyday thinking and practice.
4.2 Professionals exercise both responsibility and accountability for decisions that they make in their teaching and maintain broader understandings of the interrelationships between teaching purposes and practices.
5.0 Characteristics of Reflective Practice
5.1 Reflective practice involves the mental process of reflecting, which may or may not be characterized by what we have called ‘being reflective’
5.2 The subject matter may be refer to reflection on the everyday events of practice, paying more or less attention to the setting of the practice
5.3 Reflective practice may refer to reflection on the everyday events of practice or the conditions that shape reflection, such as political influences
5.4 Reflection may be ongoing or a reaction to a specific event or an unexpected occurrence or observation of a problem; it is characterized by states of uncertainty ; it may have an ethical or moral content
5.5 The end point of reflection in reflective practice may not be resolution of an issue, but attainment of a better understanding of it.
5.6 Reflection will have involved the process of thinking, but it may be aid by the process of articulation of the thinking orally or in written form
5.7 Review and reconstruction of the ideas surrounding reflection will be aimed at understanding or resolving the issue in the context of a general aim of improving practice, specifically or generally.
5.8 Reflective practice is usually enhanced when there is some sharing of the reflection with others
6.0 E-learning
6.1 A unifying term to describe on-line learning, web-based training and technology-based training
6.2 The convergence of the Internet and learning or internet-enabled learning. It is the use of network technologies to create, foster, deliver and facilitate learning, anytime and anywhere
6.3 The delivery of individualized, comprehensive, dynamic learning content in real time, aiding the development of communities of knowledge ,linking learners and practitioners with experts
6.4 A phenomenon delivering accountability, accessibility and opportunity to allow people and organizations to keep up with the rapid changes that define the Internet world
6.5 A force that gives people and organizations the competitive edge to allow them to keep ahead of the rapidly changing global economy
6.6 Web-based learning involves a diverse collection of methods and technologies and most programs include: learning materials made up of text, graphics and multimedia elements, video conferencing, chat rooms or discussion forums and the use of a Web browser.
6.7 Advantages of the Web-based learning are:
- can be used to deliver learning at any time to virtually any place;
- uses many of the elements of CD-ROM-based learning
- learning materials are relatively easy to update
- can increase the number of interactions between the learners and the event facilitator
- allows learners to form both informal and formal Web-based learning components
- allows the use of problem-and/or assignment-based learning
- can make use of resources already on the Internet
- can present real-time content using video conferencing, video streaming or discussion rooms
- has the ability to include multiple media such as text, graphics, audio, video and animation into the learning materials
7.0 In-service Courses
7.1 In-service education is education intended to support and assists the professional development that teachers ought to experience through their working lives.
7.2 Courses are designed to provide avenues for teachers to refresh their knowledge, to improve their competencies and to bring about paradigm shift in their outlook towards educational issues.
7.3 The basic principles which have guided the design of in-service courses are:
- A teacher needs to have subject knowledge. A teacher with a sound foundation in his/her subject matter will be better able to plan for students’ learning based on content outcomes and to keep abreast of current developments in that specific field of knowledge.
- Pedagogic knowledge is essential for managing learning. Knowledge about classroom management, teaching preparation, teaching and testing skills and the use of teaching aids are needed. Pedagogical skills such as techniques, methods , material and overall management are essential to every teacher.
- Every teacher has a practical theory that is practical knowledge which is directly related to teachers’ actions in and experience of the classroom. Practical theory of teachers refers to private, integrated but ever-changing system of knowledge, experience and values which is relevant to teaching practice at any particular time.
- The need for process knowledge which will enable teachers to become more aware of their practical theory and its implications on their classroom action. It is about ways other knowledge is developed and understood in the context of a person’s experience. This knowledge is derived from the teacher’s awareness of himself/herself as a person, his/her own beliefs, values and attitudes towards his/her actions and relationships with other people. The content of process knowledge are reflection, self awareness, facilitation skills, effective communication, critical and thinking skills. Teachers need these skills to understand themselves as educators and to inculcate good values amongst their students.
7.4 In-service training is concerned with the need to upgrade teacher education to give teaching a professional status and to promote the development of quality teaching . It also provide opportunities for teachers to grow. Teachers are able to further themselves either for professional enrichment or professional upgrading.
7.5 The objectives of courses that are provided to in-service teachers varied from year to year depending on the focus of the courses provided. They are as follows:
- to acquaint teachers to recent teaching learning approaches;
- to enhance quality of instruction in classrooms;
- to equip teachers with competencies to create effective learning environment;
- to inculcate in teachers that learning as a life long process in upgrading their expertise;
- to enable teachers to face and overcome challenges face in the education field
7.6 The training components of in-service courses are hands-on activities, usage of modules, practicum or field experience and assessment and examination
7.7 The above components reflect the emphasis on experiential learning as a form of ensuring teachers attain relevant competencies. Field experiences enable teachers to put theory into practice with the hope that such learning experiences will further enrich teachers’ schemata relating to the course content and activities undertaken. Examinations and assignments are designed to assess the quality of teaching and learning.
7.8 Training mechanisms in providing courses for in-service teachers are centralized training in teacher training institute, private premises; centralized training with cooperation from various agencies using State education departments and centralized training in collaboration with local and foreign universities.
8.0 Collaboration
8.1 Collaboration is ‘ to work with another or others on a joint project’
8.2 Research shows that teachers frequently discuss their teaching strategies with other teachers; have extensive interactions with teachers; participate in leadership activities such as mentoring and presenting at conferences and workshops.
8.3 Collaborative planning and on-going professional development supports both more thoughtful and effective teaching within the classroom and greater coherence across courses and grade levels.
8.4 Expertise in teaching comes from a process of sharing, attempting new ideas ,reflecting on practice and developing new approaches
8.5 High quality teaching is developed by creating a deliberate repertoire of strategies and a well-sequenced plan for content that connects to students’ prior learning, and doing so in collaboration with others so that knowledge is shared
8.6 A framework for collaboration requires: a working relationship that is allowed to evolve and is sustained through the trust of the teacher; the belief that working together is not through compulsion but voluntary ;the development of skills and initiatives is seen as an on-going process whereby change can be implemented and supported; working together is seen as a scheduled activity which gives status to what is been developed but does not stifle the individual’s own development; an open appreciation of the needs of those involved
8.7 Collaboration is seen as promoting professional growth
In this chapter, we shall cover
• The sources of motivation, knowledge and skill enhancement
• The teacher as a learner in self development program
Key Terms
• Action research
• Reflection-on action
• Reflection-in action
• Reflection about action
• E-learning
• In-service courses
• Collaboration
Further Reading
Elliot,J. (1991). Action research for Educational Change. Open University Press
Jolliffe,A.,Ritter,J. & Stevens, D.(2001). The online learning handbook: Developing and using Web-Based learning. London: Kogan Page Ltd.
Kember,D. (2000). Action Learning and Action Research. London: Kogan Page Ltd
Kemmis,S. & McTaggart, R. (1988). The Action Research Planner. Victoria: Deakin University Press.
Moon, J.A. (2000). Reflection in learning & Professional Development: Theory & Practice. London: Kogan Page Ltd.
http://www.learnativity.com
http:// www.stanford.edu/dept/SUSE/csm/features/collaboration
http://www.etc.sccoe.k12.ca.us/2002/01_currint/02 currsumm3.html
Suggested Input
1.0 Action Research
1.1 The study of a social situation with a view to improving the quality of action within it
1.2 The study of a social situation, involving the participants themselves as researchers, with a view to improving the quality of action within it.
1.3 Action research is concerned with social practice; aimed towards improvement ;a cyclical process; pursued by systematic inquiry; a reflective process; participative and determined by the practitioners.
1.4 Objectives of action research
- develop and improve practice through research based on the interest of concerned parties
- develop knowledge and practical understanding of the research process
- develop professional knowledge of teachers
- develop and improve education as a discipline
1.5 Characteristics of action research
- carried out by teachers directly involved with the social situation studied
- carried out in groups and collaboratively with the commitment to increase their practical understanding
- begin with practical questions arising from daily teacher routine with the aim of developing practical situation and knowledge on teaching practice
- continuous process: ascertain focus, clarifying situation, develop strategies and present findings
- journal writing to record reflections and progress on the research
- reflective process by teachers
2.0 Reflection-on- action
2.1 Reflection-on-action is the form of reflection that occurs after action and relates, via verbalized or non-verbalized thought, to the action that the person has taken-in other words, it is a relatively narrow concept that is retrospective and has a role in learning, in informing action and in theory building.
2.2 It is a systematic, considered process of deliberation enabling analysis, reconstruction and reframing in order to plan for further teaching and learning.
2.3 It opens up possibilities for talking with others about teaching
3.0 Reflection-in-action
3.1 Reflection-in-action occurs in association with action and guides the process of action via knowledge in use, which is derived from theory in use, and makes limited contact with espoused theory and according to Schon, reflection-in-action only occurs in situations where the action yields unexpected consequences and is not part of actions that go according to plan. A conscious process and the knowing-in –action that led up to it, asking ourselves” What is this?”, and at the same time,” How have I been thinking about it?” Our thoughts turn back on the surprising phenomenon and at the same time, back on itself. It is thinking while “ in the thick of things” or “ thinking on one’s feet”
3.2 Reflection-in-action has a critical function, questioning the assumptional structure of the knowing-in-action. We think critically about the thinking that got us into this opportunity and in the process, restructure strategies of action, understandings of phenomena, or ways of framing problems
3.3 It gives rise to on-the-spot experiment. We think and try out new actions intended to explore the newly observed phenomena, test our tentative understandings of them, or affirm the moves we have invented to change things for the better.
4.0 Reflection- about-action
4.1 This represents a broader, critical stance which involves inquiry into the moral,ethical,political and instrumental issues embedded in teachers’ everyday thinking and practice.
4.2 Professionals exercise both responsibility and accountability for decisions that they make in their teaching and maintain broader understandings of the interrelationships between teaching purposes and practices.
5.0 Characteristics of Reflective Practice
5.1 Reflective practice involves the mental process of reflecting, which may or may not be characterized by what we have called ‘being reflective’
5.2 The subject matter may be refer to reflection on the everyday events of practice, paying more or less attention to the setting of the practice
5.3 Reflective practice may refer to reflection on the everyday events of practice or the conditions that shape reflection, such as political influences
5.4 Reflection may be ongoing or a reaction to a specific event or an unexpected occurrence or observation of a problem; it is characterized by states of uncertainty ; it may have an ethical or moral content
5.5 The end point of reflection in reflective practice may not be resolution of an issue, but attainment of a better understanding of it.
5.6 Reflection will have involved the process of thinking, but it may be aid by the process of articulation of the thinking orally or in written form
5.7 Review and reconstruction of the ideas surrounding reflection will be aimed at understanding or resolving the issue in the context of a general aim of improving practice, specifically or generally.
5.8 Reflective practice is usually enhanced when there is some sharing of the reflection with others
6.0 E-learning
6.1 A unifying term to describe on-line learning, web-based training and technology-based training
6.2 The convergence of the Internet and learning or internet-enabled learning. It is the use of network technologies to create, foster, deliver and facilitate learning, anytime and anywhere
6.3 The delivery of individualized, comprehensive, dynamic learning content in real time, aiding the development of communities of knowledge ,linking learners and practitioners with experts
6.4 A phenomenon delivering accountability, accessibility and opportunity to allow people and organizations to keep up with the rapid changes that define the Internet world
6.5 A force that gives people and organizations the competitive edge to allow them to keep ahead of the rapidly changing global economy
6.6 Web-based learning involves a diverse collection of methods and technologies and most programs include: learning materials made up of text, graphics and multimedia elements, video conferencing, chat rooms or discussion forums and the use of a Web browser.
6.7 Advantages of the Web-based learning are:
- can be used to deliver learning at any time to virtually any place;
- uses many of the elements of CD-ROM-based learning
- learning materials are relatively easy to update
- can increase the number of interactions between the learners and the event facilitator
- allows learners to form both informal and formal Web-based learning components
- allows the use of problem-and/or assignment-based learning
- can make use of resources already on the Internet
- can present real-time content using video conferencing, video streaming or discussion rooms
- has the ability to include multiple media such as text, graphics, audio, video and animation into the learning materials
7.0 In-service Courses
7.1 In-service education is education intended to support and assists the professional development that teachers ought to experience through their working lives.
7.2 Courses are designed to provide avenues for teachers to refresh their knowledge, to improve their competencies and to bring about paradigm shift in their outlook towards educational issues.
7.3 The basic principles which have guided the design of in-service courses are:
- A teacher needs to have subject knowledge. A teacher with a sound foundation in his/her subject matter will be better able to plan for students’ learning based on content outcomes and to keep abreast of current developments in that specific field of knowledge.
- Pedagogic knowledge is essential for managing learning. Knowledge about classroom management, teaching preparation, teaching and testing skills and the use of teaching aids are needed. Pedagogical skills such as techniques, methods , material and overall management are essential to every teacher.
- Every teacher has a practical theory that is practical knowledge which is directly related to teachers’ actions in and experience of the classroom. Practical theory of teachers refers to private, integrated but ever-changing system of knowledge, experience and values which is relevant to teaching practice at any particular time.
- The need for process knowledge which will enable teachers to become more aware of their practical theory and its implications on their classroom action. It is about ways other knowledge is developed and understood in the context of a person’s experience. This knowledge is derived from the teacher’s awareness of himself/herself as a person, his/her own beliefs, values and attitudes towards his/her actions and relationships with other people. The content of process knowledge are reflection, self awareness, facilitation skills, effective communication, critical and thinking skills. Teachers need these skills to understand themselves as educators and to inculcate good values amongst their students.
7.4 In-service training is concerned with the need to upgrade teacher education to give teaching a professional status and to promote the development of quality teaching . It also provide opportunities for teachers to grow. Teachers are able to further themselves either for professional enrichment or professional upgrading.
7.5 The objectives of courses that are provided to in-service teachers varied from year to year depending on the focus of the courses provided. They are as follows:
- to acquaint teachers to recent teaching learning approaches;
- to enhance quality of instruction in classrooms;
- to equip teachers with competencies to create effective learning environment;
- to inculcate in teachers that learning as a life long process in upgrading their expertise;
- to enable teachers to face and overcome challenges face in the education field
7.6 The training components of in-service courses are hands-on activities, usage of modules, practicum or field experience and assessment and examination
7.7 The above components reflect the emphasis on experiential learning as a form of ensuring teachers attain relevant competencies. Field experiences enable teachers to put theory into practice with the hope that such learning experiences will further enrich teachers’ schemata relating to the course content and activities undertaken. Examinations and assignments are designed to assess the quality of teaching and learning.
7.8 Training mechanisms in providing courses for in-service teachers are centralized training in teacher training institute, private premises; centralized training with cooperation from various agencies using State education departments and centralized training in collaboration with local and foreign universities.
8.0 Collaboration
8.1 Collaboration is ‘ to work with another or others on a joint project’
8.2 Research shows that teachers frequently discuss their teaching strategies with other teachers; have extensive interactions with teachers; participate in leadership activities such as mentoring and presenting at conferences and workshops.
8.3 Collaborative planning and on-going professional development supports both more thoughtful and effective teaching within the classroom and greater coherence across courses and grade levels.
8.4 Expertise in teaching comes from a process of sharing, attempting new ideas ,reflecting on practice and developing new approaches
8.5 High quality teaching is developed by creating a deliberate repertoire of strategies and a well-sequenced plan for content that connects to students’ prior learning, and doing so in collaboration with others so that knowledge is shared
8.6 A framework for collaboration requires: a working relationship that is allowed to evolve and is sustained through the trust of the teacher; the belief that working together is not through compulsion but voluntary ;the development of skills and initiatives is seen as an on-going process whereby change can be implemented and supported; working together is seen as a scheduled activity which gives status to what is been developed but does not stifle the individual’s own development; an open appreciation of the needs of those involved
8.7 Collaboration is seen as promoting professional growth
CHAPTER 5: THE TEACHER AND PROFESSIONAL SKILLS
Overview:
In this chapter, we shall cover
• The mastery of professional skills by teachers in the school
Key Terms
• Learning skill
• Thinking skill
• Planning
• Facilitation
• Communication
• Management
Further Reading
Cullingford,C. (1995). The Effective teacher. London: Cassel
Dean, J. (1991).Professional Development in school. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
Ghaye,K. & Ghaye,A. 1998. Teaching and Learning through Critical Reflective Practice. London: David Fulton Publishers.
Schon,D.A. 1987. Educating the reflective practitioner. San Franscisco: Jossey-B.
Travers,J.F., Elliot,S.N. & Kratochwill,T.R. (1993). Effective Teaching, Effective Learning. Iowa: Brown & Benchmark Pub.
Suggested Input
1. Learning Skill
1.1. Learning skills refer to the skill that teachers have to attain when collecting, processing and summarizing data with the aim of developing oneself towards life long learning. It is also the ability to obtain knowledge in the field of cognition, affection and psychomotor through observation, reading, writing, imitation, memorization, understanding, analysis, synthesis, evaluation and memory.
1.2. It refers to the ability to receive accurate signals, process information, and store in the memory and to apply it in problem solving. There is the need to acquire learning skills such as observing, making assumptions, and understanding, remembering, thinking and interpreting to produce effective learning.
1.3. Importance of learning skills:
- enable a teacher to obtain knowledge systematically and meaningfully.
- inculcate interest and liking for learning and always increase their knowledge and life long intellectual skill
- apply learning skills in all types of situation
- inculcate self discipline
- train individual to read with speed and aptly
- train individual to obtain data efficiently
- train individual to process data effectively
- increase one’s memory
- promote and sharpen one’s interest and potential
- help individual to attain referencing skills in the library
- train individual to encounter learning challenges
- motivate individual to life long education
- train individual to manage time effectively
1.4. The three processes in learning skills are collection of data, processing data and making report. The collection of data consists of:
- active listening
- note taking
- make reference
- interview
- questioning for information
- speed reading
- critical reading
1.5. Active listening
- listen with purpose
- listen to obtain direction
- listen to identify elements in a text
- listen to be able to repeat
1.6. Note-taking:
Note-taking while reading, listening or viewing is a strategy for recording and organizing information in order to understand and remember it. As such, it is a way of using writing as tool learning. There are different strategies for note-taking but regardless of the type used, a key to successful note-taking is regular review and revision of notes, which is emphasized here.
Note-taking enhances one’s comprehension of instructional material. It helps he/she use one’s notes as learning/study aids and shows he/she how to use note-taking independently.
- Cornell system of note-taking- 5 R’s : record, reduce, recite, reflect and review.
- Record: draw a vertical line down your paper. The left side of your paper , should be 1/3 the width of the paper, the right side 2/3. Jot down notes on the right side of the line.
- Reduce: Use the column on the left side of the line to ‘reduce’ your notes to key words and phrases that describe the most important information you need to remember.
- Recite: Fold back or cover the note taking column with only the key words showing, read each one in turn and recite anything that you understand or remember about the concept.
- Reflect: Take a break. Think about the information in your notes without looking back at them. State what you do and don’t understand about the topic. Decide how you are going to clear up any misunderstandings and do it.
- Review: Review your notes at regular intervals so that you stay familiar with the information that they contain.
1.7. Make notes:
Making notes is an activity done after note-taking. It consists of the process of arranging, completing and refining notes taken. Process in making notes are: check notes taken; arranging the notes in order; arranging information according to categories or specific order; taking notes with reference to the original information.
1.8. Notes as graphics
- Teachers can keep notes in the form of graphic organizers, arranging ideas in the page in ways that make relationships clear. Graphic organizer is a scheme for arranging information on a page so that the relationships among the concepts are made clear visually. For instance, a causal relationship might be shown with an arrow pointing from the cause to the effect, or subordinate details might be shown radiating from a main idea like spokes from the center of a wheel. For some learners, information is easier to process if the ideas are arranged graphically instead of in a linear fashion as is the case with traditional outlines, lists or pages of notes. For most learners, such visual displays can be aided to comprehension and retention of information. Graphic organizers help teacher understand relationship among ideas, refines and extends comprehension of information, helps teachers see learned information from new perspectives and encourages teachers to try them as an independent study strategy.
1.9. Make References:
It refers to usage of books from the library. Teachers should be able to make references on books from public libraries, school libraries, libraries in higher institute of learning, teacher activity centers.
1.10. Questioning skills
Teachers are able motivate student learning and thinking. Teachers should be able to use questions of higher-order so that students think critically such as able to explain, expound and voice their own opinions.
1.11. Speed Reading:
- There are two types of speed reading that is: skimming and scanning
- Skimming means speed reading with the aim of obtaining facts generally while scanning refers to speed reading with the aim of obtaining specific information from any resource.
1.12. Critical Reading:
- Critical reading helps teachers to understand content of the subject matter faster and will remain longer in the memory. There are two techniques of critical reading, that is: SQ3R and KWL.
- SQ3R refers to survey, question, read recite and review
- Survey: Get a good idea of the chapter’s content . Survey the title, the introduction, the summary, pictures and maps, chapter questions, heading, subheadings and words in special print (boldface, italics, capital letters)
- Question: After carefully surveyed the material change all the headings into questions. Questions help you learn because to find the answers, you need to read actively. Questions challenge you and give you a purpose for trying to master material. Write a list of all your questions and keep them in the same order that the headings appear in the book. Leave enough space after each question for answers.
- Read: Read the question you wrote for the heading. Then read the text that follows the heading to find the answer. Do the same thing to find the answers to other questions written.
- Recite: Once you read a section, stop and describe in your own words the major ideas that were presented. Since text books are divided into sections with headings and subheading, recite whenever you reach one of these convenient stopping places.
- Review: you are ready to go back over the material and review it. Survey again what you have read. Skim over the headings of the chapter- and ask yourself what they mean and what information they contain. Recite important ides under each heading.
- KWL (developed by Donna Ogle) prepares you to learn by helping you tap into your present knowledge, identify what you need to find out and sort through the information you’ve learned. K stands for what you know; W stands for what you WANT to learn; L stands for what you’ve learned. The KWL process allows you to zero in on your study topic and use your time most effectively. Each step keeps you focused on your study goals.
2.0 Thinking Skills
2.1 Thinking skill is a cognitive process broken down into a set of explicit steps which are then used to guide thinking. Thinking skills allow one’s cognitive system to function more efficiently.
2.2 Teachers need thinking skills and strategies that will enable them adapt to constant change. Critical thinkers are self-correcting and they discover their weaknesses and act to remove obstacles and faults.
2.3 Critical thinking is reasonable reflective thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe or do. It has become an activity both practical and reflective that has reasonable belief or action as its goal.
2.4 It comprises the mental processes, strategies and representations people use to solve problems, make decisions, and learn new concepts. It has to do with organizing, analyzing, evaluating or describing what is already there. Among the critical thinking skills are inferring, comparing, compare and contrast , analyze, supporting a statement, decision making, ordering, evaluation, creating groups, investigation and experimenting.
2.5 Teachers have to internalize the reflective thinking until reflective questions and analysis become like the “inner speech” or “self talk” which occurs frequently and spontaneously for the experienced teacher.
2.6 Dewey contends that teachers should be trained in analyzing and defining principles behind the reflective techniques. Reflecting involves active, persistent and careful consideration of behavior or practice. It is the means for meeting and responding to the problems. The more reflectivity that occurs, the better the quality of teaching.
2.7 The teacher as a reflective practitioner is seen as thoughtful persons intrinsically motivated to analyze a situation, set goals, plan and monitor actions, evaluate results and reflect on their own professional thinking. The reflective practitioner is one who can think while acting and thus can respond to the uncertainty, uniqueness and conflict involved in the situations in which professionals practice.
2.8 There are five components of reflective thinking: (1) recognizing an educational dilemma;(2) responding to a dilemma by recognizing both the similarities to other situations and the special qualities of the particular situation; (3) framing and reframing the dilemma,(4) experimenting with the dilemma to discover the consequences and implications of various solutions;(5) examining the intended and unintended consequences of an implemented solution and evaluating the solution by determining whether the consequences are desirable or not.
3.0 Planning
3.1 Effective planning is essential to good time management. It can be broken down into long-term, medium–term and short-term planning. Teachers have to plan what they want to achieve for the year.
3.2 A useful technique for planning in the long-term is to list all the tasks that have to be accomplished to achieve the long-term goal. Write them on a grid so that you can see the deadline for each aspect.
3.3 Having set the long term plan , the teacher need to transfer the tasks to a medium term plan. In transferring the tasks from the long term plan to the medium term, one is aware of the times of term which are busy enough without adding in extra work.
3.4 Short term planning amount to listing out all the tasks for the week. The effectiveness as a planner will depend to an extent on whether one can do the tasks without interruption in the times that have been allocated.
3.5 In short, a teacher as a planner performs the following tasks:
- teaching strategies that are congruent with purpose;
- plans that reflect the diversity of the classroom;
- shows an ability to speak and write about the significance of acquired knowledge and cumulative experience
- understands theoretical and practical aspects of curriculum development and implementation;
- demonstrates a thorough understanding of one or more teaching models;
- makes conscious, creative decisions about the components of lesson design;
- develops on a continuing basis a repertoire of effective and positive classroom management techniques
- presents materials in a variety of ways to accommodate different dominant learning styles;
- exhibits high standards of professional ethics regarding colleagues
4.0 Communication Skills
4.1 Communication refer s to social interaction performed through messages. Messages are formally coded events, symbols or signals or representational events which are of shared significance in a culture and which are produced for the purpose of evoking responses.
4.2 The ability to communicate is not just a matter of being able to articulate or demonstrate great wit. It is a two way process, of listening as much as talking, of encouraging others to talk as much as talking oneself.
4.3 Skills in communication also include interpersonal skills. Teachers need to effectively interact with his students and colleagues. The types of interpersonal skills are:
- Attending behavior: teacher shares students’ feelings and he wishes to help
- identifies and accepts the different emotions or objectives underlying each student’s answer, through eye contact, facial expressions and verbal encouragement
- Reflection : teacher states an opinion, a wish, a belief or preference to the class or when he asks a question which reflects his personal view. The teacher provides direction, suggest alternatives or redirect thinking among students towards the real issues.
- Inventory questioning : Teacher uses a set of questions to help students describe more clearly or to become more forthright in thought feeling or action. He rephrases questions and uses different words which seek to assist students.
- Encouraging alternatives : teacher acts to get student to clarify further what he is saying, for example, a teacher will provide an answer or a suggestion as an alternative, then seek two or more alternatives from students.
5.0 Management Skills
5.1 Management means making things work or creating opportunities for the organization, which means enabling it to function efficiently and effectively.
5.2 Management skills are as follows:
- ability to articulate and implement aims and policies. Teacher must be able to lead their colleagues in thinking about the aims of the school and how to turn them into action.
- Articulation of the curriculum philosophy. Teacher should be able to lead thinking about curriculum, including continuity and progression, so that coherence is ensured for the individual student
- Management of care and discipline
- Management of people : managers need to deal with people not only within the school, but also outside it, such as parents, governors. They need skill in eliciting ideas from colleagues and drawing them together; such skills as counseling, discussion leadership, presentation skills, negotiating skills and communication.
- Management of resources
- Evaluation is an important part of management, whether individuals or of the school as a whole.
6.0 Facilitation
6.1 Facilitator of learning means that the teacher’s role is to provide the type of the environment conducive to the kind of learning the teacher wishes to encourage. Frank Smith(1983) identifies three aspects of the learning process, which he refers to as demonstration, engagement and sensitivity. For learning to take place, the environment must provide demonstrations of what is to be learnt.
6.2 The quality of any learning experience will depend on the nature and clarity of the demonstrations, the degree of sensitivity that learners display towards them, and the opportunities afforded for using and experimenting with new knowledge. Although teachers may not have a great deal of control over the sensitivity of learners, there is much they can do to create demonstrations which increase, or focus, the learner’s sensitivity, and to provide opportunities for learners to experiment with and use new knowledge.
6.3 Facilitator assesses the needs of their learners before initiating classroom strategies to meet these needs. Teachers who facilitate learning do not set up demonstrations that are unnecessarily repetitious and boring for children. They provide only what the children need, even if this means that some of the best prepared demonstrations go unused because the children already know what they show
In this chapter, we shall cover
• The mastery of professional skills by teachers in the school
Key Terms
• Learning skill
• Thinking skill
• Planning
• Facilitation
• Communication
• Management
Further Reading
Cullingford,C. (1995). The Effective teacher. London: Cassel
Dean, J. (1991).Professional Development in school. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
Ghaye,K. & Ghaye,A. 1998. Teaching and Learning through Critical Reflective Practice. London: David Fulton Publishers.
Schon,D.A. 1987. Educating the reflective practitioner. San Franscisco: Jossey-B.
Travers,J.F., Elliot,S.N. & Kratochwill,T.R. (1993). Effective Teaching, Effective Learning. Iowa: Brown & Benchmark Pub.
Suggested Input
1. Learning Skill
1.1. Learning skills refer to the skill that teachers have to attain when collecting, processing and summarizing data with the aim of developing oneself towards life long learning. It is also the ability to obtain knowledge in the field of cognition, affection and psychomotor through observation, reading, writing, imitation, memorization, understanding, analysis, synthesis, evaluation and memory.
1.2. It refers to the ability to receive accurate signals, process information, and store in the memory and to apply it in problem solving. There is the need to acquire learning skills such as observing, making assumptions, and understanding, remembering, thinking and interpreting to produce effective learning.
1.3. Importance of learning skills:
- enable a teacher to obtain knowledge systematically and meaningfully.
- inculcate interest and liking for learning and always increase their knowledge and life long intellectual skill
- apply learning skills in all types of situation
- inculcate self discipline
- train individual to read with speed and aptly
- train individual to obtain data efficiently
- train individual to process data effectively
- increase one’s memory
- promote and sharpen one’s interest and potential
- help individual to attain referencing skills in the library
- train individual to encounter learning challenges
- motivate individual to life long education
- train individual to manage time effectively
1.4. The three processes in learning skills are collection of data, processing data and making report. The collection of data consists of:
- active listening
- note taking
- make reference
- interview
- questioning for information
- speed reading
- critical reading
1.5. Active listening
- listen with purpose
- listen to obtain direction
- listen to identify elements in a text
- listen to be able to repeat
1.6. Note-taking:
Note-taking while reading, listening or viewing is a strategy for recording and organizing information in order to understand and remember it. As such, it is a way of using writing as tool learning. There are different strategies for note-taking but regardless of the type used, a key to successful note-taking is regular review and revision of notes, which is emphasized here.
Note-taking enhances one’s comprehension of instructional material. It helps he/she use one’s notes as learning/study aids and shows he/she how to use note-taking independently.
- Cornell system of note-taking- 5 R’s : record, reduce, recite, reflect and review.
- Record: draw a vertical line down your paper. The left side of your paper , should be 1/3 the width of the paper, the right side 2/3. Jot down notes on the right side of the line.
- Reduce: Use the column on the left side of the line to ‘reduce’ your notes to key words and phrases that describe the most important information you need to remember.
- Recite: Fold back or cover the note taking column with only the key words showing, read each one in turn and recite anything that you understand or remember about the concept.
- Reflect: Take a break. Think about the information in your notes without looking back at them. State what you do and don’t understand about the topic. Decide how you are going to clear up any misunderstandings and do it.
- Review: Review your notes at regular intervals so that you stay familiar with the information that they contain.
1.7. Make notes:
Making notes is an activity done after note-taking. It consists of the process of arranging, completing and refining notes taken. Process in making notes are: check notes taken; arranging the notes in order; arranging information according to categories or specific order; taking notes with reference to the original information.
1.8. Notes as graphics
- Teachers can keep notes in the form of graphic organizers, arranging ideas in the page in ways that make relationships clear. Graphic organizer is a scheme for arranging information on a page so that the relationships among the concepts are made clear visually. For instance, a causal relationship might be shown with an arrow pointing from the cause to the effect, or subordinate details might be shown radiating from a main idea like spokes from the center of a wheel. For some learners, information is easier to process if the ideas are arranged graphically instead of in a linear fashion as is the case with traditional outlines, lists or pages of notes. For most learners, such visual displays can be aided to comprehension and retention of information. Graphic organizers help teacher understand relationship among ideas, refines and extends comprehension of information, helps teachers see learned information from new perspectives and encourages teachers to try them as an independent study strategy.
1.9. Make References:
It refers to usage of books from the library. Teachers should be able to make references on books from public libraries, school libraries, libraries in higher institute of learning, teacher activity centers.
1.10. Questioning skills
Teachers are able motivate student learning and thinking. Teachers should be able to use questions of higher-order so that students think critically such as able to explain, expound and voice their own opinions.
1.11. Speed Reading:
- There are two types of speed reading that is: skimming and scanning
- Skimming means speed reading with the aim of obtaining facts generally while scanning refers to speed reading with the aim of obtaining specific information from any resource.
1.12. Critical Reading:
- Critical reading helps teachers to understand content of the subject matter faster and will remain longer in the memory. There are two techniques of critical reading, that is: SQ3R and KWL.
- SQ3R refers to survey, question, read recite and review
- Survey: Get a good idea of the chapter’s content . Survey the title, the introduction, the summary, pictures and maps, chapter questions, heading, subheadings and words in special print (boldface, italics, capital letters)
- Question: After carefully surveyed the material change all the headings into questions. Questions help you learn because to find the answers, you need to read actively. Questions challenge you and give you a purpose for trying to master material. Write a list of all your questions and keep them in the same order that the headings appear in the book. Leave enough space after each question for answers.
- Read: Read the question you wrote for the heading. Then read the text that follows the heading to find the answer. Do the same thing to find the answers to other questions written.
- Recite: Once you read a section, stop and describe in your own words the major ideas that were presented. Since text books are divided into sections with headings and subheading, recite whenever you reach one of these convenient stopping places.
- Review: you are ready to go back over the material and review it. Survey again what you have read. Skim over the headings of the chapter- and ask yourself what they mean and what information they contain. Recite important ides under each heading.
- KWL (developed by Donna Ogle) prepares you to learn by helping you tap into your present knowledge, identify what you need to find out and sort through the information you’ve learned. K stands for what you know; W stands for what you WANT to learn; L stands for what you’ve learned. The KWL process allows you to zero in on your study topic and use your time most effectively. Each step keeps you focused on your study goals.
2.0 Thinking Skills
2.1 Thinking skill is a cognitive process broken down into a set of explicit steps which are then used to guide thinking. Thinking skills allow one’s cognitive system to function more efficiently.
2.2 Teachers need thinking skills and strategies that will enable them adapt to constant change. Critical thinkers are self-correcting and they discover their weaknesses and act to remove obstacles and faults.
2.3 Critical thinking is reasonable reflective thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe or do. It has become an activity both practical and reflective that has reasonable belief or action as its goal.
2.4 It comprises the mental processes, strategies and representations people use to solve problems, make decisions, and learn new concepts. It has to do with organizing, analyzing, evaluating or describing what is already there. Among the critical thinking skills are inferring, comparing, compare and contrast , analyze, supporting a statement, decision making, ordering, evaluation, creating groups, investigation and experimenting.
2.5 Teachers have to internalize the reflective thinking until reflective questions and analysis become like the “inner speech” or “self talk” which occurs frequently and spontaneously for the experienced teacher.
2.6 Dewey contends that teachers should be trained in analyzing and defining principles behind the reflective techniques. Reflecting involves active, persistent and careful consideration of behavior or practice. It is the means for meeting and responding to the problems. The more reflectivity that occurs, the better the quality of teaching.
2.7 The teacher as a reflective practitioner is seen as thoughtful persons intrinsically motivated to analyze a situation, set goals, plan and monitor actions, evaluate results and reflect on their own professional thinking. The reflective practitioner is one who can think while acting and thus can respond to the uncertainty, uniqueness and conflict involved in the situations in which professionals practice.
2.8 There are five components of reflective thinking: (1) recognizing an educational dilemma;(2) responding to a dilemma by recognizing both the similarities to other situations and the special qualities of the particular situation; (3) framing and reframing the dilemma,(4) experimenting with the dilemma to discover the consequences and implications of various solutions;(5) examining the intended and unintended consequences of an implemented solution and evaluating the solution by determining whether the consequences are desirable or not.
3.0 Planning
3.1 Effective planning is essential to good time management. It can be broken down into long-term, medium–term and short-term planning. Teachers have to plan what they want to achieve for the year.
3.2 A useful technique for planning in the long-term is to list all the tasks that have to be accomplished to achieve the long-term goal. Write them on a grid so that you can see the deadline for each aspect.
3.3 Having set the long term plan , the teacher need to transfer the tasks to a medium term plan. In transferring the tasks from the long term plan to the medium term, one is aware of the times of term which are busy enough without adding in extra work.
3.4 Short term planning amount to listing out all the tasks for the week. The effectiveness as a planner will depend to an extent on whether one can do the tasks without interruption in the times that have been allocated.
3.5 In short, a teacher as a planner performs the following tasks:
- teaching strategies that are congruent with purpose;
- plans that reflect the diversity of the classroom;
- shows an ability to speak and write about the significance of acquired knowledge and cumulative experience
- understands theoretical and practical aspects of curriculum development and implementation;
- demonstrates a thorough understanding of one or more teaching models;
- makes conscious, creative decisions about the components of lesson design;
- develops on a continuing basis a repertoire of effective and positive classroom management techniques
- presents materials in a variety of ways to accommodate different dominant learning styles;
- exhibits high standards of professional ethics regarding colleagues
4.0 Communication Skills
4.1 Communication refer s to social interaction performed through messages. Messages are formally coded events, symbols or signals or representational events which are of shared significance in a culture and which are produced for the purpose of evoking responses.
4.2 The ability to communicate is not just a matter of being able to articulate or demonstrate great wit. It is a two way process, of listening as much as talking, of encouraging others to talk as much as talking oneself.
4.3 Skills in communication also include interpersonal skills. Teachers need to effectively interact with his students and colleagues. The types of interpersonal skills are:
- Attending behavior: teacher shares students’ feelings and he wishes to help
- identifies and accepts the different emotions or objectives underlying each student’s answer, through eye contact, facial expressions and verbal encouragement
- Reflection : teacher states an opinion, a wish, a belief or preference to the class or when he asks a question which reflects his personal view. The teacher provides direction, suggest alternatives or redirect thinking among students towards the real issues.
- Inventory questioning : Teacher uses a set of questions to help students describe more clearly or to become more forthright in thought feeling or action. He rephrases questions and uses different words which seek to assist students.
- Encouraging alternatives : teacher acts to get student to clarify further what he is saying, for example, a teacher will provide an answer or a suggestion as an alternative, then seek two or more alternatives from students.
5.0 Management Skills
5.1 Management means making things work or creating opportunities for the organization, which means enabling it to function efficiently and effectively.
5.2 Management skills are as follows:
- ability to articulate and implement aims and policies. Teacher must be able to lead their colleagues in thinking about the aims of the school and how to turn them into action.
- Articulation of the curriculum philosophy. Teacher should be able to lead thinking about curriculum, including continuity and progression, so that coherence is ensured for the individual student
- Management of care and discipline
- Management of people : managers need to deal with people not only within the school, but also outside it, such as parents, governors. They need skill in eliciting ideas from colleagues and drawing them together; such skills as counseling, discussion leadership, presentation skills, negotiating skills and communication.
- Management of resources
- Evaluation is an important part of management, whether individuals or of the school as a whole.
6.0 Facilitation
6.1 Facilitator of learning means that the teacher’s role is to provide the type of the environment conducive to the kind of learning the teacher wishes to encourage. Frank Smith(1983) identifies three aspects of the learning process, which he refers to as demonstration, engagement and sensitivity. For learning to take place, the environment must provide demonstrations of what is to be learnt.
6.2 The quality of any learning experience will depend on the nature and clarity of the demonstrations, the degree of sensitivity that learners display towards them, and the opportunities afforded for using and experimenting with new knowledge. Although teachers may not have a great deal of control over the sensitivity of learners, there is much they can do to create demonstrations which increase, or focus, the learner’s sensitivity, and to provide opportunities for learners to experiment with and use new knowledge.
6.3 Facilitator assesses the needs of their learners before initiating classroom strategies to meet these needs. Teachers who facilitate learning do not set up demonstrations that are unnecessarily repetitious and boring for children. They provide only what the children need, even if this means that some of the best prepared demonstrations go unused because the children already know what they show
CHAPTER 4: THE TEACHER AND THE WORLD OF EDUCATION
Overview:
In this chapter, we shall cover
• Roles and responsibilities of the teacher as an effective knowledge, skill and value disseminator in the classroom
• Role as an educator in the teaching profession
Key Terms
• Knowledge practitioner
• Skills practitioner
• Educare
• Educere
• Social agent
• Agent of Change
• Consultant
• Mentor
• Manager
• Researcher
• Patriot
Further Reading
Brooks,V. & Sikes, P. (1997). The Good Mentor Guide: Initial Teacher Education in Secondary Schools. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Cairney,T. (1987).Teachers as researchers. In Barbara Comper & Hancock, J. Developing Teachers. Melbourne: Thomas Nelson
Fletcher,S.( 2000). Mentoring in schools; A handbook of good practice. London: Kogan Press
Kinchheloe, J. L. (1991). Teachers as researchers: Qualitative Inquiry as a path to empowerment. London: The Falmer Press
Tomlinson,P. (1995). Understanding Mentoring. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Suggested Input
1. Knowledge and skill practitioner
1.1. The teacher is a professional is an educator and a practitioner in knowledge and skills. He/she is an effective practitioner and analyst who, through teacher education, is competent in applying his/her theoretical knowledge in various pedagogic contexts. He/she provides education for discipline, for knowledge, for character, for life, for growth, for personal fulfillment and aesthetic refinement.
1.2. The practitioner understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline he or she teaches and creates learning experiences that make these aspects of subject matter meaningful for students.
1.3. He/She understands how children learn and develop and can provide learning opportunities that support their intellectual, social and personal development. He/she also understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage students’ development of critical thinking, problem solving and performance skills.
1.4. He/She is eclectic in the sense of being able to synthesize rather than merely select what is available. The teacher should possess the ability to harmonically arrange what has been selected to be offered to the students.
1.5. The practitioner has to adopt technology as a means for becoming more effective in producing his/her own materials, accessing the Internet to gain information, ideas and core materials which will provide the basis for presentation to the students.
2. Educare and Educere
2.1 Education arises from two Latin terms that is educare and educere. Educare is ‘
to lead, draw or bring out; to unsheathe. The etymology emphasizes the militaristic aspect of the word; the word involved leading or bringing out the troops or unsheathing one’s sword- the notion of preparing for battle.
2.2 Questions pertaining to the effects that emerge when one thinks of education in
this way:
- What or where are we trying to lead students to?
- What are we trying to bring out of them?
- Can we truly draw out some pre-determined intellectual and personal qualities?
- Do we really think that children are all really alike, the same inside, and that if we locate the best method, then we can teach them all and they will learn the same thing?
2.3 Educere is to rear or bring up; allow to emerge as needed. If educere is the act of emerging ,then as teachers, we must begin to ask ourselves: ‘What will emerge? ; Can we control what emerges? and Should we try and control what learning emerges or what the student’s response to your teaching will be?’
2.4 Educere is very parental, almost feminine approach to education because it focuses on the nurturing and caring or what emerges when a student is engaged in the learning process. Educere emphasizes what has become understood in Western civilization as the feminine principle. Educere is indeed the act of nurturing the young, being creative, compassionate, giving. These are perceived as positive qualities. However, at the same time there is the potential for nurturing to turn into the act of controlling and oppressing, as in the mother who hovers over too much and does not allow enough freedom for growth.
2.5 Educere emphasizes the main principle of leading the young forth for some grand, great purpose; the act of instilling discipline, decisiveness, willingness to die for a cause. As a teacher, this type wants to marshal the students towards something beyond him or her self, which can be a wonderful moments of growth – intellectual and emotional. As a teacher one has to discover which principle he or she embodies and reflect on the positive and negatives of each.
3. Social Agent
3.1 The teaching/learning process is basically and essentially an interaction between humans. This interaction is carried within a social context. There are, generally, clearly defined teacher and student roles in these learning environments. The student tends to expect that the teacher will influence the learning environments. The student tends to expect that the teacher will influence the learning process to some significant extent.
3.2 The role of the teacher as a social agent is an important part of the learning process. This is very clear as different individuals interact with a teacher and other students to widely varying degrees.
3.3 The teacher’s role may be include the management of the social interaction that is conducted as part of the learning process. In the primary school, the teacher has a large role in guiding the behavior of the young pupils. Often the teacher is required to set boundaries as to where pupils may be at a particular time, whether they may talk or need to be quiet and listening and what activities they should be performing.
3.4 The teacher plays a number of other social roles in the teaching/learning process. The teacher is often a motivator for pupils, encouraging or reproving them as appropriate. The approval of the teacher can be a strong motivating factor, particularly for younger pupils. The teacher is also an arbiter of success; measuring and quantifying pupils’ efforts. The teacher may also pass on cultural and social values.
3.5 The role of the teacher as social agent is an important part of the learning process, it is also clear that different individuals interact with a teacher and other students to widely varying degrees. These individuals are self-motivated, do not require any third party encouragement to learn, and can seek out and assimilate the required body of knowledge.
4. Agent of Change
4.1 A change agent is an individual who influences clients’ innovation decisions in a direction deemed desirable by a change agency. As a change agent, one has to directly work with the teachers to adopt an innovation and encourage them to become opinion leaders in their own interpersonal network.
4.2 One has to teach the teachers to use the various pieces of technology and it goes further by assisting the teachers to learn to be constructivist teachers that can incorporate technology into their curriculum. It is this balance of bringing the technology into the curriculum through constructivist methods that is the innovation.
4.3 Agent of change develops his/her own professional learning which has encompassed strategies and interpersonal skills essential for managing change within the school. Through significant steps, one has to update and improve the culture of the school, to influence the staff to become more collaborative and reflective in their practice, to be flexible and more responsive to the positive outcomes of change and the development of their own professional learning, creating a learning community.
5. Researcher
5.1 Teacher as a researcher involves the commitment to systematic questioning of one’s own teaching as a basis for development. The commitment and skills to study one’s own teaching and concern to questioning and testing theory in practice by using skills and readiness to allow other teachers to observe your work directly or through recordings and to discuss it with them on an honest basis.
5.2 Teacher plays a role in investigating pedagogical problems through inquiry. According to Dewey (1929) teacher’s investigations not only lead to knowledge about the school but also led to good teaching.
5.3 The benefits for teachers who attempt to become researchers in their own classrooms are:
- the development of clearer theory of language and learning
- increased knowledge and understanding of classroom practice, and increased teaching skills
- easier collaboration with pupils and the potential to develop a shared commitment to the desired improvements
6. Mentor
6.1 A mentor is one who guides and supports trainees to ease them through difficult transitions; it is about smoothing the way, enabling, reassuring as well as directing, managing and instructing. He/She should be able to unblock the ways to change by building self confidence, self esteem and a readiness to act as well as to engage in ongoing constructive interpersonal relationships.
6.2 Individual engaged in a one-to-one teaching/learning relationship in which the mentor serves as a fundamentally important model with respect to values, beliefs, philosophies and attitudes as well as a source of more specific information.
6.3 Mentoring implies a close relationship within which the model may be a role model, consultant, advisor, and source of wisdom –even a sort of protector.
6.4 Mentoring is defined as a nurturing process in which a more skilled or more experienced person, serving as a role model, teachers, sponsors, encourages, counsels and befriends a less skilled or less experienced person for the purpose of promoting the latter’s professional and/or personal development. Mentoring functions are carried out within the context of an ongoing, caring relationship between the mentor and the protégé
6.5 Mentoring is used to describe a combination of coaching, counseling and assessment where a classroom teacher in a school is delegated responsibility for assisting newly qualified teachers in their professional development
6.6 A mentor tries to develop individual’s strengths to maximize their professional and personal potential and also that of students who come under their care within a classroom situation.
7. Manager
7.1 The teacher structure the learning environment. In this role, all decisions and actions required to maintain order in the classroom, such as laying down rules and procedures for learning activities.
7.2 Teacher must manage a classroom environment. Teachers are environmental engineers who organize the classroom space to fit their goals and to maximize learning. The way the physical space of the classroom is organized can either help or hinder learning.
7.3 It involves modeling a positive attitude towards the curriculum and towards school and learning in general. Teachers who reveal a caring attitude towards learning and the learning environment help to instill and reinforce similar attitudes in their students.
7.4 Teachers are required to manage and process great amounts of clerical work. There are papers to be read and graded, tests to be scored, marks to be entered, attendance records and files to be maintained, notes and letters to be written etc.
In this chapter, we shall cover
• Roles and responsibilities of the teacher as an effective knowledge, skill and value disseminator in the classroom
• Role as an educator in the teaching profession
Key Terms
• Knowledge practitioner
• Skills practitioner
• Educare
• Educere
• Social agent
• Agent of Change
• Consultant
• Mentor
• Manager
• Researcher
• Patriot
Further Reading
Brooks,V. & Sikes, P. (1997). The Good Mentor Guide: Initial Teacher Education in Secondary Schools. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Cairney,T. (1987).Teachers as researchers. In Barbara Comper & Hancock, J. Developing Teachers. Melbourne: Thomas Nelson
Fletcher,S.( 2000). Mentoring in schools; A handbook of good practice. London: Kogan Press
Kinchheloe, J. L. (1991). Teachers as researchers: Qualitative Inquiry as a path to empowerment. London: The Falmer Press
Tomlinson,P. (1995). Understanding Mentoring. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Suggested Input
1. Knowledge and skill practitioner
1.1. The teacher is a professional is an educator and a practitioner in knowledge and skills. He/she is an effective practitioner and analyst who, through teacher education, is competent in applying his/her theoretical knowledge in various pedagogic contexts. He/she provides education for discipline, for knowledge, for character, for life, for growth, for personal fulfillment and aesthetic refinement.
1.2. The practitioner understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline he or she teaches and creates learning experiences that make these aspects of subject matter meaningful for students.
1.3. He/She understands how children learn and develop and can provide learning opportunities that support their intellectual, social and personal development. He/she also understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage students’ development of critical thinking, problem solving and performance skills.
1.4. He/She is eclectic in the sense of being able to synthesize rather than merely select what is available. The teacher should possess the ability to harmonically arrange what has been selected to be offered to the students.
1.5. The practitioner has to adopt technology as a means for becoming more effective in producing his/her own materials, accessing the Internet to gain information, ideas and core materials which will provide the basis for presentation to the students.
2. Educare and Educere
2.1 Education arises from two Latin terms that is educare and educere. Educare is ‘
to lead, draw or bring out; to unsheathe. The etymology emphasizes the militaristic aspect of the word; the word involved leading or bringing out the troops or unsheathing one’s sword- the notion of preparing for battle.
2.2 Questions pertaining to the effects that emerge when one thinks of education in
this way:
- What or where are we trying to lead students to?
- What are we trying to bring out of them?
- Can we truly draw out some pre-determined intellectual and personal qualities?
- Do we really think that children are all really alike, the same inside, and that if we locate the best method, then we can teach them all and they will learn the same thing?
2.3 Educere is to rear or bring up; allow to emerge as needed. If educere is the act of emerging ,then as teachers, we must begin to ask ourselves: ‘What will emerge? ; Can we control what emerges? and Should we try and control what learning emerges or what the student’s response to your teaching will be?’
2.4 Educere is very parental, almost feminine approach to education because it focuses on the nurturing and caring or what emerges when a student is engaged in the learning process. Educere emphasizes what has become understood in Western civilization as the feminine principle. Educere is indeed the act of nurturing the young, being creative, compassionate, giving. These are perceived as positive qualities. However, at the same time there is the potential for nurturing to turn into the act of controlling and oppressing, as in the mother who hovers over too much and does not allow enough freedom for growth.
2.5 Educere emphasizes the main principle of leading the young forth for some grand, great purpose; the act of instilling discipline, decisiveness, willingness to die for a cause. As a teacher, this type wants to marshal the students towards something beyond him or her self, which can be a wonderful moments of growth – intellectual and emotional. As a teacher one has to discover which principle he or she embodies and reflect on the positive and negatives of each.
3. Social Agent
3.1 The teaching/learning process is basically and essentially an interaction between humans. This interaction is carried within a social context. There are, generally, clearly defined teacher and student roles in these learning environments. The student tends to expect that the teacher will influence the learning environments. The student tends to expect that the teacher will influence the learning process to some significant extent.
3.2 The role of the teacher as a social agent is an important part of the learning process. This is very clear as different individuals interact with a teacher and other students to widely varying degrees.
3.3 The teacher’s role may be include the management of the social interaction that is conducted as part of the learning process. In the primary school, the teacher has a large role in guiding the behavior of the young pupils. Often the teacher is required to set boundaries as to where pupils may be at a particular time, whether they may talk or need to be quiet and listening and what activities they should be performing.
3.4 The teacher plays a number of other social roles in the teaching/learning process. The teacher is often a motivator for pupils, encouraging or reproving them as appropriate. The approval of the teacher can be a strong motivating factor, particularly for younger pupils. The teacher is also an arbiter of success; measuring and quantifying pupils’ efforts. The teacher may also pass on cultural and social values.
3.5 The role of the teacher as social agent is an important part of the learning process, it is also clear that different individuals interact with a teacher and other students to widely varying degrees. These individuals are self-motivated, do not require any third party encouragement to learn, and can seek out and assimilate the required body of knowledge.
4. Agent of Change
4.1 A change agent is an individual who influences clients’ innovation decisions in a direction deemed desirable by a change agency. As a change agent, one has to directly work with the teachers to adopt an innovation and encourage them to become opinion leaders in their own interpersonal network.
4.2 One has to teach the teachers to use the various pieces of technology and it goes further by assisting the teachers to learn to be constructivist teachers that can incorporate technology into their curriculum. It is this balance of bringing the technology into the curriculum through constructivist methods that is the innovation.
4.3 Agent of change develops his/her own professional learning which has encompassed strategies and interpersonal skills essential for managing change within the school. Through significant steps, one has to update and improve the culture of the school, to influence the staff to become more collaborative and reflective in their practice, to be flexible and more responsive to the positive outcomes of change and the development of their own professional learning, creating a learning community.
5. Researcher
5.1 Teacher as a researcher involves the commitment to systematic questioning of one’s own teaching as a basis for development. The commitment and skills to study one’s own teaching and concern to questioning and testing theory in practice by using skills and readiness to allow other teachers to observe your work directly or through recordings and to discuss it with them on an honest basis.
5.2 Teacher plays a role in investigating pedagogical problems through inquiry. According to Dewey (1929) teacher’s investigations not only lead to knowledge about the school but also led to good teaching.
5.3 The benefits for teachers who attempt to become researchers in their own classrooms are:
- the development of clearer theory of language and learning
- increased knowledge and understanding of classroom practice, and increased teaching skills
- easier collaboration with pupils and the potential to develop a shared commitment to the desired improvements
6. Mentor
6.1 A mentor is one who guides and supports trainees to ease them through difficult transitions; it is about smoothing the way, enabling, reassuring as well as directing, managing and instructing. He/She should be able to unblock the ways to change by building self confidence, self esteem and a readiness to act as well as to engage in ongoing constructive interpersonal relationships.
6.2 Individual engaged in a one-to-one teaching/learning relationship in which the mentor serves as a fundamentally important model with respect to values, beliefs, philosophies and attitudes as well as a source of more specific information.
6.3 Mentoring implies a close relationship within which the model may be a role model, consultant, advisor, and source of wisdom –even a sort of protector.
6.4 Mentoring is defined as a nurturing process in which a more skilled or more experienced person, serving as a role model, teachers, sponsors, encourages, counsels and befriends a less skilled or less experienced person for the purpose of promoting the latter’s professional and/or personal development. Mentoring functions are carried out within the context of an ongoing, caring relationship between the mentor and the protégé
6.5 Mentoring is used to describe a combination of coaching, counseling and assessment where a classroom teacher in a school is delegated responsibility for assisting newly qualified teachers in their professional development
6.6 A mentor tries to develop individual’s strengths to maximize their professional and personal potential and also that of students who come under their care within a classroom situation.
7. Manager
7.1 The teacher structure the learning environment. In this role, all decisions and actions required to maintain order in the classroom, such as laying down rules and procedures for learning activities.
7.2 Teacher must manage a classroom environment. Teachers are environmental engineers who organize the classroom space to fit their goals and to maximize learning. The way the physical space of the classroom is organized can either help or hinder learning.
7.3 It involves modeling a positive attitude towards the curriculum and towards school and learning in general. Teachers who reveal a caring attitude towards learning and the learning environment help to instill and reinforce similar attitudes in their students.
7.4 Teachers are required to manage and process great amounts of clerical work. There are papers to be read and graded, tests to be scored, marks to be entered, attendance records and files to be maintained, notes and letters to be written etc.
CHAPTER 3: TEACHING AS A PROFESSION
Overview:
In this chapter, we shall cover
• Concepts of a professional and non-professional
• Code of Ethics
• Accountability towards school, profession, nation and self
Key Terms
• Profession
• Professional
• Non-professional
• Qualities of teaching-behaviour, mentor, model, leader
• Code of Ethics
• Accountability
Further Reading
Darling-Hammond, L.(1991) Teachers and Teaching: Signs of a changing profession. In The Handbook of research on teacher education. Houston(ed.) New York: Macmillan
Day,C. (1999). Developing Teachers: The Challenges of Lifelong Learning. London: Falmer Press.
Hoyle,E. & John,P. (1995). Professional Knowledge and professional practice. London: Cassel
Lieberman, M. (1995). Education as a profession. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall
http://www.mpls.k12.mm.us/departments/CIT2/ethics.htm
Ryan,K. & Cooper, J.M.(1998). Those who can, Teach. Boston: Houghton Miflin Co.
Suggested Input
1. Profession
A profession is an occupation which performs a crucial social function. To accomplish this function it requires a considerable degree of skill requires a body of systematic knowledge grounded in theory. This acquisition of this body of knowledge and the development of specific skill entails a lengthy period of higher education. The period of education and training involves the process of socialization into professional values. These professional values tends to center on the pre-eminence of essential for the professional to have the freedom or autonomy to make his/her own judgments with regard to appropriate practice.
2. Professional
2.1 Professional is one who has (i) a specialized knowledge base(technical culture);(ii) commitment to meeting client needs(service ethic) ;(iii) strong collective identity-professional commitment( professional commitment); and (iv) collegial as against bureaucratic control over practice and professional standards (professional autonomy).
2.2 Characteristics of professionals:
- possess a specialized skill enabling them to offer a specialized service
- undergo intellectual and practical training in a well-defined area of study
- maintain detachment and integrity in exercising personal judgment on behalf of a client
- establish direct, personal relations with a client, based on confidence, faith and trust
- collectively have a sense of responsibility for maintaining the competence and integrity of the professional as a whole
- tend or required to avoid certain manners of attracting business
- are organized in bodies which, with or without state intervention, are concerned to provide the machinery for testing competence and regulating standards of competence and conduct
3. Non Professional
The profession is not a unique service. Training is not rigorous that is a short period of training. And entrance to the occupation is not especially competitive, particularly on intellectual grounds. There is little decision-making power as most important decisions that affects the person ‘s daily lives, even those directly on the standards of their own profession are made by administrator. There is little accountability and little involvement in activities professional organization
4. Qualities of a teacher
4.1 Leader who can inspire and influence students through expert and referent power but never coercive power. This teacher knows his students well and is kind and respectful towards his students. He has high standards and expectations coexisting with encouragement, support and flexibility. The teacher empower students and get them to do things of which they did not think they were capable.
4.2 Coach/guide who helps students to improve on their skills and insights
4.3 Disseminator of knowledge and skills
4.4 Role model to the student; practices what he/she preaches. He/She upholds moral values and humanitarian principles in all his actions. Teachers conduct their day –by-day doing in such a way that their behavior can be cherished by the learners. Teachers should be a human model for learners therefore, they must uphold all codes of ethical conduct that are necessary and essential in human modeling and moral education.
4.5 Innovator, creative, resourceful and encourages diversity and individuality in his students.
5. Code of Ethics
5.1 Ethical responsibilities to students
- Teachers will educate students to high standards of achievement. The teacher shall use best professional practices and materials and the teacher is knowledgeable of and delivers the standards-based curriculum
- Teacher shall engage in practices and select materials that include all students, celebrate diversity and never exclude them from opportunities on the basis of their race, gender, ethnicity, religion, national origin, language, ability or the status, behavior or beliefs of their parents
- The teacher is committed to developing the skill sets needed to best accelerate the learning of the students currently in their classrooms
- The teacher creates a classroom environment that is respectful, emotionally secure and physically safe for students
5.2 Ethical Responsibilities to Family/Community
- The teacher shall inform families of program philosophy, policies and personnel qualifications and explain why we teach as we do, which should be in accordance with our ethical responsibilities to students
- The teacher shall involve families in significant decisions affecting their student and regularly communicate student progress with families
- The teacher shall inform the family of accidents involving their student, of risks such as exposures to contagious disease that may result in infection and of occurrences that might result in emotional stress
- The teacher shall maintain confidentiality and shall respect the family’s right to privacy, refraining from disclosure of confidential information and intrusion into family life, except when a student’s welfare is at risk
- The teacher shall be objective and accurate in reporting the knowledge upon which we base our programs, assessments and professional practices
- The teacher shall cooperate and team with other professionals who work with students and families
- The teacher shall exercise care in expressing views regarding students.
Statements shall be respectful and based on firsthand knowledge
5.3 Ethical Responsibilities to Colleagues
- The teacher shall show respect for personal dignity and for the diversity found among staff members, and to resolve matters collegially
- The teacher shall exercise care in expressing views regarding the professional behavior or conduct of co-workers and/or students.
- The teacher agrees to carry out the program at the site to which we are assigned. When we do not agree with the program policies, we shall first attempt to effect change through constructive action within the organization
- Teachers who do not meet program standards shall be informed of areas of concern and, when possible, assisted in improving their performance
- In making assessments and recommendations, the teacher shall make judgments based on fact and relevant to the interests of students and programs
6. Accountability
6.1 Teacher accountability refers to the responsibility towards one’s teaching profession
6.2 Job accountability
o Performs curriculum and co-curriculum activities
o Follow job procedures
o Internalize one’s work ethics
o Responsible and perform job with dedication and commitment
6.3 Accountability towards nation
o knowledge practitioner and educate citizens of Malaysia
o inculcate moral values, develop and preserve our culture
o realization of the national philosophy of education and vision of the country
o instill national integration
o develop a progressive generation
6.4 Accountability towards students and parents
o disseminate knowledge and skills to students
o educate and inculcate moral values
o inculcate good behaviors
o develop students’ potentials intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically
6.5 Accountability towards self
o as a model for students
o maintain good behaviors
o update oneself on current knowledge and skills
o perform one’s job sincerely
In this chapter, we shall cover
• Concepts of a professional and non-professional
• Code of Ethics
• Accountability towards school, profession, nation and self
Key Terms
• Profession
• Professional
• Non-professional
• Qualities of teaching-behaviour, mentor, model, leader
• Code of Ethics
• Accountability
Further Reading
Darling-Hammond, L.(1991) Teachers and Teaching: Signs of a changing profession. In The Handbook of research on teacher education. Houston(ed.) New York: Macmillan
Day,C. (1999). Developing Teachers: The Challenges of Lifelong Learning. London: Falmer Press.
Hoyle,E. & John,P. (1995). Professional Knowledge and professional practice. London: Cassel
Lieberman, M. (1995). Education as a profession. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall
http://www.mpls.k12.mm.us/departments/CIT2/ethics.htm
Ryan,K. & Cooper, J.M.(1998). Those who can, Teach. Boston: Houghton Miflin Co.
Suggested Input
1. Profession
A profession is an occupation which performs a crucial social function. To accomplish this function it requires a considerable degree of skill requires a body of systematic knowledge grounded in theory. This acquisition of this body of knowledge and the development of specific skill entails a lengthy period of higher education. The period of education and training involves the process of socialization into professional values. These professional values tends to center on the pre-eminence of essential for the professional to have the freedom or autonomy to make his/her own judgments with regard to appropriate practice.
2. Professional
2.1 Professional is one who has (i) a specialized knowledge base(technical culture);(ii) commitment to meeting client needs(service ethic) ;(iii) strong collective identity-professional commitment( professional commitment); and (iv) collegial as against bureaucratic control over practice and professional standards (professional autonomy).
2.2 Characteristics of professionals:
- possess a specialized skill enabling them to offer a specialized service
- undergo intellectual and practical training in a well-defined area of study
- maintain detachment and integrity in exercising personal judgment on behalf of a client
- establish direct, personal relations with a client, based on confidence, faith and trust
- collectively have a sense of responsibility for maintaining the competence and integrity of the professional as a whole
- tend or required to avoid certain manners of attracting business
- are organized in bodies which, with or without state intervention, are concerned to provide the machinery for testing competence and regulating standards of competence and conduct
3. Non Professional
The profession is not a unique service. Training is not rigorous that is a short period of training. And entrance to the occupation is not especially competitive, particularly on intellectual grounds. There is little decision-making power as most important decisions that affects the person ‘s daily lives, even those directly on the standards of their own profession are made by administrator. There is little accountability and little involvement in activities professional organization
4. Qualities of a teacher
4.1 Leader who can inspire and influence students through expert and referent power but never coercive power. This teacher knows his students well and is kind and respectful towards his students. He has high standards and expectations coexisting with encouragement, support and flexibility. The teacher empower students and get them to do things of which they did not think they were capable.
4.2 Coach/guide who helps students to improve on their skills and insights
4.3 Disseminator of knowledge and skills
4.4 Role model to the student; practices what he/she preaches. He/She upholds moral values and humanitarian principles in all his actions. Teachers conduct their day –by-day doing in such a way that their behavior can be cherished by the learners. Teachers should be a human model for learners therefore, they must uphold all codes of ethical conduct that are necessary and essential in human modeling and moral education.
4.5 Innovator, creative, resourceful and encourages diversity and individuality in his students.
5. Code of Ethics
5.1 Ethical responsibilities to students
- Teachers will educate students to high standards of achievement. The teacher shall use best professional practices and materials and the teacher is knowledgeable of and delivers the standards-based curriculum
- Teacher shall engage in practices and select materials that include all students, celebrate diversity and never exclude them from opportunities on the basis of their race, gender, ethnicity, religion, national origin, language, ability or the status, behavior or beliefs of their parents
- The teacher is committed to developing the skill sets needed to best accelerate the learning of the students currently in their classrooms
- The teacher creates a classroom environment that is respectful, emotionally secure and physically safe for students
5.2 Ethical Responsibilities to Family/Community
- The teacher shall inform families of program philosophy, policies and personnel qualifications and explain why we teach as we do, which should be in accordance with our ethical responsibilities to students
- The teacher shall involve families in significant decisions affecting their student and regularly communicate student progress with families
- The teacher shall inform the family of accidents involving their student, of risks such as exposures to contagious disease that may result in infection and of occurrences that might result in emotional stress
- The teacher shall maintain confidentiality and shall respect the family’s right to privacy, refraining from disclosure of confidential information and intrusion into family life, except when a student’s welfare is at risk
- The teacher shall be objective and accurate in reporting the knowledge upon which we base our programs, assessments and professional practices
- The teacher shall cooperate and team with other professionals who work with students and families
- The teacher shall exercise care in expressing views regarding students.
Statements shall be respectful and based on firsthand knowledge
5.3 Ethical Responsibilities to Colleagues
- The teacher shall show respect for personal dignity and for the diversity found among staff members, and to resolve matters collegially
- The teacher shall exercise care in expressing views regarding the professional behavior or conduct of co-workers and/or students.
- The teacher agrees to carry out the program at the site to which we are assigned. When we do not agree with the program policies, we shall first attempt to effect change through constructive action within the organization
- Teachers who do not meet program standards shall be informed of areas of concern and, when possible, assisted in improving their performance
- In making assessments and recommendations, the teacher shall make judgments based on fact and relevant to the interests of students and programs
6. Accountability
6.1 Teacher accountability refers to the responsibility towards one’s teaching profession
6.2 Job accountability
o Performs curriculum and co-curriculum activities
o Follow job procedures
o Internalize one’s work ethics
o Responsible and perform job with dedication and commitment
6.3 Accountability towards nation
o knowledge practitioner and educate citizens of Malaysia
o inculcate moral values, develop and preserve our culture
o realization of the national philosophy of education and vision of the country
o instill national integration
o develop a progressive generation
6.4 Accountability towards students and parents
o disseminate knowledge and skills to students
o educate and inculcate moral values
o inculcate good behaviors
o develop students’ potentials intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically
6.5 Accountability towards self
o as a model for students
o maintain good behaviors
o update oneself on current knowledge and skills
o perform one’s job sincerely
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