Review Your Role, Responsibilities and Boundaries as a Teacher/Trainer/Tutor in Terms of the Teacher Training Cycle

Theory Question 1

Review your role, responsibilities and boundaries as a teacher/trainer/tutor in terms of the teacher training cycle.

Knowles (1980) defines teaching as “a process if designing and managing learning activities”. The subject specialism of the teacher is in the delivery of first aid training in the adult public and private sector. This domain of training will be discussed utilising the teacher training cycle within this subject delivery and it’s client group.

The training cycle utilised within the teachers role is partly predetermined by the students employers and legal guidelines of the subject matter as set out by the health and safety executive.

Lesson plan’s need to be devised and written to clearly define the aims and objectives of each course in order to facilitate effective learning akin to the Collins dictionary definition of “knowledge gained by study, instruction or scholarship”.

Students attend courses under instruction from their employer, some delegates are keen to attend and learn whilst some attend in order to ‘tick a box’ or may have negative experiences from previous courses. Such negativity may be from poor previous course delivery by other teachers or through a lack of use of an effective learning cycle which may inhibit full comprehension and knowledge retention of the subject matter. In addition, the varied backgrounds and experiences of the students may, at times, make the group non cohesive and secular. An activity which may be utilised to overcome such fragmentation is an icebreaker. Such an activity may produce “a relatively permanent change in behaviour”. (Reid and Barrington, 1999).

At the commencement of a session the students existing levels of knowledge of the subject matter needs to be ascertained in order to ensure reflective observation by the teacher in order to better tailor the course content to the students needs. Such utilisation of student’s previous knowledge and experiences in addition to making the subject matter applicable to their professional and personal lives may achieve greater knowledge retention and interest.

Course delivery may be facilitated via a combination of techniques which are clearly recognisable in the cognitive, effective and psychomotor domains first suggested by B S Bloom (1964). The cognitive domain may be utilised to ensure the ‘how and why’ of the subject matter is clearly understood by knowledge delivery to the students by continually summarising information and allowing different students to summarise said information. A key role and responsibility of the teacher in such situations is to ensure that the same student does not continually answer questions or summarise. A tool used by the author to avoid such a situation is to create a scenario whereby the ‘knowledgeable student’ becomes the casualty thereby removing their ability to answer questions thus allowing less confident students the opportunity to contribute and as such enter the affective domain by taking responsibility and bringing together ideas in order to formulate a diagnosis of the casualty.

Such understanding may then be underpinned by utilising the psychomotor domain whereby the physical and practical skills may then be taught and imitated in order to reproduce each skill with accuracy and allow articulation by combining one or more skills effectively.

In conclusion, by ensuring all of the above, a good learning environment may be achieved through demonstration, coaching and support which may facilitate good knowledge and skill retention which may “result in a lasting or permanent change of behaviour” (Child, D 1993).

Bibliography

Bloom B.S. (1964). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Handbook II: The affective domain

Child, D (1993). Psychology and the teacher, London, Cassel, ch5, para 1

Collins Concise (2008) Collins Concise English Dictionary [Seventh edition]

Kolb, DA (1984). Experiential learning – experience as the source of learning and development. Prentice Hall

Knowles, MS (1980). The modern practice of adult education, Chicago III: Associated Press

Reid, M. and Barrington, H. (1999). Training Interventions. London: CIPD

Bibliography: Bloom B.S. (1964). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Handbook II: The affective domain Child, D (1993). Psychology and the teacher, London, Cassel, ch5, para 1 Collins Concise (2008) Collins Concise English Dictionary [Seventh edition] Kolb, DA (1984). Experiential learning – experience as the source of learning and development. Prentice Hall Knowles, MS (1980). The modern practice of adult education, Chicago III: Associated Press Reid, M. and Barrington, H. (1999). Training Interventions. London: CIPD