Roles, Responsibilities and Relationships in Lifelong Learning

Assignment 008 – Roles, responsibilities and relationships in lifelong learning
Task A – Research report
Carry out research into your own role and responsibilities as a teacher.
Using your research, produce a written report of your findings which should include: a) A summary of key aspects of legislation, regulatory requirements and codes of practice relevant to the roles and responsibilities of the teacher. b) An analysis of the boundaries between the teaching role and other professional roles c) A review of points of referral to meet the needs of learners d) An explanation of how to promote appropriate behaviour and respect for others.
Intro
Teaching is a challenging and rewarding profession. There are many roles and responsibilities that teachers are required to fulfil, some of these are professional responsibilities pastoral

There is lots of legislation that influences teachers, particularly in the area of outdoor pursuits. Much of this legislation is designed to keep students safe and followed in the wake of the Lyme bay canoe disaster in 1993.Following this tragedy the Activity centres (young person’s safety) act was passed in 1995. The Health & safety commission (HSC) was charged with the terms of the act and the responsibility for drawing up new regulations. This resulted in the formation of the Adventure activities licensing authority (AALA) in 1996. This independent public body is responsible for inspecting outdoor activity providers (for under-18s) and granting them a licence if they are deemed to be operating safely in accordance with the guidelines of AALA and other national governing bodies (ref 1.1). These governing bodies are responsible for the regulation of each outdoor sport or activity in the UK and each governing body will have their own codes of practice. For example, Mountain training UK (2008: 11) states that they expect their members to;
“Ensure that they operate within their competence and in a manner appropriate to the participants ' experience and ability”

Teachers need to be conscious of maintaining professional relationships with students at all times. This is not always straightforward, particularly in the often more relaxed atmosphere of further education where some “banter” with students will often be used to help build rapport. Teachers need to be careful not to overstep this boundary; students are rarely impressed and sometimes even embarrassed by tutors who try to identify with them too closely. Curzon (2003: 249) These boundaries also extend outside of college. Teachers need to be conscious of how they act and must protect their privacy on social media sites such as Facebook.

Trying to meet the needs of all learners is a key foundation of teaching. Thorough planning is essential here as different learning needs and issues may be identified prior to teaching and plans made to support the learner. Sometimes issues may arise during a teaching program and these will need to be dealt with. If the teacher does not have the skills or experience to deal with the issue it is vital that they refer it to a professional in that field. Gravells (2012: 52) supports this stating that “you should always refer your students to a specialist or agency if you cannot deal with their needs”. (ref 2.2)

Dealing with student behaviour is an important, complex and potentially time consuming part of teaching. Ideally a teacher should be a role model for students to aspire to and should be able to promote and reward appropriate behaviour. It is when student behaviour starts to become disruptive and prevents others from learning that problems occur. Curzon (2003: 245) believes that “lack of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation may be discerned as the root of the problem. This suggests to us that teachers should aim to inspire students and actively involve them as much as possible in the classroom.
As well as providing inspiration a teacher will also need to provide discipline. There will need to be some ground rules that are laid down at the start of a teaching program to keep students on track. Ideally these ground rules should be decided on via a democratic process with the students although there will be some that the teacher will need to enforce the inclusion of e.g. no bullying other students. Any breach of the ground rules set at the start of the teaching program should be met initially with a friendly reminder of those rules. Students who continue to disrupt the learning of others by breaking the rules will need to be dealt with immediately. It may also be of use for teachers to keep a record of behaviour for students. This could highlight patterns of behaviour that may be possible to avoid in future, for example by changing the seating plan. Any continued patterns of behaviour could also highlight the need for additional support as disruption could be a way of asking for help Gravells (2012: 101)
Conclusion
The research in this report shows that teachers need to have a wide range of skills and knowledge. They need to have an understanding of government legislation and how it affects them
Word count - words
References
Curzon, L.B. (2003) Teaching in further education, London, Continuum books
Gravells, A. (2012) Preparing to teach in the lifelong learning sector: The new award, London, Sage publications
Mountain leader training (2008) National guidelines for walking and climbing leaders, Wales, Mountain leader training

References: Curzon, L.B. (2003) Teaching in further education, London, Continuum books Gravells, A. (2012) Preparing to teach in the lifelong learning sector: The new award, London, Sage publications Mountain leader training (2008) National guidelines for walking and climbing leaders, Wales, Mountain leader training