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What Teachers Need to Learn
Today’s Presentation Goals
1. What is meant by a good teacher?
2. What is meant by teacher learning?
3. What are the possible goals of teacher
learning?
4. Views of teaching learning
5. What good teachers know?
6. Types of teacher knowledge
7. Types of knowledge and teacher learning
goals.
8. What are the characteristics of good language
teachers?
9. Why do teachers need to know more about
language?
10.What are the courses that teachers need to
take?
What Is Meant By A Good Teacher?
The literature abounds with different definitions of good teachers: (as cited in Shono: 2004: 2-3):
i. Simon and Boyer (1969), for example, define good teachers
as analytic teachers; i.e. teachers who use a systematic
method of recording and examining their classrooms and their
interactions with their students.
ii. Cruickshank (1987) considers good teachers to be reflective
teachers who demonstrate interest not only in learning the art
and science aspects of teaching but in learning about
themselves as teachers as well.
iii. Good teachers are caring teachers who take a special interest
in the lives of their students and are sensitive to their particular
needs.
What Is Meant By Teacher Learning?Westwood (2008) reports that:
teacher learning is the process of making the teacher informed about:
1. The subject knowledge and the curriculum goals that he/she
will deal with.
2. The linguistic and non- linguistic competencies he/she should
have.
3. The personal and social qualities that he/she should have.
4. The teaching methods and learning styles/strategies that
he/she will adopt.
5. Students‘ needs and individual differences.
What Are The Possible Goals of Teacher Learning?
Goal 1: Producing Good Teachers
What do teacher preparation programmes mainly focus on?
1. Developing sufficient belief and confidence to feel enough like a teacher.
2. Pupil behavior during lessons.
What are the intrapersonal and interpersonal qualities a teacher should have?
Good teachers are : (Intrapersonal): knowledgeable, kind, patient, & attractive.
(Interpersonal) : able to form relationships, team work,
leadership…etc.
Good teachers :
1. Pay attention to learners’ emotions – confidence building.
2. Teacherly qualities and intrapersonal skills.
3. Interpersonal skills – conflict resolution.
4. Using drama techniques to support the personal public
presentation aspects of the work.
Goal 2: Producing / Developing Good Teaching
Is teaching art or Science?
1. Craft: teachers benefit from other experienced teachers.
2. Science :teachers apply what is scientifically acceptable.
Teaching is a Complex & an Open Skill.
Complex: many activities happen at the same time inside the
classroom such as reading, writing, listenining, managing
behavior , etc.
Open Skill: there are many ways to do an activity: ex:
managing behavior can be made by talking, shouting, mocking,
etc.
Teaching contains the elements of an
Art, a Craft, a Science and as a Complex open skill
1- What are the implications for teaching as an art?
Making personal choices & new ways of doing things & access to
experiences teachers.
2- What are the implications for teaching as a craft?
Opportunities for learners practice – practice in real world situations.
3- What are the implications for teaching as a science?
Access to the latest findings of scientific research.
4- What are the implications for teaching as a complex open skill?
• Opportunities for learners to practise and receive comments on
the component parts of skill in a safe environment.
• Opportunities for learners to practise putting the parts together,
and managing the complexity in real world situations, and be
supported in doing so.
Goal 3: Producing Teaching Professionals
What teachers need to do in order to be professional teachers?
1. Understand how and to whom they are accountable.
2. Obtain recognized specialist qualifications.
3. Access to professional journals.
4. Participate in professional debates
5. Participate in professional activities ( conferences, reading
newsletters. Etc.).
6. Develop flexible and informed decision-making skills.
Goal 4: Teachers as Reflective Practitioners
What is required of teachers to be reflective practitioners ?@
1. Noticing and observing what is actually happening in
classrooms .
2. What teachers think about (i.e. themselves, learning, exams,
the influence of the wider context) and why .
3. How teachers use what they think about in relation to their
teaching, their pupils, their colleagues.
4. When teachers give themselves time and space to think-
immediately after teaching , sometime later, on the bus , in the
bath.
Goal 4: Teachers as Reflective Practitioners
Reflective:
Characterized by deep careful thought.
Practitioner:
Somebody who practices a particular profession.
Reflective practitioner:
A teacher who uses deep, careful thought to improve instruction.
Goal 4: Teachers as Reflective Practitioners
Why is Reflective practicing important?
Goal 4: Teachers as Reflective Practitioners
What is required of teachers to be reflective practitioners ?
1. Noticing and observing what is actually happening in
classrooms .
2. What teachers think about (i.e. themselves, learning, exams,
the influence of the wider context) and why .
3. How teachers use what they think about in relation to their
teaching, their pupils, their colleagues.
4. When teachers give themselves time and space to think-
immediately after teaching , sometime later, in the car …etc
Goal 4: Teachers as Reflective Practitioners
5. How teachers (can) access and use other people‘s ideas in
their thinking .
6. Teacher diary.
7. Peer observation.
8. Recording lessons.
9. Student feedback.
Goal 5: Technicians
What teachers should have to be described as technicist teachers?
1. Share the syllabus and materials designers ‘ ways of
thinking .
2. Develop the skills to carry out the requisite in-class
operations and activities that these ways of thinking
engender, in ways that are consistent with the expected
outcomes.
Views of Teacher Learning
Are Good teachers born or made?
What are the main views/perspectives of teacher learning?
1. Identity and interpersonal skills development.
2. Socio-cultural perspective: teacher learning is made through participation in culture of teachers in a given context.
3. The cognitive view: social constructivism: emphasize engaging the learner in meaning-making & and interaction with others.
4. Skill theory : intelligent action is developed through cyclical processes of trial and error.
What Good Teachers Know
What are the topic areas teachers need to be knowledgeable about?
1. Content Knowledge : subject knowledge.
2. General pedagogical knowledge: classroom management &
assessment techniques.
3. Curriculum knowledge: what is in it? Why it is there? Planning
to cover it.
4. Pedagogical content knowledge: techniques to teaching the
subject.
5. Knowledge of learners and their characteristics.
6. Knowledge of the educational context.
7. Knowledge of the educational ends, purposes, values, and
historical backgrounds.
Types of Teacher Knowledge
1- Knowing About (KA)
WHAT SHOULD TEACHERS KNOW ABOUT AND USE IN THEIR THINKING?
1. Their subject : its aim & role
2. How the subject is learnt.
3. The school and its policies.
4. The students, their backgrounds, their needs.
5. Strategies for managing their ongoing professional learning,
professional organizations, & journals in their subject area.
2- Knowing How(KH)
WHAT SHOULD TEACHERS BE ABLE TO ?
1. Use strategies to support pupils and their learning.
2. Notice important features of classrooms and organizations.
3. Promote conditions which support the learning processes.
4. Assess learning.
5. Relate to students, other professionals, parents, and
colleagues.
6. Fulfill other professional obligations.
7. Access and use new idea and theories.
3- Knowing to (KT)
What should the expertise developed by good teachers allow them to do ?
To intuitively and instantaneously use what they know at
just the right moment and in just the right way to support the
learning of their learners in their classroom.
Types of Knowledge & Goals of Teacher Learning
1- Producing Good Teachers:
Focus on personal & Interpersonal skills
2- Developing Good Teaching:
Make appropriate choices at the appropriate time.
3- Producing Teaching Professionals:
Access to professional journals
4- Producing Reflective Practitioners:
Understand what they think about.
5- Producing Technicist Teachers:
Interpret the syllabus in the manner the designers intended.
Goal Knowledge
LANGUAGE TEACHER LEARNING
What Are the Characteristics of Good Language Teachers?
1. Having a Good Command of the L2 (e.g. fluent in the foreign
language with good communication skills).
2. Possess Sound Teaching Skills (e.g. employs diverse teaching
methodology).
3. Teacher Empathy toward Students (e.g. knows and understands
students’ needs, and Strengths and weaknesses).
4. Personal Qualities (e.g. is patient and humorous).
5. Reflection and Improvement (e.g. reflects on their own teaching
and keeps up-to-date in knowledge and skills).
Why Do Teachers Need To Know More About Language?
1- Teacher as Communicator
Understanding student talk – his langauge must be clear.
2- Teacher as Educator
Selecting materials that suit students – assessing student
accomplishments.
3- Teacher as Evaluator
Sorting learners - placement
4- Teacher as Educated Human Being
Access to basic information about langauge.
5- Teacher as Agent of Socialization
Matching practices at home & school.
What Are The Courses That Teachers Need To Take?
1. Language and Linguistics
2. Language and Cultural Diversity
3. Sociolinguistics for Educators in a Linguistically Diverse
Society
4. Language Development
5. Second Language Learning and Teaching
6. The Language of Academic Discourse
7. Text Analysis and Language Understanding in
Educational Settings