Saturday, December 17, 2011

A Teacher Training Programme (Constructive Approach)

                          I think it would be a good idea to start a  question:

                                      What are  teacher trainers expected to do?
Sample answers:
  • Enable teachers to attain their individual potential
  • Develop their personal qualities necessary for effective teaching
  • Develop their professional qualities necessary for effective teaching
 I think for any teaching organization one of the first things that should be determined is whether to creating two different groups -novice and experienced teachers- or not.

Once these decisions are made, the real challenge is how to do it in such a way that almost everyone will be happy and content. ( well, you cannot possible make everyone happy)

Here is how I would handle things using a constructive approach:

a)Novice teachers: I guess it would be a lot better to have individual tutorials. The following pictures shows that how I believe it should be done:
The laptops represent six trainers who follow a philosophy which is compatible with their organization. Still, each one has a room to be themselves and do things their way. In other words, it emphasize the fact that each trainer will obviously have different personalities and perceptions on the program. That is why the administration people should make some points very clear at the very beginning. Trainers may follow different ways as long as they all lead to the same destination.


The following flash drives represents the number of novice teachers that each trainer will help.

In this system, you can train 16 novice teachers.
  Novice teachers’ theoretical knowledge is supposedly fresh and up-to-date; however, to what extend all those theory has sank in might not be easy to determine quickly, so the program needs to emphasize the theory as well in order to help novices to somehow internalize and acquire some theoretical points.  Furthermore, since they lack experience, there should be ample situations where there is practice and observation.

 Firstly, a novice teacher might be observed by two trainers three times on different days –the novice teacher knows the dates and times of the observations. The two trainers have different observations sheets –one holistic and one analytical. The novice teacher is recorded as well. Trainer 1 –who is actually in charge of the novice teacher will prepare a training plan that is unique to that specific inexperienced teacher and finally brainstorm and exchange ideas with the trainer 2 – who was present during the observations- .

 Once the plan is prepared, it will not be shared with the novice teacher. Instead, the novice teacher is asked to write a reflection on his/her good and not so good points about her lessons by watching herself on the video. Then, the reflection sheets are assessed by the trainer 1 without giving any grades but writing more questions to direct the inexperienced teacher according to the plan prepared for the novice teacher. After that, there are one to one sessions in which the trainer and the novice teacher discuss some of the issues that emerged during these processes. Then, the trainer may provide the novice with some photocopies to read and a bibliography for him/her to go and do some actual study on the theoretical part. The novice teacher might write essays on different areas during the process and the topic of each assignment should be something like: ‘how far .......... can be implemented to your own teaching context? After each assignment the novice teacher  teaches in her class by paying particular attention to the matter at hand and then she writes a reflection about her assignment whether she still agrees with her ideas in the assignment or not?. Then, she/he will have a tutorial with her/his trainer again. And this process goes on and on like that.

The duration of the training courses should also change from one individual to another as well. While one trainee finishes the course in eight months, the other finishes the course in thirteen months. The novice teachers’ trainers also changes in every four or five months. To sum up, this plan integrates surface routines with the theoretical perspectives provided by discussions of methodology.

 Once these decisions are made, the real challenge is how to do it in such a way that almost everyone will be happy and content.(hopefully, fingers crossed)

 The summary of the points made above:

 
  







trainers



                                                                                                                          novice teacher

The novice teacher is observed by two trainers 3 times. Trainers observe and take notes. Then,
  • The trainer prepares a plan according to the needs of the novice teacher. Then, asks for a second opinion (trainer 2)
  • Novice teacher watches herself teaching on the video and writes a reflection (good and not so good points)
  • One to one session:Discussion between the trainer and the teacher on teacher’s reflection on videos.
  • Assignment:Based on the outcomes of the discussion (the plan is also taken into account) a written homework-essay- which includes research a theory on a subject is assigned and the essay question mostly starts with: ‘ How far .this or that theory can be implemented to your  teaching context?’
  • Novice teacher hands in the assignment
  • The novice teacher teaches in her class by paying particular attention to the topic or area she focused on her/his assignment. The trainer observes the lesson as well.
  • Discussion about the assignment. Trainer asks whether she/he has changed her opinions that he/she expressed in her/his essay. Reflection. Also discussion about good and not so good points.
b)  Experienced teachers: Unlike novice teachers, experienced teachers’ theoretical knowledge might be rusty and out-of-date. So I believe, they need some sort of theory as well, but the real question is how to do it in such a way that it will not cause any unrest. So, the experienced teachers might observe a trainer’s lessons in twos or threes and take notes about the good and not so good points. Then, there could be small group discussions with the trainer. And during these discussions, the trainer might give them information about the theory part of her/his teaching. It should be done in a subtle way so that no one will get offended. If a seminar or workshop is to be conducted, I do not necessarily think that theory will do much good to experienced teachers. Seminars and workshops should focus on practical implications.

No comments:

Post a Comment