Effective Teaching and learning impact on students.

Theories of Education
Personal Theory of Teaching: Effective Teaching

Submitted to
Mr. Adil Arshad
By
Zahra Hannan
Masters of Education
Beacon House National University

Teachers are said to play a pivotal role in the learning of every individual who has been under their guidance. How a teacher lays the learning foundation of a child and nurtures it, determines the future of that individual by the impact it creates. The term "effective teaching" comes attached with many notions and definitions by various researchers, theorist and psychologists.
However no one definition sets perfectly well in providing one with a clear cut understanding of what effective teaching constitutes of. In the light of this very statement, it can be rightfully said that an effective teacher is not just one thing but rather an amalgamation of multiple things combined to make one individual who plays the most vital role in any individuals learning life.
According to an evaluation based on effectiveness of teachers by Georgia Department of
Education, there are five key factors which are essential for a teacher to fulfill to claim effectiveness in her teaching methodology;
1. Planning
2. Instructional delivery
3. Assessment of and for learning
4. Learning environment
5. Professionalism and communication

These factors may seem compact by face but include all the basics and fundamentals of meaningful teaching and positive learning outcomes; Planning entails the teacher ensuring her knowledge to be sufficient and raw side by side for her/him to be able to teach and also learn and impart according to the state and school curriculum and regulations, plan in a manner that includes all required resources, strategies and needs of the students and be prepared to act appropriately in situations which require innovation from her end. Similarly, she is required to be equipped with strategies to aid student learning by providing them with proper guidelines in line

with their age, grade and needs level. This includes differentiated learning as well, along with providing her learners with appropriate skills and promoting active learning for more productivity and long term learning.
Further more, it should be vital for the teacher to be equipped with variety of ways to assess the progress of her learners and to communicate them in a professional manner to their parents for a healthy relationship based on constructive feedback. These may be formative, summative or based on analysis but are required to be systematic for both teacher and parents to be able to maintain track record. A teachers professionalism reflects through her/his commitment towards their work and for positive effectiveness a teacher should adhere to her duties with proper moral and ethical conduct and belief in professional growth.
The learning environment is determined by the confidence the teacher carries with her and the way she organises herself for her students to be able to exercise their productivity at maximum level. An environment that is rich in knowledge, direction, safety and is student-centered is likely to aid in maximum effectiveness. The role of teacher is not to travel alongside her learners to achieve their goals but to facilitate and guide them towards the direction that will lead them to achieve their pedagogical and social targets. She needs to be available for them to aid them and cater to their curiosity.
A teachers flexibility and availability alongside her perfection in all the above mentioned aspects in what makes her truly effective. This leads to learners being automatically engulfed within the environment and showing positive growth in terms of learning. As mentioned above, with a planned program, the teachers essential goal is to achieve her set pedagogical targets. With these targets established and laid out before her, she, with the help of proper instructions and guidance

is able to take her learners on board as well. The learners find a defined and systematic environment around them which aids their curiosity and boosts their confidence in their learning abilities. These set targets not only make it easier for the teacher to guide her students well but also prepare her to be ready for queries of all sorts from her budding learners. Planned out and organised resources, help students in managing their time for learning and remain engaged in their learning process more avidly. This process also aids in preparing the learners for more high order challenges and tasks and assist them in organising themselves along with adopting a more systematic and structured approach towards their goals.
The kind of approach a teacher adopts towards assessing her students lays the foundation for her learners to be able to self evaluate and perform better or worse. It is important for the teacher to not only set marked goals for her learners based on one aspect of their learning only but on their skills, use of various material, approach towards learning and their application of what they have been taught. Formative assessments which are normally practised casually during lessons by observation, are likely to result in a more concrete improvement in a learners progress when he/she has been communicated with constructive feedback to make the required changes. This step aids in combatting de-moralisation and humiliation in a group of learners. Apart from that it prepares the individual for more challenging tasks and serves as a boost for better progress and outcome. The student-teacher repertoire is strengthened with constructive feedback and aid by the teacher in the learners mind and reflects in the quality of tasks required to be fulfilled by the learner. An effective teacher, has a positive impact on her learners life and her feedback carries a strong impact towards the progress of that child inside and outside the learning environment.
Furthermore, with an effective teacher in a classroom it is easier for her students to be able to understand what the teacher is helping them achieve/learn. This is due to her already established

learning outcomes and planned methodology, which provide her learners with clarity about subject matter and the purpose of each lesson. The result does not end here, it is easier for an effective teacher to maintain order within her classroom with discipline and proper behaviour in practise. Her just and fair approach towards her students helps the children feel more comfortable in their classroom environment with everyone on equal footing, along with their needs being taken care of by the facilitator separately.
This not only encourages more participation by students but motivates them to actively participate in the class by questioning without hesitation, take part in discussions, share and voice personal views and also gain and retain more knowledge. The support from the facilitator and positive environment adds to the security of the child by experiencing the nurturing environment provided by the teacher, free from demotivating characteristics, bullying and the fear of being left behind or incompetent. Resulting in more valuable learning rather than short term learning just for the sake of getting through the class. Valued learning lasts for an everlasting time in the learners time. Everything the effective teacher practised in positive light is etched the learners mind for a very long time. An example here to support is of a 26 yr old young woman, who still has clear recollection of all her English grammar lessons from grade 3, when she was 9 years of age, only because the teacher developed an environment in class which supported her learning through being actively engaged and respected for the views presented which she liked to relate to her personal life when practising comprehension or creative writing etc. Moreover, just like adults and their bosses, students also develop bonds with their teacher. These could be positive or negative in nature and just like adults there is always a need to either please or disregard the authority in question. Students also seek to do the same with their teachers,

unless the teacher shows signs of positive communication, respect and affection. This does not necessarily involve physical touch unless it is at early years level, where little children seek to be hugged and held when upset. Kohn (1996) says,
“Children are more likely to be respectful when important adults in their lives respect them. They are more likely to care about others if they know they are cared about". (p.111)
An effective teacher is likely to keep under consideration the emotions, pride and respect of her students for their positive development as individuals and learners within and outside her classroom. This encourages the learners to believe that their opinions are valued, they have the ability to do better each time, while developing a sense of positive pride with every accomplishment they make and knowing that every effort they make is valued and will take them a step ahead in achieving their goals. These steps of self realisation results in lack of negative behaviour in a classroom environment as well as an increase in team work and positive energy within the learners.
In an early years class of 3.5 year olds, it was experienced that no teacher could stay on for more than a month as the children were not responsive enough and none would comply to what the teacher required of them. With the addition of a new more inviting and friendly teacher, practising the effective teaching model, the environment changed drastically. The new teacher began with establishing a few class rules and showing her contempt towards the bad behaviour in practise, gradually initiating good behaviour practise for a short time, timing academic sessions in a fun way and reassuring everyone of their abilities. Always inviting in other teachers, the coordinators and principal to come in see how great the class was doing and loudly applauding verbally their efforts to improve. She showed her keenness towards their stories and encouraged

them to work in a style that promoted team work at the risk of negative behaviour but right then would instill positive pride in her students by loudly reassuring herself of how sure she is of their positive response and their commendable behavior; gradually resulting in a culture of positive behaviour and development academically and socially.
The learners not only felt motivated to behave better for being applauded, but also to work better to be praised and appreciated by their teacher and other school members. Motivation is something that energizes, directs, and sustains behavior; it gets students moving, points them in a particular direction, and keeps them going. We often see students’ motivation reflected in personal investment and in cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement in school activities
(Fredricks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004; Maehr & Meyer, 2004; Reeve, 2006).
It is necessary for an effective teacher to be motivating towards her students so they feel directed towards their goals, they are excited to put in more effort and energy in their work and feel the need to initiate and persist in their endeavours. With motivation, learners are likely to make a more meaningful effort towards their learning by considering how their learning may apply to them in their own lives, they value results and respect the efforts being out in by their support in their academic and social life. They are ready to be engaged and challenged more as motivation ignites higher levels of cognition in the minds of the learners forcing them to push themselves more. With an effective teacher practising motivation, it is likely that her students may never be able to forget her and will always appreciate her for applauding their efforts and increasing their self belief.
With this exposure provided, it is highly likely for the learners to adopt these traits and characteristics of their effective teacher. As Maya Angelou once said,

This is the value of the teacher, who looks at a face and says there's something behind that and I want to reach that person, I want to influence that person, I want to encourage that person, I want to enrich, I want to call out that person who is behind that face, behind that color, behind that language, behind that tradition, behind that culture. I believe you can do it. I know what was done for me.
It is possible for the influence to hold an ever lasting impact outside of the current learning environment for the student as well. The compassion and trust bonded by the effective teacher, has all the potential to be adopted by the learner not only in the learning environment but also in daily life practise. This may reflect with the positive change in the attitude at home which was once harsh, organisation in style which may have been once chaotic, readiness to be there for someone else in times of need just like their facilitator. An effective teacher is not just a teacher who the student visits at school but one, who makes a home in the heart of her learners by her mannerism, her nurturing, guidance, mutual respect, values and affection. She enhances not just the academic aspect of her learners but guides them to be problem solvers, responsible individuals with respect for themselves and other around them.
A personal excerpt from my 5 years experience at teaching early years at a high end school gives me faith in believing that I may have been an effective teacher at some point in time when I look back in retrospect and look at the time, patience, energy, affection, respect, values and commitment I gave my work by the amount of heart warming stories I hear from my e-parent body where I taught little 3.5 year old individuals who are now responsible young people and to date quote me to have taught them about the solar system, pronunciation, phonetics, fear of God, valuing themselves and their back grounds, respecting each other in taking turns while they are in class, running to assist someone in times of need, be it a bird that has fallen out of its nest,

practising good behaviour, taking pride in themselves. I may not be their physically, but the cards that are posted to my address with notes which show me they still remember me and the amount of warmth that radiates through the stories I hear where they still quote me, give some faith that effective learning is ever lasting and a product of effective teaching alone.
Anyone can be a teacher, but an effective teacher cannot be just any one.
Be available.
Be kind.
Be compassionate.
Be transparent.
Be real.
Be thoughtful.
Be ourselves.