Ptlls Unit 8 Assignment

Hastings College
Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong learning Sector (PTLLS)
Unit 8
Subject: Assignment 1
Reference: Evaluate my Role and Responsibilities compared to Pages 12 and 13 of Ann Gravells’ PTLLs (The New Award) Book
Prepared By: Graeme Mayhew
Date: 16th April 2012

Our Role and Responsibility within our Teaching Environment compared to the Listings on Pages 12 & 13 of Ann Gravells’ PTLLS book “The New Award”

Having been requested to review the above book pages 12 and 13 by Ann Gravells ', where she outlines in Table 1.1 “Examples of teaching roles and responsibilities”, the roles and responsibilities of a teacher. Firstly it is felt that this needs to be geared to the environment in which my involvement occurs. The teaching involved here is for the benefit of employers and employees within the work environment governed by the Confederation of Aerial Industries (CAI). This organization monitors and sets out all relevant training within the Aerial, Satellite and Cable Television Industry. Most of the courses being taught are pre-written, with content and coursework previously set out by others, with the exception of one course that was written by myself and is currently being updated to fit in to the New Diploma being set out for this industry. In general having briefly reviewed the content of pages 12 and 13, most of these roles and responsibilities are concurrent and have a bearing on my role to teach the courses I am involved with. They are based around Kolb’s teaching Cycle Theory, this is identified in Ann Gravells ' book PTLLS “The New Award” page 10. Firstly “Identifying Needs”, Secondly “Planning learning” Thirdly “Facilitating learning”, fourth “Assessing learning” lastly “Quality Assurance and Evaluation”. It must be stated at this point though, that there is no actual first or second or last in this cycle as they are all ongoing points that may change and vary throughout any course of teaching.
Identifying Needs This is felt as the beginning of a course preparation, due to the need to collate all the students’ requirements, their current skill level, their personal and organization needs, their full details and prior educational skill sets. Assess Funding requirements and course detail information to deliver to students. Set out guidelines and student requirements for the course involved, such as materials, suitable clothing and tooling required. Outline all Health and Safety needs and issue these with the course content and requirements to students.
Planning Learning Within this element it is important to discuss new changes to any of the course being run with other lecturers or manufacturers of products being used, to ensure all content is up to date and current for the course being run. Risk assessments would be carried out on each training site holding this course to ensure safe procedures can be implemented. Normally this is the stage to design the scheme of the work and session plans for the course including content and materials required, this is already in place within the courses run at the establishment I am involved with. The teaching content is already prepared and set out, along with the resources and activities. It is prudent as the teacher in each case to ensure that all elements of this are in place and safe to use and up to date. At this point is also worth looking into new methods of breaking the ice within each new course to ensure the students are comfortable with each other, begin to communicate and settles them in to the course.

Facilitate Learning This should be an evolving element, as each group of students will vary, in personal levels of skill and communication. These would have all been picked up in the Indentifying needs element of the roles, however they may need adapting. This is where the preparation element comes into play, as it can assist with the way we begin to start each course. It is important to have planned how to begin the course delivery, but may change with the start of the day during the Icebreaker session, as it may become apparent that your first plans may not work; so adapted content or delivery methods should be in place to assist with a smooth learning environment. The students need to feel comfortable and at ease, look for body language and responses from them at this stage to ensure you have the correct teaching strategy in place. We must engage the students fully to ensure alertness and learning. Course attendance is normally established at this juncture, and recorded for ease of certification at the end of the course, once they have all passed! Health and Safety is the second step covered within the course to establish safe working practice whilst the student is training and encourage safe working practices whilst carrying out there day to day work. It is always good to lead by example, if we work safely whilst teaching, they will work safely whilst working and implementing what you have taught. It is good to maintain the students attention, so during your design stage you would have included practical involvement for them to take part in, these are also energizers and keep students alert during your course.
Assessing Learning This is where students’ progress is assessed, following any guidelines that may have been set out by any governing bodies or organizations. In general confidentiality is a must at this point but should be, all the way through any course to comply with the Data Protection Act. During the course it is usually good practice to ensure the students are absorbing what you are teaching so involve quick fire questions to establish their level of comprehension. The end of the day includes a course review to quickly re-cap what has been taught prior to them taking a short exam. The exam is pre-set by others and answers set out prior to the course commencement. Where possible if marking can be carried out before students’ leave they will be given their individual results, with Certification to follow at a later date. At this point it is worth self-evaluating how the course has gone, could things have been carried out differently, easier or quicker. Was the content delivered in an easily understood manner, feedback from the students is worthwhile and can help improve future courses being run. It can also ensure you are keeping up to date with what students expect from the course.

Quality assurance and Evaluation At this point the cycle suggests it is worth evaluating the course delivery and content. This is considered a must when it relates to educating students in the work that they are currently involved with, as the working environment may have changed since the course was written or set out. This ensures the students can gain the most current level of content and programmed teaching ensuring the teachers are up to date within the field they are teaching. It also ensures standardized teaching practices are maintained within the field of expertise being taught.
Conclusion
In conclusion the above five cycle elements are designed to cover any teaching environment even if content and course work is already in place. Using the cycle can identify if the content is out of date, or incorrect compared to the current needs of students and their working environment. It enables the teachers to maintain a controlled manner of delivery that engages the students and assists with an informative learning environment. It gives structured control over each course run, enabling the teacher to learn and adapt each time the course is taken.

Bibliography and References

Ann Gravells '. (2012) Preparing to Teach in Lifelong Learning Sector. The New Award, 5th Edition. 1 Oliver’s Yard, 55 City Road, London, EC1Y 1SP, SAGE Publications Ltd.

David A Kolb. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_A._Kolb

References: Ann Gravells '. (2012) Preparing to Teach in Lifelong Learning Sector. The New Award, 5th Edition. 1 Oliver’s Yard, 55 City Road, London, EC1Y 1SP, SAGE Publications Ltd. David A Kolb. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_A._Kolb