Teachers

 

Teaching and Learning Guide

Contents

 

 

 

How do you become a teacher?

 

Careers Advice

 

To work as a teacher in state-maintained schools in England and Wales you need to have professional qualified teacher status (QTS). For further information on teaching in other areas of the United Kingdom see teaching in Scotland and teaching in Northern Ireland.

Teachers in independent schools are not required to have QTS, but most do. Many independent schools do not offer a QTS induction year.

To be awarded QTS by the General Teaching Council for England (GTC) you must:

1. complete a period of training, such as a one-year professional or Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) course, which recommends you for QTS. This is known as initial teacher training (ITT);

2. complete a period of induction, known as the newly qualified teacher (NQT) year. This is your first year of employment as a teacher in a school. NQTs are encouraged to start their induction as soon as possible after gaining QTS, but there is no set time limit for starting or completing induction;

3.pass QTS skills tests in literacy, numeracy and information and communications technology (ICT) by the end of your ITT period (if training in England). QTS Skills Tests can be taken at any of the 115 test centres throughout England, and most students complete them while on their PGCE course.

If you want to work as a teacher with the full range of responsibilities in further education (FE) colleges or sixth form colleges, you need Qualified Teacher, Learning and Skills (QTLS) status or QTS.

 

What age range?

All trainee school teachers are prepared for teaching across two key stages (KS):

 

Although you can apply for several different age ranges, it can be difficult to be convincing in your personal statement about your motivation for more than one age group. Find out which age range you feel most comfortable with by getting some work experience in a school.

Once you have achieved QTS, it is legal for you to teach any age range, although it can be difficult to move from one age range to another. Most teachers stay within the age ranges they trained to teach. If you want to change age range once you are qualified, you will need to build up a portfolio of evidence to persuade the head teacher you are able to teach a different age range.

 

 

Current Issues in Teaching

Training and Development Agency for Schools

Top-Ten Teaching and Learning Issues, 2007

  1. Establishing and supporting a culture of evidence
  2. Demonstrating improvement of learning
  3. Translating learning research into practice
  4. Selecting appropriate models and strategies for e-learning
  5. Providing tools to meet growing student expectations
  6. Providing professional development and support to new audiences
  7. Sharing content, applications, and application development
  8. Protecting institutional data
  9. Addressing emerging ethical challenges
  10. Understanding the evolving role of academic technologists

 

Read More ...

 

Current Issues in Teaching

 

 

A Lesson is a structured period of time where learning is intended to occur. It involves one or more students (also called pupils or learners in some circumstances) being taught by a teacher or instructor. A lesson may be either one section of a textbook (which, apart from the printed page, can also include multimedia) or, more frequently, a short period of time during which learners are taught about a particular subject or taught how to perform a particular activity. Lessons are generally taught in a classroom but may instead take place in a situated learning environment.

In a wider sense, a lesson is an insight gained by a learner into a previously unfamiliar subject-matter. Such a lesson can be either planned or accidental, enjoyable or painful. The colloquial phrase "to teach someone a lesson", means to punish or scold a person for a mistake they have made in order to ensure that they do not make the same mistake again.

 

 

A Lesson Plan is a teacher's detailed description of the course of instruction for an individual lesson. While there is no one way to construct a correct lesson plan, most lesson plans contain some or all of these elements, typically in this order:

1. the title of the lesson

2. the amount of time required to complete the lesson

3. a list of required materials

4. a list of objectives. These may be stated as behavioral objectives (what the student is expected to be able to do upon completion of the lesson) or as knowledge objectives (what the student is expected to know upon completion of the lesson.

5. the set or lead-in to the lesson. This is designed to focus students on the skill or concept about to be instructed. Common sets include showing pictures or models, asking leading questions, or reviewing previously taught lessons.

6. the instructional component. This describes the sequence of events which will take place as the lesson is delivered. It includes the instructional input—what the teacher plans to do and say, and guided practice—an opportunity for students to try new skills or express new ideas with the modelling and guidance of the teacher.

7.independent practice. This component allows students to practice the skill or extend the knowledge on their own.

8. the summary. This is an opportunity for the teacher to wrap up the discussion and for the students to pose unanswered questions.

9. evaluation. Some, but not all, lessons have an evaluative component where the teacher can check for mastery of the instructed skills or concepts. This may take the form of a set of questions to be answered or a set of instructions to be followed. The evaluation may be formative; that is to say, used to guide subsequent learning, or summative; that is to say, used to determine a grade or other achievement criterion.

10. analysis. Often not part of a lesson plan, this component allows the teacher to reflect on the lesson and answer questions such as what went well, what needs improving, and how students reacted to the lesson.

11. Unit plans follow much the same format, but are intended to cover an entire unit of work, which may be delivered over several days or weeks.

In today's constructivist teaching style, the individual lesson plan is often inappropriate. Specific objectives and timelines may be included in the unit plan, but lesson plans are more fluid as they cater to student needs and learning styles. As students are asked to engage in problem or inquiry learning, rigid lesson planning with title, behavioral objectives, and specific outcomes within certain time constraints often no longer fit within modern effective pedagogy. Today, formal lesson plans are often required only of student teachers, who must be demonstrably familiar with the components of a lesson, or teachers new to the field, who have not yet internalized the flow of a lesson.

See also

 

External links

 

 

 

Resources

 

 

 

Return to Career Resources