“An ordinary teacher complains, an
average teacher explains, a good teacher illustrates, an excellent teacher
inspires”.
It is essential to cultivate values of
mathematics in students, hence it is made a compulsory subject in school.
Good curriculum, modern methods of
teaching, techniques, audio visual aids well equipped laboratory, fitting
meaningful text books are all waste in the absence of an efficient teacher.
An efficient teacher excellently well
even in the absence of all these. It is the teacher who makes the latent
knowledge and treasure in a person bloom systematically, and develops in him
discipline, loyalty, wisdom cleverness, desire for liberty and broad outlook.
Qualities and skills
of a Mathematics Teacher:
Education system
depends upon its efficient teachers the efficient teacher; there must be some
specific qualities. The success or failures of a mathematics subject depend
upon the mathematics teacher.
Mathematics
teacher takes the mathematics subject and deal challengingly otherwise his job
is very difficult.
Some
essential qualities which are expected in a good mathematics teacher are as
follows:
1. Mastery of the
subject:
No teacher can teach
properly unless he has a thorough knowledge of his subject. In real sense his
knowledge and information about the subject should be much higher than the
students.
The following qualifications are
essential for teacher.
Mathematics
teacher should have passed Matriculation Intermediate / senior secondary Examination
with mathematics as a subject.
2. Interest in the
subject:
A good teacher should
have interest in the subject. Without interest in the subject he cannot teach
with efficiency. He should know the importance of the subject. He could also
develop interest in the subject to the students.
3. Interest in the
profession:
A teacher should not
take teaching work as an employment and a means of money making some teachers
can do his Job successfully who have interest in this profession. In the
beginning a teacher has to spend most of his time in improving his knowledge of
teaching field and his techniques of teaching.
4. Resourcefulness:
A mathematics teacher
should make good resources essential for effective teaching learning. The use
of teaching aids helps him for successful teaching. A teacher may present
complex things in a simple way by using the appropriate aids and so,
Resourcefulness is a quality of good teacher.
5. Patience and
Tolerance:
For general students,
mathematics is a difficult subject. They take more time in understanding the
mathematical concepts. Sometimes their responses are totally absurd. Few
students are unable to learn after several repetitions. At the time teacher to
be impatient. But, a good teacher should not lose his patience. He should adopt
alternate methods to get success in teaching learning.
6. Proper Habits and
Attitudes:
A good mathematics
teacher is expected to possess to good habits like hard work, self-confidence,
patience, strong will power, systematic working, outlook, sweet speaking etc.
He is also expected to have rational and scientific attitude.
7. Knowledge of
Application of Mathematics:
The Mathematics
teacher should clearly know the use of the knowledge of his subject in various
fields of real life. If he has a good knowledge of the application of
mathematics in real life, in various vocations, in other subjects etc., he can
communicate and transfer it to his students. The knowledge of applicability of
subject is quite helpful in making the teaching meaningful, successful,
interesting and effective.
8. Scientific out look
9. Psychological out
look
10. Awareness of Aims.
11. Affectionate
Behaviour towards students.
12. Mathematical skills
and Analyzing Ability.
13. Leadership and
organizing ability.
14. Love for the
students:
A Teacher must love
his students. Unless the teacher likes them, they will not like him. Like (or)
dislike is a reciprocal process. If the students do not like teacher, the
students will not like his subject. He should understand them, their abilities,
interests, achievements etc.
15. Leadership and
organizing ability:
A Teacher has to
inculcate Proper habits and attitude in his students. He is ideal for them.
They learn many things from his acts and behaviour. Therefore, a teacher should
possess the qualities of leadership so that he can lead the students in right
direction. A teacher should also be a good organizer. He is required to
organize various Activities related to his subject and also some other
activities in the school.
16. Awareness of
Aims:
A teacher cannot do his Job
successfully unless he is aware of its aims and objectives. Aimless working is
useless. The Mathematics Teacher must be clear about the aims and objectives of
its teaching.
ROLE
OF SEMINARS, WORKSHOPS AND PROJECTS IN QUALITY IMPROVEMENT:
SEMINAR:
It is an activity
(or) a programme where in a person gives a conceptual explanation of a topic.
The topic may or may not be related to curriculum. It may be in-depth study, by
means of library work or experiments or data collections. Usually the duration
of the activity depends on the topic and is decided by the participant himself.
It involves generating situation
for a group to have guided interaction among themselves. On a theme which is
generally presented to the group by one or more members the material collected
should put in the form of a paper which is circulated among the participants in
advance.
The
participants may use the projector, slides, models, charts etc., and a part
from a black board.
Thus,
a seminar is an instructional technique of higher learning which involves paper
reading on a theme and followed by the group discussion to clarify the complex
aspect of the themes. In seminars paper readers reads the topic clearly one by
one of lost the group discussion started clarify the doubts.
Role of seminar in
Quality improvement:
The seminar plays a
vital role in the Quality improvement.
As said above it is an effective instructional technique of higher
learning, it develops importantly two domain of the personality. They are
cognitive and the affective domains.
1.
It develops the cognitive abilities like thinking, synthesizing and evaluating.
2.
It develops the ability of reasoning among the individuals.
3.
The ability of keen observation can be developed with the help of seminars.
4.
Develop the ability to seek clarification and defend the ideas of others
effectively.
If
develops the following Affective abilities like,
1. Developing the feeling of Tolerance.
2. The feeling of co-operating with
other colleagues will be developed.
3. Seminars develop the emotional stability
among the participants.
4. Acquiring good manners of
questioning and answering.
The person giving
seminar gets a better and through understanding of the topic chosen by him
during the preparation, presentation and post seminar discussion, with much freedom
of expression, he develops his personality and qualities like public speaking
communication skills etc.
It helps in representing norms of
behaviors of participants. It develops better learning habits. Seminars are
learner centered thus provides learning through inquiry; it is useful at all
levels of instructions. Thus a seminar goes a long way in nurturing the talents
of the participants and improving the Quality.
Procedure of Seminar:
1.
A person who presents the theme should have studied the theme thoroughly before
hand.
2.
The organized material should be put in the form of papers and circulated to
the members in advance.
3.
After presenting the theme, it should be discussed by the group.
4.
During discussion participants may
a).Seek clarification of the theme presented
b).Make observations in the light of
their knowledge and
c).Raise issues relating to the theme
for further analysis and evaluation.
d).The chairperson has to guide proceedings
of the seminar.
WORK
SHOPS:
The approach in
workshop is more practical than in seminar. All the participants in the
workshop work, actively and make significant contributions. A workshop is
conducted to think over more practical problems of education such as lesson
planning, curriculum construction, Question paper setting etc;/ In a workshop
ample time is given for individual work and study. Every participant makes
intensive study of problems, which arise out of their experiences and gives
practical suggestions on it then those suggestions are pub before the meetings
of all the participants for the benefit of all.
The workshop can be
defined as on assembled group of ten to twenty five persons. Who share a common
interest or problem? They meet together to improve their individual and skill
of a subject through intensive study, research, practice and discussion.
Role of workshop in Quality
improvement:
The workshop technique is used
mainly in the following areas of education.
1.
New format of lesson planning.
2.
Writing objectives in behavioral terms.
3.
Preparing objective type tests.
4.
Action research project for classroom problems.
5.
Preparing models for teaching.
6.
Designing programmes for Teaching Education.
The workshop helps in developing the following cognitive abilities:
1.
Solving the problems of teaching profession.
2.
Providing the philosophical and sociological back ground for instructional and
teaching situation.
3.
Identifying the educational objectives in the present situation (or) context.
4.
Developing an understanding regarding the use of theme and problem.
Psychomotor Abilities such as:
1.
Developing the proficiency for planning and organizing teaching and
instructional activities.
2.
Developing a skill to perform as task independently.
3.
Determining and using of teaching strategies effectively.
4.
Training the persons for using different approaches of teaching.
We can say workshops are used to
realize the higher cognitive and psychomotor objectives. It develops the
Individual capacities of teachers, feelings of co-operation and group work,
provides situations to study vocational problems, it introduces new practices
and innovations to in-service teachers.
Procedure of
workshops:
1. Presenting
the theme of providing Awareness.
2. Practice
the approach for its applicability.
3. Evaluate the material prepared by
the participants and follow up programmes.
PROJECTS:
Project is a
whole-hearted purposeful activity carried out by the individuals in or outside
the school. It is a self-learning method involving investigation, discovery or
finding out something which will not be known to the other individuals. Project
varies from simple to complex. They may be performed individually or in groups.
It need not always be new or original. Investigators projects, preparation of
models, case studies, survey are some of the projects can be undertaken.
The
Teaching of mathematics can be made more effective by providing as many as
activities possible, which makes a pupil to be a participant in the process of
learning. This can be achieved through using project method.
Meaning of project
Method:
W.H. Kilpatrick is
called father of project method. According to him “A project is a whole hearted
purposeful-activity proceeding in a social environment”.
“Stevension” defined it as “a bit
of real life that has been imported into the school”.
Meaning of project:
According to
Stevenson charten – “It is a problematic activity carried to completion in its
natural settings”.
According
to Ballard – “It is a bit of real life that has been imported into the school”.
A
modified definition of project is given by Tolmas and long – “A voluntary
undertaking which involves constructive efforts or thought and eventuates into
objective results”.
Project
is based on the following Principles:
1. Learning by doing.
2. Learning by living.
3. Children learn better through association, co-operation and activity.
Types of Projects:
1.
Individual - Students undertake the
projects independently.
2.
Group - Group of students taking part
in projects.
Role played by
projects is Quality improvement:
1.
The project always is helpful of
problem solving.
2.
The activity in the project is having a
definite purpose.
3.
It helps the individuals in planning,
Executing and evaluating their own work.
4.
The learning is always related to
reality and social set up.
5.
It develops responsibility in students.
6.
It provides complete freedom to the
participant to perform.
7.
Project is based on the psychological
laws of learning i.e., law of effect. The education is the life of teacher and
he acquires it through meaningful activities.
8.
It is a compound of different methods
in which teaching – learning takes place in a broad frame of reference.
9.
The project gives sufficient freedom to
teachers for learning.
10.
It includes the spirit of co-operation
as it is a co-operation venture.
11.
It stimulates interest among teachers
moreover, the interest is spontaneous and not under any compulsions.
12.
Project provides sufficient
opportunities for developing personality traits like patience, self-confidence,
co-operation, leadership and emotional stability.
13.
It helps to inculcate social discipline
through joint activities of the teacher and taught.
14.
It provides teachers an opportunity for
mutual exchange of ideas.
15.
Learning through solving of practical
problems emphasized.
16.
Project upholds the dignity of labour.
17.
This method lands itself particularly
well to science work, handicraft, art, language, Geometry etc.
18.
The project helps the teacher to
organize their knowledge.
PRINCIPLES
OF PROJECT:
1. Principle of
purpose:
Knowledge of purpose
is a great stimulus which motivates the teacher to realize his goal. Interest
cannot aroused by aimless meaningless activities.
2. Principle of
Activity:
Teachers are active
by nature, the instinct of curiosity; construction makes them actively by
nature. Therefore such opportunities should be provided to them that make
active and learn things by doing.
3. Principle of
social Experience:
The teacher is a
social being and has to prepare him for social life Training for a corporate
life must be given to him.
4. Principle of
Experience:
Experience is the
best teacher. What is real must be experienced. The teachers learn new facts on
information through experience.
5. Principle of Reality:
Life is real and
education to be meaningful must be real. Teacher who is to live in a society of
reality must be trained as such through his education.
6. Principle of
freedom:
The desire of project
must be spontaneous, it should not be imposed, and there should not be any
Restriction, impositions or obstructions. So that he may express himself fully
and freely. He must be given freedom to choose the activity according to his
interest, needs and capacities.
STEPS
OF PROJECT METHOD:
1. Providing a
Situation:
A Project should
arise out of a need felt by pupils. It should be purposeful and significant.
Teacher should be an on looker to find situation that arise and discuss them
with students, to discover their interest situations may be provided by
different methods.
2. Selection of a
project:
While choosing or
selecting the project the teacher should bear in mind that it should be or real
need to pupils. The purpose of the project should be clearly defined and well
understood by the pupils. The selection of project should be common and
acceptable to all they should be asked to write down the reasons for selection.
3. Planning:
The success of a
project depends up on good planning. Planning includes finding the difference
or distinct phases of project, amount of work involved in each phase etc. The
student should plan out the whole scheme under the guidance of teacher. The
teacher should prepare 2-3 plans in his mind and guide the student in the light
of those plans. Every child should be encouraged to participate actively. All
the pupils are asked to write down the plan properly.
4. Execution:
This is the crucial
state in-fact it tests the quality of the advance plan. The teacher should
assign duties and distribute work among the pupils according to their interest
and abilities. It is the longest step in the project and requires patience. The
teacher should guide, encourage and watch the progress of the students and
should give instructions where over thus needed.
5. Evaluation:
The evaluation of the project
should be done both by the pupil and the teacher. It should be done in the
light of the plans, difficulties in the execution of the project and the
achieved results. The students should have self-criticism and look through
their findings.
6. Recording:
The complete record of project is
kept the students. It should include the pre- posed plans, its discussion,
duties allotted to different students and now for they were carried out if
should also include the details of places visited and surveyed etc. and also it
should include some important, points for future reference.
The Role and
importance of teacher in Modern Education:
Modern education is
child centered; teacher is more like a garden who has to look after each plant
(child) of the garden (school) very wisely and carefully. So the teacher has to
study, the child without knowing the student he cannot impart (give) proper
education to him. He must know the child, must know the effect of environment
on the child and should know the psychological process of learning. The purpose
of education is all round development of the child.
Education
is tri-polar process. Its three poles are teacher, student and content. Teacher
should have a thorough knowledge of subject matter to be taught. The most
important work for a teacher is to transmit the knowledge to the students and
it is not an easy job. He has to apply various methods and techniques of
teaching. Teacher has to develop in the students the qualities like
self-confidence, self-reliance, good habits, competency to work with speed and
accuracy, good citizenship etc.
The
progress and quality of education of any country depends upon the teachers.
FUNCTIONS
(OR) DUTIES OF A MATHEMATICS TEACHER:
A mathematics teacher has to discharge
following Functions:
1.
Teaching functions
2.
Administrative functions
3.
Departmental functions
4.
Social functions.
1. Teaching Functions:
Under this function a teacher to
perform following duties and responsibilities:
i) To
make efforts for successful and effective teaching and build up understanding
and motivation among students.
ii) To have good planning and
preparation of subject matter to be taught.
iii) To select appropriate method for
teaching of the topic.
iv).To create interest in the students
for the subject use of the teaching aids.
v) To give due consideration to
individual differences in the evaluation of teaching.
vi).To create positive attitude towards
the subject.
vii) To have personal contact with the
students so that a good academic environment could be created in the school.
viii)
To correlate the subject with other subjects and with the daily life.
2. Administrative Functions:
In each school and
college, there should be a good administrative set-up. For it, co-operation of
all the teachers is a must. Therefore, mathematics teacher has also to serve on
some administrative committee in the school as per the requirement. He may be a
member of admission committee, examination committee, sports committee etc.
3. Departmental Functions:
In
schools there may be a single teacher of mathematics or a department of
two-three teachers. In both the cases a teacher has to perform various types of
duties. A few common departmental duties of mathematics teacher are mentioned
below:
1.
To organize the department and mathematics room.
2.
To organize and maintain the mathematics library and laboratory.
3.
To participate in departmental meetings and discussions.
4.
To select and prepare order for purchasing the books.
5.
To select, purchase and maintain the mathematical equipment.
6.
To accept and do successfully, any related work assigned by head of the
department.
4. Social Functions:
In addition to his
teaching and other duties assigned by the school, a teacher has some social
responsibilities. The great Indian philosopher Dr.S.Radhakrishnan says “The
teacher’s place in society is of vital importance. A teacher should have a good
relation and link with the community. He can perform his social
responsibilities in the following way:
1.
He should be co-operative with parents in improving school and community
relations.
2.
He should actively participate in parent’s associations and old student’s
associations.
3.
He should also participate in some specific meetings of social and civil
groups.
4.
He should explain to the parents, the importance of mathematics in every field
of life.
5.
He should organize fairs and exhibitions related to mathematical items which
should be open to all. He should explain to the visitors the mathematical items
prepared by his students.
6.
He should act as an educational counselor of the society.
In the above mentioned responsibilities a mathematics teacher should
realize that he is not an individual but an institution in himself. His work is
great. His responsibilities are many.
PROGRAMME FOR QUALITY
IMPROVEMENT IN MATHEMATICS:
Activities covered in
the in-service training programmes and also self-efforts on the part of mathematics
teacher resulting into his/her professional growth can be summarized as below.
1.
Teachers of mathematics must be provided with scope to take part in in-service
programmes.
2.
Teachers can take part in attaining seminars conducted at various levels and at
various institutions.
3.
Teachers must participate in workshops, on various aspects like Evaluation, new
approaches to teaching, organizing of mathematics club, test construction etc.
4.
Teachers must take part in refresher courses.
5.
Teacher must develop the habit of professional writing skills.
6.
Teacher must take part in various curricular and co-curricular activities.
7.
Teacher must become a member of mathematics teachers study group.
8.
Attending summer institutes.
9.
Teacher should become the member for mathematics teachers associations.
10.
Teachers can grow professionally contributing to mathematics magazines, new
papers etc. Even teachers can take up individual research papers.
Description:
1. Participation in
various programmes of the schools:
Different school
programmes can be conducted to serve the purpose of in service education such
as faculty meetings, club meetings, exhibitions, film shows, experimental
projects, demonstration lessons, extension lectures etc.
2. Teacher must
become a member of the mathematics teachers study groups:
Teachers of different
school study groups can function under the expert guidance of field advisers of
SIE. The members of study group may meet weekly (or) fortnightly (or) monthly?
To discuss problems are concerning their subjects’ areas and work out new teaching
techniques. They implement their experiences to prove that it is useful in the
formation of educational plans.
3. Refresher courses
and summer institutes:
The state and central
Government authorities arrange refresher course and institutes help in refreshing
and up-dating (or) enabling the teachers to keep pace with the latest
developments in their subjects as well as in theory and practice of teaching.
These are the important sources of re-orientation to teachers. The service of
some experts can be obtained for the benefit of teachers. The professional and
academic efficiency of the teachers who take up such refresher courses in
increased, and also they will be aware of new methodologies of teaching
subjects.
4. Professional
organization and Association
These can play a
leading role for the professional growth of these maths teachers. They hold
meetings, discuss various issues concerning education and related subjects,
encourage experimentation and innovations and thus cater to the general and
specific needs of professional growth. The proceedings, reports and
organizations are published in their broacher. These professional organizations
help a teacher in many ways.
5. Science Journals
and Instructional materials:
For professional
growth the mathematics teachers must acquainted with the Journals and
periodicals as well as the books and Instructional materials related with
mathematics education.
6. Training
programmes:
Various in-service
training programmes are arranged by the state institutes of mathematics
education, SCERT, NCERT and other Government and voluntary organizations to
import training for the acquisition of various skills related with
mathematics education. These skills are training in the
use of mathematics Bits, organization of
science must preparation of teaching aids and improvised providing special
education to gifted, educationally back word (or) other special children, using
projectors and computers in class room instructions etc.
7. Conferences:
Conferences of
teachers, educators and experts may be from the SIE (or) outside. The experts
discuss about the subjects like revision of school curriculum, selection of
text books, adoption of new methods teaching and evaluation, guidance of gifted
children, problems of handicapped children, etc.,. Number of teachers from
schools participates in such conferences.
8. Study of
professional writings:
It may prove a good
source for professional growth of the teachers. A lot of instructional
materials in almost all the subjects in beings supplied / provided by the
schools such a type of material serve purposefully. The study of professional
writings the teachers can know about the latest developments in the various
fields of education. By this knowledge a teacher may improve his communication
ability by writing about his classroom experiments, professional experiences,
results of action researches etc., in the publication of schools, science club
and periodicals. It also enriches himself by studying the articles and writings
of other teacher and experts.
9. Seminars and
workshops:
Outside one’s own institution the extension
departments of training colleges, universities, SCERT, state institute of
mathematics education and NCERT are conducting seminars and workshops. Where as
in seminars discussion on the various aspects of particular topic, and problem
by the group of participants, resource persons and experts, are of theoretical
nature, in workshops same solid dimension is being attached to these
discussions and exchange of ideas by assigning definite work among the groups
of the participants. In this way workshop differ from seminar in adopting more
particular approach. Reflective
Practitioner in Mathematics Education
Reflective practice is the ability to
reflect on one's actions so as to engage in a process of continuous
learning. According to one definition it involves "paying critical
attention to the practical values and theories which inform everyday actions,
by examining practice reflectively and reflexively. This leads to developmental
insight” A key rationale for reflective practice is that experience alone does
not necessarily lead to learning; deliberate reflection on experience is essential.
Reflective practice can be an important
tool in practice-based
professional learning settings
where people learn from their own professional experiences, rather than
from formal learning or knowledge transfer. It may be the most important source of
personal professional development and improvement. It is also an important way to
bring together theory and practice; through reflection a person is able to see
and label forms of thought and theory within the context of his or her
work. A person who reflects throughout his or her practice is not just
looking back on past actions and events, but is taking a conscious look at
emotions, experiences, actions, and responses, and using that information to
add to his or her existing knowledge base and reach a higher level of
understanding.
The concept of reflective
practice has found wide application in the field
of education, for learners, teachers and those who teach teachers.Hadiya
habib (2017)assert that there is one quality above all that makes a good
teacher -the ability to reflect on what, why and how we do things and to adopt
and develop our practice within lifelong learning. Reflection is the key to
successful learning for teachers and for learners.
The concept of reflective
practice is now widely employed in the field of teacher education and teacher
professional development and many programmes of initial teacher education claim
to espouse it. In education, a minimalist understanding of reflective
practice is that it refers to the process of the educator studying his or her
own teaching methods and determining what works best for the students and the
consideration of the ethical consequences of classroom procedures on students;
a broader understanding would accept that it also involves questioning the
organizational, social and political context in which the teaching takes
place. Education professor Hope Hartman has described reflective practice
in education as teacher metacognition.
Benefits
to reflective practice include:
·
Increased learning from an experience or
situation
·
Promotion of deep learning
·
Identification of personal and professional
strengths and areas for improvement
·
Identification of educational needs
·
Acquisition of new knowledge and skills
·
Further understanding of own beliefs, attitudes
and values
·
Encouragement of self-motivation and
self-directed learning
·
Could act as a source of feedback
·
Possible improvements of personal and clinical
confidence
Limitations to reflective practice include:
·
Not all practitioners may understand the
reflective process
·
May feel uncomfortable challenging and evaluating
own practice
·
Could be time consuming
·
May have confusion as to which
situations/experiences to reflect upon
·
May not be adequate to resolve clinical problems
Mathematics
teachers' reflective practice and the quality of
their instruction. Researchers and theorists differ whether teachers'
reflection on their classroom practices and teaching mathematics effectively
are linked or not.
A 'reflective practitioner' is someone who, at regular intervals,
looks back at the work they do, and the work process, and considers
how they can improve. They 'reflect' on the work they have done.
Reflective practice is a
commonly used term in mathematics education, often without careful definition,
implying a contemplative reviewing of learning and/or teaching in mathematics
in order to approve, evaluate, or improve practice.
The nature of mathematics
teachers’ reflective practice
Thoughts about
reflection and reflective practice have evolved over many decades, through
carefully constructed theory and research applications, mainly based on the
work of Dewey (1933) and schon (1983). Evidence also exists in the literature
that the ability to reflect on practice in considered a necessity for effective
instruction (Sowder, 2007).By reflecting critically teachers become more
positive in the search for a new understanding of their teaching practice and
design more ways to deal with the challenges that confront them daily. When
teachers act reflectively, they consider carefully the problems in their own
teaching and think about how those problems are related to their educational or
social context. They are aware of the consequences of their teaching and how
their own assumptions or beliefs can influence their teaching.
Dewey’s approach to
reflective practice
Dewy (1933), views the purpose of
education as promoting intellectual, social and moral growth of the individual
in order to create a strong democratic society.
Dewey states that “it is reflection that emancipates us from merely
impulsive and routine activity, enables us to direct our activities with
foresight and to plan according to ends-in-view, or purposes of which we
are aware. It enables us to act in
deliberate and intentional fashion to know what we are about when we act.
According to Dewey “Reflection is the
active, persistent and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of
knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and the further
conclusions to which it tends.
SIX STEPS TO MASTER
TEACHING: BECOMING A REFLECTIVE
Becoming a master teacher takes continuous
effort. To avoid the loss of enthusiasm or static practice, teachers need to
focus on their own professional development. Notably, the single most
significant indicator of student success in an excellent teacher, nevertheless,
no one can be professionally developed without his or her consent. To remain
vitalized, teachers need to spend time outside the classroom with other
dedicated individuals. The educational mandates from states, federal and local
legislators are not targeted at improving teaching and learning. Although many
are well-intentioned initiatives to assist school success, they are not
sufficient for improving teaching excellence throughout an entire professional
career.
Professional retreats offer teachers to opportunity to dedicate time to
those qualitative steps that result in ongoing development. The six steps to
becoming a master teacher include;
1. Teacher should understand the reasons for teaching: Identifying those
influenced the person to become a
teacher is a fundamental exercise in continued excellence. Almost everyone cane
name two or three teachers who changed the course of his or her life. Some
found elementary school teachers who discovered their talent and promise.
Others discovered their confidence through recognition of their potential in a
specific subject. By discussing and defining the qualities of those exemplary
teachers when they were students, professional begin to define the roots of
their own teaching.
2. Cultivate Ethical Behaviour in Students and teachers: Although many schools of discipline
exist, a teacher can achieve harmony in the classroom, but the real focus of
student management lies in instilling ethical behavior. Authentic responses to
classroom interactions as well as logical consequences for transgressions can be
improved through collegial dialogue. These cannot be found in as manual; but
rather, can be cultivated in seminars and observance of other master teachers.
3. Pool Both Patience and Perseverance: Stamina and endurance are needed for the
haul of teaching. This means finding ways to remain healthy and ale minded
through the stressful days. By connecting with others who have discovered
methods of physical and mental renewal, teachers have a better chance of
staying enthused about teaching despite the many inevitable setbacks during the
school year.
4. Design Curriculum that works: All good teaching requires excellent
design and redesign, beginning with a strong curriculum that outlines the most
essential ideas. Without a forum for the
continuous re-tailoring of their curriculum, teachers are often left to work
from a textbook or on- the- fly lesson plans. Spending time in retreat with
other professionals allows teachers to slay a strong foundation for each course
they teach.
5. Perfect Instructional Practices and Assessment skills:
The ongoing development of instructional methods and feedback skills are
critical to excellence in teaching. Only through the careful examination of
activities and assessment can a teacher guide all students to succeed. Teachers
need time with their colleagues outside the classroom; the temporary success of
“fun” activities can be hindrance to the development of a master teacher. By
crafting performance tasks and assessing them with their peers and mentors,
teachers can refine their teaching.
6. Connect Positively to Whole -school culture: Over time, the master teacher has the
capacity to improve the whole-school culture through excellence in teaching.
Because master teaching has as its foundation the generous impulse to assist
students and colleagues, the teacher is able to fundamentally influence others
without generating resentment. The master teacher is consistently working to
benefit the school, so he or she is not in competition with colleagues or
administration.
