© 2003 LTSN BEST: First Steps in Tutoring

Developing yourself as a teacher

5.1 Keeping track - your learning diary

5.2 An example of a learning diary
5.3 How will you learn about your teaching
5.4 Knowing your style

5.1 Keeping track - my learning diary

Keep a learning diary for much the same reason that you keep a record of anything.
Your diary will help you in two ways. First, the process of making the record,
preferably immediately or soon after the event, will require you to organise your
thoughts about what went on. Secondly, the diary will act like any other
contemporaneous record: it will enable you, at the end of a session, to look back and
recall what went on, a first step in the process of reflecting on your teaching as a
preparation for your next round.

Once you are familiar with the compilation of a learning diary, you will design it to suit
your own needs. Otherwise, in default of a better idea, adopt the
Plan/Actual/Variance model. After the event, record what you intended (your plan),
what actually happened (the outcome), the variance and the reasons for the
variance. Then, as always, add what you learned.

The model will look something like this:

My learning diary

Event:________________________ Date ____________

Other data

What I The difference between

Intended What happened what I intended and the
outcome
and the reasons
© 2003 LTSN BEST: First Steps in Tutoring

What I learned

A model of this kind will help you. It is easy to construct on your PC, and it will be
easy to complete the cells. The completion will be an addition to your work with your
students, yet it will be one that will contribute to your professional development. It will
enable you to think about your teaching in an organised way. It will provide a record
that you can draw upon when you talk to a colleague, or to a mentor, or to your team-
leader or manager. And, of course, you can return to your record and amend it at will.

5.2 An Example of a learning diary

Here is an example of a teacher’s use of the model of a learning diary. The teacher
entered the contents immediately after the class.

A learning diary

Event: Finance tutorial on Costs Date 20 February 03

Other data: There were 16 students. We met in …….

What I What happened My comments

intended

I compiled a list of ’20 I explained what I had The exercise went more
Questions on Costs’ in mind during my slowly than I had planned.
which covered the introduction, and the (I should know by now
contents of Chs 00 and students were all keen that things do go more
00. I intended to on the idea. I formed slowly.)
distribute the the pairs and
questions, to put the distributed the Two things went
students into pairs, questions. I asked each somewhat awry:
and to allow them to pair to tackle two
choose the questions questions, so that(1) One of the students
they wanted to tackle. everyone would have tackled the questions
In this way, they were an opportunity ofkeenly enough but
able to exercise some reporting to the whole quibbled with the simple
choice and so meet group. detail of one of them. He
their own needs. I had was at risk of losing the
no particular In general, things went general point and
preferences. well. confusing his partner.
© 2003 LTSN BEST: First Steps in Tutoring

(2) I paired a number-

averse student with a
number-competent one.
The former was left
behind until I said ‘Let’s
change partners’.

What I learned

1. The exercise worked well. The discussions were illuminating. It was easy to
relate some of the issues (for example, marginal costing) to the students’ day-
to-day experiences.

2. The exercises deserve more time. With a break, we could have worked for
another 30 minutes.

3. I must take more care with my pairings.

The teacher was comfortable with the three columns. Other teachers have used just

two, What I Intended and What Happened. Adopt the model that is comfortable for

you.

5.3 How will I learn about my teaching?

Collecting and learning from feedback is the most important way you have of learning
about your teaching performance. Your department or institution may have a
common policy about the collection of feedback and you will need to find out whether
that is the case.

Sources of feedback
There are several sources into which you can tap:
• Yourself, by being a reflective practitioner – a self-appraiser who keeps a learning
diary;
• Your students, either directly from them or indirectly through observation;
• Your colleagues, including your mentor and appraiser, in conversations about
teaching and learning;
• Statistical information, such as ranges of marks, levels of attendance at lectures
and so on.
•

Yourself
Become a reflective practitioner – seek out feedback and aim for self-improvement.
Pay attention to the cards Keeping track – my learning diary (5.1) and An example of
a learning diary (5.2). Take advantage of courses and other professional training to
learn from others.
© 2003 LTSN BEST: First Steps in Tutoring

Your students
Observe your students' behaviour during teaching events. How attentive are they?
Do they look interested or puzzled? What is happening to attendance at lectures?
What does their written work show about what they have learned from you? Are
there, for instance, signs of progress from one piece of work to the next?

If you are honest and open with your students, they are likely to give you honest and
open feedback. They are a prime direct source of information on your teaching
performance. You can ask them directly for feedback by using a questionnaire,
usually anonymous. Your questionnaires will benefit from being short – and easy to
analyse! Ask questions about the clarity of the aims of the teaching event and how
well it achieved its purposes; how well it was run and what improvements there might
be. Finally, ask an open question along the lines of, 'What was the most important
thing you learned from the event?' Be seen to act on the feedback!

Attach a short questionnaire to returned written work. Ask about how well your
handling of the work identified and explained any weaknesses; whether it endorsed
what was right; whether it provided enough clear comment and in an appropriate
tone/style; and how it contributed to future development. You may find it instructive to
ask about the extent to which the mark matched expectations as a way of
ascertaining the students’ own view of their work. Finally, ask an open-ended
question about the most important thing they learned from your marking.

Your colleagues
Listen to and talk to your colleagues about teaching and learning. To what extent do
their perceptions of student progress match yours? When you feel more settled,
invite a colleague in to listen to and observe your teaching and give you feedback.
Establish a pair system and observe on a reciprocal basis. Take an opportunity to
double-mark work and discuss the outcomes. Work with a mentor and your
appraiser.

Statistical information
Use statistical information as a source of feedback. Log students' improvement in
written work. Note attendances and written work submission levels and times – what
do they show?

A reflective practitioner
All of the above, if used as a source for thinking about your teaching, will serve to
help you to become a continuous, professional improver, and will increase your
satisfaction in the job.

5.4 Knowing your teaching style

Your ‘teaching style’ is what your students will see and hear, what they will read, as

you go about your teaching. Your teaching style is about the way you express your

work. It’s a good idea to become aware of your style for just the same reason that it

is a good idea to become aware of the way you carry out any job. The process of

professional development is a movement from a present condition (where you are

now) to a preferred one (where you want to be).

© 2003 LTSN BEST: First Steps in Tutoring

The way you express your work as a teacher will come from your understanding of
the teacher’s role. One approach to teaching emphasises the teacher as the source
of knowledge (‘I am now going to tell you what you need to know’), or as the person
whose responsibility it is to shape the students in this way (‘Now this is the way to do
it. I’ll show you first, and then you can practice so that you can replicate what I have
shown you’). Another model emphasises the teacher as someone who guides the
student through the course (‘Notice how this approach compares with the previous
one’), who nurtures the student’s intellectual growth. In this robust categorisation, the
first model emphasises the teacher’s role as the dominant player, whilst the student
is dominant in the second model. One broad categorisation of teaching styles, one
way of thinking about teaching.

Think now about what a camcorder would show if it recorded you teaching. Think
about the way you present yourself. You will be on stage, and, like any performer,
what you do and say, along with your appearance, constitutes your performance. So
be sure to do what any performer does who wants to improve, namely, get someone
to watch your performance and talk to you about it. Better still, get that person to
record your performance on a camcorder.

Think and talk about your teaching style. The more you talk to your colleagues about
teaching, the more you observe your colleagues as they teach, the more conscious
you will be of your own preferred style and of its strengths and weaknesses. As ever,
self-awareness is the first step towards improvement. Know yourself. See yourself as
your students see you.