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Methodology 1 Pupils, Teacher and School PDF
Methodology 1 Pupils, Teacher and School PDF
Almost certainly the answers you have just given identify personality issues:
enthusiasm, intelligence, humour, disinterest, eccentricity, conformity, efficiency,
incompetence, or professionalism, as teaching is a personal profession.
Generally speaking, a ‘professional’ is someone whose work involves performing
a certain function with some degree of expertise. However, a narrower definition limits the
term to apply to people such as teachers, doctors, and lawyers, whose expertise involves
not only skill and knowledge but also the exercise of highly sophisticated judgement, and
whose accreditation necessitates extensive study, university-based, as well as practical
experience.
One opposite of ‘professional’ is ‘lay’. While members of a professional group
posses certain skills, knowledge, and conventions, the lay population do not have these.
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Professionals communicate between themselves employing vocabulary that is not readily
comprehensible to a lay person. For instance, an English teacher’s jargon includes words
and formulas such as: cloze, i+1, TEFL, L2, EAP, ESP, AmE, BrE, CAE, etc. The
professional community of English teachers has developed means of consolidating
relationships between its members and created opportunities for them to benefit from
each other’s knowledge, such as associations (IATEFL, RATE, MATE, TESOL) and
conferences. More opportunities for self development are offered by thinking critically
about yourself, by identifying aspects of your professional performance which you want to
improve. Opportunities for self-development may also be offered by attending refresher
courses, classes in art, music or drama, by joining a local library, arranging to work with
teacher colleagues, finding out what local organisations exist and asking what they can
do to help, reading books about teaching, etc.
Another opposite of ‘professional’ is ‘amateur’. The difference between the two
is based on consistent differences in performance in the field, involving the quality of
preparatory and ongoing learning, standards and commitment.
Professionalism means preparing oneself to do a competent job through
learning, including preservice and in-service courses, reflection on experience, reading,
observation, discussions with colleagues, writing, research. Such learning continues
throughout the professional’s working life. The professional also recognises certain
standards: of knowledge (of the subject and of its methodology), of dedication and hard
work, of behaviour and of relationships with learners and parents and other professionals.
Some of these standards are maintained through compulsory examinations and
nationally and/or internationally recognised qualifications.
A third opposite of ‘professional’ is ‘technician’. The technician, craftsman, or
artisan performs certain acts with skill and becomes more skilful as time goes on, through
practice. The professional has not only to acquire certain skills, but also to be able to take
courses of action that are based on knowledge and thought, as distinct from automatic
routines. Beyond this, s/he has to understand the principles underlying both automatic
and consciously designed action, and be able to articulate them, relate them to each
other, and innovate. We could say that a native English speaker is a technician, in the
sense that s/he is skilled in speaking English.
Yet another opposite term of ‘professional’ may be ‘academic’. An academic can
be defined as a researcher, lecturer, and writer, usually based in a university. A teacher is
essentially a bringer-about of real-world change; s/he prioritises real-time action whereas
the academic prioritises thought. The distinction is thus one of emphasis and priorities
rather than of substance. Research and thinking by the academic may not always apply
or be relevant to professional practice while ‘what works’ for a professional may not be for
the academic a worthwhile or generalisable scientific hypothesis. There is, obviously
much to learn from one another but the priorities are definitely different.
Above all, the English teacher is in principle a professional. They cannot only
speak the language, but can also explain why it works the way it does and what different
bits of it mean, and knows how to ‘mediate’ it to learners in a form that they can grasp
and learn. The teacher also knows how to manage classrooms and relationships. All
these are thoughtfully evolved and flexible sets of professional behaviours. The
combination of these kinds of knowledge enables the experienced teacher to make
informed and appropriate real-time decisions. The teacher is essentially a professional
engaged in bringing about real-world change, who may on occasion undertake academic
research. The two endeavours are different, but mutually beneficial and equally to be
respected.
The teacher’s job is first and foremost to ensure that pupils learn. The English
teacher’s first and foremost job is to ensure that pupils learn English. To a large extent,
what the pupils should learn is determined though legislation and the requirements are
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set out in the national curriculum and various other national documents. On the other
hand, how you teach so that pupils learn effectively (i.e. methods, approaches,
strategies, activities, interaction patterns, some of the materials used) is left to the
judgment of the individual teacher. There is no single, correct way to teach. For effective
learning to take place, a whole range of approaches, from formal to experiential, can be
used.
On the surface, teaching may appear to be a relatively simple process and many
people think that school and learning only mean a teacher standing at the front of the
class ‘teaching’ and the pupils sitting in rows listening and ‘learning’. This kind of
perception is based on several assumptions. One assumption is that most of the learning
takes place in the classroom.
However, throughout the world, the majority of English language learning takes
place outside the classroom. Learners are exposed to English in the course of their
everyday life: they interact with other English speakers, listen to the radio and TV, read
newspapers, write letters, socialize, etc., in a word, they do things with English. This
process of learning often involves five steps: (1) doing something; (2) recalling what
happened; (3) reflecting on that; (4) drawing conclusions; (5) using those conclusions to
inform and prepare for future practical experience:
do
prepare recall
conclude reflect
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Think first!
Before reading on, make a list of the thoughts that may be
present in the pupils’ heads while the teacher is teaching. Here are
a few suggestions:
I’m not involved at all.
I’m tired of sitting on this chair.
I haven’t said anything for hours.
Long explanations are so dull – I just turn off.
I don’t understand – and now she’s talking about something else.
I’d rather do something different.
Teacher’s going too fast.
It’s not an interesting subject.
I’m not doing anything myself.
Could you add a few more ‘positive’ thoughts?
Actually, what happens is that each pupil will receive his/her own lesson.
Teaching is only one factor in what is learned. As a teacher, one cannot learn for
her/his students. Only they can do that. What the teacher can do is to help create the
conditions in which they might be able to learn. This means involving the students,
enabling them to work at their own speed, by not giving long explanations, by
encouraging them to participate, talk, interact, etc. In the classroom, frequency, pace and
order of exposure to English is determined by a syllabus and/or a coursebook, and the
teacher determines the learning activities. The control by the teacher of the organization
of the classroom provides support to the learners lacking in motivation or confidence.
Nevertheless, the same control may be a source of frustration to other learners, who
know both what and how they want to learn.
Teacher’s Roles
Being a teacher involves the assumption of two important roles: organising
learning (an academic role) and guiding and supervising pupils (a pastoral one).
The academic role encompasses a variety of activities including:
subject teaching
lesson preparation
setting and marking of homework
monitoring pupil progress
assessing pupil progress in a variety of ways, including marking tests and exams
writing reports
recording achievement
working as part of a subject team
curriculum development and planning
undertaking visits, field courses
reporting to parents
planning and implementing school policies
extra-curricular activities
being an examiner for public examination boards
keeping up to date, and so on
(after Capel, Leask and Turner 2009: 13)
Apart from the academic aspect, another aspect of teaching is the pastoral one. A
teacher is not only an expert in a subject but also a responsible adult in charge of the
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spiritual and moral welfare of the pupils. In this role, which may vary from school to
school, you may be involved in pastoral actions (“dirigenţie”) that include:
getting to know pupils as individuals
helping pupils with problems;
being responsible for a form (being a classmaster/classmistress)
registering the class, following up absence
monitoring sanctions and rewards given to form members
reinforcing school rules and routines, e.g. on behaviour
writing reports, ensuring records of achievement and/or profiles are up to date
teaching lessons of personal, social and health education
organising house keeping activities
liaising with parents
ensuring school information is conveyed to parents via pupils
giving careers and subject guidance
extra-curricular activities, e.g. educational trips
liaising with other schools (e.g. primary, upper-secondary)
Professional Expertise
Classroom teaching is only the visible part of the job of the teacher. The invisible
foundations of the teacher’s work are, according to Capel, Leask and Toner, 2009,
professional knowledge and professional judgement (routines, skills, strategies which
support effective teaching). A teacher’s professional expertise includes:
planning of a sequence of lessons to ensure learning progresses and planning
for a specific lesson
evaluation of precious lesson
planning and preparation for the lesson
established routines and procedures which ensure that the work of the class
proceeds as planned
personality, including the teacher’s ability to capture and hold the interest of the
class, to establish their authority
professional knowledge such as subject content knowledge: pedagogic
knowledge about effective teaching and learning; knowledge of learners;
knowledge about the educational context in which you work
professional judgement built up over time though reflection on experience.
(Capel, Leask, Turner, 2009: 12)
A teacher is expected to develop confidence and higher levels of competence in all
these areas. Teaching requires you to transform the professional knowledge and
judgement you posses into suitable tasks which lead to learning. This is sometimes called
‘pedagogic knowledge’. Knowing a lot about your subject does not automatically make
you into an effective teacher.
Think first!
Before reading the following section, make a list of the
knowledge and skills that you consider to be essential for any
teacher.
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Professional knowledge is built from a number of different components:
Content knowledge: the content that is to be taught (important concepts and skills,
and knowing how the concepts and skills are structured and organised within the
subject).
General pedagogic knowledge: broad principles and strategies of classroom
management and organisation that apply irrespective of the subject.
Curriculum knowledge: the materials and programmes that serve as ‘tools of the
trade’ for teachers.
Pedagogical content knowledge: the knowledge of what makes effective teaching
and deep learning (the basis for the selection, organisation and presentation of the
content); the integration of content and pedagogy for teaching the subject. This
includes: knowledge about the purposes of teaching a subject at different grade
levels; knowledge of pupils’ understanding, conceptions and misconceptions;
knowledge of curriculum materials available and knowledge of horizontal and
vertical curricula; knowledge of instructional strategies.
Knowledge of learners and their characteristics: age range (empirical and social
knowledge), cognitive knowledge of learners, knowledge of child development,
knowledge of a particular group of learners.
Knowledge of educational context: knowledge of a specific school, catchment
area, the wider community.
Knowledge of educational ends (aims), purposes, values and philosophical
and historical influences: both short and long term goals of education and of a
subject.
Knowing what kinds of knowledge a teacher needs to have is a starting point for
thinking about the complexity of the profession and about the professional knowledge that
you need to acquire.
Knowledge of content. You should know not only English but also be familiar
with the concepts used in the lessons and the skills the pupils are expected to acquire.
You amass this knowledge from a variety of sources: your education at home, at school,
at university, as well as though personal study and reading. All this knowledge will
influence the amount and organisation of knowledge you have. Content knowledge is
likely to be the area of greatest confidence for you as you begin teaching. You should
seek to extend the range of your content knowledge, as this process supports your
confidence for teaching and engages you with your subject on a personal level. However,
it is way you transform this knowledge into effective teaching that is most important
Pedagogical content knowledge. This a special amalgam between content
and pedagogy; it goes beyond knowledge of content in the direction of knowledge for
teaching: the ways of representing and formulating the subject that makes it
comprehensible to others. It involves knowledge of the most regularly taught topics, the
most useful forms of representations of those ideas, the most powerful analogies,
illustrations, examples, explanations, and demonstrations. It includes how you build
assessment into your planning so that feedback enhances your understanding of pupil
learning and enables you to plan the next lesson.
General pedagogical knowledge. This is the body of knowledge and
understanding that you need for the effective transformation of your content knowledge
into meaningful learning activities for pupils. This knowledge consists of broad principles
and strategies that are designed to guide classroom instruction, organisation and
management: settling a class, managing the learning environment for effective learning,
managing resources and other equipment, gaining and sustaining the attention and
interest of the class, encouraging the disaffected, supporting the less able and extending
the most able). It also requires you to adopt your content knowledge, planning for the
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immediate demands of teaching. You should know how to organise orderly classrooms
and use questioning skills that involve your pupils and lead to thorough understanding.
You also need to consider carefully how you should introduce pupils to processes (e.g.
writing reports or essays). By broadening your general pedagogic knowledge, your
classroom becomes a more varied and stimulating place for yourself and your pupils.
Curriculum knowledge. This is the full range of programmes designed for the
teaching of particular subjects and topics at a given level (“programa analitică”), the
variety of instructional materials available in relation to those programmes and the set of
characteristics that serve as both the indications and contraindications for the use of
particular curriculum or programme materials in particular circumstances. It includes
knowledge of the subject national curriculum and the requirements of public
examinations, such as the baccalureate.
Knowledge of learners and their charactersitics. There are different kinds
of knowledge of the learner. These include empirical or social knowledge of learners, (i.e.,
what children of a particular age range are like, how they behave in classrooms and
school, their interests and preoccupations, their social nature, how contextual factors
affect their work (e.g. weather, time of the day) and the nature of the pupil – teacher
relationship. To these could be added the cognitive knowledge of the learners: knowledge
of child development and knowledge of the particular group(s) of learners that you work
with. This is a kind of knowledge that grows from regular contact with these learners, of
what they can and cannot know, do or understand. For instance, you should be able to
understand when your pupils need concrete examples and what kind of tasks increase
motivation and learning.
Knowledge of educational context. This refers to all settings where learning
takes place: schools, classrooms, nursery settings, universities, colleges, and the broader
educational context of the community and society. This knowledge ranges from the
workings of the group, classroom, school administration, to the character of communities
and cultures. It includes the range of teachiong contexts which affect the development
and classroom performance. These include the type and size of school, the catchment
area, the class size, the extent and quality of support for teachers, the amount of
feedback teachers receive on their performance, the quality of relationships in the school,
and the expectations and attitudes of the headteacher, as well as school policies, the
curriculum and assessment processes, monitoring and reporting, safety, school rules and
expecations of pupils and the ‘hidden’ and ‘informal’ curriculum which includes the values
demonstrated to pupils through the way the school is run.
Knowledge of educational ends (aims), purposes, values and
philosophical and historical influences. This includes the values and priorities which
shape the education pupils receive. Teaching has both short-term goals for a lesson or a
series of lessons, while education has long-term purposes (such as producing educated
people who can serve efficiently the needs of society).
All the aspects of professional knowledge are brought together in a personal
construct. This includes your values and assumptions about English (in your case) which
provides the basis of your work as a teacher. Positive attitudes are also fundamental to
effective teaching as personal teaching efficacy, energy, enthusiasm, caring and high
expectations promote pupil motivation.
Besides all the types of knowledge and attitudes, there are basic abilities that all
teachers should have to promote order and learning in the classroom.
Basic English Teaching Skills
Language Ability. Fluency and accuracy in English do not make anyone
automatically into a successful teacher of English. Many good teachers of English have a
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limited command of English. However, these teachers may have the advantage of
understanding better their pupils’ learning difficulties. The secret lies in being confident
about your English without being embarrassed about your lack of greater knowledge.
When your pupils will ask you What’s the English for ….? and you do not know the
answer, it is better to say I don’t know, but I’ll find out for you rather than to try to avoid
answering the question. Do not feel embarrassed that you do not know every word of
English. Think of how many words of Romanian you do not know! We all continue to learn
throughout our lives. What is important is to work on improving the quality of the English
you use and want to teach your pupils. And there are lots of ways in which you can
develop your language skills.
Think First!
Before reading the following section, write down in the space
provided the answer to this question: “What ways of improving
your classroom English can you think of now?”
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beginning (e.g. All right, now we’ll turn to…). They alert the pupils that the lesson is
making a shift and allow them to adjust and get prepared.
Emphasis consists of verbal (e.g. Listen carefully now…) and vocal cues (such as
raising the voice) and repetition, which alert pupils to important information in a
lesson.
SAQ
What practical implications may terminology, connected
discourse, transition signals, and emphasis have for teachers?
Introductory focus attracts pupils’ attention and provides a framework for the
lesson. In addition, it can increase motivation by arousing curiosity. In an English lesson
you can use concrete objects, pictures, models, materials displayed around the room,
information written on the board – all meant to maintain pupils’ attention during learning
activities. Use objects, photos, maps, charts, etc. to provide introductory and sensory
focus during your lessons.
Using questions, you can guide learning rather than simply deliver information. By
questioning you can assess pupil background knowledge, cause pupils to rethink their
ideas, help them form relationships. You can also involve shy pupils, recapture pupils’
wandering attention, promote success, and enhance self-esteem. Questioning can also
maintain the pace and momentum of a lesson. Effective questioning
is frequent
is equitably distributed
uses prompting
allows adequate wait-time
Giving feedback. The information pupils receive about the accuracy or
appropriateness of their responses and work is crucial in promoting learning. Feedback
gives pupils information about the validity of their knowledge or skills. It also helps them
to elaborate on their existing understanding. Feedback is also important for motivation
because it provides pupils with information about their increasing competence. Effective
feedback has four essential characteristics:
it is immediate or given soon after a pupil response
it is specific
it provides corrective information for the learner
it has a positive emotional tone
The teacher needs to provide feedback throughout all learning experiences.
SAQ
Look at the following teacher – pupil dialogue. Which of the
characteristics of feedback listed above is not illustrated by this
dialogue:
Mr. B: What kind of an animal is shown in the picture, Jill?
Jill: A panther.
Mr. B: Not quite. Help her out, … Betty?
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Lesson structuring. Lessons are more coherent when review and closure are
used to summarise and pull ideas together. Review is a summary that helps pupils link
what they have already learned to what will follow in the next activity. It emphasizes
important points and encourages elaboration. It can occur at any point in a lesson,
although it is common at the beginning and end. Closure is a form of review that occurs
at the end of a lesson. It pulls content together and signals the end of the lesson.
Begin and end each class with a short review. Guide the review with questioning.
For instance, say “We studied present perfect yesterday. Give me an example that
illustrates this, and explain why your example is correct.”
These skills are interdependent as none is effective alone, but only in combination
with the others. Their interaction and integration are crucial.
Managing classroom time. You should know how to increase learning by using
time efficiently. Different types of classroom time influence learning in different ways:
Type of classroom
time Description
Allocated time The amount of time a teacher uses for a content area or topic
Instructional time The amount of time left for teaching after routine management
and administrative tasks are completed
Engaged time The amount of time pupils are actively involved in learning
activities
Academic learning The amount of time pupils are actively involved in learning
time activities during which they are successful.
As you move from allocated time to academic learning time, the correlation with
learning becomes stronger. Unfortunately, teachers do not always use time effectively.
Some teachers seem unaware of the importance of time, viewing it as something to be
filled or even ‘killed’. In order to increase learning, you should increase instructional,
engaged, and academic learning time to make as much use of the allocated time as
possible.
Organisation determines how efficiently time is used. It includes starting on time,
preparing materials in advance, establishing routines, etc. Routines reduce the load of
your working effort and memory, save your energy, and create a sense of order and
equilibrium in your classroom.
To check on your organisation and communication skills, you can ask another
teacher to visit your class and observe your language and nonverbal communication or to
see how many minutes you spend before actually beginning instruction. You can also ask
your colleague to see whether you clearly emphasise the important points in the lesson,
sequence the presentation logically, communicate changes in topics or the way you give
feedback.
Besides knowledge, attitudes and essential teaching skills that are common to
teachers of all subjects, the teachers of English can use successfully a variety of other
abilities, skills and talents. Moreover, as a teacher you should be aware of the factors
affecting learning. This awareness will help you to enhance your pupils’ learning. Also,
you should be aware of what makes a good learner in order to try to make your pupils
good learners. Moreover, you should be aware of what motivates your pupils to learn
English and try to bring about factors which increase your pupils’ motivation.
However, some of the factors that affect your pupils’ leaning either cannot be
changed or are difficult to change.
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SAQ
What factors cannot be changed and what factors can you
influence or change in making your pupils good learners of
English?
Jim Scrivener considers that there are three categories of teachers: the
explainer, the involver and the enabler.
The explainer has limited knowledge of teaching methodology and relies mainly
on explaining or lecturing as a way of conveying information to the students. Done with
style and enthusiasm, with wit and imagination the lessons can be entertaining,
interesting and informative. The pupils are listening, occasionally answering questions
and perhaps making notes, but are mostly not being personally involved or challenged.
The pupils often receive practice by doing individual exercises after one phase of the
presentation has finished.
The involver knows well the subject matter (the English language and how it
works). However, she is also familiar with teaching methodology; she is able to use
appropriate teaching and organizational procedures and techniques to help her students
learn about the subject matter. Teacher explanations may be one of these techniques,
one option among many that she has at her disposal. She tries to involve the pupils
actively and puts effort into finding appropriate and interesting activities that will do this,
while still retaining clear control over the classroom and what happens in it.
The enabler knows about the subject matter and about methodology, but also has
an awareness of how pupils and groups are thinking and feeling within her class. She
actively responds to this in her planning and working methods and in building effective
working relationships and a good classroom atmosphere. Her own personality and
attitude are an active encouragement to learning.
This kind of teacher is confident enough to share control with the learners, or to
hand it over entirely to them. Decisions in her classroom are often shared or negotiated.
She sees herself as someone whose job is to create the conditions that enable the pupils
to learn for themselves. Sometimes this will involve her in less traditional teaching; she
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may become a guide or a counselor or a resource of information when needed. When
autonomous learning is going on, such a teacher may be hardly visible.
The three descriptions are very broadly painted. However, this simple
categorisation may help you reflect on what kind of teaching you have mostly
experienced in your life and may also help you to clarify what kind of teacher you see
yourself as being in the future.
Here are a number of factors in a teacher that might positively affect the learning
atmosphere in the classroom. The effective teacher:
really listens to her pupils
shows respect
gives clear, positive feedback
has a good sense of humour
is patient
knows her subject
inspires confidence
trusts pupils
empathises with pupils’ problems
is well-organised
paces lessons well
does not complicate things unnecessarily
is enthusiastic and inspires enthusiasm
can be authoritative without being distant
is honest
is approachable.
Carl Rogers, an American psychologist, suggested that there are three core
teacher characteristics that help create an effective learning environment: respect (a
positive and non-judgemental regards for another person), empathy (being able to see
things from another person’s perspective, as if looking through their eyes) and
authenticity (being oneself without hiding behind job titles, roles or masks).
When a teacher has these three qualities, the relationship within the classroom are
likely to be stronger and deeper and communication between people much more open
and honest. The climate becomes positive, forward-looking and supportive. The pupils
are able to learn with less fear of taking risks or facing challenges. In doing these they
increase their own self-esteem and self-understanding, gradually taking more and more
of the responsibility for their own learning themselves rather than assuming that it is
someone else’s job.
In order to improve the quality of the relationship teacher – pupils, one does not
need to learn new techniques but to look closely at what they really want for their pupils,
how they really feel about themselves.
Here are some conclusions for English teachers:
The ‘jug and mug’ approach may be inappropriate if it dominates classroom time.
Giving your pupils time to do things themselves may be much more important.
You may be a better teacher if you tried to make the enabling of learning your main
concern.
You need to ensure your pupils practical experience in doing things using language
rather than simply listening to explanations about language)
Being an ‘over-helpful’ teacher could get in the way of your pupils’ learning. The more
you do things in the classroom, the less space there will be for the learners to do
things.
It may be useful to help pupils become more aware of how they are learning. To
reflect on this and to explore what procedures, materials, techniques or approaches
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would help them learn more effectively.
It is OK for pupils to make mistakes, to try things out and get things wrong and learn
form that.
Few classrooms are ideal. They may be too small or too large, too dim or too
bright, storage space may be limited, maps may cover the board, etc. Rearranging desks
is sometimes impossible, but if it is possible, try to experiment with different arrangements
to see what works best for you. Do not forget to consider the room arrangement in your
planning.
Before planning rules and procedures, you must consider both the characteristics
of your pupils and the physical environment of your classrooms. The relationship among
these factors is illustrated below.
Planning for
Pupil effective The physical
characteristics management environment
Procedures
and rules
(after Paul Eggen and Don Kauchak. 2004. Educational Psychology, Pearson)
Class Atmosphere. The general atmosphere in the class can assist learning. Both
your behaviour and language and those of the pupils can contribute to this atmosphere.
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Think First!
What factors are the most important, in your opinion, for building a
good atmosphere in your classes? Put in order the following
suggestions according to how important they are for you and the
pupils you are teaching.
You will find some more ideas in the following section dedicated to
routines.
Classroom Routines. The first few days of the school year are crucial to
classroom management, because they create lasting impressions and patterns of
behaviour for the year are established in these first days. Spend a little time at the
beginning of the year explaining how you intend the class to operate, and making it clear
what you consider to be acceptable behaviour. This should be done in a friendly but firm
manner, without sounding threatening.
Your life will be made easier and your class more successful if you establish rules
for your lessons which everybody understands and accepts. Here are a few examples of
teacher’s rules:
Primary school Lower secondary Upper secondary
We raise our hands Be in your seat and quiet Be in your seat before
before speaking when the bell rings the bell rings
We leave our seats only Raise your hand for Give your full attention to
when given permission by permission to speak or to others in discussion, and
the teacher leave your seat wait your turn to speak
SAQ
What rules that you have already used when you were pupils
would you like to add to the lists in the table above?
Such rules can be worked out together with the pupils. Although involving pupils in
rule making does not solve all management problems, it is an important step in gaining
their cooperation. Once established, rules create a sense of ownership, and contribute to
the development of responsibility and self-regulation in your pupils.
Try to find out what the norms there are in your school, and comply with them. For
instance, the pupils may be expected to stand (or not) when you come into the room.
Homework may be collected by a pupil rather than by you. The board may be always
cleaned by the pupil sitting nearest to it or by a pupil on duty. If there are no norms, it is
wise for you to establish some of your own.
Asking your pupils to put up hands is not always appropriate in a class where
everybody must speak. Sometimes you need responses from pupils who do not know
them, or who do, but do not put up their hands. Make sure you first ask the question and
then name a pupil to answer. Ask a second or a third pupil if the first pupil is unable to
answer.
Get your pupils to put up their hands before they want to ask a question. This helps
to prevent noisy interruptions. However, do not insist on your pupils’ always raising their
hand before asking, as one of the skills they must acquire is that of being able to interrupt
and seek clarification.
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SAQ
When would you insist on your pupils’ raising their hands?
Your pupils need to know in advance of the lesson what will need to bring to class.
You have to plan this and ask them to bring only what they will use. Then you should be
firm in reprimanding those who fail to bring what is needed to the first few lessons, so that
it becomes second nature for your pupils to bring the right things. On the other hand, if
you ask them to bring something and never ask them to use it, do not be cross if
someone fails to bring that thing to the lesson when you finally decide to refer to it.
With younger pupils, insist that they do not keep on the desk things which are not
to be used during the lesson.
Help your pupils establish an organised way of keeping their notes by using the
lesson/unit titles of the coursebook and perhaps the exercise/section/activity number as
headings. The pupils can then write under these headings and the notebook can be
referred to alongside the coursebook. If your pupils buy their own coursebooks, do not
forbid them to write in them or mark things they want to remember, or even colour the
pictures. If, however, books belong to the school, the notebook must become an essential
tool for the pupil.
There is almost always an established way in which young pupils will address you
and you them. With older pupils you may establish the form of address together.
However, this will depend largely on school custom and pupils’ expectations. Make it
clear from the outset what your name is and how you like to be addressed.
To plan a learning activity or a sequence for a certain class means to be able to
predict as much of the unpredictable as possible: you need to know your pupils and to
build up a wide repertoire of skills and techniques. All these will enable you to develop
useful structures and a personal style of teaching. You will then maximize both your
pupils’ potential and your own in the limited time and with the limited resources of the
school.
In an ideal classroom, class management is invisible. The atmosphere is calm,
movement and interaction are comfortable, and pupils work quietly. The teacher gives
few directions and reprimands pupils infrequently. However, in the real world, some
classes are tough to manage. And yet, in most instances, a teacher can create an orderly
classroom. Doing so requires good knowledge of the pupils and careful planning. It also
requires the existence of a clearly understood and consistently monitored set of rules and
procedures that prevents management problems before they occur.
Classroom activities have characteristics that make them complex and demanding:
o Several activities and tasks occur at the same time. When you teach a classroom, you
need to maintain order, attract and keep your pupils’ attention, and keep them
involved in a learning activity (individual, whole class, small groups, pairs). You may
also have to deal with discipline problems.
o The events occur rapidly. Things happen quickly and you need to make many of the
decisions right now. This need to make quick decisions can be almost overwhelming,
particularly for beginning teachers.
o Events often take unexpected turns. You must always plan your classroom activity,
and try to anticipate as much as you can of what will happen. And yet it is impossible
to plan for all of your pupils’ responses. Pupils and classroom activity are often
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unpredictable, but experienced teachers get used to expecting the unexpected. The
unpredictable nature of classrooms increases their complexity and challenge.
o You teach in front of people. In a sense, you are on a stage and your successes and
mistakes occur in the public space. The pupils’ (and possibly other observers’)
perceptions of your actions can have unintended consequences.
The complexity of a teacher’s activity is especially apparent in the large classes of
the primary and secondary schools, where the number of pupils and their immaturity
combine to put to constant test the teacher’s classroom managerial skills. In such a
context, knowing your pupils and knowing how to approach them is crucial.
SAQ
You know that pupils think, act and feel differently at different
stages of development. What are the general characteristics of the
behaviour of the primary school pupils (grades 2 to 4) compared to
that of the lower secondary school pupils (grades 5 to 8)?
Whether you teach younger or older children, your way of approaching them,
especially in the early stages of the classroom activity, will be a major factor that affects
your pupils’ confidence. Learners of all ages should be treated with care and respect.
Knowing your pupils by name, knowing their backgrounds and interests, knowing about
their previous language-learning experiences and their attitudes to English will enable
you to help them learn more happily and effectively.
Being able to address your pupils by name has considerable advantages both for
you and for them. It avoids confusion which might arise in identifying which pupil should
be responding. Also, it is the natural way to attract somebody’s attention; it speeds up the
organising of pair and group work; it generates a friendly relationship with the pupils and
among them, and it produces a secure atmosphere.
SAQ
What can you do if you have large classes and you are not
good at remembering pupils’ names?
A language class gives you more opportunities to discover details about your
pupils’ lives than most other classes. Very often you may find yourself wondering what
you can ask and what is better to be left unasked. A good principle is never to ask your
pupils anything that you yourself would not wish to be asked.
Your pupils will find their English lessons more stimulating if some of their work is
concerned with things that interest them. You will want to find out what these things are
as almost any pupil’s hobby can be incorporated into an English lesson.
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Think First!
Before continuing to read this text, think where you can find
information about your pupils’ previous experience of learning
English.
The best way to establish what your pupils already know is to start with a
diagnostic test to discover what they can and cannot do. However, when you give them
such a test, you must make sure that your pupils understand that the test is given only to
help you decide what gaps they have in their knowledge, so that you can help them to fill
these gaps.
In most cases, the young pupils’ attitude to English is more influenced by you than
by their wants or needs. Your enthusiasm and skills have an enormous effect on the
attitude of your pupils. However, positive attitudes to learning English need to be fostered
constantly, as pupils almost always reach a stage when they feel that they are not making
any progress. At this point you need to find new ways of motivating them and making
their study seem worthwhile by seizing every opportunity to make their learning
meaningful.
Remember that no matter what facilities the school offers, it is the lively, purposeful
class atmosphere with plenty to do, which you create, which will maintain your pupils’
positive attitudes. The most important factor in keeping your pupils motivated is your own
skill and enthusiasm.
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New learning is constructed over the foundations of earlier learning. The pupils
will make use of whatever knowledge and experience they already have in order to help
them learn and understand new things. Thus the message taken away from one lesson is
quite different for different pupils.
Drawing on your experience as learners of English, you could draw the profile of
the good learners of English. Consider these features:
Perceptual skills: they can perceive new sounds.
Analytical skills: they can formulate hypotheses, memorise language items, monitor
their own speech and that of others.
Motivation: they have a high motivation.
Strategy: they concentrate on meaning rather than on form when practising; they
look for cues in the context.
Study: they can organise their studies and study independently (e.g. they make
vocabulary lists and use them).
Experiment: they try out their language knowledge and are uninhibited about making
mistakes.
Sociability: they mix well and work well in groups. They can transfer from Romanian
to English communication strategies such as paraphrasing, circumlocution, checking
that listeners have understood, etc.
Exposure: they seek out every opportunity to come into contact with English,
(watching films and TV programmes, reading books and newspapers, etc.)
Cultural openess: they are open-minded and open hearted with regard to foreign
cultures and individuals.
Age: young children do not make good learners of grammar.
Adaptability: they learn well despite the method, the teacher, and the school.
Think First!
What fundamental skill is hidden behind most of the features
listed above?
It would be difficult to imagine that all your pupils show all the above mentioned
features and are all good learners of English. However, you should be able to show your
pupils how to be ‘good’, which clearly involves helping them to become independent.
Independence is a quality which seems to cut across most of the features listed above.
Motivating Students
Language classrooms depend more than other classes on the climate; in its turn
this is influenced by the national and cultural influences on the language being learned,
the education system and the immediate classroom environment (M. Lewis in Richards,
J. C. and Renandya Willy A., 2002: 40). If the education system or the national
curriculum, and the status of the foreign language being learned cannot be influenced by
the teacher, the latter can influence the students feel about learning English. Teachers
can influence the classroom environment where learning takes place by motivating
unmotivated pupils.
Unmotivated pupils can be recognised when they fail to take part by sitting in
silence, they distract other pupils by talking off the topic, or they provide ‘nonlanguage’
entertainment. All of these call for teacher’s management skills.
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A future English teacher needs to know that teaching a foreign language involves
more than her pupils’ interest, for language is a skill that needs to be applied/used, not
just stored in the head.
Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Teachers encourage language use through
both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Some students have strong intrinsic motivation as
they are already aware of the benefits of learning English. Others need to be reminded of
the benefits: standing better chances of getting a good job, making travelling more
rewarding and enjoyable, access to literature of all kinds in the original, etc. Extrinsic
motivation can come through rewards. Some of the activities done in class can be
presented as rewards to the pupils: supplying additional reading materials, showing a
video, inviting guest speakers, organising games, etc.
An ongoing aspect of motivation is dealing with the behaviour of particular
students. Teachers build a scale of responses to off-task behaviour, which helps them
decide whether to ignore or attend to the problem. Here are a few typical cases of off-task
behaviour and possible teacher responses (from M. Lewis, idem: 42 – 43)
1. The back-row distractor: the pupil who always sits at the back and distracts
others:
Use eye contact while continuing to speak.
Stop mid-sentence and stare until the pupil stops.
Talk with the pupil after class to investigate the cause.
2. The nonparticipants: several pupils are not taking part in the assigned activity.
3. Ignore them if they are not distracting others.
Walk past their desks and ask if there is a problem.
Ask other teachers how the same pupils participate in other classes.
4. The overexuberant pupil: one outgoing student dominates answering most
questions, making most comments and filling most of the student talking time. This calls
for tact, because such a pupil is often a good language model for the rest of the class.
Interrupt with “Thanks for that” and call on someone else to continue.
Remind the student that there will be more talking time soon in groups.
Talk to the student individually later.
In brief, making quick decisions on what to do about a problem depends on
answers to questions like:
Does the behaviour hinder other student’s learning?
Is this just a single occurrence not worth wasting time on?
Is it a whole-class problem or specific to one or two people?
Remember that if large numbers of pupils are failing to attend to the lesson, there
could be a problem with the lesson itself. The task may be too difficult, or an activity may
have continued for too long, or the content may be boring. On the other hand, the
problem may not be within the class: a forthcoming event such as a match or even
unusual weather can change the mood of the class and signal to the teacher the need for
a change of activity.
Discipline
Discipline is an important matter. As a teacher, you should be able to solve a
number of questions, referring to maintaining order, the amount of noise you can tolerate,
what you consider unacceptable behaviour and how you can punish misbehavers.
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SAQ
How much freedom do you think you have in dealing with
discipline problems?
Here are some ways of making sure that you involve all the pupils.
Use the class register list. Your pupils will know if you are calling on them in
the order of the class register list. To avoid this, use every second or third name, or some
other pattern, so that they may not realise what order you are using. Avoid looking down
at the list (by putting it where you can see it easily). Also, to prevent the ‘switching off’ of
pupils who have just responded, ask one or two for a second response.
Think of your class as a set of lines or rows of pupils and address a
question to a pupil from each line or row in turn.
Set rules. If your pupils tend to shout out the answers before the others have
time to try, make a rule that the pupil who has responded once must miss the next three
questions before s/he can answer again. This keeps the pupils busy counting, while
waiting to join in again.
Invite the pupil who answers to name the one who will answer next. If the
pupils get used to this system, it can move quite briskly and be successful. However, it
can become unpleasant if the pupils see it as a way of victimising their slower classmates
Repeat the question and/or prompt. If the pupil you nominated is unable to
respond, help him/her by repeating or prompting, while insisting that the rest of the class
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remains quiet. Sometimes, however, you may wish to pass a factual question to another
pupil, or the class in general.
Extra-Curricular Activities. Activities conducted outside lesson times can make
an important contribution to maintaining a good atmosphere in the classroom. If their
knowledge of English opens the way to other interesting activities, the pupils will take a
more positive attitude to their studies.
By organising a class library or an English club you can provide your pupils with
the possibility of extending their knowledge and interests outside the classroom as well
as giving them an opportunity for genuine communication. Try to help your pupils set
these up and then give them assistance in running them.
SAQ
What advantages or disadvantages can you see in your
pupils’ attending the activity of an English club?
Summary
This unit presents the complexity of the job of being an English teacher and the
many requirements that you need to comply with: you must have a deep understanding of
the process of learning and of the characteristics of your pupils, a good understanding of
the topics you teach; you should be able to represent the topics in ways that are
understandable to pupils, to organize and maintain productive learning environments.
As a teacher, you are responsible for classroom learning and should be able to
increase it. You should be caring and enthusiastic, a good role model, and have high
expectations for your pupils. You should be well organized, know what is going on in your
classrooms, use your class time well, and communicate clearly. You should present
content in attractive ways, provide clear and informative feedback, and review important
ideas. You should use effective questioning strategies, prompt pupils who do not answer
successfully, and give pupils time to think about their answers. You should be able to
draw, write legibly and speak convincingly, and maybe have other talents, too.
You should be able to create a classroom atmosphere conducive to learning and
establish rules and routines which enhance the use of classroom learning time.
Further Reading
Capel, Susan, Leask, Marilyn and Turner, Tony, 2009, Learning to Teach in the
Secondary School: A Companion to School Experience, Routledge
Harmer, Jeremy. 2001. The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman
Richards Jack C. and Renandya, Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching.
Cambridge: CUP.
Scrivener Jim, 2008, Learning teaching: A guidebook for English language teachers,
Heinemann
Underwood, Mary. 1987. Effective Class management. A Practical Approach, Longman
Ur, Penny. 1996. A Course in Language Teaching. Practice and Theory, Cambridge
University Press
Ur, Penny. “The English Teaching as Professional” in Richards Jack C. and Renandya,
Willy A., 2002. Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.
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