Understanding Learning and Teaching in Secondary Schools

Alison Hramiak, Terry Hudson

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781317863533
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Understanding Learning and Teaching in Secondary Schools has been specifically researched, written and developed to inform, support and guide anyone training to become a secondary teacher today.

This comprehensive new text strikes a balance between the depth of theory covered in the book and its practical application in the classroom. The authors introduce and explore key ideas and issues in an accessible, highly readable way, inviting you to reflect on your own practice and challenge both your own and others thinking.

Chapter 1
Introduction

Overview

This book is about teaching. It is about getting qualified to teach and all that this entails. It is about getting through placements in schools, passing the qualified teacher status tests (QTS), and about passing the Master’s-level assignments associated with the academic side of the course. Although intended mainly for trainee teachers, newly qualified teachers (NQTs) will find many parts of the book useful and an aide to their NQT year as they continue to gather evidence for the NQT standards.

The purpose of the book is to provide a comprehensive, holistic, overview of the various fundamentals associated with teaching, and with training to teach in schools. It provides significant background information on the theories and policies associated with learning to and beginning to teach, and also provides practical advice and guidance on how to approach the many difficult areas of teaching, such as classroom behaviour management and pastoral care in schools.

In addition to this, the book is also intended to assist you in becoming Master’s (M)-level practitioners. To this end, the book introduces you to what Master’s level is, and the kind of language you will be expected to use to establish yourselves as Master’s-level professionals. Throughout the book, in each chapter, there are ‘Critical Synthesis’ boxes. These contain further areas for you to explore and read in conjunction with the topics covered in that particular chapter. The language used throughout the book enables you to understand what is required of you at M level, and by the end of the book you should be conversant with terms such as critical reflection, evaluation, analysis and synthesis, and be able to use them in your work. It is intended that the topics covered by the Critical Synthesis boxes facilitate your ability to link theory to practice and thus better understand yourself as a professional teacher.

The order of the chapters in the book in no way reflects their order of importance. It is envisaged that most people will dip into the book to read about things that are a high priority for them at that time. For example, you might read the chapter on behaviour management just before you start your first placement, or refer to the chapter on academic reading and writing as you start to prepare assignments.

The book is divided into three main themes of:

1. You as a learner – Chapters 2 and 3
2. Learning and teaching – Chapters 4 to 10
3. How schools are organised – Chapters 11 to 18.

Please note that the book starts by focusing on you as a learner. This is deliberate, and we hope this helps to make a vital point – becoming a teacher is a learning process. By developing your skills as learner, academic reader and writer and, particularly, as reflective practitioner, you will be better prepared to face and enjoy the challenges ahead.

The purpose of the book divisions is to help you to find the most relevant part of the book for the information you are trying to locate. Teachers – and trainee teachers in particular – are extremely busy people, and while this book is intended to guide you in this, your chosen profession, it is not intended to be read from cover to cover. It is intended to be used as a reference book, for dipping in and out of when you need it. However, we urge you to read the first section as soon as possible!

Theme 1 — You as a learner

The first theme of the book, Chapters 2 and 3, deals with you and your needs as a learner yourself. To this end the chapters in this part of the book go into detail about the things that matter to you as the trainee teacher who is also a postgraduate student studying at Master’s level. This section covers how you start to think as a reflective practitioner, something that may not be familiar to most trainee teachers at the start of their courses, and which many may find very difficult to do at first.

In Chapter 3 we look at how to tackle academic writing and reading, especially in the light of recent changes to PGCE courses to raise the level of study to that of Master’s (M level or level 7). This will help you to study and write academic work for your training course and also prepare you for further study as teaching increasingly becomes a Master’s-level profession through the introduction of the Masters in Teaching and Learning (MTL). For many trainees, particularly those who have studied more technical subjects, such as mathematics, or computing-related degrees, or areas of design and technology and science, the extended writing associated with many teacher training courses is unfamiliar, and the writing of long pieces of work, essays and so on, rather than technical reports, is something that is very new, often untried, and often daunting at first. Chapter 3 guides you through the challenges of this type of reading and writing, giving practical advice on how to become more critically analytical and reflective, and also how to use references correctly and thus avoid plagiarism.

Theme 2 — Learning and teaching

This part of the book, Chapters 4 to 10, is all about you and your teaching, about you and your students, and how to get the most out of them as learners. In Chapter 4 the focus is on inclusion and how every child does indeed matter. The chapter covers the government reports surrounding this area, and also how this affects you and your teaching, and the way your students learn. Chapters 4 to 7 are closely related, each covering different aspects of what might be brought together as ‘how and why students learn’. Chapter 5 contains much advice and guidance on how best to engage and motivate learners, and thus get the most out of them. In Chapter 6 the individual needs of learners are covered, looking at how you might use tools such as differentiation to ensure that all learners’ needs are met. Chapter 7 then describes how you might go about raising student achievement, and how you motivate learners and construct your lessons so that they have opportunities to make the maximum progress.

Chapters 8 to 10 then look at the practical aspects of teaching which are particularly urgent for trainee teachers, those of planning and preparation, assessment and feedback, and behaviour management. In each of these chapters you will be taken through the key issues of these topics, and then taken a little bit further with the intention of getting you to look at these in more detail and from different angles. Arguably, the chapter that is generally at the forefront of most trainees minds when they first enter a classroom is that which covers behavioural management. Not only is this subject one which is uppermost in trainee’s minds, but it is also entangled with the topics covered in the preceding two chapters.

Theme 3 — How schools are organised

In this part of the book, Chapters 11 to 18, school structures and management are covered, giving you insight into how schools are organised with particular reference to you as a trainee or beginning teacher. Chapter 11 deals with you and your mentor and the processes behind the relationship between you and them. This is probably the most important relationship of your training year, and as such, it is vital that you know how to develop and nurture it to get the most out of it in the short time that you have it.

In Chapters 12 to 17 the book concentrates on describing in detail how schools are organised and how you can work within these structures as a teacher and as a member of the school. Chapter 12 covers the ways in which schools are structured as educational organisations. The various ways that the work of teachers and other professionals within schools is coordinated to have maximum benefit for learners are discussed, and you will be encouraged to examine and reflect on the management structures existing within the organisations within which you work.

Following on from this, Chapter 13 covers the many ways you might be able to work in collaboration with other trainees and teachers, and indeed with the many different roles associated with a school. This chapter gives ideas about how to collaborate on a face-to-face basis, and also details how you might collaborate with others using the latest technology to do so, and how you might extend this to using these ideas within your own teaching for your own students.

Chapters 14, 15 and 16 are closely linked, and cover areas of the curriculum that you might initially feel are beyond your own remit, and therefore not worth too much attention at this time. A teacher, however, is part of the school, and not just a subject specialist teacher. You will be expected to be part of the team that teaches more pastoral aspects, possibly doing so as part of your role as a form tutor, perhaps also including citizenship during this time. You would also be expected to understand the curriculum outside your own area and to be aware of the new developments in the work-related and vocational areas of the school curriculum. These chapters ensure that you are fully prepared for this.

In Chapter 17 a wider picture of teaching is described giving the reader an overview of what we can learn from education and schooling beyond our shores. The use of international league tables is discussed, and some of the parameters used to make international comparisons are considered. The main focus of the chapter is to encourage you to reflect on how we can learn from good practice in other countries, but without making shallow comparisons.

The final chapter of the book is dedicated solely to helping you to get your first teaching post. In this chapter you will find very practical and pragmatic guidance on applying for and being interviewed for your first role in teaching. Much of what is written here can also be used in subsequent job applications. As you might expect, this chapter has a slightly different structure as it is the only chapter that does not demand M-level thinking and further study – but it does encourage you to highlight your skills and knowledge in this area throughout the application process.

How to use this book effectively

As stated earlier, teachers and trainee teachers are busy people. We appreciate that you are busy in school getting ready to teach in classrooms, and you are also are busy as learners, researching and writing academic reports and essays for the qualification on which you have enrolled. Therefore, it is crucial that you use the time you have available for studying very wisely. The structure of the book has been outlined above so that you can use it primarily as a reference book. While we hope that you read much of the book, we would be naive to think that you would feel that you had the time initially to read all of it from cover to cover and, indeed, some chapters will be more valuable and relevant later in your course as you have more personal professional experiences to draw on. To this end, then, each chapter has been described in such a way as to guide you to where you might need to read and learn.

As well as the above, in each chapter you will find both practical and reflective tasks for you to do to aid your understanding of the topics you are reading about. The ‘Stop and reflect’ tasks have been designed to assist you in your development as reflective thinkers and practitioners – an innate requirement of the teaching profession at all stages – from trainee to very experienced leaders in schools. These boxes are intended to make you think deeply and critically about yourself and your own situation as a trainee and as a teaching professional. We would advise you to do as many of these as you can while reading the book in order to get the most out of each chapter.

The purpose of ‘Practical tasks’ included in each chapter is to provide you with realistic activities that are directly related to your training and practice. They provide you with activities that can assist in your collection of evidence for your QTS standards, and also for your own teaching. The intention is that, in doing the practical tasks, your own practice will improve as a result.

As mentioned earlier in this introduction, there are also ‘Critical synthesis’ boxes in each chapter which serve to push you that little bit further in the areas covered in that chapter and facilitate your learning at Master’s level. As with the other extra tasks and activities throughout the book, take the time to look at these, and explore the avenues they send you down, to give yourself more and more practice at working at this level. There are also boxes in Chapters 2 to 17 that are called ‘Challenge your thinking’. These, as you might imagine, are designed to encourage you to reflect on some possibly contentious issues or viewpoints. The intention is to create a virtual seminar discussion where things might get heated and the status quo questioned. We hope you enjoy them – or at least stop to question prior views before moving on.

In using this book as advised above, you should find that you will develop yourself as a reflective practitioner and as a professional teacher. You should also find that your own continuing professional development progresses, as does your relationship with the learners in your care, and the part you play in the school in which you teach. The chapters contain case studies to help you to apply your knowledge to realistic situations, and each chapter also provides the references used in the chapter. Throughout the book you are encouraged to undertake further reading about each topic covered. This is done by specific references to additional texts and by encouraging you to explore the internet for additional materials and information. You should investigate the topics you are most interested in, using these in order to become better informed both as a teacher and as a learner. Remember: good teachers never stop learning.

Part 1
You as a Learner

2	Becoming a reflective practitioner
3	Academic writing and reading

Chapter 2
Becoming a reflective practitioner

Learning outcomes

By the end of this chapter you will have an understanding of:

• → What reflective practice is and what it is not
• → How to apply models and processes of reflective practice to your professional work
• → How to understand the value and importance of reflective practice
• → How to use feedback from others to enhance your professional practice
• → The need to synthesise information during reflective practice and use to target set and action plan effectively

Introduction

The aim...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Brief contents
• Detailed contents
• Preface
• Guided tour
• About the authors
• Acknowledgements
• Chapter 1 Introduction
• Part 1 You as a Learner
• Chapter 2 Becoming a reflective practitioner
• Chapter 3 Academic writing and reading
• Part 2 Learning and Teaching
• Chapter 4 Every Child Matters: a holistic view of the school
• Chapter 5 Engaging learners
• Chapter 6 Individual needs
• Chapter 7 Raising achievement
• Chapter 8 Planning and preparation
• Chapter 9 Assessment and feedback
• Chapter 10 Behaviour management in the classroom
• Part 3 How Schools Are Organised
• Chapter 11 The mentoring process
• Chapter 12 School structures, leadership and management
• Chapter 13 Collaborative working
• Chapter 14 Personal, Social, Health and Economic education and Citizenship
• Chapter 15 Vocational and work-based learning in the school environment
• Chapter 16 Pastoral care and the role of the form tutor
• Chapter 17 Learning from others
• Chapter 18 Getting a job and keeping it
• Index