A Student Teacher's Guide to Primary School Placement

Learning to Survive and Prosper

Denis Hayes

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2003
• ISBN:
  9781134444113
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

School experience is the most significant part of learning to be a teacher. It can also be the most confusing, stressful and challenging. Initially, it can be very daunting to walk into someone else's classroom and try to prepare and teach effective lessons to someone else's class.
It helps to have a clear idea of what to expect and to know how other people have coped, and in this book, Denis Hayes looks at what life is like for the student-teacher in the classroom. With plenty of down-to-earth and practical advice, he offers strategies for dealing with challenging situations and positive encouragement to help them succeed. The book covers four main areas:

• principles - summarises the fundamentals of successful teaching
• placement - provides detailed advice about preparing for, and prospering in, school placements, including case studies of trainee teachers' experiences
• practice - looks at practical issues in the classroom, including lesson planning, teaching skills, assessment and evaluation, and managing the classroom environment
• progress - covers applying for jobs and interview strategies, with newly qualified teachers talking about how they managed in their first few months.
  This text will be invaluable to anyone training to be a primary teacher and about to embark on his or her teaching experience. It will also be a useful resource for teacher mentors and course leaders of BEd, BA (Ed) and PGCE programmes.

PART 1: Principles

CHAPTER 1: Learning to be a teacher

The expectations that society holds of teachers are high and extensive. The general public insists that they set a good example and behave professionally. Head teachers and governors are anxious that they should improve test results as this is one of the main factors taken into account when judging the school’s success. Parents are interested in the way their children are treated, whether they are happy and what they achieve. Prospective parents may select a school on the basis of its national ratings in performance tables. Children expect teachers to maintain order and give them interesting and occasionally exciting work to do. Much is therefore expected of teachers and their sphere of accountability is wide (see Figure 1.1).

At the start of your training course it is possible to imagine that being a teacher is principally about the delivery of a curriculum to a passive audience of eager children, who are waiting on your every word. In fact, although imparting information is very important, it is only part of providing a broad education for children. A full education will incorporate a range of practical and social skills, and will promote in children an appetite for learning, the ability to get along with other people, independence in thinking and confidence to act appropriately. A head full of knowledge is useful but of little value if it cannot be utilized.

Figure 1.1 Expectations made of teachers

All trainee teachers have to spend a lot of their time on school placement to gain experience of teaching and to become familiar with the teacher’s wider role outside the classroom. These additional responsibilities include the need to collaborate with colleagues and carry out regular duties such as taking the register, helping with playground patrols and completing pupil records. Being a good classroom practitioner, though of central importance, is not the only task of a teacher in twenty-first century schools. As well as in-school duties, there are numerous external agencies (e.g. social services) to which teachers must relate and with whom they are required to cooperate.

It is important to become familiar with the many different things that you need to do as a teacher, and there is certainly no shortage of them (see TTA 2002a). For instance, you need to have a grasp of the areas of the curriculum that must be covered for each year group during each term and what children ought to be learning while they are at a particular stage of their schooling. You also need to know about different forms of assessment, formal testing and target setting that take place in school. There will be records to keep about children’s progress and decisions to make about what information to write down and what to store in your head. However, in the process of ‘doing’ it is important to bear in mind why you are doing it. For instance, classroom activities are not just to keep children occupied, they are to help them to understand better or gain an opportunity to practise skills and clarify issues. Similarly, keeping records of children’s progress is not for the purpose of proving that you are capable of writing something down but to assist in shaping future lessons for helping children to learn more effectively and for transmitting information to colleagues and parents.

Whatever else teaching may be, it is rarely tedious! Even teachers who deal successfully with the variety of learning and emotional needs that exist within every group of children are hard-pressed to cope with the many other demands that the job requires outside the classroom. The fact that so many do so is testament to the commitment and dedication that the vast majority of the profession exhibit, day in day out. Hargreaves and Fullan (1998) identify an important point when they argue that keeping the flames of passion alive in teaching is a challenge for all teachers and yet, amazingly, so many teachers succeed in doing exactly this.

Most people can think back to teachers they had when they were pupils, some who made learning exciting, some that were fun to be with and others who were uninspiring. Perhaps certain teachers transformed their lives, or damaged them. Others may have given them a love for a subject, or destroyed any semblance of interest they had in it. One way and another, teachers make a difference to children’s lives, but it is hard to understand the mysterious way in which the various ingredients of character, knowledge, teaching skills and relationships combine within a particular school context to produce an effective teacher and motivated learner. Engaging with these elements is a key component of the stimulating prospect that lies ahead for every aspiring practitioner.

Qualifying as a teacher

Students working towards Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) whether undergraduates or postgraduates, are normally referred to as ‘trainee teachers’ or ‘trainees’ in government literature. Other documentation often uses the term ‘student teacher’ to emphasize the importance of viewing the pre-service time as an educational endeavour rather than a rigid apprenticeship. However, for simplicity, the term ‘trainee teacher’ or ‘trainee’ will be used throughout the remainder of the book.

Learning to be a teacher is a lengthy and involved process. The first stage involves training at pre-service level to reach the point where you are sufficiently competent to be ‘let loose’ on a class of children by yourself. For people taking a PGCE, this process has to be completed within ten months and provides a considerable but not unattainable challenge. Even by the end of the training course, however, there is a lot more learning to be done when you are a qualified teacher with a class of your own. Qualified teachers are now expected to be active in plotting their career and enhancing their skills and expertise. This development process is referred to as continuing professional development (CPD).

It is important to note that the best teachers are invariably thinking people who constantly evaluate their teaching and try to improve their effectiveness. Regardless of the route they take every trainee teacher must reach a minimum standard of competence before being awarded qualified teacher status. Studies show that the majority of trainees are motivated by similar factors, including:

• The satisfaction that is gained from working with children
• The prospect of making a real contribution to the development of young minds
• The pleasure of working in a classroom and school environment
• The job security that teaching offers.

A large element of motivation is rooted in altruistic factors. That is, people want to be teachers because they feel that it is a useful and worthwhile way to spend their time and make a positive contribution to the well-being of society. This does not mean that good working conditions, a decent salary and opportunities for promotion are not important. It is simply saying that nothing can compensate for the satisfaction that comes from doing a job that makes a significant difference to children’s lives. An old slogan about teaching – No-one forgets a good teacher – has the ring of truth about it, though it is worth remembering that no-one forgets a poor one, either!

During your pre-service training there may be occasions when you wonder whether it is worthwhile. You may be discouraged by what seems like a never-ending pile of documentation, requirements and expectations. You may well say to yourself that I did not come into teaching for this, I came to teach children. At such times, it is essential that you hold on to your beliefs about education, for it is possible to concentrate so hard on ‘doing the course’ that you forget exactly why you decided to become a teacher in the first place. You won’t go far wrong if you learn to trust your tutors, assist your fellow travellers and steadfastly remain as positive as you can, even when it feels as if you are wading through treacle.

Comment

Spear et al. (2000, p. 52) carried out a study into motivation for teaching. A comparison of fifteen studies about teachers’ job satisfaction found that the following were relevant (the most significant are listed first):

• Working with children
• Good relationships with colleagues
• Development of warm personal relationships with pupils
• Intellectual challenge/use of subject knowledge
• Autonomy/independence
• Opportunities to be creative or innovative
• School organization and management
• Pupils’ achievements and progress
• Additional roles and responsibilities held
• Job security
• Career prospects, pay and conditions
• Long holidays

As you grapple with the challenges to develop and improve your practice, the four issues explored below will act as a guide in your quest for effectiveness:

• Your attitude to life
• Your view of learning
• Your personality and presence
• Your teaching approach.

Your attitude to life

All practitioners bring with them a lifetime of different experiences that impact upon the way that they behave and respond in the classroom. For example, some people are naturally cheerful and easy-going, while others are more tentative and hesitant; some people are tolerant, others tend to be irritable. However, it is important to bear in mind that host teachers on a school placement make rapid decisions about trainees based upon their responsiveness, willingness to co-operate and personality. Impressions are therefore important and can be enhanced by the following:

Take a positive view of life

A cheerful person with an optimistic attitude is more likely to attract and inspire others. Trainee teachers who see the worst side of everything that happens need to change their outlook. There are enough pressures on teachers already without them having to put up with a miserable student. All teachers need to let off steam occasionally and express their disappointment and frustration, but this is different from being constantly pessimistic and aggrieved about trivial things rather than buckling down and doing something about it. Dickens wrote about Scrooge in A Christmas Carol that ‘he carried his own low temperature about with him’. Burn brightly instead!

Speak openly yet courteously

One important aspect of being confident and assertive (as opposed to arrogant and self-opinionated) is to feel at liberty to speak openly but to do so with humility. This does not mean that trainees should bite their tongues and say nothing. On the contrary, the more you can articulate your ideas plainly and openly, the better impression you will create. However, it is essential to get a full picture of the situation first, think carefully about the implications and ask questions to clarify the position before offering a firm opinion. It may surprise you to know that one of the reasons that teachers enjoy having trainees is to gain a fresh perspective on classroom life and hear their well-considered viewpoints.

Suspend judgement

You may feel uncertain about the suggestions that teachers and tutors make to you and their sense of priorities. Before jumping to conclusions, however, it pays to find out about the way a school operates, why things are done in a particular way and the constraints under which they are operating. There are many aspects of school life dictated by external pressures that may not be immediately obvious to a newcomer. It usually takes a week or two before these underlying factors become more apparent. Only then should you begin to make serious judgements.

Learn from others

Teachers are always pleased when trainees show a genuine interest in what they say and make every effort to respond wholeheartedly. It is sensible to get into the habit of telling the teacher that a particular suggestion that she or he has made has been helpful (assuming it has been). If you are uncertain about the appropriateness of the advice, simply say that you will need time to absorb what has been said and think about its practical implications. Continue the discussion when, and only when, you have reflected on the issues. Do not ignore the advice, or the teacher/tutor may conclude that you are being dismissive of their views.

Use time productively

Productive time necessitates being punctual, meeting deadlines and taking care to get your priorities well ordered. It is essential to gain a reputation as someone who can be relied upon to get a job done efficiently and on time. For instance, lessons need to be prepared thoroughly and resources organized in advance. During the times when you are not directly involved in teaching, there are always plenty of tasks awaiting attention, so make good use of every spare moment. Develop a ‘do it now’ mentality, rather than ‘it can wait’.

Take an interest in the welfare of others

As a trainee teacher you may feel that you are the only person under pressure and with too much to do. This is far from true! Teachers, mentors and tutors are all grappling with a variety of demands, some of which are emotionally draining, some of which are intellectually stretching. Your sympathetic ear and caring attitude can make a big difference to the way they feel about themselves and carry out their responsibilities.

Value the children

Valuing children means accepting them as they are, while striving to help them become mature and fulfil their potential. The great majority of people who work in primary school do so because they enjoy being with children, most of whom are responsive and eager to learn. Of course, even co-operative children sometimes test your patience, but the worst behaved child has some redeeming features. Many children who fail to conform or exhibit anti-social behaviour have been poorly parented and need someone like you to be a good steady role model. Make every effort to convey the fact that you consider every child to be special.

Value support staff

Teachers get paid a lot more than the support staff, many of whom are extremely capable and conscientious. If you make up your mind to treat everyone with the utmost courtesy and be cordial towards them, regardless of status, you will always have allies in school. Many assistants willingly give their time over and above their hours, but it is important not to take what they do for granted or to be patronizing. Quite reasonably, they ask only to be informed about what is happening and included in decisions where it affects their working lives.

Value parents

To you as a teacher, parents can be a great source of strength or a thorn in your side. If you make up your mind to be pleasant, communicative and realistically positive about their offspring, you can expect them to respond in like manner. A cheery hello and a bright smile as you pass them helps to seal your relationship and create a good impression. It can be a bit frightening at first to talk to parents about their children in case you say the wrong thing or upset them, but this fear is greatly reduced once you see them as partners rather than predators.

Comment

Woods and Jeffrey (1996, p. 72) explore the real heart of effective teaching:

Teaching is a matter of communicating and connecting, through the emotions, through care, trust, respect, rapport. It features a great deal of fun, excitement and enthusiasm.

Your view of learning

Trainee teachers do not initially make a significant difference to the learning environment of the classrooms within which they are placed, but over time their impact becomes increasingly important and influential. There are at least seven ways in which you can contribute helpfully:

1. Promote purposeful learning. This aim is largely accomplished by having a positive attitude to your work, being well prepared for lessons, looking smart and efficient, and adopting a strongly affirmative approach in the classroom and around the school. If you remain well focused on the task in hand and upbeat about learning, the children will respond appropriately. Then watch things sparkle!
2. Speak warmly to children whenever possible. Some children are ...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Figures
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Part 1: Principles
• Part 2: Placement
• Part 3: Practice
• Part 4: Progress