ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CURRICULUM
PROVIDING FOR EFFECTIVE TEACHING
CHAPTER I
PROVIDING FOR EFFECTIVE TEACHING
Introduction
Curriculum development processes as they have been describe so far in
this book are essential resources in helping schools achieve their goals.
Quality teaching is achieved not only as a consequence of how well teachers
teach but through creating context and work environments that can facilitate
good teaching. The following issues will be considered:
The Institution
The Organizational
Culture
The organizational culture of a school refers to
the ethos and environment that exist within a school, the kinds of
communications and decision and making that take place, and the management and
staffing structure they support. Davidson and Tesh suggest that most language
programs have features of both of the organic and the mechanistic models,
depending on the size of the program and the type of staff working in it. With
a large program staffed by experienced and mature professionals, a more organic
approach is likely. With smaller programs or programs dependent on less
experienced staff, a more mechanistic approach may be needed.
Quality indicators in an institution
Language teaching institutions vary greatly in
terms of how they view their educational mission. Some school take seriously
the development of a sound curriculum and set of programs, hire the best
available teachers. The following characteristics are indicators of the quality
of a schoolm or educational instituation (Morris 1994):
1. There are clearly stated
educational goals.
2. There is a well-planned,
balanced, and organized program that meets the needs of its students.
3. Systematic and
identifiable processes exist for determining educational needs in the school
and placing them in order of priority.
4. There is a commitment to
learning, and an expectation that students will do well.
5. There is a high degree of
staff involvement in developing goals and making decision.
6. There is a motivated and
cohesive teaching force with good team spirit.
7. Administrators are
concerned with the teachers’ professional developmentand are able to make the
best use of their skills and experience.
8. The school’s programs are
regulary reviewed and progress toward their goals is evaluated.
Not all schools embrace a philosophy of quality,
however. Some may be viewed by their owners as little more than business
opportunities.
The key dimensions quality and how quality can
become a focus in a school or language program.
A. A sense of mission
B. A strategic plan, such as:
C. Quality assurance mechanisms
D. A sound curriculum
E. Flexible organizational framework
F. Good internal communications
G. Professional treatment of teachers
H. Opportunities for teacher development
The Teaching Context
The last set of factors that affect the quality
of teaching in a program relate to the instituation context in which teachers
work.
Size and staff
structure
The size of a school and its
administrative structure influnces many aspects of a teachers work. Working in
an institute with a staff of five teachers is very different from working in
one with a staff of one hundread. In the former case, the teachers are likely
to be a closely knit team was members know each other well. The administration
will also need to develop mechanisms for communicating with such a large group
of teachers.
Equipment
Schools very greatly in the amount they
have invested in equipment and technology. Some schools make extensive
investments in such things as computers, cassette and CD players, video
recorders, overhead transparency (OHT) machines, and photocopiers, recognizing
that these are essensial tools for teachers and can have a positive effect on
teaching, staff workload, and morale. Where such investment is lacking, there
may be a negative impact on teachers workload.
Support Staff
Adequate support staff can also
facilitate teachers work.
Teacher Work
Space
One way of determining how seriously a
school regards its teacher and the work they do is the work space it provides
for its teachers.
Teachers
Resource Room
Teacher need access to a good range of
current ESL textbooks, resource books, materials, and megazines located.
Teaching
Facilities
Where does teaching take place and how
adequate are teaching facilities, and what impact do these facilities have on
the quality of the program.
Class Size
The optimal class-size needs for each
type of course should be astablished based on teacher, learner, and school
factors, and when needed the reasons for standard seet need to be explained to
cliens.
The Teachers
Good teachers can often compensate for
defecienies in the curriculum, the materials, or the resources they make use of
in their teaching.
Skills and
Qualifications
Language teaching institutions vary greatly in
the type of teachers they employ. According to Lortie (1975) a profession is
characterised by :
A homogeneous consensual knowledge base
Restricted entry
High social status
Self-regulation
The legal right to govern daily work affairs
Although Lortie argues that many branches of teaching cannot be classed
as a profession by these criteria. Core components of teacher knowledge include
the following:
Focuses on six areas of basic teaching skills:
Opportunities to develop these skills can be provided in the following
ways:
-
Observation of experienced teachers
-
Observation of training videos
-
Short theory courses
-
Practice teaching under the supervision of experienced teachers
-
Working with a mentor teacher
Support for Teachers
If teachers are expected to teach well and to
develop their teaching skills and knowledge over time, they need ongoing
supportt. Yhis may take a number of form:
Orientation
New teacher need a careful orientation to teaching
asssigment in order to clarify the goals of the program, teaching approaches,
resources, problems to participate, and solutions. New teachers needb to feel
that they are valued and their concerns appreciated and responded to.
Adequate
Materials
Teachers need good materials to each from
either in the form of commercial textbooks or institutionally prepared
materials. Teachers need to be involved in the choice of materials and
guidelines may be needed on the role of materials in the program.
Course Guides
Should be provided for each course
offered in the program with information on the course,aims and objectives,
recommended materials and methods, suggested learning activities and procedures
for assessment
Division of
Responsibilities
Deciding which members of a team are best
suited to different tasks and providing the support and training needed for
specific roles is important. If a senior teachers responsibilities include
writing progress reports on other teachers perfomance, training may be needed
in how to prepare useful reports.
Further
Training
Teacher is institution may not always
have the particular knowledge and skills a program needs, so it may be
important to select staff for specialized training to meet these needs.
Teaching
Release
If teachers areexpected to play a key
role in some aspect of the program such as mateials development or mentoring,
they may need to be given release tome from teaching to enable them to devote
time to this.
Mentors
Is often helpful in a school where there
are teachers of different levels of experience and training. The role of a
mentor is to give teachers, particularly less experienced teachers, someone
with whom they can sound off ideas, share problems, and get advice.
Feedback
Good teaching sometimes goes unnoticed.
In the case of negative feedback, ways need to be found for providing
constructive and non thretening feedback. Feedback can be face to face, in
writing, or on the telephone, depending on the kind of feedback it is.
Rewards
Teachers who perform well should receive
acknowledgment for good service.
Help lines
Teachers should know exactly whom to for
help in solving different kinds of problems.
Review
Time should be allocated for regular
review of the program, problem solving and critical reflection.
The teaching
process
Focused on teaching practice that occur
within a program, how these can be characterized, and how quality teaching can
be achieved and maintained.
Teaching model
and principles
In the case of the problem solver model,
a decentralized curriculum gives teachers greater autonomy in making
educational decisions. In planning the kind of teaching that will characterized
a language course, it is necessary to develop a model of teaching that is
compatible with the overall assumptions and ideology of the curriculum and of
the language program.
Teaching
models are often based on particular methods or approaches. For examples
:
·
The communicative approach
·
The cooperative learning model
·
The process approach
·
The whole-language approach
Philosophy supporting a secondary school
EFL english program :
·
There is consistent on learning english
·
Practical tasks
·
Realistic and communicative use language
·
Focused and fluency focused activity
·
Teachers serve as a facilitators
·
Assesment procedures reflect and support and skills
based orientation teaching and learning
Articulating a teaching philosophy in
this way can help clarify decisions relating to choice of classroom
activities,materials, and teacher evaluation. Greater awareness of what these
are on the part of designer or curriculum planner, indeed, the teachers them
selves, will facilitate harmony between a particular innovation and the
teachers enacted interpretation of it in the classroom.
Maintaining good
teaching
It result from an active on going effort on the part of teachers and
administration to ensure that good teaching practices are being mainted. This
involves the estabilishment of shared commitmentof shared commitment to quality
teaching and the selection of appropriate measures to bring it about and the
following are strategies that address issues.
Monitoring
Monitoring can take place through formal and informal mechanism such as
group meetings, written report, classroom visit, and students evaluations (this
is also known as ‘formative evaluation’.
Observation
Regular observation of teachers by other teachers or supervisors can
provide postife feedback on teaching as well as help identify areas the might
need attention. Observation may, uy need not, involve evaluation. Observation
can also be used to enable teachers to share approaches and teaching
strategies. Teacher can also make use of self observation through audio or
video recording their lessons and reviewing the recording to see what it tells
them about their teaching.
Identification
and resultion of problem
Identification of problem in a program is essential to ensure that small
problems to do not develop into bigger ones. Good communication system can be
help ensure that problem are brought to the attention of teachers or
supervisors for timely resolution.
Shared planning
One way to avoid this is to build in opportunities for collaborative
planning, as when teachers work together in pairs or groups on course
planning,materials development, and lesson planning. During the process of
planning, potential problems can often be identified and resolved.
Documentation and
sharing of good practices
A great ideal of excellent teaching goes on in schools, but much of it
is known only to individual teachers or
supervisor. Teachers should be encouraged to report on their positive teaching
experiences.
Davidson and test
1997, 190give the following examples:
1.
The teacher has
given a presentation at a professional conference and can adapt that
presentation for an in service
2.
The teachers has
attended a professional conference or workshop and can share what was learned
3.
The teachers has
read a current publication in the field and can tell colleagues about it
4.
The teacher has a
practical teaching strategy to share
5.
The teacher has
develop audio, video, or written materials relevant to the language program
curriculum and can provide a demonstration
6.
The teachers has
used the textbooks on the booklist for the coming semester and can share ideas
about what works and what does not work.
7.
The teacher would
like to lead a discussion concering a particular curricular or program issue
Self-study of the
program
Involves a study of a program’s practices and values as part of the
process of self evaluation and review. Its part of the process of demostrarting a commitment to quality and
long-term goals professional development. Bye undertaking self-study a language
program declares it-self interested in the assessment of its quality and the
outcome of its teaching mission, and commitment to long term change and
professional growth.
Evaluating
teaching
This involves the development of an appraisal system. An appraisal system
may have several different purposes:
1.
To toward
teachers for good performance
2.
To help identify
needs for futher training
3.
To help identify
need for continuous development
4.
To help improve
teaching
5.
To provide a
basis for contract renewal and promotion
6.
To demonstrate an
interest in teachers’ performance and development
The purpose of
appraisal will determine the type of appraisal that is carried out.
Developing the appraisal
system
An appraisal system is likely to have greater credibilityif it represents
both teachers and administration views. It should therefore be produced
collabolaratively and represent all pointof view. Any appraisal system needs to
recoignize that three is no single correct way of teaching. In language
teaching there are no universally accepted criteria fo assessing teacher
effectiveness and several different kind of appraisal approaches are used.
The focus of
appraisal
Although appraisal usually involved observation of a teacher teaching one
or more classes, the focus of appraisal may include a number of other aspects
of a teachers work such as:
1.
Lesson plans
2.
Teacher made
classroom materials
3.
Course outlines
and handous
4.
Calss assigments
5.
Participantion in
proffesion development activities
Conducting the
appraisal
A teaching appraisal may be carried out by a supervisor, a colleague, the
teacher himself or herself or students
1.
Appraisal by a
supervisor
2.
Appraisal by a
collegue
3.
Self-appraisal
4.
Lesson reports
5.
Teaching journal
6.
Audio/ video
recording
7.
Students
appraisal
The learning
process
Learning is not mirror image of teaching. The extent to which teaching
achieves its goals will also dependent on how successfully learners have been
considered in the planning and delivery process. The following factors may
affect how successfully a course is received by learners.
Understanding of
the course
It is important to ensure that learners understand the goals of the
course, the reason for the way it is organizes and taught, and the approaches
to learning they will be encouraged to take. It cannot be simply assumed that
learners will be positively disposed
toward of course, will have appropriate skill the course demands,or will share
the teachers understanding of what the goals of the course are . Briefly (1984,
95)
Views of learning
Learners enter a course with their own viewa of teaching and learning and
these may not be identical to those of their teachers. Alcorso and Kalanzis
(1985) found that the teachers rated the usefulness of communicative actives
highly, whereas their learners tended to favour more traditional activeies such
as grammar exercise, copying written materials, memorizing and drill work.
Courses may
assume a variety of different learner roles, such as:
1.
Manager of this
or her own learning
2.
Independent
learner
3.
Need analysis
4.
Collaborator and
team member
5.
Peer tutor
Learning styles
Language learning style may be an important factor in the success of
teaching and may not necessarily reflect those that teachers recommended. In a
study of learning style of adult ESL students.
Four different
learner types in the population:
1.
Concrete learners
2.
Analytical
learners
3.
Communicative
learners
4.
Authory-oriented
learners
Motivation
It is also important to find out what the learners motivations are for
taking the course. For example Briendly (1984,119) cities the following
preferences for three learners in an adul ESL cities in Australia to show how
individual learners choices differ markedly. In such cases, counselling and
individualized instructions may be reeded.
Support
Support mechanism provided for learners are another components of course
delivery. These include the kinds of feedback learners get about their learning
and opportunities that are provided for faster or slower learners. Self-acces
components might be provided to allow learners to address specific learning
needs and interest.One resource from among the many that have been considered
in this and earlier chapters plays a key role in influencing the nature and
quality of course irganizatio and teaching in a language program : the
instructional material and resources that teachers use in the classroom.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar