The Nature of the Teaching

Profession

Chapter 6
Devices
 Channel Setting Instructions for ResponseCard RF
1. Press and release the "GO" button.
2. While the light is flashing red and green, enter the 2 digit
channel code (ie. channel 1 = 01, channel 21 = 21).
Channel is 41
3. After the second digit is entered, Press and release the "GO"
button.
4. Press and release the "1/A" button. The light should flash
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Effective Teachers are…

1. Made
2. Born
Beyond knowledge of self…knowledge of
why you are teaching:
 A well developed educational philosophy

 Unpacking your deeply held assumptions

about: what is education, the nature of the
learner, what subjects are most important,
the role of schools in society
Pedagogical Content Knowledge

 Knowledge of the organization and

presentation of subject matter in a way that
makes it understandable to and applicable by
others
 Teachers are able to “psychologize” the
subject matter for students. (Dewey)
 Scaffolding from the known to the unknown
(Vygotsky)
Knowledge about how Students Learn and
Grow
 Educational psychology studies how students
develop physically, socially, and cognitively
 Our conceptions of ourselves and of others
develop in a unique way as we interact with
our world…who we think we are, who we
think others are, and what we think is the
purpose of being here
Good Teachers Through History

 Greece:

 Socrates
 Plato
 Aristotle
 The Sophists
Good Teachers Through History

 Rome
 Quintillian

 Europe
 Erasmus
 Comenius
 Montessori
United States: A Diverse Universe of
Examples
 Elizabeth Palmer Peabody
 Mary McCleod Bethune
 Leonard Covello
 Louise Hikel Butterfield
 Jonathan Kozol
 P’ikea Miyamoto
 Donna Graham Harris
 Parker Palmer
Teaching Terminology

 Methodology
 Discipline
 Pedagogy
Knowledge of Curricular Content

 No Child Left Behind Act defines a “highly

qualified teacher” as: holds at least a
bachelor’s degree, full state licensure, subject
area competence, has passed rigorous state
tests in the subject(s) s/he is teaching
The Knowledge Base of Effective
Teachers
 Culturally responsive teachers: 1. believe all
students can achieve and succeed, 2. build a
community of learners, 3. build connections
to families and the community, 4.are
continual learners, 5. vary instructional
methods, 6.know their students, 7. are
introspective and reflective
Good teachers have

 Pedagogical skill to implement teaching

strategies…and pedagogical content knowledge
 Reflective skills to analyze and act of teacher-
generated data
 Communication and collaboration skills to build
relationships
 Management skills to arrange successful learning
environments
 Technological skills
The attitudes and Dispositions of
Effective Teachers
 Star teachers tend to be nonjudgmental, are
not moralistic, not easily shocked, truly listen,
recognize their own weaknesses, don’t see
themselves as “saviors”, network, see
themselves as “winning”, enjoy their
interactions with kids, see their primary
impact as raising kids self esteem and
helping them be more humane, derive
satisfaction of lots of needs teaching
kids…but not power needs
Teaching as a Profession

 Theoretical Framework
 Methodology supported by research
 Lifelong learners
 Social Institutions
 Certification and Accreditation
It is most important that a teacher has high
levels of
1. Knowledge that
s/he is teaching the
students
2. Skills in teaching
the subject to the
students
3. Positive
dispositions,
values, attitudes
Effective Teachers Employ These Tools

 Structure and Clarity

 Motivation
 High Expectations
 Questioning
Styles of Teaching on Ends of a Spectrum

 Authoritarian – characterized by:

 Teacher-Centered
 Traditional Structures
 Rules-Based
 Transmission of Knowledge
 Centrality of Teacher Knowledge
Styles of Teaching on Ends of a Spectrum

 Constructivist, characterized by:

 Student-Centered
 Democratic, egalitarian ideals
 Student experience of learning
 Teacher as Learner who Models
Styles of Teaching and Management

 Constructivism…Alfie Kohn
 We punish and reward too much. Student
learning should be motivation in its own right.

 Behaviorism…Assertive Discipline….Lee and

Marlene Canter. Use of rewards and
punishments.
My most effective teachers were….

1. Authoritarian
2. Constructivist
3. Somewhere in the
middle
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Authoritarian Constructivist Somewhere in the ...

Academic Learning Time

 This concept is dynamically intertwined with

styles of teaching. It has to do with
curriculum (more on that later), but also how
a teacher thinks about using time available.

 Allocated Time
 Engaged Time
 Academic Learning Time
Classroom Management

 A direct function of teaching style

 Group alerting
 “withitness”
 Overlapping
 Least intervention
 fragmentation
The Pedagogical Cycle

 What is the set of actions, responses,

communications that define activity in the
classroom?

 1. Structure
 2. Question
 3. Response
 4. React
Academic Structure as a Goal:

 Objectives
 Review
 Motivation
 Transition
 Clarification
 Scaffolding
 Examples
 Directions
 Enthusiasm
 Closure
Questions and Effective Teaching

 Learning to Question well is part art, and part

skill:

 Lower order questions – factual, naming, etc.

 Higher-order questions – evaluate, analyze,
compare, solve a problem….
Bloom’s Taxonomy:

 Knowledge
 Comprehension
 Application
 Analysis
 Synthesis
 Evaluation
NBTS Description of Effective Teachers

 Committed to students and their learning

 Know their subject matter and subject matter
pedagogy
 Responsible for managing and monitoring
student learning
 Teachers think systematically about their
practice and learn from experience
 Teachers are members of learning
communities
Stages of Teacher Development

 1. Survival
 2. Consolidation
 3. Renewal
 4. Maturity
Knowledge about the Community

 Connecting students to the outside world

requires that teachers know their students’
community
 Eating in the community, living in the
community, reading local community papers,
talking with community members, going to
meetings of the community
At present, my most developed teaching
tools are:
1. Content knowledge
2. Pedagogical skills
3. Reflective skills
4. Communication
skills
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6. Positive attitude

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Reflective teachers

 Open-minded
 Wholehearted
 Responsible
 An ethic of caring relationships
 Learning communities
It’s most important for me to build

1. Pedagogical skill
2. An ethic of caring
3. An educational 0%
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4. Reflective practice
5. Pedagogical
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