A Concise Guide to the Level 3 Award in Education & Training
By Lynn Machin, Duncan Hindmarch, Sandra Murray, Tina Richardson, Fiona HallCritical Publishing Ltd
Copyright © 2016 Lynn Machin, Duncan Hindmarch, Sandra Murray, Tina Richardson and Fiona Hall
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-910391-66-2
Contents
Acknowledgements, ix,
Meet the authors, x,
Preface, xii,
Links to the Education Training Foundation Professional Standards, xiv,
Introduction, 1,
1. Understanding roles, responsibilities and relationships, 8,
2. Understanding inclusive teaching and learning, 24,
3. Facilitating learning and development for individuals, 36,
4. Facilitating learning and development in groups, 49,
5. Principles and practices of assessment, 61,
6. The microteach: using inclusive teaching and learning approaches, 78,
7. Essay writing, 88,
Glossary, 103,
Appendices,
• Appendix 1: Mapping the level 3 AET qualification with the LSIS units, 104,
• Appendix 2: List of useful acronyms, 105,
• Appendix 3: Teaching and learning plan template, 107,
Index, 108,
CHAPTER 1Understanding roles, responsibilities and relationships
INTRODUCTION
As a teacher in FE you will have a variety of roles and responsibilities. Many of them will be the same as those of other teachers who are employed in your organisation or in other FE organisations. However, some may apply specifically to your area of work and/or your contract of employment. Some variance in roles and responsibilities is due to the diversity of the students who enrol in the range of courses that are offered in the FE sector as well as the different types of training and learning organisations in which they are delivered. For example, you could be teaching a group of 14-year-old students who are working towards a qualification that will enhance their employment opportunities (for example, construction, accountancy) or you could be teaching a group of adults who have enrolled on a vocational course in order to pursue a hobby (for example, creative writing, languages). This chapter develops your knowledge of your role and responsibilities as a teacher and how these, along with the policies that guide these, are implemented.
OBJECTIVES
This chapter covers the learning outcomes of the following AET mandatory units (Group A, learning outcomes 1–3, level 3, 3 credits):
1 Understand the teaching role and responsibilities in education and training.
2 Understand ways to maintain a safe and supportive learning environment.
3 Understand the relationships between teachers and other professionals in education and training.
The chapter therefore develops your understanding of the following:
* the teaching role and responsibilities in education and training;
* key aspects of legislation, regulatory requirements and codes of practice;
* equality and diversity;
* maintaining a safe and supportive learning environment;
* identification of individual learner needs;
* working with other professionals;
* behaviour management;
* role boundaries;
* referrals to meet individual needs.
See Table 1 at the front of the book for how this chapter covers aspects of the ETF (2014) standards.
STARTING POINT
* What do you expect your roles to be as a teacher?
* What responsibilities do you expect to have?
THE TEACHING ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING
Although your roles and responsibilities in FE will vary and will depend on any agreement made at the commencement of your employment, there will be many similarities and mandatory requirements whether you are employed full or part time, teaching in a college or other type of FE organisation or teaching on academic or vocational awards.
Roles of a teacher in FE
As a teacher your role will be multifaceted. You need to make the learning enjoyable (this aids motivation) while also enabling all of your learners to develop their knowledge and skills. You will use a variety of strategies to do this which will include some teacher-led (didactic) teaching but this should be kept to a minimum and most strategies will be student-led (eg group work, research). A student-led approach to teaching helps learners to take some responsibility for their own learning.
As a teacher it is important that you:
* understand the scheme/schedule of work;
* understand the assessment criteria;
* design programmes of study;
* carry out initial assessments;
* communicate clearly to others;
* provide a safe learning environment;
* promote appropriate behaviour for learning;
* manage the groups and their learning;
* promote inclusion;
* be knowledgeable in the subject;
* know how to gain additional support for you and your learners;
* be organised;
* carry out summative and formative assessments;
* provide appropriate feedback;
* keep records of progress;
* monitor attendance and punctuality;
* enter learners for examinations.
Responsibilities of a teacher in FE
As a teacher your responsibilities will include:
* adhering to policy and legislation;
* applying policy and legislation;
* ensuring you complete your own continual professional development so that you stay up to date;
* setting and maintaining high standards;
* collaborating with others in the team;
* being dependable, trustworthy and conscientious;
* abiding by any codes of conduct applicable to your sector;
* doing a good job such as differentiating and personalising the learning to meet individual needs;
* keeping accurate records;
* knowing who to refer your learners to for additional support such as in relation to finance.
LEGISLATION AND REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO YOUR ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES
It is the responsibility of the organisation to ensure that you have relevant up-to-date training in relation to appropriate legislation and your job roles and responsibilities. It is, of course, your responsibility to make sure that you attend and/or take the appropriate action to take up the training offered. There is some legislation that will be applicable to all teachers while others will be applicable or more relevant to certain disciplines or sectors. Organisations will have policies in place regarding much of this and will also have a named point of contact. Make sure you adhere to any specific policies or laws relating to your area and ask your line manager or one of your peers if you are unsure. At the beginning of your employment your organisation may arrange an induction (familiarisation) process for you; it is your responsibility to ask for clarification if there is some procedure and/or area of legislation which you are not quite sure about.
Equality and diversity
Up until 2010 any legislation relating to equality, for example race, sex and disability discrimination, was located in individual Acts and reports. Since 2010 all Acts and reports relating to equality can be found within the Equality Act (2010). Within this one Act are several key protected characteristics that are considered significant in order to help to protect individuals from harassment, discrimination or victimisation. These relate to:
* age;
* disability;
* pregnancy or maternity;
* gender reassignment;
* race;
* religion or belief;
* gender;
* sexual orientation.
Much of this legislation is about helping to protect people's human rights. You will also find more specific legislation regarding this in the Human Rights Act (1998). The Equality Act (2010) applies not only to people but also to where they work. For example, organisations need to make sure that their workplace is accessible to all stakeholders and they are expected to make reasonable adjustments, as required, to the premises. More information can be obtained from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) (2015).
The Human Rights Act (1998) covers the rights and freedoms that belong to all people and apply to all members of a fair society. Some of the rights are absolute such as the right of protection from torture while others are limited such as the right to liberty. Some are called qualified rights where the rights of an individual have to be weighed against the needs of society. Equality sits within the Human Rights Act, as does the right to an education.
Data protection
The Data Protection Act (1998) ensures that organisations store any information that they keep about teachers and learners safely. It is your responsibility to ensure that information that you collect is stored securely, is only passed to the relevant people and not shared with others. You must also ensure that you use the information appropriately and not for any other purpose than that for which it was intended when collected. You will have access to a wide range of data (for example, learners' details) and you must think carefully who you share this with.
Health and safety
All training providers must provide a safe learning environment. Of particular importance is the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974), which is the key legislation aimed at keeping you and your learners safe. There have been numerous amendments when the government have become aware of potential hazards within the workplace. If you have any questions make sure that you find out who the designated health and safety representative is and speak with them. If you do have concerns regarding health and safety it is your responsibility to report them either to your line manager or to the designated health and safety representative. Always check organisational policy so you are aware of what relates to you and your students.
Safeguarding and child protection
Child protection comes under the wider umbrella of Safeguarding. Child protection takes two main forms. Firstly, under section 17 of the Children Act (1989) are children 'in need', who are vulnerable because their health or development is likely to be impaired if they do not gain access to additional services. Secondly, under section 47 of the Children Act (1989) are children who are at risk from physical, sexual, or emotional abuse or neglect. Both parts of this legislation are about making sure that children are protected from harm but this legislation can also be applied to vulnerable adults. If you have contact with young and/or vulnerable adults and suspect that any of them are in danger of abuse of any kind then you should speak to the designated safeguarding lead (DSL) at your workplace.
Under the Safeguarding policy you are required to complete a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check if you are likely to come into contact with children and/or vulnerable adults. In addition, who you live with may bar you from successfully gaining your DBS check and honesty is important. Under the Children Act (2004), children are identified as anyone under the age of 18 so you can see some learners in an FE college will still be classed as children in the eyes of the law.
In the current climate, schools, colleges and training establishments are required to consider the 'Prevent Duty', which is outlined in the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act (2015). This is about the responsibilities educational settings have to prevent children and young people from being drawn into terrorism. The Prevent Duty is not about preventing children and young people from having controversial political and religious views but about encouraging them to operate within the law and proceed without developing extremism. Schools and colleges are encouraged to reduce the chances of radicalisation by promoting 'British values' which include valuing democracy, the law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.
Codes of practice
Many organisations have their own codes of practice that employees must adhere to; for example, codes of practice for healthcare workers, police officers, support workers, assessors and, of course, teachers. Most codes of practice focus on ensuring employees are professional and show qualities such as integrity and honesty. There are professional standards for teachers and trainers in the FE sector in England which were updated in 2014 and have been devised by the ETF. See the introduction for further information.
Copyright guidelines
There are guidelines in relation to copying materials, which means that you must acknowledge the source of material for any handouts and lecture material that you use. In addition, you need to follow the guidance relating to how much material you can photocopy from books. You will usually find advice regarding this near the photocopier, often pinned on the wall. At larger organisations there is likely to be a department responsible for reproducing material and they would easily be able to give you additional advice. Scanning chapters from books and putting them onto your organisation's Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) should be avoided unless you have gained permission to do so.
Ofsted
Ofsted is responsible for ensuring educational provision is of a good or excellent standard. The FE sector is inspected regularly to assure the quality of provision. The frequency of inspection depends on the grade given at the last inspection. The grades that an organisation could receive are outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate.
As well as being quality assured by Ofsted your organisation will also have some system for measuring performance such as annual lesson observations. Increasingly the observation process is part of a broader process which gathers evidence of your practice. Learner surveys, learner attendance and attainment are often part of this process. This data is saved and as well as being used for organisational purposes as required is also given to Ofsted during inspections. Ofsted not only look at teaching and learning but currently under the revised guidelines for 2015 (Ofsted, 2015) examine things like the leadership of the setting, behaviour management and the general safeguarding arrangements that are in place as well as the steps being taken to prevent extremism and radicalisation.
Ways to promote equality and value diversity
It is important to promote equality of opportunity as well as valuing the diversity of your learners.
So, in your classes you need to make sure that you treat all learners fairly and give everyone the same chances to participate and you should encourage your learners to do the same for each other.
The organisation should have a policy to explain their expectations of staff and learners in relation to equality and diversity and it is up to you to convey this to your learners through your behaviour as a teacher; in this capacity you need to be a positive role model. You also need to consider equality and diversity in the materials you produce, so ensure your learning resources are free from prejudice and represent people from all walks of life. One of your roles as a teacher is to challenge any unacceptable comments from your learners which they may make because of ignorance or prejudice. What is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour is covered in more detail later in this chapter.
You might want to think about the following ideas to address issues of equality and diversity:
* handouts: consider the colour of the paper and the font size and type (use a sans serif font for clarity); make sure that they are suitable for all your learners (do any learners have dyslexia or are any visually impaired?). Make sure that any illustrations that you use avoid any bias. Try and produce some of your handouts in a format that can easily be adapted by learners to suit their needs or preferences;
* language: use neutral language such as wipe board, they, police officer, avoid jargon, explain technical language clearly, and provide a glossary;
* visual displays: consider the font size, font style and background colour (some learners with dyslexia find it difficult to read fonts on white backgrounds so consider using pale yellow or blue, for example);
* learning environment: adjust the lighting as appropriate, open a window if necessary, avoid clutter;
* Virtual Learning Environment (VLE): ask your line manager about the organisational policy of uploading materials onto the VLE. Some organisations expect teachers to upload materials before each class so that learners can print in the font they prefer or on the colour they prefer.
THE IMPORTANCE OF IDENTIFYING AND MEETING INDIVIDUAL LEARNER NEEDS
Equality is often the driver behind meeting individual needs, and learners with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) are likely to have additional needs. You must make sure that you are aware of these needs and cater for these within the constraints of the organisation and the law. Check if there are any learning support agreements for learners in your classes if you take over an existing group. You also need to make sure that any assessment methods used are appropriate and that praise and encouragement are given to all learners.
(Continues...)Excerpted from A Concise Guide to the Level 3 Award in Education & Training by Lynn Machin, Duncan Hindmarch, Sandra Murray, Tina Richardson, Fiona Hall. Copyright © 2016 Lynn Machin, Duncan Hindmarch, Sandra Murray, Tina Richardson and Fiona Hall. Excerpted by permission of Critical Publishing Ltd.
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