Learners may not want to disclose needs and have a right to expect that personal information is kept confidentially and not discussed with others, unless permission has been given. I must respect learners’ right to refuse to divulge sensitive information.
Another responsibility for me is to plan and design a course, which meets the needs of my learners and requirements of the course. I will be dealing with course length, session length, size of a group, syllabus, teaching methods, resources, assessment and environment.
“Each learner is unique and has individual needs. If the needs of our learners are discovered and met, the chances of success are greatly increased" (Petty 2004:496)
All session plans will be based on the needs of the learner(s) and of the syllabus requirements, with aims and objectives for each lesson, considering what needs to be taught, how, and what resources will be used if available; (projectors, dry-wipe boards, hand-outs such as large print, or have them printed on coloured paper) and activities (quizzes, practicals). Gravells suggested, “When teaching to groups, you should enable all individuals to play a part in their learning” (Gravells 2008, p39). If it is a new course with new learners who have never met you before, we may want to start with an icebreaker activity, to encourage collaborative learning.
I should be aware of the requirements of the awarding body, health and safety and not plan for resources that are too expensive or not available (remember, in some organisations you may have to book them).
Now, it’s time to do it! Make sure I have clear aims and objectives and must remain professional at all times. “You will have professional boundaries within which to work and it’s important not to overstep these”. (Gravells, 2010: 11) I will have primarily planned a scheme of work for the course, and session plans for each lesson outlining my objectives, resources and activities, the gaining of my students’ trust and keeping them motivated, as is, the evaluating of each session’s aims and objectives to make sure they are meaningful and applicable to the students.
I will keep a professional distance and will not become over friendly with my learners.
Now it’s time to ensure my learners have learnt the necessary skills and knowledge. I will use two key types of assessment:
Formative; is generally carried out throughout a course or project. In an educational setting, formative assessment might be a teacher (or peer) or the learner, providing feedback on a student's work, and would not necessarily be used for grading purposes. Formative assessments are diagnostic.
Summative; is generally carried out at the end of a course or project. In an educational setting, summative assessments are typically used to assign students a course grade. Summative assessments are evaluative.
Researcher Robert Stake explains the difference:
“When the cook tastes the soup, that's formative. When the guests taste the soup, that's summative”
My main aim will be not set learners up to fail.
Last I will obtain feedback from the learners and evaluating in order to modify or make changes in the future. The evaluation phase makes you think about the positive as well as areas for improvement. You ask your self a question, “What are my and my learners’ opinions of this course” and “How could it be made better next time?”
I will make sure new changes are in accordance with awarding body or organisational policy and benefit the majority of learners.
Bibliography
Geoff Petty. Teaching Today. (2004). Publisher: Nelson Thomas Ltd.
Ann Gravel. Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector. (2008). Publisher: Learning Matters; 3 edition.
Teaching Training Cycle Stage 1. Available:
Learning styles. Available: