PERSONAL GUIDELINES FOR TEACHING

To help you to answer this question, think of any good teacher who has taught you.  This may be someone who taught you in Primary or Secondary school or an RTC i.e. a formal teacher whose job it is to be a teacher.  Or it may be someone who taught you important things outside school such as a relative or friend i.e. an informal teacher, who teaches people but who does not work as a teacher.  You do not need to name them.

                                                                                              
Answer the following:

1. Was he/she a formal or informal teacher?

2. What kind of teacher (primary/secondary/RTC), or what relationship did they have with you?

3.  What kind of things did they teach you?

4. List as many points as you can about what made them a good teacher.  You may think of the way they taught, their character or their relationship with you.  What made you want to learn?

 

 

Think of any formal teacher whom you thought was a poor teacher - someone from whom you learnt very little.

1. List anything about them which made them a poor teacher.

2. What effect did their teaching have on you?

Observe any teachers teaching at St. Dominic’s.

1. List good points about their teaching.

2. List problems with their teaching, if any.

Note: Remember you are a guest at St. Dominic’s, so you must always be courteous when you are observing and teaching there. Any comments or criticisms you make should be general ones rather than personal criticisms of individual teachers

From these discussions draw up some personal guidelines for you as a teacher:

1. Things I should try to do as a teacher.

2. Things I should avoid as a teacher.

Remember we all teach differently and there are many different kinds of good teachers, so your list may not be the same as other people’s.

Read summary sheet B1, Some characteristics of good teachers.

Choose any traditional skill or knowledge from your home area which is not part of the normal teaching at St. Dominic’s, and which you can teach in about 10 – 15 minutes.

Prepare a lesson to teach this skill to a group of St. Dominic’s students or your fellow students. As you prepare, make a note of the things you have to do to prepare a lesson.

Teach the lesson and watch other people teaching their lessons.

After all the lessons have been taught, discuss the following in groups of 4 - 5:

a. The good points you observed in these lessons. What teaching ideas from these lessons do you think you should try to use in your teaching?

b. Any things in these lessons which you think you should avoid when teaching.

c. Some of you may have taught a skill like weaving a mat. Others may have taught some knowledge or content such as how to navigate a canoe. What are the main differences between teaching content lessons and teaching skills? Write two columns:

Teaching skills Teaching content

List the differences between teaching a skill and teaching content, thinking about the following:

i. What are the best methods of teaching it: through talking and telling, writing notes, demonstration, or practical exercises?

ii. How will students best learn and remember what you taught them: by watching, doing, listening, writing notes or reading?

iii. How could you test what the students have learnt: by watching them doing it? in writing? through questions?

d. Solomon Islands teachers of practical subjects commonly separate what they call theory lessons in the classroom from practical lessons in the workshop. Which do you think is best:

• to teach the theory behind a skill before teaching the skill;

• to start with the skill and then discuss the theory later;

• to teach theory and practical at the same time?

Suggest the advantages and disadvantages of each method.

Each group should appoint a secretary in advance.

Secretaries to report back on the ideas of the group.

Read summary sheets B2, Preparing a lesson and B3, Teaching content and skills.