Nature of Teaching and Teaching as a Profession

[2012]

The Nature of Teaching

In its broadest sense, teaching is a process that facilitates learning. Teaching is the specialized

application of knowledge, skills and attributes designed to provide unique service to meet the

educational needs of the individual and of society. The choice of learning activities whereby the

goals of education are realized in the school is the responsibility of the teaching profession.

In addition to providing students with learning opportunities to meet curriculum outcomes,

teaching emphasizes the development of values and guides students in their social

relationships. Teachers employ practices that develop positive self-concept in students.

Although the work of teachers typically takes place in a classroom setting, the direct interaction

between teacher and student is the single most important element in teaching.

Teaching as a Profession

The continued professionalization of teaching is a long-standing goal of the Alberta Teachers’

Association. The Association continues to work to advance teaching as a profession.

Professionalism is a complex and elusive concept; it is dynamic and fluid. Six generally accepted

criteria are used to define a profession. The teaching profession in Alberta fulfills those criteria

in the following ways:

1. Its members have an organized body of knowledge that separates the group from all

others. Teachers are equipped with such a body of knowledge, having an extensive background

in the world and its culture and a set of teaching methods experientially derived through

continuous research in all parts of the world.

2. It serves a great social purpose. Teachers carry responsibilities weighted with social purpose.

Through a rigid and self-imposed adherence to the Code of Professional Conduct, which sets
out their duties and responsibilities, teachers pass on their accumulated culture and assist each

student under their care in achieving self-realization.

3. There is cooperation achieved through a professional organization. Cooperation plays an

important role in the development of the teaching profession because it represents a banding

together to achieve commonly desired purposes. The teaching profession has won its well-

deserved place in the social order through continuous cooperation in research, professional

preparation and strict adherence to the Code of Professional Conduct, which obligates every

teacher to treat each student within a sacred trust. Teachers have control or influence over

their own governance, socialization into teaching and research connected with their profession.

4. There is a formal period of preparation and a requirement for continuous growth and

development. Teachers are required to complete a defined teacher preparation program

followed by a period of induction or internship prior to being granted permanent certification.

This period includes support for the formative growth of teachers and judgments about their

competence. Teachers are devoted to continuous development of their ability to deliver their

service.

5. There is a degree of autonomy accorded the professional. Teachers have opportunities to

make decisions about important aspects of their work. Teachers apply reasoned judgment and

professional decision making daily in diagnosing educational needs, prescribing and

implementing instructional programs, and evaluating the progress of students. Teacher

judgment unleashes learning and creates the basis for experience.

6. The profession has control or influence over education standards, admissions, licensing,

professional development, ethical and performance standards, and professional discipline. As

professionals, teachers are governed in their professional relationships with other members,

school boards, students and the general public by rules of conduct set out in the Association’s

Code of Professional Conduct. The code stipulates minimum standards of professional conduct
for teachers, but it is not an exhaustive list of such standards. Unless exempted by legislation,

any member of the Association who is alleged to have violated the standards of the profession,

including the provisions of the code, may be subject to a charge of unprofessional conduct

under the Discipline Bylaws of the Association.

The competence of teachers is governed by the Practice Review Bylaws of the Association. The

expectations for the professional practice of teachers related to interim and permanent

certification are found in the Teaching Quality Standard Applicable to the Provision of Basic

Education in Alberta. The Teaching Quality Standard defines the knowledge, skills and attributes

all teachers are expected to demonstrate as they complete their professional preparation,

enter the profession and progress through their careers. Additionally, the Department of

Education’s Teacher Growth, Supervision and Evaluation Policy (Policy 2.1.5) supports and

reinforces the Teaching Quality Standard by setting out basic expectations for teacher growth,

supervision and evaluation.

Teachers as Professionals

The certificated teacher is the essential element in the delivery of instruction to students,

regardless of the mode of instruction. A teacher has professional knowledge and skills gained

through formal preparation and experience. Teachers provide personal, caring service to

students by diagnosing their needs and by planning, selecting and using methods and

evaluation procedures designed to promote learning. The processes of teaching include

understanding and adhering to legal and legislated frameworks and policies; identifying and

responding to student learning needs; providing effective and responsive instruction; assessing

and communicating student learning; developing and maintaining a safe, respectful

environment conducive to student learning; establishing and maintaining professional

relationships; and engaging in reflective professional practice. These processes must be free of

discriminatory practices and should contribute to the holistic development of students who are
actively engaged, responsible and contributing members of a democratic society. The

educational interests of students are best served by teachers who practise under conditions

that enable them to exercise professional judgment. Teachers have a right to participate in all

decisions that affect them or their work, and have a corresponding responsibility to provide

informed leadership in matters related to their professional practice.

The Association’s Role in the Context of Teacher Professionalism

The Alberta Teachers’ Association is a self-governing body financed through membership fees

established in accordance with the bylaws of the Association. The legal framework through

which the Association functions is the Teaching Profession Act. The Association, through the

democratic interaction of its members, is the collective voice of Alberta teachers. It is a

unilateral organization that includes as active members certificated individuals employed in

public education as classroom teachers, as well as school- and district-based administrators.

The profession believes that all professional educators should be members of the Association

and strives to accomplish this through an amendment to the Teaching Profession Act that

would include superintendents and deputy superintendents appointed by school boards.

As a professional teachers’ association, the Alberta Teachers’ Association performs a wide

range of activities related to the enhancement of teaching as a profession, the improvement of

public education and the well-being of its members. The Association furthers the professional

status of teaching by policing the conduct and competence of its members through its

Discipline Bylaws and Practice Review Bylaws, ensuring high levels of practice for students and

public assurance in the teaching profession. The Association also has a responsibility to appraise

the expectations of society and to recommend changes to Alberta’s education system to meet

changing needs. Thus, it maintains an active interest and a position of leadership in all areas of

public education. This includes systematic long-range planning in such matters as the processes

of teaching, working conditions for professional service, organization and administration of

schools, teacher education and certification, curriculum, educational research and

development, early childhood education, and education finance. Through its committees

dealing with these topics, as well as through representation on many departmental committees

and boards, the Association stays at the forefront of the most recent developments and

represents the interests of its members. To accomplish this, the Association should have

adequate representation on all Department of Education committees, boards and advisory

bodies dealing with matters related to teaching and learning, and all members representing the

profession on government advisory bodies, boards and committees should be named by the

Association.

Professional Self-Governance

A common criterion for measuring the degree of public acceptance achieved by a professional

organization is its ability and willingness to exercise rigorous control over membership

standards. This means that the professional body has control over the educational, certification,

practice and competence standards to determine who enters into and remains in the

profession. A long-standing goal of the profession is to have jurisdiction over teacher

certification in Alberta. The Association’s having such authority would parallel the established

practice of other professions.

As the authoritative voice of the teaching profession in the province, the Association must play

a role in making decisions related to teacher preparation, recruitment, selection, admission,

institutional preparation, internship, placement and programs of support in the early years of

practice. It should have direct and formal representation in the process that accredits

institutions that grant degrees in education.

Finally, the Association believes that teachers require one teaching certificate and that all

teachers have the same certificate. As previously mentioned, the profession, through the

Association, should have full responsibility for the issuance of teaching certificates and the
 suspension or cancellation of certificates on grounds of incompetence or unprofessional

conduct.

Conclusion

Alberta is recognized for having one of the best public education systems in the world. Central

to the system are caring, highly competent professional teachers who are supported by a

professional association that recognizes as its core responsibilities stewardship of the

profession, services to its members and commitment to public education. The continued efforts

of teachers to strive to improve their professional practice, supported by the collective through

the Alberta Teachers’ Association, will ensure that Alberta students will continue to receive

quality teaching resulting in enriched educational experiences.

Effective Teaching Strategies

Effective teaching strategies help to engage students in learning, develop critical thinking skills, and keep
students on task.

Source: Boundless. “Effective Teaching Strategies.” Boundless Education. Boundless, 26 May. 2016.

Retrieved 11 Aug. 2016 from https://www.boundless.com/education/textbooks/boundless-education-
textbook/working-with-students-4/teaching-strategies-21/effective-teaching-strategies-64-12994/

KEY POINTS[ EDIT ]
o Effective teaching strategies help to activate students' curiosity about a class topic,
engage students in learning, develop critical thinking skills, keep students on task, engender
sustained and useful classroom interaction, and, in general, enable and enhance the learning
of course content.
o One model of learning style divides learners into three modalities: visual, auditory,
and kinesthetic.
o Commonly used teaching methods may include lecture, class participation,
demonstration, project-based learning, or memorization, but some combination of these usually
results in the most effective strategy; that is, a strategy that engages a diversity of learning
styles through varied instruction.

TERMS[ EDIT ]
 kinesthetic learning
 Kinesthetic learning is a learning style in which learning takes place by the student
carrying out a physical activity, rather than listening to a lecture.
 auditory learning
Auditory learning is a learning style in which a person learns through listening.
 visual learning
Visual learning is a learning style in which ideas, concepts, data and other information
are associated with images and techniques.
 learning style
Learning style is an individual's natural pattern of acquiring and processing
information in learning situations.
 teaching strategy
A teaching strategy comprises the principles and methods used for instruction.
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FULL TEXT[ EDIT ]

A teaching strategy is the method used to deliver information in the

classroom, online, or in some other medium. Effective teaching strategies help

to activate students' curiosity about a class topic, engage students in learning,

develop critical thinking skills, keep students on task, engender sustained and

useful classroom interaction, and, in general, enable and enhance the learning

of course content.

The goal of a teaching strategy is to facilitate learning, to motivate learners, to

engage them in learning, and to help them focus. There is no one best strategy;

we can select from several instructional strategies for just about any subject. It

is important to vary instruction to not only keep the students' interest, but also

to allow them to interact with content in a variety of ways that appeal to

various learning styles. When purposefully implemented, as in the classroom

pictured in the accompanying photograph, different instructional strategies

can make a teacher's lesson more effective in reaching a wide range of

learners.

Learning Style
Learning style is an individual's natural or habitual pattern of acquiring and

processing information in learning situations. A core concept is that

individuals differ in how they learn. The idea of individualized learning styles

originated in the 1970s, and has greatly influenced education. Proponents of

the use of learning styles in education recommend that teachers assess the

learning styles of their students and adapt their teaching strategies to best fit

their students' learning styles.

One model of learning style divides learners into three modalities: visual,

auditory, and kinesthetic.

Visual Learning
Visual learning is a learning style in which ideas, concepts, data and other

information are associated with images and techniques.

Recommended Techniques
Graphic organizers are visual representations of knowledge, concepts,

thoughts, or ideas. To show the relationships between the parts, the symbols
are linked with each other; words can be used to further clarify meaning. By

representing information spatially and with images, students are able to focus

on meaning, reorganize and group similar ideas easily, make better use of

their visual memory.

Auditory Learning
Auditory learning is a learning style in which a person learns through listening.

An auditory learner depends on hearing and speaking as a main way of

learning. Auditory learners must be able to hear what is being said in order to

understand and may have difficulty with instructions that are written. They

also use their listening and repeating skills to sort through the information

that is sent to them.

Recommended Techniques
Teachers might use these techniques to instruct auditory learners: verbal

direction, group discussions, verbal reinforcement, group activities, reading

aloud, and putting information into a rhythmic pattern such as a rap, poem, or

song.

Kinesthetic Learning
Kinesthetic learning (also known as tactile learning) is a learning style in which

learning takes place by the student carrying out a physical activity, rather than
listening to a lecture or watching a demonstration. Tactile-kinesthetic learners

make up about five percent of the population.

Recommended Techniques
When learning, it helps for these students to move around; this increases the

students' understanding, with learners generally getting better marks in exams

when they can do so. Kinesthetic learners usually succeed in activities such as

chemistry experiments, sporting activities, art and acting; they also may listen

to music while learning or studying. It is common for kinesthetic learners to

focus on two different things at the same time, remembering things in relation

to what they were doing. They possess good eye-hand coordination. In

kinesthetic learning, learning occurs by the learner using their body to express

a thought, an idea or a concept (in any field).

Effective Teaching Strategies

A teaching strategy comprises the principles and methods used for instruction.

Commonly used teaching methods may include lecture, class participation,

demonstration, project-based learning, or memorization, but some

combination of these usually results in the most effective strategy; that is, a

strategy that engages a diversity of learning styles through varied instruction.

The choice of teaching strategy or strategies to be used depends largely on the

information or skill that is being taught, and it may also be influenced by the

learning style, aptitude, skills, and enthusiasm of the students.

Lecture
Lecture is the process of teaching by giving spoken explanations of the subject

that is to be learned. Lecturing is often accompanied by visual aids to help

students visualize an object or problem.

Demonstration
Demonstrating is the process of teaching through examples or experiments.

For example, a science teacher may teach an idea by performing an

experiment for students. A demonstration may be used to prove a fact through

a combination of visual evidence and associated reasoning.

Demonstrations are similar to written storytelling and examples in that they

allow students to personally relate to the presented information.

Memorization of a list of facts is a detached and impersonal experience,

whereas the same information, conveyed through demonstration, becomes

personally relatable. Demonstrations help to raise student interest and

reinforce memory retention because they provide connections between facts

and real-world applications of those facts. Lectures, on the other hand, are

often geared more towards factual presentation than connective learning.

Collaboration
Collaboration allows students to actively participate in the learning process by

talking with each other and listening to other points of view. Collaboration

establishes a personal connection between students and the topic of study and

it helps students think in a less personally biased way. Group projects and

discussions are examples of this teaching method. Teachers may employ

collaboration to assess student's abilities to work as a team, leadership skills,

or presentation abilities.

Collaborative discussions can take a variety of forms, such as fishbowl

discussions or group projects. After some preparation and with clearly defined

roles, a discussion may constitute most of a lesson, with the teacher only

giving short feedback at the end or in the following lesson.

Learning by Teaching
In this teaching strategy, students assume the role of teacher and teach their

peers. Students who teach others as a group or as individuals must study and

understand a topic well enough to teach it to their peers. By having students

participate in the teaching process, they gain self-confidence and strengthen

their speaking and communication skills.

Experiential Learning
Experiential learning is the process of making meaning from direct

experience, i.e., "learning from experience. " Experiential learning focuses on

the learning process for the individual. An example of experiential learning is

going to the zoo and learning through observation and interaction with the zoo

environment, as opposed to reading about animals from a book. Thus, one

makes discoveries and experiments with knowledge firsthand, instead of

hearing or reading about others' experiences.

Source: Boundless. “Effective Teaching Strategies.” Boundless Education. Boundless, 26 May. 2016.

Retrieved 11 Aug. 2016 from https://www.boundless.com/education/textbooks/boundless-education-
textbook/working-with-students-4/teaching-strategies-21/effective-teaching-strategies-64-12994/