Presenting, Assessing and Reviewing Essay

As a teacher my roles responsibilities and boundaries, would be spread over a broad spectrum of areas and tasks and in preparing for, delivering, assessing and reviewing the courses I would deliver, applying the P. A. R. (Present, Apply, Review) principles not only in the direct delivery of my subject but as a broader ethos surrounding my whole teaching cycle. On employment with a provider my initial responsibilities would be to review the Protocols, rules and regulations of the establishment which are the most fundamental boundaries, to review the contents of existing courses (or units for art and design courses) that were already being provided in my subject area of photography , examining the associated schemes of work and lesson plans to ensure that I had a good grasp of what I was expected to teach, ( it may be impossible to assimilate all of this information in one go , but I would go into each session having researched what I am expected to know and impart to the students). Drawing from my own experience I would offer to open a dialogue (using course data) with my colleagues and peers, be they fellow tutors or superiors, to see where the delivery could be strengthened, via its content (syllabus non-withstanding) timing structure , scale, location and facilities on offer. This would be with a view to improving course numbers and positive learning outcomes which is a core responsibility. A boundary here would be if I were employed in a role which did not allow this kind of input, a barrier would be the annoyance of staff who have already delivered photography courses or units (as I have little teaching experience) so consideration and good interpersonal skills would need to come to the fore. This information would feed into my role of preparing my own subject ‘schemes of work’, it would be my responsibility to analyse the requirements of the syllabus, making sure that I understood it myself by carrying out research to bring myself up to date I would then work out how to break it down into its constituent parts and how relate it to my learners in enjoyable and manageable chunks over the duration of the course. Boundaries here are set out by awarding bodies for the qualifications I would teach, such as the amount of contact time, the length of time allowed for a learner to complete the course, what written work is required i. . assignments, essays or dissertations as well as how it is assessed. The amount of practical work and how it is assessed may also be set externally. When setting out schemes of work I would also need to consider as boundaries:- †¢ What kind of learners will be attending, what will be their motivations, what will their baseline achievement levels be, how broad will the spectrum of attainment be? †¢ What equipment will be required and how will I make it available to everyone? †¢ Where each session is to be delivered, its impact on what can be taught and how it can be taught? †¢ When each session is delivered, what condition the learners will be in, how will it impact on their concentration and what kind of practical work will be viable? †¢ How long is the term and are there any holidays, placements, visits and other trips? Having set out my schemes of work, I would then review them with my colleagues if the setting out had not already been a collaborative effort. Depending on the circumstances there also might be the opportunity to feedback to whichever body (or senior member of staff) sets the syllabus, with new ideas or fresh perspectives on the course contents. At this point I could give a clear insight into the courses I would be delivering and how it would fit into the broader theme of being a learner, I would be able to use this in my role as a spokesman for my subject area or faculty during marketing events such as open evenings and school visits, again feeding back information about new areas of interest, ways of getting better uptake of courses by analysing dialogue or questionnaires filled out. In my role as a Tutor I will conduct interviews with prospective students myself, (or they may be conducted by someone else) where I will be responsible for assessing whether they which of my courses would be most suited to them, if they may need to carry out further learning, either alongside doing the course or in preparation for it and if they require support in regard to disability, inance, childcare or any other barrier that would prevent them from fair access to the course. From this meeting and after enrolment an initial Individual Learning Plan is agreed. Using the framework of my ‘Schemes of Work’ I will then use the information from the Individual Learning Plans to tailor my lesson planning to the students needs and strengths and encouraging improvement in their weaker areas, using Visual, Aural and Kinaesthetic (V.  A. K. ) means, Making best use of their prior learning, promoting equality and celebrating diversity. Once students have started a course with me I would be responsible for their health and safety, I would make them familiar with all aspects of health and safety relevant to Photography Practice, and the policy of the college or institution, these are boundaries put in place to protect all, providing a safe and supportive place to study and work. These would also form part of the ground rules in my sessions, It would be my role to enforce them as it would be to abide by them, examples would be to establish what is suitable subject material, what constitutes correct handling of equipment , respect for others, no shouting, swearing, no sexism or racism either in images or verbally. I would present this information as I would with the rest of my course content using V. A. K. modes of teaching in as enjoyable a format as possible, clearly setting out the aims and objectives. Personal boundaries would need to be set out as I could well be teaching people of the same age as me, or anyone of 16 years or older, fraternisation outside of contact time could be seen as favouritism or abusing my position. Another important boundary would be to recognise the appropriate amount of help I should give to an individual learner, assisting students to access relevant services in college but avoiding inappropriate contact and making sure that my actions are not to the detriment of my students. I would strive to create a supportive learning environment for my learners while teaching theoretical and practical aspects of photography, I would introduce each session with a clear aims and objectives, assess what knowledge the group has of the topic, Sharing my Knowledge via demonstrations, videos or lectures, giving opportunities to discuss and explore the topic via V. A. K. learning modes, allowing them to apply their learning with hands on work, demonstrating their learning to each other, myself and themselves making sure that hands on time extends their knowledge and maximises learning potential. I would use informal testing methods such as questions and answers or a quiz to assess retention before finally reviewing the learning. Written and practical assignments , formal testing either set by the awarding body or myself would be used in part to assess the learning, It would be my role to use this data in tandem with informal testing (Q&A, Quizzes, etc), observation, peer review and self assessment and progress meetings with individual students. It would be my responsibility to see that these assessments are carried out properly, and without bias, making sure that handed in work was assessed with the same care that I would like my own work to be assessed and kept safe, free from damage and in accordance with the institutions’ data protection policy. On a session to session basis it would be my responsibility to ensure all of the administration relating to the students was up to date, in good order and reached the correct departments in the learning institute (or external body). Records such as the attendance register are not only kept for safety reasons (to establish the whereabouts of an individual, during a fire or other emergency and as part of a broader duty of care to students) but to monitor learners attendance so it meets the minimum requirements for the course. If not, correct assessment would not possible and the student’s opportunity to learn would also be compromised, falling below the minimum accepted attendance would be a boundary to the student’s success. I would also keep records on student progress, behaviour and performance (including which learning methods stimulate them the most. ) and use them with the results from both formal and informal assessments to adjust my lesson planning not only during the session as it happens, but fine tuning future lesson plans to match the rise and falls of student insight into, retention and application of the subject. During this fine tuning process I would also take account of my own reflections on the session, (Review) has my communication (spoken, written or by demonstration) triggered the correct response in the learner? Have I listened correctly and understood the students? (Feedback is only useful if it is understood,) In addition I would consider input from my peers (assessment) as to whether my delivery and the structure of the course needs to be amended during the period of its current delivery (Present). At the end of the course I would use this information and the students’ completed portfolios to assess and review what improvements can be made in the presentation of the next teaching year cycle. The principle of P. A. R. (Presenting, Assessing and Reviewing) is used on several different forms, In my preparation to become a trainer, In my extended role as a spokesperson for my subject or college and as a tutor within individual sessions, dealing with students and their immediate interaction with the subject and my delivery of it, then again in preparation and evaluation of courses I would run in the session to session cycle and during the yearly teaching cycle.