Teaching Concepts: Duties and Responsibilities Essay (Critical Writing)

Introduction

Teaching is one of the most significant and complicated processes in the world’s educational system, as the younger generations are intended to obtain the general knowledge of their ancestors. Indeed, the teacher’s profession requires a plethora of approaches to one’s students and to help them with choosing their future occupations. The following paper will discuss and evaluate the teachers’ primary duties, responsibilities, and specific attainments.

Comprehension of Foundation Concepts

In his book Man and Superman, a noble Irish dramaturge and educator George Bernard Shaw wrote: “He who can, does: he who cannot, teaches” (Shaw, 1903, p 36). This quote can be interpreted in different ways and might be given various meanings. Nevertheless, Shaw (1903) wanted to address specifically teachers and other educators with his sapience above. The context says that those who have unique talents and abilities should be occupied in something that they can do on a professional level and with the highest quality. According to Shaw (1903), other individuals with the same knowledge, but with particular technical or mental skills, should be sharing some valuable information with others.

The aforementioned statement is not quite right because a person, who provides others with specific knowledge, is obliged to experience them in practice. Otherwise, teachers would not have any idea about their subjects. The teacher’s profession is more valuable than practitioners because the latter one is not responsible for the creditworthiness of information that people receive from him or her, whereas, a teacher is obligated to profess only credible and trustworthy material (Biesta, 2015). Another essential factor that any teacher has to follow is to give students only the main ideas of any subject because they are supposed to develop their own theories and arrive at new conclusions.

Teacher Professionalism

To summarize everything that was mentioned above, it would be proper to say that the teachers’ professionalism is the utmost important quality of any educator, which influences the students’ approaches and achievements in their future lives and careers. However, the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) declaration requires all teachers of the country to follow certain rules during their educating practice, which is intended to raise high-qualified specialists, people of good manners, and morality principles (“Australian Professional Standards for Teachers”, 2017).

The first requirement of the declaration above obligates all teachers to know their students and their relation to the educational process. Although one needs to be aware of every student’s philosophy and state of mind, it is also necessary not to establish stereotypes about him or her. This instrumental information is intended to help or to discuss particular issues that might not be clear to a person (“Australian Professional Standards for Teachers”, 2017). Besides, such factors as students’ ethnic, linguistic, and religious background should be considered in order to develop a specific manner of communication with them, show them the teacher’s respect, and avoid crucial offending phrases or actions.

Referring to the aforementioned quote by Shaw (1903), it becomes evident that any teacher is also obligated to differentiate his or her lectures or lessons from one another in order to identify and develop particular needs, abilities, and brilliance among students. Nevertheless, APST also requires an educator to profess only that discipline or subject, which this person knows and likes the most (“Australian Professional Standards for Teachers”, 2017). As it was stated above, knowing specific contents and strategies of a certain area remains one of the primary teacher’s duties because one is obliged to be competent in recommending professional literature and analyzing particular results of the educational process.

Curriculum

Any curriculum plays a significant role in the educational process because it provides teachers and students with a certain list of activities or tasks that have to be discussed and completed during the forthcoming course. This gives a teacher and students of the course an ability to prepare specific literature and gain some knowledge beforehand (McLaren, 2015). Moreover, a developed curriculum helps students understand their course’s program and professional skills that they are intended to obtain during the learning process. However, such visual help is instrumental for those who want to become successful students and reach new horizons in their lives. This method also influences and improves students’ mental abilities to become creative, informed, and active citizens.

Nevertheless, the Australian Curriculum is obligated to meet requirements established in the Melbourne Declaration, which provides all the necessary standards of any educational process in order to improve its efficiency, timeliness, and student-centered activities (“The Australian Curriculum”, 2017). These methods are not only beneficial for students, but for every resident of Australia.

The Australian Curriculum is also intended and prepared for providing useful professional information to the students of other ethnic backgrounds or social environments. Besides, it also addresses general students’ priorities, which can be beneficial for the country’s future development (“Cross-curriculum priorities”, 2017). Organizational issues are reduced to the minimum due to the long process of curriculum implementation around the country and the personal experiences of educators who happened to meet its requests during the course. The Australian Curriculum helps students socialize and get acquainted with their learning process faster.

Pedagogy

According to the document of the NSW Quality Teaching model, pedagogy is a fundamental thing in the professing occupation (“Quality teaching in NSW public schools”, 2003). Pedagogy helps teachers develop their unique approaches to every student and adjust to people who work with this educator. Besides, pedagogy skills are helpful in organizing various activities, tasks, and practices among students. It is also beneficial for constructing tasks that would not only be educational, but interesting for different students.

The aforementioned document differentiates three basic dimensions of pedagogy, which are to be stated below. “Pedagogy that is fundamentally based on promoting high levels of intellectual quality. Pedagogy that is soundly based on promoting a quality learning environment. Pedagogy that develops and makes explicit to students the significance of their work” (“Quality teaching in NSW public schools”, 2003, p. 5).

However, high levels of intellectual activity are beneficial for students, regardless of their previous achievements and approaches to their learning processes. Besides, a quality learning environment is also an essential factor in teaching because students have to feel comfortable and open to other people in their schools. “The public has a distorted view of science because children are taught in school that science is a collection of firmly established truths. In fact, science is not a collection of truths. It is a continuing exploration of mysteries” (McLaren, 2015, p 78).

The environment is not only intended to create a favorable atmosphere in the educational institution but is also developed for the purposes of the utmost efficiency of the professed subjects (“Quality teaching in NSW public schools”, 2003). As it was mentioned above, all students need to realize the significance of teaching and gaining new knowledge, which will improve their discipline during the lessons they take and their attention to the given information. It is important for any student to have set goals, the vision of one’s future career, and some passion for learning particular subjects.

In order to understand how students learn, it would be proper to look at their previous works, compare them, and identify if there are any improvements or changes. Such actions are essential for any teacher to be aware of because his or her students’ achievements or mistakes appraise the teacher’s efficiency and professional skills. Moreover, a good teacher has to listen and consider the students’ wishes or expectations of the educational process.

Assessment

Many psychologists claim that assessment is a factor that encourages students to learn and reach new heights in their careers (Klenowski & Wyatt-Smith, 2014). Unfortunately, there is another side of the coin, which discourages students due to their previous low results. It is essential to give such learners an understanding of the aforementioned testing system, which is intended to show them their mistakes and improve their knowledge qualities (Klenowski & Wyatt-Smith, 2014). Nevertheless, some people might get upset and have no desire to receive good marks anymore. In order to avoid such situations, it would be proper to explain students the purposes of assessments and expectations from them.

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) was developed for testing students in their third, fifth, seventh, and ninth years (“NAPLAN”, 2016). This program was established by the country’s government in the year 2008. The primary purpose of NAPLAN is to identify specific skills and abilities that students have in order to divide them into small groups to meet their personal needs.

There are four examinations for students to pass in order to show their level in such practices as writing, reading, numeracy, and language conventions (“NAPLAN”, 2016). The latter examination is the most essential because all students are expected to speak fluently and correctly. This factor is usually addressed during multiple job interviews and forms one’s image in front of colleagues, generals, and auxiliaries. Therefore, the children’s language skills have to be developed since school.

Example of Application of the Foundation Concepts

Gifted and Talented Students

All the students of this category need more attention to be turned to their unique or advanced abilities and brilliance. If the requirements above were not met, some specific talents of these students might be lost, and they may have no desire to develop and become creative people anymore. For instance, if a student’s musical talent was not addressed enough or one was not given an opportunity to practice his or her skills, this will be considered a teacher’s omission because this particular student was dreaming of adopting the musician’s career.

The teacher is obliged to design curriculum appropriately in order for the student to have enough time for learning general subjects and for him or her to be involved in the school’s musical activity (“Australian Professional Standards for Teachers”, 2017). Nevertheless, the general assessment cannot be disregarded in the case above because any student might have a desire to change one’s educational specialization. Therefore, he or she has to pass the NAPLAN tests along with other students, which might open even more talents of this person.

Indigenous Students

The primary teacher’s role is to provide indigenous students with basic knowledge of the country’s language, which will help them socialize and be more confident in their daily activities (“Australian Professional Standards for Teachers”, 2017). Otherwise, they might be antisocial and have no motivation for their future education. Besides, it is proper to give them some extra knowledge about the country’s culture.

For instance, a student, whose parents do not know English and are not educated at the primary level, has to obtain more help and support from an educator. Moreover, the teacher’s role is to design a curriculum, which will provide an indigenous student with humanitarian laws, morality standards, and behavioral norms of the country’s society. As a pedagogue, one is obliged to discuss and understand all things that might be difficult to grasp for a particular student. In turn, any assessment is instrumental for getting acquainted with general education, especially, with language conventions, which remains a tremendous problem in some cases.

Students from a Non-English Speaking Background

The teacher’s role is to demonstrate specific knowledge and strategies, which will help the aforementioned group to learn English (“Australian Professional Standards for Teachers”, 2017). Otherwise, these people will not have any opportunity to receive high education in Australia. For instance, there are many students from European countries and Latin America who have a goal to undergo a school course in Australia because of the country’s advanced educational system.

A teacher has to design a specific curriculum, according to the language weaknesses of the groups above. As a pedagogue, one has to motivate students and consider informal educational practices for them to grasp the material better and faster. As to the assessment, the teacher has to prepare foreign students for the NAPLAN tests because they require advanced knowledge in general subjects.

Conclusion

Every student deserves an individual approach to him or her, regardless of one’s abilities, educational, linguistic, religious, and any other background. All teachers in Australia are supposed to support their students and make everything for them to obtain benefits from received education. It is essential for Australian teachers to be highly adjustable to any possible circumstances that might appear at their workplaces.

References

Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. (2017). Web.

Biesta, G. (2015). What is education for? On good education, teacher judgment, and educational professionalism. European Journal of Education, 50(1), 75-87. Web.

Cross-curriculum priorities. (2017). Web.

Klenowski, V., & Wyatt-Smith, C. (2014). Assessment for education: Standards, judgement and moderation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

McLaren, P. (2015). Life in schools: An introduction to critical pedagogy in the foundations of education. Boulder, CO: Paradigm.

NAPLAN. (2016). Web.

Quality teaching in NSW public schools. (2003). Web.

Shaw, B. G. (1903). Man and superman. Cambridge, MA: The University Press.

The Australian Curriculum. (2017). Web.