TEACHER INFORMATION SECTION

TRAINER / PROFESSOR/ LECTURER/ TEACHER CORNER

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Teacher Guidelines on Course/Career Evaluations

1.Teachers are the corner stone of any educational system. In the case of education of poor children, teachers are the most critical resources who can contribute as counsellers for students and their parents. Linking school education with life in general and the needs and aspirations of the poor communities in particular, is the most important step that requires serious attention.
2.Teachers should be given the role of spotting the unique talent & potential of their poor students for higher studies, sports, art & craft,vocational/livelihood/ skill training etc, so that the students having such natural talents could be counselled,mentored and supported for pursuing their respective studies, skill training and career. They can also help in preventing drop outs and also in bringing dropouts back into the education system.
3. Teachers may also be provided the role in enrollment of all the out of school poor students into educational system.
4. Teachers in all disciplines of the school curriculum share some responsibility for developing students’ learning skills, interpersonal skills, and knowledge and skills related to career planning. In guidance and career education, however, these three areas of development are at the centre of the curriculum and are taught explicitly. Students relate what they are learning in various subjects in their school program to their personal aspirations and interests and to possible work and life roles.Awareness of these connections increases the personal relevance of the curriculum for students and, hence, their motivation to learn and to set and pursue educational and career goals.

Roles and Responsibilities in Guidance and Career Education

Teachers and students have complementary responsibilities.Teachers are responsible for developing appropriate instructional strategies to help students achieve the curriculum expectations, as well as appropriate methods for assessing and evaluating student learning. Teachers also support students in developing the reading, writing, oral communication, and numeracy skills needed for success in their courses.Teachers bring enthusiasm and varied teaching and assessment approaches to the classroom, addressing different student needs and ensuring sound learning opportunities for every student.
Using a variety of instructional, assessment, and evaluation strategies, teachers provide numerous opportunities for students to develop research and inquiry skills; interpersonal skills, including both oral and written communication skills; and the personal-management, learning, and employability skills needed for success in school and in future work. Opportunities to connect these skills and concepts to real-life situations will help make learning more meaningful for students and will motivate them to become lifelong learners.
Parents have an important role to play in supporting student learning. Studies show that students perform better in school if their parents or guardians are involved in their education. By becoming familiar with the curriculum, parents can find out what is being taught in the courses their children are taking and what their children are expected to learn.This awareness will enhance parents’ ability to discuss their children’s work with them, to communicate with teachers, and to ask relevant questions about their children’s progress. Knowledge of the expectations in the various courses also helps parents to interpret teachers’ comments on student progress and to work with them to improve their child en’s learning.

The Feedback Assessment Loop

The distinguishing feature of outcomes assessment at the program level is that it addresses student learning across multiple courses in the curriculum. Assessment activities are geared toward determining the extent to which students completing the program can demonstrate proficiency on expected “learning outcomes.” This approach also links campuses to their external stakeholders by providing evidence of accountability and enabling programs to demonstrate student learning. Two questions lie at the heart of outcomes assessment: Are students learning what faculty want them to learn? and Are faculty learning from that? In other words, how are faculty using the findings from their assessment efforts to enhance student learning?

Who is responsible for creating learning outcomes and assessment plans?

Conversations about the program’s learning outcomes should engage, as broadly as possible, those who are invested in the success of the program’s students. Faculty should work together to develop consensus on expected learning outcomes, curriculum alignment, and assessment, and they should collaborate to determine the implications of results. This requires collegiality, trust, and flexibility, and it requires program faculty to regularly discuss student learning. These conversations are an essential component of effective assessment. Other professionals are also available to consult on assessment plan development and implementation.

• cover core knowledge and skills that are developed throughout the program’s curriculum
• involve multiple judgments of student performance
• provide information on multiple dimensions of student performance
Good evidence is also relevant, verifiable, representative or typical, cumulative, actionable, and reflectively analyzed.

Student learning outcomes

• Knowledge outcomes pertain to grasp of fundamental cognitive content, core concepts or questions, basic principles of inquiry, a broad history, and/or varied disciplinary techniques.
• Skills outcomes focus on capacity for applying basic knowledge, analyzing and synthesizing information, assessing the value of information, communicating effectively, and collaborating.
• Attitudes and values outcomes encompass affective states, personal/professional/social values, and ethical principles.
• Behavioral outcomes reflect a manifestation of knowledge, skills, and attitudes as evidenced by performance, contributions, etc.

• Sensitivity to the feelings of individuals: Creating and maintaining an atmosphere of trust and respect requires an awareness of how people are responding to both the topics under discussion and the opinions and reactions of others. Most people will not articulate their discomfort, hurt feelings, or even anger; instead they silently withdraw from the discussion and often from the group
• Sensitivity to the feeling of the group: In any group, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, and group "chemistry" generally reflects shared feeling: eager, restless, angry, bored, enthusiastic, suspicious, or even silly. Perceiving and responding to the group's dynamic is essential to skillful facilitation.
• Ability to listen: One way the facilitator learns to sense the feelings of individuals and the group is by acute listening, both to the explicit meaning of words and also to their tone and implicit meaning. In fact, facilitators generally speak less than anyone in the group. And often the facilitator's comments repeat, sum up, or respond directly to what others have said.
• Tact: Sometimes the facilitator must take uncomfortable actions or say awkward things for the good of the group. The ability to do so carefully and kindly is critical. Furthermore the subject matter of human rights can evoke strong feelings and painful memories. The facilitator needs particular tact in dealing with emotional situations respectfully and sometimes also firmly.
• Commitment to collaboration: Collaborative learning can occasionally seem frustrating and inefficient, and at such times every facilitator feels tempted to take on the familiar role of the traditional teacher and to lead, rather than facilitate. However, a genuine conviction about the empowering value of cooperative learning will help the facilitator resist a dominating role. Likewise the facilitator needs to be willing to share facilitation with others in the group.
• A sense of timing: The facilitator needs to develop a "sixth sense" for time: when to bring a discussion to a close, when to change the topic, when to cut off someone who has talked too long, when to let the discussion run over the allotted time, and when to let the silence continue a little longer.
• Flexibility: Facilitators must plan, but they must also be willing to jettison those plans in response to the situation. Often the group will take a session in an unforeseen direction or may demand more time to explore a particular topic. The facilitator needs to be able to evaluate the group's needs and determine how to respond to it. Although every session is important, sometimes a facilitator will decide to omit a topic in favor of giving another fuller treatment.
• A sense of humor: As in most human endeavors, even the most serious, a facilitator's appreciation of life's ironies, ability to laugh at one's self, and to share the laughter of others enhances the experience for everyone.
• Resourcefulness and creativity: Each group is as different as the people who make it up. A good facilitator needs an overall program and goals but may also adapt it to fit changing conditions and opportunities. For example, the facilitator may call on the talents and experiences of people in the group and the community, or participants may suggest resources.