Teaching practice is core to our work as a university. Quality teaching engages students, challenging them to ask questions, to explore new ideas and to reflect on their learning. What does it mean to be a quality teacher?
You can be a more effective teacher if you can:
Teaching is an intentional and challenging task. You need to:
As a teacher, you also need to be a learner! To teach you need to have knowledge of and continue to learn about your discipline or field. The deeper your knowledge the deeper your understanding of the content, enabling you to teach learners more than information. As a teacher you will also need to know how to teach students to learn.
Confidence in your knowledge helps you to manage groups and provide structure and a framework for learners. Learners depend on you to know the direction and purpose of the activity, and to be support them as they learn the content.
Learners will respond to your passion, and will engage when the learning is enjoyable, and surprising. Teaching is creative, as you will be challenged to think of new ways to invite learners into your lesson, new ways to introduce material and new ways to challenge learners to think and grapple with their own learning.
Being aware of the learners in your class and their learning needs as well as their circumstances means you are able to support them to achieve the best outcomes. Learning is difficult, and learners need teachers who support them, coach them and celebrate their successes. Listening and responding to them as individuals allows you to teach them for success.
Having a framework to help you structure your questions can ensure the questions you plan to ask are at different levels of thinking, and ask students to do different tasks.
Bloom's Taxonomy provides a range of question stems/verbs to help you construct good questions that encourage learners to think.
These links provide you with a range of different questions forms and stems.
These tools build your presence with the students and you can utilise them to engage students and to show them you also are engaged in the teaching.
The tone, volume, pace and clarity of your voice is a key tool in your teaching tool kit. Learners respond to the way you speak, and you can use your voice to calm a group, to gain attention, to invite interaction.
Teaching is performative. Your stance, your posture, your gestures all encourage learners to pay attention and to follow your movements. Rather than stand still, move around the space and to emphasise your content.
When teaching online you can still use your position in front of the camera- be relaxed, but visible to students. Move your hands and gesture; be aware of your facial expression and your camera position.
Engages students, can draw attention, indicates interest. Especially online, your face needs to be clear, and you need to be looking directly at the camera. Avoid looking at something beyond your screen - to the learners this looks as if you are not engaging with them.
Having a framework to help you structure your questions can ensure the questions you plan to ask are at different levels of thinking, and ask students to do different tasks.
Bloom's Taxonomy provides a range of question stems/verbs to help you construct good questions that encourage learners to think.
These links provide you with a range of different questions forms and stems.
These questions will:
Wait time is a tool that opens space for learners to engage. When you ask a question, wait 1-2 minutes for learners to think, form a response and then offer their idea. Be patient - allowing thinking time is key to student learning.
Use pauses to punctuate your teaching, so that learners are able to also pause, and consider what you have been teaching them. At the end of your teaching time, stop 3-4 minutes early and ask learners to write down the most important things they have learned in the session.
Pausing mid-class and asking students 4 questions can provide them with the chance to reflect on their learning, to share what they are thinking and to clarify misunderstandings. You will know whether you need to revisit content, or to provide time for learners to explore further. Useful questions include:
Mix up the way you present content. Use images, media clips, audio files and props to create energy and encourage different learners to connect with the material. This can also add some humour, which learners will remember and use to recall learning.
Practice listening to learners as they discuss an idea, or respond to a question to find out what they know, and their understanding of the content. Listening informs your teaching.
Begin each learning session with an activity that tells you what learners already know, or think, about the topic. You will be able to tell how much your students know about the topic, and their ideas about it. It will engage them and connect them with the content.
For more ideas about teaching practice, you can:
Whoever teaches learns in the act of teaching, and whoever learns teaches in the act of learning. Teaching and learning are reciprocal acts.
- Paulo Freire -