Excellence in teaching is seldom, if ever at all, a top-down directive but emerges from the ‘grass-root’ that is, the level of the classroom, discipline and practice specific experience. The examples of strategies shared in this article are disciplined based i.e. teacher education and development and ‘grass-roots’.
Intervention 1: The R.A.T.P.D Strategy
The Reflective Approach to Teaching Practicum Debriefing (R.A.T.P.D) is a practical, user-friendly ‘tool’ which school-based mentors and university personnel can use during debriefing sessions-after a teaching episode or event-with student teachers. Its main purpose is to enable school-based mentors and university personnel to use debriefing encounters with student teachers to develop the students’ ability to reflect. When modified, it is also a very effective method to use at the end of modules or units of lessons to evaluate students’ learning generally.
How would this enhance the student teachers’ experience?
As you might suspect, it is in the area of student assessment or evaluation that this tool enhances the student experience. In light of the recently introduced ‘Teaching Excellence Framework’ in which many UK universities are involved and are being ‘graded’ against, these areas are of concern.
Against this backdrop, the RATPD should be seen as an added discipline and practice-based assessment or evaluating ‘tool’ that when employed, will help to support teacher education department’s agenda to enhance the student assessment or evaluation process and to ensure that assessment or evaluation is an integrated and integral part of learning and teaching. Additionally, the RATPD was found to enable student teachers to connect learning at the university with the workplace i.e., Schools. This is so because student teachers, via the RATPD, reflect and wrestle with what is learned in the university and what is required in the workplace.
Intervention 2. A Pastoral Approach to Student Retention
Specifically, a pastoral approach to student retention aims to encourage in students, healthy and stable emotional and mental states, which could then enable them to address militating factors which act as barriers to achieving their desired qualification. Factors such as personal financial circumstance, social problems, medical conditions, changing circumstances and inadequate decision making.
This approach involves two elements, the mechanics of ‘caregiving’ and the ‘affective of caregiving’. The ‘mechanics of caregiving’ may include starting a research paper simple action such as a prompt reply to students’ email and queries or not being too busy to properly attend and give time to a student telephone call. These simple actions are indicators of a genuine interest in students’ well-being. By well-being, I mean their sense of comfort or security. The ‘mechanics of caregiving’ is as important as the ‘affective of caregiving’. The ‘affective of caregiving’ involves employing practices that impact positively, the student’s mental and emotional state, for example, giving an encouraging word and/or praising.
How would this enhance the student teachers’ experience?
Employing this strategy allows you to contribute to maintaining a high level of individualised support and encouragement, which raises students’ aspirations and expectations of what they can achieve. And from personal experience, this oft-times result in most students developing excellent knowledge and skills and produce work of a very high standard and above all help to reduce students’ drop out. When this happens the institution can boast, ‘the provision of personal and academic support which helps students to progress in their studies and to achieve better outcomes as they go through their course.
Intervention 3. Enquiry-based learning.
This teaching-learning strategy encourages students to engage in research. By engaging in various types of research projects, students develop an understanding of the research process; examine the literature, pass judgment about what counts as evidence, and reflect on the evidence. Students can be co-researcher with lecturers and may be involved with researching and writing the literature review for a project. They could also become involved in the production of a thesis or dissertation. This further facilitates their induction into research for their involvement in the actual production of a high-quality research thesis results in a greater appreciation for, and involvement in the research process.
How would this enhance the student teachers’ experience?
The application of this strategy will contribute to the need to actively engage students not just as the institutional/collective level as is being done in many UK universities, but at the individual and class level. The strategy will also contribute to the promotion of students’ independent learning and critical thinking skills and is an indication that staff engage and challenge their students by providing quality teaching, scholarship and research.
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