I intended to write on effective and quality school learning. It is a diverse topic also the context of country and location counts in it. I went through many educational policies and suggestions in context of school system; what I couldn't found is what we can do to short cut the process of school learning and make it more effective for parents and children. So now I am trying to get a bit insight into the domain and then explore step wise to what can be an effective schooling and education.
Following are some of the questions to give insight into this domain. I myself have been into teaching to University Students for 9 years. What I learnt is when converted into fun learning teaching and learning is an enjoyable and untiring task. Hope after this article I be able to get into the main or core learning that can be achieved at school. So let's read into the the following five aspects:
1. What is Effective Learning and Teaching
In Effective Teaching all students of the class are considered according to their abilities and are taken along in learning. Some students of the class cannot be ignored because they cannot learn in the same way and pace as others. Making groups of students also helps. Effective teaching is more than having expertise in a particular subject. There are several qualities of a good teacher: He or she is prepared, has fair and clear expectations, has a positive attitude, is patient with students and assess his or her teaching on a regular basis. In addition must be able to build caring relationship with students, must be friendly and approachable.
Learning is a reflective activity in which a learner based on previous experience understand and evaluate the present in order to draw future action and create new knowledge. In Effective Learning all the characteristics of Learning are included with an additional monitoring of whether approaches and strategies are proving effective for particular goals and context [3].
2. Key Attributes of Effective Learning Environment
It is inbuilt in humans to learn. In this context teacher's job is to create a rich environment to facilitate the kind of learning that will benefit the student. Another factor is that knowledge is not fix or static but is continually developing. Education is like a garden where learners are plants.Plants know how to grow they just need the right environment, the right balance of sun and shadow, the right soil conditions and enough water etc.
Learning environments is more than the technology used to support it. A different learning environment is created for the different context in which teacher is working. Some examples of learning environments are a school campus, an online course, a military training. Teachers can create an environment that is of benefit to the learner. Key components of a learning environment are: 1. Learner Characteristics what are their goals and and motivation, in which context they will prefer to learn (home, campus, online), how much prior knowledge do they have and how much digitally capable they are? 2. Content what content is needed by them, what are the goals in covering this content, what is the right balance between breadth and depth of content in this context and what activities the learners will need in order to acquire this content? 3. Skills what skills students need to develop, what activities they will need to develop and apply these skills, what is the goal in skill development and what is the minimum level of performance 4. Learner support what mentoring do they to succeed, how they will get the feedback, how they will relate to other learners so they are mutually supportive? 5. Resources how to divide time for each component of the learning environment, how to get help from teaching staff and librarians in a better way, what online facilities the learners have and what technology they can use.6. Assessment what type of assessment should be used, how they will measure the content and skills that learners are expected to master?
3. Important Characteristics of an Effective School
There are five qualities of an effective school: 1. Leadership in effective leadership students perform better. Effective leaders are involved in discovery of and solution to problems. 2. High Expectations of both students and teachers. When teachers have high expectations for students and provide high tasks that are engaging and of high interest, students build self esteem and improve academic performance. Teachers who are expected to have high levels of effectiveness can reach the level of expectations thus improving instructional quality. 3. Ongoing Evaluation The third attribute is evaluating student performance and development. It helps to identify problematic areas for which solution can be devised. 4. Goals and Direction School goals are set by involving all community and stakeholders and students perform best when goals are collectively followed and communicated among all in a learning environment. Innovation should be incorporated in school goals. Instructional design helps create better learning material to be delivered to students. 5. Secure and Organised for maximum learning to occur, students need to feel secure. Respect is a fundamental aspect of a safe school. For same purpose trained staff is there to work with difficult students before situation get out of hand.
Students perform better when the size of school and class is small.
4. Qualities of an Excellent Teacher
What are teaching strategies that create better learning, five qualities to make the teaching effective are:
1. Teacher needs to be able to build trusting relationships with students 2. Compassionate person having a sensitivity to student differences. 3. Understands the pace and capacity of the student. 4. Has love and passion for teaching and always willing to help students and give time. 5. Engage students in learning i.e at cognitive, emotional and behavioral level. Making content interesting and motivate students to learn.
5. Why it is Important for Teachers to know their Students?
A teacher that understands their strengths, weaknesses and interest will better help them to be successful academically. Also they can help them when they are upset, have difficult time with friends or other things going on in their lives. Teachers can talk to them about what interests them outside of the academics world.
A student is more responsive to a teacher who cares, and is therefore more likely to learn and engage. Also students feel better about themselves if they feel that a teacher has taken a genuine interest in them; they are motivated and stronger self-assurance can make it easier for the students to challenge themselves academically. A good teacher needs to assure student that their life and not just their grades is of interest to you.
Conclusion
Above five strategies can be used to create a better learning management system. It will create better results for both students and teachers and by making learning a fun process.
Credits:
- Effective Teaching - The Department of Education
- Top Qualities of an Effective Teacher
- Effective Learning
- Building an Effective Learning Environment
- The Five Attributes of Effective Schools
- Top five qualities of effective teachers, according to students
- The Importance of Getting to Know Your Students
- Teachers Care
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