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Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Sector (PTTLS) Task 1 How can teachers/trainers establish ground rules with their learners? Students differ when it comes to behavior and respect for others, therefore establishing ground rules will need to reflect this difference. Group discussion of expectations and incorporation of all views ensures that every student feels heard and included. This form of inclusion facilitates a memorable establishment of ground rules which are individually as well as collectively meaningful.
When discussing ground rules with learners it is important for the teacher to establish their own rules which reflect their commitment to the teaching/learning relationship. Ground rules could incorporate issues being fully prepared for lessons and ensuring I keep good time for classes to start and finish promptly. I would reciprocate learners commitment to completing assignment by making sure that all marking is completed and returned in equally good time.
Further rules to ensure students get the most out of their learning experience encompasses my making sure all have an equal voice when expressing opinions. I see ground rules as mutually agreed reciprocal arrangements where others views and needs are appreciated and valued. This creates a safe and respectful space in which all participants have the opportunity to benefit from the learning experience. The ground rules can be elicited from the group or determined by the tutor.
If tutor-led, then they should be stated verbally or provided to the learners on a handout or slide, with the opportunity for the learners to respond, add more and negotiate the ‘rules’. This provides good role modelling and a transparency about expectations for behaviours. Typical ground rules might be: * starting and finishing on time * coming prepared * listening to others without interruptions * participating * saying when you don’t understand * when anyone is speaking, addressing the whole group and not just the teacher * switching off mobile phones treating others’ contributions with respect * keeping personal issues out of the session * maintaining confidentiality within the group. In specific learning situations, such as when dealing with interpersonal development, communication skills, in interprofessional groups or learning about difficult situations, the ground rules should always be set out at the start of the session to help ensure that learners feel safe to express their views and make mistakes, and that a congenial, relaxed atmosphere is developed and maintained.
This is very important in many aspects of clinical teaching. We are all aware of the ‘teaching by humiliation’ that has been challenged in medical education, but clinicians are in an inherent position of power over their students and juniors, often responsible for carrying out assessments and providing references. Awareness of these power relations can help clinical teachers to become more sensitive to the needs and expectations of learners. Facilitating learning and setting ground rules
One of the main tasks of the teacher is to establish an appropriate microculture within the group, this includes the physical environment, the psychological climate and the interactions between the teacher and the groups and between the individual group members. Sometimes the ‘rules’ are assumed and problems are rare, in other instances a teacher may find it helpful to establish ground rules. Simple rules, such as listening to the teacher without constant interruptions, switching off mobile phones and treating others’ contributions with respect might have to be reinforced when a teacher is meeting a group for the first time.
It is useful to be explicit about your ground rules and state them verbally or on a slide to the learners, giving opportunity for them to respond, add more and negotiate the ‘rules’. This provides good role modelling and a transparency about expectations around behaviours. In specific learning situations, such as when dealing with interpersonal development, communication skills or learning about difficult situations, it can often be helpful to set the ground rules out at the start of the session to help ensure that learners feel safe to express their views and make istakes and that a congenial atmosphere is developed and maintained. This is very important in many aspects of clinical teaching. We are all aware of the ‘teaching by humiliation’ that hopefully is now being challenged in medical education today, but clinicians are in an inherent position of power over their students and juniors, often responsible for carrying out assessments and providing references. Awareness of these power relations can help clinical teachers to become more sensitive to the needs of and expectations from learners.
What specific issues are there in your specialist area? Specific issues are things that are specific to you teaching your specialist subject the type and age range of the learners you work with and the specialist field you are delivering in You need to focus on what you will be teaching and who you will be delivering to all learners require boundaries and rules within which to work. These must be made clear early on in the course; they could be set by your organisation and/or produced by yourself.
Setting ground rules will help everyone know their limits. Learners like routine and will expect you to be organised and professional. Always start a session on time, stating what is going to be delivered, recapping points along the way and summarising at the end is a useful approach. Need to consider learners personal circumstances and situations with adult learners. Computer skills minimum or none. Attitude problems implementing e-learning Time issues Accessing e-learning – system down
Adult learners Keeping terminology to a minimum Problem: Fears. The topic itself that you are teaching may be fearful to the student as is the case with those adults trying to learn new technology. Solution: Just be as patient as possible and try to reinforce that plenty of other people have conquered the topic, and provide examples, and then remind them that they can accomplish it too. Problem: Different learning styles. Everyone likes and is successful learning in different ways.
When you struggle to learn something, it’s not always because “it isn’t your thing,” “or that you lack intelligence. ” It’s often because you are trying to be forced to learn something in a way that isn’t natural to you. Solution: As the instructor, you need to provide your material in a variety of ways. You should present in the classroom, give written instructions, create a Power Point presentation to reach people who are visual, place your content online, if possible, for those who like to go back and review things multiple times.
If you really have time, it would hurt to create a video and post that online for it to be viewed repeatedly until your students feel like they’ve learn what they want to. Finally, you can set up a discussion board for students to be on equal playing fields and to learn from each other. One important question in e-learning is regarding why it is not always liked by people. Why are individuals reluctant to participate in e-learning sessions and why do they not like them?
These questions, although not applicable to all the students, apply to many (Juutinen and Saariluoma 2006). Nevertheless, it is a real problem for the future development of this mode of teaching. If a large segment of people do not like e-learning, it easily slows down the development of the field and causes divisions between people who will and can benefit from e-learning courses, and people who cannot. Thinking about the future, the mental obstacles for participating in e-learning easily result in losing important opportunities in advancing one’s personal development.