Describing Teachers

What is a Teacher?

 Teachers are described as actors because “ they are always on the stage”
 As Orchestral Conductors because “ they direct pace and tone”
 As Gardeners because “ they plant the seeds and watch them grow”.

Dictionaries give a variety of messages about teaching.

 Cambridge International Dictionary of English – teaching means “ to give
( someone) knowledge or to instruct or train (someone).
 Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English – teaching means “ show
somebody how to do something or to “ change somebody’s ideas
 Describing Teachers

Teachers and Learners

 In resent years, under the influence of Humanistic and Communicative

theories, great emphasis has been placed on “ learner – centered or student –
centered” teaching.
 In this framework, it is students’ needs which drive the syllabus and it is the
students’ learning experiences and their responses to them which should be at the
heart of a language course.
 The measure of good lesson is the student activity taking place, not the
performance of the teacher.
 In some educational traditions, students and teachers find learner – centered
classrooms quite difficult and there are many occasions when the teacher will want
to be at the front of the class to motivate, instruct, or explain something to the
whole class.
 Describing Teachers

The role of a teacher

 Within the classroom our role may change from one stage to another or one
activity to another.
 Yet any role which the teacher adopts and which is designed to help students
learn- is to some extend facilitative.
 Some of the roles that a teacher has; are:
 Controller
 Organizer
 Assessor
 Prompter
 Participant
 Recourse
 Tutor and
 Observer
 Describing Teachers

Controller

 When teachers act as controllers they are in charge of the class and of the
activity taking place in a way which is different from a situation where students are
working on their own groups.
 Controllers take the roll, tell students things, organize drills, read aloud and in
various other ways exemplify the qualities of a teacher – fronted classroom.
 Teachers who view their job as the transmission of knowledge from
themselves to students are very comfortable with themselves as controllers.
 There are a lot of times when acting as controller makes sense such as when
announcements need to be made, order has to be restored, explanations are given,
or when the teacher is leading a question and answer session.
 Describing Teachers
Organizer
 Organizing often involves giving the students information, telling them how
they are going to do the activities, putting them in pairs or groups and finally
closing things down when it is time to stop.
 the first thing as an organizer is to get students involved, engaged and ready.
Which means, making it clear that something “new is going to happen and that the
activity will be enjoyable and interesting.
 Once the students are ready, we want to give any necessary instructions, say
what students should do first and what next.
 At low levels sometimes it is good to give instructions in their own language.
 An important tool is to organize a demonstration.
 We can summaries the role of organizer as follows:
 – engage – instruct (demonstrate) – initiate – organize feedback
 Describing Teachers

Assessor (Evaluator)

 One of the thing that students expect from their teachers is an indication of
whether or not they are getting their English right. This is where we have to act as
an assessor offering feedback and correction and grading the students in various
ways.
 But doing so, saying whether students can pass to the next level we should
make some important points:
 Students need to know how and for what they are being assessed: ex.
Pronunciation, punctuation (in writing), accuracy or fluency (in speaking),
Grammar etc.
 When we act as assessors we must always be sensitive to students’ possible
reaction.
 Describing Teachers

Prompter

 Sometimes when students are involved in a role-play activity they are “lost in
words” and they are unable to proceed productively for the lack of vocabulary.
 What should teachers do in these circumstances: hold back and let them work
things out for themselves or ‘nudge’ them forward an a supportive way?
 In such situations we want to help but we do not want, at that stage because
we want to encourage the students to think creatively rather than tell them every
single word.
 Sometimes we offer words or phrases, suggest that the student say something.
 Or suggest what could come next in a paragraph if a student is writing.
 Often we have to prompt students in monolingual groups to speak English
rather than use their mother tongue.
 Describing Teachers

Participant

 There are also times when we might want to join in an activity not as a teacher,
but as a participant in our own right.
 There are good reasons why we might want to take part in a discussion:
1. It means we can give our students things from inside instead of Prompting or
Organizing them.
2. When it goes well, students enjoy having the teacher with them and as well for
the teacher participating is more enjoyable than acting as a resource.
 The danger of teacher as a participant is that we can easily dominate the
proceeding .
 Describing Teachers

Recourse

Suppose that students are involved in a piece of group writing or discussion:

 They might ask the teacher what the word or phrase means. They might want
to know information in the middle of activity about the activity itself or about
where to find the information.
 This is sometimes the most important recourses they have.
 However, a few things need to be said about this teacher role:
1. No teacher knows everything about the language and there are a lot of
questions that students can make.
2. However, we should offer guidance as to where students can look for that
information.
3. And sometimes there are cases when you should have the courage to say:
“ I do not know the answer to that right now, but I’ll tell you tomorrow.
 Describing Teachers

Tutor

 When students are working on a longer projects, such as piece of writing or

preparation for a talk or debate, we can act as a tutor; working with individuals or
small groups.
 In such situations we combine the roles of ‘Prompter and Recourse’ acting as
Tutor.
 It is difficult to be a tutor in a very large group since the term implies a more
intimate relationship than that of Controller or Organizer.
 It is essential for us to act as tutors from time to time, however difficult it may
be.
 In this more personal contact the learners have a real chance to feel supported
and helped.
 Describing Teachers

Observer

 We will want to observe what students do (especially in oral communicative

activities), so we can give them useful group and individual feedback.
 We should be careful not to be too instructive on their every word, or writing
thing down all the time.
 It is useful when taking notes on student’s performance –either as a whole
class, or for individual students – to have columns not only for what they get
wrong but also what they do right.
 We need to be able to work and observe simultaneously, listening, watching
and observing so that we can create the best kind of rapport between us and
them.
 The teachers also observe in order to judge the success of different materials
and activities , so if necessary make changes in the future.
 Describing Teachers

How to be a good teacher

 What makes a good teacher?

 Should make lesson interesting, students don’t fall asleep.
 Must love his/her job.
 Should have his/her own personality.
 Have lots of knowledge ( not only his subject)
 Should be an entertainer (in a positive sense)
 Should be approachable ( so student can talk about problems)
 Good manager ( knows how to control the class)
 Try to correct students without offending them
How should teacher talk to students

 The way of teacher’s talking is one of the crucial teachers skill.

( teacher should choose the words he/she uses)
 Experienced teachers use physical movements ( gestures,
expressions, mime, voice)

 They should also choose a good tune ( not a rough one)

How should teachers give instructions
 They must give instructions as simple as possible

 They must be logical

 They should know what is important for their students

 What information they need first

 They should check if the students understood the topic/questions

 Who should talk in class

 Students are the people who need to practice

 TTT ( Teacher Talking Time should be proportional)

 The best lessons are where the STT ( Student Talking Time is
maximized
 What are the best kinds of lesson

 The greatest enemies of successful teaching is student boredom

 Teacher should always change something ( casual clothes, not always sit
down, if noisy and energetic should sometimes be calm and slowly
 There is needed surprise and variety within the class ( teacher should
change the techniques of teaching, not always writing, grammar, etc)

 Variety does not mean anarchy

How important is it to follow a pre-arranged plan

 Why important a variety lesson plan?

 Teacher should have objectives

 Should sometimes allow more time for one exercise

 Teacher should know when to finish the exercise

 Should be flexible to cope with different situations

( the CD player doesn't work, teacher might forget to bring the
material)
Thank you for your attention!