AIOU Assignment BEd 1.5 Year 2.5 Year 8612 Professionalism in Teaching Assignment 2

AIOU Assignment BEd 1.5 Year 2.5 Year 8612 Professionalism in Teaching Assignment 2

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Q. 1 Explain the relationship of ethics and education. What are the responsibilities of a teacher in this regard.
Answer:

The increasing cross-national mobility of people and the transnational communication of ideas that took place cause the educators around the world are faced with new challenges of balancing local, national, and global norms and moral as well asethical values in the process of educating children (Gluchmanova, 2014). However, educators are always unwilling to devote time and effort to ethics education which is viewed as a soft course at the expense of what they view as more important courses(Power, 1991). Many scandals related to business and professional fields took place allover the world such as Enron and WorldCom which result to a widespread call to implement corporate code of ethics (Schwartz, 2013). So there is a need to discuss on the relationship between education and ethics.

Ethics, also known as moral philosophy is defined as “…generally used interchangeably with morality” and “…the moral principles of a particular tradition, group or individual” (Audi, 1999, p. 284). Different fields of professional have giving different definition to ethics. In business ethics, it is define as “an area requires reasoning and judgment based on individuals’ principles and beliefs in making choices that balance self-interest against social welfare or claims and responsibilities” (Weiss, 1994, p.7).

However, there are three recurring themes appear in the definition - principles, decision making process and conduct. Different people who have different principles will make different decision while the decision made may be result to an ethical and unethical conduct. Education is focus on teaching humans with ethics and morality besides development in knowledge and physical acquisition. In the philosophy of Imam Ghazali, education is a process of teaching and used to shape an individual character (Nofal, 1993).He states that religion education enables an individual to distinguish between the true and false, the good and bad, the right conduct and the evil doing. Education is related to rational. A variety of education approach and programs are aimed to improve individual thinking skills in order to produce good thinkers (Moshman, 1990). This shows a relationship between education and ethics. Chambliss (1987) believes that there are relationship among ethics, education and the formation of a just community and have been central of the Western philosophical tradition classic statement development. He argues that educational theory is a theory of conduct rather than an applied science. It is theory of conduct, not about conduct (Giarelli,1987)

Is Ethics Necessary For Education?

There are some positive and negative arguments about the necessary of ethics education in different professional and area. Milton Friedman (1970) explains that the ethical duty of businessman is to maximize profits not to study ethics. The argument is supported by David Hume who argues that the way to encourage ethical behavior is by installing financial and legal incentives but not ethics lectures. However, Francis Hutcheson held that human actions are best explained as motivated by sympathy, not self-interest. There is also an argument explains that ethics education is meaningless, since it is a feeling, not thinking (Hooker, 2004).

In addition, Green (1971) indicates that “professional ethics” is an excess brought forth by the inability to take the purpose of professional practice which developed in response to some foundation of human need whose advancement is already a moral aim(Giarelli, 1987). It shows unnecessary of ethics education in the professional study. However, Volnei Garrafa agrees that ethics can be a vehicle for teaching and learning processes in undergraduate and postgraduate programs within different academic fields. He believes that ethics should be educated in school and universities; and the real concrete problem should be experienced by students and family themselves (Garrafa,2015).

Does Education Lead To Ethical Behavior?

In other words to say this issue is more focus on the way that educator teach ethics may lead to ethical behaviour of an individual most effectively? Since there are some researchers found that ethics education improves ethical behaviour and some do not. In fact, university education is not the only factors in influencing behaviour but also family education and friends’ behaviour. Hill, Udayasankar and Wee (2014) argued that Confucianism and Confucian ethics influence behaviour and shape culture in parts ofAsia. It is a kind of thinking which is educated in family. Religious, intellectual, aesthetic, physical and cultural educations are responsible for the formation of moral behavirn students (Manea, 2014).

Education is an important factor in the ethical decision-making process which will impact society. The more education individuals have, the better they are at making ethical decisions. However, the type of education has little effect or no effect on ethics. An educated individual is in a position of power, trust, respectability, and responsibility commits an illegal act in relation to the employment, and abuses the trust and authority normally associated with the position for personal or organizational gains (Ferrell, Fraedrich & Ferrell, 2015). It shows that the influence of education lead to ethical behaviour is remained unclear. For an example, those such as Joseph Goebbels, Wilhelm Frick, Hans Frank and others who are highly educated was helping While Hitler who did not have a high education to implement the Third Reich’s regime. They were no more moral for it. While the uneducated soldiers were more often objecting to the horrific orders handed down to them (Glenn, 2010). A research showed that there are no different in behaviour after 10 weeks of ethical courses being lectured (Ponemon, 1993)

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Q. 2 Describe expectations and challenges of teaching profession in new millennium.
Answer:

It cannot be denied that teaching is a rewarding yet challenging career. It demands broad knowledge of subject matter, curriculum, and standards; enthusiasm, a caring attitude, and a love of learning; knowledge of discipline and classroom management techniques; and a desire to make a difference in the lives of young people.

At Trinity, our teachers are passionate, engaging and committed to their profession. As parents we don’t often get an insight into the vast and varied tasks that teachers undertake behind the scenes. It is easy to forget that the fun and engaging activities that our children enjoy in the classroom are the result of planning, lifelong learning, and experience that is juggled with many administrative tasks.

So, what are the main challenges facing teachers today?

1. Integrating curriculum with 21st century learning skills

It may be the 21st Century but many schools have yet to make the shift to the new millennium’s styles of teaching and learning. An overloaded curriculum can leave teachers overwhelmed when trying to develop critical thinking, problem solving skills, curiosity, entrepreneurship and digital analysis.

2. Development and growth in Information Communications Technology (ICT)

The students in our classrooms are true digital natives, spending most of their personal time using digital devices for entertainment and communication purposes. Often, they are more knowledgeable than the adults in their lives of various social media apps, electronic games and multimedia entertainment; and all this from an extraordinarily young age.

3. Collaboration with peers

The very nature of a teacher’s job can be isolating, with many teachers struggling to find time in the school day to confer with colleagues and engage in pedagogical professional conversations.

4. Identifying effective ideas

So many ideas are available on the internet, but identifying which ones are effective is a common problem for many teachers who can be overwhelmed by an almost infinite amount of ideas, resources and tools available online.

5. Curriculum overload

Schools have become the ‘go-to place’ for many social ills and issues, with continuous demands from government to implement new programmes. Adding this to a primary curriculum of 12 subject areas, it’s natural and understandable for teachers to feel overwhelmed and overloaded.

6. There are more children needing support with fewer resources 

Diagnosis of learning needs is more prevalent now than it ever was, with more and more children with specific special educational needs integrated in our classes.

7. Time is a scarce resource

Any analysis of a school’s strengths and challenges will identify time as the biggest challenge facing a school and its staff, who often don’t have time to converse, plan and research.

At Trinity, we know that the quality of your son’s education hinges largely on the teachers who provide it, a responsibility we take very seriously. It is well documented that highly effective teaching improves student outcomes. More than this, teachers have a marked impact on a child’s enthusiasm for learning and life in general.

Our Practice of Teaching at Trinity (POTT) ensures teachers are supported, empowered, prepared and constantly learning and exchanging ideas to provide the best learning environments for our students. Our pastoral care extends to nurturing and supporting all staff and families – not just students. Our educators’ length of tenure is a testament to their commitment and dedication – with many teachers serving for 10 years or more.

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Q. 3 How social and culture context influence upon teaching profession. Comment keeping your own context in mind.
Answer:

Many years ago, a cold-hearted scientist placed 100 babies on an uninhabited but fertile island, half of them boys, half girls. He provided only the minimum requirements to keep them alive. He left them food and water, being careful not to be seen. He kept them from harm, when possible. For years, the children received none of the trappings of a normal upbringing: no language, no education, no culture. Later, he slowly began feeding and watering them less and less, until eventually he gave them nothing at all.

After 20 years on the island, who are these people? Have they retained the thinking and sentient qualities that make them undeniably human or are they merely hairless apes? Myriad possible scenarios unfold — war, camaraderie, invention and language. Within a few hundred years, the islanders might have even cultivated traditions and cultures.

Most likely, however, within that 20 years the only proof of the experiment would be the finding of a few small bones on the now deserted coastline. The islanders would be dead.

— Excerpt from New Scientist “Island of wild children: Would they learn to be human?” by Christopher Kemp.

CULTURE AND CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY

When humans grow up without culture, do they ultimately invent it? What role does culture play in defining the individual? How does culture impact learning?

Paleoanthropologist Ian Tattersall says “You cannot think of human beings as independent of culture and their society. This goes back a long, long way before we were human. It goes back millions and millions of years, back into our primate and mammal past. Even the most basic aspects of our cognitive development depend on being raised by linguistic, articulate parents, embedded within a rich and historical culture.”

According to her article, “Reflections on the Impact of Culture in the Classroom,” Giselle Mora-Bourgeois says culture refers to the ways in which different groups of people organize their daily lives within national or ethnic groups, urban neighborhoods, companies and professions, and other settings. Culture includes what people actually do and what they believe. Culture influences greatly how we see the world, how we try to understand it and how we communicate with each other. Therefore, culture determines, to a great extent, learning and teaching styles.

IMPACT OF CULTURE ON WORLDVIEW

In his Huff Post Education article “Examining the Impact of Culture on Academic Performance,” Matthew Lynch. EdD says a person’s culture and upbringing has a profound effect on how they see the world and how they process information. “The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently,” by Richard Nisbett, showed how the Asian holistic view of the world differed from their American counterparts, who tended to view the world in parts or distinct classes of objects defined by a set of rules.

In other words, the Asian children see the world in terms of the relationship between things, whereas the American children see the world in terms of the objects as distinct entities. This information is helpful when we consider how cultural background might influence approach to learning and school performance.

Theories exist to help explain differences in school performance among different racial and ethnic groups.

CULTURE: PARENTS AND EDUCATORS

Parents and educators are aware of the disparities that exist under their own school house roofs. Disparities exist in achievement, funding and readiness. But we cannot be expected to sufficiently address any of these gaps without acknowledging the cultural gaps that continue to exist between students and teachers.

Culture is often perceived as celebrated holidays and recipes, or religious traditions. But at the root of it, culture is a unique experience. Cultural tendencies impact the way children participate in education. To engage students effectively in the learning process, teachers must know their students and their academic abilities individually, rather than relying on racial or ethnic stereotypes or prior experience with other students of similar backgrounds.

The definition of normal school behavior can be based upon individualist and collectivist cultures. Teachers who lack knowledge about a culture might misinterpret the behavior of a child and inaccurately judge students as poorly behaved or disrespectful.

M.S. Rosenberg, D.L. Westling and J. McLeskey in “Special Education for Today’s Teachers: An Introduction,” say that the influence of culture on the importance of education and participation styles cannot be overestimated. Many Asian students, for example, tend to be quiet in class, and making eye contact with teachers is considered inappropriate. In contrast, most European American children are taught to value active classroom discussion and to look teachers directly in the eye to show respect, while their teachers view students’ participation as a sign of engagement and competence.

Parents from some Hispanic cultures tend to regard teachers as experts and will often defer educational decision making to them, whereas European American parents are often more actively involved in their children’s classrooms, are visible in the classrooms, or volunteer and assist teachers These cultural differences in value and belief may cause educators to make inaccurate judgments regarding the value that non–European American families place on education.

IMPACT ON EDUCATION

Educators understand that learners are not all the same. Pat Guild of the Johns Hopkins School of Education says that too often, educators continue to treat all learners alike despite the obvious cultural diversity within. Mora-Bourgeois adds that addressing cultural differences in the teaching-learning process is both important and controversial. It is important because we are confronted with an increasingly diverse population of students and the wide achievement gap between minority and non-minority students. It is controversial because we may fall into the trap of cultural stereotyping and making naive attempts to explain achievement differences among our students.

Teachers remain the ultimate advocates for learning, yet many are not necessarily aware of what their students deal with once the dismissal bell has rung. The Southern Poverty Law Center’s Teaching Tolerance says that many teachers are white, middle class English speaking individuals. While teachers typically are color blind — they teach with equity and without discrimination — this practice does not always address cultural diversity. Teachers cannot escape the fact that their communication “styles” reflect their cultural background. Much of what they say, the way they say it, and their relationship with students, parents and colleagues are deeply influenced by the way they have been socialized. Race and ethnicity often play integral roles in children’s identities, and contribute to their behavior and their beliefs. Recognizing this can help students succeed in a school culture where expectations and communication are unfamiliar.

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Q. 4 Examine the situation of professionalism in teacher education institutions of Pakistan. Comment with reference to your experiences?
Answer:

Teachers are the most important educational resource for students and a critical determinant of education quality. However, in Pakistan, teacher performance remains a concern to many education stakeholders. The key issues include: i) inability of the system to attract and/or retain quality human resource to teaching; ii) the system does not recognize either the teacher or the teacher educator as professionals; iii) although there is general acknowledgement of the weak educational background of teachers and lack of motivation and commitment among them, not enough is done at the policy and particularly at the implementation level to address the situation and establish teaching as a profession of real status; and iv) scaling up and sustainability of quality teacher education programs in Pakistan poses a challenge. Teacher education programs, which focus on quality, are either short lived or small scale. Longer term and large-scale programs, on the other hand, do not address quality.

It is important to focus on teachers’ professional development and policy changes to improve teachers’ performance. Teachers’ performance can be seen as a combination of three fundamentals: (i) competence; (ii) motivation; and (iii) opportunity. Competence, motivation and opportunity are affected by factors from both within and external to the teacher. It is important to identify four levels: teachers, schools, local management, and policy.

Teachers: Pedagogical skills, subject knowledge and professional attitudes are most important for quality teachers. Professional attitudes refers to the teachers’ knowledge of how to be an effective teacher. Subject knowledge is the major constraint to low quality teachers. Unless teachers have sufficient subject knowledge, they are unlikely to use improved teaching skills.

Schools: One single factor which can make a difference to the quality of teaching in a school is a good head teacher. School development processes not only provide additional resources for the school, but also provide an atmosphere of progression and improvement.

Local Management: The interface between the teacher/school and the government is critical to motivation and opportunity. Teachers need to know that their actions will be recognized and rewarded/sanctioned by their employer. Schools need to be confident that attempts to improve will be supported. Local management includes, advisory support, inspection of facilities, teaching and management and delivery of teaching and learning resources.

Policy: Ultimately the procedures adopted for recruitment, posting and transfer and promotion exert the most influence over teachers motivation to perform. Transparent and merit based procedures in this area send a strong signal that other aspects of professional development are taken seriously. Policymakers need to pay closer attention to teacher management policy including the following:

• Career Progression
• Actions to promote the status of teachers
• Assessment/exam policy
• Non-salary expenditure
• Curriculum/instructional approach

Following points are also important as recommendations for policy actions:

• Value teachers as stakeholders in the education process: Involve teachers in planning, designing and decision-making stages in order to ensure successful delivery and implementation of Education policy/reforms.
• Provide teachers with effective support structures, especially leadership and management: Strengthen the relationship between schools and the district education office by conducting more school visits by district staff (followed by feedback to schools) and instituting a faster and more transparent system for dealing with transfers, promotions and postings.
• Enabling conditions for Quality Education: Teacher can only be strong if she/he is enabled to teach well; Quality is only possible with regular monitoring, continuous professional development and support.

Make teaching a respected and attractive profession for teachers: Address the transportation difficulties faced by teachers in certain areas. The district office could make provisions for a school bus or provide a transport subsidy to teachers. In order to boost morale and to return to the days when teaching was a well-respected profession, find innovative ways to publicly value teachers. For example, provide ‘best teacher’ awards and announce these on the radio; organize annual events, which get teachers and education policy makers from federal, provincial and district levels together, such as World Teachers’ Day.

Overall, to improve education quality, teachers remain the single most important factor. This has to be supplemented by provision of other determinants of quality (textbooks, teaching material etc.). Measures need to be taken to attract more able and qualified people to join teaching profession. It is important to strengthen the relationship between schools and the district education office by conducting more school visits by district staff (followed by feedback to schools) and instituting a faster and more transparent system for dealing with transfers, promotions and postings. Improve teachers’ problem-solving skills and their capacity for critical reflection.

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Q. 5 Discuss ethical issues pertaining to the role of a teacher?
Answer:

Teachers and students share a very unique relationship. They spend the majority of their time interacting with each other, yet there always seem to be a feeling of conflict between each other. In a sense, there always seems to be battle occurring between the two groups with the school itself acting as the battlefield. It often appears that the major goal of the school system is to outwit and scheme against the students. This rifted relationship does not occur at all times nor with all people, there are some instances of qualitative emotional sharing between the teachers and the students. It takes a lot of courage to be either a teacher or a student in the school system today. Courage, because that everyday bears witness to another battle. One of the major components of these everyday battles is the notion of discipline or misbehavior. Teachers use discipline as means of creating an optimum learning environment for their students. There has been a vast amount of research dealing with the use of disciplinary procedures in the school system. The evidence suggests that rather than focusing on disciplining the child, teachers should focus on affecting the childs life in a positive manner.

Written Authorization: Teachers are guaranteed protection legally for performing activities and duties that are within their written scope of employment. The term scope of employment is a term that basically means we have job-related legal protection for activities we have been contracted or directed to do and that have been approved by some authority. Teachers who do things that are outside of officially sanctioned activities may be placing themselves in a position of great vulnerability. Examples include: teachers who take students on field trips without approval from or sanction by school authorities which includes parental permission as well; or teachers who discipline students outside of approved school procedures.

Liability Insurance: Teachers who transport students for school related activities may be putting themselves at great risk legally. Carefully following the school district's policies for student transport is imperative. When permission is granted from school authorities to transport students and district policies are followed, teachers who transport students even in the teacher's own vehicle are commonly covered by the school district's liability policies in excess of the teacher's own liability covered within the teacher's auto insurance policy. However, the risk occurs when a claim must be paid by the teacher's insurance company, the teacher runs substantial risk of having the company cancel their auto insurance policy. Protection for teachers comes from ensuring that all activities are approved within the contract, or at least through written authorization of a school administrator as well as making sure that all other variables (e.g. insurance coverage) are well considered.

Educational Malpractice: Malpractice involved the lack of skill in performing professional duties, no matter what the profession. Because teachers are certified, the presumption is that they have at least a minimal level of competency. Those who fail, and, some cases, organizations that hire them, can face serious consequences.

Lack of Skill: Certified teachers are presumed to have acquired sufficient skills to maintain an environment conducive to learning and to convey knowledge and/or skills to their students. This is often summarized by the phrase "duty to supervise and instruct." When this cannot be accomplished, the accusation of "lack of skill" can be made.

Repeating Ineffective Procedures: When students are repeatedly subjected to ineffective procedures or strategies, a case may be made for educational malpractice. There are a number of activities, used in education from time immemorial, that, given the tenor of today's society, could be cause for concern. Some examples are abusing detentions, homework as punishment, sarcasm or ridicule or any other verbally abusive tactic. As parents become more legally savvy and focus on calling schools to task, teachers may want to give considerable thought before continuing some practices simply because they worked in the past.

Learning as Punishment: Using learning, extra work or homework as punishment is a practice that only serves to antagonize students and their parents, and has little, if any, remedial justification.

Using Grades to Control Behavior: Teachers would be well advised to reconsider using grades for anything except reflecting actual skill or content mastery, rather than effort, improvement, or other behavior. To be judicious, all grades should be equally accessible to every student.

Grading on a Curve: This is another practice to avoid. This practice does not allow for equal accessibility to every student (criterion-referenced), and only indicates mastery relative to others in the grading pool (norm-referenced). It does not give an accurate indication of what skills and/or content the student does or does not have.

Ignoring Students' Individual Capacities: With the advent of special education and "504 Legislation" (referring to the section of the civil rights legislation that went into effect in 1973, which basically states that individuals cannot be discriminated against because of being handicapped), the courts are now increasingly involved in determining a definition for "appropriate instruction." This individualization may include modifying materials, giving additional time to complete tasks, and developing teaching strategies to address different ways of learning.

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