Ptlls Unit 008

Unit 008 – Roles, responsibilities and relationships in the lifelong learning sector.
In this assignment I am going to talk about the roles, responsibilities and relationships and boundaries of a teacher in the lifelong learning sector. I will be talking about key legislations, regulatory requirements, codes of practice relating to my own role. I will explain how to establish and maintain a safe and supportive learning environment. I will mention the teaching and learning cycle and what I can do to facilitate the learning of others.
1.2-1.4 The teaching and learning cycle (Gravels, 2011, p10) consists of the following phases; identifying needs & planning, designing, facilitating, assessment and evaluation. The cycle can be started at any phase but should be followed all the way round for it to be most effective. There are many different roles, responsibilities and boundaries as a teacher, for example at the stage of planning my role is to plan what will be taught and when this will happen and my responsibility is to agreeing individual learning plans, writing realistic aims and having a contingency plan in place.
Is it my responsibility as a teacher to identify the needs of my learners and what is the most effective way for them to learn. To do this I need to find out as much as I can about them in the first stage of the teaching and learning cycle (identifying needs & planning) if they require any additional aids in class, if they have any disabilities such as ADHD, autism or dyslexia, what current level of skills and knowledge they have. I would, if possible, find this information out prior to the class commencing and discuss with the learners any ways in which I can assist them, I could then prepare an individual lesson plan for the leaner. It is my responsibility to make sure I have set the right programme for my learners, that they won’t find assignments to hard or above their current levels of knowledge. I also need to make sure that I follow the correct procedures and I refer learners to other agencies if it is necessary.
At the facilitating stage of the cycle, it is my role to establish ground rules, embed functional skills in my teaching and teach in an inclusive and engaging way. I will make sure that I establish a safe and secure learning environment for my learners. Making sure they are comfortable and have access to toilets n water if needed. In my first teaching lesson, I will make sure I include an ice breaker to help everyone feel more comfortable in the class room. I will also include a task to discover everyone’s preferred style of learning to ensure I can prepare my future lessons to suit the needs of the individuals. I think that this would be an effective and fun way to facilitate the needs of my learners. Some of my responsibilities at this stage include acting and speaking appropriately, dealing with behaviour issues as they occur, not enforcing own values, beliefs or religions on learners and using appropriate equipment and resources.
Androgogy theory established by Malcolm Knowells (infed.org, 2002) found that adults learn differently to children. The four main differences being that adults need to know why they are learning something, adults need to learn experientially, that the approach to learning is problem solving and that adults learn best when topic is of immediate value. To ensure that I meet the needs of my adults learners I need to explain how the things I am going to teach will be of benefit either in their career or life. I need to make sure I include plenty of problem solving tasks i.e. case studies or group talks and ask the learners to assess each other, adults like to be responsible for their own learning.
1.1 There are many different legislation to be aware of as a teacher and it is important to keep up to date with these as they are always changing. There will also be different codes of practice relating my specific teaching role such as COSHH. It is also worth being aware of external bodies such as Ofsted, as well as funding bodies such as FE College which require evidence to assure the quality of qualifications. Some of the key legislations I have listed and summarised below:
Health and Safety at work Act 1974
“The employer has a duty to ensure that employees have a safe place to work and have training in use of equipment. “ This is important legislation is every working environment and employees can be prosecuted for not complying with this act. As a teacher/trainer I would make sure this act is available for learner to view. It will also ensure a safe class room environment to work in.
Data Protection Act 1998
“Made provision for the regulation of the processing of information relating to individuals, including the obtaining, holding, use or disclosure of such information.”
This is a very important act within schools and colleges as I will have access to names and address, personal information of students and will have to be aware of how I use and access this information.
The Equality Act – October 2010
“The act covers 6 specific areas:
Age, disability, gender, race, religion & belief and sexual orientation”
Is a relatively new act and affects my teaching in that I will have to be aware that I don’t discriminate against anyone or judge them. This is now becoming increasingly important in the work place and college environments.
Freedom of Information Act
“Gives learners the opportunity to request to see the information your organisation holds about them.”
The Children’s Act 2004
“Places duty on local authorities to take steps to protect children in appropriate circumstances and gives certain powers to the police so that they can take action to protect children. “Every child matters” has 5 key themes:
Be healthy – stay safe – Enjoy and achieve – make a positive contribution – achieve economic well being.”
A very important act amongst primary and secondary schools, I need to be aware of this act as there are now many minors taking part in college courses, it is important to keep up to date with any changes to it so that I can alter my teaching methods to comply with this act if necessary.

2.1-2.3 As a teacher I need to recognise the boundaries of my teaching and know when to refer the learner to other professionals who have more information and knowledge to able to advise them more appropriately. There are many points of referral that I can send to them for advice such as social services, GP, citizen’s advice, NHS help lines. This is a good way to support your learners without over stepping the teacher/learner relationship. It is important to maintain this level of professionalism so that both the learner and I understand the boundaries of the teaching role. It is my responsibility as a teacher to ensure that I give the correct signposting to guide the learner to most appropriate agency for their needs. Other boundaries I need to be aware of at the different stages of the cycle include: learners not at the required starting level, health and safety regulations, behaviour issues, ability of learners and data protection and confidentiality (Gravels, 2011).
3.1 & 3.2 - It is important as teacher to maintain a safe and supportive learning environment for learners and I can establish this by doing several things, I can be a role model to the students so that they feel I can they could come to me for advice and I can signpost them to the correct organisation if needed. I also will make sure that I have the correct resources and venue for safe learning environment. Beyond that I need to have the right attitude in my teaching and make the students for supported within this. I will ensure that I respect every student and get to know them to help them feel safe in their learning environment; I will also try to remember all students’ names as a way to be inclusive of everyone.
Establishing and agreeing a code of conduct that everyone adheres to, not only helps to maintain a safe learning environment but also shows students how to respect and behave in the class around others. I will do this by asking the students to come up with their own code of conduct in lesson so that everyone can contribute to this and feel part of it. It will be my responsibility as a teacher to make sure everyone follows this code of conduct at all times and I will do this by observing everyone in the class.

Gravells, A. (2011) Preparing to teach in the lifelong leaning sector 3rd edition. (Pp.6-18) Glasgow. Learning Matters Lld.

Infed.org. (Index informal and non formal education) (2002) Retrieved 19th June, 2013 from http://infed.org/mobi/malcolm-knowles-informal-adult-education-self-direction-and-andragogy/