Walter Geerts & René van Kralingen - The Teachers' Handbook

Introduction

PART A  How do I educate my students? This is a rather broad question in itself. Consequently, we will analyse several dif ferent aspects associated with this question. Focus on the teacher as a key figure in the learning environment Recent developments in the field of didactics show that the key role of teachers in their students’ learning environment is gaining importance. Marzano (2007) at tributes a central role to teachers in his meta-analysis of identified critical success factors of learning outcomes. Research by Hattie (2012) indicates that a teach er’s didactic approach in particular has a positive influence on student learning outcomes. Neuropsychologist Jelle Jolles (2006) regards the teacher as the only one to see the ‘whole picture’ as far as student capabilities are concerned. The teacher remains key in inspiring and motivating students. Hence, the conclusion is: restore the fundamental role of teachers. Invest in teachers Christopher Day (2010) mentioned at the annual conference, ‘Education Re search Days’, in June 2010 that educational innovations will only be successful with participation of motivated, involved teachers. For this reason it is of utmost importance that teachers feel at ease at their jobs; they should be appreciated and deserve to be invested in (teaching conferences, tenure tracks, refresher courses etc.). The Vereniging van Lerarenopleiders Nederland (VELON) 3 has specifically designed a knowledge base for teacher educators.

In The Teachers’ Handbook , new developments like these are being pursued by assigning the teacher a central role. The aim is to develop teachers who possess analytical and inquisitive attitudes towards their students, the teaching profession, as well as themselves.  In order to ensure that students learn some thing during their lessons, the initial chapter in this book is concerned with the students’ learn ing process. We’ll shed light on various streams of thought and different points of view. Next

Teaching can be compared to a theatre performance. As a member of the au dience you only see what happens on stage. However, once you are actively involved in the theatre production, you discover what it really entails; e.g. what happens backstage, what kind of ar rangements need to be made, who par ticipates, what rules and regulations are in place, etc.

we’ll have a look at how best to design the learning environment so as to facili tate the learning process. Chapter 2 zooms in on the topic of initial situations. In order to match students’ needs, we need to know their pre-existing knowledge, what learning process they have experienced and to what extent they can work methodically. In Chapter 3 we will review different teaching methods as well as

3  Vereniging van Lerarenopleiders is the Dutch Association for Teacher Educators in the Nether lands.

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