Task 5.B Codes of Practice

After reading through the job descriptions for both teacher and cover supervisor in a secondary school; I found there was not much difference between the list I wrote myself for task 5A, and the official documents. The school version was a lot more detailed and precise; however my own version had the same general message. I highlighted in blue; areas I found interesting that got me to thinking. I was unaware some aspects that I do naturally without thinking about actually appear in my job description.  I highlighted in red; areas I feel bring about some ethical issues.

After highlighting areas of possible ethical concern I found questions popping into my head that got me to thinking about how I would manage this during my professional inquiry.

The first ethical concern I came across was a big one: establish a fair but firm relationship between teacher and students? What is fair? I believe only experience in a school can provide and understanding to such a question. It is also important to consider that the school/pupils and area will affect the guidelines for what is appropriate and what is fair. I only know this from having visited and worked in a variety of schools. I have found that levels of behavior differ from school to school and what is borderline disruptive in one school, will be completely unacceptable in another. Fortunately for me, I have been working for 2 years at the school I will be conducting my professional inquiry; this ensures I have a better understanding of the students and their behavior. On the other hand this will provide a difficult task when trying to plan an inquiry relevant to all schools. I need to consider that my inquiry may only be helpful for schools that are similar? This also brings about another question: how do you compare schools? This is something I will need to think about in depth whilst planning my inquiry? It may be worth reaching out to other departments or visiting other schools

As a teacher I am responsible for recording student progress; this can be difficult at times for performing arts teachers as most of the feedback is verbal and progress is shown through performance. It is very easy in academic subjects as their achievements can be seen through their written work; however there isn't much theory for performing arts which means progress must be monitored through video recordings of the students performing. As we are not allowed to store videos on our laptop this can be very inconvenient for reports etc. All footage and images must be uploaded to the schools data base which can only be accessed on school grounds. This is something I will need to think about for my professional inquiry as video footage will be one of my main resources.

Managing challenging or difficult behavior is a huge aspect of every teacher’s job. Different methods are used for different situations so it is important to know your students well. But what is appropriate behavior? Every teacher has their own idea of a well behaved class, but every school has guidelines. I believe through observing fellow colleagues lesson you can get a better understanding of the standard at your school. Once you have established your own boundaries and rules a structure to your lessons will naturally form, making difficult situations easier to manage. How you handle the disruptive student(s) is vital to minimizing the negative impact of learning and progress of others. The students I intend to use as a focus group I know very well. This however, does not mean difficult situations won’t arise; a plan must be put into place to deal with disruptive students, ensuring they don’t affect my inquiry.

Whilst setting out behavior guidelines for students you can’t help but think about yourself. Should teachers have rules too? After all they are role models who can have a major impact on a young person’s life. In my job description, it says I am to; promote school values through professional behavior and commitment, to inspire trust and confidence in students. This seems fairly straight forward, but with all the safe guarding rules it can be very difficult to allow a student to confide in you. As a teacher a conversation of sensitive content where a student is confiding in you is to be shut down immediately, the child is then sent to a member of the safe guarding team. While I understand the very important reasons for this it does make inspiring trust difficult. The student may get the impression you are just passing the problem on and don’t really care. Should teachers just be there to deliver lessons? Wouldn't that make these blurred lines much easier for both students and teachers? There are all sorts of care teams in schools so should teachers be getting involved at all? Again this is just another issue I feel you only learn about through experience. 

Job Description for Cover Supervisor/ Teacher

·         To set clear expectations for maintaining appropriate learning behaviour.

       ·         To manage challenging or difficult behaviour from students to minimise any                     negative impact on the learning of others.

• Provide classroom supervision of learning for classes in the absence of the teacher for up to a maximum of ten consecutive days for the same member of staff, including the first three days of absence. 
• Create an orderly and purposeful learning environment in which firm but fair relationships are established between the Cover Supervisor and students
• Encourage students to engage with learning and support students to complete work set by the classroom teacher
• Support students consistently whilst recognising and responding to individual need
• Promote good pupil behaviour, dealing promptly with conflict and incidents in line with school policy in respect of Behaviour for Learning, including school rewards and sanctions.
•       Working with other relevant teachers and support staff:

·         To have a thorough and up to date knowledge of the relevant aspects of the National Curriculum and related National Strategies.

·         To take account of further curriculum guidance in changes and development.

·         To understand the contribution that ICT can make to teaching and have the appropriate knowledge and skills to use ICT in your teaching.

·         To promote progression in the relevant key stages and phases.

·         To regularly evaluate the progress of students in relation to their prior attainment.

·         To use analysis of data from internal school assessments and National Curriculum assessments to plan lessons and sequences of lessons.

·         To report to colleagues on the progress of an individual, group or class, eg when changing lessons.

·         To monitor the progress of students through the continuous assessment of attainment against the learning outcomes set.

·         To provide constructive, formative and summative feedback to students.

·         To report to parents on the progress achieved by their child and the action required for further improvement.

·         Liaise and work effectively with other professionals and agencies involved in the assessment and provision for students’ needs, eg educational psychologist and SENCO.

·         To develop students’ capacity for self-assessment so that they can become reflective and self-managing learners.

·         To apply effective teaching strategies and methods appropriate to motivate different students and groups of students.

·         To use a range of strategies to ensure that there is appropriate pace and challenge in lessons for all students.

·         To manage effectively and creatively the full range of resources available, including TA’s and HLTA’s.

·         To provide positive and targeted support for any students with particular learning needs.

·         To set clear expectations for maintaining appropriate learning behaviour.

      ·         To manage challenging or difficult behaviour from students to minimise any negative impact on the learning of others.

·         To derive your planning from the school’s agreed schemes of work and the National Curriculum. ·         To identify, record and communicate learning objectives for lessons and sequences of lessons. ·         To take account of the needs of individual students, groups or classes in your planning. ·         To demonstrate progression in students’ acquisition of knowledge, skills and understanding in your planning of sequence of lessons. ·         To use homework and other opportunities for learning outside of the classroom. ·         To amend your planning to take account of your effectiveness of your teaching strategies. ·         To be a Form Tutor to an assigned group of students. ·         To promote the general progress and well-being of individual students and of the Form Tutor Group as a whole. ·         To liaise with a Pastoral Leader to ensure the implementation of the school’s Pastoral System (ECM). ·         To register students, accompany them to assemblies, encourage their full attendance at all lessons and their participation in other aspects of school life. ·         To evaluate and monitor the progress of students and keep up to date student records as may be required. ·         To contribute to the preparation of Action Plans and progress files and other reports. ·         To alert the appropriate staff to problems experienced by students and to make recommendations as to how these may be resolved. ·         To communicate as appropriate, with the parents of students and with persons or bodies outside the school concerned with the welfare of individual students, after consultation with the appropriate staff. ·         To contribute to PSHCE and Citizenship and Enterprise according to school policy. ·         To apply the Behaviour Management systems so that effective learning can take place. ·         To demonstrate that all student make appropriate and consistent progress against their prior attainment. ·         To develop students’ literacy, numeracy and ICT skills through all subject teaching. ·         To demonstrate that the levels of students’ progress is as good as or better than local or national student performance in similar settings. ·         To demonstrate that students of different background, behaviour and/or ability make appropriate progress. ·         To demonstrate that students meet or exceed their own challenging individual targets and that the rate of their progress is generally better than that achieved by students in similar setting.

·         To participate in and engage with school and/or external INSET and professional development activities.

·         To share the outcomes of professional development with colleagues.

·         To take action as a result of feedback and identified development needs.

·         To take part in self-evaluation activities in order to inform professional development needs.

·         To seek and use opportunities to develop further professional expertise within the requirements of your role.

·         To participate in professional development in response to school priorities or needs in order to improve standards of teaching and learning.

·         To implement school policies and procedures consistently.

·         To contribute to team, departmental or school improvement planning.

·         To identify where your work contributes to the progress made by the school in achieving its priorities for development.

·         To promote school values through professional behaviour and commitment.

·         To provide challenge and support to all students.

·         To inspire trust and confidence in students.

·         To build team commitment amongst students and with colleagues.

·         To engage and motivate students to do their best.

·         Communicate effectively with different groups, eg students, staff, parents, other professional services.

·         To help to implement school quality procedures and to adhere to those.

·         To contribute to the process of monitoring and evaluation of the curriculum area/department in line with agreed school procedures, including evaluation against quality standards and performance criteria.

·         To review from time to time methods of teaching and programmes of work.

·         To maintain appropriate records and to provide relevant accurate and up to date information for MIS, registers, etc.

·         To complete the relevant documentation to assist in the tracking of students.

·         To track student progress and use information to inform teaching and learning.

·         To communicate effectively with the parents of students as appropriate.

·         Where appropriate, to communicate and co-operate with persons or bodies outside the school.

·         To follow agreed policies for communications in the school.

·         To assist the Head of Department to identify resource needs and to contribute to the efficient/effective use of physical resources.

·         To co-operate with other staff to ensure a sharing and effective usage of resources to the benefit of the school, department and the students.