Teaching - my personal articulation.

Teaching to me is like organizing a party – in fact a series of parties for the same set of guests.

Each course for me begins with a plan. No matter how often I have taught a course, I go back to the drawing board to chalk out a road map. A lesson that I learnt as a programmer – never write code without writing the algorithm.

My planning would include breaking down learning outcomes into packages and creating a learning schedule. I would also consider introducing something new or topical into the course, changing the sequence of how outcomes are delivered, modifications to learning material etc. Assessment strategies are planned to include a variety of assessments. Formative assessments and learning activities are planned – in most courses I like to be prepared with material one week in advance.

This is a little laborious at the onset, but I find myself quite in control when guests arrive so to speak. Once a plan is in place, I am comfortable planning the delivery of the lesson itself. Depending on the course this could be anywhere between 30 minutes to 3 days ahead of the lesson.

Each lesson I would then plan for a blend of theory and application. One without the other is either too boring or not challenging enough. Fortunately early in my career, I taught courses in Database Design, Programming and Systems Analysis. By their very nature, these subjects lent themselves to teaching theory and practical simultaneously. Now I am transferring these skills to the business and management courses that I teach. I use discussions based on case studies to apply concepts learnt. Finding case studies specific to this region is a challenge, but having working students in a class helps.

A party is no fun without some banter, humor and guests bonding into smaller groups. In my opinion, learning must be fun otherwise it becomes a dreary activity to the learner. I try to set a relaxed tone in class but with some ground rules – particularly with the younger students. My best lesson is one where students settle into their groups and are working on a task. I would walk around helping the groups or a few students helping their peers. Or there would be a good discussion related to the topic that we just studied with students engaged and happy to express their opinion. Or when students begin to connect the dots and piece together all that they have learnt to produce a piece of work that reflects what they have learnt.

The best planned parties or courses can start to go awry. In such a case, the ability to recognize a problem and having time to reflect on the happenings is necessary. It also helps to have a mentor or a colleague to discuss issues. I have learnt to that making small changes in time is necessary to steer the course back into order and inject enthusiasm back into learning.

Unlike a party, a course has a tangible outcome – grades. Much as I dislike pegging students into predefined slots, it is feels great when I see progress that some students have made and immensely sorry for those that did not. Good teaching and learning is all about pride.

This explains why I don’t have much enthusiasm to organize many parties at home!

A memorable learning experience.

A few years ago at the behest of a friend, I enrolled into a cake decorating class. The opportunity to learn something totally disconnected to what I did for a living made it exciting. Visions of me baking scrumptious cakes and making them look oh-so-beautiful made me say yes almost too soon.

The course was due to begin in a couple of days, so I did not have too long to change my mind. I signed up for the course and was duly informed of supplies to be bought to practice skills at home. There would be homework!

Classes got going. Students were all women, from various walks of life. Each of us had varying experiences with baking but were newbies at decorating. A level playing field! The teacher was fun and put us at ease as we worked our way through confectioners’ sugar, meringue powder and what have you. At the end of two hours, we had iced our cupcakes. Over the next few sessions we learnt to make icing, sugar roses, piped flowers and borders. It was a whole new art.

There was homework to do as well. So weekends were spent creating the perfect rose, creating great looking icing etc. Smells of crisco and sugar pervaded my kitchen, relegating smells of curry powder for a change.

What made the experience memorable for me? It was very hands-on and practical. We learnt by observing, trying it ourselves and then practicing at home. Soon our skills and confidence grew. Learning was fun as there was a lot of humor - we laughed easily at our mistakes. While we had to demonstrate that we could replicate our learning outside the classroom, there was no pegging our creations to predefined criteria. There was a sense of accomplishment of having learnt. The teacher was a facilitator, sharing her experiences and knowledge. This made it a very learner centered experience.

This leaves me with a question. Should we be having more courses in academia where the objective is to learn and not be measured?

Why am I doing this?

My days are full as it were.  I have been working for 24 years now. Been a teacher for over 16 years - teaching basic computing skills, programming, database managment, applications development, project management and quality management.  For shorter periods  I have worked as a programmer, a systems analyst and a manager. Yet, teaching is what I love to do. Teaching here at the HCT has been rewarding because of the way we deliver education - very hands on and closely related to the local industry.  This has kept me totally abreast with advancements in technology and businesses in the region. 

As a teacher, my style is very classic - explain concepts using examples that students can relate to, set problems for them to solve in class, create projects for them to demonstrate their learning etc. I am also very comfortable using Respondus and BBVista for online assessments.  I have sporadically used online discussions and social networking tools in class.  All this makes me successful teacher, going by the usual indicators.  But now I would like to do things a little differently while keeping to my core strengths. Which is why I decided to enroll into THE PGCTHE.

Having practiced the art of teaching, I would now love to explore the science. The prospect of studying online, using all these new tools is very exciting.  Being a learner in such an environment will give me ideas that can be used in my courses. It would also expose me to the challenges and benefits of online learning.  Studying with peers extends my own circle of learning and I am looking forward to it.

A few hours a week seem to be worth it. 

Back to school

Going back to school to learn. An online one. Into a program that will help me polish my teaching skills. Will it teach me techniques that students haven't already? A little sceptical but will see how it goes..