Running Head: TEACHING, LEARNING, AND ASSESSMENT

Developing teaching, learning, and assessment in education and training

[Writer’s Name]

[Institute’s Name]
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Task A.........................................................................................................................................3

Task B.........................................................................................................................................4

Task C.........................................................................................................................................5

Task D.......................................................................................................................................11

References................................................................................................................................14
 Teaching, Learning, and Assessment 1

Developing teaching, learning, and assessment in education and training

Task A

The area of specialism chosen is teaching. Burke, Sharp and Field (2018: 167) asserts

that there are five pedagogical approaches in teaching which are constructivist approach,

collaborative approach, inquiry-based approach, integrative approach, and reflective

approach. The constructivist approach focuses on learners learning as they become involved

in the process of attaining information. The collaborative approach is about two or more

learners looking to learn something together (Mayo 2019: n.d.). The inquiry-based approach

is about learning by asking questions instead of simply receiving facts. The integrative

approach focuses on making students understand different lessons in various curricula. The

reflective approach focuses on the teachers analysing their teaching practice, and looking to

improve or change their way of teaching to better help students in understanding the learning

outcomes (Kangas et al. 2017: 274).

Keeley-Browne and Price (2016: 134) asserts that minimum core elements for

inclusive teaching and learning include literacy, language, numeracy, and Information and

Communication Technology (ICT) skills. The literacy element is related to reading, writing,

checking spelling, and grammar, and so on. The language element is related to the speaking

and listening aspect. The numeracy element is focused on carrying out calculations,

interpretations, evaluations and measurements (Gargiulo, Metcalf and Metcalf 2017: 234).

ICT is about effectively using e-learning activities, emails, and other digital devices. The

focus of inclusive teaching and learning is usually towards those students, whose learning

needs and preferences are different. Therefore, a teacher has to ensure that they work towards

removing any kind of barriers that these students might be facing while trying to attain

knowledge.
 Teaching, Learning, and Assessment 2

Cornett, Knackstedt and Deshler (2018: 284) are of the views that creative and

innovative approaches in teaching can help teachers and students, both, to improve the entire

learning and teaching experience. The use of creative and innovative approaches can be used

in the learning area as well as the teaching area too (Goouch and Lambirth 2016: 124). In the

teaching area, the teachers would work towards creating an environment in which students

will get a deeper knowledge of the subject, and the students will work towards taking

calculated risks in the lesson (Hunter 2017: n.d.). In the learning area, the students will be

encouraged to ask questions related to the topic to attaining better comprehension of the

lesson. The students would also implement the aspect of mind mapping which is making

connections among the different topics.

My practice is that of teaching. To plan out the lesson for inclusive teaching and

learning, I had applied two theories in my class. The first theory that I made use of is the

initial and diagnostic assessment. I made use of the initial assessment at the start of the

courses so that I could get an idea about the learners that I would teaching. I made use of the

diagnostic assessment to get an idea about the existing knowledge and strengths of the

learners, and the areas of development that they require (Farrell and Rushby 2016: 106). The

second theory I made use of was the visual, auditory, and kinaesthetic (VAK) styles. The

purpose of using this style was that it helped me understand the dominant learning style.

Task B

The behavioural management theories are theories that are focused on the human

relations movement as it analyses the human dimension of work. Various theories are part of

the behavioural management theory. The operant conditioning theory created by B. F. Skinner

in 1960 focuses on the aspect that changes in behaviour take place due to the result of an
 Teaching, Learning, and Assessment 3

individuals’ reaction the events that are taking place in their environment (Overland, Barber

and Sackville-Ford 2020: 204). The stimulus-response (S-R) pattern is rewarded which leads

to individual behaving in the same way in future. The second theory is the choice theory

created by William Glasser in 1998 (Lawrence 2017: n.d.). The focus of this theory is that all

an individual does is behave, with their genetics focusing on basic needs of survival, love and

belonging, power, freedom and fun.

In my practice of teaching, I have made use of theories of behaviour management in

the sense that I had to make certain that the students were abiding by the classroom policies

that had been set for them. In my class, I made use of operant conditioning. The purpose of

implementing this theory is to ensure that students get into the habit of asking questions and

improve their knowledge. Once the students started showing good performance, I would even

reward them with prizes or good grades. The second theory that I made use of was the choice

theory. By implementing this theory, I was to focus on quality and made sure that students

were self-evaluating their work before they gave it to me for submission.

Task C

The initial assessment focuses on the areas that are considered the initial point of

studies for students (Beck et al. 2018: 68). Keeping this aspect in mind, I made use of one-to-

one assessments group work to get an idea of what stages each student was, and what goals

each of them needed to attain to move forward. I also made use of questionnaires that

students had to answer so I could get an idea of where each student stands in the development

stage. The diagnostic assessment focuses on improving the skills of the students which helped

me in understanding the strengths, weaknesses and learning preferences of each student

(Nalla 2018: 3). I mainly focus on VARK, along with looking into their previous knowledge
 Teaching, Learning, and Assessment 4

about topics (Sia and Lim 2018:123). After considering these aspects, I created an individual

learning plan.

The following scheme of work is created by considering the needs of the learners, the

delivery model, and the internal and external requirements. The subject chosen is Economics,

focusing on the basic concepts:

The teacher has made certain to make use of pedagogy and andragogy techniques

(which are delivery methods) that would help in meeting the learning needs of students
 Teaching, Learning, and Assessment 5

(Sharifi, Soleimani and Jafarigohar 2017: 1441). The teacher-driven approach has also been

used to convey information to students. The teacher has made certain to provide sufficient

time to each topic, with a total of 90 minutes are planned out divided into 35 minutes of the

teacher providing information, 35 minutes for students learning, and 20 minutes for focusing

on the students with special education needs (SEN).

As a teacher, it is my responsibility to ensure that I am taking care of each students’

goals, needs and learning preferences before I start my lesson. The first step that I took was

that I considered the curriculum requirements of the subject that I was going to teach. Once I

had gone through the curriculum requirements, I analysed each student to see if any of them

required additional support or had any specific needs that I had to consider before I started

the lesson. I made use of diverse assessment method which comprised of different learning

styles, available resources, and the learning outcomes that had to be met. Through this

approach, I got a clear idea of where each of my students stands.

A key part of inclusive practice is that learners must be provided with regular

feedback. The purpose of feedback is that it helps with improving the overall knowledge and

work of students. One of the approaches that I would use is that while I am teaching the new

lesson, I would randomly ask students about various points from the previous day lesson (Al-

Shammari, Faulkner and Forlin 2019: 2). The idea is to see how much they have understood

the lesson and remember it. Any student who does not remember it will be asked where he is

facing difficulty in understanding the lesson and provide them with homework related to it to

improve the student’s concepts. Next day, again the student would be assessed to see if he

understands the concept.

As a teacher, it is important to create a safe, inclusive learning environment because a

teacher comes across various types of students and it is his/her responsibility to ensure that
 Teaching, Learning, and Assessment 6

each student can attain his goals and objectives easily. There are certain approaches that I

have taken regarding the creation of a safe, inclusive learning environment (Haug 2017: 206).

The first approach I would use allows my students to make use of different sources to attain

information, such as using websites, books, podcasts, and so on. This helps in increasing their

knowledge from various sources. The second approach I would make use of is not to deduct

any marks for talking out of turn or being late. This particular aspect can harm the students

when it is not related to the class topic.

Teachers are responsible for ensuring that they are creating an environment in the

class which focuses on promoting equality and diversity among students. Considering the

Equality Act 2010 which focuses on offering legal protection to the individuals related to age,

disability, race, genders, and so on (Cunningham and Cunningham 2018: n.d); in my diverse

class, I would implement the themed week concept. The themed weeks' concept could be

African week, disability week and so on to make students understand different topics. I would

try to incorporate the theme into the curriculum as well to increase interest (Klein 2016: 147).

To meet the needs of the specific learners of Economics subject, I would ask them to look for

news on the current economic situation of the country and provide an analysis of what they

have understood so far.

Flexibility and adaptability mainly help a teacher in improving her teaching methods

in an inclusive teaching and learning environment (Crawford and Jenkins 2018: 8). From the

start, I ensure that I am being flexible and adaptable in my approach because it helps me in

guiding students accordingly. One of the methods that I make use of is to ask students

regarding the teaching methods they would prefer, in which the most preferred method is the

use of PowerPoint Presentations or using the Internet to allow students to do their research

related to the topic. Once the searching is done, I evaluate the information gathered and

inform students where they are right or wrong. Another approach that I would make use of is
 Teaching, Learning, and Assessment 7

allowing students to discuss the topic among themselves to improve their knowledge (Jonker,

März and Voogt 2020: 1).

I understand the need for ensuring that diversity in the class is not only valued but that

students accept it as well. For diversity to be accepted, there is a need for each individual

treating the other individual in an equal manner. In my teaching, I try my best to interact with

each student and get to know them. Crawford and Jenkins (2018: 5) state that teachers must

interact with students or else students will not be able to progress. Thereofere, my main aim

is to make the students feel at ease and relaxed so that they do not become apprehensive in

learning new things. My class students from different religions, so this gives me a good

chance to interact with students and get to know about their religion. This helps me in

improving my knowledge and respect the boundaries of each religion while teaching.

The assessments that have been focused on meeting the individual needs of the

learners are as follows:

Additional time: some students tend to take up more time than others in completing

their work. For them, I would ensure to provide additional time so that they do not feel

pressurised into submitting work quickly.

Written vs verbal: many students in my class can answer questions verbally rather

than in writing. For them, I would provide the opportunity to answer questions verbally,

outside the class so that they are not left behind because they are not able to write efficiently.

Exam vs coursework: some students cannot give exams as they become confused. For

them, I would provide course-based assessments to analyse their understanding of the topic.

Related to the aspects of the assessment to meet the individual learning needs, I have

made use of additional time, written vs verbal, and exam vs coursework. The purpose of

opting for this approach is to ensure that students do not feel pressurised if they are stuck at
 Teaching, Learning, and Assessment 8

some point in the lesson. My main aim as a teacher is to ensure that I am adaptable and

flexible in my teaching approach. For this, if I have to change my strategies so that students

can feel at ease and perform to their best potential, I do not shy away from doing so. I make

certain that weak students, I give them additional support and time, and create opportunities

for them to succeed in any way possible.

In my teaching, I regularly make use of three forms of assessments which are

formative, interim, and summative. The formative assessments help me in monitoring

learners’ achievement, attainment and progress while the learning is being carried out

(Dixson and Worrell 2016: 153). This way, I can analyse which student stands where. The

interim assessments help me with setting the learners’ targets and planning out subsequent

sessions at different points of the lesson plan. In my opinion, this is one of the best stages as I

get to know how far my students have progressed, and what sessions they need to be part of

to improve their chances of achieving the goal. The summative assessment helps me with

recording the outcomes of the assessment (Buchholtz et al. 2018: 715). Once the students

have complete the lesson, I can analyse the result of their performance.

Any lesson plan that I create, I make certain that minimum core elements are part of

it. As the focus of my lesson in economics, I would use the core elements accordingly. The

following are the approaches I would make use of to lay out the implementation of minimum

core elements in my lesson plan:

Literacy: I made use of written homework. The purpose of this was to check how well

students can write theories of the lesson.

Numeracy: I made use of numerical and general problems related to economics to

ensure that students used their numeracy skills efficiently.

Language: I would allow the students to have group discussions so that their language

usage skills are improved.

ICT: I would allow them to use the Internet for carrying out research.

I understand that students can require my help at any time, which means I need to be

available for them at all hours. I try my best to be available for my learners or any other

individual that is looking for help related to the lesson. I make certain that every individual’s

queries are resolved without any issues, and they feel satisfied. Regarding communicating

assessment information, I share the formative, interim and summative assessments with other

professionals of my students as Buchholtz et al. is of the view that this helps in every new

professional in understanding the student from a glimpse of asssessments (2018: 715). This

helps me as well as other professionals to set out plans which would improve the learners’

achievement towards his goals. I usually share an overview of the initial and diagnostic

assessments as well so that while creating the plan, all needs of students are considered.

Task D

In my delivery of inclusive teaching and learning, I began with using the pedagogical

techniques in which I made certain that I was reviewing the previously learned materials and

linking them to the new lesson. This helped the students in understanding the concept as a

whole, and not feel that the lessons are not related to each other. While the lesson was going

on, in-between I made use of the humanistic approach. The purpose of implementing this

approach was to ensure that students continued to show positive behaviour, and not reflect on

any kind of negative behaviour. I offered them feedback as well in their work at short

intervals to keep them on the right path of the lesson and not deviate from it.
 Teaching, Learning, and Assessment 10

Moving on, for the assessment practice, I made use of certain approaches which are

initial and diagnostic assessment, and the formative, interim and summative assessment

(Kaskova et al. 2016: 67). By making use of these approaches, I was able to get a complete

overview of where my students stand before the start of the lesson, how far they have

progressed, and what the result is once the lesson is completed. At some points during the

lesson, I made use of one-to-one interaction along with questionnaires so I could get a better

idea of the capabilities of my students.

I understand that I had to evaluate my practice in inclusive teaching and learning, to

see if I was using the right approach with my students. If, as a teacher, I am not using the

right approach then my students would not be gaining any benefit from me. I evaluated my

practice through the theory of Donald Schon of “reflection in action” and “reflection on

action” (Nash 2016: 65). While I was carrying out the lesson, I was also reflecting on my

approaches if it was benefitting students or not. The reaction of students made me understand

whether they were able to understand the concept or not (Scott 2019: 7). The reflection on

action evaluation I did once I saw the results of the students’ work. This helped in

understanding if my approach had worked with them or I had to alter it to meet their needs.

There is no doubt that a teacher has to continuously improve her approach to meet the

needs of the students, which is something that happened with me as well. After analysing the

reflection on action evaluation, I realised that some students were struggling. Sia and Lim

(2018:123) state that if a student is continuing to struggle than it means the teacher’s

approach in teaching is failing significantly. So I decided to improve my practice. For this, I

modified the course materials by breaking it into sub-parts so that students get to understand

the basic of the topic. The second approach I used was asked questions after each sub-part

was covered so that each student in my class was on the same page as everyone else. This

was important for me because it allowed me to move forward as a class towards the next
 Teaching, Learning, and Assessment 11

topic, rather than allowing some students to move ahead with the topic and some students

were left behind because of some comprehension issue.

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