My competences and vocational teacherhood
Analysis of my competences in teaching, summer 2013
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| The core competence areas of vocational pedagogy |
At this point, when I'm only starting to study teaching, my understanding of a teacher's competences originates mostly from my experiences as a learner, and from other fields of working life. I now have nearly 20 years of working life experience from different jobs, which I see as a useful resource when thinking about what the employers and working life require from an employee.
The only teaching experience I have is from the time when I worked as a part time teacher for a group of immigrants on a MAMU II course. It was a course where the students were learning about the Finnish working life and systems related to it. My main task was to look for training places with the students, and to help both parties to see what was expected from them during the training.
I have worked in global teams for over ten years (in the IT world) and during that time I learnt about some differences we workers from different cultures may have in the way we communicate and negotiate etc. I have also worked a couple of years at the international department in the Oulu Employment Office, and mostly my customers were immigrants from all over the world, so I have some view on what may the areas where cultural differences can appear.
Spring 2015
It was two years ago when I applied to this Vocational Teacher Education. I got a full time job quite soon after having started these studies, so my studies haven't proceeded as I planned in the beginning.
I have been reading again some of my answers to the self-evaluation questionnaire I filled in May 2013, and thought about what I have learnt by now. Since I haven't been teaching, my thoughts and reflections are purely hypothetical but I think I can see some references to what I have learnt and where I have progressed.
Scale your pedagogical competence: In May 2013, I ticked the lowest possible level 1 (next to no competence) for competence in interacting and communicating with a student, and competence in using ICT technology in teaching. Now, I think that I could scale ICT to 2 or 3 even, for we have been learning a lot about different online tools in teaching. We have also learnt about implementing different teaching methods, so I could tick 1 to that one. Probably I would tick 2 for assessment and feedback competence, but for the rest, I think I need to see how the teacher training goes to be able to jugde my planning competence and competence in developing teaching.
Special needs education was my group's task in VOC II, so I think I have some understanding of what are the factors to be considered on that field. However, knowing how some things should be done is still very far from doing them, in particular, when interacting with people. It is good to know the guidelines, and obligatory to know the requirements such as IEPs, but I think that practise will eventually show what are the most useful ways with different learners, including also those without special needs.
Teacher's competence in values integration is probably the most unfamiliar area to me when considering its theoretical basis. However, in general I understand teacher's professional ethics meaning the teacher's professional knowledge on the subject and the teacher's ability and will to maintain his/her knowledge on the subject. In addition, ethics means also that the teacher is able to be impartial when dealing with different and sometimes very difficult situations with the students. Furthermore, the teacher has to remain neutral when discussing matters such as politics, religions etc. which are often matters of opinion or things that individuals, especially younger students may not yet have influence on.
Competences in the world of work, working community compentence, global competence, as well as competence in research, development and innovation are to some extent familiar from my previous and also from my current work place. I have been in the working life for about twenty years, in different roles and teams, and I have a general view on what the employers expect from employees. Team work and global teams are very common in ICT field, and probably in most areas/companies having sites in different locations. I also have knowledge of the processes, the usual steps in product development in a bigger company.
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| Experiental learning |
Familiarizing myself with the studies and planning ahead
My starting point as a vocational teacher –student is that I am a certain kind of a learner myself and I know what kind of teachers/teaching I like. I would like to learn more about other types of learners. This is also where I would like to develop: to learn about different teaching methods.
I think I’ll get most advantage from VOCI, but everything seems important now, in particular the teaching practice. My possible practice places could be OAMK business or healthcare unit, but this is still very much open. I have got 10 ECTS accredited (the basics of educational science).
My personal study plan is highly depending on the time I have for the studies, and the timing. My current plan is to follow the planned schedule for VOC. By now, already eleven of fifteen sessions have been had. I haven't been able to participate every session, but I have listened to the recordings and done an extra task by writing notes on the session I missed. I have done the basics of educational science earlier in the open university, so I can skip that entity.
I could have been doing the optional studies already, I think several of my fellow students have done them by now, but because of the limited time I have for these studies per week, I have decided to focus on one topic/task at a time. I also think that this quite comprehensive VOC part can give some knowledge that may help with the optional studies, depending on of course what optional studies I decide to choose. So, I will concentrate on the optional studies only after VOC part has been completed. My teaching practice is likely to take place next autumn.
My future as a vocational teacher
In my future as a vocational teacher I hopefully can have the sense of humour as an everyday tool. I also hope to be able to make the students see why learning certain (obligatory) things is important and in that way motivate them. As a teacher I hope to be demanding but also competent so that I know how to explain and clarify things that feel difficult, and not just show the same slides year after year.
My most memorable learning experiences
I remember that after my first school day ever, I cycled home and hoped that the next morning would come soon. I really enjoyed school. After elementary school I went to commercial college, where my main subject was marketing, although I don't and didn't feel marketing is or was directly my cup of tea. My idea was to avoid accounting, which was the other main subject we could choose in that school. Avoidig something else is probably not the best reasoning for choosing anything, but back then it seemed like a good idea.
Today I might choose differently, in particular because today most of the calculations are done by different software, whereas in the late eighties we had to calculate everything ourselves. My profit and loss statements rarely matched... Maths has never been easy to me, although I can learn if I put a lot of effort into it.
I did enjoy some of the lessons and exercises we had around marketing, and learning included quite a lot of hands on tasks as well, like planning and creating ads and advertising campaigns. As a kind of diploma work we had to ask some local company or business to let us do some sort of a customer study for them. Me and my friend chose a shop where they sold children's clothes. What surprises me now is that to be able to target our questionnaire to the right audience, we could get a list of families with children within a certain age group from some authorities. I don't think that kind of information would be given just like that today.
After finishing my marketing studies in commercial college, Finland quite soon faced the economic depression in the beginning of the nineties. There wasn't much to choose in the employment market, so I applied to the university. First I thought of applying to the economics faculty, but after looking at the entrance examination books and the amount of maths, I decided to choose English instead. I've always liked English and it wasn't such a struggle to learn it. (Here I am, again avoiding the maths...)
I felt that studying during the first couple of years was very demanding for me. I haven't been to the Finnish high school, but got into the university in a "quota", so I lacked some basic skills and knowledge students usually acquire in the lukio. For example, I felt that I would have needed a separate course on grammar terminology, because neither English nor grammar were stressed in the commercial college. Then later on, I chose Swedish as a secondary subject. By then I had survived my battles with the grammar of English and learnt the terminology, so learning Swedish grammar was nearly like a walk in the park, and the grades were better as well. Of course there are differences between the teachers and the methods they use as well.
Before starting these iVet studies, I spent a year studying business in the Oulu University of Applied Sciences. There I noticed that I have an attitude problem towards today's business life, where the goal seems to be that the rich need to become richer and the poor poorer. And the future is only a quarter of a year! Or whenever the next reports are given in the company. Often the future seems to include kicking out people to raise the market share values so that the share owners can have even more wealth. And think about those who can afford to take their money to some place where the taxation is lighter than here in Finland... For example, national economics was a very interesting subject, but it felt so sad to see that the values are so hard. Of course I understand that things are not this black and white, but I don't know if there is much evidence to prove that we are philanthropic when it comes to economics.
My formal studies and learning history
My formal studies after elementary school started by commercial college. So I have experience on vocational teaching from the learner's point of view. I studied marketing as my main subject but quite a few of our group really ended up with marketing "careers", some started up their own businesses and others worked with accounting even.
Then I studied English and Swedish at the University of Oulu, I graduated in 2000. My studies don't actually form any coherent unit that would have been useful in today's working life as such, because I chose subjects I was interested in. For example, I studied psychology, phonetics (my favorite), and philosophy.
A couple of years ago (2012) I started in Oulu University of Applied Sciences to study business in a group for adult learners, but those studies are now on hold.
My personal teaching history
My teaching experience is quite limited. I have worked as a part time teacher for a group of immigrants who were learning about the Finnish working life. My task was to discuss with the learners on what kind of work they were interested in and where they would like to do their work training period. Then we would contact the possible training places and see whether the training was possible there.
Some students had quite clear view on at which companies they would like to do their training, and what opportunities these companies could offer. These students were very motivated and had even planned to apply to some education required to the job in question.
Motivation and initiative were not that self-evident among the students who didn't yet know about what kind of jobs could be possible for a person who, for example, only had a very basic knowledge of Finnish language. I must admit that finding the motivation was not that simple, because there was no guarantee that the training could be a meaningful step towards employment, which was the ultimate goal for most.
All students did find training places, and I'm sure they all learnt some things about the system in the Finnish working life. The experience may not have been a dream come true to everyone, but that also was a learning experience, they learnt what they did not like and that they must think something else as their possible future plan.
How do people learn the best in vocational settings?
The first thing that comes to mind is by practising the real things. However, before jumping to hands-on activities, the students need to learn at least the basics of the subject. To some students learning basics and possible theoretical basis may not seem too tempting, and this is where the teacher's skills as people-person and teaching professional can make the difference.
The teacher should find the correct way to approach the subject or topic so that the students would understand the meaning in knowing something about the background information as well. So to be able to link theory to the practice is important, but depending on the level of education and the age of the students and their motivation in general, it may be equally important to find some proper way of communicating with the students. Even if the teacher knew everything there exists on the subject, it does not help if the students are not paying attention.
How to get the students' attention and focus then? Well, when preparing for the course or in the beginning of it, the teacher might think about different methods of activating and engaging the students. For example, do the students have such personalities that they would be willing and could create a drama on some topic, if the contents allow? If the responsibility of learning is partially transferred to the students in a way they feel comfortable, they migt feel that they are doing rather than cramming, and they would learn by doing.
My preferred learning styles/The individuality of learning/My view of learning
Learning styles can be viewed from different perspectives and thus be defined or studied in several ways. One way of examining and classifying learning styles is based on how learners perceive information. The most usual classification is to consider learners being dominantly visual, auditory or kinesthetic. We probably all have a mix of these styles, for example, I am a visual learner and also kinesthetic in a sense that I like writing down things I need to learn. In addition to these three, some classifications include also categories verbal, logical, social and solitary (http://www.learning-styles-online.com/overview/). This more detailed classification would make me a visual and verbal learner.
One of the most familiar-sounding learning style theories is that of Kolb's, Kolb's experiential learning cycle (http://www.simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html). It is built on the conception that experience is essential for adapting and processing new information, for learning. The cycle consists of four stages: concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization and active experimentation. According to Kolb's theory, all these stages must be carried out for learning to be effective.
In Kolb's cycle, I probably am a learner who starts out carefully, so no personal experiments right away. I rather watch somebody else try first and look for information on the subject before doing any attempts myself. My learning style is then diverging and on the cycle it starts between the phases concrete experience and reflective observation.
What makes an effective vocational teacher?
An effective teacher is of course a teacher who can make the students learn and even become interested in the subject. The teacher should have knowledge on the subject and various ways of explaining things, for example, mathematical equations. S/he should also know the students to be able to communicate with them (understand sth about today's social media), be able to motivate and activate the students, remain a calm adult in all situations, be demading but still have the students' confidence. There are certainly many ways and methods in improving one's effectiveness in teaching and I believe this iVET program will present useful tools for it.
In addition, the teacher must know the legislation related to education and students' rights. It is also important to know how changes or development happen in the school world, in other words, the organizational understanding of the system and how development ideas or problem areas can be forwarded to the correct direction.
How the curriculum directs the development of studies?
The curriculum may be considered merely as the courses or study units a school or an institution offers, however, it is probably more often seen as a wider thing... a plan presenting the aim, structure and contents of the studies, in this case, the pedagogical studies. When the students get information on what they are expected to learn and what are their options, it is easier for them to plan and schedule their studies realistically.
What methods of assessment can I use and in which contexts?
Since the subjects I hopefully will be teaching one day are languages, English and Swedish, I quess the methods of assessment will vary depending on the level of learners/courses. My understanding is that in some vocational institutions the ILOs of language courses are quite of the basic level, in which case the assessment is probably mostly based on traditional exams and tests on vocabulary. By traditional exams/tests I mean a test with fill-in tasks, multiple choice questions, some more open questions in which the students' abilities to produce meanings are measured etc.
In case the learners are expected to work with customers, in particular their skills in using the language, speaking it, need to be practised and measured. Assessing a student's free text answers as well as freely spoken performance is probably something a teacher will learn to do with time. My presumption is that it can be a rather difficult task when doing it for the first time.
How do I use technology in my field of pedagogy?
I think that today using technology in some way is rather easy in almost all fields of pedagogy. My field is language teaching, so by using, for example, Socrative (http://www.socrative.com/) for simple online tasks or quizzes some variation to the classes can be created. I have understood from some friends who work as teachers that in particular younger students, who might have problems in concentrating during classes, are interested in doing new kind of tasks and like the online environments. Also, there is quite often some additional teaching material available (cds, videos etc.) that is supposed to be used in connection with certain study books. It might also be useful to have the students do some form of information searching tasks in the internet, for example, by using key words on a certain topic. At the same time, the students may learn the language (if the key words are of the target language) and to be a bit more critical readers so that they may not just be satisfied with the first link and material they happen to find.
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