Today I read an interesting article entitled: 'Seven habits of highly effective teachers' in the Times Education Supplement.
It's an adaptation of Stephen Covey's self-help book: 'The seven habits of highly effective people' and I'm glad the TES has herded these ideas into a teaching context.
Teachers are under a lot of pressure to perform and achieve good results, and it's not easy for them. They need all the help they can get. The seven habits listed by TES are:
(1) They build confidence, (2) they are not afraid to make difficult decisions, (3) they develop others, (4) they are good communicators, (5) they are non-conformists, (6) they thrive in the company of others and (7) they see the big picture
- They support and encourage learners
- They are not afraid to take risks with new technologies
- They transfer good teaching skills into online contexts
- They are good communicators in any medium
- They are non-conformists
- They thrive in a culture of change
- They see the big picture (the social network)
Most of mine are similar to the first list, but I have tried to take the key skills you would see being practised in successful traditional teaching situations and contextualise them in digital learning and teaching environments. No 1 is vital, as often students don't meet the tutor or their peer group on a regular basis, if at all. e-tutors need a range of skills that go beyond the traditional boundaries, and short of being 'mind readers' they need to be aware of the issues distance learners and nomadic students encounter. Taking risks with new technologies is a must - without trying out new things, energy can dwindle, skills can stagnate and new opportunities pass you by. If you are a good teacher in a traditional setting, it doesn't follow you will be a good teaching in an online environment. But it helps. And if you are a bad teacher, these issues will be amplified in online environments, believe me. I firmly believe in being non-comformist to the point where you can confidently question anything and everything. Why must I do it this way? Why can't I try this way instead? Why do I have to use this tool or technology? You get the idea....
Change is something that is constantly with us. Teachers who shy away from innovation and change do not survive for long. In e-learning, change is even more conspicuous, and the good e-tutor adapts, adopts and thrives. Finally, what is the big picture? For me it is this: e-learning is on the increase, and new tools are always available. Best practice in using these new tools for course design, assessment, support and creativity are often learnt from others. Being locked into a good community of practice is a must for the e-tutor. Without a social network, most of us won't survive.
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9 comments:
In an environment where most e-learning practitioners seem sceptical/cynical/dismisive of the benefits of a VLE - wouldn't a 'nonconformist' have to embrace and exploit the VLE ? :-)
These skills do not only apply to e-tutors but to all teaching environments.I would add some passion, imagination and creativity.
I think you got it about right, I would just add to #1 Support learners and encourage them to stay connected. It's the ones who disconnect and fall behind (for whatever reason)who find the catching up too difficult and just drop out, but if you're vigilant and communicate regularly you can see it coming and step in. It's one of the reasons I use a weekly reflective journal which gains students marks and it's amazing what they tell about problems etc when they know it's just between them and their facilitator.
Thanks for this post - I would enter a plea for one of the work focussed ones to be dropped in favour of an equivalent of Covey's original 7th Habit 'sharpening the saw' -looking after yourself. Many teachers struggle with that one.
http://johnsonk.wordpress.com/
Steve, I think you've got it right especially when you stress the importance of communication between teachers, and with their students. Social networking vastly increases the speed of communications and its scale.
Nice post! May I have your permission to share these in my presentations of my Action Research Proposal? (topic = Adult ESOL Learners at Beginning Levels: Implementing Worthwhile and Effective Online Learning Opportunities)
and on a discussion forum about Online Learning on EnglishCafe (http://www.englishcafe.com/groups/Online-Learning-7430)?
Thanks,
Holly
Holly, please feel free to share these ideas with anyone you think will be interested. Thanks to everyone for all your helpful comments so far.
I would add:
They are good at focussing on learner activity rather than teacher activity.
They are good at providing targetted, focussed, timely and concise formative feedback and feedforward.
They are prepared to take the 'slings and arrows' of their colleagues' mockery/disapproval/distrust!
I would add another crucial one: "They are cultural sensetive"... unlike the traditional teacher they are confronted with a more multi-cultural environment, they should be able to deal with in a positive way. To scaffold the knowledge and skills of learners with diverse backgrounds, experiences and skills is not easy at all.
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