Teacher’s Role & Educational Objectives in Primary Education
Functions of a Teacher
The Teaching Function
Legal Duties
- Teacher duties include programming and teaching, assessing learning, mentoring students, providing educational guidance, attending to student well-being, promoting school activities, fostering a respectful environment, reporting to families, coordinating teaching, participating in school activities, engaging in evaluation plans, and continuous improvement of teaching processes.
- Teachers perform these functions collaboratively.
Research on the Teaching Function
Research procedures include historical analysis, deductive reasoning, empirical observation, and experimental testing.
Modern teaching characteristics include teamwork, collaboration with various stakeholders, planning and adapting to student needs, and continuous self-learning.
Personal Qualities for Teaching Success
- Personal: Self-awareness, continuous improvement, self-determination, and a positive outlook.
- Professional: Democratic approach with students, teamwork with peers, and proficiency in planning, explaining, guiding, motivating, and evaluating.
Conclusions of Some Research
Natural Personal Qualities
- Youth: Positive aspects include enthusiasm and adaptability, while a negative aspect is lack of experience.
- Maturity: Positive aspects include experience and knowledge, while a negative aspect can be inflexibility.
- Sex: Sex difference is not significant, except for a preference for women in early childhood education due to perceived emotional strengths.
Attitudinal and Mental Traits
- Vocation for teaching
- Love for children
- Enthusiasm for the profession
- Emotional control
Operative and Trend Qualities
These are qualities adaptable to teaching, such as adaptability, patience, and perseverance.
Formal Qualities
- Cultural preparation from university studies, including content knowledge and pedagogical subjects.
- Didactic qualities: Planning, explaining, guiding, motivating, and evaluating.
- Government qualities: Creating a conducive learning environment, including authority, order maintenance, organization, student engagement, and a sense of humor.
Requirements of the Faculty for Individual Lessons
Kindergarten Teacher
- Junior kindergarten requires a Master’s with specialization in childhood education or equivalent, with pedagogical development overseen by a Master of primary education or equivalent.
- The second round of kindergarten requires a Master’s with specialization in early childhood education or equivalent, with support from other specialties as needed.
Elementary Education Teacher
- Primary education requires a Master’s in primary education or equivalent, with possible allowances for other degrees in specific areas.
- Primary teachers should be competent in all areas, with specialists for music, physical education, foreign languages, and other subjects as determined by the government.
Objectives
General Objectives of Stage and Area
These objectives guide the teaching-learning process and focus on cognitive, motor, affective, interpersonal, and social skills. Potential capabilities are genetically constituted and developed through experience, while potential skills are acquired through learning.
General Objectives of the Stage
These objectives define the expected capabilities at the end of each stage.
General Objectives of the Area
These objectives define the expected capabilities within a specific area of study.
Terminal and Didactic Objectives
These objectives specify the learning outcomes for each cycle or course, relating to specific content blocks. Verbs for formulating objectives include: Conceptual: Identify, recognize, describe, compare, discover, explain, relate, enumerate, position, remember, infer, generalize, comment, draw conclusions, state, signal, summarize, distinguish, apply. Procedural: Manage, sort, classify, analyze, test, demonstrate, run, use, apply, observe, interpret, elaborate, rebuild, compute, build, pick, draw, experience, simulate, plan. Attitudinal: Behave in accordance with, respect, tolerate, appreciate, value, accept, practice, pay attention to, feel, notice, care for, prefer, enjoy, recreate.
Norms to Consider in the Formulation of Didactic Objectives
- The subject of the action is always the student.
- Objectives are defined in terms of learning outcomes, not content or activities.
- Objectives are aligned with the teacher’s activity.
- Objectives are clear and unambiguous.
- Objectives describe observable behaviors.
- Each objective contains a single demonstrable outcome.
- Each objective includes a minimum achievement level.
For meaningful learning, connect to prior knowledge, design activating activities, enable reflection, use prior knowledge as a vehicle for new learning, and facilitate conceptual change.
Evaluation of Learning Concepts
Focus on understanding over rote memorization. Avoid reproductive questions, assess original thinking, and use indirect techniques like classification and problem-solving.
Teaching Procedures
- Explanation (teacher demonstration)
- Guided practice (joint activity)
- Autonomous practice (independent work)
Transfer of Learning
Learning should be applicable to new situations.
Assessment Procedures
Evaluate the functionality and adaptability of learned procedures. Assess both theoretical knowledge and practical application.
Conceptual Framework, Networks, and Schemes
Conceptual Framework
A global framework of a subject or area, simpler than a conceptual network, using concepts and mental representation. It promotes meaningful learning.
Conceptual Networks
A structured organization of concepts with three levels (general framework, content block, specific concept). Read top to bottom and left to right.
Conceptual Maps
A geographical mapping of student concepts, deepening relevant concepts. Simple and visual, promoting perception of facts and experiences.
Schemes
A structured organization of concepts students must learn. More complex than networks, used for individual learning.
Assessment
Definition and Scope of Assessment
Assessment involves quantitative and qualitative procedures, distinct from measurement and grading. Assessment considers individual circumstances, while grading focuses solely on scores.
Purpose of Assessment
- Control of school work
- Diagnosis of learning difficulties
- Corrective action
- Improvement of learning
- Research and analysis
- Information for parents
Modes of Assessment
Initial Assessment
Assesses prior knowledge, attitudes, and abilities to adapt the learning process.
Continuous Assessment
Ongoing analysis and evaluation of learning outcomes, comparing against minimum content requirements.
Final Assessment
Analyzes overall development at the end of a process, focusing on achievements and areas for improvement.
Formative Assessment
Ongoing evaluation to improve the teaching-learning process.
Summative Assessment
Evaluates achieved results and skills at a given time.
Criterion-Referenced Assessment
Compares student progress against pre-established goals based on individual interests and abilities.
Instruments of Assessment
Oral and Written Exams
Oral exams allow for language skill development and immediate correction, while written exams allow for deeper analysis and originality.
Interviews
Teacher-student dialogues to diagnose difficulties, guide learning, conduct oral exams, and understand student interests.
Objective Tests
Sets of questions requiring quick responses. Types include memory recall, mutilated texts, recognition, multiple choice, best answer assessment, distinction, and association of knowledge.
Motivation
Concept of Motivation
Motivation is the driving force behind behavior, influenced by internal and external factors. Reasons are personal justifications for actions, while incentives are external stimuli.
Factors Encouraging Learning
- Reasons or potential factors
- Emotional factors
- Social factors
- Educational factors (knowledge of results, rewards, punishments, praise)
Other Motivational Factors
- Desire to learn
- Usefulness of learning
- Awards
- Security of approval
- Self-esteem
- Autonomy
- Personal acceptance
Conclusions on Motivation
- Motivation is always beneficial.
- Praise and reward are superior to punishment.
- Disapproval is better than indifference.
- Motivation can fade with overuse.
- Excessive interest can be detrimental.
- Incentives should be age-appropriate.