The Teaching Cycle

By Bill, posted

Stage 1
Identifying the learning needs

It is always a good start to work out the requirements of individual learners before a course begins. This is essential as it could put pressure on both student and teacher at the start of the class / course. The worst case scenario is that a learner could feel embarrassed, upset or feel that their needs have not been recognised.

The simple way to counteract this is to gather the information in the easiest way possible. Examples of this include application forms, interviews and telephone conversations.

Stage 2
Design the Training

The second problem that a teacher / trainer might have is that their course does not flow properly or is lacking in good quality content. Therefore it is essential to carefully design each lesson which will maximise its worth to students.

Some of the best ways to design a good lesson include the use of session plans, schemes of work and creating a variety of different resources.

Resources can be wide ranging and may include work packs, puzzles & games or group based activities.

Well constructed Powerpoint Presentations can be a useful tool and can easily incorporate video examples to break up theoretical content.

Stage 3
Deliver the Training

It goes without saying that you can have all the best content in the world, but it might as well remain on the shelf if it can't be delivered with a good level of precision. Teachers need to consider what lecture style to use and may have to consider a variety in order to meet all the individual needs of learners.

The facilitation of group work is also essential. Learners should never feel isolated or left on their own to tackle challenging tasks. The teacher may need to split a group or allow learners to choose their own groups. Sometimes it is easier / quicker to allow learners to work on their own, but the teacher has to ask if overall this is the best solution.

Finally don't forget to complete all of the resources where the hard work went into the design phase. Those work packs, puzzles and group games go to waste if not completed.

Stage 4
Evaluate the Training

The final stage of the Teaching Cycle involves the evaluation of the course / class. Evaluation should always be an ongoing process which can leave to improvements and may help the future individual needs of the learners.

The best way to achieve this is to gather feedback from each individual learner. The easiest way is to create an evaluation form that can be completed at the end of the teaching cycle.

The teacher can ask themselves how they felt the training went. Can they make improvements? or did anything go wrong during the lessons?

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