Unit 33 Working with individual learners Assignment Sample

Introduction of Unit 33 Working with individual learners

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It is a very difficult task to handle and work with individual learners as there is a requirement of certain features, skills as well as qualities to communicate with a variety of people. This can be possible to work with the individual learners in different ways such as teaching, mentoring as well as coaching. In this report, my role will be as a teacher who will help these individual learners in achieving their goals. This report includes three different tasks. In the first task, the comparison among teaching, mentoring, and coaching is provided and in the next task, different strategies have been discussed to help the students in achieving what they want. In the last task, my personal evaluation as well as action plan to work on my weaknesses as a teacher has been provided.

Task 1

a) Define the concepts; Mentoring and coaching and then summarise the responsibilities of a mentor, coach, and teacher in relation to working with individual learners. 

Mentoring and coaching are the two most important strategies that can help an individual to achieve his objectives. It is very important to understand the meaning and concepts of these terms individually and their roles along with the examples. Below is presented the discussion:

Mentoring- A mentor is an individual who can help the students with the best he can be in his work through advising, guiding as well as supporting the students. The mentors take time to understand their students and the problems encountered by them and they offer advice to be based on their knowledge as well as problem-solving experiences. The key advantages of mentoring include improved communication, higher self-confidence, exposure to a new perspective as well as leadership abilities (Dewi, 2021). The mentors are the people who support and encourage their mentees to advance and excel in their professions. For example, in case a colleague has a problem in handling the unfair criticism, the role of the mentor here would be to tell him what the mentor himself had done to handle the situation and offer him that advice.

Coaching- A coach is a person who can help the students in certain areas of professional as well as personal growth. These coaches help the students in discovering and prioritizing their areas for development, breaking down their long-term objectives into smaller targets, and shaping their mindsets about their professional growth (Corden, et al., 2021). The coaches help an individual in getting a better understanding of them, developing their attitude as well as preparing them for hardships and future scenarios. The role of a coach is to help individuals think through a situation with greater clarity as well as depth so that they can discover their own solution. For example, helping an individual in self-discovery when he comes to the coach who has a problem handling the unfair criticism comes under the purview of coaching. Here the coach helps such an individual in self-discovery what he should do to address this situation (Jones and Smith, 2022).

Teaching- Teaching offers a framework for understanding based on an objective knowledge body and not necessarily from the own experiences. In the process of teaching, a teacher offers the logical reasons or thoughts behind any suggested actions. The teaching is about sometimes referring to the outside models or sources for corroboration as well. Considering the same situation as the example, here the role of the teacher could be to help such colleague with any formula to deal with the unfair criticism in a non-confrontational way (Koopman, et al., 2021).

b) Analyze the similarities and differences between teaching, coaching, and mentoring and summarize the responsibilities that your role entailed.

In order to better understand the responsibilities my role entailed, it is very important to identify the key similarities as well as differences among these concepts. As discussed above, these concepts are quite different from each other however the ultimate aim here is to help the individual learners in achieving their long-term career goals (Ali, et al., 2018). Below are presented the tables to understand these differences and similarities:

Differences among coaching, mentoring, and teaching

Similarities among coaching, mentoring, and teaching

Considering my role with the individual learners, I have identified that I am working with them in the capacity of a teacher which is the most suitable method as per my behavior and attitude. As a teacher, my role entails several responsibilities and my utmost priority here is helping my students in achieving their career goals (Cornelius, et al., 2020). My key roles and responsibilities include sharing my knowledge with the students, treating all my students equally, helping the specialized educational needs students as per their requirements, conducting a proper evaluation of the students, behaving them in the right way, and also maintaining excellence in my professional activities. It is my responsibility to not discriminate among my students and also follow the laws and regulations such as Equality Act, 2010 as well as SENDA, 2001.

c) Review the effectiveness of your role as either a mentor or coach in helping your assigned student to achieve his or her set goal.

Teaching is a novel professional which helps the students in identifying their career path and progressing towards success. As a teacher, I am well aware of my roles and responsibilities towards my students. Here the task is to review and reflect on my roles and responsibilities as a teacher. Below is presented the discussion on my different responsibilities along with the examples:

Subject knowledge delivery: As a teacher, it is my role to deliver the subject knowledge among my students and to make sure that each of my students has understood the concepts appropriately. The students will be able to acquire knowledge and competencies through paying attention in the classroom (Ali, et al., 2018).

Treating students with equality: As a teacher, I always believe in treating my students equally so that they can get the best learning environment which is away from favoritism and biased behavior. My duty here is to help my students in learning and taking care of each of my students regardless of their caste, gender, age as well as disability. As a teacher and a mentor, I am fulfilling my duties of helping my students in achieving their life goals (Koopman, et al., 2021).

Evaluation and Assessment of students: As a teacher, it is my prime responsibility to ensure that my learners are learning the concepts and gaining the knowledge which I am providing to them. For such purpose, I keep on taking their assessment and evaluating their knowledge base. I help my students in learning about their strengths as well as weaknesses so that they can work on themselves and move ahead in their careers.

Professionalism at the workplace: Professionalism is a very important characteristic and feature for a teacher to share his/her knowledge and achieve mastery in educating the individual learners. Considering my personality, I am a highly professional individual who knows about the roles and responsibilities associated with the profession of a teacher. I generally get involved with the students but I know my boundaries as a teacher. With the help of this professional behavior, I am able to maintain discipline in my classroom (Corden, et al., 2021).

Through fulfilling my roles and responsibilities as a teacher, I am helping out my students and individual learners to achieve their life and career goals. I assist them in decision-making processes and help them gain the required knowledge about the subjects. As a teacher, it is my duty to help my students in working hard and move ahead on the right path for a successful career.

Task 2

a) In your role as either a mentor or coach to your assigned student, identify at least FIVE strategies that you used in helping the student and state why you chose those strategies.

Teachers motivate their students without even asking them to change their mindsets. They just help the students in gaining practical knowledge as well as developing their awareness about various models as well as the concepts that help in changing their way of thinking. The teachers use different types of strategies as well as resources to help the students in achieving their objectives. Below are presented these strategies:

Setting SMART Goals- The first strategy here is to set the SMART goals for the students as setting goals for a lesson or for any project helps the students in increasing their engagement with the studies. The teachers are needed to understand the learning needs of students and should accordingly help them develop their specific, achievable, time-bound, realistic, and measurable goals. This strategy is important as it provides a clear path to success for the students and they can have an ultimate goal for which they need to work hard.

Creation of learning plans: Another important strategy here is to create the learning plans in the classroom. Through creating the learning plans, the teaching, as well as learning, will be possible in a disciplined way. I have used this approach to ensure that we are achieving our goals with the help of a clear strategy as well as path. Learning plans are the important documents that help in offering a solid structure to spend the right time on particular learning activities and it also allows for an appropriate transition between the tasks.

Continual Practice: As the name suggests, this practice is all about learning continuously and keeping practicing. It is a general phenomenon that students find it difficult to learn a new skill or concept if he/she has been exposed to it only once. As a teacher, I have always applied a strategy of teaching where I encourage my students to keep practicing what they have learned and also keep revising the concepts taught in the classroom. This strategy should be adopted because it helps in the cognitive development of the students (Stanulis, et al., 2019).

Collaborative Learning: As a teacher, I find it very useful to have a collaborative learning environment in the classroom where the students can interact with each other and help each other learn new skills as well as concepts. This is the first interactive teaching strategy. In this type of learning, the students work together in groups and solve the problems (van Laar, et al., 2018). As a teacher, I use this strategy by helping students work together to apply the skills and knowledge they already possess, facilitating cooperation and communication among the students as well as grouping the students in such a way that fosters peer learning. This strategy is important because it helps the students in achieving their goals with support from each other and it also helps in creating a positive environment in the classroom (Cornelius, et al., 2020).

Peer Tutoring: This is among the finest strategies to help the students while working in the capacity of a teacher. It is identified that the teacher is not only the person who can give instructions within a classroom. Using this strategy of peer tutoring, the other students within the classroom can also be effective teachers. One of the most prominent examples of peer tutoring is a high-achieving student teaching a concept back to the class or a high-achieving student coupled with a lower-achieving student to help them assist in learning new concepts and skills.

b) Review the processes involved in one-to-one coaching and mentoring in relation to their emotional, intellectual and social benefits for students.

Coaching and mentoring are important strategies that help students in achieving their career objectives. Coaching and mentoring are different terms in which coaching is about the self-discovery of the students and mentoring is about helping students on the basis of past experiences and learning. Considering the process for one-on-one mentoring and coaching, there are mainly four steps involved in this process. This process can also be understood with the help of Framework GROW which has four clear stages. These stages are establishing goals, exploring reality, generating options, and agreeing upon and wrapping up (van Coller-Peter and Cronjé, 2020).

During the one-on-one coaching or mentorship, the coach or mentor and the learner focus on determining their objectives or what they actually want to achieve. This stage is all about the establishment of the goals and expectations for the learner.

The most important stage here is the second stage which is exploring reality. Strong questioning, as well as listening skills, will enable the mentor or coach to define the problems or the issues that are required to be addressed.

Once the issues are identified in the previous stage, the next step is where the coach continues to ask the questions so that the learner can identify the available options that he can use to address the problem. In the case of mentorship, the mentor here helps the learner through sharing his own experience or own perspective to solve such issues.

In the final stage of wrapping up, the actions to solve the issues are determined by the learner. This stage is also known as “Confirm the Will to Act”. It is about agreeing on the certain actions or steps to be taken by the learner to address such a problem (Gray, 2018).

Such a process can help the students in reaping out the social, intellectual as well as emotional benefits. Considering the intellectual benefits, the learner will be seeking more knowledge as well as experience to deal with specific situations. Here the cognitive skills of the learner will be developed. He will be more inclined towards the achievement of his goals (Porras, et al., 2018).

Considering the social benefits of this one-on-one approach of mentoring and coaching, the learner will be able to build strong relationships for the long term with his/her coach or the mentee. He will create a strong bond with other individual learners and through this, he will become a more socially active person.

There are numerous emotional benefits attached to the coaching and mentoring processes. One among them is the increased confidence of a person and his strong will to achieve more in his career and future. They feel more confident and more inclined towards their goals. They get emotional support from their mentors and tutors and are able to solve their issues (Jardí, et al., 2022).

c) Review the resources required for an effective multi-agency approach and explain the factors that influence the referral process.

The multi-agency approach is defined as the services or the team of professionals and other staff members who work together to offer the services that fulfill the needs of children, learners, their parents, or carers. There are various reasons due to which the multi-agency approach is used within the classroom settings. Sometimes, due to the additional needs or learning requirements, the teacher, coach, or mentors cannot help the individual learners. They might need the support of other professionals at such time who can refer the student for additional support. In many cases, there might be required support from psychiatrists, medical professionals, schools for special educational needs as well as from social workers. It depends on the needs of the students or their issues while learning (Stokes, et al., 2021).

There are various reasons or factors due to which the multi-agency approach is used by the coaches or mentors. One of the biggest reasons can be the behavioral issue with a child or learner. There might be students having behavioral problems due to which they might require support from psychiatrists or counselors. Another reason is visual or hearing impairment or autism where the student or learner might require additional support from the medical professionals while learning. The third reason can be the poor economic status of the learner due to which he might not be able to afford the fees (Schot, et al., 2020). In such cases, such students are referred to the social workers who can help in raising funds for such children and their education. Another main reason behind using the multi-agency approach can be the special educational needs for the learner where his/her IQ level or educational needs might be different from other class students. In such cases, the teachers who are not able to provide the specialized resources to students can refer them to the schools where such sort of children gets additional support (Stanulis, et al., 2019).

There are some important elements that affect the referral processes within educational settings. According to the principles of multi-agency working, it is the joint responsibility of the teachers as well as other professionals to fulfill the requirements of learners. They take the collective responsibilities to help as well as protect such individual learners. There might be a need for such referral processes due to certain factors such as the health of the learners, their ability to understand the concepts, their special needs for education, their behavioral aspects as well as the pace of their development. Some of the learners come from poor family backgrounds and they have low-level IQ or some special educational needs. In order to meet their requirements, teachers hold the responsibility of referring them to the right institute where their learning needs can be fulfilled (van Laar, et al., 2018).

Task 3

a) Evaluate and analyze the effectiveness of your own practice with regards to one-to-one teaching and learning (mentoring, coaching, and teaching) and identify your strengths and areas for development.

As a teacher, it is important for me to evaluate myself and identify the key strengths as well as weaknesses I encounter while dealing one-on-one with my students. It is a very hard task to decide which my strength is and where the improvement is needed. However, with the help of techniques like SWOT analysis, it becomes easier. I need to work on my weaknesses further so that I can better help my students in learning as well as facilitating their career growth. Below is presented the list of my strengths as well as weaknesses with regards to one to one teaching and learning:

Key strengths

Considering my key strengths, when it comes to teaching my students, I come up with innovative and creative ideas. I am highly enthusiastic about my professional duties and try to deliver uninterrupted teaching services to my students. Considering my behavior and attitude, I am very passionate about my profession as it was always my dream to help other people in their professional growth (Gray, 2018). Considering my subject knowledge, I have gained expertise in my subject and I have a clear understanding of different concepts, models as well as academic theories and approaches. I am well-versed with the information and have the ability to pass on such information to my students in the most prominent way. I am highly competent and strong in building relationships with my students and helping them in evaluating themselves. My cognitive skills are strong and I am good at keep engaging my students in the classroom (Jardí, et al., 2022).

Areas that need improvement

Despite being highly passionate about my profession, still there are some areas of my personality where I need further improvement. One of the biggest weaknesses that I have encountered is that I take a lot of time in comprehending any topic to my students hence I need to learn effective time management strategies. Another weakness is that I sometimes feel very frustrated and exhausted due to the complicated roles I play at one time. In such times, I also lose my control in the classroom and vent out my frustration on students when they do not perform to the expected level. Another major drawback I identified is the lack of personal bonds with my students as I mostly remain professional and build professional relationships with them. I need to work hard on these skills and areas of my personality to be more effective in my role (van Coller-Peter and Cronjé, 2020).

b) Following your evaluation in (task 3a) above, develop a Five (5) point action plan (SMART) to help you improve your mentoring or coaching skills in relation to one-to-one teaching and learning situations.

As identified in the previous section, there are some areas of my personality that require improvement to be an effective mentor or coach for my students. An action plan here can be useful for me to develop such skills and work on my weaknesses within a specified time. Below is presented my action plan which will further help me in facilitating my skills as a coach or mentor for one-on-one teaching and learning solutions:

Conclusion

This report was a review and reflection on my strategies and practices to work with the individual learners. Various topics and concepts were covered in this report including the multi-agency working approach, strategies of coaching and mentoring, the difference between coaching and mentoring etc. My self-evaluation as a teacher was also described in the report and an action plan was also prepared to deal with my weaknesses and improve my efficiency.

References

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