Interview+summary+(B&C)

Psychology of Teaching and Learning Questions for the interview Topic: Teacher’s expectation

Core questions: red by Christopher Purple by Bill (we interview THE SAME teacher!) She teaches English and history at this school (Band 1 EMI) more than 15 years. Before that, she taught in a band 3 school for 2 years. She's a teacher of counciling team.
 * Some background about the teacher (Which subject does s/he teach? How many years has s/he been teaching? Etc)**

She thinks there isn't serious behavioural problem at the school she teaches; however little discipline problems still occur but she thinks it's still acceptable. One major, but not serious, problem would be keeping students' interests in learning.
 * What are the major problems in classroom teaching/students’ behavioural problems in classroom?**

Disciplinary problems like disruptive behaviours Difficulty arousing students’ interest on a subject to motivate them to learn, hence hard to make sure that students learn something. Hard to cater for learning diversity/students with diverse abilities.

For the discipline problem, as it's not so serious, she would tolerate it. But if the problem disturbs the classroom, she will immediately stop their behavior and ask all the Ss look at her. If the Ss do disruptive acts, she stops immediately and keeps the classroom silent to let the Ss know that she dislikes this behavior.
 * What strategies have you used to tackle these problems? How effective or ineffective are they?**

For maintaining Ss' motivation, she tries her best to make the lesson interesting. Also, she lets the Ss know the learning targets clearly. She also motivates the Ss by using discussion and varieties of activities. Motivation and learning: 1. Introduce interesting tasks which involve stimulation of different senses 2. Use group work, pair work à 1,2 : To keep students busy and motivated 3. Set clear goals Disciplinary problems: 1. Separate involved students from victims/other students. 2. Identify motives and reasons behind the problems 3. Guidance, counselling, disciplinary measures.

Yes. She always praises the class and tells them they have the ability to accomplish the tasks. She also gives different challenges for different Ss with different abilities. For her elite classes, she gives more demanding jobs for them. She thinks the most important thing are to maintain good learning atmosphere in class, develop good relationship with Ss and increase Ss' interests in the subject. These are crucial features to make "expectation" works.
 * Do you have expectation on students (* clarify expectation to the teacher as it might be a bit vague. Expectation: Believing that students can achieve a certain goal)? If yes, how do you show your expectation to your students? How do you use expectations to enhance Ss’ achievement and behaviour? If not, why?**

Yes, usually on the class as a whole. How: Praise/Remind students frequently. Use encouraging words.

Being positive is important to create good environment. Yes, more expectation on class, better performance. NOT necessarily academic performance, students will be more confident/more willing to learn, as teacher recognised his/her ability. This is already a kind of achievement. Further questions: Have you ever encountered a case that you used to have no expectation on a student, but after you changed your mind, you made a difference (Students showed great improvements in various fields)? Empower the Ss. Tell him you believe he can change, then he will change.
 * Do you think expectation on students is important to motivate them to learn/solve the problems?**

No. Another case for reference: Students told teacher that they… NOT interested in subjects which the teacher has no expectation on them But interested in the subject which the teacher teaches them.

How do you keep your expectation on low-achieving students who keep making you disappointed again and again? Don't give up on every student.

Adjust task difficulty Always remind yourself and the students not to give up Focus: more on learning attitude, less on academic performance/giving accurate answers How do you strive a balance between having different expectations on different students and maintaining fair treatment to them? Adjust expectations depending on Ss' responses. Catering for learning diversities.

Expectation according to response from students Actually provide more chances to low-ability students if they are willing to try. // Other factors which are important to students’ learning/motivation to learn // Teacher-student relationship: Students will pay more effort so as NOT to disappoint the teacher Interest in the subject: Expectation works only when the student likes the subject. Ability: Some students don’t need expectation, they are self-motivated.