Faculty: Arts. Degree programme: Information Studies. Course: Student teacher sessions in Business and Technology. Study level: Semester 2, BA. Size of class: 30-60.
The success of any course depends to a large extent on ensuring that the parties involved have the same expectations regarding the content and format of the teaching. This activity describes how to balance your expectations with those of the students.
This activity describes how to balance your expectations with those of the students both at the start of the course and during the semester.
Student teachers also have to collaborate with teachers and (in some cases) other student teachers. The PDF files in the box on the right can be used to balance the expectations of everyone involved.
Have a five-minute session in which the students discuss the following questions:
Then discuss all the ideas and listen to the students’ expectations. Ask a student to take minutes. Then present your own expectations, give feedback on their input, and be honest about the expectations that you don’t agree with or can’t live up to. Be clear about what you expect of the students and about your role as a student teacher.
Halfway through the semester you should discuss the minutes of the first session with the students.
Then ask the students to answer the following questions on two post-it notes:
Collect the notes and read them. Prepare a summary to present to the class in the next teaching session. Then have a short discussion in which you can ask for clarification of unclear answers and discuss how to jointly improve the teaching.
The balancing of expectations gives you insight into how the students perceive the teaching. You get a chance to improve your teaching, and the students feel that they are being taken seriously, which will probably increase their motivation and participation in your classes.