1. THE ROLE OF TEACHER IN THE THIRD MILLENIUM
Imagine a school where teaching is considered to be a profession
rather than a trade. The role of teachers in a child's education -- and in
American culture -- has fundamentally changed. Teaching differs from
the old "show-and-tell" practices as much as modern medical techniques
differ from practices such as applying leeches and bloodletting.
Instruction doesn't consist primarily of lecturing to students who
sit in rows at desks, dutifully listening and recording what they hear, but,
rather, offers every child a rich, rewarding, and unique learning
experience. The educational environment isn't confined to the classroom
but, instead, extends into the home and the community and around the
world. Information isn't bound primarily in books; it's available
everywhere in bits and bytes.
Students aren't consumers of facts. They are active creators of
knowledge. Schools aren't just brick-and-mortar structures -- they're
centers of lifelong learning. And, most important, teaching is recognized
as one of the most challenging and respected career choices, absolutely
vital to the social, cultural, and economic health of our nation.
Today, the seeds of such a dramatic transformation in education
are being planted. Prompted by massive revolutions in knowledge,
information technology, and public demand for better learning, schools
nationwide are slowly but surely restructuring themselves.
Leading the way are thousands of teachers who are rethinking
every part of their jobs -- their relationship with students, colleagues, and
the community; the tools and techniques they employ; their rights and
responsibilities; the form and content of curriculum; what standards to
set and how to assess whether they are being met; their preparation as
teachers and their ongoing professional development; and the very
structure of the schools in which they work. In short, teachers are
reinventing themselves and their occupation to better serve schools and
students.
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2. New Relationships and Practices
Traditionally, teaching was a combination of information-
dispensing, custodial child care and sorting out academically inclined
students from others. The underlying model for schools was an education
Factory in which adults, paid hourly or daily wages, kept like-
aged youngsters sitting still for standardized lessons and tests.
Teachers were told what, when, and how to teach. They were
required to educate every student in exactly the same way and were not
held responsible when many failed to learn. They were expected to teach
using the same methods as past generations, and any deviation from
traditional practices was discouraged by supervisors or prohibited by
myriad education laws and regulations. Thus, many teachers simply
stood in front of the class and delivered the same lessons year after year,
growing gray and weary of not being allowed to change what they were
doing.
Many teachers today, however, are encouraged to adapt and
adopt new practices that acknowledge both the art and science of
learning. They understand that the essence of education is a close
relationship between a knowledgeable, caring adult and a secure,
motivated child. They grasp that their most important role is to get to
know each student as an individual in order to comprehend his or her
unique needs, learning style, social and cultural background, interests,
and abilities.
This attention to personal qualities is all the more important as
America continues to become the most pluralistic nation on Earth.
Teachers have to be committed to relating to youngsters of many
cultures, including those young people who, with traditional teaching,
might have dropped out -- or have been forced out -- of the education
system.
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3. Their job is to counsel students as they grow and mature --
helping them integrate their social, emotional, and intellectual growth --
so the union of these sometimes separate dimensions yields the abilities
to seek, understand, and use knowledge; to make better decisions in their
personal lives; and to value contributing to society.
They must be prepared and permitted to intervene at any time and
in any way to make sure learning occurs. Rather than see themselves
solely as masters of subject matter such as history, math, or science,
teachers increasingly understand that they must also inspire a love of
learning.
The most respected teachers have discovered how to make
students passionate participants in the instructional process by providing
project-based, participatory, educational adventures. They know that in
order to get students to truly take responsibility for their own education,
the curriculum must relate to their lives, learning activities must engage
their natural curiosity, and assessments must measure real
accomplishments and be an integral part of learning.
The day-to-day job of a teacher, rather than broadcasting content,
is becoming one of designing and guiding students through engaging
learning opportunities. An educator's most important responsibility is to
search out and construct meaningful educational experiences that allow
students to solve real-world problems and show they have learned the
big ideas, powerful skills, and habits of mind and heart that meet agreed-
on educational standards. The result is that the abstract, inert knowledge
that students used to memorize from dusty textbooks comes alive as they
participate in the creation and extension of new knowledge.
New Tools and Environments
One of the most powerful forces changing teachers' and students' roles in
education is new technology. The old model of instruction was
predicated on information scarcity.
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4. Teachers and their books were information oracles, spreading knowledge
to a population with few other ways to get it.Extended instructional
periods and school days, as well as reorganized yearly schedules, are all
being tried as ways to avoid chopping learning into often arbitrary
chunks based on limited time. Also, rather than inflexibly group students
in grades by age, many schools feature mixed-aged classes in which
students spend two or more years with the same teachers.
One of the most important innovations in instructional
organization is team teaching, in which two or more educators share
responsibility for a group of students. This means that an individual
teacher no longer has to be all things to all students. This approach
allows teachers to apply their strengths, interests, skills, and abilities to
the greatest effect, knowing that children won't suffer from their
weaknesses, because there's someone with a different set of abilities to
back them up.
To truly professionalize teaching, in fact, we need to further
differentiate the roles a teacher might fill. Just as a good law firm has a
mix of associates, junior partners, and senior partners, schools should
have a greater mix of teachers who have appropriate levels of
responsibility based on their abilities and experience levels. Also, just as
much of a lawyer's work occurs outside the courtroom, so, too, should
we recognize that much of a teacher's work is done outside the
classroom.
New Professional Responsibilities
Aside from rethinking their primary responsibility as directors of
student learning, teachers are also taking on other roles in schools and in
their profession. They are working with colleagues, family members,
politicians, academics, community members, employers, and others to
set clear and obtainable standards for the knowledge, skills, and values
we should expect America's children to acquire. They are participating in
day-to-day decision making in schools, working side-by-side to set
priorities, and dealing with organizational problems that affect their
students' learning.
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5. Many teachers also spend time researching various questions of
educational effectiveness that expand the understanding of the dynamics
of learning. And more teachers are spending time mentoring new
members of their profession, making sure that education school
graduates are truly ready for the complex challenges of today's
classrooms.
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6. TESTING
A test or is an assessment intended to measure a test-taker's knowledge, skill,
aptitude, physical fitness, or classification in many other topics (e.g., beliefs). A test
may be administered orally, on paper, on a computer, or in a confined area that requires
a test taker to physically perform a set of skills. Tests vary in style, rigor and
requirements. For example, in a closed book test, a test taker is often required to rely
upon memory to respond to specific items whereas in an open book test, a test taker
may use one or more supplementary tools such as a reference book or calculator when
responding to an item. A test may be administered formally or informally. An example
of an informal test would be a reading test administered by a parent to a child. An
example of a formal test would be a final examination administered by a teacher in a
classroom or an I.Q. test administered by a psychologist in a clinic. Formal testing often
results in a grade or a test score.[1] A test score may be interpreted with regards to a
norm or criterion, or occasionally both. The norm may be established independently, or
by statistical analysis of a large number of participants.
A standardized test is any test that is administered and scored in a consistent
manner to ensure legal defensibility.[2] Standardized tests are often used in education,
professional certification, psychology (e.g., MMPI), the military, and many other fields.
A non-standardized test is usually flexible in scope and format, variable in
difficulty and significance. Since these tests are usually developed by individual
instructors, the format and difficulty of these tests may not be widely adopted or used
by other instructors or institutions. A non-standardized test may be used to determine
the proficiency level of students, to motivate students to study, and to provide feedback
to students. In some instances, a teacher may develop non-standardized tests that
resemble standardized tests in scope, format, and difficulty for the purpose of preparing
their students for an upcoming standardized test.[3] Finally, the frequency and setting
by which a non-standardized tests are administered are highly variable and are usually
constrained by the duration of the class period. A class instructor may for example,
administer a test on a weekly basis or just twice a semester. Depending on the policy of
the instructor or institution, the duration of each test itself may last for only five
minutes to an entire class period.
In contrasts to non-standardized tests, standardized tests are widely used, fixed
in terms of scope, difficulty and format, and are usually significant in consequences.
Standardized tests are usually held on fixed dates as determined by the test developer,
educational institution, or governing body, which may or may not be administered by
the instructor, held within the classroom, or constrained by the classroom period.
Although there is little variability between different copies of the same type of
standardized test (e.g., SAT or GRE), there is variability between different types of
standardized tests.
Any test with important consequences for the individual test taker is referred
to as a high-stakes test.
A test may be developed and administered by an instructor, a clinician, a
governing body, or a test provider. In some instances, the developer of the test may not

7. be directly responsible for its administration. For example, Educational Testing Service
(ETS), a nonprofit educational testing and assessment organization, develops
standardized tests such as the SAT but may not directly be involved in the
administration or proctoring of these tests. As with the development and administration
of educational tests, the format and level of difficulty of the tests themselves are highly
variable and there is no general consensus or invariable standard for test formats and
difficulty. Often, the format and difficulty of the test is dependent upon the educational
philosophy of the instructor, subject matter, class size, policy of the educational
institution, and requirements of accreditation or governing bodies. In general, tests
developed and administered by individual instructors are non-standardized whereas
tests developed by testing organizations are standardized.
The elementary school students
Using Instructional Materials To Sustain Pss2 Secretarial Students’ Interest In
Office Practice Subject At Joy Professional Academy, Kumasi
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
A teaching method may be described as the standard procedure in the
presentation of instructional materials and the content of activities. It is the way and
manner in which the teacher presents his/her lesson to enable his/her students acquire
knowledge in the subject under consideration. Any teaching method a teacher uses has
advantages, disadvantages, and requires some preliminary preparation. Often times, a
particular teaching method will naturally flow into another, all within the same lesson,
and the excellent teacher can develop the skills to make the process faultless to their
students.
The classification of a teaching method as being right for a particular lesson
depends on many factors such as, the age and developmental level of the students, their
experiences, interests and goals, what they already know, and what they need to know
to succeed with the lesson, the subject-matter content, the obof the lesson, the available
number of students, time, space and material resources, and the physical setting.

8. However, another, more difficult problem is to select an instructional method
that best fits one's particular teaching style and the lesson-situation. There is no one
right method for teaching a particular lesson, but there are some criteria that pertain to
each lesson that can help a teacher make the best decision possible. Individuals learn in
different ways. According to Dale (1996) from the www.dol.gov website, a person
remembers 10% of what they read, 20% of what they heard, 30% of what they seen and
50% of what is seen and heard. The percentage increases for those fortunate enough to
read, hear, see and do things in actual or practical experiences.
A teacher has many options when choosing a style to teach by. The teacher
may write lesson plans of their own, borrow plans from other teachers, or search online
or within books for lesson plans.