Enabling others Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Enabling others - Essay Example Such an endeavour requires an ability to facilitate motivating and interesting learning opportunities for the students. A practice teacher is often required to lead by example, so far as the task of adhering to fundamental skills and values of positive social work in the face of ever present and fast altering organizational structures and resource constraints is concerned (Doel & Shardlow 2005). Practice teaching is not merely confined to a mechanistic assessment, but is a responsibility highly dependent on a continuous skill accumulation and an ability to access and analyze a range of information and data on a daily basis (Lawson 1998). Though in the contemporary context, the role of a practice teacher is increasingly subject to change, it would not be wrong to claim that the practice teachers do have a pivotal role to play in the future of social work. Teaching Adult Learners Being an effective practice teacher requires being conversant with the apt adult learning theories and an a bility to understand as to how the adult students learn and respond. Most of the adult students are endowed with many abilities and do prefer to perform by using their own innate talent (Merriam 2001). Hence, a practice teacher is required to act more as a facilitator with a thorough knowledge of the skills required to engage the adult students in the learning process. It is vital for a practice teacher to solicit the students’ views and perspectives regarding varied tasks and to allocate to them those tasks and responsibilities that are in consonance with their aptitude and interests (Merriam 2001). It really pays to allow the participants assume group leadership and responsibility while retaining a mentoring eye and approach. Merely trying to provide the adult students with dry facts, data and information proves to be counterproductive, unless it is not accompanied by a positive encouragement to use their own knowledge and research skills (Jackson 2009). Above all, a practi ce teacher is always bound by the specific responsibility to convince the students that the skills and the training being impacted by one will effectively help them achieve their goals in the long run (Woodard 2007). Not holding an appropriate sense of respect towards the adult students is the biggest mistake that a practice teacher is often prone to make. It is essential for a practice teacher to respect and acknowledge the rich experience that a participant brings to a situation and task (Brookfield 2005). Adult students should preferably be treated with a sense of equality and respect in the context of their knowledge and experience and must be allowed to freely express their opinions regarding goals, aspirations, situations and issues (Brookfield 2005). Besides, the main thing that needs to be remembered is that adult learners are always pragmatic in their approach towards skills and knowledge accumulation. Hence, they concentrate more on those knowledge and skills that is of im mediate relevance to their goals and objectives (Foley 2004). Their attitude towards knowledge is defined by practicality. Therefore, it gets very important for a practice teacher to explain to the adult learners as to how the information and inputs being impacted by one will help them in the actual job scenarios (Foley 2004). As already said