Evaluating The Effectiveness Of UK Teacher's Standards

The first of the UK Teacher's Standards states that teachers must "set high expectations which inspire, motivate and challenge pupils" (DfE, 2011). As a teacher, I know that I will need to identify my own aims and my own mission statement in my classroom, to ensure that my students are engaged in their learning, and reach their full potential. As pointed out by Pollard (2008), to be sure that learning has occurred "the learners have to be motivated and achieve a sense of self-fulfilment". (p154) In order to reach this standard, teachers employ a range of different methods to ensure that their pupils are enthused. The effectiveness of these methods is widely debated, both throughout my personal learning journey, and in critical perspectives

This is also mentioned in the UK Teacher Standards. As discussed by Pollard (2008), the classroom should be "incorporative" (p159). The classroom should be designed in a way that makes every child feel included and be visually appealing, in order to ensure the learner's interest (p281). The classroom should be personalised, as pointed out by McGrath and Coles (2011), and it should be arranged in a way that's "learner-centred" (p132), rather than focusing on the teacher. I reflected upon this issue in my reflective journal (see appendix 3), I have begun to see how vital it is that the classroom becomes an effective learning environment. The classroom should feel safe for the children and it should be familiar to them, this will motivate them to work hard and engage in what they are learning. However, I have considered that the ethos and rules of the classroom could be more important than it's aesthetics. An organised classroom with good behaviour management is positive, rewards when these rules are followed can motivate the pupils even further, perhaps further than a safe environment

Asking questions is an important skill that children need to be equipped with, and teachers need to consider less confident children when asking their class questions. The teacher asking the class a question provides feedback immediately, they can measure the learner's knowledge. Children need to ask their own questions too. If it is quickly established in the classroom that questions are welcomed, the child can soon take responsibility for their own learning and feel motivated to fill the gaps in their understanding. One theoretical perspective, Bloom's Taxonomy, focuses on different levels of thinking, and we can tailor our questions to these. This theory however, is criticised. For example Kagan (2005) notes that only considering six types of thinking does not mean that "we have left our students well prepared". We need to broaden our questions to everyone, as mentioned in Teacher Standard Five - " Adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils". (DfE, 2011) Arguably, rather than lessons in which direct questioning is used, it might be best to use lessons based on discussion, therefore children can learn from one another whilst generating their own ideas.

When they begin their careers, teacher's often create their own personalised approach to teaching. The attitudes and values that shape this approach will comfort and motivate the children, as they will then