Teaching Practice 1

Diploma in Education & Training (Dental Nursing)

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Course Title

Date
 Teaching Practice 2

Task 1

a) Identify and analyse the pedagogical theories, including (but not restricted to) those

pertaining to behaviour management that you used to manage student behaviour

and deliver effective teaching and learning during your teaching practice (1.1, 3.1).

Students’ Negative behavior

This report addresses the different needs that students have which are specifically observed in a

classroom setup. During my teaching practice, I was able to observe a couple of student

behaviors which inhibited their overall performance in class. My student group was level 3

Dental Nursing students who were supposed to effectively succeed in the following lesson plans:

Infection Control and its management risk, Pain anxiety management in the dental clinic, Pain

anxiety and its association with extraction procedure, Risk management post-extraction. Under

the first lesson plan, I observed a student with a language barrier challenge due to English being

a second language. For the second lesson plan, there was a student who was basically an

underachiever. For student 1, he exhibited several negative behaviors which led him to

developing the language barrier problem. The first behavior I observed was that he was never

active in class, whether answering questions or making any verbal contribution in class.

Secondly, the student was always conversing Arabic with his desk mate even during lesson time.

I later called the student to discuss the issue and he told me that he wasn’t interested in the

subject, and even decided to drop the English Language course which was a recommendation for

foreign students. For Student 2, His underachievement was mainly as a result of too much effort

on extracurricular activities like sports and little attention to classwork. Secondly, he was always

confined to himself and a poor team player. Despite exhibiting great grades in other units, he

showed very little interest in Dental Nursing. Therefore, after making these observations, I had to
 Teaching Practice 3

use my knowledge on pedagogical principles and learning theories to help students 1 & 2

overcome their challenges.

Pedagogical theories & analysis

Behaviorism (Grassian and Kaplowitz, 2001)- This theory focuses solely on the observable

behaviors as well as discounting mental behavior. I was able to observe students 1 & 2

behavioral patterns as well as their mental strengths and weaknesses to determine the most

effective course of action. This theory is very crucial for this scenario since it was able to help

me study the behavioral literary trends of student 1 as well as mechanisms to improve and

reward his progress. For student 2, I was able to closely track his progress as well as improve his

overall performance through applying other creative and alternative teaching strategies to

improve his scope of understanding. The teaching approaches I applied under this theory were:

 Breaking down the Infection Control as well as Various risk and hazard management

skills in dental practice Units into smaller sub-units

 The use of hands-on active learning activities like provision of quizzes as well as actively

involving the student in classwork like reading and groupwork.

 Provision of immediate feedback for the quizzes and weekly interviews.

 Rewarding the progress made by the students

 Peer teaching as a means to reduce the teacher-student environment monotony.

This theory is crucial since I was able to monitor student 1’s learning curve as well as track his

progress in English. I was also able to make him succeed by motivating him theough rewarding

every effort he made to improve his English. For student 2, his weakness and poor performance

was attributed to a lack of proper understanding of the topic concepts as well as poor time
 Teaching Practice 4

management to study. This was solved by incorporating practical problem-solving teaching and

learning via symposiums and groupwork, as well as peer teaching to break teacher student

monotony and increase the student’s study time by an extra hour.

Taxonomy of learning. Bloom’s Taxonomy of learning is key in helping educators create

outcomes of learning which are not restricted to the subject matter but generally the quality and

depth of understanding they want their students to achieve as well as creating an assessment

which perfectly reflects on the students’ progress towards the achievement of these outcomes

(Bloom, 1956). For a proper understanding of Bloom’s taxonomy in teaching practice, this

theory is basically broken down into three sub-groups: the cognitive, the affective as well as he

psychomotor (Bryant et al., 1985). During my teaching practice, to prepare learning outcomes as

well as assessments for task 3.1 using its domain hierarchies.

First, Under the cognitive domain which is solely focused on intelligence skills such as problem

solving and critical skills, I was able to utilize his knowledge to effectively plan and assess

student 2 who was an under achiever in my task 3.1. Under this domain, learners are basically

supposed to make linearly progress through a process, beginning from remembering and ending

at creating. For task 3.1, student 2 was supposed to achieve his learning goal of Pain anxiety

management in the dental clinic, Pain anxiety and its association with extraction procedure &

Risk management post-extraction. Under the cognitive domain, I was able to give the class

sample assessment activities which involved providing them with self-assessment quizzes at the

end of the class to make him remember the concepts learned during lesson time. Under the

understand hierarchy, I provided home assignments which required the students to write 1-page

summaries of every lesson learned as well as applying the knowledge by making a practical

application of the theoretical concepts learned in class. I was also able to help the students create
 Teaching Practice 5

a favorable environment for the anxious patients before any procedure via group discussions and

peer feedbacks.

Actively engaging in the learning process. This is one of the key principles applied in teaching

practice. It involves an instruction approach where the teacher actively engages the students with

coursework through discussions, roleplays, problem solving and others (Gould, 2012). This

theory is the pillar to my teaching practice since I was able to apply it in both teaching practice

1.1 and 3.1. this was the most preferred teaching method especially for student 1 & 2 who had

challenges with language barrier and poor results. As an instructor, I was able to assist student 1

by actively engaging him in class to read more, encourage the student to take English courses,

motivating him to associate himself with English proficient students during groupwork, giving

him more Infection control quizzes to make him able to boost his English when answering

questions. For teaching practice 3.1, I ensured that student 2 was able to take multiple classroom

quizzes, weekly interviews to assess his progress as well as group discussions and peer tutoring

for the student to as to improve his knowledge and understanding of the topics.

b) Evaluate the effectiveness of the different pedagogical principles and creative

approaches that you used in the delivery of your specialist subject (1.2)

Student 1

Actively engaging in the learning process

For student 1 with English language barrier, actively engaging him in the learning process

provided scenarios of managing his poor English efficacy in classroom which have been

outlined below:

 Enrolling in English course so as to enhance his Knowledge In the language

 Teaching Practice 6

 Allowing him to read more in class

 Motivating him to associate himself with English proficient students during groupwork

 Giving him more Infection control quizzes to make him able to boost his English when

answering questions.

Enrolling him in English classes as well as groupworks are examples of diagnostic assessment

tools (Kidd, W. and Czerniawski, G., 2010. Successful teaching 14-19: theory, practice and

reflection. Sage Publications.) which were key in providing an illustrative sampling in the

student’s literary skills. The student began teaming up with other students during group study, he

began speaking English more proficiently in class and stopped his Arabic dialect communication

in class, as well as becoming more productive in class in terms of answering questions. I was

able to understand the student’s weakness and solve it using post-class activities. I also employed

some innovative approaches to assess and improve the student’s challenge with English.

 First, I used curriculum sight word lists to help the student read and understand Infection

Control medical terminology in English. This began improving his writing skills as well

as his reading skills in class.

 I also made weekly interviews with the student between the February and April to check

the student’s reading behavior. It sparked the student’s interest in the language which led

him to increasing his overall classroom enrollment in answering questions as well as

reading.

 For every progress achieved by the student after the interview session, I bought him

lunch. This was a serious motivating factor for the student. By understanding that I

appreciated his efforts, he became motivated even more during classwork; handling
 Teaching Practice 7

assignments as well as classroom quizzes better. Additionally, his negative behavior of

non-involvement in class diminished considerably.

Using the Individual Learning Plan guide that I had made for the student, allowing him to read

more in class as well as providing classroom and home assignments are examples of formative

assessment tools which was to guide me on his literary progress in terms of understanding the

student’s level of English proficiency in reading and writing Infection Control related classwork.

Additionally, Continuous simulated problem solving as well as allowing him to associate more

with GT students are examples of Summative assessment tools which played a big role in the

elimination of Student 1’s negative behavior. Another summative assessment tool I used was

through incorporating students into the UK’s infection prevention society that offers the dental

professionals to carry out the cross-infection protocols to enable the student understand the

medical terminology as well as the real-life experience on the Dental profession.

Student 2:

Taxonomy of learning

For student 2 who is an underachiever, taxonomy of learning provided the scenarios for

improving his overall knowledge on Understanding proper patient safety initiatives, applying

conventional safeguards to all the patients irrespective of the diagnosis as well as risk and

Hazard management in the standard GDC designated dental team. Using the cognitive domain,

activities to help him remember, apply and create concepts were:

 Provision of classroom quizzes as well as homework at the end of the lesson.

 Provision of exit tickets to assess the student’s grasp of the lesson.

 Group discussions
 Teaching Practice 8

 Weekly interviews to check the student’s progress in understanding the topic.

Ensuring that the student takes part in classroom quizzes and group sessions, exit tickets are

examples of formative assessment tools that I used to track and monitor the student’s progress on

a daily basis during the lesson. Additionally, it provided the ‘remember’ framework which aided

the student in memorizing key medical concepts even amidst his extracurriculars. Homework

assignments and weekly interviews are diagnostic assessment examples which helped me

assess the student’s knowledge of topic concepts after class. Through interviews, I was able to

track any form of improvements that he made. In addition to post-classwork to improve student 2

overall performance, I employed other innovative approaches which include:

 Extension activities such as weekly symposiums to test the practical knowledge as well

as skill regarding hazard and risk management.

 Provision of immediate feedback during class quizzes as well as homework assignments.

 Introduced peer teaching by requesting one of the highest performing students in the

topic to tutor student 2 for 30 minutes after lessons.

 Teaching Practice 9

Table 1: Showing Examples of Diagnostic, Formative & Summative tools as well as

questions to be answered for Students 1&2.

Diagnostic Assessment Formative Assessment Summative Assessment

Examples Examples Examples
Student 1 Providing the student with the Group Discussion. Continuous Assessment
objective of the study. For Tests after every Month
Example: In groups of Five students,
By the End of the study, you  Write down a 3-page
should be able to Read and  identify the APA format Essay
understand the following terminology used in Summarizing
question. the General Dental identifying all the
 What are the Guidelines on risk relevant Dental
General Dental and hazard Practice terminology
Council’s Guidelines management. that we have
on Risk and Hazard discussed under the
Management in the Classroom exit Tickets General Dental
Dental Practice?  Identify and explain Council’s Guidelines
Self-Reflection and 3 health and safety on Risk and Hazard
Homework. needs that you have Management in the
 Write a short discussed in your Dental Practice.
summary (1page) on groups.
the risk and Hazard Your work should be free of
management in UK grammatical errors.
dental Practice
Student 2 Self- Reflection Quiz and Answering questions in  Make 3-page
Revising on lecture material. Classroom PowerPoint
 What are the roles Using the Information that we presentations
and responsibilities have studied in today’s class, showing your
of a dental nurse in answer the following understanding of
anxiety management question, their duties in
during different  Through the Dental relieving the
dental procedures? Fear survey scale, patient’s anxiety and
This will what we shall cover how can anxiety be fear of the treatment
during the next lesson. predetermined and which we discussed
used in the practice? in lectures 4 & 5.

Task 4

For one assessed observation of your teaching practice, in your specialist area, identify, explain

and evaluate how your pedagogical practice in the five areas listed below helped create an

inclusive teaching and learning environment.

 Teaching Practice 10

a) Establishing and sustaining a safe and inclusive learning environment (3.2)

Bloom’s Taxonomy of learning requires all students to be engaged in their cognitive and

psychomotor domains. Therefore, to include all students in a sustainable learning

environment, student security was paramount so as to allow them to concentrate on

classwork. By Ensuring that my students adhere strictly to the COVID 19 protocols, I

minimized the possibility of missing school or health complications which would affect

the overall learning process.

b) Demonstrate flexibility and adaptability in the use of inclusive teaching and learning

approaches and resources, including technologies, to meet the needs of individual

learners (4.2)

Actively engaging All the students in the learning process gives provisions for

incorporating different teaching and learning procedures to accommodate student of

different cognitive abilities as well as physical impairments. By setting the classroom

arrangement to allow short sighted students sit in the front of the class ensured that even

students with physical impairments are not inhibited by short sight to achieve effective

learning.

c) Promoting equality and valuing diversity (4.3)

Taking random quizzes on the topics as well as asking random students to make

PowerPoint presentations on their understanding of their duties in relieving patients their

anxiety over the fear of treatment ensures all students are equally included in the learning

process. Greeting students in their native language as a means to value diversity played a

very important role in improving student morale and inclusiveness in the learning

process.
 Teaching Practice 11

d) Flexibility and adaptability in using types and methods of assessment to meet assessment

requirements (5.2)

I achieved this through monitoring the achievements of learners in class via different

assessment strategies like quizzes and checking the progress twice a month, planning

subsequent lecture sessions, recording the outcomes theough keeping scores as well as

involving professionals in Dental practice who are interested in learner practice to discuss

student progress. This was very crucial in the sense that I was able to get feedback from

professionals in the field on student progress as well as he adjustments to make in my

teaching to make them market ready.

e) Identify opportunities provided for learners and others to provide feedback to inform

inclusive practice (2.4)

By communicating student progress with learners and professionals in the Dental Nursing

profession for example, Dental clinics who are hiring, GDC or the NHS allowed me to

get feedback from professionals on the minimum threshold and therefore communicate to

the learners what they are required to do to be fit for the profession.

Task 5 – E Portfolio

For one assessed observation of your teaching practice, in;

1. Establishing and sustaining a safe and inclusive learning environment.

Holding inter-personal interactions with student 1 to discuss reasons behind his

failure to attend class. This improved transparency between us and therefore I was

able to obtain accurate feedback on the student’s weakness.

 Teaching Practice 12

Creating rapport with students 1 & 2 through providing individual assistance both in

class and outside class on issues they don’t understand.

2. Flexibility and adaptability in the use of inclusive teaching and learning approaches.

Using Motivation and career guidance as a technique to improve student morale in

classroom. Under motivation, rewarding learners was one method I used to improve

competitiveness in class. Additionally, issuing lecture slides which summarised the

objectives of the lecture helped underachieving students understand the overall

concept being discussed

3. Promoting equality and valuing diversity

Through speaking to individual students directly and frequently was one key way to

ensure inclusivity of all students. Prioritizing diversity through off topic interactions

with the students to boost their confidence.

4. Flexibility and adaptability in using types and methods of assessment to meet

assessment requirements

Interviewing students 1 & 2 on how to overcome their different challenges. Keeping

record of the student scores, suing my good communication skills to discuss student

outcomes with school personnel as well as medical practitioners to assess student

readiness in the market.

Task 6

During my Teaching Practice, I was able to gather a lot of information pertaining teaching habits

as well as student behavior, which are key elements in influencing the overall learning

experience. I am going to use the Experiential learning theory, which solely focuses on the
 Teaching Practice 13

context as well as the processes of learning (Osterman, 1993). I shall focus on Gibbs (1998)

reflective cycle model to describe my teaching experience and what I learned.

Description of the situation

It is a Diploma in Education and Training Teaching practice, with an aim of developing the

student’s minimum core skills through pedagogical practice. With a student group of 25 students,

I was supposed to create rapport with the students, associate well with them, establish individual

strengths and weaknesses of every student, find ways to maximize student strengths and

eliminate their weakness through theories of Classroom management as well as pedagogical

theories.

Analysis of feelings

The teaching experience was tough but informative. I was able to interact with students on a

personal level, utilize the theoretical skills which I had learned in class and apply them on a

practical scale. Additionally, associating with students on a personal level gave me a much wider

perspective of the Teaching experience, not just confining myself to what is in the books. At the

beginning of my practice, I had a tough time adapting to the student environment since it was my

first time approaching a huge number of students at once. However, as time went, I was able to

acclimatize to the learning environment, was able to study the students’ behaviors, identified

their strengths and weaknesses and finally used my knowledge in pedagogical principles as well

as learning theories to improve the student’s overall performance.

Evaluation of the experience.

The main purpose of my study was to improve on the student’s Challenges that I identified using

my pedagogical and teaching theory skills that I had learned as a teacher. During my experience,
 Teaching Practice 14

I encountered two students; Student 1 & 2, who had different challenges. For student 1, he was

taking the Infection control class and had a language barrier problem since English was a Second

language to him. Using my deductive and observation skills as a teacher, I identified several

negative behaviors which led to him developing this challenge. The first behavior I observed was

that he was never active in class, whether answering questions or making any verbal contribution

in class. Secondly, the student was always conversing Arabic with his desk mate even during

lesson time. I later called the student to discuss the issue and he told me that he wasn’t interested

in the subject, and even decided to drop the English Language course which was a

recommendation for foreign students. For student 2, he was taking the Pain anxiety management

in the dental clinic, Pain anxiety and its association with extraction procedure, Risk management

post-extraction topics and was underachieving. This was contributed by putting too much effort

on extracurricular activities like sports and paying little attention to classwork. Secondly, he was

always confined to himself and a poor team player. Despite exhibiting great grades in other units,

he showed very little interest in Dental Nursing.

Therefore, I came up with a plan to help these students overcome these challenges. For student 1

My first plan was to monitor his achievements in English by creating an activity schedule which

would help him overcome his negative behavior. Motivating him to start an English course,

involve him more in classwork especially in reading and answering questions, using peer

teaching as an avenue to motivate the student to indulge in more groupwork and conversation on

a student-student level. The delivery of this plan was in categories: First, to minimize the Arabic

communication in class, I endured that in every infection control class, the students were

confined in groups, and he was not sitting together with his desk mate. Secondly, I introduced

exit tickets and classroom quizzes where I went around marking questions I had given. I ensured
 Teaching Practice 15

that Student 1 drastically increased his involvement in class activity in terms of reading and

writing. Additionally, I started giving out homework assignments to increase the student’s

engagement in classwork. The assessment of the student’s progress aimed at checking whether

the student was making any progress involved continuous tests as well as simulations on

infection control terminology, repeated quizzes, holding weekly interviews with the student to

check his motivation level as well as other challenges arising. For this student, I ensured that the

planning, delivery, assessment and maintaining a safe teaching environment was relative to the

pedagogical principle of Active engagement in the learning process. The main idea of this

principle is that the students are supposed to engaged equally in classwork so as not to be left

behind. Increasing student 1’s overall classroom activity was beneficial.

For student 2 who had a problem with maintaining his focus in class due to over indulgence in

other non-coursework related activities, my planning, delivery, assessment and maintenance of a

healthy classroom environment revolved around the Taxonomy of learning pedagogical principle

which is founded on the concept of remembering, applying, and creating. For Student 2, he had a

problem of misplaced priorities as well as not being a team player, for a student who has little

indulgence in classwork, I had to: increase his attention in class, maximize his concentration

capacity during class, and finally teach the student the importance of teamwork in medical

practice. I increased his involvement in class through classroom quizzes and homework as well

as continuous simulations on the topic to increase his ‘memory’, groupworks and peer teaching

to collaborate in understanding their roles in pain anxiety management as well as the strategies of

risk management during the extraction procedure. By working collaboratively with professional

dental nurses, student 2 was able to create his own skill on how to manage anxious patients
 Teaching Practice 16

before any activity. This overall increased his indulgence in the lesson especially after switching

to a more practical-based learning style.

Analysis and Conclusion.

During my teaching practice, I utilized Behaviorism learning theory, as well as actively engaging

in the learning process and Taxonomy of learning pedagogical principles. Behaviorism theory

was very effective in helping me identify the students’ negative behavior which resulted to the

challenges they encountered. When began my teaching practice, I had very little appropriate

teaching skills as shown by grade 4 in the 1st Teacher’s observation table. However, after

studying student behavior, identifying their weaknesses and beginning to implement my

knowledge to help the students, my grade improved to 3 as shown in the 2nd Teacher observation.

Additionally, with no basis and practical experience at the beginning, my planning was poor, I

was inaudible in class, as well as low student motivation in class as shown by grade 4 in the 1ts

Teacher observation table. However, after gathering student weakness, and using teaching skills

and pedagogical theories to overcome language barrier and Underachievement, the overall

student motivation improved tremendously to grade 2 as shown in the second Teacher’s

observation table.

Action Plan

At the end of my Teaching Practice, I had been able to overcome most of the challenges that I

had been unable to at the beginning. However, this was not until the third quarter of my teaching

practice that I understood clearly what the students wanted as well as the capabilities of each and

every one of them. Therefore, in any future teaching activity I’m involved in:
 Teaching Practice 17

 Select different teaching strategies for different students to facilitate student leaning. I

understood that students have different capabilities and a strategy that might work on one

student might not work on another.

 Hold High but realistic expectations for the students. For example, in Student 1’s

scenario, I later cam to understand that his progress would be gradual, and he would not

immediately start getting A’s in English after indulging him in my strategy. Realistic

goals are more likely to be achieved.

 Cognitive activities will form the foundation of my teaching. With increased problem

solving among the students, the more likely they are to remember classroom concepts.

Additionally, their motivation and engagement with the teacher is very high.

 In future dental nursing teaching, I will incorporate a lot of practical-based learning.

Medical practice has a lot of application, and therefore I will devote much of my teaching

on practice.

 Setting learner’s targets is also extremely crucial as I’ve learned from my teaching

practice. Telling the students what to expect as well as giving them the objectives for the

next classroom prepares them psychologically for the lesson. It might be insignificant,

but it plays a big role in boosting student morale as I’ve learned.

 Teaching Practice 18

References

Bloom, B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: Cognitive domain (Handbook I). New

York:McKay.

Campione, J. C., Brown, A. L., & Bryant, N. R. (1985). Individual differences in learning and

memory.In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Human abilities: An information processing approach

(pp. 103-126). NewYork: Freeman.52

Grassian, E. S. and Kaplowitz, J. R. 2001. Information literacy instruction: Theory and

practice. New York: Neal-Schuman

Gravells A and Simpson S – Planning and Enabling Learning in the Lifelong Learning Sector

(Learning Matters, 2010) ISBN 9781844457984

Kidd W & Czerniawski G – Successful Teaching 14-19 (2011), Sage Publications ISBN

9781848607125