Elsabe Osler – Student number 65433084 BPT1501 – Assignment 2

Elsabé Osler – 65433084

BPT1501:
Assignment 2

QUESTION 1:
• Physical setting – The school is based in a poor area because it is a non-paying fee school
where the parents can’t afford to pay for education for their children. That makes it
challenging to ensure safety and proper security. It is close to a taxi rank and that also makes
it unsafe, and the community uses the school as a shortcut, so they cut the school’s fence in
several places, so the students have access to get out of school. There is no money to repair
the damages that the community caused. These types of things can cause learners to get
distracted from their work.
• Students – The students have very bad behaviour and uncooperative parents that do not
discipline their children at home, that causes the principal to get overwhelmed with
interviews with misbehaving students and their parents, so he can’t focus on other things
that needs his attention. Students are violent which means that the students and the
teachers are in danger. No good functioning student body to take control and motivate.
• Curriculum and Resources – They are a very poor performing school because they have a
shortage of resources. They do not have access to technology integration in the classroom,
and everything gets damaged or stolen.
• Teachers – The school has a shortage of teachers but can’t afford to appoint more teachers.
The teachers are late, which seta a terrible example for the students and they lose their
respect to listen. The teachers are also overwhelmed because the parents are not involved.
They do not help with homework or assisting to check if the students’ assignments are done.
They have a lot of work because there are so many learners, somewhere they will make a
mistake or reign and crack under pressure.
• Behaviour, learning and teaching – The students have very bad behaviours in school, and
they are constantly being interviewed by the principal because of that. The students are
violent. Education is not a priority for them so they are not performing the way they should.
There are not enough resources to make teaching easier for the teacher, and the children do
not behave in class. The teachers can’t teach when the students do not behave themselves
and if they are not disciplined. If the students are not disciplined, they won’t listen and pay
attention to what the teacher has to say. They will be lost and not know how to do their
assignments or what to do in exams, therefore they will either fail or drop out of school.
Discipline is very important in schools.
Elsabe Osler – Student number 65433084 BPT1501 – Assignment 2

QUESTION 2:
Qualities of a professional teacher:
1. Strong communicators: For effective teaching, strong communication skills are a
must. Communication is very important when it comes to teaching. If a teacher can’t
communicate, the learners won’t understand what is being taught and she won’t be
able to explain the work very well. Communication is necessary to carry over
information and to explain the lesson properly, otherwise the learners won’t
understand, and they won’t perform in the subject. Communication is also important
when a learner comes to the teacher with questions about the subject and when
they are struggling.
2. Good listener: Children talks to teachers when they feel safe to do so. We as
teachers need to be good listeners when it comes to education or personal stuff.
Learners love to tell stories and we can easily pick-up important information in their
stories. We need to be good listeners to understand what the learner is not
understanding to be able to assist them properly.
3. Engaging: The more engaged students are in the learning process, the less likely they
are to lose interest in what they're learning. The likelihood that students will
perform well on standardized tests and drop out is lower among engaged students.
4. Empathy: Empathy improves communication and facilitates meaningful conversation
between students and teachers. As students or teachers, you learn compassion and
kindness towards others which creates a healthy learning environment. By
empathizing with others, we can respond appropriately to situations and understand
how they feel. Research shows that empathy is associated with social behaviour and
that greater empathy leads to more helpful behaviour.
5. Patience: Patience is an essential quality for a teacher. When dealing with the same
questions and problems over and over again, a great teacher shows patience with
their students and parents. Trying out new ways to help your students succeed in
school is something you never give up on. It is important to interact with students
patiently, as well as to communicate with them appropriately. You can show them
trust if you talk to them without making it seem like a fight.

Roles and good practices that teachers could implement at Reeves Secondary School.

1. Tutoring: The teacher should identify the struggling learners in the class, and the
students whose parents are uninvolved and arrange extra classes to make time for
reteaching and pre-teaching.
2. Demonstrator: Teachers need to teach like they mean it. Being on time, shows they
are proud of being a teacher and that they have a passion for teaching and for their
students. The teachers need to learn and know as much of the context of what they
are teaching as possible and demonstrate it. When teachers do this, the children will
engage more in the lessons and perform better academically.
Elsabe Osler – Student number 65433084 BPT1501 – Assignment 2

3. Resource: Building relationships with students and parents requires empathy skills
on the part of resource teachers. When the teachers show empathy towards the
learners, they will start to build a relationship, which will also motivate good
behaviour and good academic performance. They will also have the courage to speak
to the teacher about any concerns, troubles, or problems. This will also help the
teacher to approach the learners more sensitively and successfully.
4. Controller: a Very important thing to do is to deal with problems while they are still
small. This will help to solve the problems before the learners start misbehaving and
getting violent in school. This will also help the teacher to get control of the situation
before it gets out of hand. The teachers need to be kind, but firm. Teachers need to
be consistent and follow through. This will give learners a sense of security and they
will know that there will always be consequences with bad behaviour.
5. Participant: Asking questions in the classroom will encourage the learners to pay
attention. This will also help you as a teacher to identify when a learner is struggling
with something and then you will know when to try another teaching approach and
strategy.