Professionalism What it takes to be an effective teacher in the year 2010 and beyond.... The effective teachers knowledge needs to cover the social, cultural and learning needs of all students and knowledge of developmental characteristics of each individual student. To ensure a Professional knowledge base educators must have a commitment to learners which along with behaving ethically involves keeping up with and understanding of technologies used to be able to implement them into the classroom to support students of today and the future (Eggen & Kauchack, 2010). The professional teacher has the “ability to make decisions in complex and ill-defined contexts” (Eggen & Kauchack, 2010). Teachers must use reflective practice not only to improve their own abilities, but to maximise students learning and development. A professional knowledge base can be achieved through in-service training days held at the school and informal training days which take place during staff development days. “As professional’s, teachers need to update and improve their expertise and practice continually through formal and informal professional development” (Groundwater-Smith, 2007, p334). Professionalism Commitment to learners Reflective Practice Professional Knowledge Decision Making Characteristics of professionalism Figure 1.1, Eggen & Kauchak (2009) Teachers standards are being raised as cited in Eggen & Kauchak (2009) to become professionals who know and can do more. Characteristics of professionalism :

Characteristics of a 21 st Century Teacher What it takes to be an effective teacher in the year 2010 and beyond.... What characteristics should a 21st Century teacher posses? We know teaching is student centered. We know too, that they must be 21st Century learners as well. But teachers are more than this. Characteristics of the 21st Century Teacher are: The Adaptor The Communicator The Learner The Visionary The Model The Collaborator The Risk Taker Word count: 251

The 21 st Century Learner What it takes to be an effective teacher in the year 2010 and beyond.... Training Room (n.d) suggested Learners are individuals that bring their own needs and experiences into the classroom. The 21 st century learner’s characteristics will influence the way they react in the classroom. However they continued to imply, learner characteristics can offer some general information, be cautious not to stereotype your learners. Every learner is an individual and "general" learner characteristics should only be used as a guide. Word Count: 66

What it takes to be an effective teacher in the year 2010 and beyond.... Theories of Child Development Behaviourism Social Learning Theory Psychodynamic Theory Biological Theory Cognitive Process Theory Cognitive- Developmental Theory Sociocultural Theory Developmental Systems Theory

What it takes to be an effective teacher in the year 2010 and beyond.... Theories of Child Development Social Learning Theory Psychodynamic Theory Biological Theory Cognitive Process Theory McDevitt & Ormord (2010) defined social learning theory as a theoretical perspective that concentrates on how children’s beliefs and goals affect their actions. Psychodynamic theories defined by McDevitt & Ormord (2010) focuses on the affect early experiences, internal conflicts and the environment have on later characteristics and behaviour. Theoretical view acknowledged by McDevitt & Ormord (2010) as inherited physiological structures of the body and brain that assist survival, growth and learning The theoretical perspective of cognitive process theory as described by McDevitt & Ormord (2010) highlights the exact nature of human mental operations. Theorist examine how people construe and remember what they see and hear and how these process change through the duration of childhood and adolescence.

Conclusion What it takes to be an effective teacher in the year 2010 and beyond..... To ensure students are productive members of the 21 st century, it is essential to move beyond the skills of the 20 th century and master those of the 21 st century. The characteristics of the 21st Century classroom will be very different from classrooms of the past. Effective teachers in the year 2010 and beyond will certainly need to adapt in order to use new tools and methods that technology produces as we now living in a technology rich society. An effective teacher is aware of different learning needs and has numerous teaching strategies to achieve learning outcomes. Not finished as I thought we should all get a chance to contribute to the conclusion