Teaching
Teaching is an important component of most academic clinicians’ responsibilities, but it often receives the least attention during graduate training. This chapter describes basic and expert competencies underlying teaching at the both the undergraduate an
- PDF / 697,948 Bytes
- 36 Pages / 439.37 x 666.142 pts Page_size
- 21 Downloads / 210 Views
Bethany C. Johnson · David DiLillo · Calvin P. Garbin
Abstract: Teaching is an important component of most academic clinicians’ responsibilities, but it often receives the least attention during graduate training. This chapter describes basic and expert competencies underlying teaching at the both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The underlying premise of the chapter is that teaching competence is comprised of fundamental and advanced skills that can be learned, practiced, and mastered. The majority of the work that goes into teaching happens outside of the classroom, and starts with careful course planning. The skills and behaviors necessary for competent teaching—from classroom management to lesson planning and assessment—should be based on explicit educational objectives and goals. Expert teachers not only integrate pedagogy and content knowledge to implement strategies that are more sophisticated than those used by teachers with basic competence, they also incorporate more complex innovations and interventions into their teaching. Instructors at all levels of competence should include systematic reflection and assessment of the efficacy of their teaching in their normal repertoire of skills. As they gain experience and skill, teachers can take a more experimental approach to improving their instructional approach. By applying a scholarly approach to teaching, academic clinicians can more efficiently improve the quality of instruction based on the empirical evidence of learning outcomes. This chapter can be used as a reference for new teachers just beginning their careers, or by experienced teachers looking to improve their methods.
21.1 Overview Academic clinical psychologists have multiple roles to play professionally. They must produce meaningful research, engage in service, and, in many cases, teach. Each component of this set of responsibilities does not always get equal attention during training for many newly minted clinicians. However, all four areas of proficiency are integral to the well-rounded professional clinician’s arsenal. This handbook addresses the gamut of professional competencies necessary for modern clinical psychologists; our chapter will address the particular standards and strategies needed to become a competent teacher of psychology. Competency, in the context of teaching, is an amorphous concept. Some authors claim that a good teacher is one who has a lasting, positive, and significant effect on students’ thoughts, behaviors, and values (Bain, 2004). Others argue that a good teacher is one whose unique configuration of personality characteristics and intellectual ability best lends itself to instruction (Lucas & Murray, 2002). Is a competent teacher a good teacher? To make such an assumption, one must equate good with competent, which falsely likens a subjective evaluation to a quantifiable set of skills and outcomes. Experienced teachers may employ widely divergent teaching methods and strategies, and each may vehemently assert that his or her way is the best and most effecti
Data Loading...
