Unit 30 · Teacher roles

Teacher roles are the different ways of behaving in and managing the class that teachers adopt at different stages of a lesson, so as to manage the classroom and guide learners successfully through the lesson. The roles chosen vary with the teaching approach, the stage of the lesson and the learners' preferred learning styles and needs.

◆What are teacher roles?

Teachers need to behave in different ways at different stages of a lesson to manage the classroom and to successfully guide learners through the lesson. These different ways of behaving in and managing the class are called teacher roles. Teachers adopt (use) a number of different roles in every lesson. Teacher roles vary depending on the teaching approach (way of teaching) used and on the teachers' and learners' preferred learning styles and learning needs.

◆Key concepts — what roles do teachers adopt during a lesson?

What roles do teachers adopt during a lesson?

List four.

Here are some roles teachers often adopt.

You'll notice how teacher roles match with different aspects of teaching and with different stages of a lesson. We can be planners before the lesson, rapport builders during the warm-up and lead-in phase, language resources during the language input and practice phase, monitors during role-play, pairwork activities or writing, and assessors during the lesson, both formally and informally, and after the lesson when we are correcting learners' work.

◆Choosing appropriate teacher roles

The teacher roles we adopt have to be appropriate for the teaching and learning context, the teaching approach, the lesson aims, the stage of the lesson, the type of activity and the age, level and attitude of the learners. A teacher using a PPP approach will, for example, at different times of the lesson, act as a controller, a model and a guide. However, these teacher roles are not so appropriate for a teacher using a communicative approach. Teacher roles more suitable for a communicative approach include facilitator, resource, provider of language, prompter.

Effective classroom managementThe things teachers do to organise the classroom, the learning and the learners, such as organising seating arrangements, organising different types of activities, and managing interaction patterns. click to keep open · see glossary, i.e. organising the classroom and the learners, is dependent on the teacher adopting appropriate roles. For example, when learners arrive late in class or misbehave, the teacher needs to deal with the situation appropriately to ensure that the learners understand that this is not acceptable behaviour. In this situation, the teacher's role is primarily to maintain disciplineThe system of rules used to keep control of learners in the classroom; e.g. a teacher might maintain discipline by asking learners to stop chatting and listen to his/her instructions. click to keep open · see glossary. If, on the other hand, the teacher adopts inappropriate roles, this can have a negative effect on their classroom management. Imagine a situation where one learner is dominating the interaction in the classroom, resulting in other learners becoming annoyed and being unwilling to participateTo take part in something; e.g. when learners participate in a lesson or classroom activity they are involved and active. click to keep open · see glossary (take part in something). If the teacher lets the learner continue in a dominating role, he or she could lose the respect of the other students and will be less able to facilitateTo make something possible. Teachers facilitate learning by planning and delivering lessons, maintaining discipline in the classroom and making it easier for learners to learn. See teacher role. click to keep open · see glossary (make easier) their learning. However, if the teacher sets out clear classroom routines and codes of conduct in which learners take turns to participate and listen to each other's contributions, he or she will build rapportThe relationship between the teacher and learners. Teachers try to build or create good rapport and to have a good relationship with their learners because it makes the classroom a better place for learning. click to keep open · see glossary with the class and provide the learners with a more supportive learning environment.

There are several common situations in which a teacher has to adapt his or her role as appropriate to encourage smooth classroom management. These include learners not completing homework, monitoring learners during pair and group activities, learners failing to understand instructions, learners chatting during pair or group work and not focusing on the task.

The roles that teachers adopt also depend on the needs of the learners. With young learners, we might take on the role of a parent or a friend when a young student is unwell or unhappy. With teenage or adult learners, two of the key teacher roles are those of motivating students and maintaining discipline (establishing a clear system of rules and codes of behaviour). With adult students the teacher's roles are often those of facilitator, language resource and diagnostician.

◆Key concepts and the language teaching classroom

Read these tips and tick the ones which are most important for you:

• What we say, how we say it and what we do make our teacher roles clear to learners. When planning lessons, it is useful to first identify the roles we are going to take on during the lesson and then to think about what we are going to say and do to convey that role clearly to the learners.
• It takes practice and experience to know which teacher roles are appropriate with which classes and for which activities. Less experienced teachers may feel comfortable using a limited number of roles at first and then gradually extending their range.
• Some problems with classroom discipline, classroom management and facilitating learning are a result of teachers not adopting appropriate teacher roles.
• Learners take time to get used to the teacher working in different roles. For example, learners who are more familiar with a teacher in the role of manager might be confused by a teacher who takes on the role of facilitator. It is useful to provide some learner training and to introduce the new roles slowly so that learners get used to new ways of working.
• It is important to be flexible in teacher roles. Sometimes roles need to be changed because of circumstances in the lesson. For example, when we are monitoring a task and realise that learners have not understood the key language, we take on the role of language resource to clarify the language point so that learners can continue with the task.
• It is sometimes necessary to take on roles we do not always feel comfortable with. When learners do not complete homework tasks, for example, teachers have to be firmer in managing the learners than they usually are. The ability to take on appropriate roles in class is important for establishing class rapport and maintaining a positive and effective learning environment in the classroom.

✎Follow-up activity

💡Reflect

🔍Discovery activities

✎TKT practice tasks

These multiple-choice tasks are exactly as in the book, but interactive: pick your answers, check your score, and retry anytime. The scoring uses the official answer key from the back of the book.

📖Glossary terms in this unit

Key terms highlighted in this unit — study them on the flashcards page.