Tutor handbook 2009-2010 Contents Page

GOOD TEACHING AND LEARNING PRACTICE

The Seven Principles



At BIMM, we want all students and all tutors to enjoy the best learning and teaching possible. We believe that great education helps bring about amazing personal growth and change, and our aim is for every student to be both challenged and helped to reach his or her highest potential.



Over the years, we have learned some valuable lessons about teaching and learning – and about what we can really aspire towards at our best. The aim of this part of the handbook is to capture the essence of what we strive towards in our teaching. It is in three sections: first the general principles we try to keep; then some of the ways in which these principles can become real in our classes; and finally some ideas specifically relating to the ethos of music teaching at BIMM.



All lessons at BIMM are carefully designed and well planned out in advance. They are outlined in the course manuals. As a teacher, you need to bring these plans to life in your classroom – drawing on your own professional experience and teaching skills. We encourage all teachers to develop your own detailed delivery plans, and to bring in extra material for your lessons. We also encourage all teachers to really use your personalities in the classroom – while remembering always that lessons are not ultimately about us and our experiences, they are about our students and their development.



At BIMM, we have identified seven over-riding principles that we consider fundamental to great education. These are listed below, followed by some specific examples of how they might be put into practice. We also know that teachers will find many other ways of achieving these aims to meet the needs of different courses and specific groups of students.



These seven principles represent our highest aspirations for making our own teaching as good as possible: