Education Corner

Teaching Methods and Strategies: The Complete Guide

You’ve completed your coursework. Student teaching has ended. You’ve donned the cap and gown, crossed the stage, smiled with your diploma and went home to fill out application after application.

Suddenly you are standing in what will be your classroom for the next year and after the excitement of decorating it wears off and you begin lesson planning, you start to notice all of your lessons are executed the same way, just with different material. But that is what you know and what you’ve been taught, so you go with it.

After a while, your students are bored, and so are you. There must be something wrong because this isn’t what you envisioned teaching to be like. There is.

Figuring out the best ways you can deliver information to students can sometimes be even harder than what students go through in discovering how they learn best. The reason is because every single teacher needs a variety of different teaching methods in their theoretical teaching bag to pull from depending on the lesson, the students, and things as seemingly minute as the time the class is and the subject.

Using these different teaching methods, which are rooted in theory of different teaching styles, will not only help teachers reach their full potential, but more importantly engage, motivate and reach the students in their classes, whether in person or online.

Teaching Methods

Teaching methods, or methodology, is a narrower topic because it’s founded in theories and educational psychology. If you have a degree in teaching, you most likely have heard of names like Skinner, Vygotsky , Gardner, Piaget , and Bloom . If their names don’t ring a bell, you should definitely recognize their theories that have become teaching methods. The following are the most common teaching theories.

Behaviorism

Behaviorism is the theory that every learner is essentially a “clean slate” to start off and shaped by emotions. People react to stimuli, reactions as well as positive and negative reinforcement, the site states.

Learning Theories names the most popular theorists who ascribed to this theory were Ivan Pavlov, who many people may know with his experiments with dogs. He performed an experiment with dogs that when he rang a bell, the dogs responded to the stimuli; then he applied the idea to humans.

Other popular educational theorists who were part of behaviorism was B.F. Skinner and Albert Bandura .

Social Cognitive Theory

Social Cognitive Theory is typically spoken about at the early childhood level because it has to do with critical thinking with the biggest concept being the idea of play, according to Edwin Peel writing for Encyclopedia Britannica . Though Bandura and Lev Vygotsky also contributed to cognitive theory, according to Dr. Norman Herr with California State University , the most popular and first theorist of cognitivism is Piaget.

There are four stages to Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development that he created in 1918. Each stage correlates with a child’s development from infancy to their teenage years.

The first stage is called the Sensorimotor Stage which occurs from birth to 18 months. The reason this is considered cognitive development is because the brain is literally growing through exploration, like squeaking horns, discovering themselves in mirrors or spinning things that click on their floor mats or walkers; creating habits like sleeping with a certain blanket; having reflexes like rubbing their eyes when tired or thumb sucking; and beginning to decipher vocal tones.

The second stage, or the Preoperational Stage, occurs from ages 2 to 7 when toddlers begin to understand and correlate symbols around them, ask a lot of questions, and start forming sentences and conversations, but they haven’t developed perspective yet so empathy does not quite exist yet, the website states. This is the stage when children tend to blurt out honest statements, usually embarrassing their parents, because they don’t understand censoring themselves either.

From ages 7 to 11, children are beginning to problem solve, can have conversations about things they are interested in, are more aware of logic and develop empathy during the Concrete Operational Stage.

The final stage, called the Formal Operational Stage, though by definition ends at age 16, can continue beyond. It involves deeper thinking and abstract thoughts as well as questioning not only what things are but why the way they are is popular, the site states. Many times people entering new stages of their lives like high school, college, or even marriage go through elements of Piaget’s theory, which is why the strategies that come from this method are applicable across all levels of education.

The Multiple Intelligences Theory

The Multiple Intelligences Theory states that people don’t need to be smart in every single discipline to be considered intelligent on paper tests, but that people excel in various disciplines, making them exceptional.

Created in 1983, the former principal in the Scranton School District in Scranton, PA, created eight different intelligences, though since then two others have been debated of whether to be added but have not yet officially, according to the site.

The original eight are musical, spatial, linguistic, mathematical, kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal and naturalistic and most people have a predominant intelligence followed by others. For those who are musically-inclined either via instruments, vocals, has perfect pitch, can read sheet music or can easily create music has Musical Intelligence.

Being able to see something and rearrange it or imagine it differently is Spatial Intelligence, while being talented with language, writing or avid readers have Linguistic Intelligence. Kinesthetic Intelligence refers to understanding how the body works either anatomically or athletically and Naturalistic Intelligence is having an understanding of nature and elements of the ecosystem.

The final intelligences have to do with personal interactions. Intrapersonal Intelligence is a matter of knowing oneself, one’s limits, and their inner selves while Interpersonal Intelligence is knowing how to handle a variety of other people without conflict or knowing how to resolve it, the site states. There is still an elementary school in Scranton, PA named after their once-principal.

Constructivism

Constructivism is another theory created by Piaget which is used as a foundation for many other educational theories and strategies because constructivism is focused on how people learn. Piaget states in this theory that people learn from their experiences. They learn best through active learning , connect it to their prior knowledge and then digest this information their own way. This theory has created the ideas of student-centered learning in education versus teacher-centered learning.

Universal Design for Learning

The final method is the Universal Design for Learning which has redefined the educational community since its inception in the mid-1980s by David H. Rose. This theory focuses on how teachers need to design their curriculum for their students. This theory really gained traction in the United States in 2004 when it was presented at an international conference and he explained that this theory is based on neuroscience and how the brain processes information, perform tasks and get excited about education.

The theory, known as UDL, advocates for presenting information in multiple ways to enable a variety of learners to understand the information; presenting multiple assessments for students to show what they have learned; and learn and utilize a student’s own interests to motivate them to learn, the site states. This theory also discussed incorporating technology in the classroom and ways to educate students in the digital age.

Teaching Styles

From each of the educational theories, teachers extract and develop a plethora of different teaching styles, or strategies. Instructors must have a large and varied arsenal of strategies to use weekly and even daily in order to build rapport, keep students engaged and even keep instructors from getting bored with their own material. These can be applicable to all teaching levels, but adaptations must be made based on the student’s age and level of development.

Differentiated instruction is one of the most popular teaching strategies, which means that teachers adjust the curriculum for a lesson, unit or even entire term in a way that engages all learners in various ways, according to Chapter 2 of the book Instructional Process and Concepts in Theory and Practice by Celal Akdeniz . This means changing one’s teaching styles constantly to fit not only the material but more importantly, the students based on their learning styles.

Learning styles are the ways in which students learn best. The most popular types are visual, audio, kinesthetic and read/write , though others include global as another type of learner, according to Akdeniz . For some, they may seem self-explanatory. Visual learners learn best by watching the instruction or a demonstration; audio learners need to hear a lesson; kinesthetic learners learn by doing, or are hands-on learners; read/write learners to best by reading textbooks and writing notes; and global learners need material to be applied to their real lives, according to The Library of Congress .

There are many activities available to instructors that enable their students to find out what kind of learner they are. Typically students have a main style with a close runner-up, which enables them to learn best a certain way but they can also learn material in an additional way.

When an instructor knows their students and what types of learners are in their classroom, instructors are able to then differentiate their instruction and assignments to those learning types, according to Akdeniz and The Library of Congress. Learn more about different learning styles.

When teaching new material to any type of learner, is it important to utilize a strategy called scaffolding . Scaffolding is based on a student’s prior knowledge and building a lesson, unit or course from the most foundational pieces and with each step make the information more complicated, according to an article by Jerry Webster .

To scaffold well, a teacher must take a personal interest in their students to learn not only what their prior knowledge is but their strengths as well. This will enable an instructor to base new information around their strengths and use positive reinforcement when mistakes are made with the new material.

There is an unfortunate concept in teaching called “teach to the middle” where instructors target their lessons to the average ability of the students in their classroom, leaving slower students frustrated and confused, and above average students frustrated and bored. This often results in the lower- and higher-level students scoring poorly and a teacher with no idea why.

The remedy for this is a strategy called blended learning where differentiated instruction is occurring simultaneously in the classroom to target all learners, according to author and educator Juliana Finegan . In order to be successful at blended learning, teachers once again need to know their students, how they learn and their strengths and weaknesses, according to Finegan.

Blended learning can include combining several learning styles into one lesson like lecturing from a PowerPoint – not reading the information on the slides — that includes cartoons and music associations while the students have the print-outs. The lecture can include real-life examples and stories of what the instructor encountered and what the students may encounter. That example incorporates four learning styles and misses kinesthetic, but the activity afterwards can be solely kinesthetic.

A huge component of blended learning is technology. Technology enables students to set their own pace and access the resources they want and need based on their level of understanding, according to The Library of Congress . It can be used three different ways in education which include face-to-face, synchronously or asynchronously . Technology used with the student in the classroom where the teacher can answer questions while being in the student’s physical presence is known as face-to-face.

Synchronous learning is when students are learning information online and have a teacher live with them online at the same time, but through a live chat or video conferencing program, like Skype, or Zoom, according to The Library of Congress.

Finally, asynchronous learning is when students take a course or element of a course online, like a test or assignment, as it fits into their own schedule, but a teacher is not online with them at the time they are completing or submitting the work. Teachers are still accessible through asynchronous learning but typically via email or a scheduled chat meeting, states the Library of Congress.

The final strategy to be discussed actually incorporates a few teaching strategies, so it’s almost like blended teaching. It starts with a concept that has numerous labels such as student-centered learning, learner-centered pedagogy, and teacher-as-tutor but all mean that an instructor revolves lessons around the students and ensures that students take a participatory role in the learning process, known as active learning, according to the Learning Portal .

In this model, a teacher is just a facilitator, meaning that they have created the lesson as well as the structure for learning, but the students themselves become the teachers or create their own knowledge, the Learning Portal says. As this is occurring, the instructor is circulating the room working as a one-on-one resource, tutor or guide, according to author Sara Sanchez Alonso from Yale’s Center for Teaching and Learning. For this to work well and instructors be successful one-on-one and planning these lessons, it’s essential that they have taken the time to know their students’ history and prior knowledge, otherwise it can end up to be an exercise in futility, Alonso said.

Some activities teachers can use are by putting students in groups and assigning each student a role within the group, creating reading buddies or literature circles, making games out of the material with individual white boards, create different stations within the classroom for different skill levels or interest in a lesson or find ways to get students to get up out of their seats and moving, offers Fortheteachers.org .

There are so many different methodologies and strategies that go into becoming an effective instructor. A consistent theme throughout all of these is for a teacher to take the time to know their students because they care, not because they have to. When an instructor knows the stories behind the students, they are able to design lessons that are more fun, more meaningful, and more effective because they were designed with the students’ best interests in mind.

There are plenty of pre-made lessons, activities and tests available online and from textbook publishers that any teacher could use. But you need to decide if you want to be the original teacher who makes a significant impact on your students, or a pre-made teacher a student needs to get through.

Read Also: – Blended Learning Guide – Collaborative Learning Guide – Flipped Classroom Guide – Game Based Learning Guide – Gamification in Education Guide – Holistic Education Guide – Maker Education Guide – Personalized Learning Guide – Place-Based Education Guide – Project-Based Learning Guide – Scaffolding in Education Guide – Social-Emotional Learning Guide

Similar Posts:

  • Discover Your Learning Style – Comprehensive Guide on Different Learning Styles
  • 15 Learning Theories in Education (A Complete Summary)
  • The Flipped Classroom: The Definitive Guide

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Modern Teaching Methods: An Overview

“Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.”~ Albert Einstein

This article is part of the Innovation in Education Guide . Learn all about Educational Technology , Innovative Learners , and Innovative Classrooms . 

Introduction

The past few years have been a learning curve for everyone, and teachers and students alike had to adapt their learning styles in education. This is how all the modern teaching methods came to be.

Modern teaching methods refer to other ways than the classical in-class method. Students are connected and interact through various tech, and they also form social relationships through different assemblies they are a part of. 

Modern teaching is all about the learner and less about the teaching process. This teaching method lets learners participate actively in the lesson, and the teacher only leads them to where they should focus.

Modern teaching methods use new gadgets such as computers or laptops with Wi-Fi connections, LCD projectors and interactive whiteboards.

The importance of innovative teaching strategies 

Innovative teaching methods help you with

 – Staying connected to learning

 – Engaging in various online classes

 – Helps students with both knowledge and practical skills

 – Emphasises practical knowledge

Advantages of Modern Teaching 

Modern teaching is what is needed in these modern times. The technological revolution helps teaching become innovative and, more than this, get to more students than before. Offering innovative teaching styles helps students stay connected and improve their technical knowledge from the beginning. 

The main advantages of modern teaching styles are:

 – Move from memorising to experimenting

 – Helps students innovate 

 – Develops the interactive side of students 

 – It allows the student to develop different patterns of learning and focusing

 – Develops the cognitive thinking skills 

 – It treats students differently according to their level of understanding.

 – Focus on the understanding of the concepts

Essential skills for a modern teacher 

There are some skills that a teacher needs to be able to transmit the correct information to the students. More than just the right information, there is the way the teacher shares that information that matters. 

Thus a teacher needs to be:

 – Flexible

 – To stay updated with everything new in the education domain

 – Time to get to know the students

 – One-to-one student sessions availability

 – Resourceful 

Characteristics of Modern Teaching Methods 

Learner-centred .

Just as the name describes, the main characteristics of modern teaching can easily be said to be learner-centred. The teacher is the guide that sets the focus, and the learners are those that dominate the class. 

Task-Based or Activity-based 

This characteristic of modern teaching techniques is a great way to engage students and develop their social interactions. The teacher usually gives an activity-based task, and students participate in it and solve it. 

Resource-Based 

Both teachers and students can bring study materials. This characteristic describes very well what modern teaching helps students with. It gives students the independence to think, search, select, and draw conclusions. It means having all the necessary study material for the learners to understand the topic thoroughly. 

Modern Teaching Methods 

Collaborative learning .

Collaborative learning helps students develop their social skills even though they are in an online environment. Teachers choose a topic and form a group where they discuss, debate and solve problems.  

The success of the group is the success of each student that is a part of that group. This modern teaching method helps students develop their communication and negotiation skills; they learn to listen and understand others’ points and work in a group. 

Spaced Learning 

Spaced learning is a teaching method used to help students understand the lesson. It consists of repeating the task as often as necessary until everyone fully understands it. This repetition is done within a 10 minutes break between the classes so that students can grasp what they know. 

It is an excellent method for students to learn the basics before moving on to another chapter. It is also an easy way to make them understand the lesson.  

Flipped Classroom 

A flipped classroom is a beautiful way of teaching. It consists of students studying the lesson at home, understanding it, and then being ready to discuss it. The students can watch videos, search for the topic online or read the classroom material. Whatever fits their needs.  

The innovative students come to school with an entire set of questions and can have discussions on the topics with their classmates and teacher. They have everything covered. It is also suitable for when students are sick, as they do not miss any class with this type of learning. 

Gamification 

This is about using games to excite students about the class and the new materials. It is a great strategy, especially for courses based on a lot of information. 

Children of all ages and adults love games – on the field, or online games are entertaining and provide a great way to keep them engaged. It is used a lot in elementary and preschool but can be used at any age. 

Teachers are responsible for preparing in advance the projects to use in gamification and use methods that will engage students for a longer time. They can consist of online quizzes, puzzles, games, or anything that will be a challenge for students to stay connected. 

Conclusion 

The modern teaching method is now developing and is adopted by more and more schools. However, the majority stick to the old way of teaching as if it did have results till now; they believe there is no way of changing it. The decision regarding the teaching method remains with the child and the parents. Each of the two is good and has the same goal. 

Modern Teaching Methods FAQ 

What is modern teaching .

Modern teaching is the teaching method that puts the learner in the centre. It helps students set the tone of their learning pace; more than this, it does not treat students alike. Modern teaching knows that students differ, and their capacity to understand information is different. 

Why is modern teaching the need of the hour? 

It is the need of the hour as technology evolves, and students access to technology allows them to understand and see more. If teaching were to remain traditional, students would no longer be interested or engaged. Adopting the modern teaching style where students can share and feel listened to will raise engagement and allow teachers to control students’ focus. 

What is the difference between old and new teaching methods?

While in the old teaching methods, teachers used to expect students to listen and learn what they heard without having any extra personal input, in the new teaching method, learners are given the possibility to innovate, create, think, express and argument. 

How do innovative teaching strategies improve students’ performance? 

Innovative teaching strategies are significant for developing students ready for the future. The independence it gives students develops their thinking and lowers their stress levels. 

What are some examples of innovation in teaching and learning? 

Innovation teaching in learning can be:

 – Collaborative learning

 – Self-learning

 – Vak – teaching

 – Crossover thinking 

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Essay on Teaching Methods for Effective Learning Today

teacher

In what way are/were you taught and how will you teach? Teaching methods are vital for everyone – we all go or went to a school where teachers try to involve each student in the learning process. Namely, this learning process is identified as effective or ineffective by means of effective or ineffective methods of teaching accordingly. Methods of teaching are one of the primary topics any student undergoing pedagogic training has to deal with. It is no wonder that the majority of questions arising in this field are in this or that way connected with misconceptions or wrong assumptions concerning this topic. That is exactly what explains why a student willing to master knowledge or skills should pay special attention to grasping at least the basic theory of teaching methods and doing a lot of practice: for example, writing an essay about it.

In this article, you’ll learn how to write an essay on the topic “Teaching Methods”. Besides, you are given the list of references you can consult additionally. Make progress in essay writing right now!

3 ‘Teaching Methods’ Issues to Address in an Essay

You as a person who is receiving education don’t think about methods employed in this process. Education is something that just happens to you, and you don’t give extra thought to how it all is organized. Right? It is a common perception among students but the task to write an essay about teaching methods can’t remain unaddressed as it will influence your academic performance that is expressed in marks. You can do your best to get high marks for writing this particular essay. First and foremost, address the key points of the topic. Here you are:

1. Groups of Teaching Methods Differ in Outcomes, But All Are Aimed at Teaching

In reality, teaching methods are a complicated and multi-lateral issue, with many opposing schools of thought. When all’s said and done, however, most teaching methods can be roughly subdivided into two groups: teacher-centric and student-centric.

  • Teacher-centric learning approach is also often referred to as the traditional educational model because it is basically what we are all used to associate with teaching and studying. In this model, students are considered to be de-facto “empty vessels”, passive receivers of knowledge and skills. It is a teacher’s job to provide instructions and guidance for them, “filling up” these empty vessels in the process, and students are supposed to learn by listening to lectures, observing and copying the teacher’s actions and in general subjecting themselves to the teacher’s ultimate authority.
  • Student-centric learning approach to learning is a much more recent development, placing emphasis on students’ participation in the educational process. This approach considers students to be not just objects but subjects of education as well, and the teacher’s role is viewed as not as that of the instructor but facilitator and delegator. To simplify it a bit, a teacher doesn’t provide one or another method of doing things that are already set in stone but offers guidance and support so that students are capable to figure things out on their own, thus making them active participants of the process.
  • Another subtype of student-centric approach, the so-called cooperative learning, emphasizes teamwork: students are encouraged to work in groups and engage in reciprocal teaching. The teacher is not eliminated from the equation altogether, but his role, again, is that of facilitator and delegator rather than that of the one and only authority on every question. This method is based on the assumption that students learn best when they work and communicate with their peers.

It is important to understand that there are no good or bad methods of teaching. One can easily assume that a teacher-centric approach is outdated, anachronistic and generally “bad”, while the student-centric one is progressive and modern. However, they both have their areas of application. For example, teacher-centric methods far outpace student-centric ones in teaching fundamental skills. In other words, both groups of teaching methods have their areas of application and can be used to great effect – if used appropriately.

2. The Areas of Teaching Methods Application Differ as Well

If we start speaking about different areas of using specific teaching methods, it is logical to name them. Don’t omit this point in your essay as well. Today, the educational process differs from that existing several decades ago. Modern teachers have to not only explain a topic and provide the knowledge to students and mentor them, but also to:

  • Facilitate learning for students in a classroom encouraging active learning,
  • Develop mutual cooperation among students,
  • Give prompt feedback to guide students in the right direction to the progress,
  • Motivate students to learn new materials and develop essential skills like problem-solving, critical thinking, etc.

In general, a teacher is supposed to prepare a student to deal with the real world. It is possible only when a person is equipped with the relevant theory and practical skills necessary for successful communication in modern society and personal, professional development. Only this gives a competitive advantage in life. For each aim of teaching, there are particular methods. If a teacher needs to simply present the information, he or she uses a lecture method. It is true that sometimes it is boring to listen to a lecturer. For that reason, this way of teaching is extended by the others, for example, interactive and participative methods. It is important to encourage students’ participation and develop discussions that result in gaining hands-on experience.

3. The Effectiveness of Teaching Methods

More and more instructors develop their teaching approach depending on students’ learning needs . They are far from simply going to school, college or university to get knowledge. Unfortunately, the understanding of learning needs differently can cause various learning challenges and pitfalls and problems in the educational system. The result is that it reflects on the professional development of graduating students negatively. What is a doctor whose learning needs aren’t met at university? The medical system is impaired. So the assessment of learning needs should become part of government policy in relation to the continuing professional development of all professionals. Let’s observe what learning needs determine the appropriate use of teaching methods:

  • Know about phenomena occurring to various areas of study;
  • Finding answers to different questions;
  • Define problems that need to be solved;
  • Develop and use original ideas;
  • Plan and carry out systematic investigations;
  • Analyze and interpret data, a lot of data (due to the information overload);
  • Use critical thinking;
  • Construct solid explanations and design optimal solutions and many more.

All these needs, exactly their fulfillment, influence the effectiveness of using one or another teaching method. The most critical condition applicable to effective teaching in the 21st century is that all the teaching practices need to create personal and social relevance for students. They need to be intellectually and emotionally engaged in their own active learning, in other words, motivated to learn this world and solve some problems. In fact, teaching for success while taking a test is insufficient today. The current education policies that give priority to assessment need to be severely curtailed.

This idea and many other ideas can be mentioned in your essay about teaching methods. However, it is important to always back up all the research ideas. Look at the following references you can also use in your essay:

7 References to Use in the Essay about Teaching Methods

  • Arnold, J. (1998). Towards more humanistic English teaching. ELT Journal, 52(3), pp.235-242.
  • Bligh, D. (2000). What’s the use of lectures?. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
  • Cullen, R. (1998). Teacher talk and the classroom context. ELT Journal, 52(3), pp.179-187.
  • Dörnyei, Z. (2001). Motivational strategies in the language classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Gibbons, M. (2002). The self-directed learning handbook. San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass.
  • Legge, K. and Harari, P. (2000). Psychology and education. Oxford: Heinemann.
  • Wiseman, A. and Anderson, E. (n.d.). Annual review of comparative and international education 2014.
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Book cover

Collaboration in Designing a Pedagogical Approach in Information Literacy pp 137–161 Cite as

Teaching Learning Methods

  • Ane Landøy   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-8589-2789 4 ,
  • Daniela Popa   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-4538-7136 5 &
  • Angela Repanovici   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8748-5332 6  
  • Open Access
  • First Online: 23 November 2019

47k Accesses

3 Citations

Part of the book series: Springer Texts in Education ((SPTE))

After completing this learning unit, you will be able to:

Identify the characteristics of each method;

Differentiate between types of teaching and learning methods;

Argue the necessity of the adequacy of a didactic method to the proposed learning approach.

  • Active-participatory teaching methods
  • Graphical viewing methods
  • Metacognition facilitation methods

Problem solving methods

Download chapter PDF

In this chapter we present an overview of pedagogical perspective from which we interpreted teaching information literacy. In order to achieve an effective teaching, we combined the techniques and methods considered classic with the modern ones (Blummer 2009 ). But the literature highlights that not only the technical aspects of a training determine the achievement of educational goals (Mackey and Jacobson  2007 ; Harkins et al. 2011 ). The human resource is a very important factor. Thus we believe that team teaching (teacher and librarian), creating a curriculum designed by a team of specialists information literacy, librarians and experts in teaching and learning are essential to achieve effective teaching learning. This belief was the basis of the collaboration between the authors of this book, combining the different areas of expertise to produce a product that can be considered, hopefully, a useful help to the trainer.

The way we teach is influenced by the way we perceive learning. Learning theories are closely related to IQ theories. The latter highlights the existence of a general intelligence that determines the level of development of learning capacity (Muijs and Reynolds 2017 ) as well as the existence of multiple intelligences (Gardner 1987 ).

One of the most popular classifications of learning theories has as a main criterion the historical period in which these theories and paradigms of psychology emerged. From this point of view, we group the theories of learning into: behavioural, cognitive, humanistic, and constructivist.

The functions that these theories fulfil are:

Informational, referential , giving an overview of the described reality;

Explanatory trying to answer the question of why the phenomenon of learning occurs;

Predictive or anticipatory through which can be predicted phenomena that cannot be explained in themselves;

Systematisers summarising a substantial amount of information in order to make theoretical generalisations; and

Praxiological, normative and prescriptive allowing practitioners to use certain methodological guidelines (Panţuru 2010 ).

Learning patterns are derived from learning theories. The most discussed are: behavioural models, the direct training model, models centred on information processing, person-centred models, models centred on a social dimension, the mastery learning model, and the modular approach model.

Training models guide the manner of implementing of teaching strategies. Didactical or Educational Strategies are those that designate the manner of pedagogical action, in order to achieve predetermined goals. Depending on the scope of the concept, we find the existence of two types of strategies: the macro type (developed for medium and long time periods) and the micro type (built for short time periods).

Structurally, teaching strategies consist of:

Models of learning experiences;

Learners’ learning styles;

Learner motivation for learning;

Methods and training procedures used in the didactic approach ;

The resources available for education;

Specific information content;

Particularities of learning tasks;

Forms of organising the teaching activity; and

Type of assessment considered (Bocos and Jucan 2008 ).

10.1 Teaching Strategies

Teaching strategies become appropriate to an educational approach by choosing them according to certain criteria such as:

The pedagogical conception of the teacher dependent on the paradigms on which he bases his opinions;

The pedagogical conception of the historical period to which reference is made, the trends in pedagogical practice;

Didactic principles that delineate the educational process;

Competencies to be developed;

Age and pupil’s level of schooling;

Informational specific of the specialised discipline;

Psychosocial characteristics of the group or class of students;

The time set for achieving the objectives; and

The specificity of the school unit to which the class or group of students belongs.

By degree of generality :

General strategies (used in multiple learning situations or school disciplines); and

Particular strategies (specific to less generalisable approaches, to specific disciplines);

According to the field of predominant instructional activities and the nature of operational objectives (Iucu 2005 ):

Cognitive strategies;

Psychomotor or action strategies;

Emotional strategies; and

Mixed strategies;

By the logic and strategies of student’s thinking (Cerghit 2002 ):

Inductive strategies;

Deductive strategies (axiomatic);

Analogue strategies;

Transductive strategies; and

By the level of directive/non-directive of learning :

Algorithmic/prescriptive strategies :

Explanatory-reproductive (expositive);

Explanatory-intuitive (demonstrative);

Algorithmic; and

Programmed;

Heuristic/non-algorithmic strategies :

Explanatory-investigatory (semi-disciplined discovery);

Conversation-heuristic;

Independent discovery;

Problematised;

Investigative observation;

Inductive-experimental; and

Mixed strategies (Bocos and Jucan 2008 )

Algoritmico-heuristic.

10.2 Methods and Training Procedures

The methods and the training procedures used in the didactic approach are elements of a didactic strategy. Although many other structural elements of educational strategy are equally important, field practitioners tend to focus especially on didactic methods as the visible part of the didactic iceberg. We intended to invite the reader of this paper to reflection, presenting very briefly some of the most well-known didactic strategies to discover the importance and interdependence of each element of the strategy with the others.

The method is a term of Greek origin “methodos” (“metha” translating to through and “odos” meaning direction, road ), namely it can be translated by the phrase “the way to”. The didactic method is a way through which the teacher conducts and organises the training of the trainees.

We define the method as “the assembly or the system of processes or modes of execution of the operations involved in the learning process, integrated into a single flow of action, in order to achieve the objectives proposed” (Cerghit 2006 , p. 46). The degree of freedom and of directing depends on the pedagogical conception at the core of the pedagogical approach.

It is recommended that the choice of teaching-learning methods to be made according to training objectives, the skills of the trainees and trainer and the information content to be mastered.

At present, pedagogues prefer less structured approaches, ambiguous contexts that allow students to discover by themselves the most appropriate way to introduce new information into their own knowledge systems. Although this orientation is predominant, the student-centered curriculum, literature is abundant in studies that still call into question a student centered approach (Garrett 2008 ; Sawant and Rizvi 2015 ; Jacobs et al. 2016 ).

The functions which teaching-learning methods carry out are:

The cognitive function , representing the way of access to knowledge, and information, necessary for its plenary development;

The formative-educational function through exercising skills, certain motor and psychic functions at the same time as discovering scientific facts;

The motivational function inspiring the student, transforming the learning activity into an attractive, stimulating activity;

The instrumental function allows the method to be positioned between the objectives and the results of the didactic activity, being a working tool, a means to efficiently achieve the plan and achieve the intended purpose; and

The normative function of optimising action is highlighted by the prescriptions, rules and phases that the method brings in achieving the objective (Cerghit 2006 ).

10.2.1 The Relationship Between the Method and Procedure

Some of the constituent elements of the methods are training procedures. These are required operations chained into a hierarchical and logical structure to ensure the effectiveness of the teaching method. Between the method and procedure there are subordinate relationships, with structural and functional connotations. Sometimes a method can become a procedure if it is used for a short period of time. A relevant example is that of the explanation method. Rarely, the method is used as the main approach of a lesson, but often, regardless of the method used, we use explanation in a training process.

10.3 Classifications of Teaching—Learning Methods

There are various classifications in the literature according to different criteria. Due to the multiple functions that methods can perform as well as the different variants they may have, the rankings in certain categories are relative. Thus, a method may belong to different categories, depending on classification criteria. The most popular classifications have as main criteria: the person/persons on whom the teaching activity is centered, the type of training/lesson, the type of activity predominantly targeted, the degree of activism/passivity of the pupils, the preponderant means of communication (oral, written).

We continue by presenting a classification of teaching and learning methods, which contains examples of methods in certain categories, without claiming to be exhaustive.

By the criterion of the persons on whom the teaching activity is centered or by degree of student activity:

Centred on the teacher—expository methods :

Lecture/exposure;

Story telling;

Explanation; or

Instruction.

Focused on the interaction between teacher and student

Conversation;

Collective discussion;

Problem solving;

Troubleshooting;

Demonstration;

Case analysis or study; or

Didactic game.

Student centred or active-participatory methods :

Methods of organising information and graphic visualisation:

Cube method;

Method of mosaic or reciprocal teaching;

Conceptual map;

Diagrams; or

Training on simulator.

Methods of stimulating creativity:

Brainstorming;

Philips 6–6;

6/3/5 Technique;

SINECTICA; or

Panel discussions.

Methods to facilitate metacognition:

The Know/Want/Learn method;

Reflective reading;

Walking through the pictures; or

The Learning Log.

10.4 Descriptions of the Methods Used in the Examples in Previous Chapters

Expository Methods :

It is considered a traditional, verbal, and exponential didactic method. Although some authors treat the lecture differently from exposure, the great similarities between them lead us to treat them together. Pedagogical practice highlights several forms of lecture according to the age of educators, their life experience, exposure time and scientific discipline: school lecture story, explanation, university lecture, lecture with opponent, and lecture—debate.

Except for the lecture with an opponent, the method involves passing a consistent volume of information in a verbal form in a monologue from the teacher to the students. As it generates a high degree of passivity among students, exposure methods have been strongly criticised but have also experienced improvements following these criticisms.

The school lecture requires the presentation of a series of ideas, theories, interpretations of scientific aspects, allowing the formation of a coherent image of the designated reality.

The story is used predominantly in educational contexts where trainees have limited life experience. It consists in presenting the information in a narrative form, respecting a sequence of events.

The explanation is an presentation in which rational logical reasoning is obvious, clarifying blocks of information such as theorems, or scientific laws.

The university lecture focuses more on descriptive—explanatory presentation of the results of recent scientific research, due to the fact that the particularities of the age and the level of education of the participants is different. The time allocated to it is longer than for the other exposure methods.

Lecture with an opponent involves the intervention of another teacher or a well-informed student by asking questions or requesting additional information. It creates an effect as in a role play that ensures dynamism of presentation.

The lecture—the debate is based on the teacher’s presentation of essential information and its deepening through debate with the students. The success of the method is requires that the target audience should have a minimum knowledge in advance.

In an attempt to reduce its limits, several conditions have been observed to achieve a high level of efficiency:

Information content should be logically connected, essentialised, without redundant information;

The quantity of information is appropriate to the psycho-pedagogical peculiarities of the educated;

Use examples to connect theory to practice;

Use language appropriate to the audience’s competency, explaining less-known scientific terms;

Maintaining an optimal verbal rhythm (approximately 60–70 words per minute) and an intensity adapted to the particularities of the audience;

Increased attention to expressive elements of verbal and nonverbal communication;

Maintaining visual contact with the public, adjusting speech according to their reactions;

Use of means of scientific expression to help communication (diagrams, schemes, or semantic maps);

Providing recapitulative loops to maintain the logical connection of ideas; and

Providing breaks or alternating scientific discourse with less formal or fun aspects that allow defocusing and refocusing the audience’s attention.

Advantages of a lecture :

A consistent amount of knowledge can be transmitted within a relatively short time frame;

Stimulates curiosity and stimulates pupils’ interest in the subject;

It presents a coherent presentation model and manner to systematise a theme and organise information;

Pupils know modalities to express and express themselves; and

Students can receive additional information that helps explain the interpretation of a scientific reality.

Disadvantages of lecture :

Presents fewer formative and more informative links;

Generates passivity among students;

Mild loss of attention and boredom;

Does not allow individualising the pedagogical discourse;

Induces a high degree of uniformity in behaviour; and

Few opportunities to check understanding of the discourse.

Conversation

Conversation consists in the didactic use of the questions through in-depth examination of a theme, capitalising on pupils’ answers in order to develop the logical reasoning of thinking. The conversation has several forms including: heuristic, examiner, collective discussion, and debate.

In its application, it is necessary to observe several conditions for the method to be considered effective. Thus, the teacher must ensure a socio-emotional climate appropriate to the conversation that will follow, to raise interest in the subject to be debated, to manage the number of participants in the discussion (maximum 20 people are considered optimal), and to allow each member to express their opinion. If the number of participants is higher, it is recommended to build several smaller discussion groups. The teacher will pay attention to the ergonomics of the space, facilitating the settlement of people in a way that they can communicate easily. The arrangement of the participants in a circle is preferable. Also, the teacher will assign the role of discussion moderator, will temper the tendencies of some to monopolise discussions and stimulate the involvement of the more reserved. Students will know the topic under discussion, they will be taught to present ideas in a smooth, appropriate way and allow others to express themselves. The teacher will also give importance to time, so that all the topics proposed are discussed.

Requirements for Formulating Questions :

To be correctly expressed, logically and grammatically;

The question contains limited content in need of clarifications, to be precise;

Questions can be varied: some claiming data, names, definitions, explanations, others expressing problematic situations;

Giving the necessary thinking time, depending on the difficulty of the questions; and

Students will be stimulated to ask questions that require complex answers, avoiding those which suggest the answer or have closed answers (yes/no).

Response Form Requirements :

Be grammatically and logically correct, regardless of the school discipline in which it is formulated;

The answer is as complete as possible and appropriate to the question; and

Avoid fragmented, or vague responses.

The heuristic , Socratic, mauvetic conversation was designed to lead to the “discovery” of something new for the learner. Presumes related series of questions and answers at the end of which to shape out, as a conclusion, new scientific facts for the student. Essential in this method is combining questions and answers in compact structures, each new question having as its origin or starting point the answer to the previous question. A disadvantage in its application is the conditioning of a pupil’s knowledge experience, which allows the formulation of answers necessary to the questions that are addressed to him.

Advantages of using the method :

Flexibility of logical operations, hypothetical-deductive reasoning of thinking;

Developing the vocabulary, organising ideas in elevated communication structures;

Forming a personal communication style.

Disadvantages of using the method :

It is dependent on the student’s previous knowledge and experience;

Lack of interest on certain topics may generate passivism or negativity;

Difficulty in involving all participants;

Some important aspects may remain undiscussed.

Methods of Direct and Indirect Exploration

Exercise Method

The method aims to obtain a high level of skill in the use of algorithms, to form or to strengthen a skill or ability. It can apply to any school discipline. The method consists of performing a repetitive and conscious action to learn a performance model or to automate the steps required to achieve high performance.

Depending on the form criterion of the exercise, they may be: oral, written or practical. Given their purpose and complexity, one can distinguish between exercises: introductory (done with the teacher), to consolidate a model of reasoning or movement (performed under the supervision of the teacher or independently), exercises with the role of integrating information, skills and abilities into ever larger systems, creative exercises or heuristics.

In order to achieve the optimal exercise, it is necessary to comply with certain conditions such as:

Conscious and correct assimilation of the model;

Using exercises that vary in form, to avoid negative emotions and stiffness;

Observing the didactic principle of grading the difficulty as far as mastering the previous levels;

(Self) applying corrective feed back immediately; and

Use an optimal number of exercises.

Advantages of using the method

The method allows the formation of skills or their consolidation in the shortest possible time, avoiding learning by trial and error. It produces positive emotional states due to satisfaction through success. Generates growth at a motivational level. It may be the basis for the formation of perseverance and will.

Disadvantages of using the method

It can generate rigidity in learning behaviour, stagnation in learning. If different forms of exercise are not used, it will cause fatigue, the impossibility of identifying similar structures that require the same type of exercises. Not scheduling learning can lead to adverse effects on the maintenance of new information, knowledge or formed skills.

Demonstration

The method consists in condensing the information that the student receives into a concrete object, a concrete action, or the substitution of objects, actions or phenomena.

Demonstration with objects involves the use of natural materials (rocks, plants, chemicals) in an appropriate educational context (used in a laboratory or natural environment). This type of demonstration is extremely convincing due to the direct, unmediated character of the lesson.

Demonstration with actions consists of a concrete example, not “mimed” by the teacher, along with the teacher’s explanations, followed by student practice.

Demonstration with substitutes (maps, casts, sheets, three-dimensional materials) is required when the object, the phenomenon we want to explain, is not directly accessible.

Combined demonstration —demonstration through experiences (combination of the above). One form of combined demonstration is that of a didactic drawing, combining the demonstration with action with that with a substitute.

Demonstration by technical means using multimedia, audio-visual means, highlighting aspects impossible or difficult to reproduce in another context and that can be repeated many times.

The method requires certain conditions for organising the space where the demonstrations take place (such as opaque curtains, lab, or niche.); special training for the teacher in maintaining the equipment, devices, materials used for this purpose.

Access to concrete objects or phenomena that cannot be accessed within limits of time and space;

Using substitutes simplifies, through visualising or schematising, the understanding of the composition of objects or phenomena;

Can be used for a long time;

The use of substitutes or technical means is less expensive than originals; and

Some aspects of reality cannot be reduced to be explained in a teaching environment.

The lack of correlation of this method with the modeling and the exercise may lead to didactic inefficiency;

Requires special technical equipment;

Students receive ready-made knowledge, thus not practising independent thinking;

Use of complicated procedures and pretentious language can distract the student from the essence of the activity.

This method can be used to deliver effective models (a simplified reproduction of the original) of action or thought. Uses several procedures:

Changing the dimensions of natural aspects to a usable scale (models, casts);

Concretising abstract notions (use of objects or forms to understand the figures);

Abstraction (rendering by numerical and/ or letter formulas of certain categories of objects, actions); and

Analogy (creating a new object comparable to the structure or functionality of a similar object).

Using the model involves activating/energising the student; and

Allows an efficient way of action.

Can form rigid behaviours; and

Insufficient practice of divergent thinking.

The Cube Method

The cube model is ideal for exercising students’ analysis capabilities and exploring multiple dimensions of a subject’s interpretation. It is based on an algorithm with the following sequences: description, comparison, analysis, association, application and discussion. It is ideal for usage by sub-groups or pairs of students.

It is done on a cube that on each of whose faces one of the following operations can be written: describes, compares, analyses, associates, applies, or discusses. It is recommended that the sides of the cube are covered in the above mentioned order, following the steps from simple to complex. If the method is applied to groups of students experienced in the use of such methods, each subgroup, team, or pair may receive a random assignment from the ones listed above.

The topic of the lesson or the issue to be analysed is announced. Six activity teams are formed, the activity procedure will be explained. Specify the task of each team, starting from the subject under consideration, the study material shared by all groups. The order of the stages will be kept, therefore: the first team will describe the subject matter in question; the second will compare the subject with that previously learned; the third will associate the central concept with the other; the fourth will analyse the phenomenon, the discussed subject matter, insisting on highlighting the details; the fifth team will highlight the applicability of the theme; and the sixth will discuss cons or pros.

The teams will present the results of their work, they will fill in new details that come up after the discussions. A variation of the method requires that the presentation of the contents of each team to be done within six minutes, giving one minute for each face of the cube. The results are displayed or recorded on the board to be commented by all participants (Fig.  10.1 ).

figure 1

The advantages of this method are the demand for attention and thought, giving students the opportunity to develop the skills needed for a complex and integrative approach. Individual work, working in teams or the participation of the whole class in meeting the requirements of the cube is a challenge and results in a race to prove correct and complete assimilation of knowledge.

Requires more rigorous and lengthy training; may not be used in any lessons; information content is smaller; requires increased attention of students; and their ability to make connections and find the answers themselves.

The Mosaic Method

The method is based on group cooperative learning and teaching the acquisition of each team member to each other (intertwining individual and team learning). The mosaic is a method that builds confidence in the participants’ own strengths; develops communication skills (listening and speaking); reflection; creative thinking; problem solving; and cooperation.

Steps in engaging the activity

The teacher asks for the formation of teams of four students. Each team member receives a number from one to four. Students are grouped according to the received numbers. They are cautioned not to forget the composition of the original groups. Newly formed teams receive personalised cards that contain parts of larger material (the material has as many parts as the groups are formed). The teacher explains the topic to be addressed. Expert groups analyse the material received, consult each other and decide how to present the information to the members of the original groups.

Experts return to the initial teams and teach the information to others. If, until this stage, the teacher has only the role of monitoring the work of the groups, he can now intervene, clarifying unclear aspects. Teaching will be done in the logical order of material distribution that must coincide with scientific logic. At the end of the activity, a systematisation of the acquired knowledge will be presented before all the groups. The teacher can ask questions to discover the level of understanding the information studied.

All students contribute to the task. Students practise active listening and cooperate in solving requests. They are also encouraged to discover the most appropriate means of transmitting information and explaining to colleagues. Students are trained in the efficient organisation of working time. Students have freedom to choose their method of learning and teaching colleagues.

One of the biggest drawbacks of the method is the high cost of time. There is a risk that some groups may not finish their tasks in a timely manner and slow the activity of the whole group. It is also possible to generate formalism with pupils being superficially involved in didactic activity.

The best-known methods in this category are questioning, problem solving, and learning through discovery. They are based on the creation of a situation, or structures with insufficient data that give rise either to a socio-cognitive conflict, or a cognitive dissonance where the knowledge previously acquired by the student is insufficient or incomplete to solve the difficulty or a problem situation in which the student must apply his knowledge under new conditions. The problem-solving approach is a context in which the student learns something new.

In order for students to become consciously and positively involved in a problematic situation, they must be trained gradually in this educational approach. The teacher is responsible for explaining the problematic situation and providing guidance in solving it. Students, in their problem solving effort: analyse the problem’s data; select significant details; find correlations between data; use creative imagination; build solutions; and choose the right solution.

Stimulates students’ interest;

Exercises the operating schemes of thinking; and

Stimulates creativity.

Problems may be inadequate for the level of cognitive development and level of student knowledge, thus causing students to withdraw from such situations.

Methods of Information Management and Graphics Visualization :

Conceptual Map

Being able to make connections between acquired knowledge, to organise it in a well-defined structure is just as important as having a lot of complex information. Conceptual maps or cognitive maps are graphical renderings of an information system or concepts in a hierarchical or logical order. They can be used in all three processes: teaching, learning, or evaluation. Depending on the particularities of the trainees and the specificity of the educational discipline, the conceptual maps may be different. For conceptual schematics, circles, stars, and cottages can be used. Single or bidirectional arrows or lines can represent connections. A conceptual map contains at most one or two main themes, 10–15 subtopics, and tertiary subtitles, if there are significant details supporting the structure or relevant examples. The first concepts that are plotted, as well as the relationships between them, are the main ones, then the secondary ones are drawn. If needed, the tertiary ones are drawn. Then the relationships are drawn between them, and words can be used to explain relationships (they are written on the arrows).

It is important to get students to work with them because their construction involves the practice of cognitive operations such as: analysis, synthesis, comparison, systematisation, classification, hierarchy, argumentation, and evaluation. By building these maps, the student actively participates in their own training, seizing the structures that further develop the strength of the links between knowledge, and learning much more easily. Conceptual maps facilitate easy updating of information systems.

In evaluating conceptual charts, account will be taken of the correctness of concepts, the relevance of those identified and the relationships established between them.

Facilitates the storage and updating of information systems;

Visual memory is exercised;

The imagination, and creativity is exercised;

Forms logical thinking;

Usable in several school subjects;

Can be a pleasant and coherent way of systematisation, and consolidation of knowledge; and

Are flexible structures that can undergo improvements, and enrichments.

Requires a high degree of activism and involvement of student’s in their training;

May require mental effort too demanding for some students; and

Those with a visual learning style are advantaged.

Venn Diagram

This method calls for students’ analysis and comparison capabilities, asking for the graphical organisation of information in two partially superimposed circles, which represent two notions, aspects, ideas, processes, or facts to be debated (Marzano 2015 ). In the overlapping area, the common attributes of the analysed concepts are placed, and in the free parts will be placed the aspects specific only to each concept. They are useful in all stages of the learning process: teaching, learning, and evaluation. Two types of Venn diagrams are commonly used: linear and stack.

Venn linear :

See Fig.  10.2 .

figure 2

Venn linear

Venn in stack :

See Fig.  10.3 .

figure 3

Develops the ability to hierarchise concepts;

Practice ability to grasp relationships between related issues; and

Exercises the ability to reason.

The Grape Bunches Method

“The grape bunches” method aims to integrate past knowledge and fill it with new information. It is a method that can be used both individually and in groups. It is also a technique that allows connections to be made between concepts. It is useful in recapitulative tasks or knowledge building lessons, in summative assessment of a unit of learning but also in teaching new content, because it allows students to think freely. It can be combined with other techniques or become a technique in another method.

The method involves several distinct steps:

Students are informed that they will use the bunch method and how to use it;

Groups will be formed, if it is a group activity;

The group designates the member who will build the clusters or if the activity is carried out individually, each one will draw the diagram;

If the activity is from the front, then the teacher will draw the diagram on the blackboard;

The teacher presents the key concept that will be analysed. He presents the chosen way of work, either by free expression or by updating previous contents. The teacher asks students to make connections between the concepts, phrases or ideas produced by the key term or central issue through lines or arrows, thus building up the cluster structure;

If it is a pairactivity, desk mates or teams will consult and work out the result of their work; and

The final results are discussed in front of the class, a question mark is added to incorrect concepts, necessary explanations are given and the final result is corrected. Also, trainees are invited to create new connections with aspects not taken into discussion.

The role of the teacher is to organise, monitor and support students’ work, to synthesise the information they receive, to ask questions and request additional information and to stimulate the production of new links between concepts or new ideas.

Developing cognitive capabilities for interpretation, identification, classification and definition;

Develop reflection, evaluation and self-assessment capabilities;

The method encourages the participation of all students;

Evaluate each student’s way of thinking;

Stimulates students to make connections between concepts;

It is a flexible method because it can be used successfully to evaluate a content unit, but also during teaching;

Stimulates student’s logical thinking;

Increases learning efficiency (students can learn from each other); and

The method helps the teacher to assess the extent to where students are relative to curriculum standards (Fig.  10.4 ).

figure 4

Bunch method

Students can deviate from the topic discussed since it is a method that is based on creativity;

The method takes a long time to process ideas; and

There is a possibility for each student not to actively participate.

Tree Schemes

These may be horizontal or vertical. Among the horizontal ones we mention: horizontal cause—effect type; situation—problem—explanation type; and classification type. Some of the best-known vertical tree schemes are Tree of Ideas and Concept Tree.

Starbursting

The method is considered a method of information management and graphic visualisation. It is a useful method in problem solving and one to stimulate the creativity of the trainers, similar to brainstorming. The difference is in the organisation of known information according to some key questions.

Write the issue or concept that will be debated on a whiteboard or flip chart and frame in a star. The teacher adds as many questions as possible to that concept. Each question will be framed in one star. Initial questions used will be essential questions, such as: who; what; when; where; and why; which may then give rise to other complex questions (Fig.  10.5 ).

figure 5

Starbursting method

Proposing the problem, and the concept;

Organising the class in several subgroups, each of them stating the problem on a sheet of paper;

The elaboration in each group of a list of various questions related to the issue to be discussed;

Communicating the results of the group activity; and

Highlighting the most interesting questions and appreciating teamwork.

This is a method considered by students to be relaxing and enjoyable;

Stimulates individual and group creativity, the manifestation of spontaneity;

It is easy to apply, suitable for many types of student groups with different psychoindividual characteristics;

It develops the spirit of cooperation;

It creates the possibility of contagion of ideas;

Develops teamwork skills;

Stimulation of all participants in the discussion; and

There is no need for elaborate explanations, as it is very easy to understand by all students.

It takes a long time for application; and

Lack of involvement from some students.

Methods to Facilitate Metacognition :

The “I Know/I Want to Know/I Learned” method

The method consists in valuing previous experience of the subject matter and discussing the prerequisites. The premise behind this method is to reconsider students’ previous or pre-requisite knowledge when introducing new insights. It can also be an excellent formative assessment of the lesson, an instrument for stimulating metacognition, but also a means for the teacher to get feedback on the understanding of new knowledge by students.

Method of implementation:

Presentation of the theme of the activity;

Dividing the class of students into sub-groups;

The teacher distributes the support sheets and asks students to inventory everything they know about the subject;

figure a

Students fill in the columns “KNOWN” and “WANT TO KNOW” of the worksheet table. In the column “KNOWN”, students will add all known aspects related to the subject matter under discussion. In the column “WANT TO KNOW”, those questions that arise in relation to the subject under consideration will be passed. Questions are identified as having an important role in guiding and personalising reading;

Individual reading of the text;

Fill in the column “LEARNED” in close connection with previously asked questions, highlighting those who receive such an answer;

In the next step, students will compare the results of the three analysis fields; and

Final discussions and drawing conclusions in a plenary.

Active reading from students;

Development and exercise categorisation capacity;

Increasing the motivation of students to engage in activity;

Stimulating students’ creativity; and

Good retention of the information presented during the course.

Difficulties can arise in formulating proper questions about the topic being debated;

The teacher must exercise the roles of organizer and facilitator in order for the activity to be accomplished and to achieve its objectives; and

May be demanding and tiring for younger participants.

Methods of Stimulating Creativity :

Brainstorming

The method stimulates students’ productivity and creativity. The basic principle of the method is “quantity generates quality”. By using this method students are encouraged and requested to participate actively avoiding the beaten path. Brainstorming facilitates exercising capabilities to critically analyse real situations, a random association that allows discovering unpredictable sources of inspiration, and making decisions about choosing the most appropriate solutions. This way, creativity is practised and allows a person to express himself genuinely. It has a beneficial effect on interpersonal relationships among the group of students.

The method’s steps:

The theme is chosen and the task is announced;

Students are asked to express as quickly, as concisely as possible all ideas as they come to their mind in solving a problem situation. They can associate with the ideas of their colleagues; they can take over, complete or transform their ideas. Any kind of criticism is prohibited, not to inhibit creative effort. The principle governing activity is “quantity generates quality”;

All ideas are recorded;

Leave a few minutes to “settle” ideas that were given and received;

The ideas issued are repeated, and students build criteria to assemble concepts given by categories, and key words;

The class of students is divided into subgroups, according to ideas, for debate. A variation at this stage is a debate in a large group, critically analysing and evaluating ideas; and

The results of each subgroup are communicated in varied and original forms such as: schemes, verbal constructions, images, songs, mosaic, and role-plays.

It stimulates creativity;

The development of critical thinking and the ability to argue;

The development communication skills;

Active participation of all students/learners;

Low application costs, broad applicability;

Enhancing the self-confidence and the spirit of initiative of a student; and

The development of a positive educational climate.

Time-consuming;

Success of the method depends on the moderator’s ability to lead the discussion in the desired direction;

It can be tedious and demanding for the participants; and

It proposes possible solutions to solve the problem, not an effective solution.

Applications/Exercises

figure b

Write a short essay on the subject: Didactic methods between normality and creativity .

figure d

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Webography for the Whole Book

Erasmus+ CBHE Project 561987, “Library Network Support Services (LNSS): modernising libraries in Western Balkans through library staff development and reforming library services” 2015–2018 https://lnss-projects.eu/bal/module-7-access-to-libraries-and-society-for-learners-with-special-needs-disabilities/ .

Tempus Project. (2019). http://www.lit.ie/projects/tempus/default.aspx .

Transylvania University of Brasov also participated in two Erasmus + CBHE Projects: (561633) “Library Network Support Services (LNSS): modernising libraries in Armenia, Moldova and Belarus through library staff development and reforming library services” 2015–2018. https://lnss-projects.eu/amb/curriculum/module-7-access-to-libraries-and-society-for-learners-with-special-needs/ .

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Landøy, A., Popa, D., Repanovici, A. (2020). Teaching Learning Methods. In: Collaboration in Designing a Pedagogical Approach in Information Literacy. Springer Texts in Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34258-6_10

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Modern Teaching Methods and Learning Environment Exploratory Essay

The success of education is attributed to the use of modern teaching methods that have been developed in the last few years. These methods include project work, providing meaningful choices for students, self-directed learning, literature-based reading, and problem-based curriculum. A well-prepared learning environment facilitates excellent learning outcomes.

Consequently, the Montessori education system focuses on proving a learning environment that enables students to acquire knowledge by exploring and engaging in different learning experiences. Piaget (1970, p. 30) asserts that the primary role of intelligence is to promote understanding and invention among learners. The origin of our “intellectual operations is, thus, to be sought for as far back as an initial stage of the development characterized by sensory motor actions and intelligence”.

This implies that successful learning has a strong correlation with the development of primary sensory motor actions. Children are likely to do abstract mental operations if they undertake regular practice with sensorial activities. Imitation, developing mental images, drawing, and language development are the main learning characteristics of students who are between 2 and 8 years.

Thus, children prefer symbolic and semiotic functions at this age. Students should be guided to generate ideas and to discover mathematical relations on their own, rather than forcing them to accept those generated by adults. Educators should help students to gain experience in using mathematical skills at their own pace.

This can be achieved by encouraging the students to engage in regular practice that enables them to develop and to use deductive reasoning in mathematics. Piaget (1970) emphasizes the importance of allowing children to do their work independently by asserting that “even in the sphere of image-recall and memory, it can be shown how much structure and even the conservation of memories is linked to the schemata of actions and operations” (p. 35).

Piaget (1970, pp. 35-36) illustrated this argument through an experiment that involved a comparison of the memories that different teams of young learners can retain in an exercise that involves grouping cubes in terms of whether the groupings are perceived, looked at, reconstructed by the learner, or an adult as the young learner observes. The memories exhibited in each case were superior.

This means that the presentations by the adult produced mere perceptions. Consequently, vital information is often lost each time an experiment is done as the child observes, rather than allowing the child to perform the experiment on her own.

Maturation and exercise of intelligence can be achieved through practical experiments, as well as, independent thinking. According to Piaget (1970, p. 36), children will always demonstrate high maturity and advanced level of thinking if they are guided to do independent work. This observation holds regardless of the condition in which the child lives in.

Thus, children should engage in practical math experiences in order to develop neurological thinking. Even though mathematical experience is essential for the development of intelligence, it is not a sufficient condition because it occurs with empiricism. Nonetheless, abstract math enhances the development of logical reasoning. Hence, didactics mathematics should be used to strengthen students’ math power.

Teachers must guide students and help them to develop logical reasoning. Nicholl (1998, p. 37) opine that teaching interventions should focus on knowledge acquisition, as well as, the development of the learners’ character, wisdom, and emotional maturity. The education system that is used in most schools benefits only a small number of students.

This is because majority of students in most schools have inadequate creativity and analytical skills, as well as, flexibility in thought. Nicholl (1998, p. 37) notes that students have multiple intelligences, which differ in terms of context, linguistic skills, as well as, their ability to read and write. Logical-mathematical intelligence determines a student’s ability to reason and to think logically.

Visual-spatial intelligences reinforce a student’s ability to conceptualize future outcomes in terms of mental pictures. Thus, it enables students to engage in thought provoking experiences that enable them to plan and to strategize for the future. Musical intelligence enables students to develop rhythm and to improve their ability to compose music.

Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence is also important because it enables individuals to solve problems, generate ideas, and develop products. Interpersonal intelligences are essential because they enable us to work effectively with others and to evaluate our strengths and weaknesses. Finally, naturalist intelligence boosts the ability to identify the differences in the natural world.

Nicholl (1998, p. 39) asserts that linguistic, logical and numerical abilities are the most important determinants of individual success. According to Montessori (1995, p. 12), the greatness of a person starts at the early stages of development in his mother’s womb. Children often open up their mind for learning immediately after being born.

Thus, educators have a great opportunity to help children to unfold their psychic power at an early age. The infancy stage is considered as the most important development phase in learning since the child’s interest to learn is at its peak. Currently, several teaching methods that seem to be effective in promoting learning are available.

Nonetheless, the education systems in various parts of the world are still struggling to provide a program that meets all the learning needs of students. This situation is attributed to the use of conventional teaching methods, which limit students’ ability to explore their world. In this regard, “the world of education is like an island where people are cutoff from the world, and are prepared for life by exclusion from it.

Only a pressure from outside can change, renovate, and find remedies for that manner of education at every level”. Mental development facilitates the acquisition of manual skills. The desired work outcomes can only be achieved if a person has fine motor movements and is able to pay attention to details. The ability to utilize the hand is the greatest advantage that human beings have.

Consequently, it is essential to use our hands to acquire knowledge. The hand and the mind works in unison in order to achieve the highest level of knowledge, as well as, intelligence. In Montessori education, teachers focus on developing children’s sensorial and motor skills in their early years. They use sensorial and motor skill materials to identify the sensorial and motor skill capabilities of every child.

Conventional education systems, on the other hand, use a method referred to as object lessons in which educators provide a limited skill set. Montessori (1995, p. 28) asserts that educators should use every resource at their disposal to enhance learning among children. A Montessori teacher’s role is to guide learners. Consequently, they must focus on continuous professional development, as well as, using their knowledge to support children in order to achieve the best learning outcomes.

One of the advantages of Montessori education is that it provides lessons that cater for the learning needs of all students. It does not limit students’ ability to learn. Teachers should always evaluate the ability of each child to perform prior to the introduction of new learning materials. They should keenly observe students in order to determine whether they require repetition.

Robinson (1991, p. 17) emphasizes the importance of evaluating the use of the best teaching practices. Group work can be effective if there is a student who understands the material that is being studied, and is able to explain it to his colleagues. The benefit of this strategy is that the student who is explaining the material to others develops an in-depth understanding of the content.

However, too much repetition can cause constant reviews. Teachers must organize cooperative learning groups in a manner that reduces the ‘free rider’ effect. This can be achieved if the responsibility of explaining the learning materials or giving instructions is shared among the group members.

This strategy is important because talented students are likely to consider disproportionate sharing of responsibilities, and the failure of team members to contribute in heterogeneous groups to be unfair and frustrating. Sternberg, Grigorenko and Ferrari (2004, p. 2) asserts that the process of measuring intelligence and success requires advanced expertise.

Concisely, the process requires “meta-components of thinking, which include recognition of problems, definition of problems, formulation of strategies, representation of information, allocation of resources, as well as, monitoring and evaluation of solutions to various problems”. The acquisition of these skills or expertise is attributed to gene-environment, co-variation, and interaction.

The conventional tests that are used to evaluate intelligence and related abilities focus on past achievements. These tests include vocabulary, oral analogies, conceptual reasoning, and solving mathematical problems. The weakness of these tests is that they propose a causal relationship whereby, the tests reveal a construct that seems to be a causal of, rather than a mere temporary antecedent of later success.

A large percentage of human characteristics reveal the co-variation and the association between genetic and contextual factors. Nonetheless, it is not possible to perform an explicit measure of the influence of genes on the development of intelligence. Thus, only a fraction of the expressed intelligence can be measured.

The part of intelligence that can be measured includes the expressions of developing expertise, as well as, the type of expertise that can possibly facilitate reflection among teaching practitioners. In this regard, intelligence measures should be correlated with later success. Sternberg, Grigorenko and Ferrari (2004, p. 2), identified three domains of intelligence namely analytical, creative, and practical.

Individuals can exhibit analytical, creative, or practical expertise without having the other domains. Meta-cognitive skills refer to an individual’s understanding of his own cognition. These skills describe a person’s knowledge of solving arithmetical problems in terms of the procedures to be followed and how they should be executed.

Explicit learning takes place when a student makes an effort to learn. Implicit learning, on the other hand, occurs when a student acquires knowledge incidentally without making deliberate or systematic efforts. The most important thinking skills that students need include critical thinking, creative thinking, and practical thinking.

Both declarative and procedural knowledge are essential in mathematics. Declarative knowledge involves the use of facts and well-established principles, whereas procedural knowledge involves following well-defined course of action and strategies. Learners need procedural tacit knowledge because it enables them to understand how various systems operate.

Competence and achievement are important sources of motivation in the study of mathematics. Achievement-oriented learners usually focus on solving problems that are challenging. Competent learners, on the other hand, focus on finding solutions to existing problems. The main weakness of conventional tests for intelligence is that they are based on the assumption that individuals operate in a de-contextualized environment.

The results of these tests are often interpreted based on a person’s internal characteristics. However, the participants in these tests usually do not operate in a fixed environment. Educators can modify the tests in order to suit the type of expertise that is needed in any given cultural milieu. Conventional tests are important because they enable educators to forecast school performance.

However, the tests can only measure a small portion of the types of developing expertise that are essential for life success. Most conventional tests cannot forecast more than 10% of the variations in individual differences in terms of the indicators of success in adulthood. Students should receive training on cognitive and social skills both in their homes and in their schools.

This is because these skills are important in acquiring academic knowledge and solving life challenges. Educators should expand their understanding of abilities and realize that measuring them involves assessing students’ expertise. This will enable them to avoid overestimating the abilities of learners with expertise in math, but lack similar expertise for future success in life.

The instruction methods used by teachers should focus on enhancing reflective, analytical, creative, as well as, practical thinking within a knowledge base. Additionally, teaching interventions should take into account the students diverse styles of learning and thinking in order to promote high academic performance. Students’ thoughts must be focused on learning in order to achieve the best outcomes.

Most teachers believe that they can help students by using different teaching strategies. Curriculum compacting is one the methods that have been used successfully by teachers to enhance learning. Regular training programs enable teachers to develop new knowledge and procedures that promote learning.

Furthermore, teachers can improve the existing body of knowledge about the best teaching practices by sharing their knowledge through formal and in formal discussions. Watters (2010, pp. 222-238), studied the teacher attributes that support students’ interests. The characteristics, which he identified included teachers’ ability to link pedagogical practices with students’ interest, creating relevant learning experiences, good classroom management skills and being able to explain complex concepts or ideas.

Furthermore, teachers should have adequate content knowledge and passion for a particular subject matter such as mathematics. Hirsch (1928, p. 10) opine that excellent learning outcomes can be achieved if students see, and feel the subject that is being taught. Consequently, he encourages traditional schools to adopt the use of multisensory instructional methods in their curriculum.

Montessori education system is effective because it allows students to learn in one classroom for three years. During this period, the child gets to interact with younger and older learners. Moreover, the children benefits from integrated instructions, which enable them to understand how things fit together. Integrated instructions also reinforce the content that is being taught by providing different contexts.

The education system should encourage the teaching of reality in order to achieve the best learning outcomes. In this regard, teachers should focus on choosing interesting topics in order to keep their students engaged. In addition, education systems should focus on individualized instructions, rather than teaching the majority. This will facilitate achievement of the best results.

Hirsch (1928, p. 134) describes high-order thinking as a process that involves cross checking through different interfaces using several concepts that are related. Individuals, conceptualize a problem in their mental space through a cross checking process that utilizes preexisting knowledge as a guide. According to Hirsch (1928, p. 134), conventional test are not capable of measuring high-order thinking.

Using the conventional tests among children can encourage memorization. However, this strategy has negative effects on students’ achievements in learning. In particular, it focuses on quick memorization of isolated information, rather than generation of new ideas. In addition, the tests do not cover all the aspects of knowledge and performance that students should achieve.

In this regard, the conventional tests are ineffective because they place students in a passive and reactive role instead of focusing on evaluating their abilities to structure tasks, to generate ideas, and to find solutions to problems. Rimer (2008) asserts that schools in the United Sates have not been able to improve mathematical skills among boys and girls.

Girls who usually score the highest grade in math are often immigrants or children of immigrants who migrated from nations in which math is highly valued. Even though girls have great talent in math, such talent is hardly available in the United States. One of the factors that explain the poor performance in math in the United Sates is that talent in mathematics is not highly valued in the culture of the country (Rimer, 2008).

This discourages children from putting more effort in the subject. The country’s culture creates a perception that high performance in math can only be achieved among Asians and nerds. Countries in which students excel in mathematics usually have comprehensive math curricula. Furthermore, the cultures and educational systems of these countries usually value talent in math.

They encourage and support learners who are able to excel in math. Students who excel in mathematics believe that high performance can be achieved through intuition and creativity (Rimer, 2008). Research indicates that student-centered and teacher-directed approaches to teaching are ineffective. Thus, they should not be used to teach math in schools.

Recent studies indicate that improvements in math performance can be achieved through cooperative learning methods. Team assisted individualization (TAI) is one of the cooperative learning approaches that is increasingly being used to hence students’ performance in mathematics (Rimer, 2008). The characteristics of this approach include heterogeneous groups of learners assisting each other, specific teacher guidance, and performance-based rewards.

Brighton, C., Moon, T., Jarvis, J., & Hockett, J. (2007). Primary Grade Teachers’ Conceptions of Giftedness and Talent: a Case-based Investigation. Storrs: University of Connecticut.

Gubbins, J., Emerick, L., Delcourt, M., Newman, J., & Imbeau, M. (1995). Research Related to the Enrichment the Triad Model. Storrs: University of Connecticut.

Hirsch, E. (1928). The Schools we Need and Why we Don’t have them. New York: Doubleday Dell Publications.

Montessori, M. (1995). Absorbent Mind. New York: Henry Holt and Company.

Nicholl, M. (1998). Accelerated Learning for the 21st Century. New York: Dell Publishing.

Piaget, J. (1970). Science of Education and the Psychology of the Child. New York: Orion Press.

Rimer, S. (2008). Math Skills Suffer in U.S, Study Finds . Web.

Robinson, A. (1991). Cooperative Learning and the Academically Talented Student. Little Rock: Arkansas.

Sternberg, R., Grigorenko, E., & Ferrari, M. (2004). Giftedness and Expertise. Storss: University of Connecticut.

Watters, J. (2010). Career Decision Making among Gifted Studnets: the Mediation of Teachers. Gifted Child Quarterly, 53(3) , 222-238.

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IvyPanda. (2022, April 26). Modern Teaching Methods and Learning Environment. https://ivypanda.com/essays/methods-of-education/

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  • Montessori: An Approach to Early Education
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teaching methods meaning essay

A Guide to Teaching Essay Structure

Red pen marking student essay

Prevent students from 'telling a story' in their essays by helping them understand how arguments work

Essays are an important assessment type in subjects like History, and the skills required to succeed in essay writing are also foundational to other assessment pieces as well. As a result, both students and teachers need to invest significant time in understanding how to craft them.

When you first teach essay writing to students, it is important to demonstrate the core elements of structure first. Since the structure of History essays is foundational to the success of the argument and, by definition, the success of the essay itself, it is the most obvious place to start.

Here are the crucial ideas that students need to grasp about the argumentative structure of History essays:

  • An essay’s hypothesis must be a 'genuine argument'
  • The topic sentences of each body paragraph must be drawn from the hypothesis
  • Each body paragraph needs to be supported by good evidence

teaching methods meaning essay

In order to teach these ideas, I find that it is best not to use a historical topic as your first example. Most students struggle to understand the contestability of historical arguments, so using one as your first example could only confuse students more as they will already be working hard to understand essay structure.

Therefore, I tend to find that more ‘real world’ examples work best when teaching essays for the first time. These ‘real world’ examples can be based upon your students’ own interests. For example, create an example argument about who the best sports team is, or who the most influential global personality is, or whether homework is important to academic success. The more interesting the topic, the more the students will care about the argument.

Alternatively, you could prepare a number of these example topics for your class and even get them to choose which one they would like to use.

Once decided, use it to proceed through the following steps.

1. An essay’s hypothesis is a 'genuine argument'

One of the most common mistakes that students make when writing essays is that they simply present a ‘story’ about a historical event or person. As a result, they fail to understand the purpose of a hypothesis .

A hypothesis is a statement about what the entire essay is arguing .

When an essay is nothing more than a narrative story, there is no argument.

Crucially, then, the first concept that needs to be understood is that each essay needs a hypothesis that is a 'genuine argument'. A ‘genuine argument’ means that what the essay is trying to prove could be challenged by someone else, or that the opposite of the hypothesis could be used in a different essay.

For example, a student could argue that:

“Homework is detrimental to the social, emotional and physical wellbeing of students”

If this is a genuine argument, the opposite of it could easily be used by someone else for their own argument. For example, another student could argue that:

“Homework is beneficial to the social, emotional and physical wellbeing of students”

This is one of the reasons that a ‘narrative’ essay fails to create good hypotheses: it doesn’t create a genuine argument. For example, a simple ‘story’ essay could say that “World War One saw a tragic loss of life as millions of soldiers from many countries died between 1914 and 1918”. Clearly, there is no argument here: it is just telling a story. One way of demonstrating the lack of an argument is to show that there is no way to argue the opposite of this.

2. Topic sentences of each body paragraph must be drawn from the hypothesis

The second key concept helps build upon the first. As a hypothesis presents the argument that the entire essay is going to prove, then students must make sure that they’re proving it throughout their body paragraphs .

Students can easily get lost in writing their body paragraphs and forget that they are supposed to be proving the argument they presented in their hypothesis.

To highlight that there is a direct relationship between their hypothesis and each of their body paragraphs, it is worth showing students that a good hypothesis can be ‘sliced’ into three parts that each of their body paragraphs will prove.

For example, the hypothesis that “ Homework is detrimental to the social, emotional and physical wellbeing of students ” has three clear elements that need to be proven: the social , emotional and physical impacts. As a result, each will become a topic sentence for their body paragraphs.

Be aware that once students notice the three elements, they will try to take the ‘path of least resistance’ in making their topic sentences. So, using the example above, they might try to make the following topic sentences:

  • Homework is detrimental to the social wellbeing of students
  • Homework is detrimental to the emotional wellbeing of students
  • Homework is detrimental to the physical wellbeing of students

It is important to stress that each topic sentence needs to be expanded to provide a specific reason. Most of the time, students will need to know what evidence they’re using in order to successfully provide specific justifications. For the sake of the above example, here are three improved versions of the topic sentences:

  • Due to the extra time required that could otherwise be spent developing friendships, homework is detrimental to the social development of students
  • Homework is detrimental to the emotional wellbeing of students because of the additional daily stress it adds to students who are already overloaded with assessment pieces.
  • Homework is detrimental to the physical health of students because it requires extended periods of student inactivity.

If the students find that they cannot identify three separate components from their hypothesis to prove in each body paragraph, it may indicate that their hypothesis was not developed enough. However, if you are introducing essays to your students for the first time, ensure that you provide example hypotheses that have three clear elements in order to help students grasp this step easily.

3. Each body paragraph needs to be supported by good evidence

Another common mistake made by students is that they feel the need to fill their body paragraphs with as much historical knowledge as possible. Consequently, students often fall back into the ‘tell a story’ mode which provides a series of people and events about the topic, rather than using the paragraph to present information that helps prove their argument.

The crucial step for students to understand is that whatever they said in their topic sentence needs to be shown in the sources from which they quote in their body paragraphs. While students will have to demonstrate historical knowledge of people, places, dates and event in their work, it should only be used as a way to help show how their sources prove their topic sentences.

If you’re doing your example essay which was based upon a ‘real world’ argument, this can be a great time to let students conduct research to find their own evidence. For example, if students are arguing for their favourite sporting team or their most inspiring personality, they can find facts and figures to justify their argument. (Also, this might be a great time to teach referencing of their sources, if you have time).

Once students then have their sources, they can begin crafting their body paragraphs in order to use their chosen evidence to prove their topic sentences. (You can read more about how to write essay paragraphs here , as I don't have the space to expand upon this part of essay writing in this blog post).

The end result

By the end of their example essay, students should have a better understanding of what makes a good hypothesis, how each topic sentence is drawn from the argument and how evidence is used by body paragraphs to help prove the argument.

Once you have built the example essay as a class (about a sports team or homework, etc.), working as a class to deconstruct a pre-written History essay to identify each element can be enormously beneficial for the students. Furthermore, if time allows, following the same steps to then begin writing their own History essay will often be the moment when the ‘lightbulb moment’ occurs for many of your students.

The entire process I have outlined may take as much as three or four lessons. If you have this amount of time, here is a potential approach:

  • Lesson 1: Example ‘real world’ essay construction
  • Lesson 2: Deconstruct a pre-written History essay
  • Lesson 3-4: Plan and write a class History essay

Also, if you're looking for a more detailed guide to academic essay writing, particularly for senior students, I cannot recommend the book  A Short Guide to Writing About History enough (pictured to the right).

teaching methods meaning essay

Final thoughts

Essay writing is an art that can only truly be mastered by continual practice. Don’t expect students to produce academically sophisticated essays straight away. However, if they can master the key structural elements of how an argument works through the hypothesis, topic sentences and evidence, they can avoid the simplistic errors found in the ‘narrative’ essay.

I hope that this has helped spark some new ideas for your own teaching of History essays. I would be very interested to hear from other teachers about what they have found works for them. Please feel free to add your thoughts below so that we can all benefit from the accumulated wisdom of other professionals.

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The Complete List of Teaching Methods

teaching methods meaning essay

Teaching Methods: Not as Simple as ABC

Teaching methods [teacher-centered], teaching methods [student-centered], what about blended learning and udl, teaching methods: a to z, for the love of teaching.

Whether you’re a longtime educator, preparing to start your first teaching job or mapping out your dream of a career in the classroom, the topic of teaching methods is one that means many different things to different people.

Your individual approaches and strategies to imparting knowledge to your students and inspiring them to learn are probably built on your academic education as well as your instincts and intuition.

Whether you come by your preferred teaching methods organically or by actively studying educational theory and pedagogy, it can be helpful to have a comprehensive working knowledge of the various teaching methods at your disposal.

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The teacher-centered approach vs. the student-centered approach. High-tech vs. low-tech approaches to learning. Flipped classrooms, differentiated instruction, inquiry-based learning, personalized learning and more.

Not only are there dozens of teaching methods to explore, it is also important to have a sense for how they often overlap or interrelate. One extremely helpful look at this question is offered by the teacher-focused education website Teach.com.

“Teaching theories can be organized into four categories based on two major parameters: a teacher-centered approach versus a student-centered approach, and high-tech material use versus low-tech material use,” according to the informative Teach.com article , which breaks down a variety of influential teaching methods as follows:

Teacher-Centered Approach to Learning Teachers serve as instructor/authority figures who deliver knowledge to their students through lectures and direct instruction, and aim to measure the results through testing and assessment. This method is sometimes referred to as “sage on the stage.”

Student-Centered Approach to Learning Teachers still serve as an authority figure, but may function more as a facilitator or “guide on the side,” as students assume a much more active role in the learning process. In this method, students learn from and are continually assessed on such activities as group projects, student portfolios and class participation.

High-Tech Approach to Learning From devices like laptops and tablets to using the internet to connect students with information and people from around the world, technology plays an ever-greater role in many of today’s classrooms. In the high-tech approach to learning, teachers utilize many different types of technology to aid students in their classroom learning.

Low-Tech Approach to Learning Technology obviously comes with pros and cons, and many teachers believe that a low-tech approach better enables them to tailor the educational experience to different types of learners. Additionally, while computer skills are undeniably necessary today, this must be balanced against potential downsides; for example, some would argue that over-reliance on spell check and autocorrect features can inhibit rather than strengthen student spelling and writing skills.

[RELATED] Edutainment in the Classroom: How Technology Is Changing the Game >>

Diving further into the overlap between different types of teaching methods, here is a closer look at three teacher-centered methods of instruction and five popular student-centered approaches.

Direct Instruction (Low Tech) Under the direct instruction model — sometimes described as the “traditional” approach to teaching — teachers convey knowledge to their students primarily through lectures and scripted lesson plans, without factoring in student preferences or opportunities for hands-on or other types of learning. This method is also customarily low-tech since it relies on texts and workbooks rather than computers or mobile devices.

Flipped Classrooms (High Tech) What if students did the “classroom” portion of their learning at home and their “homework” in the classroom? That’s an oversimplified description of the flipped classroom approach, in which students watch or read their lessons on computers at home and then complete assignments and do problem-solving exercises in class.

Kinesthetic Learning (Low Tech) In the kinesthetic learning model, students perform hands-on physical activities rather than listening to lectures or watching demonstrations. Kinesthetic learning, which values movement and creativity over technological skills, is most commonly used to augment traditional types of instruction — the theory being that requiring students to do, make or create something exercises different learning muscles.

Differentiated Instruction (Low Tech) Inspired by the 1975 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), enacted to ensure equal access to public education for all children, differentiated instruction is the practice of developing an understanding of how each student learns best, and then tailoring instruction to meet students’ individual needs.

In some instances, this means Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for students with special needs, but today teachers use differentiated instruction to connect with all types of learners by offering options on how students access content, the types of activities they do to master a concept, how student learning is assessed and even how the classroom is set up.

Inquiry-Based Learning (High Tech) Rather than function as a sole authority figure, in inquiry-based learning teachers offer support and guidance as students work on projects that depend on them taking on a more active and participatory role in their own learning. Different students might participate in different projects, developing their own questions and then conducting research — often using online resources — and then demonstrate the results of their work through self-made videos, web pages or formal presentations.

Expeditionary Learning (Low Tech) Expeditionary learning is based on the idea that there is considerable educational value in getting students out of the classroom and into the real world. Examples include trips to City Hall or Washington, D.C., to learn about the workings of government, or out into nature to engage in specific study related to the environment. Technology can be used to augment such expeditions, but the primary focus is on getting out into the community for real-world learning experiences.

Personalized Learning (High Tech) In personalized learning, teachers encourage students to follow personalized, self-directed learning plans that are inspired by their specific interests and skills. Since assessment is also tailored to the individual, students can advance at their own pace, moving forward or spending extra time as needed. Teachers offer some traditional instruction as well as online material, while also continually reviewing student progress and meeting with students to make any needed changes to their learning plans.

Game-Based Learning (High Tech) Students love games, and considerable progress has been made in the field of game-based learning, which requires students to be problem solvers as they work on quests to accomplish a specific goal. For students, this approach blends targeted learning objectives with the fun of earning points or badges, much like they would in a video game. For teachers, planning this type of activity requires additional time and effort, so many rely on software like Classcraft or 3DGameLab to help students maximize the educational value they receive from within the gamified learning environment.

Blended Learning Blended learning  is another strategy for teachers looking to introduce flexibility into their classroom. This method relies heavily on technology, with part of the instruction taking place online and part in the classroom via a more traditional approach, often leveraging elements of the flipped classroom approach detailed above. At the heart of blended learning is a philosophy of taking the time to understand each student’s learning style and develop strategies to teach to every learner, by building flexibility and choice into your curriculum.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) UDL incorporates both student-centered learning and the “multiple intelligences theory,” which holds that different learners are wired to learn most effectively in different ways (examples of these “intelligences” include visual-spatial, logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, linguistic, musical, etc.). In practice, this could mean that some students might be working on a writing project while others would be more engaged if they created a play or a movie. UDL emphasizes the idea of teaching to every student, special needs students included, in the general education classroom, creating community and building knowledge through multiple means.

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In addition to the many philosophical and pedagogical approaches to teaching, classroom educators today employ diverse and sometimes highly creative methods involving specific strategies, prompts and tools that require little explanation. These include:

  • Appointments with students
  • Art-based projects
  • Audio tutorials
  • Author’s chair
  • Book reports
  • Bulletin boards
  • Brainstorming
  • Case studies
  • Chalkboard instruction
  • Class projects
  • Classroom discussion
  • Classroom video diary
  • Collaborative learning spaces
  • Creating murals and montages
  • Current events quizzes
  • Designated quiet space
  • Discussion groups
  • DIY activities
  • Dramatization (plays, skits, etc.)
  • Educational games
  • Educational podcasts
  • Essays (Descriptive)
  • Essays (Expository)
  • Essays (Narrative)
  • Essays (Persuasive)
  • Exhibits and displays
  • Explore different cultures
  • Field trips
  • Flash cards
  • Flexible seating
  • Gamified learning plans
  • Genius hour
  • Group discussion
  • Guest speakers
  • Hands-on activities
  • Individual projects
  • Interviewing
  • Laboratory experiments
  • Learning contracts
  • Learning stations
  • Literature circles
  • Making posters
  • Mock conventions
  • Motivational posters
  • Music from other countries/cultures
  • Oral reports
  • Panel discussions
  • Peer partner learning
  • Photography
  • Problem solving activities
  • Reading aloud
  • Readers’ theater
  • Reflective discussion
  • Research projects
  • Rewards & recognition
  • Role playing
  • School newspapers
  • Science fairs
  • Sister city programs
  • Spelling bees
  • Storytelling
  • Student podcasts
  • Student portfolios
  • Student presentations
  • Student-conceived projects
  • Supplemental reading assignments
  • Team-building exercises
  • Term papers
  • Textbook assignments
  • Think-tac-toe
  • Time capsules
  • Use of community or local resources
  • Video creation
  • Video lessons
  • Vocabulary lists

So, is the teacher the center of the educational universe or the student? Does strong reliance on the wonders of technology offer a more productive educational experience or is a more traditional, lower-tech approach the best way to help students thrive?

Questions such as these are food for thought for educators everywhere, in part because they inspire ongoing reflection on how to make a meaningful difference in the lives of one’s students.

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In our free guide, you can learn about a variety of teaching methods to adopt in the classroom.

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Teaching Methods

Choosing optimal methods to support learning outcomes.

On this page:

The importance of teaching methods.

Teaching methods are the broader techniques used to help students achieve learning outcomes, while activities are the different ways of implementing these methods. Teaching methods help students:

  • master the content of the course
  • learn how to apply the content in particular contexts

Instructors should identify which teaching methods will properly support a particular learning outcome. Its effectiveness depends on this alignment. To make the most appropriate choice, an instructor should consider learning outcomes, student needs and the learning environment.

Consider the following example:

  • Learning outcome: Solve a complex math equation.
  • Learning environment: An in person, upper-level math course with 20 students.
  • Teaching method: Guided instruction. First, the instructor facilitates learning by modeling and scaffolding. Students take time to  ask questions and receive clarifications. Next, students practice applying these skills together and then independently. The instructor uses formative assessment to check for understanding.

This example demonstrates alignment of what the instructor wants students to do, and how they are supported in these tasks. If the instructor choses a different teaching method, such as a traditional lecture, students would need to process the lecture’s content and apply principles simultaneously. This is very difficult to do and would lead to less successful outcomes.

Choosing the appropriate teaching method brings instruction to life while encouraging students to actively engage with content and develop their knowledge and skills.

The chart below provides a number of teaching methods to choose from. Teaching methods vary in their approach, some are more student-centered while others are more instructor centered, and you will see this reflected in the chart. Choose methods that will best guide your students to achieve the learning outcomes you’ve set and remember that your teaching approach, teaching methods and activities all work together.

Table adapted from: Nilson (2016)

Choose Your Methods

Using the Course Design Template   explore the aspects that will likely affect your course.

  • Step 1: Review your learning outcomes.
  • Step 2: Identify the teaching methods that best align to these learning outcomes and fill in the appropriate column.
  • Step 3: Consider possible activities which will next be examined in further detail.

Now that you’ve reviewed a variety of teaching methods and considered which ones align with your learning outcomes, the next step is to consider activities.

  • Nilson, L. B. (2016). Teaching at Its Best: A Research-Based Resource for College Instructors (Fourth). John Wiley & Sons.

infed

education, community-building and change

What is teaching? A definition and discussion

teaching methods meaning essay

In this piece Mark K Smith explores the nature of teaching – those moments or sessions where we make specific interventions to help people learn particular things. He sets this within a discussion of pedagogy and didactics and demonstrates that we need to unhook consideration of the process of teaching from the role of ‘teacher’ in schools.

Contents : introduction • what is teaching • a definition of teaching • teaching, pedagogy and didactics • approaching teaching as a process • structuring interventions and making use of different methods • what does good teaching look like • conclusion •  further reading and references • acknowledgements • how to cite this piece, linked piece: the key activities of teaching, a definition for starters : teaching is the process of attending to people’s needs, experiences and feelings, and intervening so that they learn particular things, and go beyond the given., introduction.

In teacher education programmes – and in continuing professional development – a lot of time is devoted to the ‘what’ of teaching – what areas we should we cover, what resources do we need and so on. The ‘how’ of teaching also gets a great deal of space – how to structure a lesson, manage classes, assess for learning for learning and so on. Sometimes, as Parker J. Palmer (1998: 4) comments, we may even ask the “why” question – ‘for what purposes and to what ends do we teach? ‘But seldom, if ever’, he continues: ‘do we ask the “who” question – who is the self that teaches?’

The thing about this is that the who, what, why and how of teaching cannot be answered seriously without exploring the nature of teaching itself.

What is teaching?

In much modern usage, the words ‘teaching’ and ‘teacher’ are wrapped up with schooling and schools. One way of approaching the question ‘What is teaching?’ is to look at what those called ‘teachers’ do – and then to draw out key qualities or activities that set them apart from others. The problem is that all sorts of things are bundled together in job descriptions or roles that may have little to do with what we can sensibly call teaching.

Another way is to head for dictionaries and search for both the historical meanings of the term, and how it is used in everyday language.  This brings us to definitions like:

Impart knowledge to or instruct (someone) as to how to do something; or Cause (someone) to learn or understand something by example or experience.

As can be seen from these definitions we can say that we are all teachers in some way at some time.

Further insight is offered by looking at the ancestries of the words. For example, the origin of the word ‘teach’ lies in the Old English tæcan meaning ‘show, present, point out’, which is of Germanic origin; and related to ‘token’, from an Indo-European root shared by Greek deiknunai ‘show’, deigma ‘sample ( http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/teach ).

Fostering learning

To make sense of all this it is worth turning to what philosophers of education say. Interestingly, the question, ‘What is teaching?’ hasn’t been a hotbed of activity in recent years in the UK and USA. However, as Paul Hirst (1975) concluded, ‘being clear about what teaching is matters vitally because how teachers understand teaching very much affects what they actually do in the classroom’.

Hirst (1975) makes two very important points. For him teaching should involve:

  • Setting out with the intention of someone learning something.
  • Considering people’s feelings, experiences and needs. Teaching is only teaching if people can take on what is taught.

To this we can add Jerome Bruner’s insights around the nature of education, and the process of learning and problem solving.

To instruct someone… is not a matter of getting him to commit results to mind. Rather, it is to teach him to participate in the process that makes possible the establishment of knowledge. We teach a subject not to produce little living libraries on that subject, but rather to get a student to think mathematically for himself, to consider matters as an historian does, to take part in the process of knowledge-getting. Knowing is a process not a product. (1966: 72)

We can begin to weave these into a definition – and highlight some forms it takes.

A definition : Teaching is the process of attending to people’s needs, experiences and feelings, and intervening so that they learn particular things, and go beyond the given.

Interventions commonly take the form of questioning, listening, giving information, explaining some phenomenon, demonstrating a skill or process, testing understanding and capacity, and facilitating learning activities (such as note taking, discussion, assignment writing, simulations and practice).

Let us look at the key elements.

Attending to people’s feelings, experiences and needs

Considering what those we are supposed to be teaching need, and what might be going on for them, is one of the main things that makes ‘education’ different to indoctrination. Indoctrination involves knowingly encouraging people to believe something regardless of the evidence (see Snook 1972; Peterson 2007). It also entails a lack of respect for their human rights. Education can be described as the ‘wise, hopeful and respectful cultivation of learning undertaken in the belief that all should have the chance to share in life’ (Smith 2015). The process of education flows from a basic orientation of respect – respect for truth, others and themselves, and the world ( op. cit. ). For teachers to be educators they must, therefore:

  • Consider people’s needs and wishes now and in the future.
  • Reflect on what might be good for all (and the world in which we live).
  • Plan their interventions accordingly.

There are a couple of issues that immediately arise from this.

First, how do we balance individual needs and wishes against what might be good for others? For most of us this is probably something that we should answer on a case-by-case basis – and it is also something that is likely to be a focus for conversation and reflection in our work with people.

Second, what do we do when people do not see the point of learning things – for example, around grammar or safety requirements? The obvious response to this question is that we must ask and listen – they may have point. However, we also must weigh this against what we know about the significance of these things in life, and any curriculum or health and safety or other requirements we have a duty to meet. In this case we have a responsibility to try to introduce them to people when the time is right, to explore their relevance and to encourage participation.

Failing to attend to people’s feelings and experiences is problematic – and not just because it reveals a basic lack of respect for them. It is also pointless and counter-productive to try to explore things when people are not ready to look at them. We need to consider their feelings and look to their experiences – both of our classroom or learning environment, and around the issues or areas we want to explore. Recent developments in brain science has underlined the significance of learning from experience from the time in the womb on (see, for example Lieberman 2013). Bringing people’s experiences around the subjects or areas we are looking to teach about into the classroom or learning situation is, thus, fundamental to the learning process.

Learning particular things

Teaching involves creating an environment and engaging with others, so that they learn particular things. This can be anything from tying a shoe lace to appreciating the structure of a three act play. I want highlight three key elements here – focus, knowledge and the ability to engage people in learning.

This may be a bit obvious – but it is probably worth saying – teaching has to have a focus. We should be clear about we are trying to do. One of the findings that shines through research on teaching is that clear learning intentions help learners to see the point of a session or intervention, keep the process on track, and, when challenging, make a difference in what people learn (Hattie 2009: location 4478).

As teachers and pedagogues there are a lot of times when we are seeking to foster learning but there may not be great clarity about the specific goals of that learning (see Jeffs and Smith 2018 Chapter 1). This is especially the case for informal educators and pedagogues. We journey with people, trying to build environments for learning and change, and, from time-to-time, creating teaching moments. It is in the teaching moments that we usually need an explicit focus.

Subject knowledge

Equally obvious, we need expertise, we need to have content. As coaches we should know about our sport; as religious educators about belief, practice and teachings; and, as pedagogues, ethics, human growth and development and social life. Good teachers ‘have deep knowledge of the subjects they teach, and when teachers’ knowledge falls below a certain level it is a significant impediment to students’ learning’ (Coe et. al. 2014: 2).

That said, there are times when we develop our understandings and capacities as we go. In the process of preparing for a session or lesson or group, we may read, listen to and watch YouTube items, look at other resources and learn. We build content and expertise as we teach. Luckily, we can draw on a range of things to support us in our efforts – video clips, web resources, textbooks, activities. Yes, it might be nice to be experts in all the areas we have to teach – but we can’t be. It is inevitable that we will be called to teach in areas where we have limited knowledge. One of the fascinating and comforting things research shows is that what appears to count most for learning is our ability as educators and pedagogues. A good understanding of, and passion for, a subject area; good resources to draw upon; and the capacity to engage people in learning yields good results. It is difficult to find evidence that great expertise in the subject matter makes a significant difference within a lot of schooling (Hattie 2009: location 2963).

Sometimes subject expertise can get in the way – it can serve to emphasize the gap between people’s knowledge and capacities and that of the teacher. On the other hand, it can be used to generate enthusiasm and interest; to make links; and inform decisions about what to teach and when. Having a concern for learning – and, in particular, seeking to create environments where people develop as and, can be, self-directed learners – is one of the key features here.

Engaging people in learning

At the centre of teaching lies enthusiasm and a commitment to, and expertise in, the process of engaging people in learning. This is how John Hattie (2009: location 2939) put it:

… it is teachers using particular teaching methods, teachers with high expectations for all students, and teachers who have created positive student-teacher relationships that are more likely to have the above average effects on student achievement.

Going beyond the given

The idea of “going beyond the information given” was central to Jerome Bruner’s explorations of cognition and education. He was part of the shift in psychology in the 1950s and early 1960s towards the study of people as active processors of knowledge, as discoverers of new understandings and possibilities. Bruner wanted people to develop their ability to ‘go beyond the data to new and possibly fruitful predictions’ (Bruner 1973: 234); to experience and know possibility. He hoped people would become as ‘autonomous and self-propelled’ thinkers as possible’ (Bruner 1961: 23). To do this, teachers and pedagogues had to, as Hirst (1975) put it, appreciate learner’s feelings, experiences and needs; to engage with their processes and view of the world.

Two key ideas became central to this process for Jerome Bruner – the ‘spiral’ and scaffolding.

The spiral . People, as they develop, must take on and build representations of their experiences and the world around them. (Representations being the way in which information and knowledge are held and encoded in our memories). An idea, or concept is generally encountered several times. At first it is likely to be in a concrete and simple way. As understanding develops, it is likely to encountered and in greater depth and complexity. To succeed, teaching, educating, and working with others must look to where in the spiral people are, and how ‘ready’ they are to explore something. Crudely, it means simplifying complex information where necessary, and then revisiting it to build understanding (David Kolb talked in a similar way about experiential learning).

Scaffolding . The idea of scaffolding (which we will come back to later) is  close to what Vygotsky talked about as the zone of proximal development. Basically, it entails creating a framework, and offering structured support, that encourages and allows learners to develop particular understandings, skills and attitudes.

Intervening

The final element – making specific interventions – concerns the process of taking defined and targeted action in a situation. In other words, as well as having a clear focus, we try to work in ways that facilitate that focus.

Thinking about teaching as a process of making specific interventions is helpful, I think, because it:

Focuses on the different actions we take .   As we saw in the definition, interventions commonly take the form of questioning, listening, giving information, explaining some phenomenon, demonstrating a skill or process, testing understanding and capacity, and facilitating learning activities (such as note taking, discussion, assignment writing, simulations and practice).

Makes us look at how we move from one way of working or communicating to another . Interventions often involve shifting a conversation or discussion onto a different track or changing the process or activity. It may well be accompanied by a change in mood and pace (e.g. moving from something that is quite relaxed into a period of more intense activity). The process of moving from one way of working – or way of communicating – to another is far from straightforward. It calls upon us to develop and deepen our practice.

Highlights the more formal character of teaching . Interventions are planned, focused and tied to objectives or intentions. Teaching also often entails using quizzes and tests to see whether planned outcomes have been met. The feel and character of teaching moments are different to many other processes that informal educators, pedagogues and specialist educators use. Those processes, like conversation, playing a game and walking with people are usually more free-flowing and unpredictable.

Teaching, however, is not a simple step-by-step process e.g. of attending, getting information and intervening. We may well start with an intervention which then provides us with data. In addition, things rarely go as planned – at least not if we attend to people’s feelings, experiences and needs. In addition, learners might not always get the points straightaway or see what we are trying to help them learn. They may be able to take on what is being taught – but it might take time. As a result, how well we have done is often unlikely to show up in the results of any tests or in assessments made in the session or lesson.

Teaching, pedagogy and didactics

Earlier, we saw that relatively little attention had been given to defining the essential nature of teaching in recent years in the UK and North America. This has contributed to confusion around the term and a major undervaluing of other forms of facilitating learning. The same cannot be said in a number of continental European countries where there is a much stronger appreciation of the different forms education takes. Reflecting on these traditions helps us to better understand teaching as a particular process – and to recognize that it is fundamentally concerned with didactics rather than pedagogy.

Perhaps the most helpful starting point for this discussion is the strong distinction made in ancient Greek society between the activities of pedagogues (paidagögus) and subject teachers (didáskalos or diadacts). The first pedagogues were slaves – often foreigners and the ‘spoils of war’ (Young 1987). They were trusted and sometimes learned members of rich households who accompanied the sons of their ‘masters’ in the street, oversaw their meals etc., and sat beside them when being schooled. These pedagogues were generally seen as representatives of their wards’ fathers and literally ‘tenders’ of children (pais plus agögos, a ‘child-tender’). Children were often put in their charge at around 7 years and remained with them until late adolescence. As such pedagogues played a major part in their lives – helping them to recognize what was wrong and right, learn how to behave in different situations, and to appreciate how they and those around them might flourish.

Moral supervision by the pedagogue (paidagogos) was also significant in terms of status.

He was more important than the schoolmaster, because the latter only taught a boy his letters, but the paidagogos taught him how to behave, a much more important matter in the eyes of his parents. He was, moreover, even if a slave, a member of the household, in touch with its ways and with the father’s authority and views. The schoolmaster had no such close contact with his pupils. (Castle 1961: 63-4)

The distinction between teachers and pedagogues, instruction and guidance, and education for school or life was a feature of discussions around education for many centuries. It was still around when Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) explored education. In On Pedagogy (Über Pädagogik) first published in 1803, he talked as follows:

Education includes the nurture of the child and, as it grows, its culture. The latter is firstly negative, consisting of discipline; that is, merely the correcting of faults. Secondly, culture is positive, consisting of instruction and guidance (and thus forming part of education). Guidance means directing the pupil in putting into practice what he has been taught. Hence the difference between a private teacher who merely instructs, and a tutor or governor who guides and directs his pupil. The one trains for school only, the other for life. (Kant 1900: 23-4)

It was later – and particularly associated with the work of Herbart (see, for example, Allgemeine pädagogik – General Pedagogics, 1806 and Umriss Pädagogischer Vorlesungen , 1835 – Plan of Lectures on Pedagogy and included in Herbart 1908) – that teaching came to be seen, wrongly, as the central activity of education (see Hamilton 1999).

Didactics – certainly within German traditions – can be approached as Allgemeine Didaktik (general didactics) or as Fachdidaktik (subject didactics). Probably, the most helpful ways of translating didaktik is as the study of the teaching-learning process. It involves researching and theorizing the process and developing practice (see Kansanen 1999). The overwhelming focus within the didaktik tradition is upon the teaching-learning process in schools, colleges and university.

To approach education and learning in other settings it is necessary to turn to the pädagogik tradition . Within this tradition fields like informal education, youth work, community development, art therapy, playwork and child care are approached as forms of pedagogy. Indeed, in countries like Germany and Denmark, a relatively large number of people are employed as pedagogues or social pedagogues. While these pedagogues teach, much of their activity is conversationally, rather than curriculum, -based. Within this what comes to the fore is a focus on flourishing and of the significance of the person of the pedagogue (Smith and Smith 2008). In addition, three elements stand out about the processes of the current generation of specialist pedagogues. First, they are heirs to the ancient Greek process of accompanying and fostering learning. Second, their pedagogy involves a significant amount of helping and caring for. Indeed, for many of those concerned with social pedagogy it is a place where care and education meet – one is not somehow less than the other (Cameron and Moss 2011). Third, they are engaged in what we can call ‘bringing situations to life’ or ‘sparking’ change (animation). In other words, they animate, care and educate (ACE). Woven into those processes are theories and beliefs that we also need to attend to (see Alexander 2000: 541).

ACE - animate, care, educate. Taken from Mark K Smith (2016) Working with young people in difficult times. Chapter 1.

We can see from this discussion that when English language commentators talk of pedagogy as the art and science of teaching they are mistaken. As Hamilton (1999) has pointed out teaching in schools is properly approached in the main as didactics – the study of teaching-learning processes. Pedagogy is something very different. It may include didactic elements but for the most part it is concerned with animation, caring and education (see what is education? ). It’s focus is upon flourishing and well-being. Within schools there may be specialist educators and practitioners that do this but they are usually not qualified school teachers. Instead they hold other professional qualifications, for example in pedagogy, social work, youth work and community education. To really understand teaching as a process we need to unhook it from school teaching and recognize that it is an activity that is both part of daily life and is an element of other practitioner’s repertoires. Pedagogues teach, for example, but from within a worldview or haltung that is often radically different to school teachers.

Approaching teaching as a process

Some of the teaching we do can be planned in advance because the people involved know that they will be attending a session, event or lesson where learning particular skills, topics or feelings is the focus. Some teaching arises as a response to a question, issue or situation. However, both are dependent on us:

Recognizing and cultivating teachable moments. Cultivating relationships for learning. Scaffolding learning – providing people with temporary support so that they deepen and develop their understanding and skills and grow as independent learners. Differentiating learning – adjusting the way we teach and approach subjects so that we can meet the needs of diverse learners. Accessing resources for learning. Adopting a growth mindset.

We are going to look briefly at each of these in turn.

Recognizing and cultivating teachable moments

Teachers – certainly those in most formal settings like schools – have to follow a curriculum. They have to teach specified areas in a particular sequence. As a result, there are always going to be individuals who are not ready for that learning. As teachers in these situations we need to look out for moments when students may be open to learning about different things; where we can, in the language of Quakers, ‘speak to their condition’. Having a sense of their needs and capacities we can respond with the right things at the right time.

Informal educators, animators and pedagogues work differently for a lot of the time. The direction they take is often not set by a syllabus or curriculum. Instead, they listen for, and observe what might be going on for the people they are working with. They have an idea of what might make for well-being and development and can apply it to the experiences and situations that are being revealed. They look out for moments when they can intervene to highlight an issue, give information, and encourage reflection and learning.

In other words, all teaching involves recognizing and cultivating ‘learning moments’ or ‘teaching moments’.

It was Robert J Havinghurst who coined the term ‘teachable moment’. One of his interests as an educationalist was the way in which certain things have to be learned in order for people to develop.

When the timing is right, the ability to learn a particular task will be possible. This is referred to as a ‘teachable moment’. It is important to keep in mind that unless the time is right, learning will not occur. Hence, it is important to repeat important points whenever possible so that when a student’s teachable moment occurs, s/he can benefit from the knowledge. (Havinghurst 1953)

There are times of special sensitivity when learning is possible. We have to look out for them, to help create environments that can create or stimulate such moments, be ready to respond, and draw on the right resources.

Cultivating collaborative relationships for learning

The main thing here is that teaching, like other parts of our work, is about relationship. We have to think about our relationships with those we are supposed to be teaching and about the relationships they have with each other. Creating an environment where people can work with each other, cooperate and learning is essential. One of the things that has been confirmed by recent research in neuroscience is that ‘our brains are wired to connect’, we are wired to be social (Lieberman 2013). It is not surprising then, that on the whole cooperative learning is more effective that either competitive learning (where students compete to meet a goal) or individualistic learning (Hattie 2011: 4733).

As teachers, we need to be appreciated as someone who can draw out learning; cares about what people are feeling, experiencing and need; and breathe life to situations. This entails what Carl Rogers (in Kirschenbaum and Henderson 1990: 304-311) talked about as the core conditions or personal qualities that allow us to facilitate learning in others:

Realness or genuineness . Rogers argued that when we are experienced as real people -entering into relationships with learners ‘without presenting a front or a façade’, we more likely to be effective. Prizing, acceptance, trust . This involves caring for learners, but in a non-possessive way and recognizing they have worth in their own right. It entails trusting in capacity of others to learn, make judgements and change. Empathic understanding . ‘When the teacher has the ability to understand the student’s reactions from the inside, has a sensitive awareness of the way the process of education and learning seems to the student, then again the likelihood of significant learning is increased’.

In practical terms this means we talk to people, not at them. We listen. We seek to connect and understand. We trust in their capacity to learn and change. We know that how we say things is often more important than what we say.

Scaffolding

Scaffolding entails providing people with temporary support so that they deepen and develop their understanding and skills – and develop as independent learners.

Like physical scaffolding, the supportive strategies are incrementally removed when they are no longer needed, and the teacher gradually shifts more responsibility over the learning process to the student. (Great Schools Partnership 2015)

To do this well, educators and workers need to be doing what we have explored above – cultivating collaborative relationships for learning, and building on what people know and do and then working just beyond it. The term used for latter of these is taken from the work of Lev Vygotsky – is working in the learner’s zone of proximal development .

A third key aspect of scaffolding is that the support around the particular subject or skill is gradually removed as people develop their expertise and commitment to learning.

Scaffolding can take different forms. It might simply involve ‘showing learners what to do while talking them through the activity and linking new learning to old through questions, resources, activities and language’ (Zwozdiak-Myers and Capel, S. 2013 location 4568). (For a quick overview of some different scaffolding strategies see Alber 2014 ).

The educational use of the term ‘scaffolding’ is linked to the work of Jerome Bruner –who believed that children (and adults) were active learners. They constructed their own knowledge. Scaffolding was originally used to describe how pedagogues interacted with pre-school children in a nursery (Woods et. al . 1976). Bruner defined scaffolding as ‘the steps taken to reduce the degrees of freedom in carrying out some task so that the child can concentrate on the difficult skill she is in the process of acquiring’ (Bruner 1978: 19).

Differentiation

Differentiation involves adjusting the way we teach and approach subjects so that we can meet the needs of diverse learners. It entails changing content, processes and products so that people can better understand what is being taught and develop appropriate skills and the capacity to act.

The basic idea is that the primary educational objectives—making sure all students master essential knowledge, concepts, and skills—remain the same for every student, but teachers may use different instructional methods to help students meet those expectations. (Great Schools Partnership 2013)

It is often used when working with groups that have within them people with different needs and starting knowledge and skills. (For a quick guide to differentiation see BBC Active ).

Accessing resources for learning

One of the key elements we require is the ability to access and make available resources for learning. The two obvious and central resources we have are our own knowledge, feelings and skills; and those of the people we are working with. Harnessing the experience, knowledge and feelings of learners is usually a good starting point. It focuses attention on the issue or subject; shares material; and can encourage joint working. When it is an area that we need to respond to immediately, it can also give us a little space gather our thoughts and access the material we need.

The third key resource is the internet – which we can either make a whole group activity by using search via a whiteboard or screen, or an individual or small group activity via phones and other devices. One of the good things about this is that it also gives us an opportunity not just to reflect on the subject of the search but also on the process. We can examine, for example, the validity of the source or the terms we are using to search for something.

The fourth great resource is activities. Teachers need to build up a repertoire of different activities that can be used to explore issues and areas (see the section below).

Last, and certainly not least, there are the standard classroom resources – textbooks, handouts and study materials.

As teachers we need to have a range of resources at our fingertips. This can be as simple as carrying around a file of activities, leaflets and handouts or having materials, relevant sites and ebooks on our phones and devices.

Adopting a growth mindset

Last, we need to encourage people to adopt what Carol Dweck (2012) calls a growth mindset. Through researching the characteristics of children who succeed in education (and more generally flourish in life), Dweck found that some people have a fixed mindset and some a growth mindset.

Believing that your qualities are carved in stone— the fixed mindset —creates an urgency to prove yourself over and over. If you have only a certain amount of intelligence, a certain personality, and a certain moral character—well, then you’d better prove that you have a healthy dose of them. It simply wouldn’t do to look or feel deficient in these most basic characteristics…. There’s another mindset in which these traits are not simply a hand you’re dealt and have to live with, always trying to convince yourself and others that you have a royal flush when you’re secretly worried it’s a pair of tens. In this mindset, the hand you’re dealt is just the starting point for development. This growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts. Although people may differ in every which way—in their initial talents and aptitudes, interests, or temperaments—everyone can change and grow through application and experience. (Dweck 2012: 6-7)

The fixed mindset is concerned with outcomes and performance; the growth mindset with getting better at the task.

In her research she found, for example, that students with a fixed mindset when making the transition from elementary school to junior high in the United States, declined – their grades immediately dropped and over the next two years continued to decline. Students with a growth mindset showed an increase in their grades ( op. cit. : 57). The significance of this for teaching is profound. Praising and valuing achievement tends to strengthen the fixed mindset; praising and valuing effort helps to strengthen a growth mindset.

While it is possible to question elements of Dweck’s research and the either/or way in which prescriptions are presented (see Didau 2015), there is particular merit when teaching of adopting a growth mindset (and encouraging it in others). It looks to change and development rather than proving outselves.

Structuring interventions and making use of different methods

One of the key things that research into the processes of teaching and educating tells us is that learners tend to like structure; they want to know the shape of a session or intervention and what it is about. They also seem to like variety, and changes in the pace of the work (e.g. moving from something quite intense to something free flowing).

It is also worth going back to the dictionary definitions – and the origins of the word ‘teach’. What we find here are some hints of what Geoff Petty (2009) has talked about as ‘teacher-centred’ methods (as against active methods and student-centred methods).

If we ask learners about their experiences and judgements, one of things that comes strongly through the research in this area is that students overwhelming prefer group discussion, games and simulations and activities like drama, artwork and experiments. At the bottom of this list come analysis, theories, essays and lectures (see Petty 2009: 139-141). However, there is not necessarily a connection between what people enjoy doing and what produces learning.

Schoolteachers may use all of these methods – but so might sports workers and instructors, youth ministers, community development workers and social pedagogues. Unlike schoolteachers, informal educators like these are not having to follow a curriculum for much of their time, nor teach content to pass exams. As such they are able to think more holistically and to think of themselves as facilitators of learning. This means:

Focusing on the active methods in the central column; Caring about people’s needs, experiences and feeling; Looking for teachable moments when then can make inputs often along the lines of the first column (teacher-centred methods); and Encouraging people to learn for themselves i.e. take on projects, to read and study, and to learn independently and be self-directed (student-centred methods).

In an appendix to this piece we look at some key activities of teaching and provide practical guidance. [See key teaching activities ]

What does good teaching look like?

What one person sees as good teaching can easily be seen as bad by another. Here we are going to look at what the Ofsted (2015) framework for inspection says. However, before we go there it is worth going back to what Paul Hirst argued back in 1975 and how we are defining teaching here. Our definition was:

Teaching is the process of attending to people’s needs, experiences and feelings, and making specific interventions to help them learn particular things.

We are looking at teaching as a specific process – part of what we do as educators, animators and pedagogues. Ofsted is looking at something rather different.  They are grouping together teaching, learning and assessment – and adding in some other things around the sort of outcomes they want to see. That said, it is well worth looking at this list as the thinking behind it does impact on a lot of the work we do.

Inspectors will make a judgement on the effectiveness of teaching, learning and assessment by evaluating the extent to which: teachers, practitioners and other staff have consistently high expectations of what each child or learner can achieve, including the most able and the most disadvantaged teachers, practitioners and other staff have a secure understanding of the age group they are working with and have relevant subject knowledge that is detailed and communicated well to children and learners assessment information is gathered from looking at what children and learners already know, understand and can do and is informed by their parents/previous providers as appropriate assessment information is used to plan appropriate teaching and learning strategies, including to identify children and learners who are falling behind in their learning or who need additional support, enabling children and learners to make good progress and achieve well except in the case of the very young, children and learners understand how to improve as a result of useful feedback from staff and, where relevant, parents, carers and employers understand how learners should improve and how they can contribute to this engagement with parents, carers and employers helps them to understand how children and learners are doing in relation to the standards expected and what they need to do to improve equality of opportunity and recognition of diversity are promoted through teaching and learning where relevant, English, mathematics and other skills necessary to function as an economically active member of British society and globally are promoted through teaching and learning.

We see some things that many will not disagree with like having high expectations of learners, knowing what the needs of the group may be, having expertise in the area being taught; recogniting diversity and having a concern for equality of opportunity; and so on. We may also see the role that assessment plays in reinforcing learning and helping to shape future learning. However, there are things we may disagree with. Perhaps more importantly there are all sorts of things missing here. For example, why is there an emphasis on economic activity as against social, religious and political participation? Another issue, for many of you reading this, is possibly the way in which little account is made of the extent to which learners take responsibility for their own learning. They are encouraged to contribute to learning but not own it.

Good teaching is rather more than technique according to Parker J. Palmer . Good teaching, he says, ‘comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher’ (Palmer 1998: 11). It is the way we are experienced, our enthusiasm, our care, our knowledge, our interest in, and concern for, people that is the key to whether we are felt to be good teachers. As Jackie Beere (2012) and others have argued we need to be present as people in the classroom or learning environment.

This is not to say that technique isn’t important. It is. We need to be skilled at scaffolding learning; creating relationships and environments for learning; and catching teaching moments. It is just that these skills need to be employed by someone who can be respected, is experienced as real and is wise.

In this piece we have made a plea to explore teaching as a process rather than something that is usually approached as the thinking and activity associated with a particular role – the school teacher. As has been argued elsewhere a significant amount of what those called school teachers do is difficult to classify as education (see What is education? ). Even the most informal of educators will find themselves teaching. They may well work hard at building and facilitating environments where people can explore, relate and learn. However, extending or deepening that exploration often leads to short, or not so short bursts of teaching or instructing. For example, as sports coaches or outdoor educators we may be both trying to develop teamwork and build particular skills or capacities. As a specialist or religious educators we might be seeking to give information, or introduce ideas that need some explanation. These involve moments of teaching or instructing. Once we accept this then we can hopefully begin to recognize that school teachers have a lot to learn from other teachers – and vice versa.

We also need to unhook ‘pedagogy’ from school teaching within English language discussions – and to connect it with the tradition of didactics. One of the problems with the false link of school teaching to pedagogy is that it is impairing a proper discussion of pedagogy. However, that may change a little in the UK at least with the development of professional standards for social pedagogy and the emergence of graduate and post-graduate study in the area.

Further reading and references

Check out the Teaching and Learning Toolkit . The Educational Endowment Foundation has produced a very accessible review of the evidence concerning different things that schools do. Many of the things that schools do have little or no evidence to support them e.g. streaming and setting, insisting on school uniform, using performance related pay. Some things are very productive like giving feedback; teaching specific strategies to set goals, and monitor and evaluate academic development; peer tutoring; and early years’ intervention.

Key teaching activities . This infed page outlines 9 key activities and why they are central to the process of teaching.

Alber, R. (2014). 6 Scaffolding Strategies to Use With Your Students, Eductopia . [ http://www.edutopia.org/blog/scaffolding-lessons-six-strategies-rebecca-alber . Retrieved February 9, 2016].

BBC Active (2010). Methods of Differentiation in the Classroom .   London: Pearson Education .  [ http://www.bbcactive.com/BBCActiveIdeasandResources/MethodsofDifferentiationintheClassroom.aspx . Retrieved: January 31, 2016]

Beere, J. (2012). The Perfect Ofsted Lesson Bancyfelin: Independent Thinking Press.

Bruner, J. S. (1960). The Process of Education . Cambridge MA.: Harvard University Press.

Bruner, J. S. (1961). The act of discovery. Harvard Educational Review , 31, 21-32.

Bruner, J. S. (1966). Toward a Theory of Instruction , Cambridge, MA.: Belkapp Press.

Bruner, J. (1973) Going Beyond the Information Given , New York: Norton.

Bruner, J. S. (1978). The role of dialogue in language acquisition. In A. Sinclair, R., J. Jarvelle, and W. J.M. Levelt (eds.) The Child’s Concept of Language. New York: Springer-Verlag.

Bruner, J. S. (1996). The Culture of Education . Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press.

Capel, S., Leask, M. and Turner T. (eds.) (2013). Learning to teach in the secondary school. A companion to school experience . 6e. Abingdon: Routledge.

Castle, E. B. (1961). Ancient Education and Today . Harmondsworth: Pelican.

Coe, R. et. al. (2014). What makes great teaching. Review of the underpinning research. London: The Sutton Trust. [ http://www.suttontrust.com/researcharchive/great-teaching/ . Retrieved December 20, 2014].

Covington, M. V. (2000). ‘Goal theory, motivation and school achievement: An integrative review’, Annual Review of Psychology , 51:171-200.

Cowley, S. (2011). Teaching for Dummies . Chichester: John Wiley.

Davey, A. G. (1972) ‘Education or indoctrination’, Journal of Moral Education 2 (1):5-15.

Department for Education and Skills. (2004a). Pedagogy and Practice: Teaching and Learning in the Secondary School, Unit 6 Modelling . London: Department for Education and Skills. [ http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110809101133/http://wsassets.s3.amazonaws.com/ws/nso/pdf/c60e7378e118be7f7d22d7660f85e2d8.pdf . Retrieved: February 25, 2016]

Department for Education and Skills. (2004b). Pedagogy and Practice: Teaching and Learning in the Secondary School, Unit 7 Questioning . London: Department for Education and Skills. [ http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110809101133/http://wsassets.s3.amazonaws.com/ws/nso/pdf/027c076de06e59ae10aeb9689a8a1c04.pdf . Retrieved: February 25, 2016]

Department for Education and Skills. (2004c). Pedagogy and Practice: Teaching and Learning in the Secondary School, Unit 8 Explaining . London: Department for Education and Skills. [ http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110809101133/http://nsonline.org.uk/node/96982?uc=force_uj . Retrieved: February 25, 2016].

Department for Education and Skills. (2004d). Pedagogy and Practice: Teaching and Learning in the Secondary School, Unit 10 Group work . London: Department for Education and Skills. [ http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110809101133/http://nsonline.org.uk/downloader/100963eebbb37c81ada6214ed97be548.pdf . Retrieved: February 25, 2016]

Department for Education and Skills. (2004e). Pedagogy and Practice: Teaching and Learning in the Secondary School, Unit 11 Active engagement techniques . London: Department for Education and Skills. [ http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110809101133/http://nsonline.org.uk/node/96205?uc=force_uj . Retrieved: February 25, 2016].

Department for Education and Skills. (2004f). Pedagogy and Practice: Teaching and Learning in the Secondary School, Unit 12 Assessment for learning . London: Department for Education and Skills. [ http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110809101133/http://nsonline.org.uk/downloader/2deff878cffd2cdcd59a61df29e73105.pdf . Retrieved: February 25, 2016].

Didau, D. (2015). What if everything you knew about education was wrong? Bancyfelin: Crown House Publishing.

Dweck, C. S. (2012). Mindset . London: Robinson.

Gervis and Capel (2013). ‘Motivating pupils’ in S. Capel e t. al. (eds.) Learning to teach in the secondary school. A companion to school experience . 6e. Abingdon: Routledge.

Great Schools Partnership (2013). ‘Differentiation’, S. Abbott (ed.) The Glossary of Education Reform . [ http://edglossary.org/differentiation/ . Retrieved February 10, 2016].

Great Schools Partnership (2015). ‘Scaffolding’, S. Abbott (ed.) The Glossary of Education Reform . [ http://edglossary.org/scaffolding/ . Retrieved February 10, 2016].

Hattie, J. (2009). Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement . Abingdon: Routledge.

Hamilton, D. (1999). ‘The pedagogic paradox (or why no didactics in England?)’, Pedagogy, Culture & Society , 7:1, 135-152. [ http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/14681369900200048 . Retrieved: February 10, 2012].

Havinghurst, R. J. (1953). Human Development and Education . London: Longman, Green.

Herbart, J. F (1892). The Science of Education: its general principles deduced from its aim and the aesthetic revelation of the world , translated by H. M. & E. Felkin. London: Swann Sonnenschein.

Herbart, J. F., Felkin, H. M., & Felkin, E. (1908). Letter and lectures on education: By Johann Friedrich Herbart ; Translated from the German, and edited with an introduction by Henry M. and Emmie Felkin and a preface by Oscar Browning. London: Sonnenschein.

Hirst, P. (1975). What is teaching? In R. S. Peters (ed.) The Philosophy of Education . London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Jeffs, T. and Smith, M. K. (2018) Informal Education .London: Educational Heretics.

Kant, I. (1900). Kant on education (Ueber pa?dagogik) . Translated by A. Churton. Boston: D.C. Heath. [ http://files.libertyfund.org/files/356/0235_Bk.pdf . Accessed October 10, 2012].

Kansanen, P. (1999). ‘The “Deutsche Didadtik” and the American research on teaching’ in B. Hudson et. al. (eds.) Didadtik-Fachdidadtik as science(s) of the teaching profession ? Umeå Sweden: TNTEE Publications. [ tntee.umu.se/publications/v2n1/pdf/2_1complete.pdf . Retrieved: February 26, 2016].

Kirschenbaum, H. and Henderson, V. L. (eds.) (1990). The Carl Rogers Reader . London: Constable.

Lieberman, M. D. (2013). Social. Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect . Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Nuthall, G. A. (2007). The hidden lives of learners . Wellington, New Zealand: New Zealand Council for Educational Research.

Ofsted (2015). The common inspection framework: education, skills and early years. London: Ofsted. [ https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/461767/The_common_inspection_framework_education_skills_and_early_years.pdf . Retrieved May 28, 2018]

Palmer, P. J. (1998). The Courage to Teach. Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher’s life . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Petty, G. (2009). Teaching Today. A practical guide . Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes.

Smith, M. K. (2012). ‘What is pedagogy?’, The encyclopedia of pedagogy and informal education. [ https://infed.org/mobi/what-is-pedagogy/ . Retrieved: February 25, 2012].

Smith, M. K. (2015). What is education? A definition and discussion. The encyclopedia of pedagogy and informal education . [ https://infed.org/mobi/what-is-education-a-definition-and-discussion/ . Retrieved: February 25, 2016].

Snook, I.  (1972). Concepts of Indoctrination: Philosophical Essays . London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Wilson, L. (2009) Practical Teaching. A guide to PTLLS and DTLLS . Andover: Cengage.

Wood, D. J., Bruner, J. S., & Ross, G. (1976). The role of tutoring in problem solving. Journal of Child Psychiatry and Psychology , 17(2), 89-100.

Wragg, E. C. and Brown, G. (2001). Questioning in the Secondary School . London: RoutledgeFalmer.

Young, N. H. (1987). ‘Paidagogos: The Social Setting of a Pauline Metaphor’, Novum Testamentum 29: 150.

Zwozdiak-Myers, P. and Capel, S. (2013). Communicating with Pupils in Capel, S., Leask, M. and Turner T. (eds.) Learning to teach in the secondary school. A companion to school experience . 6e. Abingdon: Routledge.

Acknowledgements

The section ‘teaching, pedagogy and didactics’ draws heavily on another piece written by Mark K Smith for infed.org ( see Smith 2012 ).

The ACE diagram is taken from Smith, M. K. (forthcoming). Working with young people in difficult times (Chapter 1). https://infed.org/mobi/working-with-young-people-in-difficult-times/

Picture:   Group project by Brande Jackson . Flickr | ccbyncnd2 licence

How to cite this piece : Smith, M. K. (2018). ‘What is teaching?’ in The encyclopedia of pedagogy and informal education . [ https://infed.org/mobi/what-is-teaching/ . Retrieved: insert date].

© Mark K Smith 2016, 2018.

Last Updated on August 24, 2020 by infed.org

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[2023] What Is Your Teaching Methodology? A Comprehensive Guide

Marti

  • August 4, 2023
  • Instructional Coaching

Quick Answer: Your teaching methodology refers to the strategies and techniques you use to deliver instruction and facilitate learning in the classroom. It encompasses your approach to lesson planning, classroom management, assessment, and student engagement. The most effective teaching methodologies are those that are student-centered, promote critical thinking, and cater to diverse learning styles. Developing a well-rounded teaching methodology is essential for creating a positive and productive learning environment for your students.

Table of Contents

  • Quick Answer

Quick Tips and Facts

Definitions.

  • Direct Instruction
  • Inquiry-Based Learning
  • Cooperative Learning
  • Differentiated Instruction
  • Project-Based Learning
  • Flipped Classroom

The Role of Teaching Methodologies in Society

The role of institutions in shaping teaching methodologies, factors of educational success, education studies, history of teaching methodologies, what is your teaching methodology examples, what is your teaching methodology answer, which teaching methodology is best, what is your learning methodology, how do teaching methodologies impact student learning outcomes, recommended links, reference links.

  • Your teaching methodology plays a crucial role in student learning and engagement.
  • Effective teaching methodologies are student-centered and promote critical thinking.
  • It is important to adapt your teaching methodology to cater to diverse learning styles.
  • Incorporating various teaching methodologies can enhance student understanding and retention.
  • Continuous professional development can help you stay updated with the latest teaching methodologies.

Teaching Methodology: The strategies and techniques used by educators to deliver instruction and facilitate learning in the classroom.

Pedagogy: The theory and practice of teaching, including the principles, methods, and techniques used to educate students.

Andragogy: The theory and practice of teaching adult learners, focusing on self-directed learning and problem-solving.

Types of Teaching Methodologies

1. Direct Instruction

Direct instruction is a teacher-centered approach that involves explicit teaching of knowledge and skills. It typically includes lectures, demonstrations, and guided practice. This methodology is effective for introducing new concepts and building foundational knowledge.

  • Provides clear and structured instruction.
  • Allows for efficient delivery of content.
  • Suitable for large class sizes.
  • May not cater to individual learning styles.
  • Limited opportunities for student engagement.
  • Relies heavily on teacher-led activities.

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2. Inquiry-Based Learning

Inquiry-based learning encourages students to explore and discover knowledge through questioning, investigation, and problem-solving. It promotes critical thinking, collaboration, and independent learning.

  • Fosters curiosity and a love for learning.
  • Develops critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
  • Encourages student engagement and ownership of learning.
  • Requires careful planning and facilitation.
  • May take longer to cover content.
  • Students may need guidance in developing effective inquiry skills.

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3. Cooperative Learning

Cooperative learning involves students working together in small groups to achieve shared learning goals. It promotes collaboration, communication, and the development of social skills.

  • Encourages teamwork and cooperation.
  • Enhances communication and social skills.
  • Provides opportunities for peer learning and support.
  • Requires effective group management strategies.
  • Individual accountability may be a challenge.
  • May require additional time for group work.

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4. Differentiated Instruction

Differentiated instruction involves tailoring instruction to meet the diverse needs of students. It recognizes that learners have different learning styles, abilities, and interests, and aims to provide targeted support and challenge.

  • Addresses individual student needs and learning styles.
  • Promotes inclusivity and equity in the classroom.
  • Enhances student engagement and motivation.
  • Requires careful planning and preparation.
  • May require additional resources and materials.
  • Assessing and tracking individual progress can be challenging.

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5. Project-Based Learning

Project-based learning involves students working on extended projects that require them to apply knowledge and skills to real-world problems or challenges. It promotes collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity.

  • Engages students in authentic and meaningful learning experiences.
  • Encourages creativity and innovation.
  • Requires careful planning and scaffolding.
  • May require additional time for project completion.
  • Assessing individual contributions can be challenging.

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6. Flipped Classroom

The flipped classroom model involves students learning new content independently outside of class through videos or readings, and using class time for collaborative activities, discussions, and application of knowledge.

  • Allows for personalized and self-paced learning.
  • Maximizes class time for active learning and application.
  • Facilitates student-centered and inquiry-based approaches.
  • Requires access to technology and resources outside of class.
  • May require additional planning and preparation.
  • Students may need guidance in navigating self-directed learning.

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Teaching methodologies play a crucial role in shaping the future of society by equipping students with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they need to succeed. They contribute to the development of critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, and collaboration skills, which are essential for individuals to thrive in an ever-changing world.

Effective teaching methodologies also foster a love for learning, promote social and emotional development, and help students become responsible and engaged citizens. By incorporating student-centered approaches, teaching methodologies empower learners to take ownership of their education and become lifelong learners.

Educational institutions, such as schools and universities, play a significant role in shaping teaching methodologies. They establish guidelines, curricula, and assessment frameworks that influence teaching practices. Institutions also provide professional development opportunities for educators to enhance their teaching skills and stay updated with current research and best practices.

It is important for institutions to create a supportive and collaborative environment that encourages innovation and experimentation with teaching methodologies. By embracing diverse teaching approaches, institutions can cater to the unique needs of their students and promote inclusive and effective education.

Several factors contribute to educational success, and teaching methodologies are a crucial component. Here are some key factors that influence student learning outcomes:

  • Effective Instruction : Well-planned and engaging instruction that aligns with learning objectives and incorporates research-based teaching strategies.
  • Teacher-Student Relationship : Positive and supportive relationships between teachers and students that foster trust, motivation, and a sense of belonging.
  • Classroom Environment : A safe, inclusive, and well-managed classroom environment that promotes active engagement and collaboration.
  • Student Engagement : Active participation and involvement in learning activities that stimulate curiosity and promote deep understanding.
  • Assessment and Feedback : Regular and meaningful assessment practices that provide feedback to students and inform instructional decisions.
  • Parental Involvement : Collaborative partnerships between teachers, parents, and families that support student learning and well-being.

By considering these factors and implementing effective teaching methodologies, educators can create an optimal learning environment that maximizes student success.

Education studies encompass research and scholarly work on various aspects of teaching and learning. They explore the effectiveness of different teaching methodologies, the impact of educational policies, and the factors that influence student achievement.

Education studies provide valuable insights into the best practices and strategies for effective teaching. Educators can benefit from staying informed about current research in the field to continuously improve their teaching methodologies and enhance student learning outcomes.

Teaching methodologies have evolved over time in response to changing educational philosophies, societal needs, and advancements in technology. Here is a brief overview of the history of teaching methodologies:

  • Traditional Methods : In the early years of formal education, teaching was often based on rote memorization and direct instruction.
  • Progressive Education : In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, progressive educators like John Dewey advocated for student-centered approaches that focused on hands-on learning and real-world experiences.
  • Behaviorism : In the mid-20th century, behaviorism influenced teaching methodologies, emphasizing the use of rewards and punishments to shape student behavior.
  • Cognitive Revolution : In the 1960s and 1970s, cognitive psychology led to a shift towards constructivist approaches that emphasized active learning, problem-solving, and critical thinking.
  • 21st Century Approaches : In recent years, teaching methodologies have embraced technology-enhanced learning, personalized instruction, and the integration of 21st-century skills.

Today, educators draw from a diverse range of teaching methodologies to meet the needs of their students and create engaging and effective learning experiences.

is your teaching methodology Teacher Strategies

Teaching methodologies can vary based on the subject, grade level, and individual teaching style. Here are some examples of teaching methodologies:

  • Direct Instruction : Lectures, demonstrations, and guided practice.
  • Inquiry-Based Learning : Questioning, investigation, and problem-solving.
  • Cooperative Learning : Group work and collaboration.
  • Differentiated Instruction : Tailoring instruction to meet individual student needs.
  • Project-Based Learning : Extended projects that apply knowledge to real-world problems.
  • Flipped Classroom : Independent learning outside of class and collaborative activities in class.

As educators, our teaching methodology is a combination of various approaches that cater to the diverse learning needs of our students. We believe in creating a student-centered learning environment that promotes critical thinking, collaboration, and active engagement. Our methodology includes elements of inquiry-based learning, cooperative learning, and differentiated instruction to foster a love for learning and empower students to become lifelong learners.

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as the best teaching methodology depends on various factors such as the subject, grade level, and individual student needs. However, effective teaching methodologies are those that are student-centered, promote critical thinking, and cater to diverse learning styles. It is important for educators to adapt their teaching methodologies based on the specific needs of their students and the learning outcomes they aim to achieve.

Our learning methodology is centered around active engagement, critical thinking, and collaboration. We believe in providing students with opportunities to explore, question, and discover knowledge through hands-on activities, discussions, and problem-solving. Our methodology encourages students to take ownership of their learning, develop 21st-century skills, and become lifelong learners.

Teaching methodologies have a significant impact on student learning outcomes. Effective teaching methodologies promote student engagement, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills, which are essential for deep understanding and knowledge retention. By catering to diverse learning styles and providing opportunities for active learning, teaching methodologies enhance student motivation, confidence, and overall academic achievement.

Developing a well-rounded teaching methodology is essential for creating a positive and productive learning environment for your students. By incorporating student-centered approaches, promoting critical thinking, and catering to diverse learning styles, you can enhance student engagement, foster a love for learning, and empower students to succeed academically and beyond. Remember to continuously explore and adapt your teaching methodologies to meet the evolving needs of your students and stay updated with the latest research and best practices.

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Marti

Meet Marti, a seasoned educator with a rich background in tutoring, communication, and social work, who contributes her invaluable insights and strategies to Teacher Strategies. Marti’s journey in the educational sector began during her university years, where she started as a tutor. This role not only fueled her passion for teaching but also provided her with an opportunity to develop and refine her educational techniques. Holding a degree in Communication, Marti excels in creating engaging and effective learning environments by utilizing clear, impactful communication strategies. Her ability to convey complex concepts in an understandable and relatable manner has made her a favorite among students and educators alike.

In addition to her prowess in communication, Marti also holds a degree in Social Work, which has endowed her with a deep understanding of the diverse backgrounds and challenges faced by students. This unique combination of skills allows her to approach teaching with empathy, patience, and an unwavering commitment to inclusivity. Marti believes that education should be accessible to all, and she incorporates principles of social work into her teaching to support and uplift students from all walks of life.

On Teacher Strategies, Marti shares her innovative approaches to education, drawing from her extensive experience in tutoring, her expertise in communication, and her background in social work. Her articles provide educators with practical tips and strategies to enhance their teaching methods, foster a positive and inclusive classroom environment, and effectively communicate with their students. Marti’s dedication to making a difference in the lives of students shines through in her contributions to the site, making her an invaluable resource for teachers looking to enrich their professional practice and impact their students’ lives positively.

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teaching methods meaning essay

  • Teaching & learning
  •    The Complete List of Teaching Methods and Strategies

teaching methods meaning essay

Apply as a tutor to teach students online from anywhere in the world.

The complete list of teaching methods and strategies.

  • Chloe Daniel
  • Published On: September 11 ,2021

The Complete List of Teaching Methods and Strategies

Teachers are the main asset of a country because they are nation builders. Teachers and education systems play a vital role in building an individual’s character, and great teachers have set examples of changing their student’s lives. Therefore, one country should invest more in its educational institutes and teachers to succeed. You can find an endless amount of stories about how appropriate teaching methods and strategies have brought remarkable changes in a student’s life. The art of teaching matters a lot. To be a successful teacher, one should know all the possible teaching methods and strategies and use them correctly because students learn better when their teacher knows which teaching method will engage the students more.

Bertrand Russell has summed up the whole process in his quote as:

‘More important than the curriculum is the question of the methods of teaching and the spirit in which the teaching is given.’

After reading this blog, you will understand the difference between teaching methods and strategies, different teaching methodologies and strategies, their advantages and disadvantages, and how a teacher should prepare himself before the class lecture.

So let’s get started.

Difference between teaching methods and strategies

Methods and strategies are two different terms, but both are essential to make a class full of students of different caliber and understand the same subject. The method is a process, procedure, or way something is done or implementing a plan. While on the other hand, strategy is the goal, set of actions, or plans to achieve one aim or something. Let me clarify it with an example: strategy is how a teacher makes a whole year’s plan to complete a specific book or syllabus, and the method is how that teacher delivered the lecture or which way the teacher selects to do a task.

And there is a list of teaching methods and strategies acquired by the teachers or instructors that you will read below. The ideal teaching method is the one in which the learning of students occurs the most. Teaching and learning are considered the two sides of a coin, and for completing the teaching side, teachers should consider all the teaching strategies and methods.

Related Read:   Hacks to Help Students Beat Procrastination

Types of teaching methods

The way of teaching is categorized into different types of teaching methods adopted by the teachers, and most of them are mentioned below:

types-of-teaching-methods

Teacher centered method

It is the method where the teacher is the only expert or an authority figure for the learners or students. They rely on the expert and receive knowledge to achieve positive grades in the end exams or assessments. The lecture method is used in the teacher-centered method, and it requires very little involvement of students or learners during the teaching process. It is also called a closed-ended method if the involvement of learners or students is zero.

Learner-centered method

In this teaching method, the teachers play a dual role. They act as learners and teachers; they learn new things every day while delivering the lecture. The learner-centered method is beneficial for both teacher and the student. The best way to implement this method is to follow the class’s discussion, inquiry-based, or discovery strategies.

Content-focused methods

Among different teaching methodologies, the teacher can use the content-focused method when the content, set of information, or skill taught by the teachers or experts cannot be changed or altered. It means the content to be taught is so important or unimpeachable that both the learner and the teacher have to fit in the subject without being critical about the content.

Interactive or participative method

It is the type of learning method that is considered beneficial for both the learners and the teachers. The teacher’s responsibility is to explain the key points or the importance of following the interactive or participating method during class in general so that students may not resist following it. Many strategies are used in this teaching method like writing exercises, think-pair-share, debate, problem-based learning, or situation analysis.

The lecture method

One of the most commonly used formal or semiformal teaching methods is the lecture method. Teachers mostly use this method for a large class. In this method, the teachers pick a topic and explain its basic definitions, facts, events, principles and clarify the whole point of the subject or topic with relevant examples and problems. The students are allowed to take notes and ask questions at the end of a lecture, and the master of the subject has to answer them all. Thus, in this method, a teacher is the main role model for the large class, and it has a strong mastery of that specific subject.

The discussion method

The discussion method can only be followed when the teacher is highly skilled and disciplined. Because in this two-way communication method, students are prepared to listen to their fellow’s point of view and exchange ideas. The role of a teacher is to introduce disciplined group discussion techniques among students and clear the concept of the topic meanwhile. This method is mainly used to utilize the knowledge, experience, and creativity of each student. When the whole discussion ends, the teacher corrects the mistakes and clears the debatable concepts.

The study assignment method

It is one of those teaching methods that promote active learning. In this method, the teacher or an instructor assigns a task to students before the class. It can be a book or research paper reading, project analysis, or any relevant material review. This method enhances the research skill abilities of students, and the discussion part in class makes the teacher and students know different points of view of each other.

The tutorial method

It is a teaching method that can only be used when a teacher or an instructor teaches one student and works directly. This method is also known as  online tutoring , and it demands more money and time, unlike other teaching methods. Those who follow such methods know the safety and active participation of both learner and the reader. The tutorial teaching methods are user-friendly. The students can skip or restart the lesson any time, leave the tutorial in between, or get access to it when they feel like learning or motivated. Mostly these are the recorded lectures.

The seminar method

The seminar method is one of the costly teaching methods used by the experts or teachers to guide or educate the students about a certain topic or project. In this method, the instructors make groups of students work on their projects and then ask them to exchange the information or techniques used while completing the project. Highly professional; or competent teachers must arrange a seminar method and then evaluate the study, research paper, or project.

The demonstration method

The demonstration method is the kind of teaching method in which the teacher has to perform something or an operation to make its learner understand deeply and clearly. It can be the functioning of a tool or equipment, teaching troubleshooting, performing a certain job or an operation or anything. This teaching method can only be proposed when the instructor explains the why, how, where, what, and when. If the highly competent teacher will choose the method and rehearse well before teaching, it will save time, and the clarity of operation will help the students perform right. The demonstration teaching method is mostly used in laboratories.

Direct teaching

The direct teaching method is commonly used in all institutions as it makes the teacher or an instructor directly communicate with their student within the school or institution premises. This method lessens the communication barrier between students and the teacher. It focuses on the immediate teaching process, and the students are allowed to ask questions or give suggestions in between, with certain time limitations.

Online teaching method

One of the most flexible teaching methods is the  online teaching  method. The teacher and the learner can offer a flexible timescale, which is unrestricted to time and place. Both can communicate with each other via email or any other digital support. The access to recorded lectures after the online session helps the students to listen to them later and understand better. The advancement of technology has turned learners into online learning in the last few decades.

Online and private tutors  have their way of teaching concepts within a certain time limit. Students with jobs mostly use this teaching method to learn during their free time and achieve their desired goals without moving places.

Independent study or practice

Some teachers or an instructor follow the independent study or practice teaching method because this improves the  self-learning  or self-study abilities of the students. In such methods, teachers mostly assign the same task to each student to practice or study it from home on their own, and then the other day, teachers evaluate the task and solve the students’ queries.

Types of teaching strategies

Before moving to the teaching strategies, I would like to add a quote from Benjamin Franklin, which says:

‘Tell me and I forgot. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.’

And this is how the teaching strategies work on students.

TYPES OF TEACHING STRATEGIES

Classroom management

The very first strategy to engage all the students of a class is its management. The etiquette of a class is matters, and so does the management of the whole class. If you start listing down the classroom management strategies, the list will go on because it has its own set of techniques and different strategies to keep the class managed. Before moving to the teaching method, the teacher or an instructor should acknowledge the whole class management rules in dos and don’ts.

Develop an atmosphere of learning

The atmosphere of learning matters the most because no matter how well the teacher or an instructor delivers the lecture, it’s futile if the atmosphere does not support that all students are willing to learn or excited to start the new chapter or topic. So, to develop a learning atmosphere, the expert should get the whole class’s attention and inform them of the facts and purpose of reading the lecture. The more they will show interest in learning a subject, the more they will learn.

Celebrate achievements

Teachers should assign certain achievement levels with a reward to keep the whole class motivated to learn and do better. And the reward could be anything like the winning student will display their work in the school assembly or get to read the whole chapter and get candy from their teacher in return. The celebration can be small or big, it doesn’t matter, but the outcomes of celebrating success will make huge positive differences in a student’s life.

This teaching strategy is mostly used by the primary or secondary level student teachers to motivate and build students’ confidence. Teachers who make use of this strategy more often prepare the future winners. There is no failure. Only feedback. – Robert Allen

Flexible seating

The appropriate seating in the classroom that keeps the students comfortable is the utmost teaching strategy. Here the flexible seating of both the teacher and the learner matters. Institutions of all levels should follow many  flexible seating ideas . Because if the students are sitting uncomfortably, then they will not be able to focus on the lecture.

It is more of an institution’s duty to take care of students’ sitting comfort and posture because students spend a lot of their day at schools or colleges.

Active learning

Active learning strategy is one of those strategies that not only help the students but the teachers too. The discussion break between the lecture and asking students to submit the clearest point after the lecture keeps the whole class attentive, and it’s called active learning. Their participation makes the teacher understand which part of the lecture has gotten more attention. Such smart tactics or quick questions in between lectures make the student learn better and faster.

Focus on student’s interests

When teachers focus on a student’s interests, it helps them understand the nature of their students way better, and ultimately, they follow the teaching method that can be more effective. And the constructive feedback on what students have done and what they have not mastered helped them determine how they could improve that mastery. This strategy makes the bond of student and teacher strong and improves the learning environment.

‘There is no failure. Only feedback. ’–Robert Allen

Differentiated instruction

One of the most useful teaching strategies is differentiated instruction. In this strategy, the teacher assigns tasks to each student based on abilities and interests. Doing so the students who are struggling will get the proper support or help, and the students with academic skills or capabilities will be assigned tasks that match their caliber. It ensures the dedicated behavior of teachers after knowing everyone’s learning gaps, and no student remains left behind.

Personalized learning

Teachers should focus on personalized learning strategy a bit too much. Students should review their content once learned. Sometimes, students’ queries remain unanswered and make all the students master their studies. Teachers should assign tasks to each individual according to their learning capability and style. This teaching strategy will help students develop reliability, motivation, self-learning, self-advocacy, and self-reflective abilities.

Peer teaching method

The teacher should follow the peer teaching strategy sometimes. It is being said that ‘to teach is to learn twice,’ which is the same case with this strategy. Peer teaching has its advantages and disadvantages, but it is worth pursuing a disciplined class atmosphere as it grows the student’s confidence and enhances communication skills.

“The best answer to the question, ‘what is the most effective teaching method?’ depends on the goal, the student, the content, and the teacher. But the next best answer is, ‘Students teaching other students’.” Wilbert J. MacKeachie

Response to intervention RTI

RTI, or Response to intervention, is one of the general teaching strategies that should be considered from day one of teaching. This strategy is to find out the learning and behavior needs of the students. Teachers should start the intervention process early in each class because the earlier the teacher understands the RTI strategies, the easier it will be to follow a better teaching method.

Project-based learning

Experienced teachers agree on the importance of getting students to recap the information learned during the lesson. And when it comes to project-based learning, it is important to educate students about what they need to learn to complete the assigned project. It is also crucial to get them to engage with the content actively. So, to foster their engagement, it is important to promote project-based learning in groups. Teachers should make the groups of students quite carefully and selectively as each student’s learning style and ability vary.

Classroom technology

Classroom technology is the best teaching strategy a teacher can use to keep the whole class engaged. This strategy can be used at any level or year of education because students get excited when they have to experience something new for the first time. Video lessons, virtual trips in geography or history class, animations to help kids learn basic skills, and many more adapt to this teaching strategy. Moreover, smart whiteboards, projectors should be used in classrooms.

Blended teaching and learning

In this modern era, teachers should go for a blended teaching strategy. It is a blend of  online and offline teaching  and uses digital strategies. Some students hesitate to speak up in the class, so blended learning works best for them. They contribute to an online class. Teachers like the blended teaching and learning strategy because it ensures that all voices are heard.

Humor in class

The use of humor should be one of the important teaching strategies, as dry lectures make the students feel bored and tiring and ultimately makes them lose interest. In such cases, a pinch of humor will not harm anyone. But teachers should be smart enough to quickly change the atmosphere of class back to lessons from fun. A comfortable and cozy class environment captures learners’ attention and results in better understanding and active learning.

Inquiry-based teaching

Interactive teaching enables students to be instructed by actively involving them in their learning process through regular teacher-student interaction, student-student interaction. And taking some time out of the class for inquiry-based questions helps improve students’ life skills like communication and problem-solving. The quality of questions matters a lot, and a teacher should ask the students to inquire with subject-based questions or other appropriate questions. However, the inquiry-based teaching strategy has guided inquiry, structured inquiry, open inquiry, and confirmation inquiry. These all promote the use of long-term memory of both teachers and learners.

Class gamification

It is observed that lessons learned while playing stays long in the student’s mind. This teaching strategy keeps the students more engaged and active in the class. Play and learn techniques should be in each teacher’s teaching method list. Age requirement shouldn’t be the barrier because class Gamification builds and improves the essential skills. A teacher can play any games to teach the basics like mind games, math multiplication games, problem-solving games, language learning games like  ESL games , and many more.

Gamification  has a future in education, and teachers or instructors should effectively use this strategy.

Convergent and divergent thinking

One of the main teaching strategies that all teachers should be aware of is two thinking methods: convergent thinking methods and divergent thinking methods. Teachers should educate their students about its difference as convergent thinking means there are multiple ways to reach one solution. On the other hand, the divergent teaching method makes the students learn and understand the base concepts to solve the given question or problem.

If the teachers and students know these differences, learning will be easier and better.

Problem-based learning

One of the essential teaching strategies a teacher or an instructor should follow is problem-based learning. They should prepare a list of problem-based open-ended questions before a class and ask the class to solve them in groups or teams. This technique helps in developing and improving the transferable and teamwork skills of students, respectively.

Media literacy

Students need to be educated about all the things happening around them. Like nowadays, students are very active on social media and get influenced quite easily. It’s the responsibility of the teachers to guide their students and understand what they are consuming from these platforms. Media literacy lets the students critically think and talk about the changes and innovations. Teachers should follow  media literacy activities  to bring out the creative side of students.

Visualization

Introducing visualization in class is the most advanced teaching strategy that institutions and teachers can use to make the students understand the textbook content with visuals and the real world. It lets the students experience the world while sitting in their classrooms. But again, it is just another strategy to keep the class engaged. The teacher has to play the main role, Bill Gates has said it too:

“Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids to work together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important.”

Cooperative learning

Teachers should work on cooperative learning strategies in class, once a week at least. There are many ways to follow this strategy, such as solving mathematical puzzles, quick fraction questions, performing science experiments, short drama sketches, group presentations, or frequently asked question-answer sessions among students of the same class. This teaching strategy improves the verbal skills of students.

Behaviour management

Just like teaching methods, teachers should be acknowledged properly about the behavior management teaching strategy. Mutual respect of teachers and students is important to keep the class’s productive learning and disciplined environment. Institutions or teachers should reward students based on their behavior during class and overall interaction with their teachers and fellow mates. Teachers should be strict with this strategy because a noisy, disturbed, or undisciplined class cannot promote productive learning.

Professional development

Undoubtedly, teaching is a challenging job because you have to deliver the same knowledge to students with different mindsets and caliber simultaneously. It gets exhausting sometimes. To keep the teachers motivated and engaged, they should attend professional development seminars and people in the same field. These will keep the teachers updated about the new teaching tools, technologies, methods, and strategies.

How teacher should prepare for a lecture

Even after understanding the teaching strategies and teaching methods, teachers should prepare themselves before delivering a lecture. Just like a student rehearsing before giving a presentation. Because teachers too are presenting themselves and it is their job to keep the attention of the whole class throughout the lecture. So, to make the lecture qualitative, teachers should keep in mind that the lecture should not be too long as it exhausted the students and lost their attention. The whole theme and the purpose of studying certain topics should be explained before teaching, the teachers should use maximum examples or illustrations to make it easy to understand, usages of approaches and fluency of lecture should match with the student’s existing knowledge, so they relate to it and understand more clearly.

Other than considering these points, the teacher should make notes and rehearse the follow of lecture in advance, checklist the important points, keep all the relevant textbooks, tools, or other things prepared which need to be utilized during the lecture, pick the teaching strategy or teaching method that will go with the topic. Meanwhile, the teacher should also ensure that if all the students can see or hear him clearly, he should use the entire why, how, tell, and show techniques to explain the lecture or the assigned topic.

Lastly, class discipline matters a lot, and teachers should already tell the students to write down the question if any crosses their mind during the lecture, and in the last 15 minutes of discussion, they can ask freely one by one. And it is how the discipline of class and the flow of the lecture will not be disturbed. And if all the students have not got their answers due to a shortage of time or any other reason, it’s the teacher’s responsibility first to solve the queries the other day and then teach a new topic. That’s the complete preparation process of a teacher before delivering a qualitative lecture.

Here we summed up the difference between teaching strategies and teaching methods that all teachers should know. Knowing these teaching methodologies and strategies will make the classrooms a more creative and dynamic place for students to get qualitative education; furthermore, if you are a teacher and learning new teaching strategies or methods from this page, then make sure to use them in your classroom.

In this rapidly changing world, teachers should be given proper guidelines to transform the smart, creative, and tech knowledge into their students. And the personality of the teacher should inspire the students to learn from them and be a better addition to this world. The truth is teaching is the profession that teaches all the other professions, so educational institutions should invest in providing proper guidelines on types of teaching methods and teaching strategies from time to time to keep their teachers updated to the modern world.

Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today. Malcolm X

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What Are Instructional Strategies, and How Should Teachers Use Them?

Different approaches for teaching what they need to learn.

teaching methods meaning essay

Educators throw around the term “instructional strategies” pretty freely. But what exactly does this term mean? How can understanding instructional strategies make you a better teacher? Read on to find out.

What are instructional strategies?

In the simplest of terms, instructional strategies are the methods teachers use to achieve learning objectives. In other words, pretty much every learning activity you can think of is an example of an instructional strategy. They’re also known as teaching strategies and learning strategies.

The more instructional strategies a teacher has in their tool kit, the more they’re able to reach all of their students. Different types of learners respond better to various strategies, and some topics are best taught with one strategy over another. Usually, teachers use a wide array of strategies across a single lesson. This gives all students a chance to play to their strengths and ensures they have a deeper connection to the material.

What are the different types of instructional strategies?

Circle chart showing examples of the five basic types of instructional strategies: direct, indirect, independent, interactive, and experiential

Source: Teaching as Decision Making

There are a lot of different ways of looking at instructional strategies. One of the most common breaks them into five basic types. It’s important to remember that many learning activities fall into more than one of these categories, and teachers rarely use one type of strategy alone. The key is to know when a strategy can be most effective, for the learners or for the learning objective.

For more instructional strategies examples and how to use them, click here .

Direct Instruction

Direct instruction can also be called “teacher-led instruction,” and it’s exactly what it sounds like. The teacher provides the information, while the students watch, listen, and learn. Students may participate by answering questions asked by the teacher or practicing a skill under their supervision. This is a very traditional form of teaching, and one that can be highly effective when you need to provide information or teach specific skills.

  • Examples: Lecture, didactic questioning, demonstration, drill & practice

Learn more: The Direct Instruction Method: A Practical Guide to Effective Teaching

Indirect Instruction

This form of instruction is learner-led and helps develop higher-order thinking skills. Teachers guide and support, but students drive the learning through reading, research, asking questions, formulating ideas and opinions, and more. This method isn’t ideal when you need to teach detailed information or a step-by-step process. Instead, use it to develop critical thinking skills , especially when more than one solution or opinion is valid.

  • Examples: Project-based learning , problem-solving, concept mapping, case studies, reading for meaning

Learn more: Indirect Instruction: Definition & Strategies

Experiential Learning

In experiential learning, students learn by doing. Rather than following a set of instructions or listening to a lecture, they dive right into an activity or experience. Once again, the teacher is a guide, there to answer questions and gently keep learning on track if necessary. At the end, and often throughout, the learners reflect on their experience, drawing conclusions about the skills and knowledge they’ve gained. Experiential learning values the process over the product.

  • Examples: Science experiments , field trips , games, simulations, service learning

Learn more: Experiential Learning at the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning

Interactive Instruction

As you might guess, this strategy is all about interaction between the learners, and often the teacher. The focus is on discussion and sharing. Students hear other viewpoints, talk things out, and help each other learn and understand the material. Teachers can be a part of these discussions, or they can oversee smaller groups or pairings and help guide the interactions as needed. Interactive instruction helps students develop interpersonal skills like listening and observation.

  • Examples: Class or small-group discussion, brainstorming, role-playing, think-pair-share, debate

Learn more: Interactive Methods of Teaching and Learning

Independent Learning

Also called independent study, this form of learning is almost entirely student-led. Teachers take a backseat role, providing materials, answering questions, and guiding or supervising. It’s an excellent way to allow students to dive deep into topics that really interest them, or to encourage learning at a pace that’s comfortable for each student.

  • Examples: Computer-based instruction, essays, research projects, journals, learning centers

Learn more: Independent Learning: What It Is and How It Works

How do I choose the right instructional strategies for my classroom?

Chart showing learning goals and objectives, teaching and learning activities, and feedback and assessment as three points of a triangle

Source: Educational Technology

When it comes to choosing instructional strategies, there are several things to consider. (Looking for new ideas? Check out our list of 30 instructional strategies examples! )

  • Learning Objectives: What will students be able to do as a result of this lesson or activity? If you are teaching specific skills or detailed information, a direct approach may be best. When you want students to develop their own methods of understanding, consider experiential learning. To encourage critical thinking skills, try indirect or interactive instruction.
  • Assessments: How will you be measuring whether students have met the learning objectives? The strategies you use should prepare them to succeed. For instance, if you’re teaching spelling, direct instruction is often the best method, since drill-and-practice simulates the experience of taking a spelling test.
  • Learning Styles : What types of learners do you need to accommodate? Most classrooms (and most students) respond best to a mix of instructional strategies. Those who have difficulty speaking in class might not benefit as much from interactive learning, and students who have trouble staying on task might struggle with independent learning.
  • Learning Environment: Every classroom looks different, and the environment can vary day by day. Perhaps it’s testing week for other grades in your school, so you need to keep things quieter in your classroom. This probably isn’t the time for experiments or lots of loud discussions. Some activities simply aren’t practical indoors, and the weather might not allow you to take learning outside.

Learn more: Matching Learning Strategies to Learning Goals

Want to talk about instructional strategies with fellow educators? Come join the WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook !

Also check out what is differentiated instruction .

Learn about the different types of instructional strategies and why it's important to use a wide mix of them in your classroom.

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Helping English Language Learners Decipher Tough Texts

Teachers can help ELL students read at higher levels by emphasizing sentence structure and meaning making.

Photo of student writing on paper in classroom

Helping newcomer students who have interrupted educational backgrounds read high-level English texts is an enormous challenge for classroom teachers. How do you create meaning from a huge block of text when students are struggling with basic phonics? How do you engender understanding of an English text when students are emerging English language learners (ELLs)? 

This school year I taught a class of all emerging English high school learners (generally level 1 ELLs), and I noticed that their strategy of dealing with an English text was to take out their cellphones and use Google Lens to automatically translate text in the picture. Although I didn’t want to fully discourage student use of this tool, from a teaching perspective, I didn’t want them to rely on this as their only tool. As a language learner myself, I know that simply translating a block of text is not how I learn a new language. The process of figuring out meaning helps cement new information into my brain.

The challenge is how to encourage students to engage with text in a way that maintains student engagement throughout the lesson, while making the information comprehensible. This is the routine I used.

Partner Reading Routine

I created a collaborative protocol that enabled students to work together to make meaning of the new language they were encountering. After building background, introducing key vocabulary, and chunking the text into manageable parts for pairs of students, we would begin with the partner reading routine. This is the five-step process: 

1. Teacher reads, students listen. Students are able to hear fluency from an English speaker.

2. Students read. Students work in pairs and switch off reading, following along as their partner reads. 

3. Students read again. Students read their chunk of text a second time because the repeated reading allows for increased fluency and comprehension. 

4. Students determine what it means. Students comb the text for at least three subject and verb pairs, marking them with our annotation technique. 

Then, they speak to each other about what it means. I provide sentence frames, and we spend time modeling how to have an academic discussion in English. If possible, I strategically pair students who can speak to each other in their home language, since allowing students time to process in their home language increases both comprehension and English fluency.

In this step, students translate single words or short phrases with an online or physical word-to-word dictionary. This is an opportunity for students to develop dictionary skills, as long as the bulk of the time is not spent searching for the word. At first I observed students using their phones to translate large blocks of text, but as they gained more experience with the routine, students began to trust the process and only translated words they really did not know. 

5. Write what it means. The last step is taking what they understood it to mean in their home language and putting it into English. Students are expected to write a short sentence with a “who or what,” a “do,” and a short object phrase that describes what, where, when, or how. At the beginning of the year, I found students going right to Google Translate, but as they established trust in the process, they saw what they could do without relying on translation. Later on or the following day, I might use the sentences that students generated as a lesson in grammar or as the prompt for a class discussion on meaning. 

breaking the code of the english language

After a few months of using this strategy, students were constructing meaning from complex texts orally and in writing. The basis of the protocol is a strong foundation in basic English sentence structure. Throughout the year I explicitly, routinely, and systematically teach that every sentence has a subject and a verb. We combined the word subject with who or what . And a verb is what the who or what does. We started with simple, bare-bones sentences (e.g., “The tools lean” or “The dogs bark”).

Following the structure of the now-out-of-print curriculum Framing Your Thoughts and the work of William Van Cleave , I add on more pieces of the sentence—pronouns, adverbs, prepositions (which is the order laid out in most curricula). Slowly we begin moving into more complex sentence patterns, such as sentences that start with dependent clauses. Although teaching grammar in a vacuum is generally not considered to be best practice, I believe that when taught in the context of language learning and deciphering text, it gives students the tools they need to construct meaning. 

This strategy showcases the amazing things that newcomers to English are capable of, and it enabled them to access much higher level text. The routine can be adapted in many different ways. For example, for classes that need more support, student pairs could wait for teacher direction after each step. Occasionally, I had certain students use a list and check off each task as they went.

In classrooms where there is such a gap between the content and what students are able to access on their own, it can be hard to find ways for students to take on the majority of academic tasks. The routine and the foundation in sentence structure enabled students to take on significant intellectual work while also hitting all four language domains. Following strong routines, separating tasks into manageable parts, and breaking down the code of the English language are all useful tools to help students succeed.

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  1. 25 Teaching Styles Examples (2023)

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  2. The Complete List of Teaching Methods and Strategies

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  3. Teaching approaches, strategies, methods and techniques

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  4. 24 Types of Teaching Methods And Their Advantages And Disadvantages PDF

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  5. Essay on Teaching Profession & Its Benefits

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  6. Methods of Teaching

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VIDEO

  1. Language Teaching Methods: Communicative Approach

  2. Language Teaching Methods: Comprehension Approach/TPR

  3. Learner-Centered Teaching Methods: An Overview

  4. 20 ESL Teaching Methodologies

  5. Mastering Style: The Learning and Teaching of Writing

  6. Language Teaching Methods: Community Language Learning

COMMENTS

  1. Teaching Methods and Strategies: The Complete Guide

    Teaching methods, or methodology, is a narrower topic because it's founded in theories and educational psychology. ... In this model, a teacher is just a facilitator, meaning that they have created the lesson as well as the structure for learning, but the students themselves become the teachers or create their own knowledge, the Learning ...

  2. Teaching Methods and Their Determinants

    The video tape method can be limiting in that communication is one way and there is no room for students to ask the instructor questions. This essay, "Teaching Methods and Their Determinants" is published exclusively on IvyPanda's free essay examples database. You can use it for research and reference purposes to write your own paper.

  3. Modern Teaching Methods: An Overview

    The main advantages of modern teaching styles are: - Move from memorising to experimenting. - Helps students innovate. - Develops the interactive side of students. - It allows the student to develop different patterns of learning and focusing. - Develops the cognitive thinking skills. - It treats students differently according to ...

  4. Essay on Teaching Methods

    Teaching methods are vital for everyone - we all go or went to a school where teachers try to involve each student in the learning process. Namely, this learning process is identified as effective or ineffective by means of effective or ineffective methods of teaching accordingly. Methods of teaching are one of the primary topics any student ...

  5. Teaching Learning Methods

    The method is a term of Greek origin "methodos" ("metha" translating to through and "odos" meaning direction, road), namely it can be translated by the phrase "the way to". The didactic method is a way through which the teacher conducts and organises the training of the trainees.

  6. Teachings Methods in Modern Educational System Essay

    We will write a custom essay on your topic. Many experts argue that it is necessary for teachers to use different methods of teaching in order to ensure effective presentation of curricula. The major concerns of teachings methods include ways used by learners to obtain information, how to use theoretical knowledge to acquire experience in work ...

  7. Teaching Methods & Strategies

    Teaching methods and strategies are techniques that teachers use to help students develop knowledge and/or skills. There are two main types of instructional methods: teacher-centered instruction ...

  8. Full article: Reviews of teaching methods

    Since our interest is the claims made in each article about the teaching method under study, the analysis concerned the abstract, results, discussion, conclusion, and implication parts of each review. Three main issues, cutting across the reviews over time, were identified: 1) the abundance of moderating factors, 2) the need for highly ...

  9. PDF STUDENTS' AND TEACHERS' VIEWS ON TEACHING STYLES AND METHODS

    The two focus groups (students and teaching staff) discussed twodomains of teaching style: teacher-centered (TC) and student-centered (SC), and four sub domains: teaching methods (TM), classroom milieu (CM) (the social environment in the class), use of questions (UQ), and use of assessment (UA). The majority of students (91,1%) prefers SC style ...

  10. Modern Teaching Methods and Learning Environment

    The success of education is attributed to the use of modern teaching methods that have been developed in the last few years. These methods include project work, providing meaningful choices for students, self-directed learning, literature-based reading, and problem-based curriculum. A well-prepared learning environment facilitates excellent ...

  11. A Guide to Teaching Essay Structure

    The entire process I have outlined may take as much as three or four lessons. If you have this amount of time, here is a potential approach: Lesson 1: Example 'real world' essay construction. Lesson 2: Deconstruct a pre-written History essay. Lesson 3-4: Plan and write a class History essay.

  12. The Complete List of Teaching Methods

    In addition to the many philosophical and pedagogical approaches to teaching, classroom educators today employ diverse and sometimes highly creative methods involving specific strategies, prompts and tools that require little explanation. These include: Appointments with students. Art-based projects. Audio tutorials.

  13. Teaching Methods Essays: Examples, Topics, & Outlines

    Teaching Methods In the field of education there are many aspects that teachers have to understand in order to be effective educators. The current essay will compare and contrast the terms philosophy, ideology, and theory applied to the teaching profession. Philosophy is defined as all learning exclusive of technical precepts and practical arts, the sciences and liberal arts exclusive of ...

  14. Teaching Methods

    Teaching methods are the broader techniques used to help students achieve learning outcomes, while activities are the different ways of implementing these methods. Teaching methods help students: master the content of the course; learn how to apply the content in particular contexts; Instructors should identify which teaching methods will ...

  15. What is teaching? A definition and discussion

    A definition: Teaching is the process of attending to people's needs, experiences and feelings, and intervening so that they learn particular things, and go beyond the given.. Interventions commonly take the form of questioning, listening, giving information, explaining some phenomenon, demonstrating a skill or process, testing understanding and capacity, and facilitating learning activities ...

  16. Teaching method

    A teaching method is a set of principles and methods used by teachers to enable student learning.These strategies are determined partly on subject matter to be taught, partly by the relative expertise of the learners, and partly by constraints caused by the learning environment. For a particular teaching method to be appropriate and efficient it has take into account the learner, the nature of ...

  17. [2023] What Is Your Teaching Methodology? A Comprehensive Guide

    Quick Answer: Your teaching methodology refers to the strategies and techniques you use to deliver instruction and facilitate learning in the classroom. It encompasses your approach to lesson planning, classroom management, assessment, and student engagement. The most effective teaching methodologies are those that are student-centered, promote ...

  18. PDF Teaching Methodology and its Effects on Quality Learning.

    Teaching method is the mechanism that is used by the teacher to organize and implement a number of educational means and activities to achieve certain goals. Teaching techniques are the means that reflect the success of the learning process and the competencies of the teacher. Being a teacher, I always need to look for

  19. The Complete List of Teaching Methods and Strategies

    The study assignment method. It is one of those teaching methods that promote active learning. In this method, the teacher or an instructor assigns a task to students before the class. It can be a book or research paper reading, project analysis, or any relevant material review.

  20. 6 effective teaching methods and how to use them

    They could write an essay, give an oral presentation, create an illustration or comic, or play to any other strengths they have. 4. Blended learning. The next teaching method we'll be exploring is blended learning. Essentially, blended learning is a combination of traditional face-to-face learning and technology-based learning.

  21. (PDF) EFFECTIVE TEACHING STRATEGIES

    Therefore, a teaching strategy is an instructional method or plan for classroom actions or interactions to achieve specific learning objectives, including induction, referencing, use of examples ...

  22. What Are Instructional Strategies? An Overview for Teachers

    What are instructional strategies? In the simplest of terms, instructional strategies are the methods teachers use to achieve learning objectives. In other words, pretty much every learning activity you can think of is an example of an instructional strategy. They're also known as teaching strategies and learning strategies.

  23. 9 Teaching Methods To Promote Success in the Classroom

    Teachers can read writing assignments to reward points to students who can't participate vocally in class. 6. Inquiry-based learning. Inquiry-based learning promotes the idea of learning by investigation, where students can complete projects, ask questions and find answers by themselves.

  24. Strategies for English Language Learners

    Slowly we begin moving into more complex sentence patterns, such as sentences that start with dependent clauses. Although teaching grammar in a vacuum is generally not considered to be best practice, I believe that when taught in the context of language learning and deciphering text, it gives students the tools they need to construct meaning.