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Effective Teaching

mrjan | November 8, 2011 | 0 Comments

We can say that effective teaching incorporates a series of different but related dimensions. It demands a combination of all three of the most common models: transmitting knowledge, teaching for the process of inquiry, and encouraging interpersonal relations. In terms of teaching objectives, especially for the first two models, Bloom’s taxonomy can help us set our teaching goals according to the kind of understanding we want to develop, from elementary facts (level one) all the way to evaluation (level six). The way we teach and assess our teaching will depend on the level and goal we select. As for the lesson plan itself, it gives us a systematic and operational guide to follow in the classroom. It should never become the be-all and end-all of teaching. Unless teachers can translate the models and the objectives into practice in the real world of the classroom with real pupils, they will accomplish nothing.

The Lesson Plan in Action: Indirect Teaching and Cognitive Flexibility in Teaching

When we begin to translate our educational objectives to the classroom, we begin the teaching learning process. The interaction of teachers, pupils, ideas, and emotions involves a complex of transactions. In fact, it’s almost like a three-ring circus. So much is going on all at once that it is very difficult to observe a classroom, let alone direct the process.

In the complex world of teaching and learning at the operational level, educational psychology has started to produce some important findings. By far the most promising and comprehensive approach has been developed in the recent work of Professor Ned Flanders.

The Flanders System: Indirect Teaching

We noted that educational research has come up with very few significant findings. We also noted the importance of studying the question of effective teaching, not in the laboratory with captive audiences (neither the white rat nor the college freshman who must participate as a research subject), but in the natural setting, in the field of action. Flanders is part of a new wave of educational researchers who examine important questions, not trivial ones, and does so in the natural environment.

Flanders conducted a series of studies that led him to conclude that there are two major systems of teaching actually practiced: direct teaching and indirect teaching. In direct teaching the teachers do almost all the talking—lecturing, giving directions, and justifying or explaining their own views. Flanders has found that direct teachers actually talk for about 85 percent of each class period. This means that these teachers’ voices are going almost all the time. Direct teaching is not only direct, but it is also a monologue.

In indirect teaching, teachers ask open ended questions that require more than rote responses. Indirect teachers also clarify student responses, praise and encourage the content, and accept/clarify feelings expressed.

Flanders of indirect teachers with those of students of direct teachers. Where the predominant mode of teaching was indirect, he found that the pupils, when tested independently, showed greater gains in learning than did comparable groups where the direct mode was predominant. In other words, the academic achievement of pupils taught by the indirect mode was significantly greater than that of pupils taught by the direct mode, in scientific subjects (mathematics), in social science subjects (social studies) and in the humanities (English). Also, students’ attitudes toward school were more positive in the classes with indirect teaching. Flanders commented, “It appears that when classroom interaction patterns indicate that pupils have opportunities to express their ideas, and when these ideas are incorporated into learning activities, then the pupils seem to learn more and to develop more positive attitudes toward the teacher and the learning activities.

In six out of seven studies the same findings turned up. It seems that neither the academic discipline nor the quality of the pupils’ intelligence makes a crucial difference (the statistical procedures adjusted all the classes to equivalence). It seems that indirect teaching results in improved academic performance and an increase in positive student attitudes.

In fact, you might try it yourself in your next class. Each time the teacher or a pupil says something, try to place the statement into one of the ten categories. After you get the hang of it, try it in some of your other classes. This will give you a picture of how your own teachers are instructing you. You might even try taping your own interaction. You don’t have to be teaching a formal class. You could be giving an individual tutorial, helping a friend in educational psychology, or teaching someone to knit, dance, do fractions, or whatever. Your purpose would be to examine the ratio of your talk and the pupil’s talk to see whether you use up all the time yourself and to see whether you use the direct or the indirect method. After you have tried it once or twice on yourself, deliberately try to change your patterns. If, for example, you find yourself using categories 5, 6 and 7—lecturing, giving directions, and criticizing—try to use categories 1, 2, 3, and 4 more frequently. If you can accomplish this, you should notice a change in the student talk categories from 8 to 9, from response to initiation.

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