What teachers need to know about Teaching methods
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Teaching methods |
Preface
A teaching method is characterised by a set of principles, procedures or strategies to be implemented by teachers to achieve desired learning in students (Liu & Shi, 2007). These principles and procedures are determined partly by the nature of the subject matter to be taught, and partly by our beliefs or theories about how students learn.
In the first half of the twentieth century, the dominant form of pedagogy was almost entirely teacher-directed instruction together with heavy use of textbooks, drill and practice. The focus was clearly on mastery of subject matter and little thought was given to how best to facilitate such learning
in students. In every lesson, teachers tended to lecture and demonstrate first, then set their students related deskwork to do. The more imaginative teachers encouraged a little discussion, but in general 'a good class was a quiet class'. Students' deskwork was later marked and returned, and students
were graded on their results. The same approach was used to teach almost all subjects in the curriculum. No one questioned whether the method was effective; it was the tradition.
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By the 1950s, teachers were being encouraged to use a 'project approach' and to engage students in more group work. Some teachers resisted even these modest changes. But slowly over the next decade more innovative approaches did appear, with activity-based methods recommended in the
primary years, and the use of the (then) 'new' medium of educational television and film. Teachers noticed that children showed greater moti- vation and interest when teaching methods were varied.
The period from the 1970s to 2000 saw a sudden growth in educational research exploring the effects of different approaches to teaching. Simultaneously, research in the field of psychology was continuing its
investigations into how humans learn how they acquire knowledge, how they process information, how they develop skills and strategies, how they think and reason. Gradually, evidence from these two separate fields of research has started to coalesce. Now, the appropriateness and efficacy of
a particular teaching method can be considered in relation to the type of learning it is supposed to bring about, and in relation to characteristics of the learners. Research into methods is, of course, continuing; and debates arising from different theories of learning and how these impact upon methods are still occupying the pages of very many educational psychology journals. Unfortunately, the average teacher is not in a position to access such journals, so there remains a large gap between research evidence
and teachers' awareness of effective methodology. This text is a small step towards bringing the current evidence and the debates into the hands of all teachers.