Teaching Styles

Summary

Reading

Banks, S,R & Thompson, C,L, Educational Psychology , West,1995. Ch 4, at least p105-108.
Fontana, D, Psychology for Teachers 3rd Ed, BPS, 1995. Ch 14, at least p388-389.

 

Concrete
 
McCarthy’s 4Mat Curriculum development Model

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Abstract
 
 

 


WHY?

 

 

Method used is a DISCUSSION method

 

Teacher is concerned with motivation and witnessing

 

Techniques

 

 

WHAT?

 

 

Teacher is teaching

 

Method is mainly informational

 

Gaining knowledge

 

Techniques used:

 

HOW?

 

 

Teacher is coaching and facilitating

 

Method used is the Coaching method

 

Students are using their knowledge

Learning by practice

 

Techniques:

 

IF?

 

Method is one of SELF DISCOVERY

 

Teacher’s role is to evaluate and remediate

 

Applying Knowledge

 

Techniques:

 

Research

 

Bowers (1987)

44 gifted yr 6 students

Randomly assigned to 4MAT or textbook group

Newton’s First Law of Motion

Significant differences in test results in favour of 4MAT

 

Sangster and Shulman (1988)

Pilot programme

Secondary schools

31 teachers

572 students

Questionnaires and Interviews

Both teachers and students perceived the system favourably

 

Advantage

 

Gives students a chance to use their preferred learning style as well as giving them the opportunity to use other styles

 

Useful in many curriculum areas

 

All ages and ability levels

 

Simple to use

 

Classroom Climate and the creative and gifted

Hadden and Lytton (1968)
'formal' Vs 'informal' schools
better for creativity
Another factor -cooperativeness. If a school is competitive - little creativity
e.g. Adams (1968), Slavin (1980).

Teachers' attitudes and Creativity

warm caring teachers (Turner and Denny 1969) - better for creativity
but exam results can suffer.
Humanistic approach is good for creativity.
Torrance (1962) list of suggestions for teacher attitudes and behaviours designed to promote creativity in students. (See p220).
Hallman (1967) common inhibitors of creativity.

Can you work out what facilitates creativity in the classroom? - Try this test

Teaching Styles and creativity

Bennett (1976) describes these:

Formal

Informal

Subject taught separately

tend to integrate subjects

emphasise individual rather than group work

provide students with considerable freedom in determining their activities

assign class seating

allow students to select their seating

restrict students' movement

 

emphasise assessment and achievement

Do not emphasise tests and academic achievement

make extensive use of external motivation such as grades

rely on internal sources of motivation like self-satisfaction.

Result High academic Achievement

result Attitudes related to being thoughtful and creativet

 

 

 

Formal-Informal styles

Direct-Indirect Styles

Flanders (1970) describes these:

Direct

 

Indirect (Nondirective or student-centered)

 

Eclectic (Combination)

A mixture of direct-indirect is best - depends on students/situation. All three styles overlap - unlikely to find a purely directive or non-directive teacher
Relate teacher style to classroom management
Specific characteristics of teaching styles clearly related to the outcomes of the educational process:



Teachers' Expectations and Student Performance

Self-fulfilling prophecy
Classic research - Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968)
'Oak School' experiment
teachers told that test for students was to predict academic 'blooming'.
20% randomly selected students labelled 'spurters'. These students did well. especially early grades.
Criticised by Wineburg (1987) etc.

  1. frequent misjudging
  2. misrecording
  3. misrepresentation of data.


Brophy and Good (1974) reviewed 60 attempted replications. No strong evidence.
Braun (1976) teachers have high expectations for:



Brophy and Good (1974) - some teachers pay less attention to lower achievers.
less time to answer questions
more likely to criticise their answers.

Rolison and Medway (1985) -
Teachers have higher expectations for students labelled as 'learning disabled' rather than 'mentally retarded'.
Also for those that had shown a recent improvement.

However, Goldberg (1992) - It depends upon the teacher really. Some teachers try extra hard with students that they have poor expectations for.

Teaching Styles

Grasha identified five teaching styles that represented typical orientations and strategies college faculty use. He claims that these styles converge into four different clusters that, like colors on an artist's palette, make up the characteristic ways professors design instructional settings. A brief description of each cluster is detailed below. You can find specific details by clicking on the links.

Cluster 1

The expert/formal authority cluster tends toward teacher-centered classrooms in which information is presented and students receive knowledge.

Cluster 2

The personal model/expert/formal authority cluster is a teacher-centered approach that emphasizes modeling and demonstration. This approach encourages students to observe processes as well as content.

Cluster 3

The facilitator/personal model/expert cluster is a student-centered model for the classroom. Teachers design activities, social interactions, or problem-solving situations that allow students to practice the processes for applying course content.

Cluster 4

The delegator/facilitator/expert cluster places much of the learning burden on the students. Teachers provide complex tasks that require student initiative, and often group work, to complete.

For Grasha there are a number of factors which influence which cluster will be appropriate in "painting" the classroom environment. The teacher's response to student learning styles, the students capabilities to handle course demands, their need for teacher to directly control classroom tasks, and their willingness to build/maintain relationships are important elements in determining what teaching style will be adopted in a classroom.

Tony Grasha's teaching styles

 

Bullough and Baughman 1997

Teachers developing their expertise

 

 

Study skills

 

SQ3R - A READING/STUDY SYSTEM

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SURVEY - gather the information necessary to focus and formulate goals.

    1. Read the title - help your mind prepare to receive the subject at hand.
    2. Read the introduction and/or summary - orient yourself to how this chapter fits the author's purposes, and focus on the author's statement of most important points.
    3. Notice each boldface heading and subheading - organize your mind before you begin to read - build a structure for the thoughts and details to come.
    4. Notice any graphics - charts, maps, diagrams, etc. are there to make a point - don't miss them.
    5. Notice reading aids - italics, bold face print, chapter objective, end-of -chapter questions are all included to help you sort, comprehend, and remember.

QUESTION - help your mind engage and concentrate.

One section at a time, turn the boldface heading into as many questions as you think will be answered in that section. The better the questions, the better your comprehension is likely to be. You may always add further questions as you proceed. When your mind is actively searching for answers to questions it becomes engaged in learning.

READ - fill in the information around the mental structures you've been building.

Read each section (one at a time) with your questions in mind. Look for the answers, and notice if you need to make up some new questions.

RECITE - retain your mind to concentrate and learn as it reads.

After each section - stop, recall your questions, and see if you can answer them from memory. If not, look back again (as often as necessary) but don't go on to the next section until you can recite.

REVIEW - refine your mental organization and begin building memory.

Once you've finished the entire chapter using the preceding steps, go back over all the questions from all the headings. See if you can still answer them. If not, look back and refresh your memory, then continue.

Evaluation of Study skills programmes

 

Leland-Jones (1997)

Yr 6

Social studies

Study skills emphasising use of resource material, interpreting data and creating chapter outlines.

Results – increased knowledge of study skills and higher achievement scores.

 

Brown and Forristall (1983)

Computer assisted study skills programme

Interactive instructions on time management, improving memory, taking lecture notes and reading textbooks.

Significant improvements in study skill and academic abilities.

 

Playing for success

Underachievers at KS2 and 3

Inner city areas

Study support from First Division Football clubs

Literacy and numeracy skills related to football

Centres provide ICT, study skills training and homework facilities.

Equal numbers of boys and girls participate

Both boys and girls improved attitudes to education and also had improved reading and maths abilities (Sharp et al. 1999).

 

Metacognitive approaches

Metacognition is thinking about thinking, knowing "what we know" and "what we don't know." The basic metacognitive strategies are:

1. Connecting new information to former knowledge.

2. Selecting thinking strategies deliberately.

3. Planning, monitoring, and evaluating thinking processes. (Dirkes, 1985)

STRATEGIES FOR DEVELOPING METACOGNITIVE BEHAVIORS

1. Identifying "what you know" and "what you don't know."

At the beginning of a research activity students need to make conscious decisions about their knowledge. Initially students write "What I already know about..." and "What I want to learn about...." As students research the topic, they will verify, clarify and expand, or replace with more accurate information, each of their initial statements.

2. Talking about thinking.

Talking about thinking is important because students need a thinking vocabulary. During planning and problem-solving situations, teachers should think aloud so that students can follow demonstrated thinking processes. Modelling and discussion develop the vocabulary students need for thinking and talking about their own thinking. Labelling thinking processes when students use them is also important for student recognition of thinking skills.

Paired problem-solving is another useful strategy. One student talks through a problem, describing his thinking processes. His partner listens and asks questions to help clarify thinking. Similarly, in reciprocal teaching (Palinscar, Ogle, Jones, Carr, & Ransom, 1986), small groups of students take turns playing teacher, asking questions, and clarifying and summarizing the material being studied.

3. Keeping a thinking journal.

Another means of developing metacognition is through the use of a journal or learning log. This is a diary in which students reflect upon their thinking, make note of their awareness of ambiguities and inconsistencies, and comment on how they have dealt with difficulties. This journal is a diary of process.

4. Planning and self-regulation.

Students must assume increasing responsibility for planning and regulating their learning. It is difficult for learners to become self-directed when learning is planned and monitored by someone else.

Students can be taught to make plans for learning activities including estimating time requirements, organizing materials, and scheduling procedures necessary to complete an activity.  Access to a variety of materials allows the student to do just this. Criteria for evaluation must be developed with students so they learn to think and ask questions of themselves as they proceed through a learning activity.

5. Debriefing the thinking process.

Students reflect on thinking processes to develop awareness of strategies that can be applied to other learning situations.

A three-step method is useful. First, the teacher guides students to review the activity, gathering data on thinking processes and feelings. Then, the group classifies related ideas, identifying thinking strategies used. Finally, they evaluate their success, discarding inappropriate strategies, identifying those valuable for future use, and seeking promising alternative approaches.

6. Self-Evaluation.

Guided self-evaluation experiences can be introduced through individual conferences and checklists focusing on thinking processes. Gradually self-evaluation will be applied more independently. As students recognize that learning activities in different disciplines are similar, they will begin to transfer learning strategies to new situations.

Feuerstein’s instrumental enrichment

Goals of Instrumental Enrichment:

The main goal of Instrumental Enrichment is to enhance the cognitive modifiability and social adaptability of the individual, so as to increase his capacity to benefit from his direct exposure to environmental stimuli and life experiences.

To help achieve this central goal, six subgoals have been formulated:

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