OUTLINE/KEY ISSUES
The professional skills and attitudes of effective teachers
Effective teachers are trained in presentation skills,
questioning and feedback
Effective teachers demonstrate effective learning strategies for
students to use
Effective teachers respond to differences among students
Teacher effectiveness is not concerned with any particular teaching
method, but it is concerned in a more general sense with the way in
which teachers operate in their classrooms (their decisions, actions,
interactions, presentation skills, group managing)
‘PROCESS-PRODUCT RESEARCH’ (1970s & 1980s)
Focuses on what teachers actually do that appears to make a difference
to how well their students learn
Investigated teachers’ actions and reactions when conducting a typical
lessons (observation)
Results correlated with students’ measured achievement (test results) in
the subject matter covered in lessons
Teachers’ actions = process
Students’ results = product from the teaching
Later experimental studies – teachers who had been trained to use
strategies & behaviors that correlational studies have suggested were
effective vs. teachers not trained in the strategies
Beyond process–product studies
Findings from these studies have highlighted the importance of such
elements as the teacher’s classroom management style, expectations,
instructional scaffolding, content knowledge and presentation skills
Garmston (1998) suggests that expert teachers possess a number of
important attributes including a deep knowledge of their subject, a
varied repertoire of teaching skills, and an understanding of students and
how they learn. Shulman (1987) stressed that in addition to content
(subject matter) knowledge effective teachers need to possess
‘pedagogical content knowledge’; that is, knowing how best to organise
and present particular subject matter in a way that optimises students’
learning
personal and empathic qualities of teachers – the Hay McBer Report
(2000) indicates that in addition to excellent teaching skills, the most
effective teachers are seen to be professional in their daily work (e.g.,
responsible, keen, cooperative, business-like, keeping abreast of
changes, etc.), and they create a positive classroom climate in which
students feel valued, trusted and supported
Highly effective teachers seem to have something extra that sets them
apart from less effective teachers – that ‘something’ appears to be a
positive rapport with, and genuine respect for, the students they teach
(Agne et al., 1994). Effective teaching therefore combines knowledge of
pedagogy and knowledge of subject matter together with human
relationship skills, judgment, humour and intuition. To be an effective
teacher takes much more than technical knowledge about instructional
procedures
Key evidence from research on teacher effectiveness
Studies of effective teachers have tended to reveal that they:
◗ show enthusiasm
◗ have well-managed classrooms
◗ provide students with the maximum opportunity to learn;
◗ maintain an academic focus;
◗ have high, rather than low, expectations of what students can achieve
◗ are business-like and work-oriented
◗ involve all students in the lesson
◗ use strategies to keep students on task, motivated and productive
◗ impose structure on the content to be covered
◗ present new material in a step-by-step manner
◗ employ direct (explicit) teaching procedures when necessary
◗ use clear instructions and explanations
◗ use a variety of teaching styles, methods and resources
◗ frequently demonstrate appropriate task-approach strategies
◗ monitor closely what students are doing throughout a lesson
◗ adjust instruction to individual needs, and re-teach content where
necessary
◗ provide frequent feedback to students
◗ use high rates of questioning to involve students and to check for
understanding
◗ differentiate their questions according to students’ ability
◗ spend significant amounts of time in interactive whole-class teaching;
but also use group work and partner activities when appropriate
Criticisms of the effective teaching data
Too prescriptive and formal, the model denies that teaching is creative
and spontaneous activity
Highly personal and idiosyncratic process
The effective teacher model =/ automatically producing good results
ETM should be taught and implemented in all teacher education courses
The teacher is effective because he or she is sensitive to and responsive
to, the characteristics and individual differences among the students
Research has indicated that effective teachers are actually warm,
concerned and flexible in their general approach to students
Pedagogical skills of effective teachers
presenting and explaining subject matter and ideas, questioning students
during lesson time, giving feedback, strategy training and adapting or
differentiating instruction
Presenting and explaining
◗ efficient initial presentation of new work
◗ clear and precise instructions
◗ a greater variety of ways of explaining topics
Clarity in teacher’s presentation is required. It relies on:
◗ knowing the subject matter extremely well
◗ appreciating the subject matter from the perspective of a novice
learning it for the first time
◗ identifying key ideas to emphasise in what is being taught
◗ explaining things in simple terms
Questioning
Questioning is used to:
◗ facilitate students’ participation and communication during the lesson
◗ focus attention on key aspects of a topic
◗ evaluate students’ understanding
◗ stimulate particular types of thinking
◗ review essential content
◗ control the group of students and hold attention
Qs can be: simple or direct (lower-order questions) and higher-order
(require reflection, critical thinking and reasoning)
‘wait-time’
Some common errors in questioning include:
◗ asking too many difficult or poorly expressed questions
◗ continuing to ask questions even though students have indicated lack
of knowledge on the topic
◗ taking answers only from students who volunteer
◗ failing to provide corrective feedback on incorrect or inappropriate
responses
Giving feedback
Constructive comment from a teacher motivates students and informs
them of how they are progressing and what they may need to focus on
Feedback immediately after student’s response (descriptive praise –
specify why the response was correct/incorrect – helps removing the
misconception & supply accurate information)
Written feedback; corrective feedback
Re-teaching vs. student’s explanation (students need to feel safe)
Strategy training
it isn’t only what the teacher does that is important; students themselves
must become more efficient in their approach to learning.
Effective instruction must therefore include an element of teaching
students how to learn
Teaching students how to approach tasks (the actual process & having
regard for the quality of the product)
‘How do we do this?’ equally important as ‘How did it turn out?’
Tasks: finding the meaning of an unfamiliar word, summary of the key
points from a vide, solving a mathematics word problem, researching a
topic for a special project etc.
Students should THINK ABOUT THEIR OWN THINKING
‘Where do I begin?’
‘Is this working out OK?’
‘Do I need to check that answer?’
‘Do I understand this?’
‘Do I need to ask for help here?’
METACOGNITION – ability to monitor and regulate one’s own
thinking
Adapting and differentiating instruction
Adaptive instruction is defined as instruction geared to the
characteristics and needs of individual students
The most manageable form of differentiation usually involves teaching
the same curriculum topic to all students but tailoring the resources, the
learning activities, and the amount of teacher-support to the differing
capabilities of individual students
The teacher:
◗ varies the method as necessary during the lesson, from teacher-
directed to student-centred, according to students’ abilities and needs
◗ simplifies and restates instructions for some students
◗ sets shorter-term goals for some students
◗ monitors the work of some students more closely than others
◗ re-teaches certain students when necessary, or provides an additional
demonstration
◗ accepts different quantities and qualities of bookwork
◗ provides more (or less) assistance to students as they work
◗ gives more descriptive praise to certain students
◗ praises some students more frequently than others
◗ rewards different students in different ways
◗ asks questions at different degrees of complexity, according to
students’ ability
◗ encourages peer assistance
◗ selects or creates alternative resource materials
Despite the enthusiasm with which experts recommend differentiation, it
is actually incredibly difficult to implement and sustain an ambitious
differentiated program over time.
Cooperative learning and the use of groups
Working in groups not only increases students’ active participation, it
also encourages social skill development, enhances communication, and
increases independence.
Children working together, sharing ideas and learning from one another
facilitates effective learning.
When utilising group work as a strategy it is important to consider the
following basic points.
◗ The size of the group is important. Often children working in pairs is a
good starting point.
◗ Initially there is some merit in having groups working cooperatively
on the same task at the same time. This procedure makes it much easier
to prepare resources and to manage time effectively.
◗ It is not enough merely to establish groups and set them to work.
Group members have to be taught how to work together. They may need
to be taught behaviours that encourage cooperation – listening to the
views of others, sharing ideas, praising each other, and offering help to
others (Doveston &
Keenaghan, 2006).
◗ Choice of tasks for group work is very important. Tasks have to
require collaboration and teamwork.
◗ The way in which individual tasks are allotted needs to be carefully
planned and should be based on students’ abilities.
◗ Teachers should monitor closely what is going on during group
activities and must intervene when necessary to provide suggestions,
encourage the sharing of a task, praise examples of cooperation and
teamwork, and model cooperative behaviour themselves.
◗ Seating and work arrangements are important. Group members should
be in close proximity but still have space to work on materials without
getting in each other’s way.
◗ Group work must be used frequently enough for the children to learn
the skills and routines. Infrequent group work results in children taking
too long to settle down.
Peer tutoring and peer assistance
Peer tutoring can range from one student simply helping another at
certain points during a lesson – for example by explaining or
demonstrating again something the partner has not understood – through
to highly organized systems of ‘class-wide peer tutoring’ (CWPT) where
on a regular basis one student instructs another student or helps him or
her revise a topic
peer-tutoring situations help to build both social and communication
skills, as well as contributing to a positive classroom climate
