In
many classrooms, teachers are embracing active, collaborative teaching methods
that are cognitively engaging for students, encouraging them to construct
meaning about important concepts.
However,
there are still some classrooms where teachers are desperately hanging on to
practices that are less-effective for student learning. Some teachers still
focus on content rather than concepts and delivery of information rather than
building of understanding. In these classrooms, students are passive
participants who learn content for short-term regurgitation. Teachers hang on
to teaching strategies where they are the sage-on-the-stage for a number of
reasons.
Most
teachers have their students’ best interests at heart. The passive learning
strategies they use are not the result of laziness or indifference; they, too,
feel they are doing what’s best for kids. They genuinely believe that these
passive learning strategies are the best way to teach because the content they
are sharing is important. When teachers see learning as content-focused, a
receptive stance for students makes sense.
Another
reason teachers use these teaching strategies is because they are teaching in
the way they were taught. So it may be all they really know. After spending
years in classrooms where they were passive participants, some teachers offer
this same experience to their students, feeling this is how we do school. Their
apprenticeship into teaching was their own learning experience as students.
Another
reason teachers use these teacher-oriented strategies is because such
approaches make it easier to stay in control of the classroom. It is easier to
monitor students when they take notes than when they collaborate, easier to
manage the classroom when students sit in straight rows facing forward than in
groups huddled around the room. A more active role for students may present
classroom management challenges.
When
teachers are reluctant to change, it is helpful to get to the root of the
problem. If a teacher’s approach is guided by content, he might be more
receptive to change if he experiences concept-oriented learning for himself and
if he’s presented with lesson ideas that grow students’ content knowledge through
concept-oriented approaches such as Understanding
by Design. Teachers love getting new stuff, so another hook for
content-oriented teachers might be to buy them some hands-on learning tools for
the content they are attached to.
If
teachers are reluctant to change because their teaching style is an extension
of the methods they’ve seen, modeling lessons in the teacher’s room might
provide a vision for a different kind of teaching. Visiting other classrooms
(especially when part of a classroom
lab visit) can also help teachers broaden their instructional repertoire.
For teachers who struggle with classroom management, classroom visits can also
be helpful, especially when coupled with supports for collaborative learning
such as the Kagan
strategies.
If
you will be working with teachers who are reluctant to change, getting at the
root of the problem can help new teaching approaches blossom!
This week, you might want to
take a look at:
Read
more about coaching resistant teachers here:
Top
12 Ways Teachers Can Rock Summer Break:
Six ideas for using stuffed animals for
literacy tools (beyond the primary grades):
How the workshop model includes the
learning that matters most:
This 7-minute video is about an
elementary math lesson, but includes great ideas for supporting discussion
useful across the curriculum:
That’s it for this week. Happy
Coaching!
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