Chapter 13

1. Chapter 13 Instructional Approaches

2. Key points • Instruction Approaches - various ways teachers can organize and deliver the content to children • Six instructional approaches have been found useful in teaching: • Direct Instruction • Task teaching • Guided discovery • Peer teaching • Cooperative learning • Child-designed instruction

3. Key points • Variables affecting which instructional approach a teacher selects for a certain class at a certain time include: • Teacher beliefs • Goal of lessons • Skill and preference of teacher • Characteristics of students • Nature of content • Context of teaching

4. Characteristics of Six Instructional Approaches

5. Characteristics of Six Instructional Approaches

6. Characteristics of Six Instructional Approaches

7. Key Points • Direct Instruction • Most common approach • Teacher directs response of students, telling them what to do, showing them what to do and then directing their practice • Most effective approach when • Goal is to have students learn and perform a specific skill • Teacher is looking for a specific response • Teacher has limited experience working with a group students • There is limited time for organization

8. Key Points • Task Teaching • Structured approach allowing students to work alone or in partners to practice different specified tasks • Involves stations and task cards • Works well when students need to practice skills they have already been taught • Is effective if students: • Work well independently • Are able to function without close supervision

9. Key Points • Task Teaching (cont) • Effective if teacher • explains stations/tasks well beforehand • Makes managerial aspects clear • Frequently checks with students to see how they are doing • Start with only a few stations/tasks

10. Key Points • Exploratory Instruction • Entails teaching through questioning, encouraging children to think and problem solve • Allows children to ‘create’ movement rather than reproduce movement • Two versions • Convergent InquiryChildren discover the same answer to a series of questions • Divergent InquiryChildren find multiple answers to a problem

11. Key Points • Exploratory Instruction (cont) • Advantages include, encouraging children to: • Think independently to discover new and different approaches to performing skill • Solve questions related to teamwork and strategy • Explore a movement then they are not yet ready to learn a mature version of the skill

12. Key Points • Peer Teaching • Uses peers in pairs/small groups to actively teach one another, the tasks the teacher planned and communicated to them • To be successful requires that • skill to be taught is simple • cues for observation clear • the performance easily measured

13. Key Points • Cooperative Learning • Group work is carefully designed to promote: • Group interdependence • Problem solving • Individual responsibility • Provide for skill learning • To be viable, should integrate psychomotor, cognitive and personal-social responsibility goals • Formats include “pairs-check”, “jigsaw” and “co-op,co-op” (Kagan, 1990)

14. Key Points • Child-designed Instruction • An approach allowing the child to be at the center of the learning activity, whilst teacher’s role is that of guide • Two strategies used • Child designed tasks • Contracts • To be successful, requires highly motivated and self-directed children, who have skills to work independently • Works well in dynamic situations after basic skills have been learned