Continuing Professional Development for Teacher-Educators CPDC Introduction to Teaching and Learning Methods CPDC Development Team In association with the National Commission for Colleges of Education, Abuja August 2015

Warm up activity  Consider the following images. What do they suggest about how we should approach this session?

Ice breaker!  What does the picture depict?  What type of learning environment is this?  Spot the position of the teacher in the class

Overview of the module Why Teaching and Learning? What is covered in the module Module Structure Assessment

Overview of CPDC TLM Why Teaching and Learning Methods Module?

Justification of the module It is necessary in order to;  Re-strengthen existing expertise on classroom organization and practice and link to curriculum reform  Build confidence  Hone strategies used in practice

What is covered in the module? Overview of CPDC TLM

Warm-up Session  Brainstorm all the teaching and learning strategies you can think of.  Now try to group them in some way using your own criteria.  Can you estimate % time you experienced each group of methods of teaching when you were a student?  Can you estimate % time you use each group of methods in your own teaching?  What differences do you note, if any?

Teaching and learning methods Content 1.Teaching as a profession 2.Theories of learning 3.Methods and approaches in teaching and learning 4.Lesson planning, delivery and assessment All based on practical examples

Teaching as a profession Group discussion  What are the characteristics of a profession?  Is teaching a profession?  How do the responsibilities and expectations change from being a classroom-teacher to being a teacher- educator?

Theories of learning Overview of CPDC TLM

Traditional approach in teaching

Modern Approach

Cone of experience

Rethinking curriculum  Curriculum as planned (What? What not? How? Where? When? Why? Who?)  Curriculum as practised  Curriculum as experienced  Teachers and teacher-educators have agency

Rethinking learning 1  In a child, there is a creative instinct, an active potency for building up a psychological world … We must have infinite trust in the child’s natural powers to teach himself.  Montessori in Moll et al. 2001: 196

Rethinking learning 2  Learning is a change in observable behaviour … The first step in designing school instruction is to define the terminal behaviour or response that we wish to bring about. What is the learner to do as a result of being taught? Then we need to put in place arrangements that will strengthen the terminal behaviour through reinforcement.  Skinner in Moll et al. 2001: 196

Rethinking learning 3  Knowledge derived from experience is not a static mental copy of the objects in view, but arises from the cognitive operations carried out on them. The child actively constructs its knowledge of the world as part of its adaptation to the world … you cannot teach higher mathematics to a five-year-old. He does not yet have the structures that enable him to understand.  Piaget in Moll et al : 196.

Rethinking learning 4  Learning is a social process. A child’s thinking (an internal matter) is the internalization of a set of relationships in real activity between the child and more competent others (an external, social matter) … Teaching is the social activity within which meaning is mediated to the learner, eventually to become her own internal thought processes …  Vygotsky in Moll et al. 2001: 196

Rethinking learning 5 In spite of the criticisms and debates, there is no one best way to teach. Different goals and student needs require different teaching methods. Direct instruction often leads to better performance on achievement tests, whereas the open, informal methods such as discovery learning or inquiry approaches are associated with better performance on tests of creativity, abstract thinking, and problem-solving. In addition, the open methods are better for improving attitudes towards school and for stimulating curiosity, cooperation among students, and lower absence rates (Walberg, 1990). According to these conclusions, when the goals of teaching involve problem solving, creativity, understanding, and mastering processes, many approaches besides direct instruction should be effective. These guidelines are in keeping with Tom Good’s conclusion that teaching should become less direct as students mature and when the goals involve affective development and problem solving or critical thinking (Good, 1993a). Every student may require direct, explicit teaching for some learning goals for some of the time, but every student also needs to experience more open, constructivist student- centred teaching as well. (Woolfolk 2007:515-6)

Rethinking learning 6 Learners: Prior learning and experience Expectations and goals Learning needs and contexts Society: Social wisdom and experience Expectations and goals Available resources Learning- centred approach

Modern Learning Environment  What is your vision for learning?  What is your school’s vision for learning?  What kind of environments, strategies, teaching processes, and learning activities, do you think your students need in order to achieve your goal?

A postmodern perspective  Teachers often agree that their students do not know the factual information required for passing through the school system and passing standardized tests, but they throw up their hands in desperation, blaming uninterested parents, boring textbooks, overcrowded classrooms, drugs, self-esteem programs, television, poor preparation, and ineffective previous teachers, or any other convenient target. However, these teachers continue to use the same methods of teaching and evaluation that have dominated curriculum development for over one hundred years... Is the problem that educators have not perfected the modern methods? Or is the problem that the modern methods and strategies are no longer appropriate in a postmodern era? (Slattery 2006:48-9)  …

So …  Slattery (2006:111) argues the need for a more cooperative learning and teaching environment, an interdisciplinary school curriculum, seminar-style classes “where circles and centres replace rows of desks” and  Discovery laboratories, multisensory projects, autobiographical narratives, oral history projects, engaging seminars, aesthetic awareness, and provocative field experiences involving groups of students, teachers, and other community members will become the norm rather than the exception. Socratic dialogue that seeks understanding, respect, and synthesis rather than predetermined answers will be the hallmark...  Whatever our opinions, the new generation of students are not prepared to be passive recipients of content transmission

What are the assessment tasks? Overview of CPDC TLM

Assessment tasks 1. Reflection on prior knowledge 2. Planning and justifying planning decisions 3. Implementing and reflecting 4. Assessment by competence rubric not for marks

Any final questions? 1. Teaching as a profession 2. Theories of learning 3. Methods and approaches in teaching and learning 4. Lesson planning, delivery and assessment  Try to complete the first two units and me the first assignment at:  Before we meet again on: XXXXXX

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