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GUIDING PRINCIPLES IN THE SELECTION AND USE OF TEACHING STRATEGIES

Principles of Teaching 1
Corpuz and Salandanan

1. Learning is an active process

 This means that we have to actively engage the learners in learning activities if
we want them to learn what we intend to teach.
 We have to give our students opportunities to participate in classroom activities.
 We have to give varied activities to our students for “hands-on-minds-on learning.
 This principle is explained in the adage:
What I hear; I forget
What I see; I remember
What I do; I understand

2. The more senses that are involved in learning, the more and the better the
learning.

 Humans are intensely visual animals. The eyes contain nearly 70% of the body’s
receptors and send millions of signals along the optic nerves to the visual
processing centers of the brain….. We take in more information visually than
through any of the other senses (Wolfe, 2001)
 This implies the use of a teaching methodology that makes use of more visual
aids than more audio aids. A combination of audio and visual aids is far more
effective – combination of three or more senses thus the “multi-sensory aids”

3. Emotion has the power to increase retention and learning

 The more emotionally involved our students become in our lesson, the greater
the impact.
 The more intense the arousal, the stronger the imprint.
 Without emotional dimension, our subject matter will remain cold and lifeless.
 Wolfe states that “our own experience validates that we remember for a longer
time events that elicit emotion in us. (Wolfe, 2001)
 We should recognize the power of emotion to increase retention and plan
instruction accordingly.

4. Learning is meaningful when it is connected to students’ everyday life.

 Abstract concepts are made understandable when we give sufficient examples

relating to the students’ experiences.
 When we ask students to copy and memorize what we taught them, they tend to
forget the next day. We repeat the same process every day, deposit information
into their heads which are likened to empty receptacles then withdraw the same
in the test. This is called ‘banking system of education.’
 The meaningfulness and relevance of what we teach is considerably reduced by
our practice of teaching simply for testing.
 Students see meaning in what they learn, when we, teachers show the
connectedness of our lessons to their everyday concern.
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 We teach today, ask them to copy and memorize what we taught them. The
following day we test them on how much they have retained from what we taught
yesterday, period!
 At the end of the term we withdraw everything in the final examinations and so
when students go back for the next term their minds are empty again. This is the
so-called banking system of education
 The meaningfulness and relevance of what we teach is considerably reduced by
our practice of teaching simply for testing.
 They see meaning in what they learn when we, teachers, show the
connectedness of our lessons to their everyday concern.

5. Good teaching goes beyond recall of information.

 Good thinking concerns irself with higher-order-thinking skills to develop creative

and critical thinking.
 Most teaching are confined to recall of information and comprehension.
 Ideally, our teaching should reach the levels of application, analysis, evaluation
and synthesis to hone our students’ thinking skills.

6. An integrated teaching approach is far more effective than teaching

isolated bits of information

 Corpuz and Salandanan , 2003 claim the an instructional approach is integrated

when it considers the multiple intelligences (MI) and varied learning styles (LS) of
students.
 Collecting Classroom Examples

Intelligence Examples of Classroom Activities Examples from My

Classroom
Verbal Linguistic Discussions, debates, journal writing,
conferences, essays, stories, poems,
storytelling, listening activities reading
Logical Calculations, experiments, comparisons,
Mathematical number games, using evidence, formulating
and testing hypothesis, deductive and
inductive reasoning
Spatial Concept maps, graphs, charts, art projects,
metaphorical thinking, visualization, videos,
slides, visual presentations
Bodily-Kinesthetic Role-playing, dance, athletic activities,
manipulative, hands-on demonstrations,
concept miming
Musical Playing music, singing, rapping, whistling,
clapping, analysing, sounds and music
Interpersonal Community-involvement projects,
discussions, cooperative learning, team
games, peer tutoring, conferences, social
activities, sharing
Intrapersonal Student choice, journal writing, self-
evaluation, personal instruction, independent
study, discussing feelings, reflecting
Naturalist Ecological field trips, environmental study,
caring for plants and animals, outdoor work,
pattern recognition
Existentialist Reflection, diary/ journal entry
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Learning Style Examples of Classroom Activities Examples from My

Classroom
Mastery Direct instruction
Exercise – practice Drill and repetition
Demonstrations
Competitions
Activities that focus on:
 Organizing and managing
information
 Practicing a skill
 Observing
 Describing
 Memorizing
 Categorizing
Interpersonal Team games
Personal sharing
Experience – Learning circles
personalize Role playing
Group investigation
Peer Tutoring
Activities that focus on:
 Describing feelings
 Empathizing
 Responding
 Valuing

Understanding Inquiry
Explain – prove Concept formation
Debate
Problem solving
Independent study
Essays
Logic problems
Activities that focus on:
 Classifying
 Analyzing
 Using Evidence
 Applying
 Comparing and contrasting
 Evaluatin
Self-Expressive Divergent thinking
Explore – produce Metaphors
Creative art activities
Imagining
Open-ended discussion
Imagery
Creative problem solving
Activities that focus on:
 Hypothesizing
 Synthesizing
 Creating
 Metaphorical expression
 Self-expression