Assignment on

Educational Method
SUBJECT: PHILOSPHY OF EDUCATION FOUNDATION

Prepared By:
ROLL NO.

0
 Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................1
Explanation.....................................................................................................1
METHODS OF EDUCATION..............................................................................4
Lecturing......................................................................................................................................4
Demonstrating..............................................................................................................................4
Collaborating...............................................................................................................................4

EVOLUTION OF EDUCATIONAL METHOD.........................................................6

Ancient education........................................................................................................................6
Medieval education......................................................................................................................6
19th century.................................................................................................................................6
20th century.................................................................................................................................7

Teaching Styles...............................................................................................9
Conclusion....................................................................................................11
Introduction

The Educational method also called Teaching Method comprises the principles and methods
used by teachers to enable student learning. These strategies are determined partly on subject
matter to be taught and partly by the nature of the learner. For a particular teaching method to
be appropriate and efficient it has to be in relation with the characteristic of the learner and
the type of learning it is supposed to bring about. Suggestions are there to design and
selection of teaching methods must take into account not only the nature of the subject matter
but also how students learn. In today's school the trend is that it encourages much creativity.
It is a known fact that human advancement comes through reasoning. This reasoning and
original thought enhances creativity.
The approaches for teaching can be broadly classified into teacher centered and student
centered. In a teacher-centered approach to learning, teachers are the main authority figure in
this model. Students are viewed as "empty vessels" whose primary role is to passively
receive information (via lectures and direct instruction) with an end goal of testing and
assessment. It is the primary role of teachers to pass knowledge and information onto their
students. In this model, teaching and assessment are viewed as two separate entities. Student
learning is measured through objectively scored tests and assessments. [2] In Student-Centered
Approach to Learning, while teachers are the authority figure in this model, teachers and
students play an equally active role in the learning process. The teacher's primary role is to
coach and facilitate student learning and overall comprehension of material. Student learning
is measured through both formal and informal forms of assessment, including group projects,
student portfolios, and class participation. Teaching and assessments are connected; student
learning is continuously measured during teacher instruction.[2] Commonly used teaching
methods may include class participation, demonstration, recitation, memorization, or
combinations of these.
Teaching methods, or methodology, is a narrower topic because it’s founded in theories and
educational psychology. If you have a degree in teaching, you most likely have heard of
names like Skinner, Vygotsky, Gardner, Piaget, and Bloom. If their names don’t ring a bell,
you should definitely recognize their theories that have become teaching methods.

Explanation
The most basic teaching method is explanation. Explanation is characterized by its function
as "a tool that is used by a speaker for understanding or 'giving a sense' to the object of
communication, of a debate, or a discussion ... The role of an explanation is to make clearer
the meaning of an object (method, term, assignment) maintaining formally the necessary
distance between the object of the action or study and the tools. In the learning/teaching
process, explanation is a tool used by both, teacher and students. Its goal is to manifest
comprehension.
Traditionally, explanation belongs to monological teaching methods where the information is
transmitted from the teacher to the students (together with e.g. narrative, description or
lecture). Skalková, 1999, says that in practice, individual forms of explanation often
percolate. In this perspective, explanation is seen as the task fulfilled by the teacher with
students passively receiving what is presented. Collecting feedback on students' perceptions
of whether explanations are clearly identified whether students feel particular teaching

1
assisted them in understanding the subject matter. Without student understanding, no
explanation can be said to be clear We see explanation in a much broader sense:
Communication in school is a mutual interchange of information among teachers and
students, studens and students during the educational process, i.e. students have an active role
in the whole process (Mareš & Křivohlavý, 1995). Using explanation in a mathematics
classroom is a normal procedure, but its roles and forms vary. Predominantly explanation is
seen as a tool for describing relevant phenomena, developing students' logical thinking, and
guiding students by inductive judgement to generalizing. It leads to clarifying interrelations,
demonstrating and justifying (Skalková, 1999, p. 172).
Although explanation is not often explicitly studied in literature, it is present in the
background of most papers dealing with communication and reasoning. "Good teaching is
good explanation" (Calfee 1986: 1-2). This quotation reflects the belief that the capacity to
explain is critically important in teaching (Havita 2000). According to Behr (1988: 189), the
art of explaining - the ability to provide understanding to others - is the central activity of
teaching. Therefore, to achieve the goal of teaching, the teacher must adopt effective teaching
methods that can lead to learners understanding the subject being taught. Being the most
commonly used teaching method, explanation integrates well in all methods of instruction,
such as discussions, seminars, practical lessons and tutorials (Havita 2000). Therefore, if used
properly, this teaching method can develop logical operations: induction, deduction,
comparison, analysis, synthesis and analogy. The main objective of explanation in teaching is
to enable the learners to take intelligent interest in the lesson, to grasp the purpose of what is
being done, and to develop their own insight and understanding of how to do it (Rahaman
2004). In addition, and with specific reference to technology education, explanation is used in
classroom teaching to provide students with an understanding of the complex and interrelated
nature of technology, which is technical, procedural, conceptual and social (Hansen and
Froelick 1994). This involves the ability by the teacher to use explanation effectively in order
to communicate information to students. From the standpoint of technology education,
explanation in teaching is an intentional activity, which represents the discovery of truth,
which is based on concrete deductive arguments (Gwyneth 2007). Explanation as it pertains
to teaching can be considered as an attempt to provide understanding of a problem to others
(Brown and Atkins 1986: 63).
Most formal definitions characterize explanation as a statement that makes something
comprehensible by describing the relevant structure or operation or circumstances.
Predominantly, explanation is seen as a tool for describing relevant phenomena, developing
students' logical thinking, and guiding students by inductive judgement to generalizing. It
leads to clarifying interrelations, demonstrating and justifying (Skalková 1999:172). Mayes
(2006) argues that explanation goes beyond mere description. Accordingly, a key aspect of
explanation is the emphasis on why things happen. In other words, one can think of
explanation as an attempt to identify the cause of something. Fairhurst (1981) contextualized
explanation in term of requiring something to be explained (the phenomenon that needs to be
explained), an explainer (the provider of the explanation) and the explainee (the recipient of
the explanation). In this context, Metcalf and Cruickshank (1991) argued that the role of an
explanation is to make some concept, procedure or rule plain and comprehensible. Brown and
Armstrong (1984) operationally defined explanation as an attempt to provide understanding
of a problem to others. This definition strengthens the view of Perrott (1982) who argued that
a clear explanation depends on (a) identification of the elements to be related to, for example
objects, events, processes and generalization, and (b), identifying the relationship between
them, for example casual, justifying and interpreting. Horwood (2006) on the other hand
provides a distinction between explanation and description. According to Horwood (2006),

2
description is purely informational, and the bits of information are isolated from any network
of relatedness. In this context, an explanation is given when connections are drawn between
and among pieces of information. Furthering this view, Hargie and Dickson (2003) argue that
the act of explaining is essentially the same act of describing, instructing or giving of
information.
According to Martin (1970: 59), the job of someone who explains something to someone "is
to fill in the gap between his audience's knowledge or beliefs about some phenomena and
what he takes to be the actual state of affairs". From Martin's point of view one can argue that
what counts is causing the audience to know or believe something of which they were
previously ignorant. At the extreme end, explanation has been thought of in a restricted sense
as a special type of telling which goes beyond description. Pavitt (2000) is of the view that
answering the question "why" is an explanation. In another debate, Trevor (2002) argues that
for an explanation to be good the explanation must be valid in the context in which it is used
and must also be understood by the listener. This implies that for an explanation to be
understood, it should be clearly presented by the explainer.
In this regard, it is part of the responsibility of the explainer to ensure that his or her
explanation appears sufficiently worthwhile and interesting to the listener for them to attend
to the information being provided (Wragg 2003). From Wragg's point of view, good
explanations can be described as clearly structured and interesting to the explainer. While
good explanation can unlock understanding, poor or inadequate explanations may lead to
confusion and boredom. From another standpoint, Gordon et al. (2006) are of the opinion that
explanation is deemed successful if it fulfills the purpose of explanation. This implies that for
an explanation to be understood, the explanation has to appear to be well structured by the
explainee.
In the context of education, good explanation in teaching is essential for unlocking the
students' understanding of the subject. It develops students' logical thinking and provides
guidance by inductive judgment to generalizing. Leinhardt (1990: 3-4) distinguished between
two types of teaching related to explanations: instructional and disciplinary. According to
Leinhardt (1990), instructional explanations aim to explain concepts, procedures, events,
ideas and classes of problems in order to help students understand, learn and use information
in a flexible way. Disciplinary explanations are built around a core of conventions within
each particular discipline and try to explain what constitutes evidence, what is assumed, and
what the agenda for the discipline is. They provide the legitimacy of new knowledge,
reinterpret old knowledge, and challenge and address existing knowledge (Leinhardt 1990).
From a learning perspective, explanation holds a special place as one of the core critical
thinking skills (Facione 1990). Good critical thinkers, according to Facione (1998: 5), are
those who can explain what they think and how they arrived at that judgment. The Delphi
Study expert panel, cited by Facione (1998: 6), defined explanation as being able "to state the
results of one's reasoning; to justify that reasoning in terms of the evidential, conceptual,
methodological, criteriological, and contextual considerations upon which one's results were
based; and to present one's reasoning in the form of cogent arguments". Explanation that
works (Lipton 2004) is one that is "sticky" (people remember it, think about it, and can repeat
it, often even days or weeks later), is easily communicated (people can explain it to each
other), and guides thinking in new and better directions (it leads to new kinds of reasoning,
which are not only more constructive and accurate but more engaging).

3
METHODS OF EDUCATION
Howard Gardner identified a wide range of modalities in his Multiple Intelligences theories.
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Keirsey Temperament Sorter, based on the works of
Jung, focus on understanding how people's personality affects the way they interact
personally, and how this affects the way individuals respond to each other within the learning
environment.
Lecturing
The lecture method is just one of several teaching methods, though in schools it's usually
considered the primary one. The lecture method is convenient for the institution and cost-
efficient, especially with larger classroom sizes. This is why lecturing is the standard for
most college courses, when there can be several hundred students in the classroom at once;
lecturing lets professors address the most people at once, in the most general manner, while
still conveying the information that they feel is most important, according to the lesson plan.
While the lecture method gives the instructor or teacher chances to expose students to
unpublished or not readily available material, the students plays a passive role which may
hinder learning. While this method facilitates large-class communication, the lecturer must
make constant and conscious effort to become aware of student problems and engage the
students to give verbal feedback. It can be used to arouse interest in a subject provided the
instructor has effective writing and speaking skills.
Demonstrating
Demonstrating, which is also called the coaching style or the Lecture-cum-Demonstration
method, is the process of teaching through examples or experiments. The framework mixes
the instructional strategies of information imparting and showing how. For example,
a science teacher may teach an idea by performing an experiment for students. A
demonstration may be used to prove a fact through a combination of visual evidence and
associated reasoning.
Demonstrations are similar to written storytelling and examples in that they allow students to
personally relate to the presented information. Memorization of a list of facts is a detached
and impersonal experience, whereas the same information, conveyed through demonstration,
becomes personally relatable. Demonstrations help to raise student interest and reinforce
memory retention because they provide connections between facts and real-world
applications of those facts. Lectures, on the other hand, are often geared more towards factual
presentation than connective learning.
One of the advantages of the demonstration method involves the capability to include
different formats and instruction materials to make the learning process engaging. This leads
to the activation of several of the learners' senses, creating more opportunities for
learning. The approach is also beneficial on the part of the teacher because it is adaptable to
both group and individual teaching. While demonstration teaching, however, can be effective
in teaching Math, Science, and Art, it can prove ineffective in a classroom setting that calls
for the accommodation of the learners' individual needs.
Collaborating
Collaboration allows student to actively participate in the learning process by talking with
each other and listening to others opinions. Collaboration establishes a personal connection
between students and the topic of study and it helps students think in a less personally biased
way. Group projects and discussions are examples of this teaching method. Teachers may
4
employ collaboration to assess student's abilities to work as a team, leadership skills, or
presentation abilities
Collaborative discussions can take a variety of forms, such as fishbowl discussions. It is
important for teachers to provide students with instruction on how to collaborate. This
includes teaching them rules to conversation, such as listening, and how to use argumentation
versus arguing. After some preparation and with clearly defined roles, a discussion may
constitute most of a lesson, with the teacher only giving short feedback at the end or in the
following lesson.
Some examples of collaborative learning tips and strategies for teachers are; to build trust,
establish group interactions, keeps in mind the critics, include different types of learning, use
real-world problems, consider assessment, create a pre-test and post-test, use different
strategies, help students use inquiry and use technology for easier learning.

Classroom discussion
The most common type of collaborative method of teaching in a class is classroom
discussion. It is also a democratic way of handling a class, where each student is given equal
opportunity to interact and put forth their views. A discussion taking place in a classroom can
be either facilitated by a teacher or by a student. A discussion could also follow a
presentation or a demonstration. Class discussions can enhance student understanding, add
context to academic content, broaden student perspectives, highlight opposing viewpoints,
reinforce knowledge, build confidence, and support community in learning. The opportunities
for meaningful and engaging in-class discussion may vary widely, depending on the subject
matter and format of the course. Motivations for holding planned classroom discussion,
however, remain consistent. An effective classroom discussion can be achieved by probing
more questions among the students, paraphrasing the information received, using questions to
develop critical thinking with questions like "Can we take this one step further?" "What
solutions do you think might solve this problem?" "How does this relate to what we have
learned about..?;" "What are the differences between ... ?;" "How does this relate to your own
experience?;" "What do you think causes .... ?;" "What are the implications of .... ?"
It is clear from "the impact of teaching strategies on learning strategies in first-year higher
education cannot be overlooked nor over interpreted, due to the importance of students'
personality and academic motivation which also partly explain why students learn the way
they do" that Donche agrees with the previous points made in the above headings but he also
believes that student's personalities contribute to their learning style.
Debriefing
The term "debriefing" refers to conversational sessions that revolve around the sharing and
examining of information after a specific event has taken place. Depending on the situation,
debriefing can serve a variety of purposes. It takes into consideration the experiences and
facilitates reflection and feedback. Debriefing may involve feedback to the students or among
the students, but this is not the intent. The intent is to allow the students to "thaw" and to
judge their experience and progress toward change or transformation. The intent is to help
them come to terms with their experience. This process involves a cognizance of cycle that
students may have to be guided to completely debrief. Teachers should not be overly critical
of relapses in behavior. Once the experience is completely integrated, the students will exit
this cycle and get on with the next.

5
Debriefing is a daily exercise in most professions. It might be in psychology, healthcare,
politics or business. This is also accepted as an everyday necessity.
Classroom Action Research
Classroom Action Research is a method of finding out what works best in your own
classroom so that you can improve student learning. We know a great deal about
good teaching in general (e.g. McKeachie, 1999; Chickering and Gamson, 1987; Weimer,
1996), but every teaching situation is unique in terms of content, level, student skills and
learning styles, teacher skills and teaching styles, and many other factors. To maximize
student learning, a teacher must find out what works best in a particular
situation. Each teaching and research method, model and family is essential to the practice of
technology studies. Teachers have their strengths and weaknesses, and adopt particular
models to complement strengths and contradict weaknesses. Here, the teacher is well aware
of the type of knowledge to be constructed. At other times, teachers equip their students with
a research method to challenge them to construct new meanings and knowledge. In schools,
the research methods are simplified, allowing the students to access the methods at their own
levels.

EVOLUTION OF EDUCATIONAL METHOD

Ancient education
About 3000 BC, with the advent of writing, education became more conscious or self-
reflecting, with specialized occupations such as scribe and astronomer requiring
particular skills and knowledge. Philosophy in ancient Greece led to questions of educational
method entering national discourse.
In his literary work The Republic, Plato described a system of instruction that he felt would
lead to an ideal state. In his dialogues, Plato described the Socratic method, a form of inquiry
and debate intended to stimulate critical thinking and illuminate ideas.
It has been the intent of many educators since, such as the Roman educator Quintilian, to find
specific, interesting ways to encourage students to use their intelligence and to help them to
learn.
Medieval education
Comenius, in Bohemia, wanted all children to learn. In his The World in Pictures, he created
an illustrated textbook of things children would be familiar with in everyday life and used it
to teach children. Rabelais described how the student Gargantua learned about the world, and
what is in it.
Much later, Jean-Jacques Rousseau in his Emile, presented methodology to teach children the
elements of science and other subjects. During Napoleonic warfare, the teaching
methodology of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi of Switzerland enabled refugee children, of a
class believed to be unteachable [by whom?], to learn. He described this in his account of an
educational experiment at Stanz.[citation needed]
19th century
The Prussian education system was a system of mandatory education dating to the early 19th
century. Parts of the Prussian education system have served as models for the education

6
systems in a number of other countries, including Japan and the United States. The Prussian
model required classroom management skills to be incorporated into the teaching process.[15]
The University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge in England developed their
distinctive method of teaching, the tutorial system, in the 19th century.This involves very
small groups, from one to three students, meeting on a regular basis with tutors
(originally college fellows, and now also doctoral students and post-docs) to discuss and
debate pre-prepared work (either essays or problems). This is the central teaching method of
these universities in both arts and science subjects, and has been compared to the Socratic
method.
20th century
Newer teaching methods may incorporate television, radio, internet, multimedia, and other
modern devices. Some educators believe that the use of technology, while facilitating
learning to some degree, is not a substitute for educational methods that encourage critical
thinking and a desire to learn. Inquiry learning is another modern teaching method. A popular
teaching method that is being used by many teachers is hands on activities. Hands-on
activities are activities that require movement, talking, and listening.

Behaviorism
Behaviorism is the theory that every learner is essentially a “clean slate” to start off and
shaped by emotions. People react to stimuli, reactions as well as positive and negative
reinforcement, the site states. Learning Theories names the most popular theorists who
ascribed to this theory were Ivan Pavlov, who many people may know with his experiments
with dogs. He performed an experiment with dogs that when he rang a bell, the dogs
responded to the stimuli; then he applied the idea to humans. Other popular educational
theorists who were part of behaviorism was B.F. Skinner and Albert Bandura.

Social Cognitive Theory

Social Cognitive Theory is typically spoken about at the early childhood level because it has
to do with critical thinking with the biggest concept being the idea of play, according
to Edwin Peel writing for Encyclopedia Britannica. Though Bandura and Lev Vygotsky also
contributed to cognitive theory, according to Dr. Norman Herr with California State
University, the most popular and first theorist of cognitivism is Piaget.

There are four stages to Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development that he created in 1918.
Each stage correlates with a child’s development from infancy to their teenage years.

The first stage is called the Sensorimotor Stage which occurs from birth to 18 months. The
reason this is considered cognitive development is because the brain is literally growing
through exploration, like squeaking horns, discovering themselves in mirrors or spinning
things that click on their floor mats or walkers; creating habits like sleeping with a certain
blanket; having reflexes like rubbing their eyes when tired or thumb sucking; and beginning
to decipher vocal tones.

The second stage, or the Preoperational Stage, occurs from ages 2 to 7 when toddlers begin
to understand and correlate symbols around them, ask a lot of questions, and start forming
sentences and conversations, but they haven’t developed perspective yet so empathy does not

7
quite exist yet, the website states. This is the stage when children tend to blurt out honest
statements, usually embarrassing their parents, because they don’t understand censoring
themselves either.

From ages 7 to 11, children are beginning to problem solve, can have conversations about
things they are interested in, are more aware of logic and develop empathy during the
Concrete Operational Stage.

The final stage, called the Formal Operational Stage, though by definition ends at age 16, can
continue beyond. It involves deeper thinking and abstract thoughts as well as questioning not
only what things are but why the way they are is popular, the site states. Many times people
entering new stages of their lives like high school, college, or even marriage go through
elements of Piaget’s theory, which is why the strategies that come from this method are
applicable across all levels of education.

The multiple intelligences Theory

The Multiple Intelligences Theory states that people don’t need to be smart in every single
discipline to be considered intelligent on paper tests, but that people excel in various
disciplines, making them exceptional. Created in 1983, the former principal in the Scranton
School District in Scranton, PA, created eight different intelligences, though since then two
others have been debated of whether to be added but have not yet officially, according to the
site. The original eight is musical, spatial, linguistic, mathematical, kinesthetic, interpersonal,
intrapersonal and naturalistic and most people have a predominant intelligence followed by
others. For those who are musically-inclined either via instruments, vocals, has perfect pitch,
can read sheet music or can easily create music has Musical Intelligence. Being able to see
something and rearrange it or imagine it differently is Spatial Intelligence, while being
talented with language, writing or avid readers have Linguistic Intelligence. Kinesthetic
Intelligence refers to understanding how the body works either anatomically or athletically
and Naturalistic Intelligence is having an understanding of nature and elements of the
ecosystem.

The final intelligences have to do with personal interactions. Intrapersonal Intelligence is a

matter of knowing oneself, one’s limits, and their inner selves while Interpersonal
Intelligence is knowing how to handle a variety of other people without conflict or knowing
how to resolve it, the site states. There is still an elementary school in Scranton, PA named
after their once-principal.

Constructivism

Constructivism is another theory created by Piaget which is used as a foundation for many
other educational theories and strategies because constructivism is focused on how people
learn. Piaget states in this theory that people learn from their experiences. They learn best
through active learning, connect it to their prior knowledge and then digest this information
their own way. This theory has created the ideas of student-centered learning in education
versus teacher-centered learning.

8
Teaching Styles
From each of the educational theories, teachers extract and develop a plethora of different
teaching styles, or strategies. Instructors must have a large and varied arsenal of strategies to
use weekly and even daily in order to build rapport, keep students engaged and even keep
instructors from getting bored with their own material. These can be applicable to all teaching
levels, but adaptations must be made based on the student’s age and level of development.

Differentiated instruction is one of the most popular teaching strategies, which means that
teachers adjust the curriculum for a lesson, unit or even entire term in a way that engages all
learners in various ways, according to Chapter 2 of the book Instructional Process and
Concepts in Theory and Practice by Celal Akdeniz. This means changing one’s teaching
styles constantly to fit not only the material but more importantly, the students based on their
learning styles.

Learning styles are the ways in which students learn best. The most popular types are visual,
audio, kinesthetic and read/write, though others include global as another type of learner,
according to Akdeniz. For some, they may seem self-explanatory. Visual learners learn best
by watching the instruction or a demonstration; audio learners need to hear a lesson;
kinesthetic learners learn by doing, or are hands-on learners; read/write learners to best by
reading textbooks and writing notes; and global learners need material to be applied to their
real lives, according to The Library of Congress. There are many activities available to
instructors that enable their students to find out what kind of learner they are. Typically,
students have a main style with a close runner-up, which enables them to learn best a certain
way but they can also learn material in an additional way. When an instructor knows their
students and what types of learners are in their classroom, instructors are able to then
differentiate their instruction and assignments to those learning types, according to Akdeniz
and The Library of Congress.

Learn more about different learning styles.

When teaching new material to any type of learner, is it important to utilize a strategy
called scaffolding. Scaffolding is based on a student’s prior knowledge and building a lesson,
unit or course from the most foundational pieces and with each step make the information
more complicated, according to an article by Jerry Webster. To scaffold well, a teacher must
take a personal interest in their students to learn not only what their prior knowledge is but
their strengths as well. This will enable an instructor to base new information around their
strengths and use positive reinforcement when mistakes are made with the new material.

There is an unfortunate concept in teaching called “teach to the middle” where instructors
target their lessons to the average ability of the students in their classroom, leaving slower
students frustrated and confused, and above average students frustrated and bored. This often
results in the lower- and higher-level students scoring poorly and a teacher with no idea why.
The remedy for this is a strategy called blended learning where differentiated instruction is
occurring simultaneously in the classroom to target all learners, according to author and
educator Juliana Finegan. In order to be successful at blended learning, teachers once again
need to know their students, how they learn and their strengths and weaknesses, according to
Finegan. Blended learning can include combining several learning styles into one lesson like
lecturing from a PowerPoint – not reading the information on the slides -- that includes

9
cartoons and music associations while the students have the print-outs. The lecture can
include real-life examples and stories of what the instructor encountered and what the
students may encounter. That example incorporates four learning styles and misses
kinesthetic, but the activity afterwards can be solely kinesthetic.

A huge component of blended learning is technology. Technology enables students to set

their own pace and access the resources they want and need based on their level of
understanding, according to The Library of Congress. It can be used three different ways in
education which include face-to-face, synchronously or asynchronously. Technology used
with the student in the classroom where the teacher can answer questions while being in the
student’s physical presence is known as face-to-face. Synchronous learning is when students
are learning information online and have a teacher live with them online at the same time, but
through a live chat or video conferencing program, like Skype, or Zoom, according to The
Library of Congress. Finally, asynchronous learning is when students take a course or
element of a course online, like a test or assignment, as it fits into their own schedule, but a
teacher is not online with them at the time they are completing or submitting the work.
Teachers are still accessible through asynchronous learning but typically via email or a
scheduled chat meeting, states the Library of Congress.

The final strategy to be discussed actually incorporates a few teaching strategies, so it’s
almost like blended teaching. It starts with a concept that has numerous labels such as
student-centered learning, learner-centered pedagogy, and teacher-as-tutor but all mean that
an instructor revolves lessons around the students and ensures that students take a
participatory role in the learning process, known as active learning, according to the Learning
Portal. In this model, a teacher is just a facilitator, meaning that they have created the lesson
as well as the structure for learning, but the students themselves become the teachers or create
their own knowledge, the Learning Portal says. As this is occurring, the instructor is
circulating the room working as a one-on-one resource, tutor or guide, according to author
Sara Sanchez Alonso from Yale’s Center for Teaching and Learning. For this to work well
and instructors be successful one-on-one and planning these lessons, it’s essential that they
have taken the time to know their students’ history and prior knowledge, otherwise it can end
up to be an exercise in futility, Alonso said. Some activities teachers can use are by putting
students in groups and assigning each student a role within the group, creating reading
buddies or literature circles, making games out of the material with individual white boards,
create different stations within the classroom for different skill levels or interest in a lesson or
find ways to get students to get up out of their seats and moving, offers Fortheteachers.org.

There are so many different methodologies and strategies that go into becoming an effective
instructor. A consistent theme throughout all of these is for a teacher to take the time to know
their students because they care, not because they have to. When an instructor knows the
stories behind the students, they are able to design lessons that are more fun, more
meaningful, and more effective because they were designed with the students’ best interests
in mind. There are plenty of pre-made lessons, activities and tests available online and from
textbook publishers that any teacher could use. But you need to decide if you want to be the
original teacher who makes a significant impact on your students, or a pre-made teacher a
student needs to get through.

10
Conclusion
There is no “best” method of teaching. However, many researchers today agree that including
more student-centered learning approaches in the classroom can improve learning. Using
only a teacher-centered approach leaves out many skills and learning opportunities for
students. Yet, there may still be space for teacher-centered learning for some specific topics
and learning objectives. However, teacher-centered learning shouldn’t be the only strategy in
your teacher toolbox.
The bottom line is that each teacher needs to find a teaching style that fits his or her
personality. An effective teacher is a passionate teacher who is confident in what they’re
doing! So, if any of the strategies on this list of teaching methods intrigues you, why not look
into it a bit more? You might discover a new method that motivates your students and
improves their learning and your teaching experience!

11