Pedagogy Module

(CTPD 601)
Day-1: Effective Teaching
By Dessu Wirtu (PhD)
Motto of this pedagogical training

Docendo discimus!
(= By teaching, we learn!)
(Seneca, 4 BC-65 AD)
Learning Outcomes
 Contd.
By the end of this Module, the trainees should be able to:
Describe the concept of teaching;
Explain the characteristic features of effective

teaching;
Describe competences and accountability expected

of teachers/instructors;
Effective teaching skills
1. Introduction

What do you think is the

Activity - 1 importance of taking this
pedagogical training in a
graduate program?
 1.1. The concept of teaching
Teaching is a system of action which is goal-oriented
and that takes place under two sets of conditions,
namely controllable and uncontrollable conditions.
 1.1.1. Structure of teaching
The structure of teaching is often explained by using a
pedagogical triangle.

Teacher

Content,
Students strategies and
technology
Contd.
1.1.2. Phases of teaching
 1.1.3. Attitudes to reflective thinking
Teachers require attitudes to reflective thinking.

1. What do you understand

Reflective activity-2 by reflective thinking?
Contd.

Reflective thinking (Dewey, 1933)

Pre-reflective Post-reflective
stage: stage:
a perplexed, troubled, a clear, coherent,
or confused situation settled, harmonious
at the beginning situation at the end.
(a) John Dewey’s Perspective (1859-1952)
Cont’d
According to Dewey, knowledge alone is not
enough: attitudes matter:
Dewey believed that knowledge of phases alone is
not enough, will not suffice: “there must be the
desire, the will, to employ them. This is an affair
of personal disposition. But on the other hand the
disposition alone will not suffice. There must be
understanding of the forms and techniques that
are the channels through which these attitudes
operate to best advantage”
 cont’d

Attitudes to reflective
thinking

Open- Whole- Responsibility Directness

mindedness heartedness
 Cont’d
Dewey identified three attitudes, and later a
fourth, that needed to be cultivated to engage in
inquiry:
(1) Open-mindedness – defined as freedom from
prejudice, partisanship, and such other habits as
close the mind and make it unwilling to consider
new problems and entertain new ideas: It
includes an active, empathic desire to listen to
more sides than one; to give heed to facts; to give
full attention to alternative possibilities.
 Cont’d
(2) Whole-heartedness – defined as when
someone takes up a project with a whole heart,
and undivided interest; and,
(3)Responsibility – defined as considering the
consequences of what one has learned. The
irresponsible refuse to acknowledge the
consequences, the meaning of what they have
learned from their beliefs and actions.
Contd.

Directness: By directness he implies faith in

human action, that is, belief that something is
worth doing; the act of addressing a problem
rather than being resigned to it. Importantly, for
Dewey, these attitudes are the means of
acquiring a reflective attitude of mind; they
constitute in effect the method/s of engaging in
inquiry (Dewey 1933, 1916, pp. 27–33).
(b) Donald Schoen (1930-1997)
Schoen’s ideas of reflective practice
 Contd.

Schoen also believed that all professional

practice is concerned with what he called
design – that is, changing existing situations
into preferred ones.
 Types of Reflection

Types of
Reflection

Reflection- Reflection- Reflection-

in-action on-action for- action
1.1.4. Sense of accountability
Activity-3

1. What is meant by accountability?

2. How do you define competencies?
 Contd.
Moral accountability: Instructors are expected to
teach their students contents, strategies and issues
that are good for them as individuals and for the society.
 Contd.
Contractual accountability: Instructors must
discharge their responsibilities in accordance with
the contract they entered.
 Contd.
Professional accountability: Instructors must
accomplish their teaching and research activities
as well as their community service in line with
professional standards.
1.1.5. Pillars of education for the 21st century
(The Delors Commission, 1996)
In 1996, the UNESCO Commission led by Jacques
Delors came up with a report entitled “Learning: the
treasure within”.
The report mainly dealt with what kind of learning is
appropriate for the 21st century.
Contd.
1.1.6. Competences for the 21st century
“A competency is more than just knowledge or skills. It
involves the ability to meet complex demands, by
drawing on and mobilizing psychosocial resources
(including skills and attitudes) in a particular context.
For example, the ability to communicate effectively is a
competence that may draw on an individual’s
knowledge of language, practical IT skills and attitudes
towards those with whom he or she is communicating.”
(OECD, 2003, p. 4)
Contd.
The European Commission (2014) describes “skills” and
“competencies” as follows:
a skill is seen as the ability to perform tasks and solve
problems, while a competency is seen as the ability to
apply learning outcomes adequately in a defined context
(education, work, personal or professional development).
Contd.
A competency is not limited to cognitive elements
(involving the use of theory, concepts, or tacit
knowledge); it also encompasses functional aspects
(involving technical skills) as well as interpersonal
attributes (e.g., social or organizational skills) and
ethical values.
A competency is therefore a broader concept that
may actually comprise skills (as well as attitudes,
knowledge, etc.).
Contd.

Generic competences required today
(a) Instrumental competences
These are competences that function as a
means to an end. They require a combination
of manual skills and cognitive capacities that
are needed for professional competence.
(b) Interpersonal competences
Require personal and relational abilities. These
competences refer to capacity, ability or skill in
expressing one’s feelings and emotions in the
most appropriate way and accepting the feelings
of others, making it possible to work together
toward common objectives.
(c) Systemic competences
These involve skills and abilities related to an
entire system. They require a combination of
imagination, sensibility and ability, enabling
one to see how the parts of a whole are
conjoined and related.
Contd.
However, changing economic, technological, and
social contexts in the 21st century mean that
interpersonal and intrapersonal competencies
have become much more important than in the past.
Contd.
Employers are increasingly valuing “soft” skills such
as teamwork and leadership skills.
Pellegrino and Hilton (2012, p. 55) cite evidence that
“people skills” are “an important determinant of
occupations and wages”, concluding that young
people’s social skills affect their job prospects in
adulthood.
Contd.
The following categories of 21st century
competencies have been shown to have
measurable benefits in multiple areas of life:
 Critical thinking and problem solving
 Innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship
 Communication
 Collaboration (teamwork)
 a growth mindset (metacognition / learning to
learn, perseverance, and resilience)
 Local, global, and digital citizenship
Contd.
The key competences are cross-curricular by nature,
and are therefore applicable in all subjects and school
activities.
While no country has made a complete shift to
competence-based education, several countries have
made significant progress.
In addition to introducing legal and curricular
frameworks for key competences, some countries
have used various strategies to foster a competence-
based approach in the classroom.
 Activity-5

What kind of citizen is required in

the 21st century?
Contd.
 Activity-6

List behaviors to effective

teaching and give your
justifications!
 contd.
A number of researchers and educators dealt with
issues of behaviors to effective teaching. Three
models are briefly discussed below:
(1) A model developed by Elizabeth Perrott
(1982)
Set induction: motivating students
Closure: act of summarizing
Clarity of explanation: use plain language
Stimulus variation: teacher’s movement, changing
interaction patterns, changing speech patterns.
Giving examples: in both deductive and inductive ways
(2)A model by Paul D. Eggen and Donald Kauchak
(1996)

Teacher characteristics: These are admittedly not

strategies; however, they play an important role in
teaching. Teachers set the emotional tone in the
classroom, design and implement learning activities,
and assess student learning.
Their attitudes and beliefs are essential in the process
of teaching. The following are some of the teacher
characteristics which are useful in teaching: personal
teaching efficacy, modeling and enthusiasm, caring,
and high expectations promote student motivation.
 Contd.

 Teachers’ attitudes and beliefs are essential in the

process of teaching. The following are some of
the teacher characteristics which are useful in
teaching: personal teaching efficacy, modeling
and enthusiasm, caring, and high expectations
promote student motivation.
Contd.
Communication: Four elements of effective
communication influence learning:
Precise terminology: eliminate vague terms

and answers to students’ questions.

Connected discourse: teacher’s clear and

thematic presentation that leads to a point.

Transition signal: verbal statement that

communicates that one idea is ending and

another is beginning.
Emphasis: it refers to the use of verbal statement, vocal
inflection or repetition to alert the students to important information
in a lesson.
 Contd.

Organization: Effective organization includes

maximizing the time available for instruction,
having materials prepared in advance, using
warm-up activities at the beginning of classes,
and having students trained to perform routine
tasks without being told by the instructor.
Instructional alignment: It refers to the
congruence among objectives, learning
activities, and assessments.
Contd.
Focus: It refers to the provision of stimuli that
maintains students’ attention during the learning
activities. The stimuli can be concrete objects,
photographs, pictures, models, materials
displayed on the overhead, or information
written on the chalkboard.
 Contd.
Review and Closure: review is a process of
summarizing previous work and forming a
link between prior learning and the present
topic. Closure is a form of review that occurs
at the end of a lesson.
 Contd.

Feedback: It refers to information about

current behavior that can be used to improve
future performance. Effective feedback has
three essential characteristics: provide specific
information, depends on performance, and has
positive emotional value.
Contd.

Questioning: Effective questioning has four

characteristics:
Frequency: It refers to the number of

questions teachers ask, and research

indicates that effective teachers ask a large
number of questions. Questioning increases
student involvement, which increases both
motivation and achievement.
 Equitable distribution: Merely asking a

lot of questions isn’t enough, however. All

students in the class are called on as equally as possible. This
increases motivation and achievement.
Contd.
Prompting: encouraging the active
involvement of students who neither ask nor
respond to teacher’s questions.
Wait-Time: It has at least three benefits:

(a) Students give longer and better responses;

(b) Voluntary participation increases, and fewer
students failed to respond;
(c) Equitable distribution improves, and
responses from cultural minorities increase as
teachers become more responsive to students.
 Contd.

Monitoring: It is the process of continually

checking students’ verbal and non-verbal
behavior for evidence of learning progress.
(3) The model developed by Gary Borich (1988)
According to Gary Borich, there are key
behaviors and catalytic or helping behaviors
to teaching:
(i)Key behaviors:
 Clarity;
 Variety;
 Task-orientation;
Engagement in learning
 From moderate to high success rate
Contd.

(b) Helping or catalytic behaviors

 Using students’ ideas
 Probing
 Structuring
 Questioning
Enthusiasm
 References
Aggarwal, J.C. (1996). Principles, Methods &
Techniques of Teaching. New Delhi: Vikas
_______ (1994). Essentials of Educational Psychology.
New Delhi: Vickas
Arends, R. I. (1997). Classroom Instruction and
Management. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies
 Contd.
Barkley, E.F., Cross, K.P. and Major, C.H. (2005).
Collaborative Learning Techniques. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Borich, G. D. (1984). Effective Teaching

Methods. New York: Merill
 contd.
Delors, J. et al (1996): Learning: the treasure within:
reports to UNESCO of the International Commission
on Education for Twenty-First Century. Paris: Unesco
Eggen, P.D./Kauchak, D.P. (Eds.) (1996). Strategies for
Teachers: Teaching Content and Teaching Skills. Boston:
Allyn and Bacon.

Entwistle, N. (1988). Styles of Learning and Teaching: An

Integrated Outline of Educational Psychology for Students,
Teachers, and Lecturers. London: David Fulton Publishers.
 Cont’d

Freire, A. and Macedo, D. (Eds) (2000).The Paulo

Freire Reader. New York: continuum.

Fry, H., Ketteridge,S. and Marssall, S. (2004). A

Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher
Education: Enhancing Academic Practice. New
Delhi: Crest Publishing House.
 Cont’d

Heinich, R. et al. (1996). Instructional Media and

Technologies for Learning, 5th ed. New Jersy: Merill

HERQA (December 2014). Infolink College

Institutional Quality Audit Report. HERQA
Publication Series 077.

Jacobsen, D. et al. (Eds.) (1989). Methods for

Teaching : A skills approach, 3rd. Columbus: Merill.
 Cont’d
 Kolb, D. A. 1984 Experiental Learning.
Engelwood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

MOE (1994). The New Education and Training

Policy. Addis Ababa.
 Cont’d
MOE (2005). Education Sector Development
Program III. Addis Ababa
 Muijs,D. and Reynolds, D. (2001). Effective
Teaching: Evidence and Practice. London:
Paul Chapman Publishing.
 Cont’d

Perrott, E. (1982). Effective Teaching: a practical

guide to improving your teaching. London: Longman

 Petty, G. (2009). Teaching Today: A Practical Guide.

4th edn. –Cheltenham, the United Kingdom: Nelson
Thornes.
 The End
Thank You!