Cooperative learning.

On my teaching rounds this week I worked with a group of students while they prepared for an upcoming debate. They had previously done a lot of work on debates and had plenty of practice, but this particular group had been selected by the teacher and the class to compete against other year five classes. Their topic was ‘Students should be allowed to wear any hairstyle they want to school”, and their debate group was ‘negative’. As they were competing, my role as the teacher was not to provide them with the answers, but rather, to guide them in the right direction and supervise the group. I must admit, I was very impressed with how cooperatively they worked as a group, and also at how motivated and self-directed they were. It was obvious their teacher had put in a lot of work into teaching them about not only the key components of debates and their structure, but also about effective group work.

This is a clear example of ‘cooperative learning’. Cooperative learning is “an organisational strategy for teaching social skills and responsibility, while at the same time focusing on academic content” (Goodwin, 1999, Udvari-Solner & Thousand, 1996 in Arthur, Gordon & Butterfield, 2003). Students utilising this strategy are normally immersed in an activity, as they work collectively in small groups towards achieving a common goal. In this instance, the students were working collectively to research their debate topic. The essential idea surrounding cooperative learning however, is the social skills the students acquire to function effectively as a group. This can include roles such as “reporter, recorder, leader, clarifier, and encourager” (Arthur et al. 2003). It was interesting to watch the students, as while no roles were assigned to each individual student for the research component of the debate, I did notice that roles naturally emerged amongst them. Essentially, cooperative learning combines academic content with social skills so students can gain an understanding of the roles people adopt in order to work cooperatively to achieve a common goal.

Reference:

Arthur, M., Gordon, C., & Butterfield, N. (2003). The impact of curriculum and instruction. In Classroom Management: Creating Positive Learning Environments, (pp.43-52). Thomson: Southbank, Victoria.

Direct instruction as a teaching strategy

Over the course of the semester I’ve learnt there are various teaching strategies. The most commonly used teaching method, however, is ‘direct instruction’ or ‘chalk and talk’. Anyone who goes to school is familiar with this strategy. Basically, direct-instruction is a teacher-centred approach in which the teacher delivers “academic content in a highly structured format, directing the activities of learners and maintaining a focus on academic achievement” (Killen, 2007). As a teaching method, direct instruction has come under scrutiny over the years. However, if used correctly, direct instruction can be a very useful teaching strategy.


Studies in support of direct instruction have revealed this approach to be valuable for “standardised tests, and skills based subjects such as Reading and Mathematics” (Killen, 2007). Direct instruction has also been found to be most appropriate for introducing new content or area of study, as it requires developing student’s basic knowledge and skills, before giving them a more active role in knowledge attainment, such as experimentation for instance (Killen, 2007). Furthermore, direct instruction emphasises “teaching in small steps, providing for student practice after each step, guiding students during initial practice, and providing all students with a high level of successful practice” (Rosenshine, 1987:34 in Killen, 2007).

I was fortunate enough to witness a lesson where I saw all of the above in action. It was a Maths lesson, and the class was being introduced to a new subject area: fractions. As a teaching strategy it was appropriately and correctly used. By the end of the lesson, it was clear the students benefited from direct instruction strategy. The teacher was able to effectively explain and demonstrate new content, provide the students with plenty of opportunities to practice, and provide feedback in a non-threatening manner. I could tell that by the end of the lesson almost every student in the class retained and comprehended the information they had just learnt. This is quite remarkable. Though, it is important to consider there are multiple teaching strategies teachers can use to aid in student’s comprehension and development of skills, and direct instruction is just one of these. Ultimately, teachers need to ascertain if the method is appropriate for the context or not, in order to ensure its effectiveness.

References:

Killen, R. (2003). Using direct instruction as a teaching strategy. In Effective Teaching Strategies: Lessons from Research and Practice, (4th ed.), (pp 101-124). Thomson Social Science Press.