Principles of Good Teaching Based on the Educational Philosophy of John Dewey

Principles of Good Teaching Based on the Educational Philosophy of John Dewey

(Acero, et al., 2000)

 (a)  Teaching is good when it is based on the psychology of learning. This is based on the  concept
        that the child is made the center of the educative process. The nature of the child and the nature   
        of     the learning process and the laws that govern its operation determine the type of teaching    
        to    be done by the teacher.

Good teaching is as much about passion as it is about reason. It's about not only motivating students to learn, but teaching them how to learn, and doing so in a manner that is relevant, meaningful, and memorable. It's about caring for your craft, having a passion for it, and conveying that passion to everyone, most importantly to your students.

Learning is not a spectator sport. Students do not learn much just sitting in classes listening to teachers, memorizing pre-packaged assignments, and spitting out answers. They must talk about what they are learning, write about it, relate it to past experiences, and apply it to their daily lives. They must make what they learn part of themselves.

(b)    Teaching is good when it is well-planned such that the activities and experiences of the learner are continuously related and interrelated into larger, more meaningful, more inclusive, relation patterns.

Good teaching is about substance and treating students as consumers of knowledge. It's about doing your best to keep on top of your field, reading sources, inside and outside of your areas of expertise, and being at the leading edge as often as possible. But knowledge is not confined to scholarly journals. Good teaching is also about bridging the gap between theory and practice. It's about leaving the ivory tower and immersing oneself in the field, talking to, consulting with, and assisting practitioners, and liaisoning with their communities.

·         Schedule time for planning and preparation.

·         Know what students need to know, what is essential and what is nice but not necessary.

·         Know your students and be aware of their individual differences in motivation, interest, etc.

·         Diagnosis: Find out what students already know.

·         Prescription: Select appropriate learning objectives, not too easy and not too hard.

·         Collect appropriate materials and curriculum.

·         Prerequisites: Determine if children have the skills they need to succeed at a new task. If not, teach the prerequisites first.

·         Task analysis: Break assignments into "bite-sized" pieces, small sequential steps.

·         Timing: Do not introduce too much at once. Step by tiny step will maximize success.

·         Readiness: To check for readiness, offer tryout activities and adjust expectations as needed.

·         Early success: Plan carefully to ensure early success when introducing something very new.

·         Prepare checklists or contracts so students know exactly what is expected of them.

(c )  Teaching is good when the learner is made conscious of the goals or aims to be accomplished. This concept calls for proper motivation.

Create clear student learning goals for each course, unit, and class period.  Structure the course unit and lesson with these goals in mind.

The identification and articulation of the learning goals and objectives provides the foundation for the instructional design, development, delivery, and assessment of an educational event. These defined goals serve as the contract between the instructor and student, defining what is to be taught and what is to be learned. Communicating these learning goals is a crucial step in assuring an effective learning experience.

Specific instructional activities should be directed toward providing learners with the necessary skills, knowledge, or experiences to meet the goals and objectives of the course. The course content should be sequenced and structured to enable learners to achieve the goals articulated in the learning outcomes.

When learners interact with one another, with an instructor, and with ideas, new information is acquired, interpreted, and made meaningful. Such interactions form the foundation of a community of learners. If students feel they are part of a community of learners, they are more apt to be motivated to seek solutions to their problems and to succeed.

(d)   Learning is good when it provides learning experiences or situations that will insure understanding. Good teaching requires a rich environment of instructional materials and devices. Instructional materials and devices will challenge the attention of the learner, stimulate thinking, and facilitate understanding which make learning more meaningful.

(e)    Teaching is good when there is provision to meet individual differences. This is based on the psychological principle that individuals differ from each other in their learning potential. To be effective, teaching must treat the learner as he is, but at the same time with reference to what he might become.

Good teaching is about listening, questioning, being responsive, and remembering that each student and class is different. It's about eliciting responses and developing the oral communication skills of the quiet students. It's about pushing students to excel; at the same time, it's about being human, respecting others, and being professional at all times.

There are many roads to learning. People bring different talents and styles of learning. Brilliant students in the seminar room may be all thumbs in the lab or art studio. Students rich in hands-on experience may not do so well with theory. Students need the opportunity to show their talents and learn in ways that work for them. Then they can be pushed to learning in ways that do not come so easily.

(f)    Teaching is good when it utilizes the past experiences of the learner. This concept is based on the principle of apperception. This means that learning is easier when you start from what the pupils already know.

Prepare thoroughly for the whole course, unit, and each lesson.  Ask questions of the material that your students are also likely to have.

Knowing what you know and don't know focuses learning. Students need appropriate feedback on performance to benefit from courses. In getting started, students need help in assessing existing knowledge and competence. In classes, students need frequent opportunities to perform and receive suggestions for improvement. At various points, and at the end, students need chances to reflect on what they have learned, what they still need to know, and how to assess themselves.

(g)    Teaching is good when the learner is stimulated to think and to reason. The best teaching method is that which liberates and encourages thinking. Effective teaching involves differentiation and integration or analysis and synthesis. Generalization of facts learned is important in teaching for transfer.

Good teaching is about substance and treating students as consumers of knowledge. It's about doing your best to keep on top of your field, reading sources, inside and outside of your areas of expertise, and being at the leading edge as often as possible. But knowledge is not confined to scholarly journals. Good teaching is also about bridging the gap between theory and practice. It's about leaving the ivory tower and immersing oneself in the field, talking to, consulting with, and assisting practitioners, and liaisoning with their communities.

(h)    Teaching is good when it is governed by democratic principles. In democratic teaching, social relationship is placed on a plane of natural respect, cooperation, tolerance, and fair play. Teaching to be effective must be governed by love and understanding. In other words, the learners are free from emotional tension.

Good teaching is about caring, nurturing, and developing minds and talents. It's about devoting time, often invisible, to every student. It's also about the thankless hours of grading, designing or redesigning courses, and preparing materials to still further enhance instruction.

This is very important -- good teaching is about humor. It's about being self-deprecating and not taking yourself too seriously. It's often about making innocuous jokes, mostly at your own expense, so that the ice breaks and students learn in a more relaxed atmosphere where you, like them, are human with your own share of faults and shortcomings.

(i)     Teaching is good when the method used is supplemented by another method and instructional devices. It is an accepted fact that good method is a synthesis of many methods. This is based on the principles that the best learning takes place when a greater number of senses are stimulated and utilized in the process.

Good teaching is about not always having a fixed agenda and being rigid, but being flexible, fluid, experimenting, and having the confidence to react and adjust to changing circumstances. It's about getting only 10 percent of what you wanted to do in a class done and still feeling good. It's about deviating from the course syllabus or lecture schedule easily when there is more and better learning elsewhere. Good teaching is about the creative balance between being an authoritarian dictator on the one hand and a pushover on the other.

·         Gather materials, equipment and supplies beforehand.

·         Review related concepts, vocabulary and ideas.

·         Show enthusiasm and interest.

·         Prove an overview or outline of the lesson or unit. Move from whole to part to whole.

·         Objective: State and have students state the objective.

·         Purpose: Why is this important to learn?

·         Transfer: How does this relate to what you already know? Help students organize and connect new knowledge to old.

·         Clearly present information. Do not include non-essential information or distractors.

·         Move from simple to complex.

·         Move from known to unknown.

·         Model or demonstrate examples as well as non-examples.

·         Actively involve students. Use variety.

·         Adjust the level of questions to student ability.

·         Check for understanding frequently.

·         Feedback: Use criticism sparingly. Provide prompt feedback with reasons.

·         Guided practice: Closely monitor practice in the early stages of learning. Aim for at least 80% success.

·         Closure: At the end of a lesson, summarize or have the child summarize what was learned.

·         Review and reteach as often as necessary.

(j)   Teaching is good when evaluation is made an integral part of the teaching process. Evaluation is part and parcel of teaching. Evaluation measures the effectiveness of teaching and learning and completes the function which is essential in teaching. Teaching is meaningful only when the results of teaching are achieved.

Assessment and measurement serve valuable purposes for both instructors and students because they provide information on learner progress, they measure achievement of learning goals, and they provide learners with benchmarks for monitoring their progress and adjusting their learning strategies.

Assessment instruments and activities should be congruent with the learning goals and should be consistent with the skills required of the learner throughout the learning process.

Assessment and measurement strategies should be employed as integral parts of the learning experience--enabling learners to assess their progress, to identify areas for review, and to reestablish immediate learning or lesson goals.

Assessment and measurement strategies should accommodate the special needs, characteristics, and situations of the learner.

·         The teacher is accountable to someone for diligently pursuing goals and plans.

·         Self-discipline, diligence and timeliness are emphasized and rewarded.

·         Students are held responsible for completing work on time and doing a quality job.

·         A method exists to keep track of goals and achievements. Examples: plan book, student contracts or checklists, conferences.

·         Informal evaluation takes place constantly.

·         Formal evaluation (testing) is used as needed so that students can demonstrate their mastery.

·         Grades are essentially comparative and punitive. Better to keep a running list of accomplishments.

·         Evaluation is used as a basis for selecting future objectives.

(k) Teaching is good when drill or review is made an integral part of teaching and learning. The teacher must bear in mind that drill and review have different meanings and functions. The purpose of review is to bring out relationships of facts learned to give new view or new meaning.

·         Practice is directly related to the lesson objective.

·         Students are not distracted during practice time.

·         Directions for practice are clear.

·         Adequate practice is provided to ensure mastery.

·         Generous feedback is given early on.

·         Guided practice is closely monitored. It is "practice without penalty" and receives no grades or marks.

·         Students should have about an 80% success rate before independent practice is assigned.

·         Practice is distributed over time. Practice is less frequent after initial instruction but continues until mastery is achieved.

·         "Mental practice" is encouraged.