In this article, I’m going to talk about what makes a teaching strategy effective. There are ten principles for a teaching strategy to be effective. Read to recognize them.
What Is “Strategy”?
Before talking about teaching strategies, we should know what a strategy is.
Strategy is a borrowed term from the military which actually means to utilize all of a nation’s forces through large-scale planning and development to ensure security or victory.
According to Encyclopaedia, a strategy refers to the science or art of planning and directing large military movements and operations.
In this article, I use the term strategy to imply thoughtful planning to do something.
What Is a “Teaching Strategy”?
We can define teaching strategy as a generalized plan for a lesson(s) that includes the desired learner behaviour in terms of goals of instruction.
Teaching strategies may also refer to methods used to help students learn the desired course content and be able to achieve its goals.
Teaching strategies – also known as instructional strategies – are methods that teachers use to deliver course material in ways that keep students engaged and practising different skill sets.
Types of Teaching Strategies
There are different types of teaching strategies that the teacher can use. These different types of teaching strategies can be classified as:
Autocratic Styles Of Teaching Strategies
Autocratic styles of teaching are traditional styles of teaching. These are teacher-centred or content-centred. Here, the teacher is more active and learners are passive listeners. No emphasis is given to learners’ abilities, capabilities, interests, and personalities.
Permissive Styles Of Teaching Strategies
The permissive styles of teaching are based on the modern theory of instruction (Student-centered). These involve the participation of both the teacher and the learner. But it is mainly learner-centred i.e. content and strategies are decided considering learners’ abilities, capabilities, needs, and personalities.
These styles help in exploring the creativity of the learners and developing all aspects of their behaviour.
Examples of teaching strategies
Autocratic Styles Of Teaching Strategies
- Lectures
- Demonstration
- Tutorials
- Programmed Instructions
Permissive Styles Of Teaching Strategies
- Question–Answer Strategy
- Project Strategy
- Group Discussion
- Role-Playing
- Assignments
- Computer-Assisted Instruction CAI
- Brainstorming
- Independent Study
- Sensitivity Training
The Uses of Teaching Strategies
- Ensuring that learning will occur in as brief a time as possible.
- Encouraging students to engage in an exchange of ideas.
- Minimizing the chance of wrong responses in learning concepts, principles or facts.
- Ensuring the attainment of defined instructional objectives.
Which Teaching Strategy Should A teacher Select?
An instructor may select different teaching strategies according to a unit topic, grade level, class size, and classroom resources.
Teachers can employ many kinds of instructional strategies to achieve teaching and learning goals and support different kinds of students.
The teacher selects teaching strategies according to the need of the students, subject matter, and of course, the instructional objectives and then he implements them in the classroom.
For example, teachers may select strategies tailored to English language learners with ADHD or students with learning disabilities, or according to the needs of the students and the requirements of the course.
Teachers select and manipulate teaching strategies in the pre-active phase of teaching while they implement them in the interactive phase of teaching.
Ten Principles Of Effective Teaching Strategy
An effective teaching strategy must be.
(1) Focusing on meeting students’ future needs, implying the development of generic capabilities in students such as critical thinking, teamwork, and communication skills,
(2) Supporting a student’s thorough understanding of fundamental concepts even if less content is covered,
(3) Linking what is taught to real-life, and relating theory to practice,
(4) Challenging students’ beliefs and dealing with misconceptions,
(5) Using a variety of meaningful learning tasks that engage students, including student discussion,
(6) Emphasizing the interaction that must take place among individual students,
(7) Motivating students, increasing their own enthusiasm, encouraging them, and providing them with interesting, enjoyable, and active tasks,
(8) Supporting the consistency among curriculum design, aims, concepts, learning activities, assessment, and future student needs,
(9) Supporting a flexible lesson plan so that necessary adaptations may be made based on feedback during the class,
(10) Including authentic tasks and assessments related to the desired learning outcomes.
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