…than teachers.
Hello all. Welcome to the 106th edition of TEPS Weekly!
Learning is difficult. Teaching is difficult. And as teachers and educators, we see our roles as that of making student learning easier. What does this mean, exactly? What makes student learning easier?
Scenario 1
The teacher has pre-prepared for his class. He has all the teaching notes with him. He has a good lesson plan about the Cold War. In class, he shows the students some pictures of homes in the USA and Russia, shows them the real effects of the Cold War, then goes into the causes of it. He tells them how the Cold War was connected to NATO, which was formed at the end of World War II (covered in one of the previous classes). Then the teacher instructs the students to fill in the worksheet at the end of the class and informs them that they will get the ‘results’ in the next class.
Scenario 2
The teacher has pre-prepared for her class on the Cold War. She has a good lesson plan and has her teaching notes with her. In class, she asks students about the formation of NATO (covered in one of the previous classes). Then she gives a brief background of the distrust between the USA and Russia, and asks the students what would happen in such a situation – there is a deep lack of trust between the USA and Russia, and they have the ability to create nuclear weapons. She allows the students to speculate and then guides them to some of the pre-prepared resources for them to read. As the students read, she asks more questions about how life in the USA and Russia was affected by the Cold War. What happened in European countries? How does NATO become significant in this discussion? Then the teacher instructs the students to fill in the worksheet at the end of the class and tells them that they will check their responses in the next class.
Is learning easier in Scenario 1 or 2? In Scenario 1, the teacher has prepared well enough to give students an accurate understanding of the Cold War. The students are getting this information by listening to the teacher and understanding it. In Scenario 2, the teacher is laying the ground for the students to build their understanding not by having them listen to a lecture but by giving them a chance to engage with the material. Here the students are expected to work harder than the teacher.
We, as educators, tend to underestimate the students’ ability to work and overestimate our own contribution. “I have to tell them about the causes of the Cold War, otherwise how will they know?” “My students are not interested. The only thing that works is if I give them the information.”
These are common sentiments among teachers all around. The teacher in Scenario 1 seems to come from this train of thought.
Question instead of telling
In Scenario 1, all thinking is done by the teacher – by telling them about the lives that were impacted by the Cold War, by telling them about how the formation of NATO was linked to the Cold War, by telling them the global effects of the Cold War. The teacher is working harder than the students.
In Scenario 2, the teacher is asking students questions while the students are thinking. The teacher is not thinking for them. This is happening because of the questions that the teacher is asking.
By questioning and getting students to understand the context and make their own connections, the teacher enables students to make meaningful sense of the information in their own contexts. Instead of telling them the connections to make, let them make their own connections based on the questions asked by you.
Let the students reflect on their own work
In Scenario 1, the teacher was going to assess the student worksheets and return them to the students with comments or grades. In Scenario 2, the teacher was going to get the students to check their own worksheets in a discussion in the next class. In Scenario 1, the teacher is doing the reflections for the students, while in Scenario 2, the students get a chance to reflect on their own work. When a student reflects on their own work, it fortifies their learning, and taking that part away from students makes it harder for students to learn.
So what is the teacher’s role?
We started with the question of how to make learning easier for students. Ironically, to make learning easier for the students, it should be made a little harder. Giving students a chance of productive struggle so that they spend time with the material helps them learn deeper and for longer. Meaningful help from teachers comes from providing minimal support and only at the times when the students are stuck spinning their wheels instead of going through a process of productive struggle.
“So no direct instruction ever?” When a student is not moving forward and there is a concrete set of information that they don’t have, direct instruction is ideal. Unproblematic and direct knowledge or skills are most effective when taught through direct instruction. So direct instruction should not be discarded, but used selectively. In other cases, asking more direct questions also helps.
“And how else can I support my students?” Other meaningful support comes from creating routines in the classroom. Establishing routines and rules at the beginning of the year makes it easier for students, as it gives them a sense of familiarity with what is expected of them, what success means and what is discouraged in the classroom.
Modelling problem-solving instead of actually solving the problem for the students counts as support. Gathering or pointing students to the right resources to build their knowledge or opinion counts as support.
Learning is difficult. Teaching is difficult. And by getting students to do most of the work, you will make learning easier for the students and a little easier for yourself in the classroom. To make your life easier in the classroom will need a little bit of hard work before the class on the content, pedagogy and classroom management approach.
Note: The general sentiment of this edition is inspired by the book Never Work Harder than Your Students by Robyn R. Jackman.
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Edition: 4.13
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