Chapter 9Effective Teachers and the Process of Teaching
Themes of the chapter Thoughtful learning can be fostered by high-
quality teaching Teachers’ knowledge of the subject matter
they are teaching and their beliefs about themselves, their students, and the processes of learning and teaching have important influences on classroom practices and problems
Guiding Questions
Why are teachers’ beliefs important? How do teachers’ knowledge of subject
matter understanding and general knowledge of teaching translate into ways to teach specific material to students?
How do expert teachers differ from novice teachers?
(See next slide for more questions)
Guiding Questions (continued)
What are some general teacher-centered approaches to teaching?
What kinds of teaching tactics can teachers use?
How can teachers use homework effectively? How can teachers plan to meet the needs of
students who have special needs? How can teachers develop the expertise
necessary for working in culturally diverse settings?
What Is Teaching?
Expertise in the subject matter being taught Belief in one’s ability to teach and students’
abilities to learn Sensitivity to the needs of different kinds of
learners Planning and organizational skills Interpersonal and leadership skills A great deal of hard work
Teaching
The interpersonal effort to help learners acquire knowledge, develop skill, and realize their potential
Sources of Teacher Beliefs
Personal experience – activities, events, and understandings of everyday life
Experience with schooling and instruction – experiences when they were students
Experience with formal knowledge – knowledge from academic subjects and pedagogical knowledge from teacher education programs
Example of Inaccurate Teacher Beliefs
Preservice teachers believing in student autonomy
First year teachers becoming more controlling Custodial – a term that refers to an
approach to classroom management that views the teacher’s role as primarily maintaining an orderly classroom
Content, Pedagogical, and Pedagogical Content Knowledge
Content knowledge – knowledge about the subject matter being taught
Pedagogical knowledge – knowledge about how to teach
Pedagogical content knowledge – knowledge about how to make subject matter understandable to students
Expert Teachers View classroom as collection of individuals Plan more globally and for longer periods Have a more complex view of instructional options Run a more smoothly operating classroom Evaluate students more often and in ways closely
related to content of instruction Attribute failure to problems with planning,
organization, or execution Hold complex ideas about the role of students’
existing knowledge and make use of it during instruction
Phases of Development of Expertise
Decreased focus on self-as-teacher; increased focus on the needs of learners
Enhanced knowledge about learners Automation of classroom routines and
procedures Growth in problem-solving skills
Teachers’ Self-Efficacy
Self-efficacy – one’s judgment of how well he or she will cope with a situation, given the skills one possesses and the circumstances one faces
Teaching efficacy – a teacher’s judgment of, or confidence in, his or her capacity to cope with the teaching situation in ways that bring about desired outcomes
Developing Self-Efficacy
Verbal persuasion, personal history, and vicarious experience
Opportunities to experience successful coping
Observation of other teachers and imitating their behaviors
Self-Efficacy and Learners with Special Needs
Teachers with a high sense of self-efficacy are less likely to refer students for evaluation than are teachers with a low sense of self-efficacy Referral – educators’ shorthand for the
recommendation that a child be evaluated
for possible special education classification
Working in Culturally Different Contexts How teachers can relate to students with
different backgrounds from their own How to create an environment in which students
work well together and care about each other How to work with students in poverty and whose
parents are not present at home How to work with students who do not speak
English How to work with students with special needs
Developing a Multicultural Curriculum
Create learning goals and objectives that incorporate multicultural aspects
Include a wide variety of ethnic groups in curriculum materials in variety of ways
Introduce different ethnic groups and their contributions
Include examples from different ethnic experiences to explain subject matter
Show how multicultural content, goals, and activities intersect with subject matter standards
Instructional Goals
A statement of what is being worked for or desired in instruction
Behavioral objectives – statements of goals for instruction that clearly set forth what a student will be able to do as a result of the instruction
Educational objectives – explicit statements of what students are expected to be able to do as a result of instruction
Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives Taxonomy – a classification of objects
according to a set of principles or laws Knowledge Comprehension Application Analysis Synthesis Evaluation
Your Turn
Choose an instructional topic and compose a question on that topic for each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy
Two Frameworks for Objectives
Bloom Knowledge Comprehension Application Analysis Evaluation Synthesis
Anderson/Krathwohl Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluating Creating
New Approaches to Goals
Standards – comprehensive set of educational objectives organized by subject matter and grade level
Achievement targets – well-specified statements of what teachers want to accomplish in a particular lesson or set of lessons
Products – student creations that reflect their skills as well as their ability to create something new
Translating Goals into Plans
Setting objectives or goals Choosing a way to achieve those goals Making decisions concerning the details of
the approach Making changes as the plan is carried out Evaluating the plan after it has been
carried out in order to be better prepared the next time around
Planning on and Planning for: Instructional Time
Block scheduling – an approach to scheduling at the middle and high school levels that allows for larger blocks of time to be schedules for subjects, usually with fewer blocks per week
Levels of Planning for Instruction
Plan for the year Make seasonal plans for the year Plan instructional units Have daily lesson plans
Lesson Plan Evaluation
What is the teacher trying to accomplish? What assumptions does this plan make about the
students? How does the lesson plan view students as
learners? Could I teach this lesson from these plans? Would I
want to? Are the assessment procedures adequate? How likely are students to respond positively to this
plan? Is the level of detail too fine or too broad?
Lesson Study
Team of teachers who are teaching the same curriculum work together to think about how best to approach the lesson
One member of the team teaches the lesson while others observe and collect data
Together, they analyze the data They refine and reteach the lesson
Promoting Meaningful Learning
Reception learning – learner acquires knowledge of the structure of knowledge set forth by the teacher
Discovery-based learning – students work on their own to grasp a concept
Expository teaching – teacher provides an exposition of how a particular set of information is structured and organized
Expository Learning
Advance organizer – broad introductory statement of the information that will be presented in a lesson
Comparative organizer – broad statement that reminds the student of what he or she already knows
Expository organizer – broad statement of what is to be learned in a lesson
Discovery Learning
Inductive reasoning – abstraction of a general principle from a variety of examples
Guided discovery – students work under the guidance of a capable partner to grasp a concept or understand a lesson
Direct Instruction
A systematic form of instruction that is used for mastery of basic skills and facts Review the previous material Present new material Provide guided practice Provide feedback Provide independent practice Review weekly and monthly
Providing Explanations
Common explanations – how to do something Disciplinary explanations – from specific
disciplines and formal in structure Self-explanations – explanations you can
rehearse to yourself to make sure you understand something
Instructional explanations – provided by teachers, texts, or other materials
Your Turn
Write an example of each kind of explanation. Tell how they are different and how they are alike. How might these different explanations influence student learning?
Providing Feedback
Feedback can enhance: Response learning – tasks in which the
learner provides a simple response to a stimulus
Concept learning – learning a new rule for classification by generating the rule from examples
Skill learning – acquiring a new procedure
Asking Questions: Five Procedural Prompts that Assist Students
Signal words like who, what, where* Generic questions or generic question
stems* Main idea Questions that vary in complexity Story grammar categories like setting
*Most effective prompts
Taxonomy of Homework
Homework based on material taught in class - review, practice, rehearsal
Homework based on new material – preparation, experience
Homework that expand on and extends beyond the classroom learning – exploration, learning experience, expression
Developing Homework Policies
How much homework will I assign each night?
When and how should students hand it in? What will I do when students do not do
homework? How will I respond when students hand in
homework late?
(See next slide for more questions)
Homework Policies (continued)
What kind of help can the student seek with the homework?
What is the proper role of the parent with regard to homework?
What help can students expect from me? How will I evaluate the homework? What should students do if they often
have difficulty with homework?
Getting Homework Done
Tactics to increase rates of homework completion: Purpose Policy Design Support Feedback
Homework Strategies for Student with Disabilities
Give clear and appropriate assignments Make home work accommodations Ensure clear home/school communication Teach study skills Use a homework calendar
Homework: Cultural and Socioeconomic Differences
Economic difficulties Extended, blended, and other types of
families need to be considered Language differences can hinder
communication Cultural differences can go hand-in-hand
with language differences
Guiding Questions Revisited
Why are teachers’ beliefs important? How do teachers’ knowledge of subject
matter understanding and general knowledge of teaching translate into ways to teach specific material to students?
How do expert teachers differ from novice teachers?
(See next slide for more questions)
Guiding Questions Revisited (continued)
What are some general teacher-centered approaches to teaching?
What kinds of teaching tactics can teachers use? How can teachers use homework effectively? How can teachers plan to meet the needs of
students who have special needs? How can teachers develop the expertise
necessary for working in culturally diverse settings?