5 Elements of Effective Teaching
Originally written in 2010, with minor changes for the web
1 — Attention Seeking
Good and effective teachers get the class's attention before talking to them to bring about learning.
A teacher must be aware of who is and who is not paying attention and is able to produce an environment in which the attention of each pupil can be focused on the teacher when required.
I observed this in practice during an ICT lesson with year 9 pupils. The teacher asked the pupils to log in to their computers, which were in a horseshoe formation with pupils turned away from the teacher. Before beginning his introduction, the teacher:
asked the class for attention
picked out pupils who had continued to talk, asking them, "Did you hear what I just said?"
paused while pupils arriving late found their seats
explained that he would like them to turn entirely in their chairs instead of just turning their necks when he asked for their attention
Only then, when the distractions were removed, and he could see that he had the attention of each pupil, did he start his introduction.
2 — Demonstrating Competence
Good and effective teachers explain, demonstrate and then assist in bringing about learning.
They must be competent in their subject in all three of these areas:
able to explain both the method and the reason for what they want the pupils to do
demonstrate the method they want the pupils to imitate
assist the pupils in replicating the method
These should happen in order so that the pupils understand what is being demonstrated, see what is expected, and then succeed in their application.
I observed this in a year 9 ICT lesson where the teacher:
explained the project they would work on that term and the existence of a project webpage
demonstrated using the projector how to find the project brief webpage on the network drive
circulated to assist the pupils in finding the correct page.
3 — Breaking Up
Good and effective teachers deconstruct tasks to bring about learning.
They do not give pupils tasks that are so big that they are incompetent to manage them but instead break tasks down into manageable sub-tasks that allow pupils to stretch their competence.
I observed this in a year 10 ICT lesson creating a project plan. The teacher broke the task down into manageable sub-tasks:
Using Excel, list the tasks on the project website.
Break down each task into sub-tasks.
Estimate the time it will take for each sub-task.
Sum the time needed in minutes.
Sum the time needed in hours.
Estimate the start month for each sub-task.
By breaking the task down, the teacher created scaffolding to help them achieve a more significant task than the pupils were used to.
4 — Withholding Knowledge
Good and effective teachers do not give pupils all the answers to bring about learning.
Teachers, by definition, have much greater subject knowledge than their pupils, and it can be tempting to share this knowledge at every opportunity. However, sometimes it creates a greater learning opportunity to force pupils to discover answers by applying their prior knowledge.
For example, in a year 8 ICT lesson on creating a healthy lifestyle web page, the teacher gave them little input on what content to include. Instead, as a class, they brainstormed what topics they should include. They came up with topics such as smoking, exercise, healthy eating and mental health. The teacher then used the ideas which the pupils generated to outline a sample webpage layout. Had the teacher just given them a list of topics, they would not be "consider[ing] systematically the information needed to solve a problem" [NC, 2010, ICT KS3 Key Process 2.1a].
5 — Praising Success
Good and effective teachers praise correct answers to bring about learning.
Pupils need feedback on their levels of understanding, especially when they make progress. When a pupil gives an answer beyond their previous ability, praise asserts their correctness and rewards their efforts. While teachers can respond to most answers with either a "Good" or guidance towards the correct answer, when a pupil demonstrates learning, this should be marked with some degree of ceremony. If the teacher does not give praise, the pupil will feel their efforts are not respected and may become disillusioned.
While observing a year 9 English lesson, the teacher regularly led class discussions. Most pupil responses to the questions were factual; however, when a student had their facts right and also demonstrated an understanding of process and motive, the teacher praised them. For example, one student ascribed an adjective to a character from the book, quoted a passage demonstrating this aspect of the character and explained how this demonstrated the adjective. The teacher praised him publicly, both verbally and with a large smile.