Interactive decisions

Although planning decisions may form the starting point of a lesson, they are not the sole determinant of what happens during the lesson. Lessons are dynamic in nature, to some extent unpredictable, and characterised by constant change. Teachers therefore to continuously make decisions that are appropriate to the specific dynamism of the lesson they are teaching. These kinds of decisions are called interactive decisions. Teaching-learning contexts change, and teachers’ behaviours must change accordingly. The basic problem for teachers is, therefore, to acknowledge that there is no best way to behave, and to learn to make decisions in such ways that their behaviours are continually appropriate to the dynamic, moment-to-moment complexity of the classroom (Parker, 1984).

The ability to make appropriate interactive decisions is clearly an essential teaching skill, since interactive decisions enable teachers to assess students’ response to teaching and to modify their instruction in order to provide optimal support for learning. A teacher whose teaching is guided solely by a lesson plan and who ignores the interactional dynamics of the teaching-learning process is hence less likely to be able to respond to students’ needs.

There are a number of components to an interactive decision:

1) monitoring once teaching and evaluating what is happening at a particular point in the lesson;

2) recognising that a number of different courses of action are possible;

3) selecting a particular course of action;

4) evaluating the consequences of the choice.

The ability to monitor one’s own instruction and evaluate it in terms of its appropriateness within a specific and immediate context is central to interactive decision making. It involves observing a lesson as it proceeds and asking questions of the following kind:

· Do the students understand this? Are my instructions clear and understood?

· Do I need to increase student involvement in this activity?

· Should I try teaching this a different way?

· Is this taking too much time?

· Is this activity going as planned?

· How can I get the students’ attention?

· Do students need more information?

· Do I need to improve accuracy on this task?

· Is this relevant to the aims of the lessons?

· Do students have the vocabulary they need in order to do this task?

· Is this teaching students something that they really need to know?

· Am I teaching too much rather than letting the learners work it out for themselves?

In monitoring and evaluating his own teaching, the teacher may decide (1) that the lesson is proceeding satisfactorily and let the lesson continue, or (2) that some sort of intervention is necessary in order to respond to a problem that has been identified.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-13