Text B. Thinking About Teaching

We know that there is no one best way to teach. Good teaching cannot be reduced to a recipe. Good teaching depends on two factors: (a) the objectives of the lesson and (b) the characteristics of the students. Different lessons have the objectives that demand different teaching strategies.

The ultimate test for determining a teacher’s skill is how well students master the lesson’s objectives. Some factors that affect students’ academic performance are beyond the teacher’s control. These factors include the quality of students’ prior learning, and their study strategies and work habits. Students from better-educated and wealthier families tend to perform better in school than students from lower socioeconomic families. However, when students’ socioeconomic background is controlled, differences between high and low academic achievers are associated with the quality of the students’ teachers. Students who perform well academically have better teachers than students who perform poorly. From the point of view of American researchers (Rosenshine and Stevens by name) there exist some ten points that can serve as guidelines for good effective teaching. They studied teaching strategies and found that effective teachers:

1. Begin each new lesson with a review.		6. Ask numerous questions.
2. State the goal of the lesson.	7. Guide initial practice.
3. Present new material in small steps.	8. Provide feedback and corrections.
4. Give clear instructions & explanations.	9. Provide instructions for self-study.
5. Give students much time to practice.	10. Hold weekly and monthly reviews.

In the end, the quality of teaching will be a function (функционирование) of teachers’ planning, knowledge of students, teachers’ creativity. Besides, the focus in class interaction should be on what the students discovered, not what the teacher knows or thinks.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14