Learning and Teaching for Teachers 9811630763, 9789811630767

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Pradeep Kumar Misra

Learning and Teaching for Teachers

Learning and Teaching for Teachers

Pradeep Kumar Misra

Learning and Teaching for Teachers

123

Pradeep Kumar Misra Department of Education Chaudhary Charan Singh University Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India

ISBN 978-981-16-3076-7 ISBN 978-981-16-3077-4 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3077-4

(eBook)

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore

I dedicate this book to my mentor and teacher, respected Prof. Beena Shah.

Preface

The expectations of societies, across the globe, from teachers have entirely changed these days. These days, parents enroll their curious and digitally advanced children in educational institutions to be shaped and molded to succeed in life and make this planet a better place to live. Teachers are supposed to nurture these learners as knowledgeable, compassionate, collaborative, creative, constructive, humane, and future-ready citizens. But such vast and diverse expectations cannot be met merely by teachers’ transmission or transfer of knowledge to the learners. Teachers require professional competence and tactical preparations to fulfill such expectations. Teachers need a vast and holistic understanding of both the ‘world of learning’ and ‘world of teaching’ to perform as ‘human destiny’ shapers. Unfortunately, teachers have to toil long and hard to meet and understand the worlds of teaching and learning. There is hardly any source that provides a balanced and comprehensive understanding of both ‘learning and teaching’ for teachers. This book aims to fill this void by presenting ‘learning and teaching’ as an interconnected, interdependent, and joyful world for teachers’ understanding and practice. Considering that ‘learning about learning’ and ‘conducting the teaching’ are two integral components of a teacher’s life, this book aims to empower every teacher to get mastery over both theoretical and practical aspects of learning and teaching. This textbook provides a comprehensive and balanced description of learning and teaching by connecting it to secondary and higher education teachers’ experiences and practices in day-to-day life. Woven around worldwide research by educationists, psychologists, and practitioners, this book presents general concepts and minute details of significant discussions and concerns related to learning and teaching in present age. This textbook aims to help teachers understand learners’ learning needs, preferences, and styles and manage their teaching plans, priorities, and practices accordingly. In a unique and novel way, this book details the main ideas and emerging practices related to learning and teaching in a very easy to ‘read, understand, and practice’ way. The first five chapters of this book envision learning from different perspectives, and the next six chapters detail how to practice teaching to maximize learning outcomes. This book encompasses both the traditional textbook style of vii

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Preface

content description and the self-learning approach of working upon different real-life-based situations and activities related to both learning and teaching. Every chapter of the book starts with an outline of key themes, discusses the main concepts in easy to grasp manner by citing supporting research, presents a summary of the main points of discussion, enlists activities to perform, poses questions to work upon, and ends with useful references. In a way, this is a book for practitioners. This book, equally useful for both in-service and prospective teachers, is designed for teachers in school education, higher education, and teacher education. This book is also a valuable resource to fulfill the continuing professional development needs of the teachers. This book aims to help teachers improving the learning outcomes in their classrooms and, subsequently, the quality of the education system. Usually, parents are the first teachers of any children, and from this perspective, this book also qualifies as a must-read for parents. Meerut, India

Pradeep Kumar Misra

Acknowledgements

My students were always a constant companion of my journey to the ‘world of learning and teaching.’ Their concerns, questions, and comments, over the years, helped me to reflect on learning and teaching from a holistic perspective and present the consolidated version of my responses as this book. My thanks to them all! Researchers across the globe have conducted and published researches on different aspects of learning and teaching. I am thankful to them for their inputs that helped me pen down this story of ‘learning and teaching’ for teachers. I would like to thank fellow teachers and colleagues from different institutions. Interactions with them have helped me to envision the world of learning and teaching more deeply and meaningfully. I am also grateful to the academic leadership of my university for providing an enabling environment to research and write this book. I am immensely thankful to my dear wife ‘Rashmi’ and my lovely daughter ‘Prachi’ for continuously motivating, supporting, and sparing me to work on this book. Even they adopted a strategy to challenge and provoke me (sometimes) to come up with this book in a time-bound manner, which helped significantly. I also thank Ms. Shubha Misra, one of my learned students, for motivating me to write a book, reading the first chapter of this book, and coming up with the feedback that ‘it is joyful to read as a prospective teacher.’ I would also like to thank the staff at Springer, in particular Ms. Satvinder Kaur and Mr. Ramesh Kumaran, for their help and support. Pradeep Kumar Misra

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Contents

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Learning About Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1 What Is Learning? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 How Does Learning Occur? . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3 What Are the Reasons Behind Learning? . . 1.4 Why Is Learning Important? . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5 What Are the Different Styles of Learning? 1.6 What Are the Key Challenges in Learning? 1.7 What Are the Ways to Promote Learning? . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Approaches to Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1 Biological Approach to Learning . . . 2.2 Behaviorist Approach to Learning . . 2.3 Cognitive Approach to Learning . . . 2.4 Constructivist Approach to Learning 2.5 Humanistic Approach to Learning . . 2.6 Connectivist Approach to Learning . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Types of Learning . . . . . . . . . 3.1 Rote Learning . . . . . . . 3.2 Active Learning . . . . . 3.3 Associative Learning . . 3.4 Observational Learning 3.5 Reflective Learning . . . 3.6 Experiential Learning . 3.7 Situated Learning . . . . 3.8 Collaborative Learning 3.9 Augmented Learning . . 3.10 Multimedia Learning . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Strategies for Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1 Strategies for Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2 Cognitive Strategies of Learning . . . . . . . . . 4.2.1 Rehearsal Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2.2 Elaboration Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2.3 Organizational Strategies . . . . . . . . . 4.3 Metacognitive Strategies of Learning . . . . . . 4.3.1 Comprehension Strategies . . . . . . . . . 4.3.2 Problem-Solving Strategies . . . . . . . . 4.3.3 Writing Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3.4 Reasoning Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3.5 Self-regulation Strategies . . . . . . . . . 4.4 Affective Strategies of Learning . . . . . . . . . . 4.5 Social Strategies of Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.6 Learning Style-Driven Strategies of Learning References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Assessment and Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1 Concept of Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2 Assessment for Learning (AfL) . . . . . . . . . 5.2.1 Theoretical Ideas Behind AfL . . . . . 5.2.2 Practicing AfL in Classrooms . . . . . 5.2.3 Role of Teachers in Practicing AfL . 5.2.4 Benefits of AfL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2.5 Challenges of Practicing AfL . . . . . 5.2.6 Misconceptions About AfL . . . . . . . 5.3 Assessment of Learning (AoL) . . . . . . . . . 5.3.1 Difference Between AfL and AoL . . 5.3.2 Types of AoL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3.3 Designing AoL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3.4 Role of Teachers in AoL . . . . . . . . 5.3.5 Challenges of Practicing AoL . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Learning About Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1 What Is Teaching? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2 What Is the Primary Purpose of Teaching? . . . 6.3 Is Teaching a Profession? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.4 What Are the Guiding Principles of Teaching? 6.5 What Are the Beliefs About Teaching? . . . . . 6.6 What Are the Ways to Improve Teaching? . . . 6.7 How to Keep Enjoying Teaching? . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Contents

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Process of Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1 Modes of Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.2 Phases of Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3 Approaches to Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3.1 Learners-Driven Approaches to Teaching . . 7.3.2 Discipline-Driven Approaches to Teaching 7.3.3 Styles of Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3.4 Strategies for Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.4 Methods of Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Planning for Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.1 Process of Planning for Teaching . . . . . 8.2 Annual/Semester Planning . . . . . . . . . . 8.3 Unit Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.4 Lesson Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.4.1 Approaches to Lesson Planning 8.4.2 Steps of Writing a Lesson Plan . 8.5 Revising and Rehearsing the Planning . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Management of Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.1 Self-management for Teaching . . . . 9.2 Managing the Classroom . . . . . . . . 9.3 Managing Learners’ Participation . . 9.4 Managing Learners’ Behavior . . . . 9.5 Managing Learning Resources . . . . 9.6 Managing Learning Activities . . . . 9.7 Managing Diversity in a Classroom References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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10 Competencies for Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.1 Emerging Demands of Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.2 Competency to Act as a Professional Humane . . . 10.3 Competency to Plan, Manage, and Lead . . . . . . . . 10.4 Competency to Transmit, Transact, and Transform 10.5 Competency to Counsel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.6 Competency to Innovate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.7 Competency to Conduct Action Research . . . . . . . 10.8 Competency to Act as a Reflective Practitioner . . . 10.9 Competency to Embrace Lifelong Learning . . . . . 10.10 Competency to Adapt to Blended Learning . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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11 Technology and Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.1 Technology in Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.2 Assistive Technologies for Learners with Special Needs 11.3 Purposes of Using Technology in Teaching . . . . . . . . . 11.4 Attitudes Toward Using Technology in Teaching . . . . . 11.5 Competencies for Using Technology in Teaching . . . . . 11.6 Provisions for Using Technology in Teaching . . . . . . . . 11.7 Practices for Using Technology in Teaching . . . . . . . . . 11.8 Challenges for Using Technology in Teaching . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Contents

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181 182 183 186 187 189 191 192 195 198

Subject Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

About the Author

Pradeep Kumar Misra is Professor of Education in the Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut, India. His research specializations are teacher education, educational technology, and vocational education. He has to his credit a number of publications in journals of international repute, authored reference books, completed R&D projects, developed educational media programs, and supervised Ph.D. scholars. He has received several prestigious international research scholarships that includes Commonwealth Academic Fellowship of CSC, UK; Doctoral and Senior Researcher Scholarship of DAAD, Germany; Erasmus Mundus Visiting Scholar Scholarship of European Commission; National Scholarship of Slovak Republic; MASHAV Scholarship of Israel Government; and Research Exchange Scholarship of FMSH, France. He has also contributed for several institutions/ organizations and visited many countries for academic purposes.

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Chapter 1

Learning About Learning

Background Learning is a viral word nowadays. Elders often have been seen lecturing younger ones about the importance of learning. Meetings in educational institutions mostly revolve around two essential questions: (i) what learners have learned and (ii) how to help them to improve their learning. Teachers and institutions are usually praised or condemned based on how they impact learning and what have been the learning outcomes. Newspapers, magazines, and journals frequently publish research reports and articles about learning. Terms like selflearning, school-based learning, peer learning, joyful learning, learning theories, learning standards, learning assessments have become a part of public discourses and social media discussions. Even politicians sometimes find time to mention and talk about learning and related issues. Most importantly, teachers, students, and people from different walks of life are eager to get the answers of certain questions related to learning. These questions include what is learning, how learning occurs, why people learn, how people learn, what are the key challenges in the path of learning, why learning is important, and how to promote learning. This chapter attempts to answer all these and related questions. Key Themes Covered • • • • • • •

What Is Learning? How Does Learning Occur? What Are the Reasons Behind Learning? Why Is Learning Important? What Are the Different Styles of Learning? What Are the Key Challenges in Learning? What Are the Ways to Promote Learning?

1.1

What Is Learning?

Contrary to public perception, learning is much more than merely memorizing content or recalling information. Making it more clear, Grace (1999, p. 4) writes, ‘Terms often used to define learning, such as “knowledge,” “understanding,” © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 P. K. Misra, Learning and Teaching for Teachers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3077-4_1

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1 Learning About Learning

“mastery,” and “comprehension,” are nebulous, lacking the type of clarity to which true science aspires.’ Through the years, psychologists and educationists have given different definitions of learning, but none can be termed as a universal definition of learning. The reason is that the definition of learning depends on your perspective. The first and most common perspective of learning is to gain some new knowledge or experience or skill acquired by an individual. Emphasizing this perspective, Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2019) defines learning as knowledge or skill acquired by instruction or study. But the limitation of this definition is that it portrays learning as a mechanical task or activity mainly affecting learners’ cognitive domain. The second perspective sees learning as a process that brings a change in an individual's behavior and actions. According to Kimble (1961), learning is ‘a relatively permanent change in behavior potentiality which occurs as a result of reinforced practice’ (p. 6), while Gagné (1985, p. 2) defines learning as a ‘change in human disposition or capability that persists over a period of time and is not simply ascribable to processes of growth.’ Providing a further elaboration of this concept, Mayer (1982) argued that ‘Learning is the relatively permanent change in a person's knowledge or behavior due to experience’ (p. 1040). Making this perspective more clear, Ambrose et al. (2010) see learning as a process that leads to change, which occurs as a result of experience and increases the potential of improved performance and future learning (p. 3). All these definitions emphasize that learning brings a change in the behavior of a learner, which means that learning affects learners’ affective domain. The third one is a sociocultural perspective of learning. Using this perspective, Bingham and Conner (2015) see learning as ‘…the transformative process of taking in information that—when internalized and mixed with what we have experienced —changes what we know and builds on what we do. It is [] based on input, process, and reflection. It is what changes us.’ This perspective emphasizes that learning helps us to join others to make sense and create new ideas. More specifically, this definition emphasizes that learning is related to the psychomotor domain of learners. These discussions make it clear that there is no precise definition of learning. It has been suggested that the term learning defies a precise definition because it is put to multiple uses. However, using all these definitions, we can draw several conclusions about learning (Box 1.1).

1.2

How Does Learning Occur?

The work of cognitive psychologists, neuroscientists, educational researchers, and expert practitioners has provided us with many explanations about how people learn. Research reveals that five actors, namely the brain, social environment, observation, communications, and situations, play an essential role in learning. The functions of all these actors are discussed one by one for your understanding.

1.2 How Does Learning Occur?

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Box 1.1 Understanding learning • Learning is a process of engaging and manipulating objects, experiences, and conversations to build mental models of the world (Dewey, 1938; Piaget, 1964; Vygotsky, 1986) • Learning is the ability to profit from the experience, and it is the individual learner who benefits from experience (Church, 2018) • Learning refers to changes occurring with respect to the skill, understandings, or attitudes of individual learners (Church, 2018) • Learning involves understanding, relating ideas, and making connections between prior and new knowledge • Learning is counted in terms of relatively permanent behavior • Learning can be described as a product, or a process, or a function • Learning is an individual, as well as a social activity • Changes in the behavior of an individual by reinforced practice represent learning • Changes in the behavior of an individual by natural processes or by chance are not learning • Temporary behavior changes such as hunger or fear do not come under learning • Learning is both visible and invisible; sometimes, a learner expresses it and sometimes not

• How does the brain play a role?: Researches in neuroscience reveal that for learning to occur, the brain needs conditions under which it can change in response to stimuli (neuroplasticity) and able to produce new neurons (neurogenesis). According to this theory, learning involves recruiting multiple regions of the brain for the learning task. These regions are associated with functions such as memory, the various senses, volitional control, and higher levels of cognitive functioning (Berkeley Graduate Division, 2019). Therefore, an active brain is always helpful to learn new things. • How does the social environment play a role? According to Hammond et al., (2001, p. 11), people learn by making sense of the environment and of the stimuli around them. They propose that learning usually occurs in environments rich with stimuli and provide useful feedback in response to a learner's efforts to act upon the environment. The learning process is mainly impacted by the nature of the tasks confronted, how information is presented, and the learner's involvement in the task. The social environment also includes that learners can access someone who can be a role model, describe, or provide feedback to them. In simple words, a favorable social environment shapes the learning process in a better way. • How does observation play a role? Famous psychologist Bandura believed that learning occurs by observing the actions and consequences of other people’s behavior. Bandura demonstrated the power of observational learning by presenting video clips of adults interacting with a large, inflatable Bobo doll. In some video clips, it was shown that the adults simply ignored the doll, while in other clips, the adults were hitting, kicking, and yelling at the doll. After the children had watched these video clips, they were later given a chance to play with the Bobo doll in a room. It was noted that those children who had observed the adults abusing the doll were engaging in similar actions (Cherry, 2018). This experiment helped to conclude that observation plays a significant role in learning.

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1 Learning About Learning

• How do interaction and communication play a role? A group of psychologists, led by Lev Vygotsky, a Russian teacher and psychologist, believed that people learn through interactions and communications. After examining how social environments influence the learning process, Vygotsky (1986) suggested that learning occurs through the interactions students have with their peers, teachers, and other experts. Vygotsky also argued that culture is the primary determining factor for knowledge construction. Therefore, it can be said that people learn by interacting with others and follow the rules, skills, and abilities shaped by their culture. • How do situations and incidents play a role? The other prominent thought is that a lot of our learning occurs randomly throughout life. This thought advocates that learning occurs from new experiences, situations, incidents, and perceptions. For example, people learn from reading newspapers, watching a news broadcast, talking with friends or colleagues, and unexpected experiences. In simple words, the situations we face and the incidents that happen with us also help us learn. The above discussions help us understand that learning is a multichannel process and occurs in various ways. Box 1.2 details some observations about the learning process that are made by developments in learning research. The other important observation is that learning occurs in many ways. Some people learn via formal processes like in schools and training places, some learn via informal methods like at home and workplaces, and some learn through their day-to-day experiences, while others through mere experience (Box 1.3). In specific terms, it can be said that people can learn in any place and any time, but the only thing that matters most is how much one is committed to learning. Everyone has a different way of learning. For example, some people learn by reading, some by studying, some by listening, and some by playing. David Kolb’s holistic model that is based on experiential learning theory suggests that people learn by: • Doing something (concrete experimentation), • Thinking about it and doing some research (reflection), • Talking with others and applying what they already know about the situation (abstract conceptualization), • Doing something new or doing the same thing in a more sophisticated way based on their learning (active experimentation).

Box 1.2 Learning process Learning research from Cisco Systems (2010) suggests that: • Learning involves a change in the brain • Learning is an active social process • Motivation is critical for learning • Learners start from different places and follow different routes to achieve learning

1.2 How Does Learning Occur?

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Box 1.3 Ways of learning According to Conner (2013), learning takes place in the following ways: • Formal learning: The learning gained by attending educational programs run by schools, colleges, and universities comes under the formal learning category • Informal learning: In informal learning, individuals learn from daily experiences, from their environment, from family and neighbors, from work and play, from the market place, from the library and the mass media, etc. • Non-formal learning: People learn from any organized educational activity that resides outside the established formal education system. This activity often aims to serve specific learning objectives • Accidental learning: When individuals learn something that they had not intended or expected to learn

An article published in Skillsyouneed.com (2019) suggests that learning occurs when we can: • Gain a mental or physical grasp of the subject. • Make sense of a subject, event, or feeling by interpreting it into our own words or actions. • Use our newly acquired ability or knowledge in conjunction with skills and understanding we already possess. This article further states that learning is a repetitive cyclic process. This learning cycle, represented by the acronym PACT (Skillsyouneed.com, 2019), has four stages: • • • •

Procure: New knowledge (theory) or ability (skill) is acquired. Apply: The new knowledge or skill is then practiced in some way. Consider: The results of the practice are evaluated and/or assessed. Transform: The original knowledge or ability is modified accordingly.

This cycle makes it clear that learning is not a one-time activity. Those interested in learning are required to make continuous efforts to achieve learning. The learning efforts are further guided by several factors like the need, relevance, utility, social environment, perceived benefits, etc. Further details about how people learn are given in Box 1.4.

Box 1.4 Understanding how people learn According to Reis (2015): • Learning is a social process • Learning is usually conducted with other humans • Learners begin to learn by trying simple activities and move toward more complex activities as they grow in confidence • Learners often repeat actions that are associated with a reward or approval of peers • Learners learn most profoundly when faced with a dilemma or need to understand when something is relevant

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1.3

What Are the Reasons Behind Learning?

Learning is a deliberate and purposive activity, and people have something in mind while attempting to learn. This is guided by both cognitive and emotional or attitudinal components of people. People learn for many purposes. For example, some learn to achieve particular goals or outcomes, and some learn for just fun and enjoyment. It has been claimed that an individual's greatest power lies inside his/her mind, and everything one learns strengthens his/her mind. Therefore, we can say that people primarily learn for personal development and fulfillment. Afterward, they learn for economic prosperity, social well-being, and sustainable living. A white paper entitled the learning society observes: All around the world, learning is linked to higher wages, personal fulfillment, better health, and longer lives. Those with higher education levels earn more, work in more pleasant jobs, and are more productive. When in work, more educated people are better-rewarded with fringe benefits like pensions, vacations, and healthcare, and they experience better health throughout their long lives. In older age, learning activity can protect against cognitive decline. However, the benefits of learning are not just individual, but societal. Learning creates wealth, builds resilience to economic shocks and technological change, reduces crime, and lowers welfare expenditure. (Cisco.com, n.d., p. 1)

People learn in many ways and for different purposes. These purposes can be clubbed in four major categories: emotional development, financial development, physical development, and social development. Learning is supposed to bring many benefits to the learners. In fact, learning brings better prospects for those who learn intentionally and for those as well who learn unintentionally. The purposes of learning are further explained in Box 1.5.

1.4

Why Is Learning Important?

You have often seen parents asking from their wards about learning. They have a barrel of questions and keep repeating them, for example, (i) what you learned today, (ii) have you learned enough for examination, (iii) have you learned enough

Box 1.5 Purposes of learning Talking about the purposes of learning, Munro (n.d.) suggests that: • Learners differ in their motives for learning • Learners can be motivated to change existing knowledge for its own sake • Learners can be interested to learn for other purposes like meeting any specific requirement, becoming more acceptable to others, achieving public or group recognition, etc.

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to get good grades, (iv) why are you devoting so much time in sports but not on learning, (v) are your teachers satisfied with your learning, (vi) how is your learning in comparison with your peers, (vii) why you are not learning like your brother or sister, and so on. Similarly, teachers also keep asking almost similar types of questions regularly from learners. You may be wondering why parents and teachers are emphasizing so much on learning. In other words, why is learning so much important? There are two main reasons to it: (i) Learning helps the learners to secure certificates or degrees required to get entry into any job, vocation, or profession, and (ii) learning helps learners to bring behavioral changes helpful in their personal, social, and professional development. Considering that any kind of learning involves a change in neural structure or function, Hanson (2018) described the importance of learning in the following words: There’s a saying in brain science based on the work of Donald Hebb: neurons that fire together, wire together. The more they fire together, the more they wire together. In essence, you develop psychological resources by having sustained and repeated experiences that are turned into durable changes in your brain. You become more grateful, confident, or determined by repeatedly installing experiences of gratitude, confidence, or determination. Similarly, you center yourself increasingly in the Responsive, green zone – with an underlying sense of peace, contentment, and love – by having and internalizing many experiences of safety, satisfaction, and connection.

Usually, any person wants to achieve four things: healthy life, mental peace, economic prosperity, and social recognition. One needs continuous change in behavior to acquire all these. Here, learning comes into the picture as it helps a person act better and effectively. In other words, learning for humans has become a synonym to keep progressing in different aspects of life. Almost all world cultures advocate that a person must learn different things and continue developing as a good human being and useful citizen. A Sanskrit sloka from Bhartrihari Neeti Shatakam highlights that ‘a person without a touch of literature, music or art in his/ her life is equivalent to animal without a tail and horns.’ This observation clearly shows that people are supposed to learn different disciplines and activities to enhance their productivity and social status. Most importantly, learning helps one understand this world from different perspectives and act responsibly to make this world a better place to live.

1.5

What Are the Different Styles of Learning?

There was an earlier belief that, more or less, people learn in similar ways. As a consequence, similar types of learning activities were practiced in almost all educational institutions. But slowly, psychologists realized that people use different methods to learn things. For example, someone likes to read books to learn, while others write notes to learn. This thinking that people adopt different ways to learn came from Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligence Research. Howard Gardner

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proposed eight different types of intelligence to account for a broader range of human potential. Based on identified intelligence, he proposed eight types of people: word smart, number/reasoning smart, picture smart, body smart, music smart, people smart, self-smart, and nature smart (Gardner, 2006). In simple terms, his theory states that different people have different choices to excel, and their choices have a bearing on their learning styles. The term learning styles is widely used to describe how learners gather, sift through, interpret, organize, come to conclusions about, and ‘store’ information for further use (Chick, 2020). The idea of individualized learning styles that became popular in the 1970s (Pashler et al., 2008) proposes well over 70 different learning style models (Coffield et al., 2004). It is argued that learning styles determine how an individual mentally perceives and recalls information, and these preferences guide their way of learning. Learning styles are usually assessed and identified through questionnaires (e.g., Neil Fleming's VARK Questionnaire, Jackson's Learning Styles Profiler, etc.). Even online questionnaires are also popular among students and teachers and frequently used to determine the learning styles of a different set of learners. It is also interesting to learn that there is no universally accepted model of learning styles, as various psychologists have proposed some competing models. For your knowledge, three popular learning style models are presented in Box 1.6. Proponents of learning styles suggest that teachers have to conduct a needs analysis to assess their students’ learning styles first and adapt their classroom methods to fit each student's learning style (Vasquez, 2009). Explaining this further, Chick (2020) observes: Despite the variation in categories, the fundamental idea behind learning styles is that each of us has a specific learning style (sometimes called a “preference”). We learn best when information is presented to us in this style. For example, visual learners would learn any subject matter best if given graphically or through other kinds of visual images, kinesthetic learners would learn more effectively if they could involve bodily movements in the learning process, and so on. (para 3)

But it is not that everyone agrees with the concept of learning styles and their use in classroom conditions. Critics say that there is no consistent evidence that identifying an individual student's learning style and teaching for specific learning styles produces better student outcomes (Pashler et al., 2008; Vasquez, 2009). In comparison, some psychologists suggest that learning styles depend more on the nature of the subject or content than the learner's characteristics. The debate about whether learning styles are useful is still inconclusive. Considering this, teachers can choose a middle path to take benefit of learning styles. The middle way is, if possible, to try to be aware of the learning styles of your learners and use this information judiciously to plan your instruction or decide your mode of learning.

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Box 1.6 Popular models of learning styles Model name

Proposed learning styles

David Kolb's model

In his book, ‘Experiential Learning,’ Kolb speaks of a four-stage cycle of learning as well as four independent learning styles. According to Kolb (1984), the four stages of the cycle of learning are: • Concrete experience • Reflective observation • Abstract conceptualization • Active experimentation These four learning stages help to build four learning styles: • Accommodator = concrete experience + active experiment • Converger = abstract conceptualization + active experiment • Diverger = concrete experience + reflective observation • Assimilator = abstract conceptualization + reflective observation • VARK is an acronym that refers to the four learning styles: visual, auditory, reading/writing, and kinesthetic • The VARK model acknowledges that students have different approaches to process information. These approaches are referred to as ‘preferred learning modes’ (Fleming & Baume, 2006) Influenced by Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligence theory, this model proposes seven types of learning styles: • Visual (spatial) • Aural (auditory-musical) • Verbal (linguistic) • Physical (kinesthetic) • Logical (mathematical) • Social (interpersonal) • Solitary (intrapersonal)

Neil Fleming’s VARK model

The seven learning style models

1.6

What Are the Key Challenges in Learning?

Learning is not the first choice for many learners, irrespective of its apparent benefits. Learners often feel reluctant to learn instead of continued efforts at the level of governments and institutions. In case they learn, teachers and parents are often not satisfied with their level of learning. To check the validity of these statements, let us have an interesting question–answer session. Ask three questions to yourself: (i) was learning interesting to you during school time, (ii) was learning your first choice in comparison with other activities, and (iii) were your teachers and parents happy with your learning? Assess your answers in ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ There is every possibility that you may get two or more no. You can also ask these questions to your younger brother, sister, or learners of your class. There is every possibility that they will match you in their answers.

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Read some educational reports of international organizations and your country. You will notice one thing in common: ‘low level of learning of students in schools and higher education institutions.’ Since the advent of education, the un-satisfaction over the level of learning continues. Instead of a variety of books, technologies, methodologies, facilities, and better-trained teachers, the education systems worldwide are not happy with the state of learning in general. Therefore, it is evident that you ask why learners and learning are not falling in the same line. There is no direct answer to this question. This question needs a systematic probing to reach some conclusions. Learning is an individual-centric activity. As a teacher or parent, you can create an environment or bring facilities, but ultimately it is the learner who decides whether he/she will continue with the learning or not. In simple terms, ‘if one is interested in learning, he/she will learn irrespective of many odds,’ and ‘if one is not interested in learning, he/she will not learn irrespective of many temptations.’ It means having continued interest is a must for learning. But often, learners lose interest in learning due to one reason or another. Let us discuss some of these reasons. • Lack of clarity about the goals of learning: Whenever any person joins the learning path, the first question that comes to his mind is that where this path will lead to him/her. Unfortunately, teachers, parents, or institutional leaders fail to answer this question to learners most of the time. The three most popular answers to this question are that learning will help you to ‘get success’ or ‘get job’ or ‘get a better life.’ But these are philosophical answers; learners initially want to know why they are learning a particular subject, content, or activity. If they get a convincing answer, they keep learning; if not, they feel reluctant in learning. • Mechanistic ways of learning: There are two main ways to learning, self-directed and teacher-supported. Among these, teacher-supported (formal) learning is the most popular form of learning among learners. Instead of apparent advantages, the formal learning system is often accused of relying heavily on mechanistic ways. The mechanistic way means merely telling the learners what to do and expecting them to complete the task within given instruction in time. But, every learner does not feel happy with the mechanical way of learning. The majority of learners need some excitement and joy in the process of learning, whereas mechanistic way hardly has any such scope. As a resultant, learners mainly cram the content instead of learning. • Much emphasis on assessment of learning: Learning by nature is informal, but our education system has made it very formal. Our system has evolved in such a way that ‘learning is not learning’ but ‘certificate is learning.’ Instead of using assessment as a tool to know what learners have learned in a particular course, we have given too much emphasis on assessment. The assessment is usually performed in the form of paper-pen or oral attests. Passing these assessments, followed by certification, is a testimony that one has learned something. But, the

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majority of learners feel unhappy about these examinations or have a fear of not doing well. This disliking or fear often deters learners from fully engaging in learning. • The disconnect between real problems and classroom learning: The primary purpose of any learning is to prepare learners to face real-life situations and challenges. But, classroom-based learning hardly takes this aspect into account. Classroom-based learning mainly focuses on theoretical learning and hardly prepares learners for the outside world. The high unemployment rate among highly qualified learners in almost all countries is often credited to this disconnect between the real world and the classroom. Due to this reason, those associated with formal learning often feel apprehensive about their future. This apprehension hardly let them settle and enjoy learning in its most real sense. Besides these, lack of availability of learning spaces and learning materials, lack of freedom or support for teachers to arrange different teaching–learning activities, pressure from educational administration and governments to come up with measurable learning outcomes, and ever-emerging expectations of parents from teachers regarding the learning of their wards may also be termed as challenges to the path of learning. Most importantly, initiating any learning is a challenge, as people often feel reluctant to engage in any new learning. Therefore, attempts need to be made to overcome these challenges. The concept of learning societies is based on the idea that each learner must be given every possible opportunity to learn and develop. To make it happen, identifying these challenges and overcoming these is very much important. And everyone, teachers, learners, parents, educational administrators, and governments have to play a role in it. Some ways can be used to overcome the challenges of learning (Box 1.7).

1.7

What Are the Ways to Promote Learning?

The traditional learning models work on the principle that those who want to learn have to sit for hours, read and listen carefully, absorb the presented information, and recall it when the need arises. In comparison, advances in learning research tell us that students learn more when they participate in the process of learning via discussion, practice, review, arguments, or application (Grunert, 1997). Therefore, schools are expected to create a learning environment that allows learners to interact with each other through discussion, collaboration, and feedback. Besides, families can also play a vital role in improving the learning outcomes of their wards. Research shows that when parents and caregivers create an environment at home that encourages and supports learning, it influences how children learn, more than direct parental involvement with the subjects they are studying (Government of South Australia, 2018). Therefore, families can also play an important role in promoting learning by providing their wards an enabling learning environment.

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Box 1.7 Overcoming challenges to learning There is no simple or straightway to overcome different challenges to learning, but following may be helpful for you as a teacher to minimize some of these challenges: • Before teaching any content or assigning any activity to the learners, always discuss the significance or need of it with learners • Instead of lecturing all the time, try different methods of teaching and learning to arouse the interest among learners • Try to create such a learning environment, where every learner will have the opportunity to speak and act • Instead of telling learners what to do, give ample freedom and scope to them to decide their way of learning • Have informal interaction with learners to assess their learning preferences and mold your teaching style accordingly • Time to time, arrange visits to real working places or industries to supplement classroom learning • Use technologies judiciously to bring the outside world into your classroom

In any education system, teachers have been seen as the most vital component. The reason is that teachers have been seen as instrumental in helping their students to learn. Teachers use different methods, tools, techniques, and emerging technologies to promote learning among their students. Irrespective of their best efforts, it has been felt that learners are becoming less interested to learn. The probable reason may be that classroom teaching hardly pays attention to learners’ psychological and emotional states. Teachers usually follow a one-way content delivery model. They deliver a large chunk of knowledge to their learners in fixed hours. Learners are mainly interested in collecting, memorizing, and producing a chunk of knowledge during examinations. This mechanical process is giving way to rote learning, while society demands active learning. Teachers have to realize that it is the learner who has to learn and that their primary role is to motivate, support, and make the student ready for learning. If teachers want to promote learning in their classrooms, they have to act and treat their learners differently by using varied strategies. Teachers must understand that activities like panel discussions, project work, debates, peer tutoring, etc., can play a very useful role in promoting active learning in the classrooms. Some useful principles for the promotion of learning are detailed in Box 1.8. Let Us Sum Up A reading of this chapter helped us to learn more about learning by getting the answers to some critical questions like what is learning, how learning occurs, why people learn, how people learn, why learning is essential, what are the vital challenges in the path of learning, and how to promote learning. The chapter mainly concluded that learning involves understanding, relating ideas, and making connections between prior and new knowledge. We also learned that learning is an active social process and counted in terms of relatively permanent behavior. Brain, social environment, observation, communications, and situations play a critical role

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Box 1.8 Principles for learning improvement Based on the recent researches in the field of learning, you may apply the following principles to promote learning: • Tell your learners to avoid much stress, although having moderate pressure is beneficial for learning • Suggest your learners have an adequate sleep, nutrition, and exercise • Engage them in the processes that stimulate multiple neural connections in the brain to promote active learning • Help your learners to learn independently and offer them needed support • Ask the parents to counsel their wards to realize the significance of learning • Suggest the parents provide a stimulating and supportive home environment to their wards • Encourage learners to participate in social activities and conversations with peers actively • Motivate learners to have constant connections and communication with teachers and peers

in the learning process. We also realized that learners learn via formal, informal, non-formal, and accidental ways; learners differ in their motives for learning; learning helps achieve a healthy life, mental peace, economic prosperity, and social recognition. We also learned that there are many challenges in the path of learning, like an overemphasis on mechanistic ways and assessment of learning, and a disconnect between real-world problems and classroom learning. Fortunately, teachers can play an important role in overcoming these challenges and promoting learning among learners. This learning about learning is particularly useful for teachers to mold their teaching practices and help learners achieve better learning outcomes. Activities to Perform 1. Sit with your parents and discuss the term learning with them. 2. Search and read five different articles about learning and compare how the term learning has been explained in these articles. 3. Collect ten popular definitions of learning given by different psychologists, analyze them, and produce a comprehensive description of learning based on your analysis. 4. Differentiate between ‘rote learning’ and ‘active learning.’ Suggest five strategies to promote active learning in classrooms. 5. Survey your peers to assess their learning styles. Organize a discussion based on these assessments. 6. Organize a panel discussion on the topic ‘importance of learning in human life.’ 7. Organize a seminar on the topic ‘Challenges in the Path of Learning’ and invite some learners to speak on the topic. Based on their views, organize a discussion to come up with some recommendations regarding minimizing these challenges. 8. Survey your classmates to identify their learning practices.

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Questions to Work Upon 1. How learning about learning is helpful for both teachers and students? 2. Give your views about what learning is, and how does it occur by giving real-life examples? 3. Detail your observations about the learning needs of different people and processes they adopt to fulfill these learning needs. 4. ‘Assessing learning styles of their students will always be helpful for a teacher to plan classroom instruction,’ give your arguments in favor or against this statement. 5. Why educational policies always emphasize on promoting learning and ensuring learning outcomes? 6. As head of your educational institution, what efforts you will make to minimize the challenges to the path of learning among learners of your institution. 7. As an advisor, what measures will you suggest to a school administration for promoting learning among its students?

References Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M. C., & Norman, M. K. (2010). How learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching. Wiley. Berkeley Graduate Division. (2019). Neuroscience and how students learn. Retrieved from https://gsi.berkeley.edu/gsi-guide-contents/learning-theory-research/neuroscience/. Bingham, T., & Conner, M. (2015). The new social learning (2nd ed.). Association for Talent Development. Cherry, K. (2018). The psychology of how people learn. Retrieved from https://www. verywellmind.com/what-is-learning-2795332. Chick, N. (2020). Learning styles. Center for Teaching, Vanderbilt University. Retrieved from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/learning-styles-preferences/. Church, J. (2018). Learning occurs in individuals. Retrieved from https://www.tecks.co.nz/home/ Importantlearningandteachingevents/Learningprocesseslearningoutcomesandphasesoflearning/ Whatislearning/Learningoccursinindividuals. Cisco Systems. (2010). The learning society. Retrieved from https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en_us/ about/citizenship/socio-economic/docs/LearningSociety_WhitePaper.pdf. Coffield, F., Moseley, D., Hall, E., & Ecclestone, K. (2004). Learning styles and pedagogy in post-16 learning. A systematic and critical review. Learning and Skills Research Centre. Retrieved from https://www.leerbeleving.nl/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/learning-styles.pdf. Conner, M. (2013). Informal learning. Retrieved from http://marciaconner.com/resources/ informal-learning/. Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and education. Kappa Delta Pi. Fleming, N., & Baume, D. (2006). Learning styles again: Varking up the right tree! Educational Development, 7(4), 4–7. Retrieved from https://semcme.org/wp-content/uploads/FloraEducational-Developments.pdf. Gagné, R. M. (1985). The conditions of learning (4th ed.). Holt, Rinehart, & Winston. Gardner, H. (2006). Multiple intelligences: New horizons. Basic Books.

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Government of South Australia. (2018). Helping young people learn—What you can do in secondary school. Department of Education, Government of South Australia. Retrieved from https://www.education.sa.gov.au/supporting-students/parent-engagement-education/helpingchildren-learn/helping-young-people-learn-what-you-can-do-secondary-school. Grace, P. E. (1999). The behaviorist perspective on learning. Retrieved from http://www. phillipgrace.com/portfolio/writing/1999-07_The_Behaviorist_Perspective_on_Learning.pdf. Grunert, J. (1997). The course syllabus: A learning-centered approach. Anker Publishing Co Inc. Hammond, L.-D., Austin, K., Orcutt, A., & Rosso, J. (2001). How people learn: Introduction to learning theories. Retrieved from https://web.stanford.edu/class/ed269/hplintrochapter.pdf. Hanson, R. (2018). The importance of learning. Retrieved from https://www.rickhanson.net/theimportance-of-learning/. Kimble, G. A. (1961). Hilgard and Marquis’ conditioning and learning (2nd ed.). Prentice-Hall. Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning. Prentice-Hall. Kolb, D. A., & Fry, R. (1975). Towards an applied theory of experiential learning. In C. Cooper (Ed.), Theories of Group Process (pp. 33–57). John Wiley. Mayer, R. E. (1982). Learning. In H. E. Mitzel, J. H. Best, W. Rabinowitz, & A. E. R. Association (Eds.), Encyclopedia of educational research (5th ed., pp. 1040–1058). The Free Press. Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (2019). Definition of learning. Retrieved from https://www. merriam-webster.com/dictionary/learning. Munro, J. (n.d.). Motivating learning: Why do we learn? Retrieved from https://students.education. unimelb.edu.au/selage/pub/readings/psyexlearn/PELmotivation.pdf. Pashler, H., McDaniel, M. A., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R. A. (2008). Learning styles: Concepts and evidence. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 9(3), 105–119. Piaget, J. (1964). Cognitive development in children: Development and learning. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 2, 176–186. Reis, R. (2015). How do people learn? Retrieved from https://tomprof.stanford.edu/posting/1495. Skillsyouneed.com. (2019). What is learning? Retrieved from https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ learn/learning.html. Vasquez, K. (2009). Learning styles as self-fulfilling prophecies. In R. A. R. Gurung & L. R. Prieto (Eds.), Getting culture: Incorporating diversity across the curriculum (pp. 53–63). Stylus. Vygotsky, L. S. (1986). Thought and language. The MIT Press.

Chapter 2

Approaches to Learning

Background Learning is a unique activity. There is no fixed pattern for learning as psychologists suggest different approaches to learning. For example, a section of psychologists says that learning brings changes in overt behavior and other group says that learning brings changes in thinking. In simple terms, these are two different approaches to learning. Basically, approaches to learning focus on how children learn and mainly refer to those skills and behaviors that children use to engage in learning (ECLKC, 2020). Therefore, as a teacher, it becomes essential for you to learn that what are different approaches to learning and how to use these approaches in classroom conditions? The approaches to learning mainly revolve around different theoretical perspectives: biological (learning as a brain-based activity), behaviorist (learning as a change in overt behavior), cognitivist (learning as a change in the state of knowledge), constructivist (learning as a change in thinking resulting from individual experiences), connectivist (learning as the process of creating connections), and humanistic (learning as individual responsibility one takes by becoming intrinsically motivated). Taking this discussion forward, the present chapter details six different approaches to learning and their implications in classroom conditions. Key Themes Covered • • • • • •

Biological Approach to Learning Behaviorist Approach to Learning Cognitive Approach to Learning Constructivist Approach to Learning Connectivist Approach to Learning Humanistic Approach to Learning

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 P. K. Misra, Learning and Teaching for Teachers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3077-4_2

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2.1

Biological Approach to Learning

A key debate in the psychological study over the past century has been whether neuropsychology, the study of the brain, can explain animal or human behavior. This key debate started from the work of William James, The Principles of Psychology (1890), who argued that the scientific study of psychology should be grounded in an understanding of biology (James, 1890). Devonshire and Dommett (2010) noted that in the past 30 years, a field of educational theory has developed that examines learning as a biological process. Commenting on this, Rodgers (2015) observes: The relationship between biological functions and learning is not new. Whether it was examining the human condition in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs or seeing the response of Pavlov’s dogs, educational theorists have long observed the brain’s response to learning new things. What is different about the current views on educational neuroscience is an increased respect for the brain. No longer viewed as a behavioristic stimulus/response system, knowing the intricacies of how the brain functions to process and encode new information offers opportunities for crafting educational experiences that optimize the brain’s intrinsic abilities. (p. 177)

According to biological psychologists, learning is a brain-based activity; hence, they call it brain-based learning (BBL), and some refer it as educational neuroscience. Psychologists who favor the biological approach believe that inherited predispositions as well as physiological processes can be used to explain differences in our personalities (Burger, 2008). Their belief is based on the following key insights (The Royal Society, 2011): • ‘Neuroscience research suggests that learning outcomes are not solely determined by the environment. Biological factors play an important role in accounting for differences in learning ability between individuals’ (p. v). • ‘By considering biological factors, research has advanced the understanding of specific learning difficulties, such as dyslexia and dyscalculia. Likewise, neuroscience is uncovering why certain types of learning are more rewarding than others’ (p. v). • ‘The brain changes constantly as a result of learning and remains “plastic” throughout life. Neuroscience has shown that learning a skill changes the brain and that these changes revert when practice of the skill ceases. Hence “use it or lose it” is an important principle for lifelong learning’ (p. v). • ‘Both acquisition of knowledge and mastery of self-control benefit future learning. Thus, neuroscience has a key role in investigating means of boosting brain power’ (p. v). There are three intertwined strands to the biological approach to learning: biological, physiological, and genetic variables. Considering that all behavior is controlled by the central nervous system, biological psychologists seek to understand how the brain functions to understand behavior. Biological psychologists study the human brain in terms of specialized parts, or systems, and their

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exquisitely complex relationships to examine how the brain functions to enhance the brain’s natural ability to learn new things (Stangor & Walinga, 2014). This notion of the biological approach to learning can be best understood by the following words, although written in a slightly different context, of Harari (2014): Nothing captures the biological argument better than the famous New Age slogan: ‘Happiness begins within.’ Money, social status, plastic surgery, beautiful houses, powerful positions-none of these will bring you happiness. Lasting happiness comes only from serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin. (p. 436)

Looking at the chemical makeup of the brain has led to the successful production of a range of drug treatments in recent decades that have helped in the treatment of a variety of issues, including depression and schizophrenia (Psychologist World, 2020). The biological perspective tends to stress that human genes have evolved over millions of years to adapt behavior to the environment and nature played a crucial role in it. Considering that the biological approach to learning is a way of looking at human problems and actions, Cherry (2019) noted: By looking at the biological bases of human behavior, psychologists are better able to understand how the brain and physiological processes might influence the way people think, act, and feel. This perspective also allows researchers to come up with new treatments that target the biological influences on psychological well-being.

Supporters of this approach claim that human behavior can be largely explained in terms of biology (e.g., genes/hormones), and it is also helpful to analyze various psychological problems in a scientific manner. This view is supported by recent findings emerging from the neurosciences. Rather than thinking of the brain as a computer, neurosciences now see the brain as a far more flexible, self-adjusting, and ever-changing organism that grows and reshapes itself in response to different challenges (Abbott & Ryan, 2001). While the critique of this approach argue that most biological explanations are reductionist, as it reduces behavior to the outcome of genes and other biological processes, neglecting the effects of childhood and our social and cultural environment and do not provide enough information to fully explain human behavior (McLeod, 2017). Here, we have to understand that this is one of the many approaches to learning, and its proposal can be combined effectively with other approaches to understand learning in a better way. Let us have a look at the classroom implications of the biological approach (Box 2.1).

2.2

Behaviorist Approach to Learning

Behaviorism, also known as behavioral psychology, is considered as the oldest of learning approaches. Mergel (1998) traces it back to Aristotle, who noted associations being made between events such as lightning and thunder. However, it was John Broadus Watson who coined the term 'behaviorism' in his classic paper, ‘Psychology as the behaviorist views it,’ that was published in the year 1913. Behaviorist approach to learning is based on the idea that all behaviors are acquired

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Box 2.1 Basic principles of biological approach and its classroom implications Basic principles

Classroom implications

‘Neurons that fire together wire together’ (this process takes place throughout the entire body via information chemicals called neurotransmitters, neuropeptides, and hormones) Feeling threatened or helpless causes stress, which in turn causes the body to create the hormone cortisol which reduces the brain’s ability to perceive and think clearly (Caine & Caine, 1994) Feeling challenged but up to the task, produces the hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline which assist us to perform (Caine & Caine, 1994)

Use hands-on experience, guided discovery, cooperative group work, field trips, projects, audio-visuals, drama, music, computer programs, online social media, and debates, to mentally arouse your learners Help your learners to overcome negative factors, drugs, and most importantly stress. These supportive measures will be helpful to improve their learning in many ways Suggest your learners to go for a healthy diet, do regular exercise, and engage in challenging mental activities. This will have a long-term, positive impact on the brain and psychological development (Kolb et al., 2003) of your students

through conditioning. The term behavior is mostly used for actions that can be observed from outside. Behavior is composed of reactions and movements that an organism gives and does in a certain situation. According to Bacanli (n.d.), Behaviorist learning approach mostly focuses on how behaviours are acquired. Behaviorist approach claims that learning can develop by means of establishing a connection between stimulus and behaviour, and that any behaviour can be changed through reinforcement.

The behaviorist approach to learning centers around the belief that appropriate behavior can be taught through constant repetition of a task combined with feedback from the facilitator. Positive feedback encourages and reinforces success while negative feedback and immediate correction discourage the repetition of a mistake or undesirable behavior (SkillsYouNeed.com, 2020). The behaviorist approach is supported by several well-known psychologists (Box 2.2). Interestingly, they all support the claim that learning is a change in overt behavior but have different opinions that how this change in behavior takes place. A study of theoretical perspectives of prominent behaviorists will be helpful to understand the behaviorist approach in a better way (Box 2.2). Behaviorists believe that our responses to environmental stimuli shape our actions. This approach, therefore, looks at overt behaviors that can be observed and measured as indicators of learning (Good & Brophy, 1990). Criticizing the behaviorist approach of learning, Bates (2015) observes … it treats humans as a black box, where inputs into the black box, and outputs from the black box, are known and measurable, but what goes on inside the black box is ignored or not considered of interest. However, humans have the ability for conscious thought, decision-making, emotions, and the ability to express ideas through social discourse, all of which are highly significant for learning. Thus we will likely get a better understanding of learning if we try to find out what goes on inside the black box. (Chapter 2, section 2.4)

2.2 Behaviorist Approach to Learning

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Box 2.2 Prominent behaviorists and their theoretical perspectives Name

Theoretical perspective

John Broadus Watson (1878–1958)

Behaviorism • A child's environment is the factor that shapes behaviors over their genetic makeup or natural temperament Classical conditioning • Learned behavior is the result of a sequence of events experienced, rather than a conscious thought process Positive reinforcement • ‘Satisfaction’ could reinforce positive behaviors (Tapp, 1969) Operant conditioning • Association between stimulus and response can be made more effective by reinforcement • Rewards and punishment play a significant role in learning Theory of contiguity • Learning is a consequence of the association between a particular stimulus and response • Stimuli and responses affect specific sensory-motor patterns and what is learned are movements, not behaviors • Rewards or punishment play no significant role in learning since they occur after the association between stimulus and response has been made Theory of instruction • Learning takes place in a hierarchical way. Proposes an eight-stage model (where each stage is associated with a type of learning that influences the way that instruction is delivered) and said that learning at one level is only possible if learning at a previous level has already taken place Social cognitive theory (SCT) • Learning occurs in a social context with a dynamic and reciprocal interaction of the person, environment, and behavior • Observing and modeling the behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others help the learners to shape their own behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions (as support, he cited the examples of television commercials)

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849–1936) Edward Lee Thorndike (1874–1949) Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1904–1990)

Edwin Ray Guthrie (1886–1959)

Robert Mills Gagné (1916–2002)

Albert Bandura (1925–)

This criticism leads to the emergence of the cognitivist approach which focuses on identifying mental processes that are essential for human learning. Instead of the criticism that this approach leads to mechanistic learning, the concept of rapid feedback is quite useful in helping learners to work at their own pace (Power, 2017). Basic principles of the behaviorist approach and its classroom implications are discussed in Box 2.3.

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Box 2.3 Basic principles of the behaviorist approach and its classroom implications Basic principles

Classroom implications

Change in behavior is an outcome of learning

• Clearly detail the learning outcomes so that learner can set expectations and judge for themselves whether or not they have achieved the outcome (Ally, 2004) • Emphasize producing observable and measurable outcomes in learners by using behavioral objectives, task analysis, and criterion-referenced assessment (Ertmer & Newby, 1993) • Test learners to determine whether they have achieved the learning outcome • Integrate testing and assessment into the learning sequence to check individual learner’s achievement level and provide appropriate feedback (Ally, 2004) • Use learner analysis to determine what they learned earlier and where new instruction should begin (Ertmer & Newby, 1993) • Sequence learning materials to promote learning. The sequencing could take the form of simple to complex, known to unknown, and knowledge to the application (Ally, 2004) • Sequence your instruction in a logical order to ensure that learners master early steps before progressing to more complex levels (Ertmer & Newby, 1993) • Use prompts, cues, examples, and practice to ensure a strong stimulus–response association (Ertmer & Newby, 1993) • Provide appropriate and prompt feedback to learners so that they can monitor how they are doing and take corrective action if required (Ally, 2004) • Use reinforcement and tangible rewards to impact performance (Ertmer & Newby, 1993)

Behavior represents certain learned habits

Learning is a sequential process

Appropriate stimulus leads to the desired response Feedback helps an individual to take corrective action Reinforcement positively impact human behavior

2.3

Cognitive Approach to Learning

Unlike the behaviorist approach which emphasizes promoting learners’ overt performance by the manipulation of stimulus material, the cognitive approach emphasizes the covert performance of learners through the active acquisition of knowledge and its mental processing (Ertmer & Newby, 1993). Whereas the behaviorist perspective characterizes the underpinnings of teacher-centered instruction, the cognitive perspective focuses on identifying mental processes (internal and conscious representations of the world) and considers that it is essential for human learning (Bates, 2015). Highlighting the difference between behaviorist and cognitive approaches, Atkisson (2010) notes: The two movements differ particularly in their views on behavior. Behaviorism, whose research subjects were mostly animals, views behavior as an irreducible consequence of

2.3 Cognitive Approach to Learning

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environmental stimuli, where as Cognitivism, whose research subjects are often humans, sees behavior as a point from which to abstract the mental processes behind the behavior.

Cognition which is defined as ‘the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses’ is core to the cognitive approach of learning. Cognitive learning theories explore the captivating depths of the mind from the perspective of process and believe that one's ability to learn stems from the way one perceives, organizes, stores, and retrieves information (Grider, 1993). Cognitivists view students as active in ‘an internal learning process that involves memory, thinking, reflection, abstraction, motivation, and meta-cognition’ (Ally, 2008). Cognitive approaches emphasize that learners must use their brains more effectively and engage in the learning processes by performing activities such as reading, thinking, remembering, and using language. This approach mainly focuses on the understanding of information and concepts by the learner and rebuilding logical connections between them. Fontana (1981) summarizes the cognitive approach to learning as: The cognitive approach … holds that if we are to understand learning we cannot confine ourselves to observable behaviour, but must also concern ourselves with the learner’s ability mentally to re-organize his psychological field (i.e. his inner world of concepts, memories, etc.) in response to experience. This latter approach therefore lays stress not only on the environment, but upon the way in which the individual interprets and tries to make sense of the environment. It sees the individual not as the somewhat mechanical product of his environment, but as an active agent in the learning process, deliberately trying to process and categorize the stream of information fed into him by the external world. (p. 148)

Like behaviorism, many psychologists and their theories have contributed to the continuous growth of the cognitive approach to learning. Perspectives of these prominent cognitivists are presented in Box 2.4. Here it is useful to learn that the most widely used theories of cognitivism are based on Bloom’s taxonomies of learning objectives. Bloom and his colleagues claimed that there are three important domains of learning: cognitive (thinking), affective (feeling), and psychomotor (doing) (Bloom et al., 1956). From the above discussions, it is evident that cognitivism focuses on the ‘thinking’ domain. The other notable observation is that often cognitivism is named and discussed as cognitive constructivism. The obvious reason behind this interchange is that cognitivism emphasizes that knowledge acquisition is an adaptive process and results from active cognizing by the individual learner (Doolittle, 1999), and this is an essential core of constructivism which emphasizes that learners actively construct their knowledge and meaning from their experiences (Fosnot, 1996; Steffe & Gale, 1995). Besides, the cognitive approach is also termed as an information processing approach, as cognitive psychology sees the individual as a processor of information, in much the same way that a computer takes in information and follows a program to produce an output (McLeod, 2008). Let us have a look at the basic principles of the cognitive approach and its classroom application (Box 2.5).

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Box 2.4 Prominent cognitivists and their theoretical perspectives Name of psychologist

Theoretical perspective

Jean William Fritz Piaget (1896–19,780)

Individual cognitive development • Learning proceeded by the interplay of assimilation (adjusting new experiences to fit prior concepts) and accommodation (adjusting concepts to fit new experiences). The to-and-fro of these two processes leads to short-term learning as well as long-term developmental change (Seifert & Sutton, 2009) • The long-term developments are the main focus of Piaget’s cognitive theory Cognitive dissonance • Dissonance theory began by postulating that pairs of cognitions (elements of knowledge) can be relevant or irrelevant to one another. If two cognitions are relevant to one another, they are either consonant or dissonant. Two cognitions are consonant if one follows from the other, and they are dissonant if the obverse (opposite) of one cognition follows from the other (Harmon-Jones & Mills, 2019, p. 3) • The existence of dissonance, being psychologically uncomfortable, motivates the person to reduce the dissonance and leads to avoidance of information likely to increase the dissonance (Harmon-Jones & Mills, 2019, p. 3) Cognitive flexibility • This theory is largely concerned with the transfer of knowledge and skills beyond the initial learning situation. Spiro and Jehng (1990, p. 165) state: ‘By cognitive flexibility, we mean the ability to spontaneously restructure one’s knowledge, in many ways, in adaptive response to radically changing situational demands…This is a function of both the way knowledge is represented (e.g., along multiple rather single conceptual dimensions) and the processes that operate on those mental representations (e.g., processes of schema assembly rather than intact schema retrieval).’ Cognitive load theory • Sweller believed that factors which make learning unnecessarily complex, or distract us from the information we are trying to pay attention to, increase a person's cognitive load as they are processing it. As a result of higher cognitive load, a stimulus is more difficult to pay attention to, rehearse and remember, making learning less effective (Sweller, 1988) Sign learning theory • To facilitate the learning process, Tolman proposed three basic components to be employed: (i) the significant, that is the desired outcome, goal, or behavior (ii) the sign, referring to the stimuli that prompt learners to take action, and (iii) means–end relations, referring to a learner's internal thought process or relationships. These ‘sign gestalts’ collectively form a ‘cognitive map’ • This cognitive map is also influenced by environmental factors, which influences the learner's behavior and prompts them to choose specific gestalts (Pappas, 2016)

Leon Festinger (1919–1989)

R. J. Spiro (1948–)

John Sweller (1946–)

Edward Chace Tolman (1886–1959)

2.4 Constructivist Approach to Learning

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Box 2.5 Basic principles of cognitive approach and its classroom implications Basic principles

Classroom implications

Mental processes within the brain such as memory, language and problem-solving affect learning, thinking, and behavior

• Ensure active involvement of the learner in the learning process (learner control) • Give emphasis on structuring, organizing, and sequencing information to facilitate optimal processing (by use of cognitive strategies such as outlining, summaries, synthesizers, and advanced organizers) (Yilmaz, 2011, p. 208) • Work on predetermined learning outcomes, based on analysis and development of different kinds of cognitive activities (comprehension, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation) • Promote problem-based learning, based on an analysis of the thinking processes successful problem-solvers use to solve problems • Apply instructional design approaches that attempt to manage the design of teaching to ensure successful achievement of predetermined learning outcomes or objectives (Bates, 2015) • Create learning environments that allow and encourage students to make connections with previously learned material (recall of prerequisite skills; use of relevant examples, analogies) (Ertmer & Newby, 1993)

Our minds work like computers: They are information processors

Knowledge is something that is actively constructed by learners based on their cognitive structures

2.4

Constructivist Approach to Learning

Constructivism posits that learning takes place under four assumptions: It involves active cognitive processing, it is adaptive, it is subjective rather objective, and it involves both social and individual processes (Doolittle, 1999). Constructivist approach is mainly divided into two branches (i) cognitive constructivism and (ii) social constructivism. Among these, the social constructive approach is often interchanged with the constructivist approach. Discussing the social constructivist approach to learning, Lynch (2016) observes: According to the theory of social constructivism, social worlds develop out of individuals’ interactions with their culture and society. Knowledge evolves through the process of social negotiation and evaluation of the viability of individual understanding. Basically, every conversation or encounter between two or more people presents an opportunity for new knowledge to be obtained, or present knowledge expanded. The exchange of ideas that goes along with human contact is at play here.

Social constructivism views learning as a collaborative process and propagates that knowledge develops from individuals’ interactions with their culture and society. The fundamental premise of this theory is that knowledge is a human construction and learner is an active participant in the learning process. Lev Vygotsky, who is credited for the development of social constructivism, observe that

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2 Approaches to Learning Every function in the child's cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level and, later on, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological). (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 57)

Like Vygotsky, Bruner emphasizes the role of the teacher, language, and instruction in the learning process. Bruner thought that different learners use different processes in problem-solving, these processes vary from person to person and social interaction lay at the root of good learning. He also believed that educational environments should provide an opportunity for discovery learning (Bruner, 1961). In simple terms, theorists regarded as constructivists usually focus that the learner being able to construct their knowledge, although they suggest several different approaches for this purpose. Let us have a look at the theoretical perspectives of prominent social constructivists and their viewpoints (Box 2.6). Constructivist approach believes that a truly passive person is incapable of learning and each child structures his or her knowledge of the world into a unique pattern by connecting each new fact, experience, and understanding. The social constructivist approach to learning is widely accepted by the education community, but some differ from its proposals. For example, Bereiter (2002) argues that social constructivism is usually reduced to project-based learning in educational institutions, and Anderson et al. (1996) claim that it advocates very inefficient learning and assessment procedures. Irrespective of these claims, social constructivist theories of learning can be used in many ways to promote learning in our classrooms. Let us have a look (Box 2.7).

2.5

Humanistic Approach to Learning

The humanistic approach to learning is based on the principles of humanism. Humanism, a paradigm that emerged in the 1960s, focuses on the development of self-actualized and autonomous people (Rogers & Freiberg, 1994). According to Huitt (2001), the central assumption of humanism is that people act with intentionality and values. Humanists believe that it is necessary to study the person as a whole, concerning his/her interests, goals, motivation, and enthusiasm, to help him/ her to achieve full potential. This thinking is in contrast to the behaviorist approach which argues that all behavior is the result of the application of consequences and the cognitive approach which believes that discovering knowledge or constructing meaning is central to learning. On another side, this approach is in a close connection with the learner-centered ideas of constructivism. Narrating the concept of the humanistic approach, Sharp (2012) writes: This approach to learning is student centered, with learners encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning and being intrinsically, rather than extrinsically motivated. The primary goal of a humanistic education is human well-being, including the primacy of human values, the development of human potential, and the acknowledgment of human dignity. (p. 1469)

2.5 Humanistic Approach to Learning

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Box 2.6 Prominent constructivists and their theoretical perspectives Name

Theoretical perspective

Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky (1896–1934)

Social constructivism • Vygotsky’s philosophy includes interpersonal psychology that involves learning from other members of society while engaging in social interactions (Burkholder & Peláez, 2000) • Vygotsky rejected the assumption made by Piaget that it is possible to separate learning from its social context. He views cognitive development as a social and cultural process. He emphasized the role of language and culture in cognitive development and claimed that they provide frameworks through which we experience, communicate, and understand reality Zone of proximal development (ZPD) • ZPD is defined by Vygotsky (1978) as ‘the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers’ (p. 86) • Vygotsky believed that learning takes place within the Zone of Proximal Development. In this, students can with help from adults or children who are more advanced, master concepts and ideas that they cannot understand on their own • This model has two developmental levels: (i) The level of actual development—point the learner has already reached and can solve problems independently, (ii) The level of potential development (ZDP)—point the learner is capable of reaching under the guidance of teachers or in collaboration with peers • The ZDP is the level at which learning takes place. It comprises cognitive structures that are still in the process of maturing, but which can only mature under the guidance of or in collaboration with others (UCD Teaching & Learning, 2020) Cognitive constructivist learning • In his research on the cognitive development of children, Bruner proposed three modes of representation (i) Enactive representation (action-based) (ii) Iconic representation (image-based) (iii) Symbolic representation (language-based) • Bruner's suggests that learning is effective when faced with new material to follow a progression from enactive to iconic to symbolic representation (McLeod, 2019) Human constructivism • According to Novak, ‘Significant new insights may occur when concepts and propositions in one domain of knowledge can be related in some important way to concepts and propositions in another domain of knowledge.’ (Novak, 1998) • Novak suggested that learners should be in charge of his/her learning. He further proposes that in the acquisition of new knowledge, emotions also play an important role • He also advocated understanding the learning process in the form of ‘concept maps’

Jerome Seymour Bruner (1915–2016)

Joseph. D. Novak (1932–)

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Box 2.7 Basic principles of the constructivist approach and its classroom implications Basic principles

Classroom implications

Learning is an active (not a passive) process and depends on the students taking responsibility to learn (UCD Teaching & Learning, 2020)

• Keep learners active by assigning meaningful activities that facilitate the creation of personalized meaning • Ask learners to apply the given information in a practical situation and facilitate them to come up with a personal interpretation • Give learners enough time and opportunity to reflect • Gives real-life experiences to learners that allow them to use their metacognitive skills • Give learners control of the learning process • Allow learners to made decisions about learning goals, with some guidance from your side (Ally, 2004) • Adjust the support offered during a teaching session to fit the learner’s current level of performance • Provide tools and environments that help learners interpret the multiple perspectives of the world • Create real-world environments that employ the context in which learning is relevant (Jonassen, 1991) • Promote student-centered academic activities and tasks such as assignments, field tours, and small-group projects. • Encourage students to ask questions, carry out experiments, make analogies, and come up with conclusions

Despite having the same learning experience, each individual will base their learning on the understanding and meaning personal to them (UCD Teaching & Learning, 2020)

Understanding or constructing meaning is an active and continuous process (UCD Teaching & Learning, 2020)

When students construct new meaning, they may not believe it but may give it provisional acceptance or even rejection (UCD Teaching & Learning, 2020)

In the humanistic approach, the affective and cognitive needs of learners are most important. The main goal of this approach is to develop self-actualized people in a cooperative and supportive environment (DeCarvalho, 1991). In simple words, the humanistic approach focuses on the development of healthy individuals. Within the humanistic approach, education is about creating a need within the learner, or cooperate with the learner in his/her self-motivation. The humanistic approach views the learner as an individual and considers that learning is learner-centered and personalized, and proposes that the educator must act as a facilitator. Let us have a look at the theoretical perspectives of prominent humanists (Box 2.8).

2.5 Humanistic Approach to Learning

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Box 2.8 Prominent humanists and their theoretical perspectives Name

Theoretical perspective

Carl Rogers (1902– 1987)

Self-actualization • All people possess an inherent need to grow and achieve their potential • For a person to ‘grow,’ he/she needs an environment that provides him/her with genuineness (openness and self-disclosure), acceptance (being seen with unconditional positive regard), and empathy (being listened to and understood) (Rogers, 1959) Development of the self • The formation of a healthy self-concept is an ongoing process shaped by a person's life experiences. People with a stable sense of self tend to have greater confidence and cope more effectively with life's challenges. Self-concept begins to develop during childhood and is heavily influenced by parenting (Cherry, 2020) Positive regard • People need to be regarded positively by others; people need to feel valued, respected, treated with affection, and loved (Rogers, 1951) Congruence • Where a person's ideal self and actual experience are consistent or very similar, a state of congruence exists. Hence, a difference may exist between a person's ideal self and actual experience. This is called incongruence (McLeod, 2014). For a person to achieve self-actualization, he/she must be in a state of congruence The fully functioning person • People who continually strive to fulfill their actualizing tendency could become what he referred to as fully functioning. A fully functioning person is one who is completely congruent and living in the moment. The key characteristics of a fully functioning person include openness to experience, a flexible self-concept, unconditional regard for the self, and the ability to live in harmony with other (Cherry, 2020) Self-actualization • Maslow defined self-actualization as ‘the full use and exploitation of talents, capacities, potentialities, etc.’ (Maslow, 1954) Hierarchy of needs • Maslow believed that people have an inborn desire to be self-actualized. To achieve this ultimate goal, however, some more basic needs must be met first such as the need for food, safety, love, and self-esteem. Maslow portrayed these needs in a hierarchal order (often represented in the shape of a pyramid). These needs in the ascending order are Physiological Needs, Security and Safety Needs, Social Needs, Esteem Needs, Self-Actualization Needs (Lester et al., 1983) Theory of andragogy • Knowles indicated that self-directed learning is one of the key assumptions of adult learning. According to Knowles (1975), self-directed learning describes a process ‘… in which individuals take the initiative, with or without the help of others, in diagnosing their learning needs, formulating learning goals, identifying human and material resources for learning, choosing and implementing appropriate learning strategies, and evaluating learning outcomes’ (p. 18) • Being proactive and responsible for one's learning is a basic requirement for this model

Abraham Maslow (1908–1970)

Malcolm Knowles (1913–1997)

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These theoretical perspectives lead us to claim that learning is not an end but a means to progress toward self-development (self-actualization). This approach propagates that learner learns because he or she is intrinsically driven, and derives his or her reward from the sense of achievement experienced by learning something. This differs from the behaviorist view that claims that extrinsic rewards are the main cause behind the change in behavior (Roode, 2016). But there are several criticisms of humanistic approaches as well, for example, (i) human needs do not necessarily follow a hierarchy, (ii) the theory of humanism is difficult to test, (iii) human values are neither clearly defined nor easily measurable, and (iv) this approach is highly dependent upon the capabilities of the teacher. In addition to these criticisms, it also difficult to implement these approaches in the existing education system that mainly revolves around a trilogy: structured curriculum, measured academic performance, and graded report cards. Talking about the incompatibility of an exciting education system and humanistic approaches to learning, Sharp (2012) observes: Child/student approaches, as a part of humanistic learning, have however lost favor in recent years because they place little or no emphasis on externally imposed attainment standards. The predilection in many countries for targets and testing has required a strictly rigid curriculum. Testing and classifying children and preparing them for work has become the norm. (p. 1471)

But in wake of ever-emerging challenges before humanity, the need to implement humanistic approaches to learning in traditional educational institutions becomes much more evident. And teachers are expected to play a very important role to use humanistic approaches to accommodate humanistic ideals within structured teaching environments, and they can do it in many ways (Box 2.9).

2.6

Connectivist Approach to Learning

Connectivism, a learning theory created by George Siemens, has emerged in recent years and is particularly relevant to the digital society of today. In connectivism, the starting point for learning occurs when knowledge is actuated through the process of a learner connecting to and feeding information into a learning community. George Siemens explained the logic behind coming up with this theory in the following words: A central tenet of most learning theories is that learning occurs inside a person. Even social constructivist views, which hold that learning is a socially enacted process, promote the principality of the individual (and her/his physical presence i.e. brain-based) in learning. These theories do not address learning that occurs outside of people (i.e. learning that is stored and manipulated by technology). They also fail to describe how learning happens within organizations. (Siemens, 2005)

Downes, a staunch supporter of connectivism, states that in connectivism, there is no real concept of transferring knowledge, making knowledge, or building

2.6 Connectivist Approach to Learning

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Box 2.9 Basic principles of humanistic approach and its classroom implications Basic principles

Classroom implications

People are inherently good and will experience growth if provided with suitable conditions, especially during childhood Experiencing (thinking, sensing, perceiving, feeling, remembering, and so on) is central to learning Human beings have a natural drive to achieve personal growth and self-development

As a teacher, you can adopt the following practices to promote humanistic learning in the classrooms (Roode, 2016): • Allow the learners to have a choice in the selection of tasks and activities whenever possible • Help learners to set realistic and challenging goals • Allow learners to participate in group work, especially cooperative learning, to develop social and affective skills • Act as a facilitator for group discussions when appropriate • Be a role model for the attitudes, beliefs, and habits you wish to foster among learners Besides, you may also • Emphasize on the social personal development of the learner • Give less emphasis on rigorous, performance-oriented, test-dominated approaches • Respect learner’s feelings, aspirations, and right to self-determination

knowledge. Rather, the activities we undertake when we conduct practices to learn are more like growing or developing ourselves and our society in certain (connected) ways (Downes, 2012, p. 85). According to Siemens (2005), the connectivist approach to learning is founded on the following principles: • • • • • • •

Learning and knowledge rest in diversity of opinions. Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources. Learning may reside in non-human appliances. Capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning. Ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is a core skill. Currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivist learning activities. • Decision-making is itself a learning process. Choosing what to learn and the meaning of incoming information is seen through the lens of a shifting reality. While there is a right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alterations in the information climate affecting the decision.

Proponents of the connectivist approach argue that the Internet [connections] changes the essential nature of knowledge. Highlighting the benefit of connectivism, Cormier (2008) argues that, it is like allowing a community of people (working with learning technologies) to legitimize what they are doing. Educators

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Box 2.10 Basic principles of connectivist approach and its classroom implications Basic principles

Classroom implications

Learning becomes the ability to tap into significant flows of information and to follow those flows that are significant Assumes that learning will automatically occur through ‘successful’ networks

Provide the initial learning environment and context to bring learners together Help learners to construct their personal learning environments by connecting to ‘successful’ networks

wishing to extend the use of social media within their practice can refine and spread knowledge more quickly through membership of multiple communities. The connectivists approach mainly focuses on individual participants, networks, and the flow of information and the new forms of knowledge that results. It is also argued that there is no need for formal institutions to support this kind of learning, as such learning often depends on the ready availability of social media to participants (Bates, 2015). The connectivist approach is still being refined and developed, but it still has classroom implications in its current form (Box 2.10). Let Us Sum Up Every person has his/her way of looking at things. This own way of looking and understanding things is usually termed as an approach. People follow different approaches to accomplish different tasks. The same is true with learning. People follow and practice different approaches to learning. Approaches to learning describe what you do when you are learning and why you should do it. This chapter helped us to learn about six prominent approaches to learning and their classroom implications. These approaches include the Biological approach, the Behaviorist approach, the Cognitive approach, the Constructivist approach, the Humanistic approach,s and the Connectivist approach. All these approaches help us to conclude that • • • • • •

Each learning approach is an outcome of the contribution of different theorists, Approaches to learning keep evolving, No approach can claim to fully explain the process of learning, Every approach offers meaningful solutions and pathways to promote learning, Learning is best achieved by combining the principles of these approaches, and Each learning approach has its strengths and weaknesses.

Learning of all these approaches and their proper use in classroom conditions will be useful for you as a teacher to mold such learners who are biologically magnificent, behaviorally pleasant, cognitively competent, humanistically excellent, and connectively conversant. Activities to Perform 1. Prepare a weakly chart of all the learning activities conducted in your class and identify which activity belongs to which learning approach. 2. Prepare an assignment on the latest advances in the field of brain-based learning and its educational implications.

2.6 Connectivist Approach to Learning

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3. Organize an act named ‘approaches to learning’ in your class. Pick six students from your class, and ask each one of them to represent one learning approach and enact it before audiences. 4. Organize a panel discussion on the topic ‘relevance of humanistic approaches to learning in existing education system.’ 5. Prepare a chart indicating that what areas of knowledge do you think would be best ‘taught’ or learned through which learning approach? Please give reasons for your choices. 6. Please remember your teachers from previous classes and prepare a note that which learning approaches they were using and how? 7. Note down the evidence of the use of connectivist approaches to learning in your routine life. Questions to Work Upon 1. What are the main assumptions behind the biological approach to learning? 2. Differentiate between behaviorist and cognitivist approaches to learning by giving suitable examples. 3. Why education systems across the globe are emphasizing more and more on promoting constructivists approaches in learning? Give your comments. 4. Reflect on some of the assumptions and beliefs of the cognitivists and constructivist approaches to learning. Enlist the differences and similarities between these approaches. 5. Discuss the importance of the humanistic approach to learning about achieving sustainable development (SD) goals. 6. ‘It is high time that educational leaders, teachers, and parent must understand the significance of connectivist approach to learning, and guide the students to use it in best possible manner,’ write in favor or against this statement. 7. Different learning approaches work on the principle ‘united we stand, divided we fall,’ justify this comment by giving real-life examples from different teaching–learning situations.

References Abbott, J., & Ryan, T. (2001). The unfinished revolution: Learning, human behavior, community, and political paradox. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Ally, M. (2004). Foundations of educational theory for online learning. Retrieved from https:// ustpaul.ca/upload-files/DistanceEducation/FOUNDATIONS_OF_EDUCATIONAL.pdf. Ally, M. (2008). Foundations of educational theory for online learning. In T. Anderson (Ed.), Theory and practice of online learning (pp. 15–43). Retrieved from http://www.aupress.ca/ index.php/books/120146. Anderson, J. R., Reder, L., & Simon, H. A. (1996). Situated learning and education. Educational Researcher, 25(4), 5–96.

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Anderson, L., & Krathwohl, D. (Eds.). (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives. Longman. Atkisson, M. (2010). Behaviorism vs. cognitivism. Retrieved from https://woknowing.wordpress. com/2010/10/12/behaviorism-vs-cognitivisim/. Bates, A.W. (2015). Teaching in a digital age. Tony Bates Associates Ltd. Retrieved from https:// opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/chapter/3-3-cognitivism/. Bereiter, C. (2002). Education and mind for the knowledge age. Erlbaum. Bloom, B. S., Engelhart, M. D., Furst, E. J., Hill, W. H., & Krathwohl, D. R. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals. Handbook I: Cognitive domain. David McKay Company. Bruner, J. S. (1961). The act of discovery. Harvard Educational Review, 31, 21–32. Burger, J. (2008). Personality (7th ed.). Wadsworth Pub Co. Burkholder, E. O., & Peláez, M. (2000). A behavioral interpretation of Vygotsky’s theory of thought, language, and culture. Behavioral Development Bulletin, 9(1), 7–9. https://doi.org/10. 1037/h0100530 Caine, R., & Caine, G. (1994). Making connections: Teaching and the human brain. Addison Wesley. Cherry, K. (2019). The role of the biological perspective in psychology. Retrieved from https:// www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-biological-perspective-2794878. Cherry, K. (2020). Carl Rogers psychologist biography. Retrieved from https://www. verywellmind.com/carl-rogers-biography-1902-1987-2795542. Cormier, D. (2008) Rhizomatic education: Community as curriculum. Retrieved from http:// tinyurl.com/6axkez. DeCarvalho, R. (1991). The humanistic paradigm in education. The Humanistic Psychologist, 19 (1), 88–104. Devonshire, I. M., & Dommett, E. J. (2010). Neuroscience: Viable applications in education? The Neuroscientist, 16, 349–356. Doolittle, P.E. (1999). Constructivism and online education. Retrieved from http://www. trainingshare.com/resources/doo2.htm. Downes, S. (2012). Connectivism and connective knowledge: Essays on meaning and learning networks. Canada: National Research Council Canada. Retrieved from https://www. oerknowledgecloud.org/archive/Connective_Knowledge-19May2012.pdf. ECLKC. (2020). Approaches to learning. Retrieved from https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/schoolreadiness/article/approaches-learning. Ertmer, P. A., & & Newby, T. J. (1993). Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design. Perspective Performance Improvement Quarterly, 6(4), 50–72. Retrieved from http://www.csiss.org/SPACE/workshops/2007/UCSB/docs/ ertmer_newby1993.pdf. Fontana, D. (1981). Psychology for teachers. Macmillan/British Psychological Society. Fosnot, C. T. (Ed.). (1996). Constructivism: Theory, perspective, and practice. Teachers College Press. Gage, N., & Berliner, D. (1991). Educational psychology (5th ed.). Houghton, Mifflin. Good, T. L., & Brophy, J. E. (1990). Educational psychology: A realistic approach (4th ed.). Longman. Grider, C. (1993). Foundations of cognitive theory: A concise review. Retrieved from https://files. eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED372324.pdf. Harari, Y. N. (2014). Sapiens a brief history of humankind. Penguin Random House. Harmon-Jones, E., & Mills, J. (2019). An introduction to cognitive dissonance theory and an overview of current perspectives on the theory. In E. Harmon-Jones (Ed.), Cognitive dissonance: Reexamining a pivotal theory in psychology (2nd Ed.) (pp. 3–24). American Psychological Association. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/pubs/books/CognitiveDissonance-Intro-Sample.pdf. Huitt, W. (2001). Humanism and open education. Valdosta State University. Retrieved from http:// chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/affsys/humed.html.

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James, W. (1890). The principles of psychology. Henry Holt and Co. Jonassen, D. H. (1991). Evaluating constructivist learning. Educational Technology, 28(11), 13–16. Knowles, M. S. (1975). Self-directed learning. A guide for learners and teachers. Prentice Hall/ Cambridge. Kolb, B., Gibb, K., & Robinson, T. E. (2003). Brain plasticity and behavior. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 12, 1–5. Lester, D., Hvezda, J., Sullivan, S., & Plourde, R. (1983). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and psychological health. The Journal of General Psychology, 109(1), 83–85. Lynch, M. (2016, November 19). Social constructivism in education. Retrieved from the Edvocate: https://www.theedadvocate.org/social-constructivism-in-education/. Maslow, A. (1954). Motivation and personality. Harper. McLeod, S. (2008). Information processing. Retrieved from Simply psychology https://www. simplypsychology.org/information-processing.html. McLeod, S. (2014). Carl Rogers. Retrieved from Simply psychology https://www. simplypsychology.org/carl-rogers.html. McLeod, S. (2019). Bruner-learning theory in education. Retrieved from Simply psychology https://www.simplypsychology.org/bruner.html. McLeod, S. A. (2017). Biological psychology. Retrieved from Simply psychology https://www. simplypsychology.org/biological-psychology.html. Mergel, B. (1998). Instructional design and learning theory. University of Saskatchewan. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242429320_Instructional_Design_ Learning_Theory. Novak, J. D. (1998). Learning, creating, and using knowledge: Concept maps® as facilitative tools in schools and corporations. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers. Pappas, C. (2016). 6 sign learning theory elements to include in eLearning course design. Retrieved from https://elearningindustry.com/sign-learning-theory-elements-include-elearningcourse-design. Power, R. (2017). IAmLearning: Mobilizing and supporting educator practice. International Association for Mobile Learning. Retrieved from https://iamlearning.pressbooks.com/chapter/ six-learning-theories/. Psychologist World. (2020). Evaluation of the biological approach. Retrieved from https://www. psychologistworld.com/biological/can-it-explain. Rodgers, D. L. (2015). The biological basis of learning. Simulation & Gaming, 46(2), 175–186. Rogers, C. (1951). Client-centered therapy: Its current practice, implications and theory. Constable. Rogers, C. (1959). A theory of therapy, personality and interpersonal relationships as developed in the client-centered framework. In S. Koch (Ed.), Psychology: A study of a science. Vol. 3: Formulations of the person and the social context. McGraw Hill. Rogers, C., & Freiberg, H. J. (1994). Freedom to learn (3rd ed.). Macmillan. Roode, D. (2016). Education needs a humanistic approach. Retrieved from https://trenducation. wordpress.com/2016/04/25/education-needs-a-humanistic-approach/. Seifert, K., & Sutton, R. (2009). Educational psychology. The Global Text Project. Retrieved from http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/*seifert/EdPsy2009.pdf. Sharp, A. (2012). Humanistic approaches to learning. In N. M. Seel (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the sciences of learning (pp. 1469–1471). Springer. Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A learning theory for a digital age. International. Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 2(1). Retrieved January 10, 2008, from https://jotamac.typepad.com/jotamacs_weblog/files/Connectivism.pdf. SkillsYouNeed.com. (2020). Learning approaches. Retrieved from https://www.skillsyouneed. com/learn/learning-approaches.html. Spiro, R. J., & Jehng, J. (1990). Cognitive flexibility and hypertext: Theory and technology for the non-linear and multidimensional traversal of complex subject matter. In D. Nix & R. Spiro (Eds.), Cognition, education, and multimedia. Erlbaum

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Stangor, C., & Walinga, J. (2014). Introduction to psychology (1st Canadian Edition). BCcampus. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/introductionto. Steffe, L. P., & Gale, J. (Eds.). (1995). Constructivism in education. Earlbaum. Sweller, J. (1988). Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning. Cognitive Science, 12(2), 257–285. Tapp, J. T. (1969). Reinforcement and behavior. Academic Press. The Royal Society. (2011). Brain waves module 2: Neuroscience: implications for education and lifelong learning. The Royal Society. Retrieved from https://royalsociety.org/*/media/Royal_ Society_Content/policy/publications/2011/4294975733.pdf. UCD Teaching and Learning. (2020). Constructivism and social constructivism. Retrieved from http://www.ucdoer.ie/index.php/Education_Theory/Constructivism_and_Social_Constructivism. Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society. Harvard University Press. Yilmaz, K. (2011). The cognitive perspective on learning: Its theoretical underpinnings and implications for classroom practices. The Clearing House, 84(5), 204–212.

Chapter 3

Types of Learning

Background The world of learning is like a big buffet. This buffet offers various dishes in the form of different types of learning. These dishes have different names but one aim, i.e., to fulfill every learner's learning appetite. As you inspect this buffet, you come across several dishes: rote learning (memorize to learn), collaborative learning (socialize to learn), observation learning (observe to learn), reflective learning (reflect to learn), associative learning (associate one information with other to learn), situated learning (situate your experiences to learn), experiential learning (get real-life experience to learn), multimedia learning (combine different media to learn), and augmented learning (mix reality with augmentative reality to learn). After reading this, you will be more interested to learn about the benefits of these dishes, which dish is helpful for which type of learner, and how to cook and serve these dishes. This chapter helps you to learn in detail about all these dishes. Key Themes Covered • • • • • • • • • •

Rote Learning Active Learning Associative Learning Observational Learning Reflective Learning Experiential Learning Situated Learning Collaborative Learning Augmented Learning Multimedia Learning

3.1

Rote Learning

Rote learning is one of the most used and abused learning types of our time. Collins English Dictionary (2020) defines rote learning as ‘the act of learning or memorizing something by repetition.’ Rote learning, an outcome of repetition, © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 P. K. Misra, Learning and Teaching for Teachers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3077-4_3

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memorization, and practicing (Li, 2005), plays an essential role in education. The central practice involved in rote learning is learning by repetition. The idea behind rote learning is that one will quickly recall the meaning of the material; the more one repeats it (Psychology Wiki, 2008). Popular examples of rote learning include memorizing the alphabet, numbers, and multiplication tables in mathematics, the periodic table in Chemistry, anatomy in biology, cases or statutes in law, basic formulae in science, rules in Grammar, etc. We use rote learning to learn the countries and their capitals, states, rivers, musical notes, elements of the periodic table, etc. Rote learning may be termed as ‘learning by the individual, for the individual, and of the individual.’ Is rote learning, which mainly focuses on memorizing content, is an outdated technique, or is there a proper place for its use in today's classrooms? In response, we get three different types of answers: still relevant, totally irrelevant, or need to be used judiciously with other learning types. Let us examine all three viewpoints. Proponents of rote learning say that learners must learn basic material first to engage in higher-order thinking later. In other words, how can you make a friend without first knowing his/her name? They argue that rote learning is the foundation of higher-level thinking, as observed by Kwan and Mafe (2006), ‘rote learning which is tedious but essential in honing practical skills so that further detailed knowledge can be built upon this foundation’ (p. 430). Even the educational success of Asia's education systems is often credited to their continuing emphasis on rote learning. Critics say that rote learning is just like taking a morel of food without chewing it or putting your money in a vault without knowing the proper use. Even many derogative terms have been used by its critics to refer to some form of rote learning. Some of these terms include ‘parrot fashion, regurgitation, cramming, mugging, surface/superficial learning, memorization, recall, drilling, algorithmic and procedural learning’ (Mhlolo, 2014, p. 1581). The main criticisms leveled to rote learning include: • • • • • • • • •

it is mechanical, learners sole objective is to accumulate content in mind, retention data is usually stored in short-term memory, information is easily forgotten, no examination of the information in-depth, no motivation to continue learning, repetitive in nature and process, no more in-depth understanding of a subject, no use of social skills, no connection between new and previous knowledge, and possibility to understand a concept in the wrong way.

Another group of critics says that instead of viewing rote learning as something opposed to understanding, it can be viewed in a complementary role to enhance human learning. This group of critics demands that instead of abandoning rote learning, it should be used with techniques such as associative learning and metacognition to make learning more meaningful and productive to the learner.

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Box 3.1 Bringing Rote Learning into Classrooms • Mix ‘Rote’ with ‘Action’: Motivate your learners to enact their memorization. For example, once they memorize the elements in the periodic table, you can suggest each one of them enact one element and detail its properties in from of the class. Teachers of different subjects can choose similar activities for their learners • Mix ‘Rote’ with ‘Fun’: Considering that memorization is the main component of rote learning, you can help your learners to find new ways to memorize different content. These tricks can be abbreviating main points, putting content in the form of a poem, learning content in dialogues, associating content with something exciting or unique, etc. These activities will be helpful in making rote learning fun for learners • Mix ‘Rote’ with ‘Technology’: As a teacher, you can use technology to give rote learning a new perspective. For example, students are generally supposed to read and memorize the content, but you can ask them to listen (audiobooks) or experience (virtual representation) the content. This change will help the learners to overcome the monotony of rote learning • Mix ‘Rote’ with ‘Share’: As a teacher, you can ask your learners to share their learning in small groups by asking each member of the group to tell others what they have learned. This sharing will open the door to move to higher-order thinking or processing of learning

Considering the reality of our education systems, combining rote learning with other techniques seems the best-fit approach to practice it in classrooms. Usually, the majority of the learners in classrooms are often engaged in individual-centered activities that usually lead to rote learning. For example, they read books or listen to teachers’ lectures to memorize and finally reproduce it for evaluation during examination time. As a teacher, you can amend this habit of your learners in several ways (Box 3.1).

3.2

Active Learning

In a literal sense, learning is an activity itself; hence, any learning can be termed as an activity. But this is not an appropriate representation of active learning. Active learning is associated with the processing of obtained information and the construction of new knowledge, ideas, and concepts from it. Basically, active learning is a journey from cognitive to the affective domain. Active learning demands that one must think about different aspects of obtained information and construct their own notions about using it in different situations. Brame (2016) defines active learning as: Activities that students do to construct knowledge and understanding. The activities vary but require students to do higher order thinking. Although not always explicitly noted, metacognition—students’ thinking about their own learning—is an important element, providing the link between activity and learning. (p. 1)

There are four elements of active learning: talking and listening, writing, reading, and reflecting. Learners of any discipline or class can easily engage in small or large group activities by using these elements. The following definition from the

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Center for Educational Innovation (2020) of the University of Minnesota aptly reflects the process and practices of active learning: Active learning refers to a broad range of teaching strategies which engage students as active participants in their learning during class time with their instructor. Typically, these strategies involve some amount of students working together during class, but may also involve individual work and/or reflection. These teaching approaches range from short, simple activities like journal writing, problem solving and paired discussions, to longer, involved activities or pedagogical frameworks like case studies, role plays, and structured team-based learning.

The strength of active learning is that it can easily convert a traditional teacher-centered class into a learner-driven class. In other words, active learning paves the way for flipping your class into our class. Active learning activities provide an opportunity for almost all the learners of a class to engage with course material in a more meaningful and active manner. Teachers often believe that active learning strategies will undermine their role in class, but this is not true. Adding small active learning strategies helps in making learners more attentive, focused, and ready to learn. Research conducted in different countries revealed that active learning strategies are also quite useful in many ways, as: • It helps students learn more effectively than transmission approaches in which instructors rely on ‘teaching by telling’ (Bonwell & Eison, 1991). • Improves student retention • Helps to make classrooms more inclusive as students get more opportunities to discuss, share, and learn together • Improves student understanding (Crouch & Mazur, 2001; Handelsman et al., 2007) • Improves attitude, problem-solving skills, and conceptual learning (Beichner et al., 2007). Considering these benefits, it seems evident that active learning needs to be promoted in the classrooms. But in reality, active learning is still not part of our classrooms. There are many reasons for it • • • •

lack of training for faculty about active learning approaches, traditional row- and column-based learning spaces, lack of time and workload among teachers, and the notion that traditional learning techniques have served us so far and will continue to do so in the present and future.

But this thinking is not right, and efforts should be made to train and motivate teachers to promote active learning in classrooms. The reason is that active learning did not happen automatically. It needs proper initiation and support from teachers. As observed, ‘Active learning does not just happen; it occurs in the classroom when the teacher creates a learning environment that makes it more likely to occur’ (Michael, 2006, p. 164). A teacher can use several approaches to promote active learning in their classrooms (Box 3.2).

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Box 3.2 Bringing active learning into classrooms Brame (2016) has suggested many useful techniques that can be quite helpful for you to promote active learning among learners • The Pause Procedure: Pause for two minutes every 12 to 18 min, encouraging learners to discuss and rework notes in pairs • Retrieval practice: Pause for two or three minutes every 15 min, have learners write everything they can remember from the preceding class segment • Think-pair-share: Ask learners to think or write about an answer for one minute, then turn to a peer to discuss their responses for two minutes • Concept maps: Ask learners to create a concept map on a given theme, identify the key concepts to be mapped in small groups or as a whole class • Decision-making activities: Ask learners to imagine that they are policy-makers who must make and justify tough decisions, put up a problem, ask them to work in groups to reach a conclusion, and share with the class • Case-based learning: Provide learners with a case, ask them to discuss different aspects of it, and come up with decisions and their implications

3.3

Associative Learning

Associative learning, also termed as association learning, is viewed as a process in which ideas reinforce each other and be linked. Making connections between different events or situations is a human tendency. Active learning capitalizes on this tendency to allow anticipation of an event based on another. Active learning is an extension of the stimulus–response theory, which assumes that a new response becomes associated with a particular stimulus. As observed by Byrne (2013): Associative learning is a broad category that includes many of our daily learning activities that involve the formation of associations among stimuli and/or responses. It is usually subdivided into classical conditioning and instrumental conditioning. (p. 1009)

Proposed by Ivan Pavlov, classical conditioning involves using a stimulus— such as a bell that is paired with a reward (in Pavlov's experiments), resulting in salivation in the expectation of receiving food. While instrumental (or operant) conditioning, proposed by B.F. Skinner involves using a schedule of reinforcements, or rewards, and punishments until the behavior is learned. Both these conditioning theories are often used by teachers to promote learning in their classrooms. Just remember the experience when you got star stickers on your notebooks or report cards from your teachers in response to your good performance. Think about how you were feeling at that time, quite happy, and committed to performing even better next time, to get star stickers again. Now it is time to decode. Your teachers were using the associative learning technique. Teachers must remember that in associative learning, pairing two events or information is vital, as observed by Haselgrove (2016) (Box 3.3): Theories of associative learning posit that pairing two events provides the opportunity for the strength of an association, or connection, to change between the representations of the two events. (p. 228)

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Box 3.3 Bringing associative learning into classrooms In addition to using reinforcers, like rewards and punishments, to condition learner behavior, you can also use different associative learning strategies to connect learners more deeply to course material and more accurate recollection of material. Two such techniques are: Keyword method: The keyword method is quite helpful to enhance memory for definitions of scientific words, foreign language vocabulary, and associating an object with its attributes (such as remembering the accomplishments of a famous person or the characteristics of a particular town). As suggested by Seifert (1993), learners need to carry out the following steps to use the keyword method: • Identify the to-be-learned pair (word-meaning, term-definition, object-attribute) • Think of a familiar word that sounds similar to the to-be-learned word/term/object • Create an image (or sentence) that depicts the familiar keyword with the meaning/definition/ attribute • Practice remembering the image Chunking method: This is a method of breaking more massive amounts of information into smaller units called chunks to make the information easier to process. By grouping each piece into a large whole, one can improve the amount of information to be remembered (e.g., people usually remember their phone numbers not whole but in chunks) Nesvig (2014) suggests that there are three ways to chunk: Grouping, Patterns, and Organizing and gives the following tips to teachers to apply to chunk: • Assess the knowledge of your learner • Build each new chunk upon existing knowledge • Focus on one thing at a time • Make time for practice

3.4

Observational Learning

Observational learning is a learning method that consists of observing the behavior, attitudes, or emotional expressions of others and later replicating these at a personal level. This learning type is based on Albert Bandura’s social learning theory. This theory stressed that individuals might simply learn from the behavior rather than imitating it. For example, a new teacher usually tries to act and teach the way their teachers were teaching to them. In our social and academic life, we model our behavior a lot by following others’ behaviors and actions. Therefore, observational learning is also referred to in terms of modeling, copying, or imitation. According to Plavnick and Hume (2014), Observational learning is the process used to explain the acquisition of novel behaviors or performance of previously acquired behaviors under novel conditions after observing the behavior of another person and the consequences that follow the behavior. (p. 458)

Here it is important to note that not all observed behaviors are effectively learned. For observational learning, a learner needs to follow four steps. • Attention: The learner must first pay attention to the model. • Retention: The learner must be able to remember the behavior that has been observed.

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Box 3.4 Bringing observational learning into classrooms • Suggest useful videos representing the expected behavior, attitudes, and emotional expressions to your learners • Provide them a variety of materials to make an informed decision on what to do differently and how to put that into practice • Act as a mentor when learners have explored a model behavior or activity and need to decide what to do next • Help your learners to identify effective models. Tell them to pay close attention to those models that are attractive, seem competent, and prestigious • Listen to the views of learners regarding the behaviors and consequences to be modeled. Give constructive suggestions and reinforce the ideas presented by the learners • Act as a model both in academic and behavioral terms for your learners

• Reproduction: The learner must be able to replicate the behavior that the model has just demonstrated. • Motivation: The learner must feel motivated to demonstrate what he/she has learned. Research has shown that observation can be effective for learning in various domains, for example, writing and mathematics. Research also suggests that observation may foster learning in creative domains, especially in the visual arts. Besides, the positive effects of observation have also been seen in creative products, creative processes, and motivation in the visual domain (Groenendijk et al., 2013). Observational learning is used in many ways in education, considering these proven benefits. Modeling is one such prominent use of observational learning in classrooms. Often, teachers have been seen to model the behaviors and activities expected from the learners. Also, teachers can take several measures to promote observational learning in their classrooms (Box 3.4).

3.5

Reflective Learning

Humans tend to reflect on their activities and experiences of past and present. Psychologists found ways to use humans’ natural tendency to promote learning and named it as reflective learning. Maybe you have already experienced it by writing their reflections in the form of a blog or reflective report. The theory of reflective learning emphasizes that learning derives from our experiences and can be constantly updated by the act of recollecting and thinking about our past experiences. An essential aspect of reflective learning is that it is a process by which learners reflect on one's actions to engage in continuous learning. This encourages a habit in learners, which is deemed to be useful in becoming a more reflective learner. Reflective learners are supposed to:

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• critically evaluate their learning, • identify areas of their learning that require further developments, and • make themselves more independent in terms of learning. With proper training and experience, a learner can grasp all these steps in a better way to practice more meaningful learning. There are many proponents of reflective learning. The best known among these reflective practitioners are John Dewey, Donald Schlon, and David Kolb. Let us have a look at their viewpoints about reflective learning: • Dewey believed that there were two kinds of experiential process which led to learning. The first process was trial and error, which led to the ‘rule of thumb’ decisions. …… The second process he identified as the reflective activity, which involved the perception of relationships and connections between the parts of an experience. Dewey believed that this kind of activity enabled practical problem-solving to occur and improved the effectiveness of learning (Boud et al., 1985). • Schon suggested two types of reflection o Reflection-in-action, which takes place during an action, as one reflects upon what he/she is doing while doing it, o Reflection-on-action occurs after an event has occurred, as one reflects upon the knowledge he/she used to solve the problem or carry out the action. • Kolb argues that learners need four different kinds of abilities, which correspond to the four stages of his learning cycle: concrete experience abilities, reflective observation abilities, abstract conceptualization abilities, and active experimentation abilities (Kolb, 1984; Kolb & Fry, 1975). It has been observed that reflective learning is useful in many ways. A write-up on the website of the University of Kent enlists several benefits of reflective learning for learners, such as (i) recording your development, (ii) knowing your strengths and weaknesses, (iii) understanding how you learn, (iv) developing self-awareness, (v) planning your development, (vi) learning about yourself, (vii) articulating your skills, and (viii) learning from your mistakes (University of Kent, 2012). Teachers are supposed to get learners acquainted with reflective learning to get all these benefits. Some of the useful techniques to promote reflective learning are discussed in Box 3.5.

3.6 Experiential Learning

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Box 3.5 Bringing reflective learning into classrooms Gibb’s Reflective Cycle Model: This model, published by Graham Gibbs in his book ‘Learning by Doing,’ is useful for helping learners to learn from situations (both good or bad) that they experience regularly. This model consists of six stages (Gibbs, 1988): • Description (what happened) • Feelings (what were you experiencing) • Evaluation (had experience good or bad or both) • Analysis (what else you can do to make sense of the situation) • Conclusion (what have you learned and what you could have done differently) • Action plan (how you would deal with similar situations in the future) Driscoll’s What Model: This model, developed by Driscoll, is based on the three simple questions—What? So what? Now what? This model provides one of the most straightforward frameworks for reflection (Driscoll, 2007) • ‘What?’ (gives learners a clear idea of what they are dealing with; they are supposed to identify the situation's facts and feelings) • ‘So What?’ (allows learners to question what knowledge they have, and how they can use this knowledge to better the situation) • ‘Now what?’ (allows learners to decide about an action plan for the future based on the previous questions) Jasper’s ERA cycle: This model, proposed by Jasper, is another popular model of reflection. This model contains three stages (Jasper, 2013): • Experience (This experience can be positive or negative and may be related to students previous classroom experiences or something else) • Reflection (Learners are supposed to think about the experience and examine what happened and how they felt) • Action (Plan a move based on your feelings and experiences about previous experience. This action will result in another experience, and the cycle will continue)

3.6

Experiential Learning

We often hear our elders say, ‘go and get firsthand experience of the things around you.’ You have also heard people criticizing education systems for not providing enough opportunities for learners to have direct experiences outside a traditional academic setting. Have you ever thought that why they say this? They want learners to learn from their experiences. The process of learning through their own experience is named as experiential learning. The concept of experiential learning is reflected in theories of many prominent scholars’ such as John Dewey, Kurt Lewin, Jean Piaget, William James, Carl Jung, Paulo Freire, and Carl Rogers. These scholars have given experience a central role in their theories of human learning and development. Experiential learning is a process whereby learners develop knowledge, skills,and values from direct experiences outside a traditional academic setting. Teaching Learning Center of Boston University (2021) suggests that learning that is considered “experiential” contain all the following elements:

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3 Types of Learning • • • •

Possibilities for reflection, critical analysis, and synthesis Opportunities to take the initiative, make decisions, and be accountable for the results Opportunities to engage intellectually, creatively, emotionally, socially, or physically Possibilities to learn from consequences, mistakes, and successes

Policy reports on education often suggest enhanced use of internships, studies abroad, field trips, field research, and service-learning projects for better educational outcomes. This advocacy is based on the belief that our encounters to different settings and environments help us learn better. The benefits of experiential learning are also supported by research. Morgan McCall, Robert Eichinger, and Michael Lombardo at the Center for Creative Leadership in the 1990s surveyed almost 200 executives about their learning philosophy. Based on the survey results, they have given a very popular model of learning named ‘The 70:20:10 learning model.' This model states that learning should come from a variety of sources: 70% from challenging assignments (experiential learning), 20% from developmental relationships (peer to peer learning), and 10% from coursework and training (formal learning) (Center for Creative Leadership, 2020). A write-up available on the Website of Carleton University suggests that experiential learning can be useful for learners in the following ways (Cornell University, 2020): • Making learning relatable: Helps learners to make connections between new concepts and existing ones. • Increasing the effectiveness of learning: Supports learners to engage in critical thinking, acquire problem-solving skills, and engage in decision-making. • Linking theory to practice: Helps learners to engage in the experience and practice what they have learned, see the application of the theoretical concepts in practice, carry out the application, and make generalizations. • Increasing learners’ engagement: Encourages learners to make collaboration and practice scaffolding. • Assisting in memory retention: Supports learners to build strong relationships between feelings and thinking processes. • Leading to lifelong learning: Assists learners in the acquisition of essential skills and encourages them to reflect, conceptualize, and plan for the next steps. The concept of experiential learning has universal appeal. For example, two eminent thinkers from India, Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi (Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi) laid much emphasis on practicing experiential learning in its true sense. Gandhi was a strong believer that learning must be linked to the nearby environment and activities and noted that true education must correspond to the surrounding circumstances of the learner. Similarly, in a lecture delivered in Calcutta in 1906, Tagore severely criticized bookish learning and gave emphasis on practical learning including observing nature and human behavior through direct sources and own free efforts. Instead of teaching facts, Tagore believed that learning must be driven by the learners’ experiences and urge of inquiry. For the promotion of experiential learning, Tagore suggested that teachers

3.6 Experiential Learning

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Box 3.6 Bringing experiential learning into classrooms Association for experiential education (n.d.) has suggested several principles of practice that can be used by you to promote experiential learning among learners. Some of these useful principles are: • Carefully chose experiences that help learners actively engage in posing questions, investigating, experimenting, being curious, solving problems, assuming responsibility, being creative, and constructing meaning • Nurture opportunities for learners to explore and examine in out of classroom settings • Set relevant experiences, pose problems, set boundaries, support learners, ensure physical and emotional safety, and facilitate learners’ learning process • Recognize and encourage spontaneous opportunities for learners in learning • Be aware of their biases, judgments, and preconceptions, and how these influence the learner • Design learning experience that includes the possibility to learn from natural consequences, mistakes, and successes • Inform learners that they may experience success, failure, adventure, risk-taking, and uncertainty because the outcomes of experience cannot be predicted

must act as collaborators in the learning environment rather than doling out information to hapless learners (Sanyal, n.d.). Considering these benefits, it becomes evident that efforts should be made to promote experiential learning among learners of different disciplines. Teachers can play a vital role in facilitating learners to have a go on experiential learning. The following measures will be useful for teachers to promote experiential learning among their learners (Box 3.6).

3.7

Situated Learning

Situated learning, also referred to as situated cognition, is a learning theory developed in the late 1980s by Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger. This theory follows Dewey and Vygotsky's work, who claim that learners are more inclined to learn by actively participating in the learning experience. Situated learning theory is based on the assumption that learning should not be viewed as transmission of abstract and contextualized knowledge between individuals, but a process of participation in communities of practice and learning by immersion in the new community (Lave & Wenger, 1990). In contrast to traditional learning that occurs from abstract experiences such as lectures and books, situated learning is a contextual experience by immersing in the social community. Clancey (1995) aptly summarizes the concept of situated learning in the following words: Situated learning is concerned with how learning occurs every day. It is not a recommendation that teaching be ``situated'' or ``relevant.'' It is a theory about the nature of human knowledge, claiming that knowledge is dynamically constructed as we conceive of what is

48

3 Types of Learning happening to us, talk and move. Especially, our conception of our activity within a social matrix shapes and constrains what we think, do, and say. That is, our action is situated in our role as a member of a community. (p. 49)

Situated learning demands that learners learn by actively involving in real-world problems. In other words, they have to connect to the world outside their classrooms. Situated learning environments place learners in authentic learning situations where they are actively immersed in an activity while using problem-solving (critical thinking) skills (Northern Illinois University, n.d.). The situated learning experience has four central premises (Anderson et al., 1996; Stein, 1998; Wilson, 1993): • learning is grounded in the actions of everyday situations; • knowledge is acquired situationally and transfers only to similar situations; • learning is the result of a social process encompassing ways of thinking, perceiving, problem-solving, and interacting; and • learning is not separated from the world of action but exists in robust, complex, social environments made up of actors, actions, and situations Proponents of situated learning theory point out that it helps learners to ‘integrate knowing with doing’ in real situations. As the practice implies, the learner is “situated” in the learning experience, and knowledge acquisition becomes a part of the learning activity. In simple terms, situated learning offers one to learn in the company of experts in that field. Situated learning has been seen as a win–win situation both for learners and the communities where they participate and gain experiences, as observed by Driscoll (2007): … learning from a situated perspective occurs through the learner's participation in the practices of a community, practices that are mutually constituted by the members of the community. Consider, for example, the instructional design profession as a community of practice. As a student, you are a newcomer to the community, engaged in learning its models and practices and becoming ever more competent as you gain experience in these practices. With increasing participation, newcomers become old-timers in the community, individuals who control the resources and affect the practices of the community at large. (p. 38)

Situated learning is hailed because it helps learners connect from real settings and situations and learn from their everyday life experiences. It has also believed that out of the classroom settings helps learners think from a different perspective and contribute to their problem-solving abilities. Situated learning is also credited to develop the capacity of cooperation and collaboration among learners. But there are limitations to implement situated learning as well. The first among them is that traditional schooling systems that are highly structured and learning outcomes focused hardly allow teachers to experiment. Second, limited time for a course makes it difficult for a teacher to creating authentic learning activities for learners. The third, standardized testing procedure and a minimum level of learning for learners to pass also deter teachers from planning and conducting any out-of-the-box activities for learners. Fourth, situated learning also fails to explain the transference of specific skills in various situations. Instead of these criticisms, situated learning, which focuses on using knowledge rather than memorizing facts and accumulating skills, needs to be promoted among learners (Box 3.7).

3.8 Collaborative Learning

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Box 3.7 Bringing situated learning into classrooms The following suggestions will be quite helpful for you as a teacher to promote situated learning among your learners: • Know your learners: Try to know your learners by knowing where they come from, how they are raised, and the conditions surrounding their lives. This learning will be helpful for you to reach them as individual learners • Promote cognitive apprenticeship: Try to place learners in real-world (authentic) environments and gradually give them more responsibility within that environment. For example, you must encourage learners for Internships and attachments to real working places such as industries and laboratories • Build a learning community: Learners bring their unique interests and experiences to the community and grow. The process of active engagement can be built upon when we help learners see themselves beyond individuals. We have to move them toward our communities and eventually into organizations that show that we are all connected in learning goals, whether it is to learn a new skill or build upon prior knowledge (Driscoll, 2005) • Encourage students to make learning portfolio: Encourage learners to create learner portfolios, an individual collection of work done throughout the process of learning. These portfolios help learners to reflect upon their works, learning environments, their community of practice experiences, and final products/outcomes. You may also use these portfolios to assess the learners

3.8

Collaborative Learning

Collaborative learning is guided by the approach that learning is a social act in which the participants talk to each other, and learning occurs through this talk (Gerlach, 1994). The main idea behind this approach is that instead of learning lonely, we can learn better by exchanging ideas and arguments with others. In simple words, two heads together are better than one to learn. Extending this opinion, Laal and Laal (2012) define collaborative learning (CL) as: CL is an educational approach to teaching and learning that involves groups of learners working together to solve a problem, complete a task, or create a product. In the CL environment, the learners are challenged both socially and emotionally as they listen to different perspectives, and are required to articulate and defend their ideas. (p. 491)

Collaborative learning has been seen as a practice of segmenting learners into small groups and asking them to work toward a specific goal, like a presentation or project. These groups tend to complete the task through discussion, clarification of ideas, and evaluation of others’ ideas. Proponents of collaborative learning claim that this active exchange of ideas within small groups increases interest among the participants and promotes critical thinking among them. This shared learning allows learners to engage in discussion, take responsibility for their learning, and think critically (Srinivas, n.d.). Smith and MacGregor (1992) propagate that collaborative learning:

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• Keeps learner active as he/she has to assimilate the information and relate this new knowledge to a framework of prior experience. • Presents challenge that opens the door for the learner to actively engage his/her peers and process and synthesize information rather than simply memorize and regurgitate it. • Benefits learners when they get exposed to diverse viewpoints from people with varied backgrounds. • Flourishes in a social environment where a conversation between learners takes place. • Engages learners, both socially and emotionally, as they listen to different perspectives and articulate and defend their ideas. Research proves that active, social, contextual, engaging, and self-owned educational experiences lead to deeper learning. It has also been observed that learners using collaborative learning attain higher-level thinking and preserve information for longer times than learners working individually. Collaborative learning helps to develop a tendency of collaboration, one of the most sought life skills of the twenty-first century, among learners. Collaborative learning has also been seen as an effective means to bring inclusion in classrooms. It provides an opportunity for learners with different backgrounds, races, and upbringings to working together. In sum, collaborative learning (Cornell University, 2020) offers many benefits like • Development of higher-level thinking, oral communication, self-management, and leadership skills. • Promotion of student–faculty interaction. • Increase in student retention, self-esteem, and responsibility. • Exposure to and an increase in understanding of diverse perspectives. • Preparation for real-life social and employment situations. Critics often point to some issues related to the practice of collaborative learning. Some of the prominently discussed issues in literature are a procedure for the avoidance of teaching, lack of accountability on the part of learners, difficulty in dividing the class into small groups, more competition than cooperation between and among groups, difficulty in classroom management: group dysfunction, dependency on groups for learning outcomes, and lack of sufficient collaboration among group members. Research also noted that the use of consensus in collaborative learning practices ‘stifles individual voice and creativity, suppresses differences, and enforces conformity’ (Trimber, 1989, p. 602). Irrespective of these challenges, teachers are supposed to implement collaborative learning in classrooms for broader gains (Box 3.8).

3.9 Augmented Learning

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Box 3.8 Bringing collaborative learning into classrooms Scheuermann (2018) recommended the following tips for teachers to implement collaborative learning in the classrooms effectively: • Set the expectations: Tell learners what is expected of them, answer their queries, and motivate them • Convince your learners: Tell learners why you have chosen to use collaborative learning and how it will fulfill course objectives • Create activities to ensure collaboration: Structure the activities to foster mutual dependence, match them to the course outcomes, and ensure that learning can be individually assessed • Suggest activities after careful consideration: There are several activities to practice collaborative learning, such as jigsaw, delegates, and movable mind maps. Carefully consider and suggest anyone or two activities as per learning needs • Conduct continuous quality improvement checks: Immediately after an activity, jot down notes on how long it took, what worked, and what could be improved on for the next time

3.9

Augmented Learning

Augmented learning has evolved in recent years with the advent of augmented intelligence (extending the processing capabilities of the human mind) and augmented reality (expanding our physical world by adding layers of digital information). Augmented learning is defined as an on-demand learning technique where the learning environment adapts to learners’ needs and inputs (Klopfer, 2008). The technologies conventionally used for augmented learning incorporate touchscreens, voice recognition, and interaction through which the learning contents can be geared toward learner's needs by displaying plain texts, images, audio, and video output (Wang, 2012). Following excerpts from a blog post of Chabbra (2018) detail about the process of augmented learning and its relevance to a learner: In Augmented Learning, the location, context and learner’s input are taken into account by the eLearning applications which display the relevant information in the form of text, video, or audio or navigate to a webpage. The learning environment is not limited to a physical space such as a classroom and can be accessed by the learner on the go using smartphones and tablets. Applications use various inputs like voice recognition, touch recognition, Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and interactions as triggers, then the learning content is delivered to the user on-demand. For example, the user can navigate in a virtual tour application by using voice commands and can access different information by interacting with different elements in the digital environment. (para 3)

Augmented learning works on the principle of providing learners a new way of delivery of content and additional information about those objects, which is not available for study in classroom conditions. Unlike traditional static online platforms, augmented learning uses need-based interactive learning resources for learners. Augmented learning also provides learners an opportunity to learn in a customized environment where he/she is allowed to manipulate the environment as per their learning need. Brush (2019) has proposed several advantages of augmented learning:

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• Learning becomes interactive and engaging through the augmentation of real-life objects and situations. • Users are inspired to explore and discover more learning content and information than in a traditional classroom. • Augmented learning can be applied to various domains, including industries, classrooms, commercial use, and the simulation of high-cost training. • Learning focuses on collecting facts and applying the acquired information in real-time, instead of reading and memorizing content. • Users can manipulate their learning environment to gain deeper understandings and fill the gap between theoretical and practical learning. Augmented learning has its critics too. They say that in the long run, augmented tools will be more distracting than use for learners. They also criticize that more inclination toward augmented learning will create a digital divide among the haves and have nots (of digital tools and techniques) at the level of learners, teachers, and institutions. Presenting too much and a variety of information is also supposed to create a cognitive overload among learners. Besides, issues of privacy and cybercrimes are also associated with augmented learning. All these seem valid arguments, and teachers should encourage augmented learning among learners logically and inclusively (Box 3.9). Box 3.9 Bringing augmented learning in classrooms Teachers are supposed to use augmented learning technology to make lessons more engaging and exciting for learners. As a teacher, you can do it in many ways: • Use QR code: QR code is one of the most basic and easy ways to practice augmented learning. You can make a list of available QR coded teaching–learning materials for the benefit of learners • Create augmented learning experiences: There are some useful online tools to create augmented learning experiences. You can select and use these tools to offer valuable augmented learning experiences in your classroom • Make a 3D model of abstract concepts: You can turn abstract concepts into 3D models using augmented reality tools. These 3D models will help the learner to understand the concept in a better way. You can also use these models to start a conversation/lesson or support the main topic with extra information • Promote discover and learn tendency: You have already heard about virtual visits of zoos and museums. Use such opportunities to motivate your learners to find different perspectives related to objects and learn. Such opportunities will undoubtedly help them develop a tendency to discover and know that will be useful for them in almost all walks of life

3.10

3.10

Multimedia Learning

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Multimedia Learning

‘Words’ and ‘pictures’ are two ancient mediums of learning. There is a famous proverb that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words.’ This proverb indicates that both ‘words’ and ‘pictures’ can complement and supplement each other. It has been assumed that a combination of words and pictures will be more helpful for people to learn than words alone. This thinking is in the root of the multimedia principle that states, ‘people learn more deeply from words and pictures than from words alone’ (Mayer, 2009, p. 47). Multimedia learning, based on multimedia principle, refers to situations in which people learn from words (printed and spoken), static pictures (such as graphics, diagrams, illustrations, photographs, and maps), as well as dynamic pictures (such as animations, films, or videos) (Niegemann & Heidig, 2012). Mayer (2002) proposes three main assumptions for learning with multimedia: • There are two separate channels (auditory and visual) for processing information (sometimes referred to as dual-coding theory); • Each channel has a limited (finite) capacity (similar to Sweller’s notion of Cognitive Load); • Learning is an active process of filtering, selecting, organizing, and integrating information based upon prior knowledge Multimedia learning is supposed to bring many benefits for learners. It has been observed that the use of images, along with words, is useful to manage the cognitive load. This learning also empowers students to create and design rather memorizing the content delivered by the teacher. Multimedia learning is also credited to improve reflective thinking, retention, motivation, and understanding of learners. Multimedia activities are also credited to encourage learners to work in groups, express their knowledge in multiple ways, mix and match different resources, work at their own pace, control their learning path, and actively engage in learning activities. Critics say that it is challenging to practice multimedia learning in classrooms. Their main argument is that neither every learner nor each classroom possesses requisite tools (smartphones, tablets, laptops, software) to practice multimedia learning for educational gains. The other notable skeptical arguments against multimedia learning include the lack of teachers’ training to use multimedia tools for learning and their reluctance to use multimedia tools at educational institutions. Besides, teachers’ lack of time to implement multimedia, financial costs associated with multimedia, and low level of computer literacy among teachers are also termed as challenges in multimedia usage for learning purposes. Popular perceptions like ‘multimedia attracts but distracts much’ and ‘use of multimedia making students dependent on gadgets’ also act as a deterrent to practicing multimedia learning in classrooms. Therefore, teachers have to play a vital role in promoting multimedia learning in classrooms for better learning outcomes, and there are many ways to do it (Box 3.10).

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Box 3.10 Bringing multimedia learning into classrooms You can help learners by carefully selecting and using multimedia in the classroom for educational purposes. As an example, you can use the following techniques: • Use audiobooks: Learners of the present age are often accused of ‘lack of appetite for reading books’ and ‘getting their ears wired all the time.’ Taking a clue from these observations, teachers can recommend useful books in the audio mode for listening to students • Ask students to recommended materials: Considering that most learners fall under the category of digital natives, teachers can ask them to suggest useful multimedia content for discussion and deliberation about selected content. This practice will help to make learners as proactive users of multimedia for learning purposes • Show short media clips: Instead of showing full-length video programs at once, it will be more useful to show short media clips at different intervals. This arrangement will keep learners motivated throughout the class • Promote multimedia-supported discussions: Teachers can use multimedia to engage learners and motivate them to reflect and speak. By presenting different multimedia content, teachers can invite learners’ opinions, put-up questions, argue with each other, and consolidate their opinions

Let Us Sum Up A reading of this chapter helped you learn that different learning types are prevalent in our education system, i.e., rote learning, active learning, associative learning, observational learning, reflective learning, experiential learning, situated learning, collaborative learning, augmented learning, and multimedia learning. Do you think that this list is complete, not at all? There are more learning types than discussed in this chapter. It is more important to learn the major ones and practice them successfully in real teaching–learning conditions instead of knowing every learning type. While practicing, you have to keep in mind that no learning type is absolute, and its successful use depends on many factors. Once you can realize it, the world of learning is yours. You can always mix and match these learning types to develop more innovative learning types as per your instructional needs. Activities to Perform 1. Organize a group discussion on the topic ‘most popular types of learning of our time’ and present the summary of your conversation in the form of a poster. 2. Play an act named ‘types of learning’ in your class. Pick ten students from your class, and ask each one to represent one learning approach and enact it before audiences. 3. Interview your teachers and peers to learn about their favorite types of learning. Summarize your interview in the form of a research note. 4. From the list of different learning types, pick your favorite five, and prepare a detailed note of how you will implement them in classroom conditions. 5. Organize a competition named ‘Ideas for Teachers to Use different Learning Types.’ Invite all the interested ones to present their ideas in the form of a multimedia presentation.

3.10

Multimedia Learning

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6. Remember your classmates from previous classes and prepare a note about what types of learning approaches they were using and how? Questions to Work Upon 1. Why does a teacher need to have a detailed understanding of different types of learning? 2. Give your views about the need to make rote learning more meaningful learning and way to do it. 3. Differentiate between associative learning, observational learning, and reflective learning by giving suitable examples. 4. Give your views about why educational institutions must promote multimedia and augmented learning for students and how to do it. 5. The time has come that our education systems have to emphasize more on active and experiential learning. Justify this comment by giving real-life examples from different teaching–learning situations. 6. ‘Collaborative learning is crucial to success in the present age,’ give your comments on this statement. 7. ‘Learning types are basically need driven in nature,’ write in favor of or against this statement.

References Anderson, J. R., Reder, L. M., & Simon, H.A. (1996). Situated learning and education. Educational Researcher, 25(4), 5–11. Association for Experiential Education. (n.d.). What is experiential education? Retrieved from https://www.aee.org/what-is-ee. Beichner, R. J., et al. (2007). The student-centered activities for large enrollment undergraduate programs (SCALE-UP) project. https://www.per-central.org/items/detail.cfm?ID=4517. Bonwell, C. C., & Eison, J. A. (1991). Active learning: Creating excitement in the classroom. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Reports. The George Washington University, School of Education and Human Development. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ ED336049.pdf. Boud, D., Keogh, R., & Walker, D. (1985). What is reflection in learning? In D. Boud, R. Keogh, & D. Walker (Eds.), Reflection: Turning reflection into learning (pp. 7–17). Routledge. Boston University. (2021).Experiential learning. Retrieved from https://www.bu.edu/ctl/guides/ experiential-learning/. Brame, C. J. (2016). Active learning. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/59/Active-Learning.pdf. Bush, K. (2019). Augmented learning. Retrieved from https://searchhrsoftware.techtarget.com/ definition/augmented-learning. Byrne, J. H. (2013). Learning and memory: Basic mechanisms. In L. Squire, D. Berg, F. E. Bloom, S.du Lac, A. Ghosh, & N.C. Spitzer (Eds.), Fundamental neuroscience (4th ed.) (pp. 1009– 1028). Academic Press. Carleton University. (2020). What is experiential education? Retrieved from https://carleton.ca/ experientialeducation/what-is-experiential-education/.

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Center for Creative Leadership. (2020). The 70–20–10 rule for leadership development. Retrieved from https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/70-20-10-rule/. Center for Educational Innovation. (2020). Active learning. The University of Minnesota. Retrieved from https://cei.umn.edu/active-learning. Chabbra, H. (2018). Augmented learning, what you need to know. Retrieved from https://www. aptaracorp.com/blog/augmented-learning-what-you-need-know. Clancey, W. J. (1995). A tutorial on situated learning. In J. Self (Ed.), Proceedings of the International Conference on Computers and Education (Taiwan) (pp.49–70). AACE. Retrieved from http://methodenpool.uni-koeln.de/situierteslernen/clancey_situated_learning. PDF. Collins English Dictionary. (2020). Rote learning. Retrieved from https://www.collinsdictionary. com/dictionary/english/rote-learning. Cornell University. (2020). Collaborative learning. Retrieved from https://teaching.cornell.edu/ teaching-resources/engaging-students/collaborative-learning. Crouch, C. H., & Mazur, E. (2001). Peer instruction: Ten years of experience and results. American Journal of Physics, 69(9), 970–977. Driscoll, M. (2005). Meaningful learning and schema theory. Psychology of Learning for Instruction (3rd ed.) (pp. 111–152). Allyn and Bacon. Driscoll, J. (Ed.) (2007). Practicing clinical supervision: A reflective approach for healthcare professionals. Baillière Tindall Elsevier. Driscoll, M. P. (2007). Psychological foundations of instructional design. In R. A. Reiser & J. V. Dempsey (Eds.), Trends and issues in instructional design and technology (2nd ed.) (pp. 35–44). Pearson Education. Gerlach, J. M. (1994). Is this collaboration? In K. Bosworth & S. J. Hamilton (Eds.), Collaborative learning: Underlying processes and effective techniques, new directions for teaching and learning, No. 59 (pp. 5–14). Jossey-Bass Publishing. Gibbs, G. (1988). Learning by doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. Further Education Unit, Oxford Polytechnic. Groenendijk, T., Janssen, T., Rijlaarsdam, G., & van den Bergh, H. (2013). The effect of observational learning on students’ performance, processes, and motivation in two creative domains. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 83(1), 3–28. Handelsman, J., Miller, S., & Pfund, C. (2007). Scientific teaching. W. H. Freeman and Company. Haselgrove, M. (2016). Overcoming associative learning. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 130(3), 226–240. Jasper, M. (2013). Beginning reflective practice. Cengage Learning. Klopfer, E. (2008). Augmented learning: Research and design of mobile educational games. MIT Press. Kolb, D. A., & Fry, R. (1975). Towards an applied theory of experiential learning. In C. L. Cooper (Ed.), Theories of group processes (pp. 33–58). John Wiley. Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Pearson Education. Kwan, R., & Mafe, C. (2016). Rote learning: A necessary evil. Advances in Medical Education and Practice, 7, 429–432. Laal, M., & Laal, M. (2012). Collaborative learning: What is it? Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 31, 491–495. Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1990). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge University Press. Li, X. (2005). An analysis of Chinese EFL learners’ beliefs about the role of rote learning in vocabulary learning strategies. Asian EFL Journal, 7(4), 109–110. Retrieved from http://www. asian-efl-journal.com/Li_11-05_thesis.pdf. Mayer, R. E. (2002). Multimedia learning. Psychology of Learning and Motivation, 41, 85–139. Mayer, R. E. (2009). Multimedia learning. Cambridge University Press.

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Mhlolo, M. K. (2014). Rote learning of number concepts ‘inherently rotten’ or is it just a blame and shame game that vitiates principles of natural progression? Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(27), 1581–1591. Michael, J. (2006) Where's the evidence that active learning works? Advances in Physiology Education, 30, 159–167. Nesvig, B. (2014). The power of chunking: How to increase learning retention. Retrieved from https://www.dashe.com/blog/learning/chunking-memory-retention/. Niegemann, H.M., & Heidig, S. (2012). Multimedia learning. In N.M. Seel (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the sciences of learning (p. 809). Springer. Northern Illinois University. (n.d.). Situated learning. Northern Illinois University, Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center. Retrieved from https://www.niu.edu/facdev/_ pdf/guide/strategies/situated_learning.pdf. Plavnick, J. B., & Hume, K. A. (2014). Observational learning by individuals with autism: A review of teaching strategies. Autism, 18(4), 458–466. Psychology Wiki. (2008). Rote learning. Retrieved from https://psychology.wikia.org/wiki/Rote_ learning. Sanyal, B. C. (n.d.). Tagore’s ideas on “the educational challenge.” Retrieved from http:// www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CLT/images/Tagore%20on%20The%20 Educational%20Challenge_02.pdf. Scheuermann, J.S. A. (2018). Group vs. collaborative Learning: Knowing the difference makes a difference. Retrieved from https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/course-design-ideas/groupvs-collaborative-learning-knowing-difference-makes-difference/. Seifert, T. (1993). Learning strategies in the classroom. Retrieved from https://www.mun.ca/educ/ faculty/mwatch/vol2/seifert.html. Smith, B. L., & MacGregor, J. T. (1992). What is collaborative learning? In A. S. Goodsell, M. R. Maher, & V. Tinto (Eds.), Collaborative learning: A sourcebook for higher education (pp. 10–14). National Center on Postsecondary Teaching, Learning, & Assessment, Syracuse University. Srinivas, H. (n.d). Collaborative learning. The Global Development Research Center. Retrieved from: https://www.gdrc.org/kmgmt/c-learn/. Stein, D. (1998). Situated learning in adult education. ERIC Digest. Retrieved from https://www. ericdigests.org/1998-3/adult-education.html. Trimbur, J. (1989). Consensus and difference in collaborative learning. College English, 51(6), 602–616. University of Kent. (2012). Learning. Retrieved from https://www.kent.ac.uk/learning/PDP-andemployability/pdp/reflective.html. Wang, X. (2012). Augmented reality: A new way of augmented learning. Retrieved from https:// elearnmag.acm.org/featured.cfm?aid=2380717. Wilson, A. (1993). The promise of situated cognition. In S. B. Merriam (Ed.), An update on adult learning theory (pp. 71–79). Jossey-Bass.

Chapter 4

Strategies for Learning

Background We have already discussed that people learn in many ways, and there are many types of learning. As an exciting addition, people also use different strategies to learn. These strategies are popularly named ‘learning strategies.’ Learning strategies are simply referred to as methods and approaches used by learners to learn. There is a long list of learning strategies, and more keep evolving as well. These learning strategies range from improving memory to better studying or thinking critically. For example, concrete examples help you remember the content better. The spaced practice supports you to study better, and lateral thinking guides you for thinking differently. This chapter will help you to learn about many more exciting and popular learning strategies. Learning about these strategies will be useful for you as a learner and a teacher as well. As a teacher, you can use these to support learners, and as a learner, you can use these to learn as per your needs and interests. Key Themes Covered • • • • •

Cognitive Strategies of Learning Metacognitive Strategies of Learning Affective Strategies of Learning Social Strategies of Learning Learning Style-Driven Learning Strategies

4.1

Strategies for Learning

A strategy is a plan of action carried out by any person to achieve one or more goals. Strategies are useful in almost all walks of life (remember, you were using different strategies to get more pocket money from your parents), including learning. For example, learners follow specific strategies to retain content during examination days (some repeating the content repeatedly, some reading content aloud, some © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 P. K. Misra, Learning and Teaching for Teachers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3077-4_4

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practicing content by writing, and some putting content as an acronym). Merely stating, any strategy that helps in improving learning is a learning strategy. The term learning strategy denotes the learner’s thoughts and behaviors to acquire knowledge and improve task performance (Weinstein & Mayer, 1986). Richards and Platt (1992) state that learning strategy is an intentional behavior to help learners understand, learn, or remember new information. In comparison, Schumaker and Deshler (1992) see learning strategy as an individual’s way of organizing and using a particular set of skills to learn content more effectively. Therefore, it can be said that learning strategies represent a learner-controlled method for processing and recalling of knowledge from various sources (Tessmer & Jonassen, 1988). Simply stated, a learning strategy is a general plan that a learner formulates for achieving a somewhat distant academic goal by specifying that what will be done to achieve the goal, where it will be done, and when it will be done (Snowman et al., 2012). After learning about the purpose of learning strategies, it is useful to know what consists of learning strategies. Weinstein and Mayer (1986) say that learning strategies involve behaviors and images that are applied to select, organize, and integrate new information with previous ones. Learning strategies refer to a package of activities, steps, plans, and routines used by students to facilitate task achievement and promote storing, calling/recalling, and information use (Wenden & Rubin, 1987, p. 19). Similarly, Cohen (1998, p. 15) sees the learning strategy as a unique action, tactic, or technique undertaken by learners. And, Weinstein et al. (2000, p. 733) define learning strategies as ‘… any thoughts, behaviors, beliefs, or emotions that facilitate the acquisition, understanding, or later transfer of new knowledge and skills.’ From these discussions, it is clear that • Learning strategies are learner specific and learner controlled, and • Help learners to achieve learning goals by choosing and using appropriate activities, plans, or techniques. The strategies for learning are classified under different categories. Gagne and Driscoll (1988) classified learning strategies under two categories: cognitive and affective. O’Malley and Chamot (1990) claimed that different learning strategies might be divided into four broad categories: • • • •

Metacognitive strategies, Cognitive strategies, Affective strategies, and Social strategies.

Cognitive learning strategies focus and use activities like attention, inference, elaboration, storage, coding, organization, restoration, monitoring, rehearsal, summarizing, reducing, and transfer to promote learning. Affective strategies help the learner to learn conveniently, increase his/her confidence, and improve satisfaction. Metacognitive strategies mainly include activities like attention, planning, monitoring, and evaluating a different information for learning purposes. Social strategies of learning are based on cooperation, group talk, and putting questions for

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Box 4.1 Types of learning strategies Cognitive strategies

Metacognitive strategies

Affective strategies

Social strategies

• Aims to support the learner to process, transfer, and apply information for improved learning • Focuses on receiving, analyzing, organizing, practicing, and sending information to improve learning processes • Aims to support learners to focus on practical activities, acquire skills, monitor errors, and evaluate their learning progress • Focuses on activities like attention, planning, monitoring, and evaluating to improve learning processes • Aims to support the learner to use their emotions, attitudes, motivation, and values for improved learning • Focuses on lowering anxiety, providing encouragement, controlling attitudes, balancing emotions, and getting motivated to improve learning processes • Aims to support the learner to use various social settings (classroom, home, community) for improved learning • Focuses on activities like asking questions, cooperating, empathizing with others, working in collaborative environments, connecting to the realities, and understanding others’ thoughts and feelings to improve learning processes

clarifications (Box 4.1). These four, as well as other learning strategies, will be quite helpful in learning if practitioners will keep in mind (Mariani, 2020, p. 45): • ‘first, that learning strategies belong to the learner and should be kept distinct from teaching strategies; • second, that there are no “good” learning strategies because people need to discover their own; • third, that we need tasks that prompt the use of strategies; • fourth, …, a strategic approach should be woven into the ways students and teachers listen and talk to each other every day, or, to put it in more technical terms, into their interaction patterns.’

4.2

Cognitive Strategies of Learning

Cognitive strategies are a type of learning strategy that learners use to learn more successfully. Cognitive strategies are based on the mind (cognition), focus mainly on information processing, and include techniques like rehearsal, elaboration, and organization to solve problems or complete the tasks (Weinstein & Mayer, 1986). Cognitive strategies help learners in many ways to approach a learning task, as suggested by Winn et al. (2019). Cognitive learning strategies are strategies that improve a learner’s ability to process information more deeply, transfer and apply information to new situations, and result in enhanced and better-retained learning. (p. 1)

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There are many cognitive strategies. Among these, the most popular ones and frequently used by learners are rehearsal, elaboration, and organization. Let us discuss these strategies one by one.

4.2.1

Rehearsal Strategies

Rehearsal is one of the oldest and most used strategies of learning. In simple terms, rehearsal means doing a task or repeating any practice repeatedly until mastery is achieved. For example, it is often difficult for you to remember your learners’ names at the beginning of an academic session. But calling their names daily in the class helps you memorize these names, and you can often recall the names of your learners even after many years. Rehearsal can be performed in many ways like oral, written, or activity-based revision. The use of rehearsal strategies is based on the observation that repeated practice helps learners to grasp the content, memorize it, and reproduce it when needed. For many, rehearsal strategies are quite useful for remembering spellings, formulae, processes, typology, etc. But one must keep in mind that rehearsal is a rote learning strategy and does not help learners construct a new meaning or relate it with other information. There are three popular types of rehearsal strategies: • Maintenance rehearsal: This strategy, also known as the rote rehearsal or simple repetition, involves continuous repeating of the to-be-remembered content or activity. Instead of so many advances in child learning, the majority of children use this strategy to learn the basics of most of the school subjects. Not only curricular, but they also use this strategy for cocurricular (like drama) and sports (remembering the rule) activities. A simple rule for maintenance rehearsal is practice until the content or activity is yours. Rehearsals can be conducted individually (like reading aloud) or in group settings (like pair share). Both learners and teachers must keep in mind that rehearsal does not guarantee long-term storage or recall but undoubtedly useful for short-term memory. Teachers often use this strategy by speaking the content and asking students to repeat it with them. • Cumulative rehearsal: This strategy, an advanced version of maintenance rehearsal, is based on the principle of chunking, associating new material with information that already exists in the memory of learners. This strategy is used to remember more extended contents such as the chronology of historical events, poems, and scientific processes. This technique involves rehearsing a small chunk of information first, then adding the next chunk to it, and so on. For example, if you have to learn your family history, you first have to know about your grand grandparents, then you add the name of your grandparent, then the parent, and then your uncle and aunt. Basically, in this strategy, new information is laired on the previously learned information. You have noticed that most teachers take 2–3 min to tell that we discussed this much content yesterday at

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the beginning of their class. They are using cumulative rehearsal strategy to connect today’s lecture with the previous one. • Copying: This is another method of rehearsal and equally used in schools and universities. In this strategy, learners copy (write) the important or useful information in their notebooks/laptops. It is assumed that by doing this, they will remember the content in verbatim. Copying is a widespread strategy among both learners and teachers. You have often seen your learners copying meaningful quotes, lines, formulae, and definitions in their notebooks. Often teachers tell the learners to write a particular portion of their blackboard work on notebooks or laptops. They are asking them to copy to improve their remembering skill.

4.2.2

Elaboration Strategies

As implied in the name, elaboration strategies require learners to think about the learned material and expand it by relating other information. These strategies help learners combine new learning material with previously learned knowledge and think about its further use and applications. There are many elaboration strategies, such as mnemonics, generative note-taking, summarizing, paraphrasing, selecting key ideas from texts, question-asking, question-answering, and creating analogies. Among these, the following five are quite popular among the learners’ community. • Note-taking: Note-taking, a prevalent strategy among learners, is different from copying. During note-taking, learners listen to their teachers’ talk, pick relevant portions from it, and note it down in their notebooks/laptops for further use. • Text markup: People often have a habit of marking, underlining, circling, or highlighting the portion of texts in their notebooks or books. These collective activities are termed as ‘text markup’ and aim to help the learner learn better. It is assumed that text markup helps learners in many ways, like keeping them active while selecting and marking content, concentrating better, and relating different texts with each other. • Paraphrasing: It involves using your own words to express something written or said by another person. Paraphrased material is usually shorter than the original passage and helps to present the given source material into your own words. When learners paraphrase, they use their own words to express something written or said by another person. Putting it into your own words helps clarify the message, making it more relevant to learners and giving it a more significant impact. • Summarizing: This strategy involves putting the main idea(s) into a few words. A summary is a brief overview of an entire discussion or argument. You can summarize a whole research paper or conversation in a single paragraph, or with a series of bullet points, using your own words and style. Once again, it is necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the source. Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material.

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• Self-questioning: This elaboration strategy is probably the most important. It is teaching the learners to do self-questioning as they study. This strategy is based on the argument that the key to thinking is asking questions. Better questioning helps the learners to better their thinking. Therefore, teaching learners to think actively or question is very important for learning. Eventually, this needs to be developed as an essential skill to help learners be lifelong learners.

4.2.3

Organizational Strategies

An organizational strategy allows the learner to manipulate, integrate, and interact with the information so that it is more easily learned and remembered. This strategy helps learners to select appropriate information and make the connections to be learned. There are various approaches to organizing information: prioritizing, clustering, and categorizing. According to Beattie et al. (2006), An organizational strategy is like a transformational strategy in that it allows the learner to manipulate information. Students manipulate, integrate, and/or otherwise interact with the information so that it is more easily learned and remembered. (p. 169)

Let us discuss these three for further understanding. • Prioritizing: Prioritizing helps a learner decide on a goal and effectively and efficiently use his/her time to meet it. According to Willis (2016), ‘The executive function of prioritizing guides two types of tasks. Prioritizing is what takes place when the brain distinguishes main ideas from low-relevance details. It is also at work when students plan how to invest their time and effort’ (para 1). • Clustering: Clustering helps learners organize their thoughts and make useful connections between different chunks of information to facilitate their acquisition and memorization. As a strategy, clustering can be used to facilitate sharing of information, to seek out links, connections or patterns between various facts and statements through discussion and analysis and consensus-seeking. Students are instructed to assemble, group or categorize similar information into various clusters, thus promoting active learning. (Professional Learning Board, 2020, para 1)

• Categorizing: Categorizing enables learners to list different objects or ideas, group these based on common characteristics or criteria, and label them for further use. This strategy helps learners organize new concepts about previously learned concepts, and see patterns and connections, and developing abilities to manage or organize information based on criteria. A periodic table that lists, groups, and labels different elements based on their common characteristics is an excellent example of this strategy (Box 4.2).

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Box 4.2 Practicing cognitive learning strategies in the classroom • You can ask learners to form a small group of friends to choose different topics, rehearse, and share with other group members • You can arrange small workshops to help learners to learn the skill of note-making • You may invite learners to practice text markup in the hard and soft copy of documents and display it in the classroom for further comments and suggestions • You can demonstrate the learners the importance of paraphrasing and guiding them on how to practice it to improve learning • You can distribute some articles appearing in different magazines and newspapers and ask learners to summarize the significant discussions • You can present different situations before learners and ask them to raise questions and provide feedback about the quality and relevance of questions • You can organize weekly learning priorities, organizing sessions, and motivate every learner to come in front of the class and reveal his/her learning priorities for the week • You can present various facts and statements to tell the links, connections, or patterns through discussion, analysis, and consensus-seeking

4.3

Metacognitive Strategies of Learning

The difference between cognitive and metacognitive strategies is that cognitive strategies are used to support learning development and metacognitive strategies to monitor and control learning. Basically, cognitive and metacognitive strategies are not independent of one another; they work together while the learner is performing a task (Cook, 2008; Cook & Singleton, 2014). Metacognitive strategies include the behaviors that the learner exhibits through learning situations. Some of these behaviors help the learners to control their attention, anxiety, and interest (Weinstein & Mayer, 1986). While, Larenas et al. (2017) suggest that metacognitive strategies refer to those skills and knowledge that help learners raise their self-awareness about cognition, direct their learning, and monitor their learning progress (p. 89). Simply stating, metacognitive strategies may be defined as the procedures used to help learners understand how they learn and improve their learning. Metacognitive strategies help learners to (The IRIS Center, 2020): • Plan: Deciding how to approach the problem by determining the nature of the problem and selecting and implementing an appropriate strategy to solve it, • Monitor: During solving a problem by checking whether the problem-solving approach is working and after completing the problem deciding that whether the answer is useful, • Modify: Finding that the problem-solving approach is not working or the obtained answer is incorrect, and then modifying or adjusting the approach. People often believe that metacognition is for advanced learners or elders; this is not true. It is for all age groups of learners and allows people to take charge of their learning. Metacognition is quite helpful in developing a culture of self-directed and independent learning among learners because it is based on thinking about learning

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and self-reflection. Metacognition helps a learner be aware of how he/she learns, evaluate his/her learning needs, generate strategies to meet these needs, and implement the strategies (Hacker et al., 2009). Metacognition’s importance becomes much more in technology-enabled learning, which suits more to self-aware and independent learners. There are multiple numbers of metacognitive learning strategies. From these, some popular strategies are discussed here.

4.3.1

Comprehension Strategies

Most of the learning comes to us in the form of reading texts. Those who can read better and make meaning out of it have an advantage over others. In other words, comprehension, or extracting meaning from what one reads, is very important for learning. Comprehension helps a learner to understand or mentally grasp the meaning of something. Considering that numbers of resources are available to read on any topic, it becomes important for a learner to strategically read the texts to get more meaning out of it. Research shows that proficient learners employ many strategies to achieve comprehension of text. The strategies known as comprehension strategies work on the principle that instead of merely reading, learners must read the text to extract different meanings out of it to improve learning. The strategies that are often used for comprehension are: summing up previous knowledge, predicting, questioning, summarizing, and visualizing. • Summing up previous knowledge: Every learner has some prior knowledge. Using this previous knowledge for reading or viewing a new text is always helpful for a learner. Therefore, before reading any new text or doing any new learning activity, it is always helpful to ask from learners what he/she already know about it. Which of his/her previous knowledge can help in this learning? How he/she can complement his/her prior learning with the new one? Answering these questions helps a learner to structure new learning on the framework of previous knowledge. It is argued that summing up previous knowledge to make new connections helps learners to have engaging, deep, and meaningful learning. • Predicting: Prediction, based on the tendency of people to predict, is about anticipation. Prediction is often used to set a purpose for reading among learners. ‘Making predictions is a strategy in which readers use information from a text (including titles, headings, pictures, and diagrams) and their own personal experiences to anticipate what they are about to read (or what comes next). A reader involved in making predictions is focused on the text at hand, constantly thinking ahead and also refining, revising, and verifying his or her predictions’ (Fries-Gaither, 2011). Simply stating, prediction encourages learners to interact with the text, make connections between their prior knowledge and the text, and make them more interested in the text.

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• Questioning: The questioning focusing on ‘Who, What, Where, When, Why and How’ helps comprehend a text in a more meaningful way. Prior questioning can help in reading as well in other learning activities. Prior questioning helps a learner to read with more awareness and purpose. Questioning is usually associated with paragraphs, passage, article, book, or particular phrases or sentences, e.g., is something you can point to in the paragraph or passage. • Visualizing: Research indicates that comprehension is enhanced if readers can create mental images of text. Visualization is supposed to help learners to engage fully with the text and remember the crux of it for use in the future. As observed by Duke and Pearson (2002), ‘a visual display helps readers understand, organize, and remember some of those thousand words’ (p. 218). Visualization of text is usually done by using charts, timelines, graphs, or illustrations. • Summarizing: Summarizing also supports learners to have a concise understanding of the text. Summarizing is quite helpful in developing comprehension skills as it ‘teaches students how to take a large selection of text and reduce it to the main points for more concise understanding. Upon reading a passage, summarizing helps students learn to determine essential ideas and consolidate important details that support them’ (AdLit.org, 2020, para 1).

4.3.2

Problem-Solving Strategies

Most of the learning comes to us in the form of problem-solving. The term problem-solving refers to the mental process that people go through to discover, analyze, and solve problems (Sarathy, 2018). People use different strategies for problem-solving. Usually, the steps of problem-solving include: • • • •

Confronting a problem, Understanding the problem, Researching the available options, and Taking actions to solve the problem.

There are two things to note: (i) not all the problems are solved in this way, and (ii) every problem-solving demands metacognition. Many different strategies exist for solving problems. Among these, algorithms and heuristics use metacognition a lot. But learners must keep in mind that (i) all the problems cannot be solved by these strategies, and (iii) people also use other strategies to solve the problems. As everyone faces unique problems, they have or devise unique problem-solving strategies. • Algorithm: An algorithm is a problem-solving strategy that provides step-by-step instructions to achieve the desired outcome (Kahneman, 2011). In simple terms, an algorithm can be understood as a highly detailed instruction to solve a problem. Algorithms are used frequently in our everyday lives, especially in computer science. The development of an algorithm (a plan) is a key step in solving a problem. Different types of algorithms can be used for problem-solving: informal, formal, mathematical, and graphical. Seunagal (2020) notes,

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4 Strategies for Learning The nature of algorithms can vary, depending upon the problem which needs to be solved. In certain cases, this means that prior knowledge in various areas is necessary for someone to understand a particular algorithm and all that it entails. Problem-solving with an algorithm is all well and good, but the person who is attempting to employ this approach needs to know what they’re working with.

Some of the algorithm’s examples are: trying all keys on your key chain to unlock the door, searching useful books for your reading in a library, trying to find out a likable friend in social media, etc. • Heuristics: Heuristics are mental shortcuts that help with the thinking processes in problem-solving. Unlike algorithms, heuristics are a non-formal approach of problem-solving that does not guarantee perfect or optimal solutions. While an algorithm must be followed precisely to produce a correct result, a heuristic is a general problem-solving framework (Tversky & Kahneman, 1974). Applying a heuristic is unpredictable, which means it can save the time and energy to solve, but one can return without gaining or concluding. Some of the popular problem-solving heuristics include means–ends analysis, working forward, working backward, and generate-and-test.

4.3.3

Writing Strategies

Writing is another good activity for learning. You can learn a lot by writing on different topics. Earlier, the writing was viewed as a linear and simplistic activity. Nowadays, writing is considered more as a process rather than a product. Use of metacognition helps to improve the writing process, as observed by Goctu (2017): Metacognitive writing strategies, correspondingly, involve thinking about the writing process, its planning, monitoring, and self-evaluating of what has been written. More explicitly, via the skills of planning, monitoring, and evaluating the writer manages, directs, regulates and guides his/her writing production. (p. 85)

There are some useful strategies for writing. Among these, the most popular ones are planning, monitoring, and evaluating (Mu, 2005). • Planning: Proper planning is quite helpful in the writing process. The intended writer decides about purpose, targeted audience, conceptual framework, and strategies to be used during planning. In educational settings, learners are often asked to write assignments both individually and in groups. Planning is helpful in both these situations. Usually, planning for writing is done based on whole-class or small-group brainstorming. Planning helps to prepare a draft plan that can be revised during the process of writing. • Monitoring: Monitoring is another useful strategy for writing. It helps a writer to assess whether he/she is moving according to the plan or not. During monitoring, authors usually check the accuracy of the content and its organization,

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flow, grammar, the capability to hook the reader, etc. Individual writers can more effectively do it. • Evaluating: Evaluating is one of the most important ways to come up with good writing. Evaluating takes place after writing and is based on judging the developed texts on predetermined criteria. Evaluating is conducted individually as well as in groups. Most importantly, learners need to develop the habit of self-editing and correction. This procedure will help them to improve their writing as well as to judge the writing of others. Learners also need to be trained to develop ways and patterns to check contents, structure, the flow of information, cited research, etc.

4.3.4

Reasoning Strategies

Reasoning, a key to complete many tasks, including learning, is ‘the process of using existing knowledge to draw conclusions, make predictions, or construct explanations’ (Hughes & Nimmo, 2017, p. 17). Reasoning strategies help learners in many ways, such as decision-making, problem-solving, and understanding content. As part of reasoning strategies, learners tend to compute mentally and make estimates or decisions about the given problem. Ackerman and Thompson (2014) have used the phrase ‘meta-reasoning’ to understand the processes that monitor and control reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making. Let us discuss the three methods of reasoning, i.e., deductive, inductive, and abductive. • Inductive reasoning: Inductive reasoning, or induction, means moving from the specific observations to generalized conclusions. Inductive reasoning helps the learners to generalize based on what they have observed. This observation can be of anything like events, facts, phenomena, and behavior. In inductive reasoning, a learner does not start with any assumptions; instead, he/she moves toward a hypothesis. To make generalizations, it is always helpful to have a sufficient number of samples for observation. Learners must keep in mind that valid generalizations or useful inductions mainly depend on observed samples representing the population. Most importantly, learners must keep in mind that inductive reasoning does not lead to true or false conclusions. Instead, we get decisions that are ‘more likely’ or ‘less likely’ in nature. • Deductive reasoning: Deductive reasoning, or deduction, starts with a general statement, rule, or hypothesis, and examines the possibilities to reach a specific, logical conclusion. Simply stating, deductive reasoning helps a learner derive specifics from already known events, facts, phenomena, and behavior. Deductive reasoning usually follows three steps: (i) begins with the central premise, (ii) a second premise, and (ii) ends with an inference. Learners must keep in mind that deductive inference conclusions can only be valid if premises are true. If the generalization is wrong, the conclusion may be logical but untrue.

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• Abductive reasoning: Abductive reasoning, or abduction, makes a probable conclusion by using the best available information. Adductive reasoning usually starts with an incomplete set of data or observations and proceeds to the likeliest possible explanation. This reasoning helps a learner make an educated guess for a phenomenon for which there is no clear explanation. Unlike deductive reasoning, the central premise is evident in abductive reasoning, but the minor premise and conclusion are probable.

4.3.5

Self-regulation Strategies

Self-regulation, also termed as self-regulated learning, is a self-directive process and set of behaviors, whereby learners transform their mental abilities into skills and habits (Zimmerman et al., 2002). Learners must keep in mind that it is neither a cognitive ability nor an academic performance skill. Instead, it helps one to understand and control his/her learning environment. Highlighting the importance of self-regulation strategies in learning, Shuy (2010) suggests: Effective learners are self-regulating, analyzing task requirements, setting productive goals, and selecting, adapting or inventing strategies to achieve their objectives. These learners also monitor progress as they work thorough the task, managing intrusive emotions and waning motivation as well as adjusting strategies processed to foster success. (p. 1)

The self-regulation of cognition and behavior are essential for learning. Those who can self-regulate their learning have better chances for academic success. Teachers must keep in mind that self-regulation is not a onetime activity; instead, it is a continuum. Self-regulated learning is a cyclical process, wherein the learner plans for a task, monitors their performance and then reflects on the outcome. The cycle then repeats as the learner uses the reflection to adjust and prepare for the next task. The process is not one-size-fits-all; it should be tailored for individual learners and specific learning tasks (Zimmerman, 2002). Self-regulation is supported by many strategies, notably goal setting, self-monitoring, self-instruction, and self-reinforcement. • Goal setting: You have often heard people saying to you ‘what is your goal,’ ‘set your goal,’ and ‘what you want to achieve.’ These questions are crucial for learning. When you ask yourselves, ‘what do I want to achieve through learning’ you want to set a goal. This goal setting helps you improve your learning performance by keeping attentive, focusing on the track, making sufficient efforts, and increasing persistence. Goal setting is a cyclic activity, and every completed goal motivates learners to aim for another goal. Therefore, it is always helpful to set your learning goals and give your best to achieve it. • Self-instruction: Self-instruction, also named as self-reflection, is one of the essential metacognitive strategies of learning. Self-instruction plays an important role before, during, and after the learning process. The self-instruction strategy is expected to direct and appraise a learner as he/she goes through

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different phases of the given task. In self-instruction, learners are supposed to do self-talking to initiate, organize, and structure their learning. Self-instruction aims to help learners take charge of their learning activities and approach teachers mainly for specialized support. • Self-monitoring: Self-monitoring is a strategy to keep track of one’s learning activities. Learners often practice self-monitoring by asking questions like how well they are learning something, whether they are going in the right direction or not, whether they need to make any changes to their learning practices. Self-monitoring is more applicable during the conduction of a task or activity. Self-monitoring helps a learner know how they are progressing, how much they have achieved, and whether they need any alteration or modification in their task-approaching processes and practices. • Self-reinforcement: Self-reinforcement is a process, whereby learners reward themselves when any intended task or activity is completed successfully (e.g., after completing my homework, I will watch a movie, or will eat a cup of ice cream). Self-reinforcement occurs when a learner chooses a reinforcer and self-administers it when a task or activity is completed. Self-reinforcement is a four-step process: (i) setting a goal, (ii) deciding a reinforcer, (iii) knowing that goal has achieved as desired, and (iv) providing reinforcer. Learners must keep in mind that they have to play all these roles to exercise self-reinforcement. It has been noted that self-reinforcement actively involves learners in their learning environment, produces a substantial improvement in performance, and creates more significant changes than teacher-imposed rewards (Smith & Rivera, 1993) (Box 4.3). Box 4.3 Practicing metacognitive learning strategies in the classroom • You can conduct frequent sessions to give learners a chance to summing and sharing his/her previous knowledge with a classmate • You can ask a group of learners to present a text, and other learners may be invited to create a mental image of the text and present it before the class • You can introduce a problem vs. algorithm play in the class. The problem group may be asked to present a problem, and the algorithm group must present an algorithm to answer the problem. Afterward, the members will be exchanged among groups to carry on the play • You can present some real-life or educational problems before learners. The learners may be asked to detail (i) their planning to complete this task, (ii) how they will monitor the progress, and (iii) how well they evaluate the outcome. Learners may also be asked to share these plans with their parents for feedback and suggestions • You can identify different situations, examples, and events, and present some of them to practice inductive and some for practicing deductive reasoning. Afterward, learners may be asked to explain the given reasoning before the whole class for further clarification • At the beginning of the academic session, you may invite every learner to set two types of goals, short term and long term. They can be asked to note down these goals in their diaries for further remembrance and perusal of their families • You may conduct regular workshops or training sessions to make learners aware and skilled in practicing self-instruction, self-monitoring, and self-reinforcement strategies

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4.4

Affective Strategies of Learning

We often heard people saying those who can manage their emotions cam mange anything. This saying is equally applicable in the case of learning. Therefore, affective factors that refer to the emotions, feelings, and attitudes can be helpful to support the learning experiences of individuals (Dornyei, 2001; Hurd, 2008). Affective strategies of learning are also called as self-motivational strategies (Dörnyei, 2003). These strategies mainly focus on managing emotions (both negative and positive), lowering anxiety levels, improving self-esteem, rewarding oneself for good performance, and using self-talk (El Sakka, 2019). Affective strategies are helpful for any learner, especially those who have less than desired emotional support from family, friends, and teachers. Oxford (1990) believes that these strategies make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed, more effective, and more transferable to new situations (p. 80). In comparison, Garay and Etxebarria (2012) noted that affective strategies help learners create and maintain emotional stability during the learning process. Oxford (1990, 2011) classifies affective strategies into three main types: lowering anxiety, encouraging oneself, and taking emotional temperature. • Lowering anxiety: To reduce anxiety, learners can depend on various procedures such as progressive relaxation, deep breathing, meditation, music, and laughter (Oxford, 1990). • The progressive relaxation technique focuses on tightening and relaxing specific muscle groups in sequence. • Deep breathing is breathing that is done by contracting the diaphragm. It has been observed that when you breathe deeply, it sends a message to your brain to calm down and relax; the brain then sends this message to your body. It is an effective integrative body–mind exercise for dealing with stress and emotional conditions (Xiao et al., 2017). • Meditation, a technique of focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity to achieve a mentally stable and emotionally calm state, is also helpful to lower learners’ anxiety. • Music and laughter play an active role in eliminating boredom, generating motivation, and reducing anxiety (Oxford, 2011). • Encouraging oneself: This strategy is based on the argument that learners must motivate and encourage themselves to learn instead of someone else. This strategy includes making positive statements, taking risks wisely, and rewarding yourself (Oxford, 1990). Positive statements, or positive affirmations, are the short personal statements that help derive desired outcomes among learners and increase learners’ confidence in learning. Taking risks wisely is a kind of warning that guides learners to approach learning activities with complete preparation and a bit of caution. Rewarding yourself suggests that one must have a plan to reward himself/herself after completing a learning activity.

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Box 4.4 Practicing affective learning strategies in the classroom • You may invite some psychologists to detail about different types of learning and general anxieties among learners. Learners must be asked to check themselves to identify whether they have any. During these sessions, learners may also be advised about how to deal with these anxieties • You may ask learners to detail and enlist their practices, which they use to encourage themselves. They may also be asked to share these strategies and devise some more with the help of others • You may advise learners to devise a checklist to identify and note down their emotional temperature • You may also encourage learners to maintain and write a learning diary continuously and use this learning diary to detail their feelings, experiences, and mental blocks regarding different aspects of learning

• Taking emotional temperature: It means learner’s self-assessment of their feelings, motivations, and attitudes in learning. This strategy includes listening to your body, using a checklist, writing a learning diary, and discussing your feelings with someone else (Oxford, 1990). Listening to your body means paying attention to the signals emitted by your body. These signals can be both positive and negative. The positive signals are displayed in the form of happiness, interest, and calmness, and negative signals include tension, worry, fear, and anger. The learner needs to understand these signals and amend their learning process accordingly. Learners can also make a checklist to record their feelings, attitudes, and motivations. They can do it every day or every few days. Diary writing or marinating a journal helps learners keep a tab on their emotional fluctuations. They can also release their emotional temperature by talking to friends, parents, relatives, or teachers. This sharing is quite helpful in assessing and adjusting their emotional temperature for better learning outcomes (Box 4.4).

4.5

Social Strategies of Learning

Humans are social by nature, and this socialization affects their learning. Social strategies consider the learner’s relation to society as a whole ranging from family to the global community. Social learning strategies get learners to learn from others and contribute to their learning as well. These strategies support learners in both affective and cognitive aspects. These strategies are often based on the interaction of learners with a group of people that includes: teachers, friends, or classmates. The interaction with these people helps learners control their affective aspects and improve their self-esteem, self-confidence, and motivation level. Most importantly, this select group is often helpful in providing feedback to the learners’ tasks or activities. Based on this feedback, the learner can decide on the continuation and direction of learning activities in the future. Talking about the benefits of social strategies, Etxebarria et al. (2012) observe:

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4 Strategies for Learning Social strategies have principally two characteristics: on the one hand, they encourage feedback and interaction; on the other hand, they are actions carried out with the help of others and are useful for understanding, learning or keeping information. (p. 275)

There are mainly three types of social strategies: asking questions, cooperating with others, and empathizing with others (Oxford, 1990). • Asking questions: Asking questions is one of the most helpful social learning strategies. This strategy helps learners ask questions for clarification, verification, correction, and understanding of any topic or activity. It also allows learners to start the conversation by generating responses from other members. Questioning also acts as an excellent tool to show the learner’s interest and involvement in the learning process. • Cooperating with others: This strategy is guided by the belief that cooperation with fellow learners is vital for successful learning. Cooperating with others includes cooperating with peers and proficient learners. Studies show that cooperative learning results in developing self-esteem, increasing confidence, promoting achievement, eliminating competition, and enhancing group spirit. This strategy is opposite to the strategy of competition, often advocated and promoted by educational institutions. This is true that competition brings a desire among learners to perform better than others, but it often gives them anxiety and fear of failure. Therefore, this strategy aims to help learners to change their attitudes from confrontation and competition to cooperation. • Empathizing with others: Empathy means putting oneself in someone else’s situation to understand that person’s point of view. Empathizing with others means developing a cultural understanding and becoming aware of others’ thoughts and feelings. The cultural understanding and awareness of others’ ideas and feelings help learners mold their learning practices and preferences in a more humanistic and social way (Box 4.5).

Box 4.5 Using social learning strategies in the classroom • You may conduct weekly ‘ask your questions’ challenge among learners. These questions can be on any aspect of life and will be judged by a panel of five learners. The best-judged questions of the week must be displayed on the class notice board until the question of next week takes its place • You may include some group activities to understand and complete the learning task. These activities may include group discussions, pair and share, think together, you read I listen, project work, etc. • You can present some stories of those people who are facing adversities or belong to vulnerable groups before the learners. Divide your class into small groups and give each group one such story to empathize and devise a plan to help the people. Afterward, call these groups one by one to present their plans and viewpoints with other groups

4.6 Learning Style-Driven Strategies of Learning

4.6

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Learning Style-Driven Strategies of Learning

As already discussed in Chap. 1, learners have different learning styles. The knowledge of learning styles and devising the learning activities accordingly can be helpful for teachers in promoting learning. Box 4.6 details that how teachers can identify the learning styles of their learners and help them to succeed in their learning activities.

Box 4.6 Practicing learning style-driven learning strategies Learning style and characteristics

Strategies for promoting learning

Visual (spatial) learners • Have a liking for the information presented in the form of a picture, design, or pattern • Prefer visualizing relationships and ideas • Prefer sitting in the front row of the classroom and keep noting what teachers write on the board • Have liking for artistic works and enjoys visual and design-driven activities

• Use film, video, maps, charts, demonstrations, classroom handouts, and diagrams for teaching visual learners • Give visual learners opportunities to work in a quiet room instead of making them a part of study groups • Provide different materials, e.g., a small whiteboard to visual learners so that they can use them to create visual representations of content to be learned • Encourage visual learners to make drawings to remember important facts and figures • Encourage aural learners to speak • Suggest aural learners use audiobooks along with normal books • Ask aural learners to tell what they have learned • Encourage aural learners to pair their ideas with nonverbal sounds such as music, drum beats, or clapping • Present content in a rhythmic pattern to motivate aural learners to • Give verbal learners speaking and writing-based assignments • Use rhyme and rhythm to teach verbal learners • Present key points to verbal learners by associating with a familiar song, jingle, or theme • Present content before them in the form of written or audio scripts • Suggest verbal learners read content aloud and in a dramatic and varied tone • Encourage verbal learners to use role-playing to grasp the content • Motivate verbal learners to have debates with peers on different topics and issues (continued)

Aural (auditory-musical) learners • Prefer learning through hearing • Have a better understanding of if content explained or presented out loud • Like listening to information rather than reading it or seeing it visually

Verbal (linguistic) learners • Have a liking for languages • Enjoy reading and writing • Like playing with meaning or sound of words, for example, tongue twisters, rhymes, limericks

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Box 4.6 (continued) Learning style and characteristics

Strategies for promoting learning

Physical (kinesthetic) learners • Prefer learning by doing • Feel uneasy if forced to sit for long periods • Feel happy to participate in physical activities or solving problems using their hands

• Give kinesthetic learners doing, exploring, and discovering type activities • Allow kinesthetic learners to stand or move slowly during the instructional process • Give kinesthetic learners short breaks instead of asking them to complete the given task in a one go • Suggest kinesthetic learners stay active by taking notes or drawing • Give kinesthetic learners activity-based learning materials to get engaged and active while learning • Present logic puzzles and brain teasers to logical learners • Present the content in the form of flowcharts to logical learners • Give logical learners different problems and ask them to answer by using analysis or synthesis • Encourage logical learners to present their viewpoints in a methodical and logical manner • Allow social learners to study in groups or teams • Give social learners opportunities to form groups and play a leading role • Assign project work or group-based assignments/learning activities to social learners • Give them opportunities such as role-playing, discussions, debate, and campaigning • Encourage solitary learners to maintain a journal or diary or e-portfolio • Respect the wish of solitary learners to stay and learn alone • Ask solitary learners to set goals and make independent study plans • Praise solitary learners for their achievements • Find out engaging, advance, and challenging assignment and activities for solitary learners • Encourage solitary learners to go for field trips • Respect the questions and observations of solitary learners

Logical (mathematical) learners • Prefer using order, steps, and logic • Act methodically • Apply inductive and deductive reasoning skills

Social (interpersonal) learners • Prefer listening and giving advice • Have a liking for both verbal and nonverbal communication • Enjoy interacting and communicating with other learners

Solitary (intrapersonal) learners • Prefer staying away from crowds and enjoy working alone • Have the tendencies of self-motivation, self-absorption, and self-reflection • Prefer a quiet environment for working and living

4.6 Learning Style-Driven Strategies of Learning

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Let Us Sum Up This chapter helped you learn that learning can be made more effective, efficient, and meaningful by using different strategies, popularly known as learning strategies. These strategies are mainly divided into four categories: cognitive strategies, metacognitive strategies, affective strategies, and social strategies. Cognitive strategies are mainly helpful to rehearse, transfer, and recall of information. These strategies are mainly based on activities like receiving, organizing, practicing, and retrieving information. Metacognitive strategies help learners focus on processing information, acquiring useful skills, monitoring errors, and evaluating their learning progress. These strategies mainly use analyzing, planning, structuring, monitoring, and assessing as a tool to improve learning processes. Affective strategies help the learner manage their emotions, attitudes, motivation, and values for enhanced learning. These strategies mainly focus on lowering anxiety, encouraging oneself, and taking emotional temperature. Social strategies help learners use various social settings (classroom, home, community) for improved learning. These strategies mainly emphasize on asking questions, cooperating, and empathizing with others. As a teacher, this learning will help you promote different types of learning among your learners. Activities to Perform 1. Sit and reflect upon your favorite learning strategies. Make a note on it by detailing why you like these strategies and how they help you in the learning process. 2. Prepare a survey to assess the types of learning strategies practiced by your peers. 3. Divide your class into four groups and name them cognitive, metacognitive, affective, and social. Ask all these groups to give recommendations to improve learning by using the strategies related to their group’s name. 4. Interview your teachers to learn their views about the need and importance of strategies of learning. 5. Organize a poster competition based on the theme ‘strategies of learning.’ 6. Organize a panel discussion on the benefits of implementing social learning strategies in the classrooms. Questions to Work Upon 1. Why does a learner need to have a detailed understanding of different strategies of learning? 2. Differentiate between cognitive and metacognitive strategies of learning by giving suitable examples. 3. Explain some common roadblocks to practice metacognitive learning strategies in classrooms.

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4. Discuss the main characteristic, advantages, and limitations of rehearsal and organizational learning strategies. 5. Write a detailed note on ‘comprehension’ and ‘self-help’ strategies of learning. 6. ‘Those students who are well versed in affective strategies of learning can learn in any settings,’ elaborate on this statement. 7. ‘Educational systems hardly have scope to practice social strategies of learning in classrooms,’ give your argument in support or against this statement.

References Ackerman, R., & Thompson, V. A. (2014). Meta-reasoning: What can we learn from metamemory. In A. Feeney & V. A. Thompson (Eds.), Reasoning as memory (pp. 164– 182). Psychology Press. AdLit.org. (2020). Classroom strategies summarizing. Retrieved from http://www.adlit.org/ strategies/21827/. Beattie, J., Jordan, L., & Algozzine, B. (2006). Making inclusion work: Effective practices for all teachers. Corwin Press. Cohen, A. D. (1998). Strategies in learning and using a second language. Longman. Cook, V. (2008). Second language learning and language teaching. Hodger Education. Cook, V., & Singleton, D. (2014). Key topics in second language acquisition. MM textbooks. Dornyei, Z. (2001). Teaching and researching motivation. Pearson Education Limited. Dornyei, Z. (2003). Attitudes, orientations, and motivations in language learning: Advances in theory, research and applications. Language Learning, 53(1), 3–32. https://doi.org/10.1111/ 1467-9922.53222 Duke, N.K., & Pearson, P.D. (2002). Effective reading practices for developing comprehension. In A.E. Farstrup & S.J. Samuels (Eds.), What research has to say about reading instruction (3rd ed., pp. 205–242). International Reading Association. El Sakka, F. M. S. (2019). Explicit affective strategy instruction to develop speaking performance of Egyptian EFL University Students. English Language Teaching, 12(4). Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1210446.pdf. Etxebarria, A., Garay, U., & Romero, A. (2012). Implementation of social strategies in language learning by means of Moodle. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 3(2), 273–282. Fries-Gaithe, J. (2011). Making predictions: A strategy for reading and science learning. Retrieved from https://beyondweather.ehe.osu.edu/issue/the-sun-and-earths-climate/makingpredictions-a-strategy-for-reading-and-science-learning. Garay, U., & Etxebarria, A. (2012). Combining affective strategies and the internet for learning second languages. Tejuelo, 15, 17–37. Goctu, R. (2017). Metacognitive strategies in academic writing. Journal of Education in Black Sea Region, 2(2), 82–96. Hacker, D. J., Dunlosky, J., & Graesser, A. C. (Eds.). (2009). The educational psychology series. Handbook of metacognition in education. Routledge. Hughes, M., & Nimmo, G. (2017). Models of clinical reasoning. In N. Cooper & J. Frain (Eds.), ABC of clinical reasoning (pp. 17–21). Wiley-Blackwell. Hurd, S. (2008). Affect and strategy use in independent language learning. In S. Hurd & T. Lewis (Eds.), Language learning strategies in independent settings (pp. 218–236). Multilingual Matters. Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.

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Larenas, C. D., Leiva, L. R., & Navarrete, M. O. (2017). Rhetorical, metacognitive, and cognitive strategies in teacher candidates’ essay writing. PROFILE Issues in Teachers’ Professional Development, 19(2), 87–100. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.15446/profile.v19n2.60231. Mariani, L. (2020). Learning strategies, teaching strategies and new curricular demands: a critical view. Perspectives, A Journal of TESOL-Itlay, XXUX(2), 45–56. Mu, C. (2005). A Taxonomy of ESL writing strategies. In Proceedings: Redesigning Pedagogy: Research, Policy, Practice (p. 1–10). Singapore. Retrieved from http://eprints.qut.edu.au/64/1/ 64.pdf. O’Malley, J. M., & Chamot, A. U. (1990). Learning strategies in second language acquisition. Cambridge University Press. Oxford, R. (2011). Teaching and researching language learning strategies. Pearson Education. Oxford, R. L. (1990). Language learning strategies: What every teacher should know. Newbury House/Harper & Row. Professional Learning BoardProfessional Learning Board. (2020). How can I use clustering as a strategy to enhance learning? Retrieved from https://k12teacherstaffdevelopment.com/tlb/ how-can-i-use-clustering-as-a-strategy-to-enhance-learning/. Richards, J., & Platt, J. (1992). Longman dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistic. Longman. Sarathy, V. (2018). Real world problem-solving. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 12, 1–14. Retrieved from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/, https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2018. 00261/full Schumaker, J. B., & Deshler, D. D. (1992). Validation of learning strategy interventions for students with LD: Results of a programmatic research effort. In Y. L. Wong (Ed.), Contemporary intervention research in learning disabilities: An international perspective (pp. 22–46). Springer. Seunagal, G. (2020). How to problem-solve with an algorithm: Psychology and this approach. Retrieved from https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/psychologists/how-to-problem-solve-withan-algorithm-psychology-and-this-approach/. Shuy, T. (2010). TEAL Center fact sheet no. 3: Self-regulated learning. TEAL Center & Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) & The Teaching Excellence in Adult Literacy (TEAL) Center, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from https://lincs.ed.gov/sites/ default/files/3_TEAL_Self%20Reg%20Learning.pdf. Smith, D. D., & Rivera, D. P. (1993). Effective discipline (2nd ed.). PRO-ED. Snowman, J., McCown, R., & Biehler, R. (2012). Psychology applied to teaching (13th ed., p. 2012). Wadsworth. Tessmer, M., & Jonassen, D. (1988). Learning strategies: A new instructional technology. In D. Harris (Ed.), World yearbook of education 1988: Education for the new technologies (pp. 29– 47). Kogan Page. The IRIS Center. (2020). Metacognitive strategies. Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College, the IRIS (Innovative Resources for Instructional Success) Center. Retrieved from https://iris. peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/math/cresource/q2/p07/. Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1974). Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases. Science, 185(4157), 1124–1131. Weinstein, C. E., & Mayer, R. E. (1986). The teaching of learning strategies. In M. C. Wittrock (Ed.), Handbook of research in teaching (pp. 315–327). Macmillan. Weinstein, C. E., Husman, J., & Dierking, D. R. (2000). Self-regulation interventions with a focus on learning strategies. In M. Boekaerts, P. R. Pintrich, & M. Zeidner (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 727–747). Academic Press. Wenden, A. L., & Rubin, J. (1987). Learner strategies in language learning. Prentice-Hall. Willis, J. (2016). Prioritizing: A critical executive function. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia. org/blog/prioritizing-a-critical-executive-function-judy-willis.

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Winn, A. S, DelSignore, L., Marcus, C., Chiel, L., Freiman, E., Stafford, D., & Newman, L. (2019). Applying cognitive learning strategies to enhance learning and retention in clinical teaching settings. MedEdPORTAL, The AAMC Journal of Teaching and Laerning Resource, 15, 10850. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6946583/. Xiao, M., Zi-Qi, Y., Zhu-Qing, G., Hong, Z., Nai-Yue, D., & Yu-Tong, S. (2017). The effect of diaphragmatic breathing on attention, negative affect and stress in healthy adults. Frontiers in Psychology, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00874 Zimmerman, B. J. (2002). Becoming a self-regulated learner: An overview. Theory into Practice, 41(2), 64–70. Zimmerman, B., Bonner, S., & Kovach, R. (2002). Developing self-regulated learners: Beyond achievement to self-efficacy. American Psychological Association.

Chapter 5

Assessment and Learning

Background ‘How much learners have learned’ is one of the most asked questions among governments, policy planners, international and national organizations, educational institutions, educational administrators, teachers, and parents. They ask this question in different ways, but their intent remains the same. Governments ask institutions to produce a report on learning outcomes, international organizations like OECD conduct a test named PISA to compare the learning performance of students of different countries, educational institutions ask this question to align their teaching and learning policies, teachers ask this to adjust their teaching process, and parents ask this to ensure that whether their investment on enrolling their children in schools is giving good dividends or not. Answers to all these questions are provided mainly by either assessment of learning or assessment for learning. Therefore, it becomes almost mandatory for every teacher to learn what is the assessment of learning, what is assessment for learning, and how to carry out both in different educational settings. This chapter aims to provide the answer to all these questions in detail. Key Themes Covered • Concept of Assessment • Assessment for Learning (AfL) o o o o o o

Theoretical Ideas Behind AfL Practicing AfL in Classrooms Role of Teachers in AfL Benefits of AfL Challenges of Practicing AfL Misconceptions About AFL

• Assessment of Learning (AoL) o o o o o

Difference Between AfL and AoL Types of AoL Designing AoL Role of Teachers in AoL Challenges of Practicing AoL

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 P. K. Misra, Learning and Teaching for Teachers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3077-4_5

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5.1

Concept of Assessment

Assessment, making a judgment about any performance or activity, is an integral part of the education system. The term assessment refers to the wide variety of methods or tools that educators use to evaluate, measure, and document students’ academic readiness, learning progress, skill acquisition, or educational needs (The Glossary of Education Reform, 2015). Educators use assessment for various reasons that range from individual student assessment to program evaluation to system-wide educational accountability (Wiggins, 1993). Assessment is helpful to: • Provide objective information that can assist in diagnosing problems and identifying curricular areas that need improvement (Anastasi, 1988), • Describe the progress learners have made toward educational goals (Best & Khan, 2006), and • Using this information to improve student learning and development (Palomba & Banta, 1999). In sum, assessment is a way of providing feedback to students regarding their state of learning, as noted by Misra (2012): Assessment plays a central role in the educational process as it helps students, teachers, parents and educational administrators to know and deal better with the learning gaps. Assessment is said to drive student learning as it provides the motivation for learning through the provision of feedback (e.g. awarding of marks and grades). (p. 235)

The prominent assessment types used in different educational settings include formative assessment, summative assessment, norm-referenced assessment, criterion-referenced assessment, and authentic assessment. • Formative assessment: The general purpose of formative assessment is to provide feedback to learners to help their learning. For example, questions at the end of lectures are termed as a formative assessment. Formative assessments mainly aim to identify the strengths and weaknesses of learners. These assessments are often conducted in the form of self-assessment, peer-assessment, or teacher-assessment. • Summative assessment: The general purpose of summative assessment is to evaluate the learning of learners at the end of the instructional process by comparing it against some standard or benchmark; for example, results that are used to grade learners at the end of a course are examples of summative assessment. These assessments are often conducted in the form of written-assessment, standardized-assessment, or oral-assessment. • Performance assessment: This type of assessment is also named as authentic-assessment, appropriate-assessment, alternative-assessment, or direct-assessment. The general purpose of performance assessment is to use engaging and worthy problems or questions of importance so that learners must use his/her knowledge to fashion convincing and creative performances (Wiggins, 1993). These assessments are often conducted in the form of written

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products, portfolios, checklists, teacher observations, and group projects (Olfos & Zulantay, 2007). • Norm-referenced assessment: The general purpose of norm-referenced assessment is to compare and rank an individual’s performance about the established norms. IQ tests, which help predict the IQ score of a taker with predefined IQ score levels, are among the most well-known norm-referenced tests. Norm-referenced assessments are often conducted by using standardized tests. • Criterion-referenced assessment: The general purpose of criterion-referenced assessment is to measure learner performance against a set of pre-specified qualities or criteria or learning standards. For example, you have to give the correct answer to a minimum of 5 questions to pass a test containing ten questions is an example of criterion-referenced testing. Criterion-referenced assessments are often conducted by using teacher-made or instructor-made tests. These different types of assessments are used to assess the learning of students at different stages. As a teacher, we have to keep in mind that assessment of learners’ learning is a cyclic process, as it • starts before instruction starts (pre-assessment), • continues during the whole instruction process (formative assessment), and • provides final feedback after instruction has completed (summative assessment) From the perspective of learning, this cyclic process is usually described under two categories: assessment for learning and assessment of learning. As observed by Hargreaves (2005): Conceptions of Assessment include assessment-as-measurement and assessment-asinquiry. These conceptions are related to two conceptions of learning: learning-asattaining-objectives and learning-as-the-construction-of-knowledge. (p. 213)

Both of these categories have different purposes and modalities. Let us discuss this in detail.

5.2

Assessment for Learning (AfL)

As a teacher, when you meet a new batch of learners, you are always eager to know what they already know. Have you realized why you want to know about this? You want to know this to plan your teaching. Let us make it clear with the help of an example. You would like to teach multiplication to a group of learners. What would you do, start teaching immediately, no? First, you will ask some questions to ensure that whether they can perform addition. If they can, you will begin teaching multiplication; if not, you will revise your plan. It means a teacher needs to complete assessment activities before beginning instruction or during the instruction process to improve learning. If we agree that the purpose of assessment is to provide data to

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plan instruction, then any assessment designed to inform instruction is assessment for learning. Broadfoot et al. (2002) define the assessment for learning as: …the process of seeking and interpreting evidence for use by learners and their teachers to decide where the learners are in their learning, where they need to go and how best to get there.

While Hargreaves (2005) categorizes ‘assessment for learning’ as: monitoring pupils’ performance against targets or objectives; using assessment to inform next steps in teaching and learning; teachers giving feedback for improvement; (teachers) learning about children’s learning; children taking some control of their own learning and assessment; and turning assessment into a learning event. (p. 213)

The concept of assessment for learning emphasizes integrating assessment and instruction. It requires a dynamic, continuous, and performance-based assessment system that emphasizes progress in learning and developing increasingly sophisticated learners and knowers (Moallem, 2007).

5.2.1

Theoretical Ideas Behind AfL

While discussing AfL, the most obvious question that comes to our mind is whether it is based on any particular assessment theory. AfL is not based on any particular theory, as noted by Black et al., a group of academics considered to have expertise in issues of AfL: The principles to do with teacher change, student change, student change and feedback would clearly have to be borne in mind in any innovative development. While these pointed to several theoretical ideas that would be relevant, notably those concerned with theories of learning, theories of motivation and Sadler’s analysis of the role of feedback, there is no comprehensive theory that could form a basis for action. (Black et al., 2003, p. 15)

This observation makes it quite clear that assessment for learning does not use any specific theory. In fact, it is based on many theoretical ideas. The main theoretical ideas that guide AfL include questioning, feedback, peer- and self-assessment, and formative use of summative Assessment (Taras, 2010). • Questioning: Questioning, one of the most potent and ever-present tools in the hands of teachers, is often used to check the learning of learners. Specifically, questioning provides teachers with the opportunity to quickly assess the learners’ knowledge, understanding, and skills. Using questioning as a vital component of assessment for learning is based on the argument that it helps teachers learn how much learners have progressed with their learning and engage learners in the learning process. • Feedback: Feedback is the means by which a learner is made aware that whether he/she is making progress in the right direction or what is the level of his/her performance. Using feedback to support assessment for learning is based

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on the argument that it helps learners improve ‘knowledge and skill acquisition’ and motivate learning (Shute, 2008). • Peer- and self-assessment: Peer- and self-assessment, where students assess each other and themselves in place of teachers, offers students a chance to assess their own and other students’ progress. Assessing their own work or peers can help learners be involved in the learning process and improve their independence and motivation. Making self- and peer-assessment as one of the most important aspects of ‘assessment for learning.’ This assessment practice is guided by the argument that it provides an opportunity for learners to learn from their own mistakes or mistakes of the peer, identify their strengths and weaknesses, develop their understanding of the intended learning outcomes, and take greater responsibility for their learning. • Formative use of summative assessment: Making formative use of summative assessment means using information derived from summative assessment of a learner in the past to improve his/her performance in the present or future. For example, a teacher conducts a class test, checks it, and gives marks to learners. Doing this is a summative assessment. Summative assessment is usually thought of as an end process. But using the results of these tests to provide detailed and individualized feedback to learners to deepen their understanding and improve their performance will be called formative use of summative assessment. Specifically, using summative assessment results to support the learner's learning needs and styles is an assessment for learning (formative assessment).

5.2.2

Practicing AfL in Classrooms

As discussed earlier, the primary purpose of assessment for learning (also termed as formative assessment) is to know how our learners are doing regarding prescribed goals or learning outcomes and using this information to plan new instructional activities. It means, as a teacher, you are supposed to use assessment results to help the learner or the learning process. By practicing assessment for learning, you can improve the quality of your classroom instruction, and align learning outcomes with wider learning goals and standards. By using the following steps, a teacher can practice assessment for learning systemically: • Step 1: Clearly define and develop the learning outcomes • Step 2: Select appropriate methods of assessment (teacher-assessment, self-assessment, peer-assessment) • Step 3: Determine the criteria for success • Step 4: Collect and analyze the data • Step 5: Assess the outcomes regarding criteria for success • Step 6: Adjust or improve teaching and learning activities according to the outcomes.

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Box 5.1 Tools to practice AfL in the classroom • Exit slips: Teachers usually put several questions to learners at the end of a class or lesson. Instead of getting oral answers, you can ask your learners to give written responses in the form of a slip, popularly known as exit slips. You can use exit slips as per your convenience (but preferably on a daily or weekly basis). There are three popular categories of exit slips (Fisher & Frey, 2004): – Prompts that document learning, for example, write one thing that you learned from my lecture – Prompts that emphasize the process of learning, for example, write one point that you did not understand – Prompts to evaluate the effectiveness of instruction, for example, write how this lecture was useful to you • Mid-unit quizzes: Mid-unit quizzes, conducted at the midpoint of any topic or unit, is also helpful in AfL. As indicated by the name, you can use a quiz of your choice to identify what your learners learned so far. This learning about learning by learners will help you to plan your remaining part accordingly • Peer review: Peer review allows learners to review each other's written work and oral presentations. To use this in your class, you can ask your learners to write short essays on any given topic. After submission by learners, you can ask learners to read and assign a score to essays written by their peers. You can also use the policy of anonymous peer review of essays

Besides, there are some tools that you can use to practice AfL in the classroom (Box 5.1).

5.2.3

Role of Teachers in Practicing AfL

The role of the teacher in practicing AfL is crucial. As a teacher, you have to realize that besides instructional activities, conducting continuous assessments can also promote learning among your learners. But you have to keep in mind that it all will depend on your initiation and practice. You have to make the formative assessment as an integral part of your classroom practices. You can involve your learners in different works and assess them as well. For example, organizing group discussions to judge their capacity to communicate and argue, assigning collaborative project work to assume their role as leaders, giving the written task to evaluate their writing ability and critical thinking, etc. After completion of these activities, you can provide feedback as well as the score to your learners. This feedback will directly or indirectly help to improve the learning of learners. You can also suggest your learners’ practice self-feedback and peer-feedback. To ensure maximum benefit of AfL, you have to maintain an interactive relationship with your learners as a teacher. These interactive relations will help you in two ways (i) knowing what your learners are doing or practicing, and (ii) providing relevant feedback in one to one or group settings. Most importantly, you have to remember that we are also assessing our teaching capacity when we assess our learners’ learning. Therefore, practicing AfL is a win–win situation both for learners and teachers (Box 5.2).

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Box 5.2 Role of teachers in AfL • Keep assessing your learners: Never think that your job is only to teach, and conducting assessments is the institution's prerogative and responsibility. You can keep a tab on your learners’ progress by conducting formative assessments to know the answers of questions like how learners are doing, what have they learned about the course, are they able to demonstrate and use the learned skills, and similar types of questions • Keep providing regular feedback through assessments: Your other equally important role in AfL is to provide regular feedback to your learners about their performances and achievements. This feedback will help them see things in perspective and plan better for the next cycle of learning • Keep motivating students for self-/peer-assessment: Self-evaluation and peer-evaluation play a significant role in AfL. Usually, learners think that assessing them is the task of teachers, or only teachers can assess them. Make them realize that self-/peer-evaluation strategies can also be used to promote learning. Tell learners that they can practice it by asking questions like these at individual and group level: how I am doing, how I can do better, and what else we would learn • Keep self-assessing your teaching: Self-assessing your teaching at regular intervals also help improve learners’ learning outcomes. During self-assessment, you often ask from yourself that is my method is working for the learners, what can I do to help the learners more, am I able to fulfill the needs of my learners, what changes I can bring in my teaching, and many more such question. Believe me, conducting self-assessment will be helpful to make you a better teacher and your learners as improved learners

5.2.4

Benefits of AfL

Using assessment for learning is a relatively new idea. The reason is that most people think that the role of assessments in learning is to rank and grade learners. They do not believe that we can use assessments to improve learning as well. A meta-analysis conducted by Kingston and Nash (2011) suggests that appropriate use of assessment can increase learning. Researchers have also highlighted that critical components of learning assessment, such as feedback, self-regulated learning, and cooperative learning, are highly cost-effective (Quigley et al., 2018). Making assessments an integral part of the instructional process can benefit learners, teachers, and the educational system in multiple ways. • Improving learning outcomes: Research shows that effective formative assessment is one of the most important contributors to success in summative assessment. Assessment for learning is a continuous and cyclic process. It works like a Global Positioning System (GPS), which tells you the right direction, and whenever you divert, it gives a signal that you are following a different path. Similarly, continuous feedback through formative assessment helps a learner stick to his/her goal, which certainly results in a better learning outcome. • Helping learners to control their learning: AfL is credited to give learners more control over their learning. The self-assessment and peer-assessment techniques help learners assess their activities and practices and use the results to adjust their plans of learning. AfL works like a speedometer in a car that continuously tells you that at which speed you are traveling to control the speed of the car to reach your destination safely.

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• Increasing the confidence level of students: AfL approach mainly works on the principle of providing task-specific feedback to the learner. For example, during his/her class, a teacher asks a question from learners, and after receiving the answers, helps them learn whether they are correct. This immediate feedback encourages both types of learners (answered right, answered wrong) to improve next time. Specifically, formative assessment helps learners develop confidence in their abilities and creates a sense of self-efficacy among them. • Supporting individual students to progress: AfL is incredibly helpful for a teacher to assess a learner individually. This individual assessment helps the teacher to get a clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of a particular learner. Based on this detailed understanding, teachers can easily plan need-specific instruction to ensure learners’ progress at the individual level. • Improving the classroom culture: AfL allows learners and teachers to use assessment to create a supportive and collaborative culture in the classroom. Considering that formative assessments have no bearing on their final results, both teachers and learners engage in different learning activities without fear of failure. This relaxed atmosphere adds to the culture of the classroom. • Promoting active learning: The practice of assessment at regular intervals helps learners to remain active in the classroom. The involvement of learners in assessing themselves and their peers supports them in becoming more responsible, reflective, and engaged. AFL approach also helps students to become enthusiastic life-long learners.

5.2.5

Challenges of Practicing AfL

Instead of apparent benefits, AfL has not made a central place in educational institutions across the world. This situation is due to several challenges: • Lack of understanding: Teachers and administrators lack a clear understanding of the differences between formative and summative assessment. They fail to understand that whether AfL is ‘to do it to learners or do it with learners.’ This is often difficult for them to realize that communicating the achievement levels to learners (summative assessment) is different from developing differentiated tasks for learners of varying abilities (formative assessment). This shaky understanding is one of the main reasons preventing teachers from practicing AfL in their classrooms. • Lack of expertise: Existing teacher preparation programs hardly prepare teachers to practice AfL. Training programs mainly prepare them for paper-/ pencil-based tests aligned to a set of standards. As a resultant, majority of them are not much conversant and comfortable in practicing AfL. One of the biggest challenges regarding implementing AfL is the lack of expertise among teachers to carry formative assessment.

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• Liking for standardized testing: The majority of stakeholders’ mindset is tuned toward formalized testing of students via standardized tests. This mindset deters them from thinking about practicing that is mainly informal, embedded within the classroom, happening on a moment to moment basis, and hardly comes up with any visible proof. • Less scope of implementation: Experiences tell that AfL is useful but demands elaborate preparation, a lot of time and patience on the part of practitioners. Therefore, this does not fit well with the ‘tell me your results first’ culture of present-day educational institutions. The current educational practices, that demand to produce visible proof of learning among learners in a stipulated time, make it difficult for teachers to practice AfL in their classrooms.

5.2.6

Misconceptions About AfL

In addition to practicing challenges, misconceptions may be termed as another prime reason for the slow entry of AfL in the classrooms. Misconceptions, an inevitable result of a misunderstanding about any process or activity, create doubt in teachers’ minds and hold them back from practicing AfL. Therefore, it becomes essential for teachers to understand that what comes under AfL and what not. Learning of the following misconceptions, that is quite prevalent in the education community, will help you practice AfL in a more specific and useful manner. Boas (2014) talks about the following five misconceptions about AfL: • Misconception1# AfL requires special kinds of tests or series of tests: Often teachers believe that they need special kinds of tests or series of tests to practice AfL. This is wrong. They have to understand that AfL is a process where a teacher intentionally interacts with learners during the instructional phase to assess their present learning level. Afterward, she/he uses this knowledge to improve the learning outcomes of learners. Teachers have to be very clear that they do not need any particular test for this; instead, they need the will and technique to practice it. • Misconception2# AfL cannot help in the grading of learners: This is true that results of AfL usually do not get reflected in the mark sheets or grade sheets of learners. But thinking that these assessments do not help in grading in any way is not right. The notion of continuous comprehensive evaluations uses both formative and summative assessments for grading. Besides, assessing learners based on their portfolio is another example of using AfL for grading purposes. • Misconception3# AfL is not rigorous enough: Some teachers feel AfL is not stringent in nature and process. This notion is wrong. AfL is a continuous and thorough process that involves both teachers and learners. Teachers are supposed to ask questions or put up activities, and learners have to respond to those, which continues until semester end or year-end examinations. This process of

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continuously assessing at the part of teachers and continuously responding at the part of learners makes it a rigorous and serious process. • Misconception4# AfL is a program: This is one of the most popular misconceptions about AfL. Often teachers think that it is a program that teachers have to adapt to improve learners learning. All such teachers have to realize that AfL is a process that teachers and learners have to practice in collaboration to achieve better learning outcomes. • Misconception5# AfL is only an informal assessment: AfL is informal by nature but saying that it is only an informal assessment is not justified. AfL can be used as a formal process as well. Teachers can use it in formal ways too. For example, conducting mid-unit quizzes and evolving a procedure to reflect learners’ performance on these quizzes in awarding final grade will make it a formal process.

5.3

Assessment of Learning (AoL)

Assessment of learning (AoL), also thought as a summative assessment, is the most popular type of assessment practiced by educational systems and institutions worldwide. AoL is usually conducted at the end of instruction to provide information about learners’ learning and overall success. The majority of stakeholders in education, parents, public, and policymakers see the education system's success in terms of AoL. AoL helps in making final decisions by using assessment information for high-stakes, cumulative purposes, such as for grades, promotion, or certification (Shute & Kim, 2014). The popularity of AoL may be credited to the fact that given grades/results become public and help any concerned know what learners have learned in a stipulated time. In view of Earl and Katz (2006): Assessment of learning refers to strategies designed to confirm what students know, demonstrate whether or not they have met curriculum outcomes or the goals of their individualized programs, or to certify proficiency and make decisions about students’ future programs or placements. It is designed to provide evidence of achievement to parents, other educators, the students themselves, and sometimes to outside groups (e.g., employers, other educational institutions). (p. 55)

5.3.1

Difference Between AfL and AoL

Assessment of learning (AoL) differs in nature and purpose from assessment for learning (AfL). But as a teacher, you must keep in mind that both AfL and AoL are neither rivals nor they live far away from each other. In fact, both AfL and AoL are supposed to work in close proximity to achieving the learners’ intended learning outcomes. In comparison with AfL, which aims to assess learners during the

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learning and teaching process, AoL is often conducted at the end of a unit or a course or a program or unit to know what learners have learned in totality to grade them accordingly (Box 5.3). Differentiating between AoL and AFL, Heick (2019) observes: … the difference between assessment of learning and assessment for learning is a matter of function and purpose–a matter of 'who': Assessment of learning is a way to see what the students can do while assessment for learning is a way to see what the teachers should do in response. (para 8)

5.3.2

Types of AoL

Assessment of learning can be conducted in many forms. Some of the popular procedures that are used across different types of the educational institution for AoL are discussed as: • Graded tests: Graded tests are a set of question papers given to the learners to answer at the end of a section, chapter, unit, or theme to demonstrate that what they have learned. The learners are evaluated and graded based on the answers given by them. These tests are mainly used in end-of-term or final or midterm examinations. • Standardized tests: Standardized tests are ‘tests with uniform procedures for administration and scoring and often allow a student's performance to be compared with other students’ performance at the same age or grade level on a national basis.’ They can serve many purposes: provide information about students’ progress, diagnose students’ strengths and weaknesses, provide

Box 5.3 Difference between AfL and AoL Assessment of learning

Assessment for learning

Popularly named as summative assessment

Popularly called as formative or classroom-based assessment Conducted during the teaching and learning process Informal in nature Checks mostly the understanding of the learners Practiced in different ways, a lot depends on the theoretical orientation of teachers Carried out to check the understanding of the learners Performed by discussion questions, exit slips, and quizzes Continuous process

Conducted at the end of a course, unit, or program Formal in nature Mainly assess skills or knowledge of learners Practiced as per established procedures, policies, and regulations Carried out for grading and reporting of the learners Performed by graded tests, standardized tests, projects, seminars, and reports One time process

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evidence for the placement of students in specific programs, provide information for planning and improving instruction, help administrators evaluate programs, and contribute to accountability (Santrock, 2008, pp. 532–533). TOEFL: Test of English as a Foreign Language, IELTS: International English Language Testing System, GMAT: Graduate Management Admission Test, and GRE: Graduate Record Examination are examples of some popular standardized tests. • Oral tests: During oral tests, learners are asked to prepare an oral piece of work to tell what they have learned. Oral tests are often performed in the form of viva-voce, question–answer, giving a seminar or oral talk, etc. • Written tasks: Unlike graded tests, where learners have to write the answers to given questions, written tasks demand that they write an original selection. Besides, learners may be asked to write about any previous activity, event, person, or experiences. Popular forms of written tasks include book reports, essays, reports, articles, blogs, poems, stories, and diaries. • Performance tasks: As performance tasks, learners are asked to complete a task that includes a specific set of skills and abilities. The purpose of these tasks is to determine what learners know and are capable of performing. Some of the popular performance tasks are project works, creative portfolio, multimedia presentations, and science projects.

5.3.3

Designing AoL

The main purpose of the assessment of learning is to know that what students have learned (basically remembered, understood, and retained) once the learning process is complete. Usually, AoL seems an end-of-course or end-of-year examination and is performed at the end of a course, program, or even the entire curriculum. But this is and should not be the only way to use AoL. AoL may be performed at the end of instruction (chapter, unit, module) and various intervals (mid-semester, end-semester). Similarly, data from AoL is often used for assigning grades for certifying learners’ attainment or determining eligibility for programs or advancement of learners to next grade. But this is not the only use of AoL. Data from AoL may also be used to check the learners’ learning level in a particular area. Besides, AoL also helps a learner know how much learning path he/she has already covered and at what speed he/she may be able to cover the remaining part. AoL can be used for many purposes, and its prediction has far-reaching influence in learners’ lives. Considering this, it becomes essential that AoL should be designed and conducted scientifically and transparently. Assessment Reform Group (2003, p. 4) suggests that summative assessment should have the following qualities:

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• Validity: The assessment must cover all aspects, and only those aspects, of pupils’ achievement relevant to a particular purpose. • Reliability: It should be designed so that users can have confidence that the results are sufficiently accurate and consistent for their purpose. • Impact: It should measure performance and have desirable consequences for teaching, learning, and pupils’ motivation for learning. The assessment generally has a strong impact on the curriculum and pedagogy, so it is vital that any adverse effects are minimized. • Practicability: The resources required to provide it—teachers’ time, expertise, and cost, and pupils’ learning time should be commensurate with the value of the information for its users. The following strategies may also be employed to design highly useful and practical summative assessments in addition to these four core principles. Some of these strategies are (Box 5.4).

5.3.4

Role of Teachers in AoL

Considering that summative assessments provide valuable feedback, and consequences of assessment of learning are often far-reaching and affect learners seriously, you have a significant role in designing and conducting AoL as a teacher. You will be supposed to ensure that assessments are reporting learners’ learning accurately and aligned with the expected learning outcomes. Besides, you have to give learners fair chances by offering items/activities representing a variety of contexts and situations. You can fulfill all these expectations and ensure effective AoL for your learners by practicing the following:

Box 5.4 Strategies for designing AoL • Always align assessment with the prescribed learning outcomes • Clearly outline the assessment criteria • Use a rubric to detail expected performance criteria for a range of grades/scores • Design clear, unambiguous, and compelling questions/items/activities • Give clear and easy to understand instructions about the assessment questions/ items/ activities • Include choices and preferences in the question papers/tests • Offer learners a mix of assessment questions/ items/ activities based on different levels of learning • Do not try to over assess the learners • Give sufficient gap between two assessments

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• Clearly describe the intended learning outcomes of your course/module • Devise assessments processes that make it possible for learners to demonstrate their competence and skill • Try to minimize/discard those assessments based mainly on rote/memory learning • Design assessments to assess the depth and breadth of learning of learners • Provide a range of alternative mechanisms for assessing the learners • Enlist suitable reference points for making fair and valid judgments of learners’ level of learning • Outline the procedure for review in the event of a disagreement about the given grades/marks • Summarize expected performance from your learners at the beginning of your course/unit • Have detailed knowledge of which type of assessment is useful to assess which type of learning • Offer comprehensive assessments based on core ideas, concepts, content, and exercises from the entire course. • Announce parameters of assessment (length of assessment, style of expected responses, time to answer, assessment procedure, grading standards) to learners well in advance • Make provisions for unbiased/transparent/blind grading of learners • Most importantly, be flexible to hear the grievances and concerns of your learners and revise assessment policies and practices accordingly.

5.3.5

Challenges of Practicing AoL

Assessment of learning is one of the most practiced but equally criticized aspects of the education system. No education system or country can claim that they have devised perfect AoL techniques that equally match learners’ and prospective employers’ expectations. Actually, problems of AoL are hidden in many questions that range from philosophical to social to economic aspects of human life. Some of these fundamental questions include (i) what is the purpose of learning (ii) should learning be used for individual development or development of an individual for society (iii) is learning task or purpose-specific or generic (iv) should learning be merely for economic purposes or it must focus on developing inner peace and happiness among learners? Unfortunately, there are no definite answers to these questions to date. This ambiguity creates a lot of challenges in the path of AoL. For your understanding, some of the major challenges of AoL are discussed as under: • The first and foremost challenge is that most of the AoL fail to provide information about learners’ full range of educational outcomes. The majority of AoL is accused of testing only memory-level learning of learners. Existing AoL tools and techniques hardly fit to assess twenty-first learning skills that are needed to

5.3 Assessment of Learning (AoL)

•

•

• •

•

95

succeed in a socially and technologically evolving world, like higher-order thinking skills, the ability to adapt to changing circumstances, and the ability to work and learn collaboratively in groups as well as independently. In theory, both formative and summative assessments are needed to support each other. But in practice, summative assessments hardly support formative assessment. Educational institutions often lack mechanisms to use results from summative assessments for the improvement of the learning of learners. The reliability of grades/marks of graded as well as standardized tests is always in doubt. People believe that results propagated by summative assessments are not only about learning or based on learning. The reason is that many other factors like stress, physical conduction, chance, memory power, writing skills also play an essential role in the successful completion of summative assessments. There is always a danger that an unreliable and invalid summative test can make the wrong decisions about learners’ knowledge and skills. This wrong decision can unduly favor or harm a learner during and after studies. Summative tests often bring stress and anxiety to them. One of the most feared terms in the dictionary of learners is ‘exam’ (AoL). Needless to say that AoL is often held responsible for de-motivating learners or creating stressful conditions among learners. Any education system's success is often valued in terms of the grades/marks secured by the learners. This practice of securing high grades/marks at any cost is often accused of bringing a culture of shallow and superficial learning among learners rather than helping them go far deep and meaningful learning.

Therefore, it becomes vital that the education system must pay enough attention to bring AoL related reforms. Training every teacher to design reliable, valid, practical, and impactful AoL can be the first step in this direction. As a second step, teachers may be given a more significant role in assessing the individual learner. This enhanced role will motivate them to use different approaches for evaluating the performance of learners. And as for step three, instead of only mentioning the marks/grades of a learner, his/her capabilities and qualities may also be worded in his/her mark sheet/ grade sheet. Let Us Sum Up This chapter helped you to learn that in connection to learning, assessment is used for two purposes: assessment for learning (formative assessments) and assessment of learning (summative assessments). The principle behind AfL, popularly known as formative assessment, is that continuous assessment and subsequent feedback can improve learners’ learning. AfL is informal and can be practiced easily by teachers in their classrooms by using techniques like exit slips, mid-unit quizzes, and peer review. We also learned about the benefits, challenges, and misconceptions of AfL. We also realized that AfL is quite helpful not only for learners but for teachers as well. We further came to know that AoL is somewhat different from AfL. AoL, popularly known as summative assessments, is conducted as an examination at the end of the unit or end of course, and is mainly used for grading

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and ranking purposes. We also discussed how teachers play a significant role in Afl. Afterward, we talked about designing and practicing AoL and subsequent challenges. In a nutshell, we learned that AfL helps in improving learning, and AoL tells us that up to which extent learning outcomes have been achieved. Our ultimate learning from this chapter is that the cohesive use of both AoL and AfL can bring the best possible results. Activities to Perform 1. Enlist the assessment for learning strategies of your teachers from previous classes. Prepare a note that among these strategies which you will like to practice in your class and why? 2. Organize a seminar on the topic ‘Using AfL in classrooms: Challenges and possibilities’ and ask your peers to present their ideas in the form of a paper in this seminar. 3. Detail a plan to practice AfL in your classrooms. Share this plan with your peers, invite them to comment on it, and ask them to give suggestions for its improvement. 4. Interview your peers to know their views about existing AoL practices and suggestions for improvement. 5. Organize a classroom discussion on the topic ‘challenges of practicing AoL and strategies to overcome it.’ 6. Prepare and conduct a survey to assess learners’ level of satisfaction toward the existing summative assessment of learning procedures. 7. Invite the teachers and head of your institution to share their views about AoL. Also, request them to guide you and peers about designing and conducting reliable and valid summative assessments. Questions to Work Upon 1. ‘Assessment for learning seems a good concept but our teachers are not prepared for it.’ Give your views on this statement by citing examples from classroom conditions. 2. What are the main challenges of practicing AfL? How can we overcome these challenges? 3. ‘AfL and AoL are not adversaries, instead both are complementary to each other.’ Write a detailed note to justify this comment. 4. Can education systems survive without AoL? If yes, then how, if no, then why not? 5. Enlist popular methods to practice AoL. Describe the benefits and shortcomings of each one by giving suitable examples.

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6. As a teacher, what precaution you will take to design and implement AoL to your learners? 7. ‘Enhancing the role of teachers is one of the ways to overcome many challenges of in AoL,’ give your structured comments on this statement.

References Anastasi, A. (1988). Psychological testing (6th ed.). Macmillan Publishing. Assessment Reform Group. (2003). The role of teachers in the assessment of learning. Retrieved from https://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/sites/default/files/files/The-role-of-teachers-in-theassessment-of-learning.pdf. Best, J. W., & Khan, J. V. (2006). Research in education (5th ed.). Prentice-Hall. Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, B., & Wiliams, D. (2003). Assessment for learning. Putting it into practice. Open University Press. Boas, I. V. (2014). Five myths about formative assessment. Retrieved from https:// isabelavillasboas.wordpress.com/2014/03/16/five-myths-about-formative-assessment/. Broadfoot, P. M., Daugherty, R., Gardner, J., Harlen, W., James, M., & Stobart, G. (2002). Assessment for learning: 10 principles. University of Cambridge School of Education, Assessment Reform Group. Retrieved from https://www.aaia.org.uk/storage/medialibrary/o_ 1d8j89n3u1n0u17u91fdd1m4418fh8.pdf. Earl, L., & Katz, S. (2006). Rethinking classroom assessment with purpose in mind assessment for learning assessment as learning assessment of learning. Minister of Education, Citizenship and Youth. Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth, School Programs Division. Retrieved from https://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/assess/wncp/full_doc.pdf. Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2004). Improving adolescent literacy: Strategies at work. Pearson Prentice Hall. Hargreaves, E. (2005). Assessment for learning? Thinking outside the (black) box. Cambridge Journal of Education, 35(2), 213–224. Heick, T. (2019). The difference between Assessment of learning and Assessment for learning. Retrieved from https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/the-difference-between-assessmentof-learning-and-assessment-for-learning/. Kingston, N., & Nash, B. (2011). Formative Assessment: A meta-analysis and a call for research. Educational Measurement Issues and Practice, 30(4), 28–37. Misra, P. K. (2012). Technology supported assessment in distance education: Promises, pitfalls and prospects, In U. Demiray, G. Kurubacak & T. V. Yuzer (Eds.), Meta-communication for reflective online conversations: Models for distance dducation (pp. 233–248). IGI Global. Moallem, M. (2007). Assessment of complex learning tasks: A design model. Paper presented in IADIS International Conference on Cognition and Exploratory Learning in Digital Age (CELDA 2007). Retrieved from http://www.iadisportal.org/digital-library/assessment-ofcomplex-learning-tasks-a-design-model. Olfos, R., & Zulantay, H. (2007). Reliability and validity of authentic Assessment in a Web based course. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 10(4), 156–173. Palomba, C., & Banta, T. W. (1999). Assessment essentials: Planning, implementing, and improving assessment in higher education. Jossey-Bass Inc. Quigley, A., Muijs, D., & Stringer, E. (2018). Metacognition and self-regulated learning. Education Endowment Foundation. Retrieved from https://educationendowmentfoundation. org.uk/public/files/Publications/Metacognition/EEF_Metacognition_and_self-regulated_learning. pdf. Santhrock, J. W. (2008). Educational psychology (3rd ed.). Mc. Graw Hills Companies.

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Shute, V., & Kim, Y. (2014). Formative and stealth assessment. In J. Spector, M. Merrill, J. Elen, & M. Bishop (Eds.), Handbook of research on educational communications and technology (pp. 311–321). Springer. Shute, V. J. (2008). Focus on formative feedback. Review of Educational Research, 78(1), 153–189. Taras, M. (2010). Assessment for learning: Assessing the theory and evidence. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2, 3015–3022. Retrieved from https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/ 82569276.pdf. The Glossary of Education Reform. (2015). Assessment. Retrieved from https://www.edglossary. org/assessment/. Wiggins, G. P. (1993). Assessing student performance. Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Chapter 6

Learning About Teaching

Background In the previous chapters, you have learned about different aspects of learning. While reading these chapters, you have also realized that teaching is an inseparable part of learning. You have often seen the documents or policies mentioning ‘teaching–learning’ or ‘teaching and learning’ in the same breath. There are mainly two routes to learning, first, teaching, and second, self-learning. And without any doubt, it can be said that teaching is the most preferred and practiced routes across the globe to facilitate learning. Before practicing teaching, teachers need clarity on its many aspects like what is teaching, what is the purpose of teaching, what are guiding principles of teaching, what are the teaching beliefs of teachers, how to enjoy teaching, etc. Getting clarity about these and many other aspects of teaching is always helpful for teachers to succeed in the teaching profession. Accordingly, this chapter aims to appraise and discuss different aspects of teaching. Most importantly, these discussions help you know the world of teaching from a perspective often missing in prevailing discourses about teaching. Key Themes Covered • • • • • • •

What is Teaching? What is the Primary Purpose of Teaching? Is teaching a Profession? What are the Guiding Principles of Teaching? What are the Beliefs about Teaching? What are the Ways to Improve Teaching? How to Enjoy Teaching?

6.1

What Is Teaching?

‘Teaching’ is one of the most popular and frequently used words of this generation. People use this word in many ways and psychological state. Most importantly, people often associate their success as well as failures with ‘teaching’ (Box 6.1). © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 P. K. Misra, Learning and Teaching for Teachers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3077-4_6

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Box 6.1 Psychological state of people and use of the term ‘teaching’ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙

I I I I I I

need teaching (when needing support) do not need teaching (when feeling angry, stressed) owe my success to teaching (when feeling obliged) have not received good teaching (when failing) hate teaching (when stressed, sad, depressed) enjoy teaching (when feeling happy)

Teaching is an activity. The main purpose of this activity is to bring intended change mainly in the learner’s knowledge base or behavior. Simply stating, ‘Teaching is the process of attending to people’s needs, experiences and feelings, and intervening so that they learn particular things, and go beyond the given’ (Smith, 2018). One can perform a teaching for an individual or a small group or even bigger groups. Interestingly, one can be a teacher of self and perform self-teaching as well. Teaching is an integral part of any education system. The success of every education system depends on the quality of teaching. Therefore, as a teacher, you need to realize that only performing teaching is not essential. The importance of teaching lies in the outcome. There is a famous saying that ‘teaching is only teaching if people can take on what is taught.’ Hirst (1975) observes that teaching should involve: • Setting out with the intention of someone learning something, • Considering people’s feelings, experiences, and needs. By nature, teaching is human welfare-driven activity. Teaching is also a social activity that intends to help individuals to attain their fullest potential. Teaching is conceived as a process to facilitate learning among individuals from different sections of society. According to the Alberta Teachers’ Association (2012) Teaching is the specialized application of knowledge, skills and attributes designed to provide unique service to meet the educational needs of the individual and of society. […..] In addition to providing students with learning opportunities to meet curriculum outcomes, teaching emphasizes the development of values and guides students in their social relationships. (p. 1)

By going through this definition, it becomes clear that teaching not only rests on providing knowledge; instead, it aims to help a learner develop as a whole. This is why facilitators, organizers, and providers of teaching aim to nurture individuals with the right attitude, knowledge, and skills (ASK). Simply, the purpose of teaching is to bring empowered learners, equally beneficial to their families and societies. Therefore, every society, whether it is a liberal, socialist, or capitalist, and any governance, whether it is democratic or autocratic, value teaching. But the process of teaching differs by nature and purpose of system and governance. For example, in a democratic country, teaching is conducted in questioning, arguments, and clarifications, while in an autocratic country, teaching revolves around delivering, memorizing, and reproducing. Similarly, the purpose of teaching also differs considering social and economic demands. But the most fundamental characteristic of teaching is that it is usually guided by the principle of shaping individuals as humane individuals.

6.2 What Is the Primary Purpose of Teaching?

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What Is the Primary Purpose of Teaching?

One of the most important questions that every teacher deals with is that ‘what is the main purpose of teaching.’ There are no definite answers to this question. The purpose of the teaching differs as per the situation, needs, and capabilities of learners. But this is a trusted opinion that teaching is conducted to help an individual develop in terms of cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains. In general, the purpose of teaching aligns with the common goals of education, like developing knowledge, insights, problem-solving skills, self-confidence, self-efficacy, and a passion for learning (Science Education Resource Center, 2019). A declaration from a school named Hailey Ce Primary School helps us understand the main purpose of teaching clearly. The declaration says that through our teaching we aim to help each child become (Hailey Ce Primary School, 2020). • An individual—thoughtful, creative, and imaginative, • A cooperative person—someone who can form positive relationships and work as part of a team, • A whole person—responding to challenges, motivated, and independent, • A responsible person—aware of others’ needs and diversity, questioning, and understanding. These commitments are more or less applicable to every teaching. The teaching mainly emphasizes on the all-round development of learners. As a teacher, one has to always keep in mind that only offering the content or subject matter is not the sole aim of teaching. If this is the purpose, then technologies can do it in a better way. The primary purpose of the teaching is to bring intended changes in the behavior of learners. The change in learners’ behavior is categorized under three domains: cognitive domain, affective domain, and psychomotor domain. The cognitive domain emphasizes the acquisition of knowledge, development of intellectual skills, and social insights. This domain includes the recall or recognition of specific facts, procedural patterns, and concepts that serve in the development of intellectual abilities and skills (Bloom, 1956). The affective domain helps in the development of emotions, attitudes, and values. This learning prepares the learners to deal with things emotionally and manage their feelings, values, appreciation, enthusiasm, and motivation to achieve their fullest potential, while the psychomotor domain emphasizes the learning of practical active skills like physical movement, coordination, and use of the motor skill (Dave, 1970; Krathwohl, 2001). In sum, teaching is supposed to help learners to • • • • • •

Bring intended changes in their behavior, Develop them on cognitive, affective, and psychomotor aspects, Make practical connections between their studies and the real world, Develop as active and responsible citizens, Emerge as self-dependent individuals, Find a place in the world of work.

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This list, which can be appended or modified, clarifies that teaching mainly aims to support learners to develop from multiple perspectives. Here, it is very important to realize that teaching needs several stakeholders’ support to achieve this purpose. Teachers and learners, the most important stakeholders of any education system, are mainly responsible for attaining the purpose of teaching by coming together. Contrary to this, leaders, institutional heads, policy-makers, and parents are supposed to decide and specify the purpose of teaching. This discussion makes it clear that constant support of different stakeholders is needed to fulfill the main purpose of teaching, i.e., to benefit individuals and society alike.

6.3

Is Teaching a Profession?

There are many established professions in the society like medicine, engineering, law, banking, etc. Is teaching also a profession like these professions, is a question often asked by the public and individuals alike. The importance of this question lies in the fact that the concept of ‘teacher as a professional’ or ‘teacher professionalism’ emancipates from the idea that teaching is a profession. The question ‘is teaching a profession’ looks very innocent and simple. But its answer is not that straightforward. To come up with a convincing answer, we have to probe the word ‘profession’ first. Cambridge Dictionary defines a profession as ‘any type of work that needs special training or a particular skill, often one that is respected because it involves a high level of education.’ Interestingly, this dictionary details some sentences using profession, and the first sentence is ‘He left the teaching profession in 1965 to start his own business’ (Cambridge University Press, 2020). From this perceptive, teaching qualifies as a profession. But this is not the only criterion. There are other criteria as well to judge teaching as a profession. Naming different criteria that have been proposed to define teaching as a profession, Ingersoll and Collins (2018) observe: To some, the essence of a profession is advanced training, and hence the way to best professionalize teaching is to upgrade teachers’ knowledge and skills through enhanced training and professional development. For others, the essence of a profession lies in the attitudes individual practitioners hold toward their work. In this view, the best way to professionalize teaching is to instill an ethos of public service and high standards—a sense of professionalism—among teachers. For even others, the focus is on the organizational conditions under which teachers work; in this view, the best way to professionalize teaching is to improve teachers’ working conditions. (p. 200)

These discussions make it clear that, by and large, teaching qualifies as a profession. But, the status of the teaching as a profession very much depends on those who carry it forward, i.e., teachers. The teaching will cement its place as a profession if the majority of the teaching community: • Have a high level of education, • Possesses pedagogical competencies,

6.3 Is Teaching a Profession?

• • • •

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Engage in continuing professional development, Possess the right attitudes toward teaching, Work for improving teaching and learning conditions in the institution, Carry out practice-based researches to find the solution to teaching and learning problems.

We have to keep in mind that a profession becomes a profession, not by theoretical debates but by its practices. Therefore instead of debating whether teaching qualifies as a profession or not, all the stakeholders must aim to improve teaching as a profession. The teaching profession needs improvement in terms of its system and structure, policies, commitment to serve the learners, and the quality of teachers. Unfortunately, in many countries, the status of the teaching profession is in decline. In some countries, the teaching profession is becoming a last resort for those who cannot succeed elsewhere. Efforts are needed at every level to improve this situation. There are two fascinating equations that depict the relationship between the teaching profession and the quality of teachers. • If the societal status of the teaching profession is high $ more and more qualified professionals will join it. • If teaching is joined by committed and qualified professionals $ the status of the teaching profession will automatically improve. Therefore, both policy-makers and teachers are supposed to contribute to the success of the teaching profession. As a teacher, keep contributing to the profession by continuously improving your expertise, competencies, and attitudes. And hope that policy-makers and other stakeholders will play their roles as well.

6.4

What Are the Guiding Principles of Teaching?

Teachers, in particular, and parents in general, often ask about the guiding principles of teaching. But, they both have different reasons. Teachers need this knowledge to engage with and succeed in the teaching profession successfully. And, parents use this knowledge to assess the quality of teaching in the schools of their children. Guiding principles decide the intent and nature of the teaching activities. The guiding principles also act as a roadmap or compass for a teacher and those who are interested or engaged in teaching in any manner. The guiding principles are decided at many levels, for example, at the level of education ministries, governing board of schools, educational institutions’ leadership, associations of teachers, etc. There is a popular joke that those who chalk out guiding principles (policy-makers) do not implement, and those who implement them (teachers) do not decide about it. There is some reality in this joke. As a teacher, you may get a chance to be a member of that team who decides guiding principles or may not. But no need to dishearten. You can easily mix the suggested guiding principles with your principles to better serve the learners.

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Guiding principles of teaching are often decided and propagated by researchers and leadership of education at government and institutional level. Researchers and educational institutions from different parts of the globe have given many guiding principles for teaching. These principles can be easily adapted to improve any teaching and learning process. For example, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (n.d.) has given the following guiding principles for teaching and learning: • • • • • •

Every student has the right to learn. Instruction must be rigorous and relevant. Purposeful assessment drives instruction and affects learning. Learning is a collaborative responsibility. Students bring strengths and experiences to learning. Responsive environments engage learners.

Besides, some guiding principles can be universally applicable while approaching and practicing teaching (Box 6.2).

6.5

What Are the Beliefs About Teaching?

Like guiding principles, beliefs also play an equally important role in ensuring the success of the teaching. Beliefs are normally defined as ‘feelings about existence, usefulness, or cautions about any person or activity.’ For example, statements like ‘children never speak a lie’ or ‘teaching is a noble profession’ are based on our beliefs. Teachers and educational institutions, two of the main stakeholders of the teaching profession, have many beliefs about teaching. These teaching beliefs have a major impact on the teaching–learning process. The teaching beliefs work in three ways: (i) deciding the direction and process of teaching–learning activities, (ii) suggesting that what is expected by teachers, and (iii) motivating the teachers by reminding them about their capabilities. The following statements, mentioned on the Website of Barwon Valley School of Australia (BVSA), will help you to reflect more on the nature and importance of the teaching beliefs. The statements say that at BVSA we believe (Barwon Valley School, 2020): • Teachers can make a positive difference to the learning outcomes for all students. • Teachers are responsible for meeting the learning needs of each student as every student has the ability to learn. • Teachers must address the physical, mental, emotional well-being needs of students so they can learn effectively. • Teachers must support each student to have a voice in their own learning. • Teachers must provide students with learning that has an authentic purpose. • Teachers are responsible for creating a structured learning environment to support students. • Teachers must provide an inclusive learning environment for all students.

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Box 6.2 Guiding principles of ‘teaching’ ∙ Teaching is a learner-centered activity: You have to always keep in mind that the existence of teaching depends on the learners. You are invited to teach because learners need you, not because you wanted to teach. Therefore, during teaching, always keep learners in sight and make every effort to benefit them ∙ Teaching is a learning-driven activity: You have to realize that the success of teaching or output of teaching is measured in terms of the learning. Therefore, your teaching must be guided or planned with a prime aim to help learners to learn ∙ Teaching is a socially relevant activity: As seen from outside, teaching is not a classroom-confined activity. Instead, inside the classrooms, the teaching aims to prepare socially useful and productive learners for society’s benefit ∙ Teaching is a joyful activity: Always remember that teaching is a joyful activity that helps both learners and teachers enjoy and learn from each other. The notion of conducting teaching in a stone-faced manner and remain serious throughout is an outdated and wrong preposition. Teaching needs to be practiced with a smiling face and joyful way to attain its maximum potential ∙ Teaching is a collaborative activity: Teaching is a two-way process. Teaching does not mean that teachers have to tell, and learners have to listen all the time. Instead, the success of teaching depends on the active engagement and collaboration among learners and teachers ∙ Teaching is a purpose-driven activity: Teaching requires a lot of time, resources, and energy. Therefore, it must not and need not practice aimlessly. Instead, those involved in teaching may decide in advance about the expected outcomes first, and plan and conduct their teaching activities accordingly ∙ Teaching is a skilled activity: Teaching, one of the most challenging tasks throughout human history, mainly intends to bring desired changes in the behavior of learners. And getting any kind of change is never easy. Therefore, only those having proper training, expertise, and skills can do justice with teaching

Here is a caution for you. Not every belief is helpful to promote teaching. Many beliefs can also adversely affect teaching. Therefore, be careful during choosing or developing teaching beliefs. Do not pick or form the teaching beliefs in a hurry. Instead, prefer to opt for research-based or peers-supported teaching beliefs during the initial phase of your teaching. Slowly, you can move toward forming your own teaching beliefs or amend the prevailing beliefs. To gain further knowledge on this aspect, you must be familiar with some of the popular teaching beliefs. • • • • • • • • • •

Teaching Teaching Teaching Teaching ideas. Teaching Teaching Teaching Teaching Teaching Teaching

is an art as well as a science. is vital for the success of any education system. is a process of facilitation rather mere transmission of knowledge. helps in developing learners’ ability to think critically and integrate is not a mere accumulation of facts. is not everyone’s cup of tea. is a process-driven activity. can make or break a learner. demands a set of competencies and the right attitude. is an activity aiming for the holistic development of the learner.

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• Teaching must promote active criticism instead of passive acceptance. • Teaching must promote questioning, arguments, and a culture of dissent. • Teaching must give ample opportunities for every learner to speak and put up their ideas. • Teaching is to make learners happy rather sad. • Teaching must welcome emerging technologies in the classrooms. The above-given statements are just a tentative list of teaching beliefs. There are many such beliefs that you can learn with your peers or searching policy documents or going through research literature. But knowing is not the most important thing about teaching beliefs, instead practicing it. Therefore, pick a few teaching beliefs at the beginning of your career and act on it. You must refine these beliefs based on your experiences and feedback. Similarly, new teaching beliefs can be added and practiced as you grow in your profession.

6.6

What Are the Ways to Improve Teaching?

One of the most popular and significant questions asked by teachers across all age groups is how to improve teaching. This question’s significance is based on the fact that students and curriculum keep improving all the time. The expectations from teachers at the level of policy-makers, educational leaders, and society also keep changing and multiplying. Besides, ever-emerging research results and technologies demand that teachers keep changing their teaching practices and techniques all the time. But, you cannot meet the expectations of the present solely with the expertise of the past. You have to improve your teaching all the time to meet the expectations of today. You need improvement in terms of knowledge, training, and experiences. You must also remember that one of the fundamental requirements of any profession is that ‘the professionals associated with the profession keep improving all the times.’ From this perspective, too, it is always helpful to keep supplementing your previous knowledge with new competencies to always excel in teaching. Several ways can help you to improve your teaching. • Getting feedback from your learners: One of the best and ‘sure’ ways to improve teaching is getting regular feedback from your learners. But, often teachers face two issues regarding this. – First, ego comes in their way to receive feedback from learners. – Second, learners either feel reluctant or apprehensive about providing feedback to the teachers. There are no shortcuts to overcome these issues. But, you can slowly work on to convince yourself to receive and learners to provide feedback. The frank and measured feedback from learners will undoubtedly help you to improve. But, here is a caution as well. Getting feedback is only the first step, but using the feedback to improve your teaching philosophy and practices is the ultimate step.

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• Studying your classroom environment: We, as teachers, often get so engrossed with the act of teaching that we forget to pay attention to the environment of our classroom. We hardly pay any attention to the class’s ambiance, facial expressions of the learners, their classroom activities, their group talks during teaching, etc. In fact, closer scrutiny of the classroom during teaching presents many opportunities before you to improve. For example, if your learners are attentive, nodding, or smiling, it means they are enjoying the teaching. And in case they are looking bored, restless, or lost, it means they are either unable to go with you or not enjoying your teaching. Therefore, constant scrutiny of the classroom environment will always help you to improve your teaching practices. • Reflecting on your teaching practices: There is a famous saying that everyone likes his/her deeds. This saying is equally applicable to the teachers. The majority of the teachers feel entirely happy or obsessed with their teaching methodology or practices. They often think that what they are doing is perfect, and there is no need to bring changes to it. This mind-set of perfection in teaching is flawed thinking. Even the best practices have the scope of improvement, so the teaching. Forming a tendency to sit back and reflect on your teaching practices will undoubtedly help you to improve. This tendency will give you ample opportunities to realize the strengths and shortcomings of your teaching and make further amends. • Consulting your peers: Peers, an incredible support group, can help you improve your teaching. Peers not only keep you motivated to do well in the teaching but offer useful advice as well. Peers are often the first place where you can go to discuss your teaching worries and problems. Sometimes, we feel shy to discuss our teaching with peers. Feeling reluctant to discuss personal issues is a human tendency. We all feel the same way. But you can make a strategy to overcome this problem. Try to have a selected group of peers and slowly start discussing your teaching issues with them. Based on their reactions, try to figure out who can be consulted further or who not. After identifying peers, discuss your problem with chosen ones, and implement the given suggestions to improve your teaching. • Having coffee with learners: We have to accept that teaching has become a formal activity these days. As teachers, we enter our classrooms, exchange greetings, deliver lectures, answer questions, give assignments, and come back. You follow more or less the same routine the next day, and so on. This routine hardly offers many opportunities for you to improve your teaching. You have to find ways to keep out of this routine from time to time. Having informal chats over a cup of coffee with your learners in different settings, i.e., cafeteria, parks, sports grounds, restaurants, etc., is one of the best ways to do it. These coffee sessions in informal settings will help you to know your learners from a different perspective. This information will certainly help you to plan your teaching in a better way. Besides, the learners will also understand you well and feel more open to discuss your strengths and weaknesses as a teacher. These exchanges with learners will offer you many opportunities to improve your teaching.

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• Attending the teaching sessions of peers and experts: When you were studying, you may have noticed one thing. No two teachers were alike. Every teacher was having different ways, means, and style of teaching. This pattern of ‘individual difference in teaching’ exists in almost any education system. Have a look at the teaching patterns and styles of your peers. You will observe that they are doing teaching differently than yours. It means the teaching sessions of peers and experts offer many possibilities for you to improve your teaching. To make it happen, prepare a list of those peers and experts who are popular or respected for their teaching and find ways to attend their sessions. After attending their class, always note down those practices or tricks that may improve your teaching. • Maintaining a teaching diary: People often write diaries. Usually, the purpose of writing diaries is to keep a log of the day-to-day activities and events. While writing diaries, people also reflect on different situations and express their feelings on specific issues. This habit of writing diaries can help you a lot to improve your teaching. As a teacher, maintain a teaching diary always. In this teaching diary, reflect on your teaching experiences, activities, successes, failures, and challenges daily. You can also note down the reactions of learners and their feedback to your teaching. This reflection will help in two ways. First, noting down your teaching experiences of the day will let you feel relaxed. Second, these reflections will tell you what to repeat and what not in your next teaching session. • Reading recent researches on teaching: Considering the importance of teaching for individuals and society, researchers in different parts of the world are always engaged to find out new methodologies, practices, and techniques to improve teaching. Fortunately, these researches are reported in reports, research papers, popular articles, blogs, or social media postings. A reading of researches gives you the possibility to learn something new and practice it to improve your teaching. Therefore, always keep a tab on emerging researches related to the profession of teaching. Recommend these to your library, read, and have discussions on it with your peers. The reading, reflection, and discussion on the recent research in teaching will help you improve your teaching. • Attending training programs or workshops: There are many agencies, organizations, and institutions that regularly conduct different training programs or seminars or workshops on the issues related to teaching. These programs mainly discuss how to improve teaching by adopting new practices, methodologies, technologies, etc. Fortunately, these programs are available both offline (face-to-face) and online (virtual). Some of these programs are paid, and some are free as well. These programs can be easily searched through the Internet. Besides, different social media platforms also keep posting about these programs. As a teacher, make it a habit to attend some of the programs of your choice every year. Attending these programs will help you to learn from different perspectives, experiences, and practices. And this will ultimately be helpful to improve your teaching.

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• Making friendships with technologies: We are now living in a technologydriven world. Technologies have made a presence in every walk of life, including education. Instead of these advances, some of us still feel reluctant to accept or use technologies in our classrooms. Sometimes, we treat technologies as an adversary and think that these may take our job in the future. This thinking is groundless. There can never be any education system without a teacher. Therefore, instead of worrying, develop a habit to make friendship with emerging technologies. This friendship will help you in many ways. On one side, you will be able to support your traditional teaching ways with online learning opportunities. On another side, this friendship will keep you ready to face any eventuality in the future (as we have witnessed during the corona pandemic). The above-discussed ways are not the only ways for improving. You can trace many more by reviewing research literature, discussing with your peers, or reflecting on your teaching. There is a famous saying that there is ‘no dearth of ways to improve’ but a dearth of those ‘who are serious to improve.’ This saying applies to teachers as well. If you are ready to improve, many opportunities will come in your way. Always remember that the main aim of teaching is to improve learners. Therefore, only those who keep improving are the best fit to serve the teaching profession.

6.7

How to Keep Enjoying Teaching?

Teaching is a time-consuming, rigorous, and continuing activity. The teachers are supposed to work tirelessly day by day and year by year. No wonder, symptoms like not enjoying teaching, disliking the profession, and not giving a hundred percent to teaching quickly occur in teachers. There is another perspective that you have to understand, as well. As discussed earlier, some teachers do not choose teaching as their first choice. They hardly enjoy teaching in the long run. And, teaching without enjoyment often ends in failure. Therefore, almost every teacher, whether he/she loves the teaching or not, asks a question later or sooner. The question is ‘how to keep enjoying teaching.’ There is no simple answer to this question. Five popular practices can help you ‘enjoy teaching’ and ‘keep enjoying it’ in the long run. • Count the joys you are bringing to learners’ lives: As a teacher, you bring many changes to the lives of learners. Bringing joy in one’s life is not an ordinary task. And not everyone can do it. Feel happy that you have been picked up to bear the onerous responsibility of helping the learners in many aspects, as observed by Barlie (n.d.)

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Every day, teachers enable their students to learn and grow, helping them become masterful readers, writers, problem-solvers, and critical thinkers. In addition, we empower our students to become global citizens—to take a stand and let their voices be heard. We are preparing the next generation to take charge of the world, and that’s powerful.

Whenever feeling low, visualize your learners’ smiling faces, their thank you notes, and words of appreciation from their parents. This visualization will help you realize that you are not doing a mechanical job; instead, you are brining countless joys in learners’ lives. • Reflect on your return gifts: Sometimes, teachers think that they are always giving to the learners but not getting anything in return. This thinking is not correct. You get many return gifts as well. From the learners’ perspective, their hearty communications and smiles, appreciation and respect, and recognition and faith are some of the return gifts that teachers keep receiving continuously. After conducting a successful teaching session, you will also realize that your body feels relaxed, elevated, and motivated. This change occurs because your body gets a signal that you have done something fruitful. Can you name any other activity that offers you so many return gifts? There is hardly any parallel case. So keep teaching and counting your return gifts. • Keep inventing and changing: We all have a habit of repeating successful practices. Teachers also follow this policy. We have seen teachers keeping their teaching patterns and styles unchanged over the years. This habit of sticking to a similar teaching pattern is one of the leading causes behind making teachers bored in the teaching profession. The tendency to innovate and experiment can help you to overcome this situation. For example, if you usually start your lecture straightway, bring changes to it. Some day start your lecture by telling what we learned yesterday, narrating some situations, giving some examples, telling some stories, or showing a video. Similarly, instead of starting the sessions by you all the time, invite learners to start the session sometimes. These small changes will break the monotony of teaching and will keep you engaged in the teaching profession in the long run. • Engage in continuing professional development activities: After engaging in the profession, teachers often think that we have learned enough to succeed in the profession. This feeling that I have learned enough and have no need to learn more is not justified. As a teaching professional, you are expected to be engaged in continuing professional development (CPD). This continuous learning helps you to not only master new tricks for teaching but keep you positively rooted in the profession as well. Highlighting the benefit of CPD, Hyatt (2017) claims: CPD helps the teachers to learn new techniques in teaching students of this generation. It helps the teachers to grow professionally, at the same time, improve their classroom skills. Teachers who have been in the profession for many years are usually reluctant to change their teaching styles. CPD will let them stay in touch with the latest developments in the education sector and help them to change their way of teaching.

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There are mainly two forms of CPD activities that you can engage in, i.e., formal CPD activities and informal CPD activities. Formal CPD activities mainly include offline and online training programs, and learning-focused seminars and conferences; workshops and events; and lectures. While informal CPD, popularly known as self-directed learning, consists of studying publications written by industry experts, perusing relevant case studies and articles; listening to industry-specific news; and studying and revising for professional examinations (Mehta, 2019, para 3). Engagement in these and similar activities will certainly help you enjoy your teaching in a longer run. • Give yourself some space: Teachers, by nature, wants to do many things for learners. This feeling sometimes forces us, teachers, to go for overdrive, as noted by Barnes (2018) .., I urge you to challenge yourself—but don’t kill yourself. Taking on new experiences and opportunities should be energizing, not exhausting. Attempt just one new initiative at a time. Plot out the hours you estimate it will take out of your week or month and then think about where that time will come from.

Doing excessive things continuously has some inherent dangers. Due to this overload, you hardly find any time for yourself and your family. This constant bearing often creates a feeling of repulsion from teaching. You have to remember that ‘teaching is a not a sprint but a marathon.’ You cannot spend all your energy at once. Therefore, making a balance between teaching activities and personal responsibilities is always helpful. This practice will help you to keep your relationship with teaching everlasting. Besides these practices, some guiding principles can help you to remain interested in teaching. These practices are discussed in Box 6.3. Let Us Sum Up The questions about teaching are endless. Neither a chapter nor even a book can predict and answer them all. Going with this assumption, instead of answering more and more questions, this chapter dealt with some of the popular and frequently asked questions regarding the teaching. These questions helped us to learn many things about teaching. We learned that teaching is a human welfare-driven social activity that intends to allow individuals to attain their fullest potential. Teaching’s primary purpose is to help learners bring intended changes in their behavior from cognitive, affective, and psychomotor perspectives. Teaching is a profession, and the status of teaching very much depends on the professionalism of teachers. The guiding principles claim that teaching is a (i) learner-centered, (ii) learning-driven, (iii) socially relevant, (iv) joyful, (v) collaborative, (vi) purpose-driven, and (vii) skilled activity. Teaching beliefs play a very significant role in teaching. The teaching beliefs help in (i) deciding the direction and process of teaching–learning activities, (ii) suggesting that what is expected by teachers, and (iii) motivating the teachers by reminding them about their capabilities.

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Box 6.3 Guiding principles to keep enjoying ‘teaching’ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙

Think often about your favorite teachers and their teaching philosophy and tactics Do not take teaching-related issues personally Keep changing your teaching and reading habits Prominently display the achievements of your learners in your working place Organize anonymous survey about your teaching among learners at regular intervals Always approach teaching with a smiling face and cheerful spirits Make ‘assessment for learning’ an integral part of your teaching Use technologies in different ways to make your teaching more attractive to learners Convenience yourself that making mistakes is natural to learners Feel grateful that every day you meet happy and energetic youths, not sick patients or angry customers

We have also learned that teachers have to keep improving while remaining in the teaching profession. There are many ways to enhance teaching, like getting feedback from learners, reflecting on teaching, consulting peers, etc. And finally, we learned that measures like counting the joys you are bringing to the lives of learners, reflecting on your return gifts, inventing new teaching practices, engaging in continuing professional development activities, and giving yourself some space are quite helpful enjoying teaching on a long run. Activities to Perform 1. Organize a panel discussion on the meaning and purpose of teaching. Based on the discussion’s key findings, prepare a poster on ‘teaching’ for display on the notice board of your department. 2. Conduct a survey among different sections of the society to know their views on the questions ‘is teaching a profession.’ Summarize their views in the form of a research article and send it for publication. 3. Organize a seminar on the topic ‘guiding principles of teaching.’ Based on the speakers’ views, prepare a short manual for teachers on guiding principles of teaching. 4. Conduct a workshop to identify and discuss the teaching beliefs of your peers and school leaders. Enlist these teaching beliefs, summarize them, make copies, and distribute it among all the participants. 5. Ask your school leader to invite some experts to guide you on improving the teaching practices and methodologies. Afterward, practice some of the suggested activities in their presence to get a firsthand experience. 6. Make a small group of peers. Tell them that each one has to narrate their stories regarding enjoying teaching. Afterward, discuss all the presented narratives to find out the best strategies for continuously enjoying teaching.

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Questions to Work Upon 1. Write a detailed note to explain the meaning and relevance of teaching. Do you think that meaning of teaching will change in the coming years? If yes, then why, if no, then why not? 2. If you would have been a Minister of Education in your country, then what will be the guidelines of your Ministry regarding the purpose of teaching? 3. How teaching can be improved as a profession? Give your suggestions by citing suitable examples. 4. Discuss those principles that you follow in your teaching? Also, detail those principles that you are considering to use in the future. 5. Enlist your personal beliefs about teaching. Justify your beliefs by giving proper arguments. Also, tell that do your beliefs match the belief cited in the literature. 6. One of your peers comes to you and needs your guidance regarding bringing improvement in his teaching? Note down how you will deal with him and what specific suggestions you will give to him. 7. Think about a few of your teachers that were enjoying teaching a lot? Try to figure out what kept them interested in the profession.

References Alberta Teachers’ Association. (2012). Nature of teaching and teaching as a profession. Retrieved from https://www.teachers.ab.ca/SiteCollectionDocuments/ATA/About/What%20we%20think/ Position%20Papers%202018/Nature%20of%20Teaching%20and%20Teaching%20as%20a%20 Profession.pdf Barlie, N. (n.d.). 5 reasons to love teaching. Retrieved from https://www.wgu.edu/heyteach/article/ 5-reasons-love-teaching1806.html Barnes, P. (2018). Keeping your passion for teaching alive. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia. org/article/keeping-your-passion-teaching-alive Barwon Valley School. (2020). Teaching beliefs. Retrieved from https://www.barwonss.vic.edu. au/page/166/Teaching-Beliefs Bloom, B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals. Longmans, Green. Cambridge University Press. (2020). Profession. In Cambridge dictionary. Retrieved from https:// dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/profession Dave, R. H. (1970). Psychomotor levels. In R. J. Armstrong (Ed.), Developing and writing behavioral objectives (pp. 20–21). Educational Innovators Press. Hailey Ce Primary School (2020). Teaching aims and objectives. Retrieved from http://www. hailey.oxon.sch.uk/our-teaching/teaching-aims-and-objectives/ Hirst, P. (1975). What is teaching? In R. S. Peters (Ed.), The philosophy of education (pp. 3–13). Routledge and Kegan Paul. Hyatt, M. (2017). Why is continuing professional development important for teachers? Retrieved from https://wcaty.org/why-is-continuing-professional-development-important-for-teachers/ Ingersoll, R. M., & Collins, G. J. (2018). The status of teaching as a profession. In J. Ballantine, J. Spade, and J. Stuber (Eds.), Schools and society: A sociological approach to education (6th Edn., pp. 199–213). Pine Forge Press/Sage Publications.

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Krathwohl. (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives. Longman. Mehta, V. (2019). What is the purpose of continuing professional development (CPD)? London: London School of Business and Finance. Retrieved from https://www.lsbf.org.uk/blog/news/ education-careers/what-is-the-purpose-of-continuing-professional-development-(cpd) Science Education Resource Center. (2019). Why teach with an interdisciplinary approach? Retrieved from https://serc.carleton.edu/econ/interdisciplinary/why.html Smith, M. K. (2018). What is teaching? In the Encyclopedia of pedagogy and informal education. Retrieved from https://infed.org/mobi/what-is-teaching/ Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. (n.d.). Wisconsin’s guiding principles for teaching and learning. Retrieved from https://dpi.wi.gov/standards/guiding-principles

Chapter 7

Process of Teaching

Background Teaching remains one of the most significant professions from ancient ages to the present age. Research repeatedly affirms that the success of any education system more or less depends on the quality of teaching. Therefore, as an aspirant or even an established teacher, it becomes essential for you to understand the concept and meaning of teaching. You also need to learn about the process of teaching and different methods of teaching, like teacher-centered, learner-centered, and group-centered. As a teacher, you will also be interested to learn how to teach and create a meaningful teaching–learning environment in different settings like face-to-face, online, and hybrid. Besides, it is also essential for any teacher to know how to practice culturally responsive teaching, address diversities in the class, and help learners grow. This chapter attempts to answer all such and many related questions hoping that this renewed knowledge and understanding about teaching will help you practice teaching in a more meaningful, effective, and enjoyable manner in your classroom. Key Themes Covered • • • • • •

Modes of Teaching Phases of Teaching Approaches to Teaching Styles of Teaching Strategies for Teaching Methods of Teaching

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 P. K. Misra, Learning and Teaching for Teachers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3077-4_7

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7.1

Modes of Teaching

Teaching can be conducted in different modes or a combination of modes. There are three popular modes of teaching: face-to-face mode, online mode, and hybrid mode. • Face-to-face mode (F2F): Also known as ‘traditional mode’ or ‘classroom mode.’ Face-to-face (F2F) is one of the most popular modes of teaching. The journey of this mode of teaching started with the journey of education. In this mode of teaching, instructional activities are conducted in the traditional classroom setting. The most important characteristic of this mode is that it allows in-person and real-time interaction between the teacher and the learners. The presence of human warmth and lively atmosphere makes it an unparalleled mode of teaching. Opportunities like questioning, clarifications, feedback, face-reading, showing solidarity and compassion, humor and liveliness, and a triangle of teacher, talk, and chalk make F2F mode a unique teaching model. This mode allows teachers and learners to create numerous types of teaching-learning environments. This mode also allows promoting cooperation and collaboration among learners. The most important aspect of F2F mode is that it is suitable for teaching any subject to any age group. F2F mode of teaching has many critics too. F2F mode teaching is often accused by different names such as boring, routine, one way, and uninspiring. There is a widespread perception that instead of attracting learners to the classrooms, it often does the opposite. As a teacher, one has to always remember that instead of mode, effective use of any mode is always in your hands. If you have the right skills and appropriate mindset, then F2F mode is one of the best modes to teach and excel in the world of teaching. • Distance mode: This mode is also known as ‘online mode,’ ‘online learning,’ or ‘eLearning’ these days. This mode allows conducting teaching without the physical presence of learners. The teaching activities are conducted using different digital tools and techniques. The distance mode of teaching usually works on a four-quadrant approach to support the learning. The four-quadrant approach includes: – – – –

Posting a video lesson on the topic Providing downloadable study material An inbuilt mechanism for submission of assignments and evaluation A discussion forum for posting questions and getting the answers

With the emergence of digital technologies, particularly Internet-enabled smartphones, the distance mode of teaching is gaining new popularity among students. This mode of teaching is becoming more and more popular among regular students and those who aim to continue learning as per their purpose, convenience, and affordability. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) offered by different national and international agencies, as well as private agencies, are a prime example of the use of ‘distance mode’ of teaching.

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But distance mode has critics too. The distance mode is often accused of lacking human warmth of interaction and exchange and promoting mechanistic learning. The distance mode is also accused of promoting a culture of isolated learning among learners and keeping them away from human societies’ realities. These criticisms have some merits, but all are not true. As a new-age teacher, it becomes mandatory for you to learn the techniques and modalities of distance mode or online teaching. This learning will help you perform teaching to the new generation of learners, often termed ‘digital natives.’ As a teacher, you have to keep in mind that the ‘distance mode’ of teaching is not much different from the traditional mode of teaching. You have to perform almost similar activities (teaching, discussing, giving assignments, answering queries, and evaluation) via an electronic screen (mobile, laptop, or desktop) instead face-to-face presence of learners. • Blended mode: This mode is also known as ‘hybrid mode,’ ‘mixed-mode,’ or ‘flexible mode.’ The blended mode is emerging as the most popular mode of teaching these days. The term blended mode means, a blend of both ‘face-to-face mode’ and ‘online mode’ in teaching. The blended mode encourages the use of educational technologies and tools in traditional classroom settings. The philosophy behind blended mode is that educational technologies can create efficiencies by allowing students to collaborate, perform, and complete learning activities and assessments in the physical classroom. The educational institutions are providing different ICT tools and services like computers, cable and Wi-Fi Internet connections, online teaching, and learning platforms for use of teachers and learners. Besides, teachers and learners at individual levels are also possessing and using technologies like Internet-enabled mobiles, tablets, and laptops. Considering these advancements, the use of email, learning management systems, virtual learning platforms, and social media platforms to support F2F mode is becoming a new norm for teaching. The supporters of the blended mode of teaching say that it offers the best of both worlds. In other words, blended mode takes personal warmth and human liveliness from F2F mode. It combines it with 24  7 access to resource materials and convenience of connection, and online mode collaboration to offer a complete package. Recent developments suggest that blended mode is the future of teaching. Therefore, as a teacher, you must learn and practice the blended teaching mode and be ready to practice it in classroom conditions (Box 7.1).

7.2

Phases of Teaching

Often people think that teaching is conducted only in the classrooms. This thinking is the wrong notion. Let us have two examples (i) a teacher is at home and thinking that how she will begin the class next day (ii) a teacher while returning from class is thinking why some learners were not interested in his lesson. In both cases, the

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Box 7.1 A snapshot of F2F, distance, and blended mode of teaching F2F mode

Distance mode

Blended mode

Learners and teachers sit together A specific setting, usually called the classroom, is used for instructional purposes Conducted in small groups

Learners and teachers stay in separate places A distant setting, usually called stay your place, is used for instructional purposes Conducted on an individual basis

Revolves around teachers talk

Revolves around instructional material

Focuses on content presentation The most popular model of teaching

Focuses on the self-learning of content The alternative model of teaching

Learners and teachers sit together Both specific and distant settings are used for instructional purposes Conducted both in small groups as well as on an individual basis Revolves around both teachers lecture and instructional material Focuses on the discussion on the content The emerging model of teaching

teacher is out of the class but very much involved in teaching. Keep remembering that teaching is a cyclic and ongoing activity. Teachers have to think about teaching before coming to class and again after coming from the class. It means teachers have to go through three phases to perform any teaching, i.e., pre-active phase, active phase, and post-active phase. These phases look distinct but are interconnected to each other. Most importantly, activities conducted in one phase help carry out the next level of activities in another phase. Let us discuss these three phases of teaching in detail. • Pre-active phase: This phase, also known as the introductory phase or fantasy phase, helps the teacher to prepare for actual teaching. This phase is just like a warm-up that boxers do before coming to the ring. In this phase, teachers may think about and plan teaching–learning activities. Teachers think about the learners, their learning needs, and their characteristics. Afterward, teachers plan for teaching. This planning includes preparing a teaching plan, identifying learning resources, and making strategies for implementation of the plan. In a nutshell, this phase stimulates a teacher’s interest in teaching and provides the impetus for actual teaching. • Active phase: This phase, also known as the main phase or survival phase, is related to performing teaching in actual conditions. This act is a real phase like sports but a bit different. In sports, individuals or teams play against each other to win, but both teachers and learners play together to win collectively in teaching. In this phase, teachers perform several tasks and activities to help them attain various skills, knowledge, attitudes, and experiences. At this point, the interaction between learners and the teacher takes place. The activities conducted in this phase usually decide the outcome of the teaching.

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Box 7.2 Practices for maximizing the benefits of phases of teaching ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙

Think and plan well for your teaching Analyze the available alternatives and pick up the best one for teaching Thoroughly prepare yourself for teaching Give your best during the teaching without fearing for the results Value learners’ feedback regarding your teaching After completion of teaching sit back and reflect on your teaching performance Note down useful lessons for the future Implement the points emerged from reflection for planning the next phase of teaching

• Post-active phase: This phase, also known as reflection phase or impact, allows the teachers to assess the impact of their teaching. This phase helps them reflect on the success of their planning and strategies, their performance, and the learners’ reactions. Through this reflection, they know that what knowledge and experiences they may transfer to new situations. They also get feedback about what to repeat in the next teaching and what not. This phase also provides opportunities for teachers to reflect on their teaching attitudes and behaviors. These phases are an integral part of any teacher’s life. Any teacher, who loves teaching, loves these phases too. You succeed as a teacher by systematically practicing these phases. Practices given in Box 7.2 can help you further in maximizing the benefit from these phases of teaching.

7.3

Approaches to Teaching

In any teaching, the approach is fundamental. The approach is a personal philosophy that decides how we see teaching. In other words, an approach is a way of looking at teaching. The approach gives rise to methods, the way of teaching something, which uses classroom activities or techniques to help learners teach (British Council, 2020). There is a widespread perception that teachers differ based on their approaches to teaching. There are two broader classifications of teaching approaches, i.e., ‘learners’-driven approaches to teaching and ‘discipline’-driven approaches to teaching.

7.3.1

Learners-Driven Approaches to Teaching

Learners-driven approaches to teaching mainly depend on how a teacher perceives his/her role and the role of learners in the teaching process. Some teachers think that they are the most vital component during a teaching in the classrooms, and some believe that it is the learner who needs to be put in the center during teaching. Both these types of teachers differ in their approaches to teaching. The group that is

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focusing on self has a teacher-centered approach. And, the group giving importance to learners is adopting the learner-centered approach. The learner-driven approaches may be divided into three categories. • The teacher-centered approach of teaching: This approach, a very traditional approach of teaching, is the most popular approach of teaching. The other popular names given to this approach are ‘direct teaching,’ ‘deductive teaching,’ ‘expository teaching,’ or ‘authoritarian teaching.’ The supporters of this approach have a belief in the authority of the teachers. As evident from the name, teaching revolves around the teacher and usually, he/she decides that ‘what to teach’ and ‘how to teach’ without any active involvement of learners. The teachers spend most of his/her time lecturing or discussing the selected topic, and the learners mainly listen or watch the proceedings. In this approach, teachers act as a sage on the stage, deliver lectures, dictate notes, ask questions, and learners do not have enough to do except listening, nodding, and answering if any such situation arises. This approach is accused of promoting individuality rather than collaboration, as learners are supposed to work individually on given tasks. In simple terms, this is an active teacher versus a passive learner approach of teaching. • The learners-centered approach of teaching: This approach is also named as a ‘child-centered approach,’ ‘discovery learning approach,’ or ‘inquiry learning approach.’ This approach sees the learner as the focal point in the teaching process. In this approach, teachers put learners on the stage and direct them from behind the curtains. This approach places the child at the notional center of the learning process giving them choices to participate in learning activities as active participants. The teacher acts as a facilitator of learning (UNESCO-IBE, 2020). Learner-centered teaching methods shift the focus of action from the teacher to the learners. Simply stating, teachers place a much stronger emphasis on the learner’s role in the teaching process. As a teacher, you have to keep in mind that while using learner-centered approaches to teaching, you still set the learning agenda (what to learn). But opposite to teacher-centered approaches, you let your students decide how to learn it. This approach is gaining ground and emerging as the most recommended teaching approach in the policy documents. Present trends in education portray a learner-centered approach as superior to a traditional teacher-centered approach to instruction. This advocacy is backed by the argument that a learner-centered approach helps learners develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, become creative and collaborative, and have positive attitudes toward the process and practice of learning. The learner-centered approach is also credited to develop democratic values and civic responsibilities among learners. Therefore, as a teacher, it will help you move from traditional teacher-centered approaches to learner-centered approaches. • Group-centered teaching approach: Often, teachers face a dilemma about how to pay individual attention to the learners in an overcrowded class. It has been observed that teaching an oversized class is a difficult task in comparison

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Box 7.3 Practices for reflective use of learner-driven approaches to teaching The following practices will help you to take maximum benefit of learner-driven approaches to teaching: ∙ Instead of relying on the only approach better to use a combination of approaches, i.e., instead of the only learner-centered approach or teacher-centered approach, a combination of both the approaches will present more opportunities ∙ Keep repeating, even the best approaches can be boring after sometimes, i.e., keep changing your approaches to assure that learners remain interested in the learning process ∙ Prefer those approaches giving more opportunities for learners, i.e., in comparison with the teacher-centered approach, emphasize on the use of learner-centered or group-centered approaches

with teaching a small class about the progress of students. Group-centered approach to teaching has emerged as a viable solution to this problem. In this approach, the teacher divides the whole class into small groups based on any specified criteria. The groups are asked to collectively approach given learning tasks, and the teacher remains an integral part of the groups. In this approach, the teacher facilitates rather than directs activity and works to establish a variety of helping relationships with and among students (Box 7.3).

7.3.2

Discipline-Driven Approaches to Teaching

Discipline-driven approach to teaching is based on how a teacher would like to incorporate the knowledge of the subject in a class. Some teachers teach the subject from a unilateral approach means they usually stick to the subject. In contrast, some teachers mix knowledge from different subjects during teaching. Some teachers go beyond and combine the knowledge of other subjects in such a way that it all together looks a new discipline. These are three subject-driven approaches to teach: the ‘disciplinary approach,’ the ‘multidisciplinary approach,’ and the ‘interdisciplinary approach’ of teaching. • The disciplinary approach of teaching: A disciplinary approach of teaching circles within one subject. Followers of this approach mainly talk about the chosen subject, and if the need arises, they take support from the chosen subject to explain it. This approach encourages teachers to attain a specialization, have in-depth content knowledge, and understand their discipline (Kridel, 2010). • The multidisciplinary approach of teaching: Multidisciplinary approach of teaching delivers and discusses a subject from multiple perspectives. But here the teacher makes no concerted effort to integrate different subjects systemically. This approach mainly calls for supporting a subject using the knowledge from various subjects.

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Box 7.4 Practices for effective use of discipline-driven approaches to teaching The following practices will help you to take maximum benefit of discipline-driven approaches to teaching: ∙ While making your lesson plan pay close attention to your discipline-driven approach ∙ Try to include examples, stories, facts, formulae from other subjects and disciplines in your teaching ∙ During the initial phase of teaching go with the disciplinary approach and slowly move toward the multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach in later stages ∙ Support your learners to use knowledge from different subjects to come with unique ideas, arguments, or products ∙ Always remind your learners that knowledge is a collective entity and they should try to correlate and collate the learning from one subject with learning from other subjects

• The interdisciplinary approach of teaching: Compared to the disciplinary and multidisciplinary approach to teaching, interdisciplinary teaching focuses on the integration and synthesis of knowledge from different subjects to present a new perspective. Talking about the interdisciplinary approach, a write up from the Science Education Resource Centre (2018) point out that Interdisciplinary instruction entails the use and integration of methods and analytical frameworks from more than one academic discipline to examine a theme, issue, question, or topic. Interdisciplinary education makes use of disciplinary approaches to examine topics but pushes beyond by: taking insights from a variety of relevant disciplines, synthesizing their contribution to understanding, and then integrating these ideas into a more complete, and hopefully coherent, framework of analysis. (p.1) (Box 7.4)

7.3.3

Styles of Teaching

Like approaches, teachers also differ according to their styles of teaching. Simply stating, approaches to teaching decide that ‘how you perceive teaching’ and ‘styles of teaching’ determine how you conduct teaching. Defining the styles of teaching, Thornton (2013) noted that: “The most effective teachers vary their styles depending on the nature of the subject matter, the phase of the course, and other factors. By so doing, they encourage and inspire students to do their best at all times throughout the semester. It is helpful to think of teaching styles according to the three Ds: Directing, Discussing, and Delegating. (para 1 & 2)

Now discuss these three teaching styles in detail. • The directing style: As evident from the name, directing styles means giving directions to learners that what to study, how to study, and what to be achieved. In other words, the teacher plays the role of an instructor, and learners play the role of a listener and follower. This style is one of the most prevalent as well as criticized styles of teaching. As a teacher this style comes naturally to a teacher, and they feel privileged to instruct and suggest learners what to do and what not

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to do. But critics say that this style makes learners passive and deter them from taking any self-initiative. • The discussing style: The discussing style relies on carrying teaching and learning activities in consultation with each other. Here teacher acts as a guide rather than an instructor during the teaching process. In this style, the teacher proposes any activity or topic and asks learners to deliberate and discuss how to accomplish this task rather than directly telling them what to do. This style also referred to as a democratic style is based on the consent and acceptance of the main stakeholder of any education system, i.e., learner. This style is credited to develop competencies like collaboration and creative activities. The critics say that this style undermines the teacher’s authority and needs much more time to accomplish the assigned tasks. • The delegating style: The delegating style is just opposite to the directing style. In this style, the teacher usually delegates the responsibility of conducting the learning activity either to an individual learner or a group of learners. The role of the teacher in this style is mainly to identify and assign the task. And once the task is completed, the teacher is supposed to assess the completed task. And, the responsibility to complete the task lies with the learners. This style is appreciated for developing a culture of independence as well as responsibility among learners. But, critics say that often internal conflicts and immaturity of learners hold them back to assigned tasks and activities in a given time or expected way. By discussing, you have seen that all three styles have their pros and cons. No style has a ‘fits for all tag,’ and as a teacher, you have to pick and use any one or a combination of these considering the nature and purpose of the assigned task.

7.3.4

Strategies for Teaching

Strategies, defined as a plan of action to achieve a goal or overall aim, play a significant role in teaching. The success of teaching significantly depends on the employed teaching strategies. The teaching strategies are deiced in context to aim as the context of the learning. Considering that teaching as an activity is designed to achieve complex goals, strategies also differ in nature and purposes. Simply stating, there are many teaching strategies, and new ones keep evolving at a rapid pace. There is no single strategy that can guarantee better learning outcomes, but the selection and use of appropriate strategies make this path much easier. Teaching strategies may be widely categorized into three categories (OECED, 2016). • Strategies to present a summary of content or activities (teacher directed-strategies), • Strategies to encourage students to work in small groups to come up with a joint solution to a problem or task (active learning strategies), and

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• Strategies to support students to explain their thinking on complex problems (cognitive-activation strategies) Based on this broad classification, some of the widely popular teaching strategies are discussed here. • Flexible seating: As a teacher, you have realized that most of our classrooms work on fixed seating mode. The classrooms are characterized by heavy furniture and row and column-based seating arrangements. In most classrooms, learners are forced to see the back instead of the face of fellow learners. This arrangement is not a very conducive atmosphere, either for teaching or learning. Therefore, as a teacher, you have to strategize on flexible seating arrangements. Flexible seating includes both furniture as well as seating arrangements. As a teacher, you have to advise your institutional management that instead of heavy and fixed furniture, they have to opt for lightweight furniture that can be arranged in different orders to meet varying teaching and learning needs. This flexible setting will allow the students to sit in the face-to-face mode and work more cohesively and collaboratively. Besides, you have also to ensure that learners must keep changing their places of sitting instead of sitting in fixed places. This changing of place will help learners make new friends and gel well with a larger section of the class to involve varied learning opportunities. There are many different ways to incorporate flexible seating into your classroom and you can incorporate these in many ways. Ultimately, you have to realize that flexibility is one of the best approaches to deal with worldly and learning problems, and flexible seating prepares the ground for it. • Active learning: This strategy is based on the assumption that learners learn best in an active state of mind. Extending this assumption, teachers include several activities to keep learners active in the class. These activities include but are not limited to solving problems, posing questions, answering questions, discussing, explaining, debating, brainstorming, etc. during class. There are many ways to practice this strategy in the classroom conditions: – Think-pair-share: In a Think-pair-share, students think individually about the question or idea(s) put forth, pair up with someone to discuss their thinking, and then share their conversation with their table group, and then finally with the whole group (Berkeley Center for Teaching & Learning, 2020). – Quick write: In quick write, you have to present before learners a prompt to write their answers/opinions. The teacher usually assigns a short time for this purpose. – Turn and talk: During turn and talk, a teacher presents a question or situation before the class, and students turn to the next students sitting before them to discuss and answer. – Polling: In polling, the teacher usually presents questions along with several or multiple answers, and learners have to select answers in the form of a poll.

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– Jigsaw: In this method, the teacher breaks classes into groups and also breaks assignments into pieces that the group assembles to complete the (jigsaw) puzzle. – Fishbowl: Fishbowl is a conversational approach to discussing issues. The students are arranged into two circles, inner and outer. First, the inner circle discusses the assigned topic or problem for 10–15 min. Simultaneously, those in the outer rings are supposed to think over and jot down their views. Afterward, those in the inner circle have to turn around to learners sitting in the outer circle and discuss the issue on a one-on-one basis. • Cooperative learning: Cooperative learning is a teaching strategy in which small teams work on different problems and projects. The teams consist of learners of varying levels of abilities and use various activities to complete the assigned task or workout on given problems. This strategy helps the learners to work in teams and helps each other to share and learn together. The cooperative learning strategy is preferred to create an atmosphere of achievement by togetherness. The group tasks are credited to bring positive interdependence as well as individual accountability among learners. • Blended learning: Blended learning is another useful strategy to deal with twenty-first-century learners. The blended learning uses the strengths of both face-to-face mode and online mode for teaching–learning purposes. In blended mode, teachers support F2F teaching and learning activities using online material, resources, and activities. The blended learning offers many opportunities for you as a teacher. You can follow and engage the learners after and before your class by using online support. The blended model supports you to put up relevant materials or resources before the learners in advance so that they will come to their class in a more prepared way. Similarly, you put a different set of resources and activities that learners have to go through after the class. Simply stating, blended learning makes teaching more engaging, interesting, collaborative, and need-driven for learners. But most importantly, it helps you make your teaching more active, engaging, and 24  7 accessible to your learners. • Inductive teaching: Inductive teaching works on the philosophy that instead of telling the learners, the learner must be allowed to discover, experience, and learn independently. Inductive teaching is also known by some other names such as inquiry-based learning, case-based instruction, problem-based learning, project-based learning, and discovery learning. In inductive teaching, learners are first presented with challenges and asked to think over and make an effort either individually or in groups to find out the answers to the presented challenges. As a teacher, you can create many situations to motivate your learners to discover and learn. Besides, you have to emphasize using such resources or activities that allow your learners to think, discuss, experiment, observe, create, or collaborate to learn more about the subject in-depth. • Culturally responsive teaching: There is a school of thought that cultures, languages, and life experiences of students play a vital role in the learning of

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Box 7.5 Useful practices to incorporate culturally responsive teaching Brown University (2020) suggests the following practices for teachers to incorporate culturally responsive teaching: ∙ Having a positive perspective on parents and families means to maintain a dialogue with parents and families of learners ∙ Communicating high expectations means to communicate your learners that what you expect from them and helping and motivating them to meet out the expectations ∙ Learning within the context of culture means having a thorough knowledge about the culture of learners and accommodating your teaching activities and preferences accordingly ∙ Performing learner-centered instruction means allowing your learners to collaborate, create, cooperate, and be responsible for their learning ∙ Reshaping the curriculum means reshaping your syllabus, teaching practices, and instructional strategies to offer equal educational opportunities for learners from different contexts and cultures ∙ Acting as a facilitator means you have to widen your role as a counselor, guide, motivator, or supporter for learners

students. Considering this philosophy, culturally responsive teaching (CRT) recognizes the importance of including students’ cultural references in all aspects of learning (Ladson-Billings, 1994). CRT as a teaching strategy proposes meaningful assimilation of learning in the school with the learners’ cultural background. CRT’s primary purpose is to utilize the learner’s cultural experience to provide him/her with the best possible environment and learning opportunities. The CRT may be practiced in many ways in the classroom, and some of these ways are described in Box 7.5. The above-given teaching strategies are just a sample. The box of teaching strategies is full of many such strategies. As a teacher, you can practice some of these strategies considering the curriculum, teaching and learning philosophy of your institution, and learners’ needs. Most importantly, you can devise your unique teaching strategy, as well. Always keep in mind that every strategy has its highs and lows. The selection and success of teaching strategy ultimately depend on the user means you as a teacher. You can choose any particular strategy or a combination of many strategies. It is like a prescription of medicine by a doctor. Sometimes he/she suggests a single pill and sometimes many. While deciding and using a teaching strategy, always ask yourself whether this strategy will help my learners or my learners feel happy and engaged. If the answer is yes, go for it, if the answer is no, never go for it.

7.4

Methods of Teaching

Like approaches and strategies, teaching methods also play a very important role in the process of teaching. Interestingly, methods are correlated to the approaches of teaching. First, you decide your approach to teaching, and accordingly, you choose

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the methods of teaching. Concerning teaching, a method is normally defined as ‘a systematic plan followed in presenting material for instruction’ (Merriam Webster, 2020). While Landøy et al. (2020) analyze it from a wider perspective: The method is a term of Greek origin “methodos” (“metha” translating to through and “odos” meaning direction, road), namely it can be translated by the phrase “the way to”. The didactic method is a way through which the teacher conducts and organises the training of the trainees. (p. 140)

Deciding about the teaching methods is usually a prerogative of teachers. Teachers choose their teaching methods in sync with learning objectives, nature of the content, learners’ characteristics, and teaching approach. Selecting an appropriate teaching method is like choosing a consensus candidate to serve the people. There has been seen a shift regarding the selection and use of teaching methods. In earlier times, the teaching methods were selected and followed in a very structured manner. Now the psychology has changed. Modern-day pedagogues suggest adopting a combination of methods and flexible approaches to use these for teaching–learning purposes. Usually, teachers think that teaching methods are only useful for the delivery of content. This thinking is partially correct. Teaching methods present various opportunities before teachers. By knowing these, teachers can bring many improvements in the teaching–learning process. Landøy et al., (2020, p. 121) suggest that teaching methods carry out the following functions: • The cognitive function (way of accessing the knowledge and information) • The formative-educational function (learning through exercising skills and motor functions, and discovering scientific facts) • The motivational function (transforming the learning activity into an attractive, stimulating activity) • The instrumental function (working as a tool to achieve the learning objectives and intended purpose) • The normative function (optimizing action by highlighting the prescriptions, rules, and phases). After knowing the importance of teaching methods, you will be interested in knowing about them in detail. Before discussing these, be familiar with the three important characteristics of teaching methods. First, methods are merely a tool, and their importance lay in the way of their use. Second, methods do not come with a set pattern of use but can be practiced in many ways. And the third and most important, different methods can be easily mixed and practiced in tandem to get better learning outcomes. Let us learn about different teaching methods (Box 7.6). Let Us Sum Up Teaching is social welfare-driven activity, and its primary purpose is to help the learners to attain their fullest potential. Therefore, it becomes necessary for a teacher to learn the process of teaching in detail. Realizing your need to know more about teaching, the present chapter detailed modes, phases, approaches, styles,

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Box 7.6 Different methods of teaching and their characteristics Purpose

Popular teaching methods

Exposing to content, concept, and information

∙ Lecture: Teachers come with a prepared talk and present it before learners. The lectures offer a variety of information by citing different sources ∙ Storytelling: Teachers tell different stories to explain the concept. Storytelling has also been used to initiate the lectures and making lectures more interesting ∙ Demonstration: This method is especially useful in subjects having practical work and activity. To explain these, teachers conduct experiments and practical in the presence of the learners. This demonstration helps learners to carry out a similar or advanced level of practical activities in the future ∙ Discussion: In this method, teachers and learners and small groups of learners discuss any situation or problem. Interestingly, teachers often use this method in collaboration with the lecture method ∙ Modeling: In modeling, the teacher demonstrates a new concept or approach to learning, and learners learn by observing. Simply stating, modeling is about seeing before doing. This measure helps learners to clear their doubts and minimizes their errors ∙ Case study: Case studies help learners research in detail about any individual, group, event, or community. To conduct the case study, learners gather data from various sources and analyze these to conclude ∙ Information organization: This method works on the principle that information may be infinite, but it can be organized finitely. In this method, learners are given different types of information, and they organize to come up with a meaningful conclusion by using LATCH: Location, Alphabet, Time, Category, or Hierarchy (Wurman, 1996) ∙ Graphic visualization: In this method, learners are asked to create images, diagrams, or animations to communicate a message. This method helps learners to communicate both abstract and concrete ideas to the people easily ∙ Concept mapping: This method allows learners to make a diagram to represent relationships between different concepts or ideas visually. This diagram, known as a concept map, can be made via offline and online mode. In concept maps, ideas are depicted as boxes or circles and connected with lines or arrows ∙ Brainstorming: In this method, different problems or situations are presented before the learners. The learners think and reflect on coming up with a viable solution. This method is often used in combination with the lecture method ∙ Panel discussions: Unlike collective discussions, panel discussions help learners develop their individual opinions and views. This method is quite helpful in developing thinking and communication skills among learners (continued)

Promoting interaction

Increasing active participation

Stimulating creativity

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Box 7.6 (continued) Purpose

Popular teaching methods ∙ Simulation: In this method, the learners are placed in real-like situations to take the firsthand experience of real situations or activities. For example, if you are a new teacher, it will help you ask some of your peers to act as students so that you can teach and get valuable experiences for real classroom teaching. The simulation method is quite helpful in promoting experiential learning

Facilitating metacognition

∙ Reflective reading: This method helps the learners to reflect on any written text. We usually read but do not reflect. For example, most of us read novels but hardly reflect on them. But in this method, learners are given short pieces of writing and are supposed to reflect and speak on them ∙ Reflecting writing: This is similar to reflective reading. In this method, learners are asked to reflect on any given or chosen issue, scene, or event. The learners have to present their reflections in the form of writing a piece. This method is quite helpful in developing the skill of analytical writing ∙ Learning Log: In the form of learning log, learners are asked to record what they have learned, tried, and critically reflected upon during the course or program. The method of keeping a learning log allows learners to reflect upon and has a personal record of their learning

strategies, and teaching methods. The discussions make it clear that teaching can be practiced in different settings and many ways. Teaching is like water that takes the shape of the container. Similarly, the form of teaching depends on the teacher. As a teacher, you can make teaching a joyful, engaging, and widely useful activity or give it the shape of an individual, serious, and theoretical exercise. This chapter offered you to learn many such choices, and now you have to decide what teaching you will bring in your classroom. Activities to Perform 1. Choose any topic of choice and teach it via offline and blended mode. Record your experiences of teaching in both the modes and share these with your peers. 2. Prepare a plan regarding using different phases of teaching. Present this plan before your peers and ask them to give constructive suggestions for improvement of the plan. 3. Organize a panel discussion on the approaches of teaching. Invite the experienced teachers of your institutions to act as a panelist. Make a summary of the talks and circulate them via online and offline means. 4. Invite five peers for a cup of coffee. Ask each of them to remember one of their favorite teachers and describe his/her teaching styles. Make notes based on every description and discuss it further.

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5. Request your institution to conduct a workshop on ‘strategies of teaching’ to allow teachers to learn and practice different teaching strategies under invited experts’ supervision. 6. Make a group of likeminded peers and have the meeting of this group weekly. In every session, practice one method of teaching and make further discussions about it. Questions to Work Upon 1. Present your views on different modes of teaching. If allowed to choose which mode of teaching you will prefer and why? 2. As a teacher, how will you make the best use of the ‘pre-active phase’ and ‘post-active phase’ of teaching? Support your plan by giving suitable examples. 3. Among different approaches to teaching, which you use most during teaching? Share your experiences. Also, tell why you are reluctant to use other approaches. 4. Provide a detailed note on your style of teaching. Give self-suggestion to make your style more attractive and appealing to the learners. 5. Discuss your three favorite strategies of teaching by narrating real classroom experiences. 6. If you have been a leader of your educational institution, what will be your suggestions in general to the teachers regarding teaching methods? Which five teaching methods will you suggest to them, and why?

References Berkeley Center for Teaching and Learning. (2020). Active learning strategies. University of California. Retrieved from https://teaching.berkeley.edu/active-learning-strategies British Council. (2020). Approach. Retrieved from https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/ approach#:*:text=An%20approach%20is%20a%20way,techniques%20to%20help%20learners %20learn Brown University. (2020). Culturally responsive teaching. Retrieved from https://www.brown. edu/academics/education-alliance/teaching-diverse-learners/strategies-0/culturally-responsiveteaching-0 Kridel, C. (Ed.). (2010). Encyclopedia of curriculum studies. SAGE Publications Inc. Ladson-Billings, G. (1994). The dreamkeepers. Jossey-Bass Publishing Co. Landøy, A., Popa, D., & Repanovici, A. (2020). Teaching learning methods. In collaboration in designing a pedagogical approach in information literacy (pp.137–161). Springer Nature Switzerland AG. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34258-6_10. Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (2020). Method. In Merriam-Webster dictionary. Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/method OECD. (2016). Insights from the TALIS-PISA link data: Teaching strategies for instructional quality. Paris: OECD Publishing. http://www.oecd.org/education/school/TALIS-PISA-LINKteaching_strategies_brochure.pdf Science Education Resource Centre. (2018). What is interdisciplinary teaching? Retrieved from https://serc.carleton.edu/sp/library/interdisciplinary/what.html

References

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Thornton, P. B. (2013). Three teaching styles. Retrieved from https://www.facultyfocus.com/ articles/philosophy-of-teaching/three-teaching-styles/ UNESCO-IBE. (2020). Child-centered approach. Retrieved from http://www.ibe.unesco.org/en/ glossary-curriculum-terminology/c/child-centred-approach#:*:text=Content%20Section-,Child %2Dcentred%20approach,acting%20as%20facilitator%20of%20learning Wurman, R. S. (1996). Information architects. Graphis Press.

Chapter 8

Planning for Teaching

Background Novice teachers often think that the task of teaching mainly begins with entering the classrooms. We have to update this thinking. The mission of teaching starts much earlier. A teacher has to plan a lot of things before entering the class. The teachers have to decide in advance on many issues like content for teaching, the purpose of teaching, and the way of teaching. Teachers have to also decide that what resources and support materials will be in use during teaching, whether teaching will be confined to the classroom or it will be lab oriented or outdoor activity, how the progress of learners will be assessed, and what will be the nature of assignment and homework activities. Not only this, but the teachers have to also plan about their approach of teaching, intended learning outcomes, as well as the expected change in the behavior of learners. This chapter provides a detailed description of all these and some other useful aspects related to planning for teaching. The chapter also offers some valuable ‘planning for teaching’ tips for teachers. Key Themes Covered • • • • •

Process of Planning for Teaching Annual/Semester Planning Unit Planning Lesson Planning Revising and Rehearsing the Planning

8.1

Process of Planning for Teaching

There is a widespread debate about whether teaching is an instant action or a carefully planned activity. The proponents of ‘teaching as an instant action’ believe that a teacher’s primary task is to go to the class, deliver lectures, and come back. From this narrower perspective, teaching looks a very ordinary activity. This © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 P. K. Misra, Learning and Teaching for Teachers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3077-4_8

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perspective supports the belief that anyone who knows the subject can teach. Those who believe in this ideology do not have to put any extra effort into teaching. Teachers believing in this philosophy are merely supposed to have a good understanding of the subject as primary preparation to teach. This emphasis on delivery of subject means, teaching is an instant activity, and a teacher can go to the class without any additional preparation. As we have learned in earlier chapters, emphasizing content delivery is a significantly narrower teaching perspective. Merely seeing teachers as deliverer or transmitter of knowledge is a great injustice to the teaching community. Rather than delivering content that technologies can do better than teachers, the primary purpose of teaching is to help learners develop their understanding and perspectives related to curriculum and society. You cannot carry out such an important responsibility to ‘mold the learners’ without proper planning. You have to plan your teaching carefully, and execute it systematically to get the desired results. In simple terms, ‘you can teach minds without planning, but can approach hearts with planning.’ Teaching in a planned way has excellent benefits for both teachers and learners. You have already experienced that a good teacher is always prepared. Talking about the need for planning in teaching, Galindo (2020) suggests: Teachers who plan do better in carrying out their instructional plan in the classroom. Planning functions primarily for the benefit of the teacher as a means of organizing instruction, and by giving the psychological benefits of feeling confident, secure, and getting a sense of direction for teaching (para 3).

Planning, usually termed as a process of thinking to achieve the intended goals, is an essential part of individuals’ lives. Our journey, whether it is personal, social, or academic, often begins with planning. Not only individually, but planning is credited to bring changes at the collective level in society, as evident from the following definition from Planning Institute Australia (n.d.), ‘Planning is the act of researching, analysing, anticipating and influencing change in our society’(p. 1). This definition also makes it clear that the act of planning involves four components, namely thinking, research, anticipation, and participation. Any planning often begins with three key questions, i.e., what to achieve, why to achieve it, and how to achieve it. As every individual, these three questions are an integral part of the life of every teacher. Planning takes care of these three questions in advance. Planning helps a teacher to decide the aim of teaching (what), expectation from teaching (why), and means for teaching (how). Therefore, as a teacher, you have to plan for (any) teaching very carefully and systematically. The planning will help you achieve the intended goals or complete the practices, procedures, or activities successfully. Unlike normal planning that is directed to achieve unidirectional goals, planning for teaching is guided to achieve two simultaneous multidirectional goals, i.e., giving a good performance as an individual teacher and getting the best possible performance from your class as well. To accomplish these simultaneous goals, you have to plan at three levels.

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• The first level, usually called annual /semester planning, is making a teaching plan for a year and semester. In this planning, you have to holistically plan what you want to achieve with your learners at the end of the academic year or semester. • The second level, known as unit planning, is that what you want to achieve with a particular unit of the subject or course. • And in the third level, named as lesson planning, you decide what you are aiming for from your class and how you will achieve it. The planning for teaching works in a cyclic process means your annual plan gets reflected in your unit plan, your unit plan guides your lesson plan, and after completing your lesson, you again look for your annual plan. Considering the popular assumption that those who plan better have much more chances of success, it becomes imperative for you to learn in detail about three levels of planning for teaching.

8.2

Annual/Semester Planning

During teaching, you are supposed to carry out several types of teaching activities or tasks. These tasks or activities span across the whole academic year or semester. A listing of all these activities in one place at the beginning of the new academic year is called as annual plan of teaching. Teachers usually prepare annual plans at the beginning of the academic year or a new semester. The annual planning is useful in scheduling the activities, considering the availability of time to accomplish the activities. Sometimes, institutions also prepare an annual plan of teaching, popularly known as an annual academic calendar. That is fine, but besides, you must have your annual plan too. The reason is that annual plans are general and reflect the educational institutions’ total activities and not the activities of a particular teacher. Therefore, it will be useful for you to make your personalized annual plan based on your institution’s annual plan. This annual plan guides you that in which month you will complete which unit of the prescribed syllabus and what other activities will be performed. Most importantly, your annual plan also helps you to prepare the unit plan. The annual plan helps you predict and note activities and tasks like regular teaching activities, special events, assessments, excursions, field visits, one-off projects, etc. In the annual plan, you mark your teaching activities monthly. As the month progresses, you strike out completed activities. After completing a month, you thoroughly review your accomplishments and check your progress by counting the proposed activities vs. completed activities. A zero difference between proposed activities and completed activities makes you happy and motivates you to start your next month’s teaching activities with much more vigor and enthusiasm. Completing less than expected activities propel you to revisit your plan and make renewed efforts to accommodate these activities in the coming month. Anyway, the annual or

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Box 8.1 What to include in the annual plan of teaching? General entries in an annual plan ∙ Copy of prescribed curriculum framework ∙ Unit wise complete syllabus ∙ Course duration ∙ Prescribed curricular and co-curricular activities ∙ Assessment schemes Specific entries in an annual plan ∙ Details of regular teaching and learning activities ∙ Allocation of time for different activities ∙ Any particular requirement to complete the activity ∙ A plan of a monthly review of proposed activities ∙ A scheme for carrying the incomplete tasks to next month ∙ A scheme of the final evaluation of accomplishments during the whole year

semester plan of teaching works like a ready reckoner that reminds you where you have reached so far and where to reach at the end of your journey (Box 8.1).

8.3

Unit Planning

After developing annual plans for teaching, your next step is creating a unit plan. Before discussing unit planning, it is essential to know the difference between unit and lesson. In simple terms, the term unit is a part of something larger that may contain several lessons. In other words, the unit is a collective entity, while the lesson denotes something specific. For example, ‘planets in the solar system’ may be called a unit, and ‘planet Jupiter’ may be called a lesson. Therefore, a unit plan covers a wider area and can include many lessons. Now, you will think that instead of unit planning, would it not be nice to go directly for lesson planning. Do not make such a mistake. Unit planning helps us to decide how we are going to approach the whole process. Let us take an example to understand it. You choose to go to a supermarket for shopping. Before shopping, you prepare a list of potential purchases and a shopping limit regarding money and time. This planning helps you to carry out your shopping efficiently and effectively. You follow similar procedures in unit planning. You can make a unit plan in two ways, first, one unit plan at one time, and second, all unit plans in one go. It is up to you to select one of the ways as both have different merits. If you decide to make one unit plan at a time, you always have a chance to improve your next plan by using the first plan’s experiences and so on. In case you decide to make all unit plans in one go, you have the advantage of following a uniform pattern for all the plans. Now, the next question is that what a unit plan consists. Most importantly, the unit plan maps the units with the intended learning outcomes. The purpose of mapping the unit with learning outcomes is to assess learners’ progress after the completion of each unit. The unit plans contain many

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Box 8.2 What are the components of a unit plan? Myers and Myers (1995, p. 462) suggest that each unit plan should contain the following six components: ∙ Setting goals and objectives for students: Identifying goals in the form of what learners should know or accomplish upon completion of the unit ∙ Choosing content: Identify all of the content that needs to be taught under different lessons ∙ Choosing instructional methods: Deciding what strategies and procedures will help ensure all learners’ success ∙ Connecting learning activities to experiences: Determining what exercises and examples will help facilitate the learners’ understanding ∙ Choose and listing resources: Identifying and documenting all required materials and resources for completion of the unit ∙ Choosing assessment methods: Deciding the purpose and mode of assessment to learn how many intended learning outcomes have been achieved by the learners after the unit

exciting and challenging activities regarding the particular unit. A unit plan mainly includes goals broken down in terms of lessons. Merely stating, unit plan revolves around two objectives: (i) deciding what you specifically want to accomplish from a whole unit, and (ii) how to utilize the allotted time for a class as productively as possible (Box 8.2). There is a widespread perception that the unit plan is mainly helpful for teachers. The unit plan is useful for both teachers and learners. It helps teachers to bridge the gap between long-term planning and daily lesson plans. While the unit plan also allows learners to be aware in advance of the goals, objectives, content, and activities for learning a particular unit in advance. The unit plan presents these four components logically and coherently, and this ultimately helps the teachers to teach and learners to understand the content in an organized and structured manner. Now, the next question is how to write a good unit plan. There is no definite answer to this question as unit planning differs according to subjects and objectives. But, you can use the following steps to prepare a unit plan (Box 8.3).

8.4

Lesson Planning

The third and one of the most essential levels of planning for teaching is popularly known as lesson planning. Lesson planning is for both novice and experienced teachers. Lesson planning helps a novice teacher enter the classroom with confidence and smile, and an experienced teacher uses it to bring meaningful learning experiences in the class. The lesson plans are generally written by teachers to plan and run classroom activities. Every teacher is supposed to learn the art and science of lesson planning. The reason is that lesson planning plays a central role in teaching and creating effective learning environments in the classrooms. Let us go deeper to understand the meaning and purpose of lesson planning.

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Box 8.3 Steps to prepare a unit plan ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙

Detail your approach and objectives of teaching Mention the learning needs of the learners Detail the teaching and learning strategies Identify material and resources to fulfill the learning needs of the learners Propose activities and experiences according to learning objectives Devise plans and processes to carry out the teaching Make a place to accommodate learners’ experiences Include formative and summative assessments measures Check for sequencing and clarity and implement

Milkova (2018, p. 37) suggests that ‘A lesson plan is the instructor’s road map of what students need to learn and how it will be done effectively during the class time.’ Lesson planning presents a detailed description of a sequence of activities to be performed while teaching a particular lesson to help learners achieve specified learning objectives. The lesson planning helps a teacher decide ‘what to do to transact a lesson,’ ‘in what order to do it,’ ‘in what way to do it,’ and ‘how to assess the outcomes.’ Discussing the purpose of lesson planning, a write-up from the Teaching Excellence in Adult Literacy Center (2010) highlights. Lesson plans communicate to the learners what they will learn and how they will be assessed, and they help instructors organize content, materials, time, instructional strategies, and assistance in the classroom.

8.4.1

Approaches to Lesson Planning

Approaches play a vital role in lesson planning. Your approach decides that how you would like to transact your lesson and what you want to achieve from it. Among several approaches of lesson planning, three approaches, namely the behaviorist approach, constructivist approach, and perceptual approach, are quite popular among teachers. Let us discuss these approaches one by one. Behaviorist approach: The behaviorist approach of lesson planning focuses on achieving objectives. This approach mainly emphasizes on bringing observable changes in learner’s behavior as per specified purposes. Therefore, followers of this approach start designing a lesson with learning objectives or intended learning outcomes and put those activities and content that will help achieve these. This planning is dominated by teacher-centered acts and actions. There is a widespread perception that instead of the evolution of several new approaches, the behaviorist approach is still the most popular lesson planning approach among teachers’ community (Box 8.4). Constructivist approach: The constructivist approach of lesson planning is guided by the philosophy that learners need to be responsible for their learning. Hence, they should be given different opportunities to engage in constructing their knowledge actively. Therefore, in this approach of lesson planning, teachers begin

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Box 8.4 Popular behaviorist lesson planning approaches ∙ Herbartian Approach: This approach by Johann Friedrich Herbart mainly focuses on delivering content to the learner. Lesson planning, based on this approach, is conducted by using five steps: Introduction, presentation, organization, comparison, and evaluation ∙ Morrison’s Unit Approach: This approach by Henry Clay Morrison sees learning into a cycle of three phases: stimulus, assimilation, and reaction. This approach involves the following sequential steps: Exploration, presentation, assimilation, organization, and recitation ∙ Bloom’s Evaluation Approach: Proposed by B.S. Bloom, this approach emphasizes on three main components: Input (learning objectives), process (teaching strategies), and output (learning outcomes)

with learners in mind and aim to put different activities and situations for actively engaging the learners. This focus on learners’ activities does not mean that constructivist lesson planning does not include learning objectives. It has learning objectives but in a learner-driven way. This approach is credited to attaining intended learning objectives and providing opportunities for individual growth and self-reflection of the learners. To make this happen, teachers use different techniques like quick writes, group discussions, journals, project works, etc. in the lesson planning. The constructivist approach has now become a more accepted and recommended approach to lesson planning. There are two popular constructivist lesson planning approaches: • Project approach: Propagated by William H. Kilpatrick, this approach stresses on group activity, social activity, and self-activity. This approach mainly emphasizes on real-life experiences. As a follow up of this approach, learners choose the project first, discuss what to do to complete the project, identify required techniques and resources, work on it, and complete. The role of the teacher in this approach is to help the learners to identify an educationally relevant project and support and guide them during the process to complete it successfully. Teachers have to plan their lessons keeping these requirements in mind. Box 8.5 details the steps for planning a project-based lesson plan. • The 5E Approach: The 5E approach is quite popular among teachers who intend to maximize learners’ engagement in the teaching and learning process. The steps in the 5E approach are to engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate. The 5E approach-based lesson plans reflect these steps and focus on learning and understanding a particular concept, content, or skill by going through these steps. In this planning, the teacher’s role is to facilitate and support students as they use prior knowledge to build new knowledge. A 5E-based lesson plan can be developed and demonstrated by using the following steps and activities (Box 8.6): Perceptual approach: The perceptual model of lesson planning has emerged as a different approach to lesson planning. Unlike the behaviorist and constructivist approach that emphasize writing instructions and activities, the perceptual approach focuses on the experiences and enjoyment of the teacher in creating lessons. Defining perceptual lesson planning, Uhrmacher et al. (2013) note.

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Box 8.5 Steps for planning a project-based lesson plan Steps for project-based lesson planning

Suggested activities

Create a situation for the project

∙ As a teacher, you have to think about any situation, activity, or event which can help learners to work collaboratively and learn together ∙ In this step, the teacher has to present the chosen situation before the class. Instead of presenting the solo version of the situation, it is always useful to present the situation in different ways and let the learners decide about the situation which they are going to work upon. Keep in mind that the teachers’ role is to present the situation and ask the learners to decide how they would like to work on the problem ∙ Ask the learners among the discussed ways which one they will prefer to work upon. Once learners have decided about the situation or problems they are going to work upon, ask them to name their chosen project ∙ At this stage, ask learners to plan steps or activities for completion of the project. You will also advise the learners to think about what resources or materials they will need to complete the project and how they will acquire them. The learners have to also agree on the timeline for completing the project. As a teacher, you can help them realistically set the timeline ∙ In this phase, detail that how the project will be carried out. You can also ask the learners to share their experiences and challenges of carrying out the project ∙ Once the project is complete, ask learners to make a report about the project for wider dissemination and use. The learners can be advised to publish this report either online or offline mode. The learners may also be advised to publish the salient features of the project report on online social media platforms ∙ Once the project is complete, the role of you as a teacher will be to evaluate. You can evaluate the project independently, or invite experts, or suggest peer evaluation of the project. For evaluation, you can ask the learners to give a presentation about the project and answer the questions raised by the experts or peers

Present the situation as workable projects

Choose and name the project

Plan for the project

Carry out the project

Report the project

Evaluate the project

Perceptual lesson planning may be characterized as engaging teachers’ and students senses and creativity; as an artistic endeavour that is joyful in and of itself; as consisting of various stylized products; and leading toward meaningful learning for students and teachers in an environment open to elements of surprise and innovation. (p. 1)

Considering that the term perceptual is used to describe the sensory and creative activities, in this planning, the teacher focuses on the classroom environment, the students, the curriculum, the learning goals, and decides how best to proceed (Uhrmacher et al., 2013). In other words, this is a humanistic approach of lesson planning that sees teaching and learning as a joyful rather mechanical activity.

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Box 8.6 Steps for Planning A 5 E-based Lesson Plan Steps for 5E-based Lesson Planning

Techniques and Tools

Engage: ∙ Begin with activities or stories or examples of questions or statements to draw the attention of the learners ∙ Think about what learners already know and make use of this knowledge to start the session ∙ Present any reading, audio, or visual to draw the attention of the learners ∙ Ask your learners to make connections between past and present learning situations ∙ Take learners support to frame the idea or decide the conduct of the lesson ∙ Cheer your learners with short breathing or yogic or movement exercises Explore: ∙ Give opportunities to learners to get directly involved with phenomena and materials ∙ Give learners sufficient opportunities to think and discuss the topic or activity ∙ Suggest learners analyze situations, make arguments, formulate hypotheses, and test ∙ Encourage learners to support each other and work collaboratively on a given situation or problem ∙ Help learners by raising relevant questions ∙ Observe and listen to learners carefully and attentively ∙ Act as a facilitator by providing materials and guiding the learners during their inquiry Explain: ∙ Suggest learners share their experiences, observations, or views or findings ∙ Motivate learners to present key findings in an interactive and interesting manner ∙ Motivate learners to ask questions or give comments and suggestions to the presenter ∙ Suggest the presenter appreciate the questions and comments and accept logical interventions ∙ Encourage learners to have communication with peers, with the facilitator, and with self through the reflective process Elaborate/Extend: ∙ Ask your learners to suggest how they will use the gained knowledge in new or similar situations ∙ Encourage learners to apply the newfound skills or insights in real-life situations ∙ Suggest learners expand on the learned knowledge to make connections to other related concepts, and apply their understandings to the world around them

∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙

Games Examples Videos Audio Stories Picture book Real-world problems

∙ Questioning ∙ Making predictions/ hypotheses ∙ Collecting data ∙ Testing the predictions/ hypotheses ∙ Drawing conclusions

∙ ∙ ∙ ∙

Videos Write-ups Blogs Concept maps

∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙

Action plans Write-ups Reports Research proposals Project proposals

(continued)

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Box 8.6 (continued) Steps for 5E-based Lesson Planning

Techniques and Tools

Evaluate: ∙ Determine that whether learners have attained an understanding of concepts and knowledge ∙ Evaluate and assess the learners’ depth of understanding ∙ Keep evaluating and assessing learners throughout the instructional process ∙ Motivate learners to demonstrate their understanding through presentations or activities

∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙

Reflective journals Models and drawings Performance tasks Rubrics Observation Interviews Portfolios/E-portfolios Project works

Considering that perception of a person is usually based upon their personal experiences, every teacher perceives teaching differently. Therefore, it can be said that perceptual lesson planning allows a teacher to visualize the lesson planning holistically without considering any set rules or procedures. The only philosophy that guides the perceptual lesson planning is ‘how students will feel and respond’ and ‘what they will achieve.’ The above discussions state that there are several approaches to lesson planning. It depends on you and your institution that, as a teacher, which approach best suits your teaching. You have to also keep in mind that any of these approaches do not apply to all teaching and learning activities. Instead, the selection of lesson planning approaches based on the need and situations will be a wiser choice. You can also use a mix of these approaches. The other important point to consider is that you are not bound to follow these approaches all the time; instead, you can also develop your innovative and need-based approaches of lesson planning. And the final suggestion is that you have to make your lesson plan in such a way that it will help you to • Efficiently and effectively conduct your teaching–learning activities, • Support your learners to enjoy and learn, and • Provide different opportunities to assess the outcomes.

8.4.2

Steps of Writing a Lesson Plan

The process of writing a lesson plan starts before the actual delivery of the plan. To write a good lesson plan, the teacher has to follow seven essential steps. These seven steps are detailed for your understanding. • Write a clear title of the lesson: Title says many things, the title tells many things. The lesson’s title guides you on what to deliver and hooks the learners toward the upcoming lesson. Therefore, while writing a lesson plan, try to write a self-explanatory and crisp title conveying the purpose and making learners interested in learning.

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• Estimate the level of learners: Teaching is an activity conducted for the benefit of learners. Teaching can only be successful if it meets the level of learners and also take into account their previous learning experiences. To make it happen, you have to estimate and mention the knowledge, understanding, and skills of the learner in the lesson plan. This estimation will help you to plan and organize your teaching activities in a learner-centric manner. • State the learning objectives: The next step is identifying and writing learning objectives for the lesson. Learning objectives, also referred to as intended learning outcomes, suggest what the learner will achieve after going through the lesson or completing the lesson. Keep in mind that learning objectives are expectations that you have from your learners by delivering a lesson. It is proposed that learning objectives must be written in behavioral terms and simple and easily understandable language. You have to also keep in mind that learning objectives must align with the lesson’s duration, and too many or too lees objectives will undermine the importance of the lesson. It will always help focus on some key concepts or skills and narrow down the learning objectives accordingly. • Identify the teaching strategies: After writing the learning objectives, you must decide and mention the best suitable strategies and methods for transacting the lesson. For this purpose, you have to visualize how you will introduce the lesson, how you will engage learners, and how to bring closure. This visualization will help you to select the appropriate strategies and methods. • Specify the learning activities and resources: During teaching, both teachers and learners engage in several activities. Lesson planning demands that you must visualize and systematically mention all these learning activities. Besides, you have to also note down the required resources to perform these activities. This planning will help you to come up with the needed resources. • Mention assessment procedures: During teaching, you conduct the assessment of learners at various stages. Sometimes, you assess them in the beginning, sometime during the class, and sometime in the end. You have to plan these assessments. You can assess the learners in various ways, like asking questions, assigning tasks, calling them to explain to the class, etc. Ultimately, assessments help you to know whether learning objectives have been achieved or not. Therefore, you have to plan and mention the assessment procedures very carefully. • Plan lesson closure: The closure of any lesson is critical. It helps you to summarize the key discussions and activities performed during the lesson. It also gives you the opportunity to buildup suspense and arouses curiosity about the next class. It means lesson closure works as a bridge between teaching activities of today and tomorrow. Therefore, you have to plan the ending of your lesson carefully. One of the best ways to do this is to present the central deliberations during the end of the class shortly and sequentially. You can also add to it that how your next class will use these understandings.

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Box 8.7 General format for writing a lesson plan ∙ Topic: Write the topic/title of your presentation ∙ Class/Grade: Mention the class/grade whom you intend to teach ∙ Duration: Mention the duration of your class and align your teaching activities accordingly ∙ Knowledge level and previous experiences of learners: Give a summary of the knowledge level and prior learning experiences of your class ∙ Learning outcomes: Write down appropriate and achievable learning outcomes ∙ Teaching strategies, methods, and resources: Detail your strategies and methods, and needed resources for teaching ∙ Teaching activities in a sequential manner: Write down your planned teaching and learning activities sequentially. Also, mention the roles of the teacher (you) and learners (students) during the conduction of these activities ∙ Assessment activities: Specify the assessment activities and procedures to know the learning outcomes and achievement of the learners ∙ Summarization and closure: Present a summary of the lesson and record your closing statements ∙ Lessons after implementing the lesson: Have provision for this section in your plan. Note down your experiences and feedback after completing the lesson plan in it

These are general steps for writing a lesson plan (Box 8.7). You have the liberty to use these in your way. But, the inclusion of these steps assures that you are going in the right direction. You are supposed to write your lesson plan in a clear, systematic, and legible manner. Sometimes, educational institutions ask the teachers to submit their plan for evaluation or present them on the online portal. Therefore, make sure that your lesson plan is meaningful to you and others as well. You can write your plan either in offline (paper-pen) or online (computer) mode. The other essential suggestion is that keep your plans numbered and dated. To make a lesson plan more meaningful to you, you can add a section ‘lessons after implementing the lesson’ in the lesson plans. This section will help you to record your experiences after completing the lesson. In a nutshell, good lesson planning means half the battle is done. The lesson plan provides you enough opportunities to visualize your class and activities before the class. Once you complete this process, you are ready to deliver.

8.5

Revising and Rehearsing the Planning

Often teachers think that once done with planning; their next task is to go to the class and deliver. Instead, adding a step named ‘revising and rehearsing’ between planning and offering will help you. After completing planning, particularly unit planning and lesson planning, try to sit back and relax a bit. After some time, read your whole planning document carefully and cross-examine it from various angles. Besides, you can also request your colleagues to provide their feedback and constructive suggestions on your plans. Both this self-review and peer review will help identify and overcome any shortcomings or ambiguities in your plan. This

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double-check will ensure that your plan has considered the learning situations and environment properly and ready to be implemented. After review of your planning, especially lesson planning, another practical step will be a rehearsal. You can rehearse your lesson plan in two ways oral or mental. In oral rehearsal, you have to put yourself in a classroom like condition and similarly conduct your teaching activities as you intend to do in your class. You can also invite some of your colleagues or students to act as learners or observers of your rehearsal. You can also make a video of your rehearsal and watch it later to assess your performance and work on weak spots. In case of mental rehearsal, sit back on a chair in a silent place, close your eyes, realize that you are in your class, and mentally prepare yourself to play two roles, teacher and learners. Afterward, start playing both the roles mentally and complete the process. After completing this activity, open your eyes and note down your experiences and points to be considered during actual or real teaching. You can choose any one of the methods, i.e., oral or mental, or can go for both. But, always keep in mind that a rehearsal always helps you perform teaching more confidently and effectively. Let Us Sum Up This chapter helped you learn that a teacher must make three types of planning, i.e., annual or semester planning, unit planning, and lesson planning. Annual planning is broadly conducted at the level of institution, and you, as a teacher, have to devise your annual plan based on this plan. The annual plan details the main activities, events, and assessments to be performed during the whole academic year or semester. Next planning, the unit plan is applicable regarding completing a whole unit. Usually, a course or subject contains many units, and during unit planning, you decide how you will transact a particular unit and what you aim to achieve for your learners from it. After completion of one unit, you plan for another, and so on. A unit contains many lessons. Hence, lesson planning is the last stage of planning. A lesson plan is prepared by the teacher to teach a particular lesson to the class. There are three popular approaches to lesson planning, i.e., behaviorist, constructivist, and perceptual. You can choose any of these approaches as per the need of the learners and policy of your institution. In the end, you revise and rehearse your plans before moving to classrooms. Activities to Perform 1. Organize a debate on the topic ‘Need for Planning in Teaching’ in your class. 2. Request some experienced teachers from your and other institutions to share their views on the importance and purpose of lesson planning in teaching. 3. Invite your principal and teachers to share their experience of formulating and implementing an annual plan of teaching.

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4. Choose a particular unit from any subject of your choice and prepare a unit plan of teaching. Discuss this unit plan with your supervisor to understand its strengths and shortcomings. 5. Make a group of three peers. Each one of you will follow a different approach to make a lesson plan based on a topic of common choice. Compare and discuss your plans with each other. 6. Request your teachers and principal to organize a ‘Workshop on Lesson Planning’ to train you and your classmates to plan, write, evaluate, and rehearse the lesson plans. Questions to Work Upon 1. What is the need for lesson planning? If a teacher decides to teach without planning, what potential difficulties he/she can face during teaching? 2. How annual planning of teaching is helpful for educational institutions. What precautions must be taken by institutions while preparing an annual plan of teaching? 3. How unit planning helps a teacher to plan his/her teaching activities? Take a unit of your choice and prepare a plan to transact it in classroom conditions. 4. If given a choice, which approaches to lesson planning will you prefer and why? Justify your answer by giving suitable examples. 5. Identify a topic of your choice and make a lesson plan based on the constructivist approach of lesson planning. 6. Do you agree with the concept of the perceptual approach of lesson planning? If given a chance to make a perceptual lesson plan, what will be your plan’s salient features?

References Milkova, S. (2018). Strategies for effective lesson planning. University of Michigan Center for Research on Learning and Teaching. Retrieved from https://sites.tufts.edu/teaching/files/2018/ 07/GSI_Guidebook_37-39.pdf Myers, C. B., & Myers, L. K. (1995). The professional educator: A new introduction to teaching and schools. Wadsworth Publishing. Planning Institute Australia. (n.d.). Fact sheet 01 what is planning? Retrieved from https://www. planning.org.au/documents/item/2115 The Teaching Excellence in Adult Literacy Center. (2010). TEAL Center Fact Sheet No. 8: Effective Lesson Planning. Retrieved from https://lincs.ed.gov/sites/default/files/8_TEAL_ Lesson_Planning.pdf Uhrmacher, P. B., Conrad, B. M., & Moroye, C. M. (2013). Finding the balance between process and product through perceptual lesson planning. Teachers College Record, 115(7), 1–27. Retrieved from https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.888.8838&rep= rep1&type=pdf

Chapter 9

Management of Teaching

Background After planning the lesson, you have to go for the main task ‘conducting or delivering the teaching’ in either real or virtual classroom conditions. You are supposed to conduct your teaching activities in such a way that it will result in significant learning outcomes for your learners. There are many ways, techniques, and practices that can help you conduct your teaching effectively and in a meaningful manner. For example, knowledge of classroom management, increasing the learners’ participation, effective presentation, and creating a joyful environment will undoubtedly help you approach and deliver your teaching with much confidence and ease. This chapter details some of these techniques for your knowledge and practice. Key Themes Covered • • • • • • •

Self-management for Teaching Managing the Classroom Managing Learners’ Participation Managing Learners’ Behavior Managing Learning Resources Managing Learning Activities Managing Diversity in a Classroom

9.1

Self-management for Teaching

Self-management is vital for the success of any individual, including teachers. Those teachers who can manage them well have better chances to succeed in the profession of teaching. Self-management means organizing yourself in the best possible way to conduct different activities and taking responsibility for your actions. ‘The critical elements of self-management include setting goals, monitoring behavior, and evaluating progress. Examples of self-management include © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 P. K. Misra, Learning and Teaching for Teachers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3077-4_9

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self-monitoring, self-evaluation, and self-reinforcement’ (The University of Kansas, 2020). Self-management is a continuing-cyclic process, and it helps a teacher in all three phases of teaching, i.e., pre-teaching, teaching, and after-teaching. You must keep in mind that self-management as a teacher is an individual-driven activity, and different teachers follow different self-management techniques. There are no universally applicable self-management techniques, although the following can help you manage yourself for conducting teaching. • Self-monitoring of teaching: Self-monitoring has a special place in the lives of teachers. Self-monitoring helps the teachers know whether they are going in the right direction or change their course of action. Self-monitoring immensely helps you during the conduct of teaching to provide immediate feedback about your activities and behavior. Like ‘Global Positioning System (GPS),’ it tells you when to move right or left, when to change lane, and when to reroute in the path of teaching. As a teacher, you are supposed to keep your self-monitoring system ‘on’ throughout the teaching. The practices given in Box 9.1 will be quite helpful for you in self-monitoring. • Self-evaluation of teaching: Self-evaluation helps you as a teacher to learn how you are progressing in the teaching profession. Self-evaluation provides you an opportunity to reflect on your teaching practices as well as your professional practices. Usually, teachers have been seen self-reflecting on their teaching after completing a lesson. This self-reflection gives them a chance to understand what went well, where they lacked, what they can repeat in the future, what they cannot, and so on. Accordingly, they plan their next teaching activities, and this process continues. The General Teaching Council for Scotland (2020) suggests that self-evaluation helps you as a teacher to: – – – –

Reflect on what you have done, Think about what you might do next, Consider your progress and development, Deeply understand your professional practice and professional learning.

Self-evaluation keeps you away from any complacency and grounded as well. An honest self-evaluation opens the doors of progress for you as a teacher and significantly improves your teaching practices. You have to keep in mind that the

Box 9.1 Practices for self-monitoring during teaching ∙ Keep a constant watch on your activities during teaching, i.e., are you moving according to plan, are you going away from your lesson ∙ Keep your eyes on students. Their behavior mirrors your actions, i.e., whether they are attentive, whether they are smiling, whether they are anxious ∙ Be aware of your behavior and feelings, i.e., are you happy, are you stressed, are you relaxed ∙ Keep watch on the tone of your conversation with learners, i.e., are you generous, are you praising, are you harsh ∙ Keep watch on your postures and way of delivery, i.e., are you standing at one place, are you moving, are you making body expressions, are you nodding

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success of self-evaluation depends on continuity and action. In case you decide to evaluate yourself occasionally or not make changes based on the feedback, you will not be able to take full advantage of it. Therefore, you are supposed to keep evaluating yourself continuously and use the feedback to improve further. Some of the practices that can help you in conducting the self-evaluation of your teaching are mentioned in Box 9.2. • Self-reinforcement for teaching: Self-reinforcement is another useful self-management strategy. The existing educational systems have limited opportunities for evaluating, providing feedback, and rewarding teachers. Due to the absence of these opportunities, many teachers feel sad or less interested to carry out their most important activity, i.e., teaching. Self-reinforcement is a viable approach for teachers to keep them interested or motivated in the teaching profession. In simple terms, this is a pep talk that you give to yourself. In the long run, as a teacher, questions like is my teaching effective, am I contributing through my teaching, am I really shaping the lives of my learners, and is teaching really a useful activity often pop up in your mind. Self-reinforcement comes as a rescue to you to face this situation. In the form of self-reinforcement, you assure yourself that teaching is a valuable social activity, and your engagement is in bringing a lot of positives for society as a whole. Some of the practices for self-reinforcement for teaching are mentioned in Box 9.3.

Box 9.2 Practices for self-evaluation of teaching ∙ After completing your teaching, sit in a comfortable place and think that what went well during teaching and what not, and take a note of it ∙ Make a note that if given a similar situation again, what activities you will repeat, what not, and what you will do differently ∙ Rate your teaching performance on any scale of your choice, and based on this performance, give suggestions to yourself ∙ Try to make videos of some of your lessons, watch these, and write down directions for you to have a better performance next time ∙ Try to evaluate your teaching based on the quantity and nature of questions asked by learners during the class and other interactions

Box 9.3 Practices for self-reinforcement for teaching ∙ Think about your favorite teachers and note down how they brought significant changes in your life ∙ Read stories, poems, novels highlighting the importance of teachers and teaching in society ∙ Whenever feeling low, visualize the happy and smiling faces of your learners ∙ Fix some rewards based on your teaching to yourself, e.g., after successfully completing my lesson. I will offer me a good cup of tea. If my learners can achieve the learning objectives, I will travel to a place of interest during the weekend ∙ Note down your strengths and contributions as a teacher, read and revise these writings from time to time

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Managing the Classroom

Managing the classroom, also termed as classroom management, has been a priority for teachers. In a 2006 survey of pre-K through 12th-grade teachers conducted by the American Psychological Association (APA), teachers identified help regarding classroom management and instructional skills as their top need. Results from over 2300 responses showed that teachers wanted assistance with classroom management because they were concerned about student safety and their desire for strategies to deal effectively with students’ disruptive behaviors (Kratochwil, 2010). Talking about the importance of managing the classroom, Emmer and Stough (2001) comment that teachers’ ability to organize their classrooms and manage the behavior of their students is critical to achieving educational outcomes. They further argue that although sound behavior management does not guarantee effective instruction, it establishes the environmental context that makes good instruction possible. The term ‘classroom management’ is mainly used to ensure that classroom lessons run smoothly by accommodating the learners’ different behaviors. This term also implies the prevention of disruptive behavior. Classroom management is closely linked to issues of motivation, discipline, and respect. Classroom management approaches vary depending on the beliefs a teacher holds regarding the teaching and learning process. Traditional classroom management mainly involves behavior modification, although many teachers see using behavioral approaches alone as overly simplistic. Managing the classroom has been seen vital for (i) ensuring that classroom lessons run smooth, (ii) linking to issues of motivation, discipline, and respect, (iii) preventing the disruptive behavior, (iv) involving clear communication of behavioral and academic expectations, and (v) creating a cooperative learning environment. It has been observed that good management of a classroom helps in • Building a classroom culture of achievement (a culture in which learners are inspired to work hard to attain success), • Active participation of learners in the learning process, • Bringing the whole class to higher levels of achievement, and • Maximum utilization of time for productive activities. An adequately managed classroom helps to develop a feeling of involvement, collaboration, and joy among learners. And the presence of these three components ensures the success of teaching. Classroom management helps to present your lesson and conduct your teaching in a predetermined way, whereas disorganized classrooms often deviate you from your primary task, i.e., teaching. Classroom management is a continuous and evolving process. You have to keep in mind that the strategies employed in one classroom may not be useful in other classrooms. Therefore, you must always look for new ways to manage your class. However, some trusted practices can always be helpful for you in the management of the class. These practices are: calling pupils by names, making norms of

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Box 9.4 Basic principles for effective classroom management Effective classroom management systems work best when three basic principles are embedded (Brophy, 2006, pp. 39–40): ∙ Emphasize student expectations for behavior and learning rather than focusing only on problematic behavior and discipline problems ∙ Support the learning environment by promoting active learning and student involvement and not just compliance with rules ∙ Identify your learners with the behaviors that are an integral part of the instructional plan Other important principles of classroom management are: ∙ Know what you want and what you do not wish to in the classroom ∙ Establish classroom rules, procedures, and routines ∙ Explain the pedagogy and evaluation procedure, and conduct rules to be followed ∙ Show and tell your learners what you want from them ∙ When you get what you want from learners, acknowledge it properly ∙ When you get something else than expected, act quickly and appropriately (e.g., respond to misbehavior) ∙ Praise academic success, hard work, and team effort of the learners ∙ Maintain time and content discipline ∙ Simulate exercises and role-playing to make the process of learning experiential

classroom behavior, reinforcing attending behavior, checking non-attending behavior, keeping learners in eye span, and checking inappropriate behavior immediately. You can also use the following suggestions from Oliver and Reschly (2007) to manage your classroom. • • • • •

Implementing classroom rules and routines, Enacting procedures that encourage appropriate behavior, Using behavior reduction strategies, Collecting and using evidence to monitor student behavior, Modifying classroom management procedures as per need.

Besides, many principles have been found useful in the effective management of the classroom. Some of these principles are detailed in Box 9.4.

9.3

Managing Learners’ Participation

Every teacher wants more and more involved learners in his/her class. Managing learners’ participation is an obvious goal that includes frequent discussions and small-group work. This practice is equally important in lecture-based activities. In short, if only a few learners participate by volunteering answers, asking questions, or contributing to discussions in your class sessions, this is point of caution for you. You need to pay attention to assess and promote learning in your class. Managing learners participation can help you in this aspect. Ideally, the goal of managing participation is not to have every learner participate in the class in same way or at the same rate. Instead, the purpose of it is to create an environment in which all the

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learners have the opportunity to learn. Teachers have to create such environment in which the class explores issues and ideas in depth, from a variety of viewpoints. The teachers are supposed to create conditions that enable learners of various learning styles and personalities to contribute. Managing learners’ participation is a very important skill for teachers. The reason is that learners’ enthusiasm, involvement, and willingness to participate play a vital role in the quality of classroom discussions and the entire teaching process. Therefore, the challenge before teachers is to engage all the learners, keep them talking to each other about the intended activity, and help them to develop insights about the delivered lesson. Roby (1988) suggests that teachers must be vigilant about quasi-discussions–encounters in which learners talk but do not develop or criticize their positions and fail to reflect on the session’s process and outcomes. Two common forms of quasi-discussion are quiz shows (where the teacher has the right answers) and bull sessions (characterized by clichés, stereotypes, empty generalizations, lack of standards for judging opinions, and aimless talking). Therefore, you must ensure that learners must realistically participate in teaching. Learners’ participation, also termed as active learning or classroom participation, is vital for teachers regarding teaching. Without managing learners’ participation, it will be difficult for you to achieve the specified teaching objectives. The reason is that active involvement is helpful in creating conditions that enable learners of various learning styles and personalities to participate in the learning process and increase their mastery of content. Enhanced learner participation helps a teacher encourage quiet learners to speak up, asking the more verbal learners to hold back from commenting to give others a chance, and creating situations where learners feel motivated to volunteer answers, ask questions, and contribute to discussions. In the teaching–learning process, there are many benefits to learners’ increased participation. • • • • •

Learners have a voice and choice to put their ideas. Learners act as active participants in their learning. Learners collaborate with and support their peers. Learners engage with the local and broader community. Learners have increased self-confidence by listening to and respecting the perspectives of fellow learners.

The education systems world over are concerned with learners’ less participation in the teaching and learning process. Several reasons, such as repetitive and challenging content, fear of looking stupid by asking questions, compulsion to grasp much information in a short span of time, less attention on learners, and monotonous ways of teaching, have been held responsible for this situation. Here, the most important takeaway for you as a teacher is that active learner participation does not happen naturally in teaching; instead, it must be carefully planned and encouraged. Therefore, you are supposed to manage your class so that it will be full of giving reinforcement, recognizing attending behavior, and providing verbal and nonverbal cues.

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Box 9.5 Basic principles for managing learners’ participation The following principles can be helpful in managing learners’ participation: ∙ Know your learners and their learning styles ∙ Have an assessment of the prior knowledge of your learners ∙ Plan and decide your activities in advance ∙ Consult learners about the services provided to them ∙ Support them in actively and equally participating in academic life ∙ Give learners a say in organizing different activities ∙ Provide enough opportunities for learners to work together ∙ Create a democratic and joyful learning environment ∙ Respond to your learners in a positive and cheerful way ∙ Emphasize learners ideas and encourage them to come up with more ∙ Engage learners into small groups ∙ Promote questioning among your learners ∙ Assign different roles to the learners ∙ Give learners a voice and a choice ∙ Try different approaches and methods ∙ Keep lectures and activities short ∙ Keep your learners engaged

As a teacher, you are supposed to create an environment in which all the learners have the opportunity to participate in the teaching–learning process and contribute. You have to support your class to discuss different issues and ideas in depth and explore from various viewpoints. This act will be quite helpful to convert your class into a more managed and active learning space. Other than this, several principles can help you as a teacher to manage your classroom for better learning outcomes. Some of these principles are listed in Box 9.5.

9.4

Managing Learners’ Behavior

After ensuring that your learners are ready to participate in the teaching–learning process actively, your next task is to ensure that they also show appropriate classroom behavior. As a teacher, you need to be clear that classroom participation and classroom behavior are two different aspects. Classroom participation means learners’ willingness to act while classroom behavior shows learners’ way to work. It has been noted that many teachers, particularly beginning teachers, fear to teach, citing the behavior of learners. Sometimes, teachers take lousy behavior of learners as a personal attack to them as well. This perception is wrong. Different behaviors come naturally to the learners, and you, as a teacher, have to realize which behavior is more appropriate in the classroom conditions and what not. Your success in managing your learners’ behavior more or less defines your success as a teacher as well. You must be very clear that managing behavior does not mean making your learners silent or willing to accept your delivery and content without any questions

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or comments. Appropriate classroom behavior is something different. Appropriate classroom behavior mainly consists of but not limited to: • • • • • •

Willingly listening to teachers and peers, Raising questions and concerns in an amicable way, Giving time to others to respond and react, Following the given timelines and set rules, Avoiding distractions during teaching, Offering constructive feedback during teaching.

But these behaviors are easier said than done. Often learners willingly or unwillingly act otherwise. There is also a section of learners who think that following a decent behavior during teaching is no thrill. Therefore, they feel happy to pretend otherwise. The media has also promoted these inappropriate behaviors of learners on the screen for fun and entertainment. Consequently, you have to deal with this issue very tactfully. You have to help your class to emulate good behaviors as inner changes rather externally forced changes. The reason is that behaviors need to learn rather than taught. Besides, it will also be helpful that you and your learners must agree in advance about acceptable behaviors (for you as a teacher and them as learners). And you both must make a commitment to stick to these during teaching time. You can use several practices to manage the behaviors of the learners in your class (Box 9.6).

9.5

Managing Learning Resources

As a teacher, another important responsibility for you will be to use and manage the learning resources. Learning resources are those materials that are used in teaching a course or subject. Books, journals, audiovisual materials, learning objects, laboratory equipment, databases, posters, special collections, etc., are termed as learning resources. Learning resources are an integral part of any teachers’ life. The success of your teaching highly depends on the practical and appropriate use of different learning resources. Therefore, teachers often have a tab on new and emerging learning resources and suggest their institutions procure them to benefit the teaching–learning process. Often teachers think that their primary role regarding learning resources is only to use these during the teaching–learning process. This thinking is flawed; as a teacher, you should play four essential roles regarding learning resources. • Searching and suggesting useful learning resources: Your first task regarding learning resources will be to search for need-based and cost-effective learning resources for the teaching–learning process. These days, many open educational resources (OER) of good quality are available, and you can choose from them for your teaching as well. As a teacher, you are supposed to submit the list of selected resources with recommendations to your institutions for procurement.

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Box 9.6 Useful practices for managing learners’ behavior ∙ Suggest your class to develop a behavior checklist and display: You can ask your class to create a list of appropriate behavior by consulting each other, finalize it, note it down on a poster, and display it in a prominent place of the class. Being a learner-driven checklist, there are many chances that it will get accepted and respected ∙ Keep watch on your verbal and nonverbal communication: Sometimes, learners’ behaviors are provoked by your verbal or nonverbal communication. Therefore, you also have to prepare a checklist to guide what verbal and nonverbal communication you will carry in your class and what not. Remember that approaching teaching with a ‘genuine smile and happy face’ is one of the most appropriate behaviors for any teacher ∙ Encourage appropriate behaviors: You have to have a clear policy of what behaviors of learners need to be accepted and promoted and what not. It would be best if you tactfully work on this aspect, and always give your nod and smile to appropriate behavior. This appreciation and encouragement will ultimately compel those to change who are showing disruptive behavior ∙ Treat all the learners alike: As humans, we have an inborn tendency to incline toward some individuals and keep away from others. But keeping a check on this tendency will help you manage the behaviors of your learners. Your unbiased compassion and care to all the learners will motivate them to develop their best behavior during the teaching–learning process ∙ Give respect to the learners and try to remember their names: Everybody needs respect, which is equally applicable to the learners. To get the best possible behavior in your class, you need to treat all the learners with respect. Besides, remembering the learners’ names and calling them with their names also pleases them to be attentive and behave nicely in the class ∙ Be flexible and approachable for learners: Being flexible, ready to face any behavior and try to not overreacting during teaching are some of the techniques that can help you a lot to manage good behavior among your learners. Besides, authorizing your learners to approach you easily to discuss any problem and situation will also result in developing helpful behavior during teaching ∙ Have role-playing sessions with learners: Often, learners in the class do not realize how constant murmuring or talk between them disturbs the teachers to complete their lessons. To make them realize these and many such distractions, organize different role-playing sessions, especially at the beginning of the sessions. Ask the learners to play the role of the teacher and deal with similar types of situations. This role-playing will undoubtedly help learners to realize how lousy behavior disturbs and distracts the teaching process

Your role becomes much more critical in case your institution is facing a resource crunch. • Helping your institution in acquisition of learning resources: Often, you are also supposed to help your institutions to write emails to the dealers, get the quotes, and prepare a comparative chart highlighting the salient features of resources. These initiatives at your end help your institution in easy and timely acquisition of suggested learning resources. • Ensuring maximum utilization of the learning resources: Without any doubt, a teacher’s most important role regarding learning resources is to ensure its full and effective utilization. You always have to plan which learning resources you are going to use and in which way. There are numerous instances that procured resources either lie idle or remain underused. Try to refrain from both these situations.

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Box 9.7 Useful practices for managing learning resources ∙ Prepare a list of useful learning resources related to your subject, share it with your learners, and keep updating it ∙ Guide and support your learners in the varied and effective use of available learning resources ∙ Must teach yourself and your learners to make a more acceptable balance between proper use and overuse of different learning resources ∙ Keep in mind that any learning resource is as useful as its user; hence, proper use of the resource is vital ∙ Judge learning resources based on its utility rather than its cost or presentation ∙ Before using any learning resource in classroom situations, it is always beneficial to rehearse it first

• Keeping a tab on regular maintenance and safety of learning resources: The other important role for you will be to keep a check on the condition of learning resources and advise your institution regarding their maintenance. Besides, your institution also expects you to play an active role in ensuring the safety of learning resources in your possession. Managing learning resources is a responsibility that you must accept and conduct happily. The reason is that the use of learning resources gives new meaning and flavor to your teaching. Therefore, learning to manage learning resources becomes a must for every teacher. Several practices can help you in this task (Box 9.7).

9.6

Managing Learning Activities

The other crucial managerial role for you as a teacher is to manage your classroom’s learning activities. Learning activities are an integral part of any teaching– learning process, and learning outcomes mostly depend on the conduct and quality of these activities. Learning activities are not self-driven; instead, teachers have to play the role of a catalyst to promote and initiate these among learners. Besides, you have also to play the role of a guide, counselor, and motivator for your learners to get them engaged in different learning activities. Several learning activities have already been discussed in Chap. 4 that you can use to promote active and joyful learning among your learners. You can revisit this chapter to pick the best learning activities regarding your learners’ plan and need. The practices suggested in Box 9.8 can help the planning and management of learning activities in your class.

9.7

Managing Diversity in a Classroom

Today’s classrooms are becoming more and more diverse. The classrooms seem a miniature society having learners from different races, caste, gender, religion, economic status, linguistic ability, sexual orientation, and digital proficiency. The

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Box 9.8 Useful practices for managing learning activities ∙ Make learner-driven learning activities as an integral part of your teaching philosophy ∙ Make provision for different types of learning activities in your plan and help your learners to carry on these activities ∙ Create such situations where learners are intrinsically motivated and willing to engage in various learning activities playfully ∙ Motivate and support your learners to work on and complete the assigned learning activities on time ∙ Make a record of completed learning activities by your learners ∙ Suggest your learners include the completing learning activities as an integral part of their e-portfolios ∙ Consult your learners that what other learning activities can be included to make the teaching– learning process more meaningful ∙ After conducting any learning activity, get the feedback of your learners, and accordingly, decide about the use of activity in the future ∙ Keep a tab on practice-based researches related to learning activities and try to implement these activities in your classrooms

learners also differ in terms of their mental or physical capabilities. Not only this, but the classrooms also have learners differing in opinions, political ideologies, and cultural orientations. These diverse classrooms present two very obvious questions before the teachers and educational institutions. First, whether diversity is good for a classroom? And second, how to appreciate and manage diversity in a classroom? The answer to the first question depends on the answer to the second question. If a teacher believes that diversity is good for the classroom, then he/she will find ways to appreciate and manage it, otherwise not. Usually, teachers differ in terms of their opinions about diversity in the classrooms. Some believe that a homogenous class is a better place to teach and learn. They argue that a similar set of learners make teaching more convenient and efficient. And some teachers differ in opinion and have a strong belief that the presence of diverse learners in the classroom is good for meaningful and holistic learning. Both arguments have their merit, but diversified classrooms are a reality of our times. It is said, often, that the classroom is a miniature version of society. If societies are unequal and diverse, then how educational institutions can envision equal and homogenous classrooms. Considering this reality, every teacher is supposed to appreciate and manage diversity in the classrooms. As a fact, diversity is good for the education system as well as individual learners. The diversity in a classroom brings different perspectives, views, experiences, imaginations, aspirations, and situations. And all these are very helpful to have real and purposeful learning experiences. The teachers have to understand that the social, economic, and individual profiles of the students play a critical role in generating quality learning experiences for all the learners. Let us try to understand this with the help of two scenarios. Scenario one has two learners. Both learners live in urban areas, belong to middle-class families, speak in similar language, and have similar learning preferences. A teacher suggests both of them share their experiences and learn together.

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In all probability, they will tell an almost similar type of story to each other. Scenario two also has two learners. But this time, one learner lives in the urban locality and the other in a rural area, one comes from a rich family but the other one is from a poor family, and one is a spatial learner while the other one is a kinaesthetic learner. The teacher also suggests them to share their experiences and learn from them. It is obvious to assume that their stories will bring new perspectives, realities, and understanding to each other. And without any doubt, it can be said that in comparison with scenario one, scenario two is better for learning. This means, the learners from a diversified classroom are supposed to be more accommodative, sensitive, and prepared to work for inclusive societies. In diverse classrooms, the role of teachers is very significant. Teachers have to play like a ‘symphony master’ to make a melodious tune by managing and guiding several artists working on different instruments. The teachers are supposed to understand the strengths and weaknesses of every learner in the classroom and find out ways to maximize their potential. The main responsibility of teachers is to draw the best from each learner and nurture the class as a cohesive learning unit. But, it is not so easy to do in reality. Teachers have to work on their attitudes, beliefs, and skills to manage diverse classrooms. The teachers have to understand the reality of diverse and multicultural societies and devise new ways and methods to carry out culturally responsive teaching in their classrooms. Here, it will be useful to understand that there is no specific or fixed way to manage diverse classrooms. Instead, flexibility and innovative approach on the part of teachers is mandatory to make diversified classrooms a fit place for learning. Besides, teachers may also use the strategies mentioned in Box 9.9 for managing diversity and making diverse classrooms a joyful place for learning. Let Us Sum Up In this chapter, you have learned many things about the managerial aspects of teaching. First, you realized that planning for teaching is a theoretical aspect, while managing the teaching is a practical task. Your success as a teacher depends on both these aspects means good planning and better management. To better manage to teach, you have to perform many roles, such as controlling the classroom, managing learners’ participation, managing learners’ behavior, managing learning resources, and managing learning activities. Here, you have to be very careful about the term ‘managing.’ Managing should be perceived as neither a ‘dictatorial’ process nor a ‘one-way activity.’ Instead, it must be seen as a ‘two-way democratic process’ giving an equal say to both teachers and learners. There is no doubt that you would be interested in managing your teaching, and the chapter helped you learn useful lessons to do it. As additional learning, you always have to remember that keeping yourself calm, having a smiling face, and listening to your learners with attention are three virtues that will always help you to manage any class or situation.

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Box 9.9 Strategies for managing diversity in the classrooms Have belief that diversity is good and must be nurtured

Know and appreciate every learner in your class

Design different tasks and activities for different learners

Pay special attention to the needs and convenience of differently abled learners

Motivate the learners to share and collaborate

Have professional learning about dealing with the diversified learners

∙ Believe that diversity among learners is a reason to celebrate and can be worked upon for better individual and societal gains ∙ Develop an attitude that every learner is unique, and his/her orientations, family values, and experiences are an enabler for learning ∙ Know your learners personally and professionally. This learning will help you to guide and nurture the learners in a better way ∙ Have an approach of appreciating learners. Instead of making fun of those learners differing in terms of set parameters, give them a feeling that they are welcome equally or even more in the classroom ∙ Deal diversity in the classroom by designing and distributing tasks and activities as per the strengths and likings of the learners. This distribution will motivate the learners to engage well and give their best in terms of learning ∙ Use peer tutoring and peer discussion techniques to manage diversity in the classroom. These techniques will bring learners together and utilize each other’s strengths for collective gains ∙ Ensure need-based infrastructural facilities for differently abled learners. Brief your institution about the nature of differently abled learners you have in your class and what specific infrastructural support or services need to better their learning ∙ Devise different means and measures to accommodate differently abled learners in the classroom. For example, you can invite such learners to sit in the front row who have sight or auditory problems ∙ Motivate the learners to sit with each other and share their experiences and background. This open sharing will help the learners to know each other in a better way and work as a cohesive learning unit ∙ Strategically divide your class into different learning groups where each group must consist of different types of learners. This heterogeneity among groups will help the learners to accept, respect, and bond with each other ∙ Not every teacher is trained to deal with and welcome diversified learners. You may be one such teacher. Update your understanding and skills about diversified learners by talking to experts or joining short term courses ∙ Attend classes of experienced teachers to have a feel and learn that how they are managing diversity in their classrooms

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Activities to Perform 1. Invite some of the successful teachers from nearby institutions to have a discussion on self-management for teaching. Suggest ten best practices for self-management of teaching based on these discussions. 2. Recall some of your favorite teachers. Reflect how they were managing their classrooms. Note down the points that you can use to improve your classroom management. 3. Invite your peers to discuss managing learners’ participation. Afterward, collectively prepare some guidelines for teachers regarding managing learners’ involvement in the class. 4. Suggest your institutions to invite some experts for conducting a workshop on managing learners’ behavior. With the help of these experts, learn and practice the techniques of managing learners’ behavior. 5. Make a list of available learning resources in your institution. Reflect on and prepare a note on how you are using these resources in teaching. 6. Held a panel discussion among your peers regarding managing learning activities and act as a moderator. Prepare a note based on the views of panelists and circulate it among teachers of different educational institutions. Questions to Work Upon 1. How can teachers excel in self-management for teaching? Give your views by citing suitable examples. 2. Discuss your favorite strategies for managing the classroom. Also, detail how you will implement these strategies? 3. One of your fellows seeks your guidance regarding increasing learners’ participation in teaching. What specific suggestion will you give to him/her? 4. What are the best ways to manage learners’ behavior according to you? Share some of your experiences related to managing of learners’ behavior. 5. You are discussing with your peers on managing learning resources. Detail the points you will emphasize during your talk. 6. Your brother has recently joined as a teacher and needs your guidance to become a successful teacher. Write a letter to explain to him about managing learning activities joyfully.

References Brophy, J. (2006). History of research on classroom management. In C. M. Evertson & C. S. Weinstein (Eds.), Handbook of classroom management: Research, practice, and contemporary issues (pp. 17–43). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Emmer, E., & Stough, L. (2001). Classroom management: A critical part of educational psychology, with implications for teacher education. Educational Psychologist, 36, 103–112.

References

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General Teaching Council for Scotland. (2020). Self-evaluation. Retrieved from https://www.gtcs. org.uk/professional-standards/self-evaluation/self-evaluation.aspx Kratochwill, T. (2010). Classroom management module. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/ education/k12/modules-classroom-management Oliver, R. M., & Reschly, D. J. (2007). Effective classroom management: Teacher preparation and professional development. National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality. Roby, T. W. (1988). Models of discussion. In J. T. Dillon (Ed.), questioning and discussion: A Multidisciplinary study (pp. 163–191). Ablex. The University of Kansas. (2020). Teaching self management skills. Retrieved from http://www. specialconnections.ku.edu/?q=behavior_plans/positive_behavior_support_interventions/teacher_ tools/teaching_self_management_skills#:*:text=Examples%20of%20self%20management%20 include,the%20data%20to%20evaluate%20progress

Chapter 10

Competencies for Teaching

Background Teaching is a challenging task. The reason is that teaching is supposed to bring intended changes in the behavior of learners, and bringing change is never easy. Teachers are destined to play a variety of roles to accomplish the task of teaching. These roles portray the teacher as a humane professional; a planner, manager, and leader; a transmitter of knowledge; a counselor; an innovator and action researcher; a reflective practitioner; a lifelong learner; and an adapter of technologies. Research has proved that these competencies help teachers to carry out teaching effectively and efficiently. Besides, these competencies also offer many other opportunities to support the teaching and learning process. In reality, not all teachers possess all these competencies. But, any teacher can acquire these as well as other competencies by learning and practicing. Following this argument, this chapter discusses different teaching competencies in detail. Proper knowledge and understanding about teaching competencies will help you as a teacher to successfully use them for further gains in teaching. Key Themes Covered • • • • • • • • • •

Competencies Demanded for Successful Teaching Competency to Act as a Professional Humane Competency to Plan, Manage, and Lead Competency to Transmit, Transact, and Transform Competency to Counsel Competency to Innovate Competency to Conduct Action Researches Competency to Act as a Reflective Practitioner Competency to Embrace Lifelong Learning Competency to Adapt to Blended Learning

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 P. K. Misra, Learning and Teaching for Teachers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3077-4_10

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Emerging Demands of Teaching

Teaching is an intrinsic (process-driven) as well as extrinsic (system-driven) activity. At the process level, teaching is seen as a diverse, dynamic, and cyclic activity. And at the system level, teaching is guided by institutional and social expectations. In other words, a teacher has to keep pace with both extrinsic and intrinsic demands from teaching. The teaching demands from teachers have changed a lot during the present times (Box 10.1). Today’s teachers are expected to fulfill the following demands that were not rested upon previous generations of teachers. Teachers have to act in different ways to accomplish these demands of varied nature. Teachers need to play different roles to complete the task of teaching amicably. Let us discuss the roles that today’s teachers are expected to master and play before, after, and during the teaching process.

10.2

Competency to Act as a Professional Humane

The first and foremost expectation from a teacher is to approach teaching as a professional humane. The combination of words ‘professional’ and ‘humane’ gives a distinct feel to the entrants in the teaching profession. The term professional is normally defined as ‘a person who performs a job or works that requires specific attitudes, skills, and knowledge (ASK).’ Seeing from this perspective, teachers emerge as apt professionals. The teachers are supposed to have ‘ASK’ and something more to succeed in the profession. This ‘something more’ includes many qualities such as having pedagogical competence, taking responsibilities for actions, willingness to improve continuously, and maintaining good relations with learners. In the words of Tichenor and Tichenor (2005): the definition of “professional teacher” refers to the status of a person who is paid to teach. It can also, on a higher level, refer to teachers who represent the best in the profession and set the highest standard for best practice.

As a professional, teacher is expected to give their best at every level to succeed in teaching. Now, we come to the word ‘humane.’ Humane is often used to show compassion, consideration, and sympathy for both living and non-living things like Box 10.1 Emerging demands from teachers ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙

Ensuring effective use of digital technologies in teaching Dealing with multicultural and multilinguistic classrooms Ensuring learning outcomes of learners Promoting experiential learning Helping learners to develop various life skills Developing multidisciplinary perspectives among learners Preparing citizens for a sustainable world

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humans, animals, and the environment. These expectations suggest that a humane teacher must advise and prepare their learners to treat humans and animals alike and sustainably use natural resources respectfully. The Association of Professional Humane Educators (APHE) (2012) define a humane teacher as A humane educator is anyone who teaches and promotes humane attitudes toward people, animals and the environment. This includes, but is not limited to, anyone who teaches animal welfare, animal rights, animal behavior, environmental concerns, character education, social justice, cultural studies, and any combination of the above. (p.1)

These discussions move us to think about two fundamental questions, what is expected from a humane professional teacher, and how to become a humane professional teacher. We will reach to the answer to these questions one by one. As a professional, any teacher is expected to give his/her best before, after, and during teaching and help their learners in the best possible way. But a humane professional teacher is expected to do something extra. A humane professional teacher is supposed to help their learners learn the contents, subject, or skills and develop an attitude to use these humanely. Simply stating, teachers as professional humane are supposed to convert mechanistic learning into humanistic learning. The majority of world problems related to conflicts, poverty, hunger, health, and environment are related to mechanistic learning in one-way or another. The mechanistic learners often confine themselves and only think about their gains and benefits. Contrary to this, a human learner sees the whole world as his/her family, and before taking any action, think about its effect on others. As a humane professional teacher, it is supposed that you will help more and more learners develop as humane professionals. For your reference, some of the practices that can help you accomplish this task are discussed in Box 10.2.

10.3

Competency to Plan, Manage, and Lead

A teacher is no more only a teacher these days. A teacher has to act as a planner, leader, and manager to successfully complete assigned teaching activities. The roles of planners, managers, and leaders seem distinct but are complementary to each other. As a planner, you are supposed to plan all the activities, learning materials, and modalities for teaching in advance. Besides, you also have to mastery of

Box 10.2 Practices for becoming a professional humane teacher ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙

Keep Keep Keep Keep Keep Keep

getting feedback from learners about your activities learning and improving continuously reading the latest literature and researches related to teaching and learning in touch with those who are performing well and learn from them developing multidisciplinary perspectives among learners developing your learners to contribute for a sustainable world

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Box 10.3 Tasks of teachers as a planner ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙

Think and note down what you want to accomplish with your learners (learning outcomes) Plan your teaching tasks and activities (lesson planning) Make an alternate plan as well (emergency plan) Define your as well as the role of learners during the teaching process (role distribution) Discuss your plan with peers before implementation (peers consultation) Be ready to make changes in the proposed plan (flexible approach) Always try to improve your next plan with feedback received on the present plan (continuous improvement)

content and a plan to share your knowledge in the best possible way with your learners. Often associated with the pre-active phase of teaching, sound planning is your first responsibility as a teacher. You can record your plans in two ways, either by memorizing it or writing it on paper or an e-screen. But the most important thing for you to remember is that never approach teaching without proper planning. You can use several principles for playing the role of a practical planner (Box 10.3). Your next role in this trilogy is as a manager. The role of the manager is associated with the interactive stage of teaching. You have to manage the classroom, learning environments, interactions, collaborations, and resources. A manager is supposed to ensure effective and maximum utilization of available human and non-human resources. This principle is equally applicable to you as a teacher. As a teacher, you possess one of the world’s best resources, i.e., learners with numerous potential and talent. Your role is to manage the learners so that they must be able to attain their fullest potential. Considering that the success of teaching is often measured in terms of the achievements of the learners, your role as a manager becomes much more important. As a manager, you are supposed to manage your classroom, motivate the learners, propose solutions to their problems, mediate in case of conflicts among them, provide feedback to them, and share their success and sorrows. Box 10.4 highlights some of the most important tasks of a teacher in the capacity of a manager. Besides managing the class, teachers have also been seen as a leader. A leader is one who leads the masses. The teacher, as a leader, leads the learners. Teachers often play a crucial role in deciding that (i) what goals to achieve, (ii) what resources, activities, and strategies to use to accomplish these goals, and (iii) what will be the ultimate benefit of achieving these goals. The majority of learners perceive their teachers as leaders and feel happy to tread the path suggested by them. Good leaders are often ‘doer’ than ‘teller.’ Therefore, you have to lead your learners by example rather than giving instruction. For example, instead of telling your learners that come to class on scheduled time, you must make a habit to reach your class always on scheduled time. The other important characteristic of a leader is that he/she treats everyone equally without any prejudice or bias. Emulating this principle will undoubtedly help you to emerge as a popular and successful teacher. Like successful leaders, you must also make it a habit to give your learners a fair chance to speak and question

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Box 10.4 Tasks of teachers as a manage ∙ Know your learners well and, if possible, conduct their SWOC (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Challenges) analysis ∙ Be acquainted with the institutional policies and practices ∙ Set rules and regulations for the conduct of teaching and learning in consultation with learners ∙ Assign different responsibilities to learners as per their capability and choice ∙ Offer reward and reinforcement to learners on successful completion of the assigned tasks ∙ Motivate and console those who fail to achieve the specified tasks ∙ Evolve your class as a democratic place to share, discuss, collaborate, and learn

Box 10.5 Tasks of teachers as a leader ∙ Keep a close watch on what is going on your class ∙ Do not interfere often; interfere only when the need arises ∙ Have an already agreed rule book of code and conduct and help your class to run accordingly ∙ In the case of any conflict among learners, try to resolve the issues in a just and unbiased manner ∙ Also, give your students a chance to lead the class occasionally ∙ Always stand with your learners and put their concerns and grievances before the authorities ∙ Treat learners as your children or a family member

any policy or activity. For your reference, some principles that will help you to become a better leader are discussed in Box 10.5.

10.4

Competency to Transmit, Transact, and Transform

One of the most popular and distinct roles of any teacher is to help the learners to acquire knowledge. Knowledge is defined in many ways. The following definition of knowledge, ‘Facts, information, and skills acquired through experience or education’ (Oxford Dictionary, 2020), fit well with teaching and learning. A teacher is expected to have three competencies to help their learners to gain new knowledge. Miller (1996) views teaching as a combination of three activities, i.e., transmission, transaction, and transformation. Every teacher is expected to master these three competencies to succeed in the teaching profession. These competencies often separate a good teacher from a not so good teacher. Let us discuss the meaning as well as the importance of these competencies for a teacher. Often people say that ‘what you have in your bag is not so important, how you bring it before the world is more important.’ This saying perfectly fits with teachers. Your knowledge matters, but its successful transmission matters more. As a teacher, you will be supposed to convey different facts, information, or views with your class almost every day. If your transmission is sound, learners will enjoy and retain it, and if your communication is weak, learners have every right to lose

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Box 10.6 Improving the competency to transmit ∙ Start your class with some interesting facts, examples, or stories ∙ Take the help of technology-supported resources (audio, video, animation) to support your talk ∙ Keep changing your style of transmission; a routine style makes learners bored ∙ Pay attention to the pace of your talk, and avoid too slow or too fast communication ∙ Keep modulating your voice while delivering a lecture ∙ Maintain eye contact with learners; this will keep them attentive and focused ∙ Deliver your talk or lecture with a smiling face, learners like happy and energetic speakers

interest. In simple terms, transmission means the way of delivery or presenting the knowledge before the learners. Your way of speaking, choice of words, expressions, and language play a significant role in transmitting knowledge. You need to pay attention to all these aspects. One of the best ways to get mastery over these aspects is to deliver a class before your peers and asking them for feedback. Besides, the input from experts in the field and senior teachers will also help you a lot in this regard. Box 10.6 contains some of the practices that you can adopt to improve your competency of transmission. The next competency that will help you to succeed in the teaching profession is ‘transact.’ There is a difference between ‘transmission’ and ‘transaction.’ Transmission is mainly a one-way process, while the transaction is a two-way process. In transmission, often, teachers speak, and learners listen to learn. And in the transaction, both learners and teachers interact and exchange their views to learn. Good teachers often start with the transmission, slowly move to the transaction, and in the end, come back to the transmission. It means you have to use both these cyclically. For example, a teacher often introduces a topic to the class (transmission), then invites learners to discuss on different aspects of the topic (transaction), and ends with summarizing or concluding about the topic (transmission). The transaction also helps learners to keep engaged and active in the classrooms. Most importantly, the transaction adheres to constructivism, which states that knowledge must not be given to the learners passively. Rather, learners must actively construct new knowledge by using their past knowledge and experiences (Santrock, 2004). There are many ways that you can use to refine your competency to transact knowledge (Box 10.7). Throughout human history, teachers have been regarded as a very high place, and their ability to transform learners is the root cause behind this respect. While the competencies of ‘transmission’ and ‘transaction’ revolve around the delivery of content and organization of learning activities. In comparison, the competency to ‘transform’ helps learners understand mindset, views, and opinions. We all, including teachers and learners, approach teaching and learning situations with a predetermined mindset and assumptions. In other words, learners inter classrooms in a rigid bent of mind. Whereas, to acquire new knowledge or skills, learners must be able to change their thinking or learning approaches. Learners need to be transformed for this purpose, as observed by Mezirow (1991)

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Box 10.7 Improving the competency to transact ∙ Instead of telling, give your learners the problems to solve or situations to discuss ∙ Keep asking questions from your learners, also encourage them to ask questions from you ∙ Put different arguments before your class, and ask the learners to accept or reject these by giving suitable facts of findings ∙ Always encourage your learners to argue and speak ∙ Do not feel offended by the criticism or questions of your learners. Instead, think that those asking questions or arguing are on the right track

Box 10.8 Improving the competency to transform ∙ In addition to academic discussions, also get engaged with your learners to discuss social, political, and economic issues ∙ Take notice of the unique abilities and talents of your learners and advise them accordingly ∙ Always listen to your learners and appreciate them for their views and opinions ∙ Make your learners realize that they can also play a significant role to make this world a better place ∙ Have field trips with their learners to give them a real chance to discover the problems and challenges of human society ∙ Organize discussions and activities to nurture the emotional and spiritual abilities of your learners

‘the process of becoming critically aware of how and why our assumptions have come to constrain the way we perceive, understand, and feel about our world; changing these structures of habitual expectation to make possible a more inclusive, discriminating, and integrating perspective; and finally, making choices or otherwise acting upon these new understandings.’ (p.167)

The competency to transform demands that you must also facilitate them to develop socially and psychologically in addition to academically supporting your learners. You have to help your learners to go through several experiences so that they may be able to attain their fullest potential. You must find ways to encourage the learners to emerge as a curious, active, compassionate, and caring person in life. Your ability to meet these expectations is an indicator of your competence to transform. As a teacher, you are supposed to continuously nurture and develop this competence for the benefit of your learners in particular and the education system as a whole. Specific ways can help you in this regard (Box 10.8).

10.5

Competency to Counsel

The competency to counsel is an integral part of successful teaching. You will be wondering that counseling is helpful for an individual learner, but how it contributes to success in teaching. Let me explain it to you. Teaching is a learner-oriented activity. If the learner is relaxed and stress-free, he/she will learn

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better. In case he/she is in some sort of conflict or stressed, he/she will neither pay attention to your teaching nor fully participate in classroom activities. As a teacher, you are supposed to develop the competency to identify and counsel those learners who face some problems. Your care and empathetic behavior will undoubtedly help them to open before you overcome their conflicts and challenges. The tragedy of the present times is that most of the learners come from the homes where both the parents are working. Often, these parents have less or no time to listen to their wards’ joy and sorrows. In that case, the teachers remain one and only hope for these learners to discuss their problems and get amicable solutions. There are many instances and occasions where learners need counseling. For example, learners often need counseling on: • • • • • • • •

which subject to chose, how to cooperate and collaborate with others, how to enjoy learning, how to contribute to a social and environmental cause, how to be a responsible citizen, how to face examinations, how to deal with success and failures, and how to prepare for life in the future.

There is no doubt that parents, peers, and relatives also provide counseling to the learners. But, often, learners give most recognition to the counseling by teachers. The act of counseling occurs before, between, and after the class and continues throughout the academic session. Due to the emergence of technologies, you are supposed to be ready 24
7 to provide counseling to your learners. Therefore, instead of treating counseling as an additional burden on your shoulders, the best approach for you will be to enjoy the counselor’s role. The suggestions given in Box 10.9 can be quite helpful for you to complete this task.

Table 10.9 Improving the competency to counsel ∙ Before starting your lecture, pay attention to the appearance of your learners, make it a daily habit ∙ In case, some learners are looking lost or stressed, give some quick comments to cheer them up ∙ Invite those who are consistently showing troubling behavior for counseling sessions ∙ During counseling, assure your learners that their problems and conflicts will be kept confidential and will not be shared with anyone ∙ Listen to your learners carefully and with much attention ∙ Base your advice on careful analysis and diagnosis of the problem reported by your learners ∙ Always assure learners that every problem in the world has a solution, and you will help them to find out a solution for their problems ∙ If a learner is not improving even after your continued counseling, report this to school authorities or the parents

10.6

10.6

Competency to Innovate

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Competency to Innovate

‘Teaching demands innovation.’ This statement may be a bit surprising to you, but it is true. Every day presents a new challenge before the teachers. The reason is that teachers have to deal with young and energetic human brains that keep evolving all the time. Therefore, it is evident that learners keep changing their behaviors and demands all the time. At the individual as well as the collective level, learners’ have different expectations and demands from teachers. To keep pace with these ever-emerging situations and demands, a teacher must bring innovations in his/her teaching styles, techniques, and activities. You must keep in mind that innovation is a buzzword to succeed in teaching. Those who cannot innovate have fewer chances to survive in the teaching profession successfully. Therefore, you must always think that what new you can bring to your teaching or how you can improve your existing policies and practices of teaching. To succeed in the teaching profession, you must keep devising new models and techniques for teaching continuously. You cannot rest with the tricks and techniques taught to you during different teacher education programs. You must keep innovating new procedures and practices all the time. While doing this, always remember that innovation does not mean starting from scratch. Instead, improving or updating something is also innovation from the perspective of teaching. This practice is like updating the existing software or coming up with new software. You need to bring innovations on many aspects like mode of delivery, way of interaction, promotion of active learning, making your teaching joyful, using digital technologies in teaching, processes of evaluation, etc. These innovations will bring twofold benefits. • You will understand as well as appreciate your teaching more, and • You will be a role model for others and benefit the teaching community in general. Box 10.10 mentions several pathways that will undoubtedly help you to bring innovations in teaching and learning.

Table 10.10 Pathways for practicing innovations in teaching ∙ Keep reflecting on your teaching activities and practices ∙ Discuss with your peers, mentors, and learners that how you can improve your teaching practices ∙ Never hesitate to experiment; if an experiment goes well, fine; if not, be ready to say sorry to the participants and sponsors ∙ Make use of digital technologies and assistive devices to bring improvements in teaching ∙ Innovations are often achieved by team efforts, assemble a team of likeminded colleagues to innovate ∙ Never feel satisfied with your teaching credentials; if it is good, make it better, and best afterward

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Competency to Conduct Action Research

Teachers often face difficult situations and challenges during teaching. There are two ways to overcome these conditions. First, call to experts or experienced teachers and solve the problem according to their solutions. But think, how many times you can get them, and how many times they will come to help you. Second, you must devise your solutions to solve the problems or improve the situation. Following this line, you, as a teacher, research your problems, find answers, and implement them. This approach is popularly known as ‘action research.’ ‘Action Research is a method of systematic enquiry that teachers undertake as researchers of their own practice’ (University of Bristol, 2019). Similarly, a publication from Brown University refers to action research as ‘a disciplined inquiry done by a teacher with the intent that the research will inform and change his or her practices in the future’ (Ferrance, 2000, p. 1). The competency to conduct action research makes teachers self-dependent to solve their problems or improve their teaching practices. Talking about the importance of action research in teaching, an article from the Glossary of Education Reform (2014) states …. action research is typically focused on solving a specific problem (high rates of student absenteeism..) or answer a specific question (Why are so many of our ninth graders failing math?), action research can also make meaningful contributions to the larger body of knowledge and understanding in the field of education. (para 3)

Therefore, it is vital for you as a teacher to learn the process and techniques of action research. The action research is often called ‘a cycle of action or cycle of inquiry, since it typically follows a predefined process that is repeated over time’ (The Glossary of Education Reform, 2014). The process of action research begins with identifying a significant problem or a wish to improve any practice by the concerned teacher. After identifying the problem, the concerned teacher collects relevant data related to different aspects of the problem. After that, collected data is interpreted and analyzed to propose needed actions to overcome the problem or improve the practice. The teacher’s next responsibility is to apply the proposed measures or solutions in real situations and observe the changes. Once this process is over, the teacher moves to the next stage. Action research is also called ‘a cycle of action or cycle of inquiry, since it typically follows a predefined process that is repeated over time’ (Glossary of Education Reform, 2014). In a nutshell, the action research is guided by following five phases of inquiry (Ferrance, 2000, p. 9). • • • • •

Identification of problem area Collection and organization of data Interpretation of data Actions that are based on the interpretation of data Reflection for the next course of action

Do not think that action research may only help to solve the problems. Instead, action research may also be employed to learn more about any system or improve existing practices. Often said that the ‘world is full of challenges and you have to

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found your way to overcome these challenges.’ This saying is equally applicable to the profession of teaching. Action research will help you to identify as well as to make concerted efforts to overcome different challenges. The competency of conducting action research is especially helpful for beginning teachers as they face numerous problems while entering the teaching world. The action research helps them chalk out their pathways and plans to make their mark in the classrooms. In a nutshell, action research is helpful for both experienced as well as novice teachers. You have to master this competency to keep finding solutions to their teaching problems and improving their practices.

10.8

Competency to Act as a Reflective Practitioner

It has been observed that ‘those who reflect on their actions and experiences and use this learning to improve their practices’ have better chances to succeed. This practice, usually named reflective practice, helps professionals become aware of their implicit knowledge base and learn from their experiences (Schön, 1983). Like other professionals, teachers are also supposed to act as reflective practitioners to be successful in teaching. From the perspective of teaching, reflective practitioners give serious thought or analyze their teaching activities and classroom experiences to amend their practices. As a reflective practitioner, you contemplate past and present experiences to achieve better results in the future. Describing the role of a teacher as a reflective practitioner, a Handbook from Wisconsin Lutheran College (2020) observes A reflective practitioner builds and examines knowledge about learners, the culture and curricula of schooling, and the contexts in which teaching and learning occur; such a practice assists an educator to simultaneously renew, invigorate, and maximize the teaching process. (para 3)

Schön (1983), in his book ‘the reflective practitioner’ talks about two types of reflection (i) reflection in action means to reflect on behavior as it happens, and (ii) reflection on action mean reflecting after the event, to review, analyze, and evaluate the situation. A combination of both these reflections helps you evolve as a truly reflective practitioner. The competency of reflective practice helps you as a teacher on many fronts. For example, it gives you a chance to understand previously acquired knowledge and skills related to teaching, your teaching practices, learning activities and experiences of your learners, and the learning environment. After learning these benefits, you will be interested to know the best ways to conduct reflective practice. There are several models for reflective practice that you can use as per your need and purpose. • Boud’s triangular representation model: This model, termed as is the simplest model of reflection, suggests that reflection leads to further learning. This model has three components (i.e., experience, reflect, and learn) that are cyclic. This model works on the principle that experience and reflection lead to learning, and

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learning paves the way for the next round of experience and reflection (Boud et al., 1985). • Gibbs’ reflective cycle model: This model, developed by Graham Gibbs in 1988, breaks down reflection into evaluating the events and analysis. Like Boud’s model, this model is also cyclic and presents a framework for examining experiences under six stages (Gibbs, 1988) Experience ! Feelings and thoughts ! Evaluation ! Analysis ! Conclusion ! Action plan !

• Atkins and Murphy model: This model, also cyclic, is based on the assumption that discomforts are essential to make improvements. This model helps one learn from past experiences and gives them the opportunity for critical and in-depth reflections. This model especially works for experienced professionals for deeper reflection and building on their previous experiences. The model consists of the following five stages (Atkins & Murphy, 1994) Awareness of uncomfortable feelings and thoughts ! Describe the situation including thoughts and feelings ! Analyze feelings and knowledge relevant to situation ! Evaluate the relevance of knowledge ! Identify any learning which has occurred !

These are just a few examples. There are many more models of reflective practice that you can use according to your need and situations. In addition to these models, you can also take your mentors or peers’ help to learn the art of reflective practice. Based on your discussions and experiences, you can develop your model of reflective practice as well. In addition to models of reflections, many tools can help you support your reflective practices and record these experiences (Box 10.11). Ultimately, you have to realize that any reflection upon your teaching experiences and practices by any means helps you to emerge as a better teacher.

10.9

Competency to Embrace Lifelong Learning

The concept of lifelong learning stresses that learning and education are related to life as a whole—not just to work—and learning throughout life is a continuum that should run from the cradle to the grave (Misra, 2011). According to this concept, lifelong learning refers to all kinds of formal education and training (whether or not they carry certification) and can occur anywhere, including education or training institutions, the workplace (on or off the job), the family, or cultural and community settings (Misra, 2012, p. 289). Lifelong learning, according to Royce (1999, p. 149), ‘Aims to give [….] the skills to go on learning throughout life and also positive attitudes towards learning which accept and even welcome change and new learning.’ In this sense, lifelong learning supports the development of knowledge and competencies to enable each citizen to adapt to the knowledge-based society and actively participate in all spheres of social and economic life.

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Box 10.11 Tools to support reflective practice ∙ Reflective Journal: This is mainly a personal record of your teaching and learning experiences. In the form of a reflective journal, you record and reflect upon your observations and responses for further exploration and use. The reflective journal allows you to self-reflect and record both your good or bad experiences. In a reflective journal, you can write, draw images and drawings, and include reference materials. A teacher can make entries in the journal on a daily or weekly basis. Reflective journals can be maintained in either offline (paper-pen) or online mode ∙ Diary: In comparison with maintaining a reflective journal, the diary is a bit of informal procedure to reflect on your experiences. In a diary, teachers note down their teaching and learning experiences and their reflection on education systems as a whole. It is always useful to write your diary daily ∙ Logbook: A logbook is mainly useful for those teachers who are associated with subjects having experimental work. Logbook helps the teachers to keep an accurate record of different steps, processes, and obtained results. This learning allows you to reflect on the whole process and make better decisions for future activities ∙ Personal Blog: Blogs, usually published online, are also quite useful for teachers to reflect on different issues. A blog is a short commentary that is typically written in an informal or conversational style. There are a good number of teachers who regularly write blogs on different aspects of teaching. Writing blogs gives you an excellent opportunity to reflect on your professional experiences and activities and present a roadmap for betterment in future

A document from European Commission (2009) defines lifelong learning as ‘All learning activity undertaken throughout life, with the aim of improving knowledge, skills and competence, within a personal, civic, social and/ or employment-related perspective’ (p. 9). The other definition of lifelong learning given by Jarvis (2006) is very relevant regarding teachers, The combination of processes throughout a life time whereby the whole person-body (genetic, physical and biological) and mind (knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, emotions, beliefs and senses) – experiences social situations, the perceived content of which is then transformed cognitively, emotively or practically (or through any combination) and integrated into the individual person’s biography resulting in a continually changing (or more experienced) person. (p.134)

The essences of these definitions help us to claim that lifelong learning is an essential component to succeed in any profession. The professionals like Doctor, Engineer, and Lawyer keep learning and updating their knowledge to remain successful and relevant in their respective professions. For example, would you like to visit a Doctor who is still relying on to count your pulse rate manually rather than using an assistive device? You will prefer a Doctor who knows old as well as new techniques for measuring the pulse rate. Similarly, teachers also have to develop a mindset to keep learning throughout their life. It has been noted that some teachers feel reluctant to discover new content, practices, techniques, or research after getting a job. This tendency is harmful to you as a teacher. Instead, you have to commit yourself that you will continuously try to learn more and more as a teacher. Lifelong learning is vital for you to continue developing personally, having greater individual autonomy, and making a more active and productive contribution to the teaching profession.

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Competency to Adapt to Blended Learning

Blended learning has emerged as a new teaching–learning approach to deliver higher learning interactivity levels and higher levels of student engagement (Misra, 2016). Blended learning is generally perceived as a formal education program that integrates face-to-face learning with technology-based digital instruction. In this process, learning occurs in (or in a combination of) online, mobile, or classroom environments. Nowadays, most education institutions are integrating technology into the course with online management systems such as Blackboard or Moodle to provide video lectures and supporting materials to the students. In simple terms, they are practicing blended learning. Blended learning, also termed as hybrid learning, is defined by Barbour et al. (2011) as, ‘Learning that combines two modes of instruction, online and face-to-face, but at potentially different points in time…’ (p. 5). Another widely accepted definition from the Clayton Christensen Institute (2015) describes blended learning as, The definition of blended learning is a formal education program in which a student learns: at least in part through online learning, with some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace; at least in part in a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home; and the modalities along each student’s learning path within a course or subject are connected to provide an integrated learning experience.

Blended learning is credited to deliver multiple benefits like enabling both advanced and at-risk students to learn at their level and pace; anytime anywhere learning during inside or outside of scheduled classroom periods; boosting engagement and confidence by developing independent learning skills; and improving teaching conditions by equipping teachers to shape appropriate interventions and learning pathways. As another significant benefit, blended learning creates autonomous learning time for students and opens up time for teachers to work with individual students and small groups (DreamBox Learning, 2015). Talking about the benefits of blended learning, Cohen (2014) observes, This method encourages collaboration, discussion and in-person learning in lieu of the traditional lecture format. Teachers integrate technology into the course with online management systems such as Blackboard or Moodle, which provide video lectures, supporting materials, peer messaging and real-time tracking of student progress. Advocates claim the mix of face-to-face and virtual learning better prepares students for their post-collegiate careers.

These possibilities and benefits suggest that teachers must have mastery over blended learning tools and techniques. For example, as a teacher, you should use a manual whiteboard and a smartboard effectively. You are supposed to integrate face-to-face instruction with advanced digital learning experiences effectively. You are expected to use various digital teaching–learning resources like online courseware, simulations, quizzes, learning games, tutorials, interactive exercises, assessment tools in traditional face-to-face teaching. In other words, your success as a teacher in days to come will be decided by your competence to adapt to the blended model of teaching and learning. Teachers

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Table 10.12 Practices for mastering blended learning ∙ While planning for teaching, always think that which part needs F2F interaction and which can be dealt via online mode ∙ Post useful readings, case studies, presentations related to the topic of teaching on the online platform for reading of learners well before your class ∙ Make it a habit to start your class by discussions on the resources posted online ∙ Use online mode mainly for the dissemination of content and f2f mode for discussion on content ∙ Envision technologies as a supplement to F2F teaching rather an adversary or threat ∙ Motivate the learners to find useful learning resources and share them with their classmates ∙ Never say that you are too old to learn technologies ∙ Keep learning about emerging tools and techniques for online teaching ∙ Never be shy to know about online teaching from your learners

are supposed to develop the competency to use blended learning to promote collaboration, discussion, and in-person learning. You must have the capability to use blended learning to boost student engagement and bring active learning to learners. In a nutshell, you need to be competent enough to mix face-to-face teaching with virtual learning to better prepare learners for academics and the job market. Practices mentioned in Box 10.12 can help you to improve your competency of blended learning. Let Us Sum Up This chapter helped you know that teachers need to master several competencies to succeed in the teaching profession. There are many such competencies, and no one can claim to learn as well as master them all. But, there are specific competencies that you can begin with. These key competencies are (i) acting as a professional humane, (ii) working on planning, managing, and lead, (iii) mastering to transmit, transact, and transform, (iv) providing counseling, (v) going for innovations, (vi) conducting action researches, (vii) evolving as a reflective practitioner, (viii) embracing lifelong learning, and (ix) adapting to blended learning. This list does not end here. After mastering these, you can look for more competencies and go for getting them as well. As a teacher, you must also keep in mind that mastering competencies are not possessing coveted trophies that you keep acquiring and acquiring. The sole purpose of developing these competencies is to better as a teacher and significantly contribute to the teaching and learning process. Therefore, instead of acquiring more competencies theoretically, pay more attention to using them in real classroom situations and varied learning conditions. Activities to Perform 1. Organize a discussion among your peers on the importance of different teaching competencies’ in a teacher’s life. Based on the conversation, prepare a concept note regarding teaching competencies and teachers.

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2. Survey to enlist the most valued competencies among the teaching community. Document and circulate the results of your survey via offline and online mode. 3. Plan a visit to some of the reputed educational institutions or organizations. Seek the guidance of teaching faculty from these institutions to better yourself as a humane professional. 4. Invite some psychology experts to appraise you and your peers regarding the process and techniques of offering to counsel. Carry on some counseling sessions under their guidance. 5. Request your institutional leader to organize a workshop helping you to develop the competency of conducting action research. 6. With your peers’ help, organize a workshop to learn and practice the art of becoming a reflective practitioner. 7. Plan a virtual meet involving ICT experts, tech-savvy teachers, and learners to discuss the ways and means of practicing blended learning in educational institutions. Questions to Work Upon 1. ‘The teaching of any teacher is mainly guided by his/her competencies,’ give your detailed comments on this statement. 2. Suppose you were given a choice, which three competencies would you like to master to better your teaching. Name these competencies and discuss the reasons favoring your choice. 3. You have been invited by a reputed educational institution of your region to deliver a talk on the topic ‘teaching needs more and more professional humane teachers.’ Write down the excerpts of your talk that you will deliver. 4. A colleague of yours seeks your guidance regarding improving her ability to plan, manage, and lead the teaching activities. What suggestions will you give to her? 5. Discuss the meaning and purpose of ‘transmitting, transacting, and transforming’ in the teaching process with appropriate examples. 6. Take an education problem of your choice. Prepare a plan to conduct action research on this topic. 7. Reflect on the experiences and challenges you faced in your institutions during the last fifteen days. Record your reflections in the form of an (i) reflective journal (ii) diary.

References Association of Professional Humane Educators. (2012). Professional guidelines for humane educators. Retrieved from https://aphe.org/Resources/Documents/APHE%20Professional% 20Guidelines%20revised%202012%20March.pdf Atkins, S., & Murphy, K. (1994). Reflective practice. Nursing Standard, 8(39), 49–56.

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Barbour, M. K., Brown, R., Hasler Waters, L., Hoey, R., Hunt, J., Kennedy, K., Ounsworth, C., Powell, A., & Trimm, T. (2011). Online and blended learning: A survey of policy and practice from K-12 schools around the world. International Association for K-12 Online Learning. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/2318439/ Boud, D., Keogh, R., & Walker, D. (1985). Reflection: Turning experience into learning. Kogan Page. Clayton Christensen Institute. (2015). Blended learning. Retrieved from http://www. christenseninstitute.org/blended-learning/ Cohen, F. (2014). How blended learning fits into the future of education. Retrieved from http:// mediashift.org/2014/08/mediatwits-128-how-blended-learning-fits-into-the-future-ofeducation/ DreamBox Learning. (2015). Blended learning. Retrieved from http://www.dreambox.com/ blended-learning European Commission. (2009). Overview of the European strategy in ICT for ageing well. Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/einclusion/docs/ageing/overview.pdf Ferrance, E. (2000). Action research. Regional Educational Laboratory At Brown University. Retrieved from https://www.brown.edu/academics/education-alliance/sites/brown.edu.academics. education-alliance/files/publications/act_research.pdf Gibbs, G. (1988). Learning by doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. Further Education Unit, Oxford Polytechnic. Glossary of Education Reform (2014). Action research. Retrieved from https://www.edglossary. org/action-research/ Jarvis, P. (2006). Towards a comprehensive theory of human learning (Vol. 1). Routledge. Mezirow, J. (1991). Transformative dimensions of adult learning. Jossey-Bass. Miller, J. P. (1996). The holistic curriculum. OISE Press. Misra, P. K. (2011). Lifelong learning for all in Asian communities: ICT based initiatives. i-manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, 8(2), 1–8. Misra, P. K. (2012). Open educational resources: Lifelong learning for engaged ageing. In A. Okada, T. Connolly, & P. Scott (Eds.), Collaborative learning 2.0: Open educational resources (pp. 287–307). IGI Global. Misra, P. K. (2016). Open access publications: A potential ally for blended learning in higher education. University News, 54(30), 03–08. Oxford Dictionary. (2020). Knowledge. Retrieved from https://www.lexico.com/definition/ knowledge Royce, J. (1999). Reading as a basis for using information technology efficiently. In Henri, J., & Bonanno, K. (Eds.), Information-literate school community: Best practice (pp. 145–156). Centre for Information Studies. Santrock, J. W. (2004). Educational psychology (2nd ed.). McGraw-Hill. Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Basic Books. Tichenor, M. S., & Tichenor, J. M. (2005). Understanding teachers’ perspectives on professionalism. The Professional Educator, XXVII (1 & 2), 89–95. University of Bristol. (2019). Action research. Retrieved from http://www.bristol.ac.uk/education/ study/continuing-professional-development-cpd/actionresearch/ Wisconsin Lutheran College (2020). A framework and context for the reflective practitioner. Retrieved from https://www.wlc.edu/uploadedFiles/Content/Academics/Programs_of_Study/ Undergraduate_Programs/Education/Teacher-Education-Handbook-AppendixG-ReflectivePractitioner.pdf

Chapter 11

Technology and Teaching

Background Technology, which has become an integral part of our lives, offers tremendous opportunities and possibilities to better our education system. But, we have to be very clear that technology is just a tool, and its significance is directly proportional to its judicious use. There is no denying that the use of technology in teaching and learning mainly revolves around teachers. Teachers use technology in their classrooms and motivate their learners to use it in many ways and for different purposes. Irrespective of the broader emergence and availability of technology, teachers still feel somewhat reluctant to take the maximum benefit of technology in teaching. To ensure its full use, teachers have to have clarity about the nature and potential use of technology, competencies to bring technology into traditional classrooms (face to face), and attitudes and skills to use different tools. Teachers also have to understand that the use of technology in teaching also raises many challenges, and they have to take measures to minimize them. This chapter discusses these, as well as other relevant issues regarding the use of technology in teaching. Key Themes Covered • • • • • • • •

Technology in Teaching Assistive Technologies for Teaching Purposes of Using Technology in Teaching Attitudes Toward Using Technology in Teaching Competencies for Using Technology in Teaching Provisions for Using Technology in Teaching Practices for Using Technology in Teaching Challenges for Using Technology in Teaching

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 P. K. Misra, Learning and Teaching for Teachers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3077-4_11

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Technology in Teaching

Technology is one of the most popular and commonly used words in the present times. Surprisingly, not many of us have much clarity about its meaning. Technology is popularly perceived as ‘means to convert theory into practice’ or ‘use of any scientific knowledge for practical purposes.’ These perceptions give us a hint that technology is something that helps in conducting useful, practical activities or fulfill our needs. Teachers are often accused of having a very narrow perspective about visualizing technology only in terms of tools and equipment like computers, mobile phones, cars, etc. Technology is much more than these creations, as observed by the National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council (2002) Technology comprises the entire system of people and organizations, knowledge, processes, and devices that go into creating and operating technological artifacts, as well as the artifacts themselves. (p.3)

Let us try to decode this definition with the help of a situation. A teacher is teaching to his students about environmental pollution. He decides to show a video on air pollution in his class. He searches a video on the Internet and displays it in his class with a laptop and a video projector. After showing this video, he asks his students to discuss and comment on the video’s content. Afterward, he suggests that everybody must write a note about environmental pollution by taking the help of the contents and situations presented in the video. He also suggests that every student must search for a different video on environmental pollution and share it with fellow students. Now see where technology is involved in this example. One will often think that ‘technology’ is involved here in only one place, using video. But this is not true. The technology is involved in the whole process in four ways: • • • •

Finding a video, Showing video in the class with projector, Using video in different ways for instruction and discussion, Asking students for searching a similar video and sharing.

As a teacher, you must keep in mind that in addition to using any tool or techniques, the way of using it also comes under the jurisdiction of technology. And this unique characteristic makes technology a must sought support for teaching. Berkeley Center for Teaching and Learning (2020) suggests that technology can support and enhance your teaching and student learning in three main ways: • It can expand the scope of classroom learning beyond the physical boundaries of the classroom (and also beyond the inclusion of only teacher and students). • It can expand the accessibility of, and engagement with, content and information. • It can expand the ways students can demonstrate what they have learned.

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The other interesting aspect that you must keep aware is that the word ‘technologies’ is often used in the literature and various documents in similar senses to technology. Besides technologies, different names like old technologies, new technologies, digital technologies, e-technologies, emerging technologies, information technologies, communicational technologies, and information and communication technologies are also frequently used in place of technology. More or less, these terms convey a similar meaning, using a particular technology or various types of technology together for different educational purposes.

11.2

Assistive Technologies for Learners with Special Needs

As stated in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), children with disabilities includes children ‘who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others’ (United Nations, 2006). Contrary to earlier trends, where learners with special needs were offered instruction in settings different from normal classrooms, the education systems of today work on the philosophy of inclusive education. The philosophy of inclusive education states that children with different abilities must be taught and trained in classrooms consisting of normal learners rather than separating them based on their abilities and educating them in separate schools. In simple terms, the concept of inclusive education emphasizes that both children with special needs and normal children must be taught together in a school under the same roof and by the same teachers. Suggesting the intent behind the advocacy of inclusive education, Ahmad (2015) suggests Addressing the individual learning needs of all children, youth and adults, with a specific focus on those vulnerable to marginalization and exclusion; inclusive education as an approach implies all learners, with or without disabilities, to be able to learn together through access to common pre-school provisions, schools and community educational setting with an appropriate network of support services, which can be possible only in a flexible education system that assimilates the needs of diverse learners and adapts itself to meet these needs, ensuring that all stakeholders in the system are comfortable with diversity and see it as a challenge rather than a problem. (p. 62).

This observation makes it clear that institutions, academic leadership, teachers, parents, and society have to play an active role and work together to ensure that every learner is treated well instead of their differential abilities. But among all these stakeholders, the role of the teacher is very important. The teacher has to ensure that children with special needs are provided sufficient attention and their learning needs are met in the classrooms. Besides teaching strategies and methodologies, assistive devices can help teachers a lot to teach and deal with children with special needs. The use of assistive technologies can help even a

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normal learner to maximize their learning potential, as suggested in a write-up of the World Health Organization (2021): Assistive devices and technologies are those whose primary purpose is to maintain or improve an individual’s functioning and independence to facilitate participation and to enhance overall well-being. They can also help prevent impairments and secondary health conditions. Examples of assistive devices and technologies include wheelchairs, prostheses, hearings aids, visual aids, and specialized computer software and hardware that increase mobility, hearing, vision, or communication capacities.

Assistive technologies are envisioned as a tool that can help learners with special needs to become self-reliant and independent about their personal and learning activities. Here, teachers have to keep in mind that assistive technologies do not cure or eliminate learning difficulties, rather helpful in compensating a learner’s skills deficits. For example, a learner who struggles with reading might benefit from listening to audiobooks. The good part of assistive technologies is that they can complement or supplement both normal and remedial instructions in the classrooms. At present, many assistive technologies are available in the market that is used successfully for overcoming or lessening the problems related to listening, hearing, reading, writing, organizing and memorizing content, and doing mathematics (Stanberry & Raskind, 2009). Let us have a look at some of the popular assistive technologies used for teaching and learning of learners with special needs: • Electronic Worksheets: Electronic worksheets that help learners to organize, align, and work on words, equations, and numbers on a computer screen are quite helpful for learners having disabilities like dyslexia. Such worksheets have features like text-to-speech or speech synthesizing that helps in numbers appearing onscreen to present in the form of audio. • Personal Audio Devices: Audio devices help learners to listen as well as record the lessons. Such devices are especially helpful for learners having hearing problems or struggling with auditory lectures. Learners having hearing problems can use such devices to listen without noise or up the volume level, while those struggling with audio lectures can use such devices to record lectures and modify the pitch up or down to make audio lectures more accessible. • Phonetic Spelling Software: Learners having learning disabilities like dyslexia often spell words phonetically. Phonetic spelling software helps such learners by recognizing their phonetic spellings and converting them to the correct spelling of words. Besides, such software is also designed to automatically convert the learner’s typing into the word that they intended to write. • Video Modeling: Learners with learning or physical disabilities often struggle to have normal social interactions. Video modeling is an alternative that helps such learners to experience normal social interactions. This technique helps the learners to watch a video demonstration of behavior and then imitate the behavior of the model. Video modeling can be used by teachers, parents, and friends to introduce normal social interactions among the learners facing difficulties regarding social interactions. Besides, these videos can also be used as a self-help tool to deal with linguistic, academic, and emotional problems of the learners.

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Assistive Technologies for Learners with Special Needs

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Box 11.1 Promoting assistive technologies among learners with special needs ∙ Identify that which learner needs what type of assistive device or technology. You can also take the help of experts to identify such learners and recommending which assistive technology will suit best to which learner ∙ Tell the parents that their ward needs assistive technology and the ways and process to procure the device ∙ If parents are not in a position to purchase the suggested device, you have to help them to find out means (NGOs, donors, government schemes) to get financial assistance to procure the assistive device ∙ Convince your institutional leadership to arrange some common and widely used assistive devices for learners with special needs ∙ Assist your institution to loan the procured assistive devices to learners with special needs ∙ Brief the learners about the potential benefits of using the recommended assistive devices ∙ Counsel the learners to get away from social stigma related to the use of assistive devices and come forward to use the devices without any fear or guilt

• Augmentative and Alternative Communication Devices: Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) is quite helpful for those learners having trouble with communication. AAC mainly uses symbols, aids, strategies, and techniques to enhance the communication process. This includes sign language, various communication boards, and both manual and electronic devices. There are three main types of AAC: (i) unaided communication systems (relying on the user’s body to convey messages), (iii) low-tech AAC (any type of aid that does not require batteries or electricity), and (iii) high-tech AAC (any aid that requires electricity or batteries) (Illinois University Library, 2020). In general, assistive technologies compensate for a learner’s skills deficits or area (s) of disability. As a fact, assistive technologies add to the remedial instructions given to the learners to overcome their deficits. For example, a learner could use remedial reading software and listen to audiobooks as well. Research has shown that assistive technologies can improve certain skill deficits (e.g., reading and spelling), increase learner’s self-reliance and sense of independence, and help learners to work independently (Stanberry & Raskind, 2009). Learners with special needs often seek the support of parents, siblings, friends, and teachers to complete learning tasks and activities, and assistive technologies can help them to trade the learning path independently (Ahmad, 2015). This means advocating and promoting the use of assistive technologies for learners with special needs is a win-win situation for both learners and teachers. But, not every learner has access to needed assistive technologies. World Health Organization (2021) noted that ‘In many low-income and middle-income countries, only 5–15% of people who require assistive devices and technologies have access to them.’ This means the role of teachers becomes much more important and significant to ensure that learners are having access to appropriate assistive technologies and use them effectively and efficiently. No doubt, this role requires skills and willingness on the part of teachers. Suggestions given in Box 11.1 may help you to promote the use of assistive technologies for the betterment of learners with special needs.

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Purposes of Using Technology in Teaching

You have gone through various reports, policy documents, and research literature to use technology in teaching. You might be thinking that you go to your class with a well-prepared plan every day, teach well, give learners enough opportunities to ask the questions, give them satisfactory answers, and come back. But naturally, you will think that you are doing well without any technology. Like you, many teachers think that they are teaching well without any technology. Are you all wrong? Certainly not? You are never teaching without technology, but always with technology. Your way of lecturing, asking questions, giving answers, and handling problems is itself a technology. You must keep a simple principle in your mind, ‘You are teaching better, but make your teaching best by using technologies.’ Highlighting the benefits of using technologies for teaching, Moyle (2010, p. 4) observes Technologies offer educators and students alike opportunities for creating meaningful learning environments. Technologies enable different types of social interaction, provide ready access to information and can overcome some of the difficulties presented by time and space. Students can create new materials, artifacts and new knowledge with the media tools now available to them. (p. 4)

This reading helps us to learn that technology is helpful for a teacher in many ways. Proper use of technology can bring several benefits to the teaching–learning process. • Supplementing traditional teaching: Traditional teaching has its advantages as well as limitations. In every class, you have several learners differing in their learning preferences and styles. Irrespective of your best efforts, you cannot meet all learners’ learning needs in a specific period. This situation is often termed as a limitation of traditional teaching. You can overcome this limitation by using technology. You can recommend different types of resources (audio, video, animation, text) and activities considering the learners’ specific needs. They can work on these resources as per their convenience and choice. This support means you can use technology to supplement traditional teaching. • Extending the boundaries of traditional teaching: The boundaries of conventional teaching are mainly confined to a classroom’s boundaries. When teaching activities of a particular day finish, both learners and teachers come apart and meet the next day to begin with where they left yesterday. Technology can help you to extend these boundaries of your classroom up to the home of your learners. You and your learners can keep connected throughout and carry out your teaching–learning activities even after the class. • Having more time for discussion in traditional teaching: In conventional teaching, often, teachers spent most of their time in the delivery of the content in the classroom. Teachers are so engaged in delivering content and completing the prescribed syllabus that they hardly have any time to invite learners to discuss and give their opinions on the presented content’s different aspects. Technology can help in this regard. Teachers can easily use various online platforms or

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Purposes of Using Technology in Teaching

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Box 11.2 Potential benefits of using technology in teaching ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙

Offering valuable support to overburdened teachers Presenting content from multiple perspectives Bringing the outside world to the classroom Converting the classroom as an engaging and happening workplace Providing wider choices and opportunities for learners Helping learners to learn at their own pace and convenience Motivating learners to engage in collaborative and active learning Extending teaching to meet the learning needs of individual learners Keeping a record of teaching activities and reproducing them if the need arises

learning management system to provide content to the learners in advance. After that, they can efficiently devote their classroom time in discussion and engaging learners in various ways. • Promoting collaborative activities in traditional teaching: Traditional teaching is often visualized as individualistic from the learners’ perspective. In conventional teaching, usually, teachers deliver a lecture or give presentations, and learners make a summary of it, try to memorize, and produce the memorized information during assessment or examinations. Technology can help to make this process more engaging and collaborative. For instance, they can share their summaries, notes, and resource by using online platforms. The learners can support each other to understand the content discussed in the class and engage in virtual discussions to make the content clearer and meaningful. There are many more such purposes behind the promotion of using technology in teaching. But, keep remembering that ‘technology is a means and not an end.’ The use of technology for teaching mainly depends on you and learners. You can use even the most basic and age-old technology, chalkboard, or whiteboard in so many ways to make your teaching wonderfully meaningful and exciting. Therefore, your role as a teacher is much more important than anyone else to ensure the maximum benefit of technologies for improving teaching. The following suggestions may be helpful regarding this (Box 11.2).

11.4

Attitudes Toward Using Technology in Teaching

There is a famous saying that in ‘in every walk of life, attitude matters most.’ This saying is equally true for the use of technology in teaching. The use of technology for teaching mainly depends on two aspects: (i) your attitude toward using technology and (ii) your competencies to use technology in teaching. Without having both, you cannot accommodate technology in teaching. Most importantly, the acquisition of skills to use technology in teaching mainly depends on your attitude. Attitudes are normally understood as an individual’s feelings toward any activity or situation or person or product. According to Cherry (2020),

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Psychologists define attitudes as a learned tendency to evaluate things in a certain way. This can include evaluations of people, issues, objects, or events. Such evaluations are often positive or negative, but they can also be uncertain at times. (para 4)

The attitudes are termed under different categories: positive attitudes, negative attitudes, supportive attitudes, critical attitudes, liberal attitudes, rigid attitudes, flexible attitudes, suspicious attitudes, etc. Now, you will be wondering who helps develop so many attitudes or how we develop attitudes toward a particular person or activity. Usually, attitudes are developed by our surroundings, people with whom we live, the situations we face, the literature we read, and many more factors. An article discusses the formation of attitude in the following words. Attitude formation occurs through either direct experience or the persuasion of others or the media. Attitudes have three foundations: affect or emotion, behavior, and cognitions. In addition, evidence suggests that attitudes may develop out of psychological needs (motivational foundations), social interactions (social foundations), and genetics (biological foundations), although this last notion is new and controversial. (Psychology Research & Reference, 2020, para1)

This discussion helps us to make two claims. First, attitudes play a vital role in picking and using technology in teaching. Second, teachers form different attitudes toward the use of technology. In light of both these claims, it can be argued that if you developed a positive attitude toward ‘technology,’ you will feel happy to learn more and use technology in teaching. And, in case you are having a not so positive attitude toward technology, you will feel reluctant to learn as well as use it during teaching. It means forming positive, supportive, and flexible attitudes is vital to benefit from the maximum use of technology in teaching. Therefore, you, as a teacher, at the individual level, are supposed to make continuous efforts to keep refining your attitudes. While forming attitudes, you have to remind yourself that extreme attitudes are always harmful in any situation or condition. And attitudes toward the use of technology are no exception to this advice. Enthusiastic support or intense hate or extreme suspicion about using technology will never lead you to the place where you want to go. You may have seen teachers always talking and praising technology, as well as those always criticizing and hating technology. The truth lies in between these approaches. The simple law of nature is ‘no system or technique can be totally beneficial to society.’ Even we humans are not always useful for Mother Nature. We are harming nature more than protecting it. Therefore, you have to be judicious enough to form your attitudes toward using technology in teaching and refining them based on your experiences and situations. Now, you will be eager to learn how you can form an unbiased and realistic attitude toward using technology in teaching and what it should consist of. Let us deal with both these queries one by one. First, understand that how we can form a realistic attitude toward using technologies in teaching? You can do it by keeping technology experts in the company, reading scientific literature, and observing things from their own eyes rather than seeing it from others’ perspectives. This habit will help you to make informed and well-planned decisions about using technology in teaching (Box 11.3).

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Competencies for Using Technology in Teaching

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Box 11.3 Forming supportive attitudes for using technology in teaching ∙ Read researches about the use of technology in teaching and think over the main findings ∙ Talk to technology experts to familiarize with different aspects of technology in teaching ∙ Listen to both supporters and critics of technology in teaching ∙ Ask your learners how they feel with and without technology in teaching ∙ Start using technology with a neutral mind-set and keep adding your experiences and feeling to it ∙ Think that things happen for good and planned use of technology will also be helpful to improve teaching ∙ Do not have too many expectations from technology ∙ Never buy others’ perception as it is; try to build your perspectives about technology in teaching

11.5

Competencies for Using Technology in Teaching

The use of technology in teaching mainly depends on the teachers. It is assumed that competent teachers can use technology more effectively and efficiently than an ordinary teacher. Therefore, it is obvious to know what competencies you need to use technology in teaching. There is no definite answer to this question. The reason is that the use of technology in teaching depends on the learning situations, nature of learners’ content, and characteristics. And these keep changing all the time. Therefore, a teacher always has to update his/her competencies regarding using technology in teaching. But, still, some competencies can help almost all the teachers of all the subjects. In different parts of the world, attempts have been made to list teachers’ technology competencies. For example, the International Society for Technology in Education (2020) has outlined several competencies for a teacher related to technology use in the teaching. From these competencies, some of those that are directly related to teaching are as follows: • Set professional learning goals to explore and apply pedagogical approaches. • Collaborate and co-learn with students to discover and use new digital resources. • Use collaborative tools to expand students’ authentic, real-world learning experiences. • Use technology to create, adapt, and personalize learning experiences. • Design authentic learning activities that align with content area standards. • Use digital tools and resources to maximize active, deep learning. • Explore and apply instructional design principles to create innovative digital learning environments. • Foster a culture where students take ownership of their learning goals and outcomes in independent and group settings. • Use technology to design and implement a variety of formative and summative assessments.

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Similarly, a document from Hunter School of Education based on the recommendations of ISTE, state certification offices, and the reports of teacher technology profile surveys of more than a thousand practicing teachers suggests five critical competencies related to the use of technology in teaching for teachers. The recommended competencies are organized into five aspects (Hunter School of Education, n.d.): • Productivity: Produce and manage learning documents, analyze quantitative data, and organize information graphically. • Communication: Use effective online search strategies, evaluate and compare online information and sources, and save and cite online information and sources. • Research: Communicate using digital tools, collaborate online for learning, and publish learning resources online. • Media: Differentiate instruction with digital media; capture and edit images, audio, and video; produce digital multimedia educational experiences. • Presentation: Create effective digital presentations, deliver digital multimedia presentations, and employ new media devices for learning. These recommendations make it clear that you, as a teacher, are supposed to have many technology competencies. There is no fixed pattern that you can trade upon. Considering that technologies keep evolving, you are supposed to acquire new competencies regularly. Instead, there are some essential competencies that every teacher must possess to maximize the benefit of technology in teaching (Box 11.4). Box 11.4 Basic competencies for using technology in teaching ∙ Learn necessary computing skills like producing a word document, making a presentation, preparing an excel sheet ∙ Learn skills to search for useful resources like books, articles, reports, videos for your learners ∙ Learn skills to upload and share different materials via email, social media platforms, learning management systems ∙ Learn skills to use various materials and resources like audio, video, text, animations, etc., to supplement your classroom teaching ∙ Learn producing different need-based resources for learners like presentations, audio lectures, video lectures, etc. ∙ Learn the tricks of conducting assessments of learners via online quizzes, assignments, write-ups, etc. ∙ Learn skills to have discussions and debates in both offline and online modes ∙ Learn skills to make the best use of the learning management system (LMS) of your institution or freely available LMS from third parties ∙ Learn skills to share different types of resources before the class so that you have ample time to discuss and deliberate on real issues

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11.6

Provisions for Using Technology in Teaching

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Provisions for Using Technology in Teaching

There is a general perception that we need so many equipment and facilities for using technology in teaching. The critics often say that educational institutions, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, cannot use technology in teaching due to resources’ paucity. Are these perceptions right or exaggerated? Let us try to find out? Digital technologies were out of reach to many in the last century. At that time, the use of technology means purchasing costly computers, setting big computer laboratories, paying hefty amounts for annual maintenances, and spending a lot on Internet services. There is no denying that technology was available in a handful of institutions in earlier times. And it was called that ‘technology is for elite institutions’ not for ‘every institution.’ But the situation has changed now. We no more need big laboratories and costly computers to bring technology in the classrooms. Technical advances like less expensive laptops, tablets, and smartphones made it possible for an individual teacher and learner to own and use technology individually. Gone are the days when both learners and teachers were dependent on their institutions regarding technology availability. This decade has given us one of the most powerful weapons of all the times in human history, ‘data-enabled smartphones.’ Even in low-income countries, the majority of learners are having data-enabled smartphones or will have these soon. And if someone owns this device, technology is very much with him/her. So, can we say that our institutions are fully ready to use technology in teaching, no? The use of technology in teaching depends on three things. • The attitude of teachers toward using technology, • Competency of teachers to use technology for various teaching purposes, • Availability of required technology support. Among these, attitudes and competencies are individual to a teacher. We have already discussed that you can form attitudes and acquire competencies at a personal level. But can you say a similar thing about technology? The answer is both ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ Now you can make efforts to use individually owned technologies like smartphones by you and learners to support the teaching–learning process. You can also use an online free learning management system to get connected to your learners 24  7. But to make things more planned and systematic, institutions are supposed to ensure the availability of the Internet, dedicated learning management system, technical support, and need-based equipment for teachers and learners. These requirements mean the use of technology in teaching can be initiated at the individual and institutional levels. But, often, the best results come when institutions facilitate teachers and learners to have and use technology effectively and efficiently. As a teacher, always keep in mind that there can never be a day to say that our institutions have enough and most recent technologies to use in our classrooms. Educational institutions have limitations and financial constraints to acquire every emerging technology. On another side, it has also been noted that technologies are

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Box 11.5 Useful provisions for promoting technology in teaching ∙ A mechanism to make available or procure needed hardware for use in teaching ∙ An institutional policy regarding the use of technology in teaching, including the use of online social media platforms ∙ An autonomy for teachers to use technology in teaching following institutional policy ∙ A well-planned and dedicated learning management system (LMS) ∙ A list of approved and acquired software that can be used for different purposes like delivering online lectures, recording and editing video and audio, etc. ∙ An ‘instructional manual’ for helping teachers to use and practice technology in teaching ∙ A well-thought, democratically discussed and parents-consented guidelines regarding the use of personal devices, especially Internet-enabled smartphones and tablets in the campuses

acquired or purchased with much enthusiasm but remain unused or underused afterward. For example, if your institution has a smartboard, take a note about its use by fellow teachers. You will probably find that this board is merely used as a showpiece to tell parents and the public that the institution is technology savvy rather than its real use. Therefore, the best way for you will be to look at what is available rather than what needs to be acquired. You can always give your best by using readily available and free-source technologies in your teaching. However, keep reminding and convincing your institutions to have better facilities and provisions to promote technology in the teaching–learning process (Box 11.5).

11.7

Practices for Using Technology in Teaching

What are the best practices for using technology in teaching is one of the frequently asked questions among the teaching community. Like many questions related to the use of technology, there is no definite answer to this question. Two factors guide the use of technologies in teaching. First, technologies keep evolving and changing all the time. Second, technologies can be used in many ways. These factors mean practices related to the use of technology in teaching keep changing. We have also to consider that the use of technologies depends on the teachers’ expertise and competence. Therefore, a practice that is good for a teacher may not be helpful for another teacher. Irrespective of these limitations, some general practices can be easily used in different situations and surroundings. Let us have a look at some of these practices. • Have clarity about the purpose of using technologies: As already discussed, the use of technology is guided by many goals. Knowing or deciding about the primary purpose of using technology will help you in many ways. This measure will help you choose appropriate technology, plan your lesson accordingly, and implement it to meet the decided objectives. It has been observed that teachers often use technology but do not have much clarity about why they are using it. Without this clarity, you will not reach anywhere. Using technology without any specified objective may spoil your routine teaching. Therefore, always have

11.7

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•

•

•

Practices for Using Technology in Teaching

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clarity about the purpose of using technology. If you are sure that technology can significantly contribute to your lesson, use it; if not, refrain from using it. Prefer cost-effective and readily available technologies: The world of technology is full of many software and hardware. Besides, technologies also keep evolving at a rapid pace. Often teachers feel confused about which technologies to choose and use for teaching purposes. Instead of picking any technology, follow a ‘research first and choose after approach.’ This approach is not new. You are already following it. When you go to a shopping mall or search online to purchase any product, think what you do. You review different products and compare them in terms of price, quality, offers of warranty and guarantee, ease of use, ratings, reviews, etc. You finally choose a product based on these criteria. You have to adopt a similar approach before selecting any technology for teaching. You must survey to know about the available technologies. Besides, you can also consult technology experts, peers, technical staff of your institution, and, most importantly, your learners. Based on these inputs, prefer to procure those technologies that are cost-effective, easy to procure, and convenient to use. Keep developing the competence of using technologies: There is a famous saying that ‘technologies demand practice.’ This saying means you have to keep practicing different technologies regularly. Without practice, even the best in business can falter. This practice will help you in two ways. First, it will give you enough confidence to use the technologies in teaching. Often, teachers feel reluctant to use technologies due to a lack of confidence. They think that there might be some mistakes while using technologies. And this is human nature, especially as a teacher, that we do not like to falter before our learners. Regular practice of using technologies will help you to use technologies without any fear or stutter. Second, training will help you to understand technologies better and use it in different innovative ways. Have patience while using technologies: As a teacher, always remember that technologies demand patience. Often we think that the use of technologies in teaching will bring immediate results, i.e., improvement in learning. Technology is not a jinnee. It is merely a means to achieve your results. There is no doubt that technologies are helpful in making teaching more useful and engaging. You need to give enough time while using technologies to bring intended changes in learners’ behavior. One other thing that you have to consider is that learners use technologies more for entertainment rather than learning. This tendency means you have to have enough time in hand and wait patiently for learners to migrate from the culture of ‘technologies for entertainment and social connectivity’ to ‘technologies for knowing and learning.’ Ensure learner engagement while using technologies: The use of technologies in the teaching process mainly remains teacher-centric. Teachers mostly use technologies to deliver online lectures, posting videos and resources, and giving assignments, whereas learners are primarily supposed to complete the assigned tasks and submit it to the teachers. You are supposed to change this approach for more extensive benefits. Keep reminding yourself that engaging learners is one

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of the most important reasons for bringing technologies into teaching. Therefore, always try to ensure the active engagement of learners while using technologies. You can do it in many ways. For example, you can suggest your learners give comments and suggestions on posted materials, search and share different materials related to the topic, engage in online discussions, offer or design exciting activities, etc. These opportunities will undoubtedly help the learners to accept and use technologies as a viable means for learning. • Invite comments and feedback after using technologies: Inviting feedback regularly and acting on the given inputs is one of the best ways to succeed in teaching. This principle is equally applicable regarding the use of technologies in teaching. We often use technology in teaching but hardly listen or invite the views of learners regarding this experiment. As a consequence, learners feel outsiders and mere spectators in this process. You have to overcome this situation by understanding learners’ perspectives and concerns regarding your use of technologies in teaching. Therefore, make it a habit to ask your learners how they feel about the use of technologies. You can further question your learners about other aspects of technology usage like – Whether they need any change in approach, – Whether they are comfortable with it, – Whether they would like to suggest any alternative technologies, whether they are enjoying, and – What amendments can be taken to. Besides, you can also invite your peers, time to time, to join your classes, and provide constructive feedback. This feedback from your learners and peers will ultimately help you to modify and amend your technology-related practices (Box 11.6).

Box 11.6 Useful practices for using technology in teaching ∙ Think over available options and pick the best ones for use in teaching ∙ Mention the types of technology to be used along with specific purposes behind using them in your lesson plan ∙ Chalk out a clear plan regarding the use of selected technologies ∙ Rehearse the use of technologies before performing actual teaching ∙ Work on the ways to involve learners more in teaching with technologies ∙ Keep asking your learners for questions and comments at regular intervals, instead of completing your lesson at one go ∙ Do not panic if something is not working well, come prepared the next day, and complete the remaining activity ∙ Always have an emergency plan to continue the teaching in case of problems/failure during usage of technologies ∙ Keep self-reflecting that how you can make technology-enabled experiences and activities more meaningful and exciting next time ∙ Invite your learners to give feedback about your efforts to use technologies and also suggest better ways of using them in the next class

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Challenges for Using Technology in Teaching

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Challenges for Using Technology in Teaching

We have already discussed the potential benefits of using technology in teaching. Instead of these benefits, technology has not become an integral part of the classrooms of many teachers. You will be wondering why teachers fail to utilize technologies in teaching even after knowing the benefits. Teachers do not do it inadvertently. Instead, many challenges keep teachers away from using technology in teaching. Knowledge of these challenges will help you, as a teacher, in three ways. • First, you will be able to make a plan to minimize these challenges. • Second, you may be able to take the support of your peers and institution to overcome these challenges. • Third, you will be able to look for alternative technologies for use in teaching. The challenges of using technologies in teaching are both human and non-human. And these challenges keep evolving and changing. These challenges depend on many factors like the institution’s leadership, availability of facilities and environment, and your competence and attitude. This is the reason that teachers face different challenges while using technologies. These challenges cannot be counted but certainly be clubbed under four main categories. Let us discuss these categories and challenges lying within. • Infrastructural challenges: The most fundamental challenge faced by teachers regarding the use of technology in teaching is the lack of requisite infrastructural facilities like hardware, software, Internet connectivity, and sitting space. Due to the availability of low-cost personalized technologies, particularly Internetenabled smartphones, this challenge is slowly coming down but still exists in most educational institutions. • Attitudinal challenges: The next major challenge is human. Still, some teachers feel reluctant to use technologies in teaching because they see ‘technology’ either as adversary or competitor. Few think that traditional teaching is a purist way, and technology is an attack on this purity. Some hardly have any appetite or will to use technologies. And those who still think that technologies are helpful for entertainment and social connectivity but not for learning. • Competency challenges: Slowly, teachers are picking the art and science of using technologies in teaching. Pandemics like corona forced them to embrace technologies in a much faster and meaningful manner. But, many teachers still feel reluctant to use technologies considering their competencies. Some think that they lack competencies to use technologies, and some are not willing to learn emerging technologies. • Usage challenges: Teachers need an institutional culture and a receptive atmosphere to promote technology use in the classroom. Often our educational institutions lack both these accounts. Many institutions hardly have any policy regarding the use of technologies in teaching. The institutions also lack the technical expertise to support teachers for this purpose. The traditional learning

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spaces (row and column-based) also act as a deterrent to using technologies during teaching. Besides, traditional classrooms are also not much receptive regarding technology usage. The challenges of using technology are of varied nature. Almost every teacher faces one or another challenge while using technology. Even the best in business faces challenges. Therefore, you need not be disheartened. You have to keep telling yourself two things: (i) Technology is just a tool, and you are the master to use it, and (ii) your will to use technology for improving teaching matters more than anything. Some ways can help you to overcome various challenges of using technologies (Box 11.7). Let Us Sum Up As a teacher, we cannot keep away from using technologies and no need to do it. Gone are the days when technologies were used only by elite institutions and privileged learners. Nowadays, technologies are getting available in personalized ways and affordable costs, and it is becoming easier for teachers to use them in teaching. There are not one but many technologies that can be helpful in teaching. This chapter helped us to learn the real purposes behind using technology in teaching. We also learned that attitudes matter a lot in using technologies, and there are different ways to develop favorable attitudes. Besides attitudes, the other thing that matters most in using technologies in teaching is our competencies. We learned that not every teacher comes prepared to use technologies but can acquire competencies for using technology in teaching with a will to do and sustained efforts. The chapter also taught us about the provisions that are quite helpful in promoting technology in teaching. We also came to know about different practices to use technologies to bring a new perspective and flair to our routine teaching. In the end, we also realized that there are many challenges in practicing technology in teaching, and we have to face them and found ways to overcome those challenges. Activities to Perform 1. Survey the availability and use of technologies (both hardware and software) in your institution, and prepare a detailed note based on your observations. 2. Organize a panel discussion on the topic ‘potential purposes of using technology in teaching,’ and prepare a leaflet based on the discussion’s key takeaways. 3. Prepare an online survey to assess the attitudes regarding using technology in teaching. Administer it among your peers and analyze the obtained data and discuss your results with them. 4. Request your institution’s head to organize an online technology competency development program for faculty members of your institution.

11.8

Challenges for Using Technology in Teaching

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Box 11.7 Practices for minimizing challenges for using technology in teaching ∙ Do not think that what technologies you do not have; instead, look that what you have and can use easily to support your teaching ∙ Do not sit back if you are not comfortable in using technologies; instead, learn about these by asking your learners, taking advice from experts, attending workshops, and joining online courses ∙ Do not wait for someone to tell you to use technologies; instead, start using technologies at own initiative ∙ Do not fall prey to the debates that technologies are harmful to teaching or very good for teaching; instead, use them judiciously and learn from their own experiences ∙ Do not feel disheartened if your institution or class is not supporting your efforts of using technologies; instead, keep using it and trying to convince them about its potential benefits ∙ Do not trade the path of ‘extreme liking’ or ‘extreme hatred’ regarding the use of technologies in teaching; instead, go for a middle way and judge technologies based on the experiences of learners ∙ Do not think that you have failed to make any big impact by using technology in teaching; instead, keep telling yourself that even small changes matter in the life of learners ∙ Do not see technologies as your rival or adversary or competitor; instead, treat them as loyal supporters who will exactly do what you want from them ∙ Do not think that technologies are a new burden to your overburdened life; instead, believe that if used correctly, technologies can be quite helpful to lessen your burden

5. Organize an in-house seminar to discuss the provisions for using technology in teaching. Invite some technology experts to deliver online talks on this issue as well. 6. Organize an online competition to invite entries on best practices of using technology in teaching. Form a jury to select the best entries, and give wide publicity to selected entries among the teaching community. 7. Invite two teachers each from your and nearby five institutions. Request them to share the challenges faced by them while using technology in teaching. After listening to all, have a group discussion to learn the best ways to overcome the shared challenges. Questions to Work Upon 1. National and international policy documents keep advocating the use of technology in teaching. Summarize their main arguments in your words. 2. In your view, what are the prime purposes of using technology in teaching? Support your answer by giving suitable examples. 3. ‘The use of technology in teaching mainly depends on the attitudes of teachers.’ Discuss your arguments in favor of or against this statement. 4. One of your friends has been selected as a teacher recently. What will be your advice to him regarding acquiring competencies for using technology in teaching?

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5. Being head of your educational institutions, what provisions you will have to promote the use of technology in teaching? 6. What practices you generally employ for using technology in teaching? Discuss them to benefit your juniors. 7. In your institution, what are the main challenges regarding the use of technology in teaching? Suggest an action plan to overcome these challenges.

References Ahmad, F. K. (2015). Use of assistive technology in inclusive education: Making room for diverse learning needs. Transcience, 6(2), 62–77. Retrieved from https://www2.hu-berlin.de/ transcience/Vol6_No2_62_77.pdf Berkeley Center for Teaching and Learning. (2020). Incorporating technology into your teaching. Retrieved from https://teaching.berkeley.edu/resources/engage/incorporating-technology-yourteaching Cherry, K. (2020). Attitudes and behavior in psychology. Retrieved from https://www. verywellmind.com/attitudes-how-they-form-change-shape-behavior-2795897 Galindo, I. (2020). The benefits of planning for teaching. Retrieved from https://www.ctsnet.edu/ the-benefits-of-planning-for-teaching/ Hunter School of Education. (n.d.). Teacher technology assessment and growth basic technology competencies. Retrieved from https://www.mackenty.org/images/uploads/Technology_Competencies. pdf Illinois University Library. (2020). Speech disorders: Common assistive technologies. Retrieved from https://guides.library.illinois.edu/c.php?g=613892&p=4265891 International Society for Technology in Education. (2020). ISTE standards for educators. Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/standards/for-educators Moyle, K. (2010). Building inovation: Learning with technologies. Victoria: ACER Press. Retrieved from http://www.research.acer.edu.au/aer/10 National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council. (2002). Technically speaking: Why all Americans need to know more about technology. The National Academies Press. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.17226/10250 Psychology Research and Reference. (2020). Attitude formation. Retrieved from http:// psychology.iresearchnet.com/social-psychology/attitudes/attitude-formation/ Stanberry, K., & Raskind, M.H. (2009). Assistive technology for kids with learning disabilities: An overview. Retrieved from https://www.readingrockets.org/article/assistive-technology-kidslearning-disabilities-overview United Nations. (2006). Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. United Nations. WHO. (2021). Assistive devices and technologies. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/ disabilities/technology/en/

Subject Index

A Active learning, 39, 123 Active learning into classrooms, 41 Active phase, 118 Actors responsible for learning, 2 Affective strategies of learning, 72 Annual planning, 135 Approaches to learning, 17 Approaches to lesson planning, 138 Approaches to teaching, 119 Assessment, 82 Assessment and learning, 81 Assessment for Learning (AfL), 83 Assessment of Learning (AoL), 90 Assistive technologies for learners with special needs, 183 Assistive technologies for teaching, 185 Associative learning, 41 Associative learning in classrooms, 42 Atkins and Murphy model, 174 Augmentative and alternative communication devices, 185 Augmented learning, 51 Augmented learning in classrooms, 52 B Behaviorist approach, 138 Behaviorist approach to learning, 19 Beliefs about teaching, 104 Benefits of AfL, 87 Biological approach to learning, 18 Blended learning, 125 Blended mode, 117

Bloom’s evaluation approach, 139 Boud’s triangular representation model, 173 C Challenges for using technology in teaching, 195 Challenges in learning, 9 Challenges of practicing AfL, 88 Challenges of practicing AoL, 94 Chunking method, 42 Classroom implications of behaviorist approach to learning, 22 Classroom implications of biological approach to learning, 20 Classroom implications of cognitive approach to learning, 25 Classroom implications of constructivist approach to learning, 25 Classroom implications of humanistic approach to learning, 31, 32 Cognitive approach to learning, 22 Cognitive strategies of learning, 61 Collaborative learning, 49 Collaborative learning in classrooms, 51 Competencies for successful teaching, 163 Competencies for using technology in teaching, 189 Competency to act as a professional humane, 164 Competency to act as a reflective practitioner, 173 Competency to adapt to blended learning, 176 Competency to conduct action researches, 172

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 P. K. Misra, Learning and Teaching for Teachers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3077-4

199

200 Competency to counsel, 169 Competency to embrace lifelong learning, 174 Competency to innovate, 171 Competency to plan, manage, and lead, 165 Competency to transmit, transact, and transform, 167 Components of a unit plan, 137 Comprehension strategies, 66 Connectivist approach to learning, 30 Constructivist approach, 138 Constructivist approach to learning, 25 Cooperative learning, 125 Criterion-referenced assessment, 83 Culturally responsive teaching, 125, 126 D Delegating style, 123 Demands from teachers, 164 Demands of teaching, 164 Designing AoL, 92 Difference between AfL and AoL, 90, 91 Directing style, 122 Disciplinary approach of teaching, 121 Discipline-driven approaches to teaching, 121 Discussing style, 123 Distance mode, 116 Driscoll’s what model, 45 E Elaboration techniques, 63 Electronic worksheets, 184 Experiential learning, 45 Experiential learning in classrooms, 47 F Face-to-Face mode (F2F), 116 Flexible seating, 124 Formative assessment, 82 G General format for writing a lesson plan, 144 Gibb’s reflective cycle model, 45, 174 Group-centered approach of teaching, 120 Guiding principles of teaching, 103, 105 H Herbartian approach, 139 Humanistic approach to learning, 26 I Importance of learning, 7 Inductive teaching, 125 Interdisciplinary approach of teaching, 122

Subject Index J Jasper’s ERA cycle, 45 K Keyword method, 42 L Learners-centered approach of teaching, 120 Learners-driven approaches to teaching, 119 Learning, 2 Learning about learning, 1 Learning about teaching, 99 Learning cycle, 5 Learning process, 4 Learning style-driven learning strategies, 75 Learning styles, 8, 9 Lesson planning, 137 M Management of teaching, 147 Managing diversity in a classroom, 156 Managing learners’ behavior, 153 Managing learners’ participation, 151 Managing learning activities, 156 Managing learning resources, 154 Managing the classroom, 150 Maximizing the benefits of phases of teaching, 119 Metacognitive strategies of learning, 65 Methods of teaching, 126 Methods of teaching and their characteristics, 128 Misconceptions about AFL, 89 Modes of teaching, 116 Morrison’s unit approach, 139 Multidisciplinary approach of teaching, 121 Multimedia learning, 53 Multimedia learning into classrooms, 54 N Norm-referenced assessment, 83 O Observational learning, 42 Observational learning in classrooms, 43 Organizational techniques, 64 Overcoming challenges to learning, 12 P Pathways for practicing innovations in teaching, 171 Perceptual approach, 139 Performance assessment, 82

Subject Index Personal audio devices, 184 Phases of teaching, 117 Phonetic spelling software, 184 Planning for teaching, 133 Post-active phase, 119 Potential benefits of using technology in teaching, 187 Practices for becoming a professional humane teacher, 165 Practices for managing learners’ behaviour, 155 Practices for managing learning activities, 157 Practices for managing learning resources, 156 Practices for mastering blended learning, 177 Practices for self-monitoring during teaching, 148 Practices for self-reinforcement for teaching, 149 Practices for using technology in teaching, 192 Practicing AfL in classrooms, 85 Practicing cognitive learning strategies in the classroom, 65 Practicing metacognitive learning strategies in the classroom, 71 Pre-active phase, 118 Principles for effective classroom managements, 151 Principles for learning improvement, 13 Principles for managing learners’ participation, 153 Principles of biological approach to learning, 20 Principles of cognitive approach to learning, 25 Principles of enjoying teaching, 112 Principles of humanistic approach to learning, 31, 32 Principles of the behaviorist approach to learning, 22 Problem-solving strategies, 67 Process of planning for teaching, 133 Process of teaching, 115 Project approach, 139 Prominent behaviorists, 21 Prominent cognitivists, 24 Prominent constructivists, 27 Prominent humanists, 29 Promoting assistive technologies among learners with special needs, 185 Purpose of teaching, 101 Purposes of learning, 6 Purposes of using technology in teaching, 186 R Reasoning strategies, 69

201 Reflective learning, 43 Reflective learning in classrooms, 45 Rehearsal techniques, 62 Revising and rehearsing the planning, 144 Role of teachers in AfL, 86 Role of teachers in AoL, 93 Rote learning, 37 Rote learning in classrooms, 39 S Searching and suggesting useful learning resources, 154 Self-evaluation of teaching, 148 Self-management for teaching, 147 Self-monitoring of teaching, 148 Self-regulation strategies, 70 Self-reinforcement for teaching, 149 Semester planning, 135 Situated learning, 47 Situated learning in classrooms, 49 Social strategies of learning, 73 Steps for planning a 5 E-based lesson plan, 141 Steps for planning a project-based lesson plan, 140 Steps of writing a lesson plan, 142 Steps to prepare a unit plan, 138 Strategies for designing AoL, 93 Strategies for learning, 59 Strategies for managing diversity in the classrooms, 159 Strategies for teaching, 123 Styles of teaching, 122 Summative assessment, 82 Supportive attitudes for using technology in teaching, 189 T Teacher as a leader, 167 Teacher as a manager, 167 Teacher as a planner, 166 Teacher-centered approach of teaching, 120 Teaching, 99 Teaching as a profession, 102 Technology and teaching, 181 Technology in teaching, 182 The 5E approach, 139 Theoretical ideas behind AfL, 84 Tools to support reflective practice, 175 Types of AoL, 91 Types of learning, 37 U Understanding learning, 3 Unit planning, 136

202 Using social learning strategies in the classroom, 74 Using technology in teaching, 191 V Video modeling, 184

Subject Index W Ways of learning, 5 Ways to improve teaching, 106 Ways to promote learning, 11 Writing strategies, 68