What does Good Teaching look like?
The role of a teacher is to engage in a process that facilitates learning for the individuals (student, learners, pupils, colleagues) we are teaching. This then begs the question - what is learning? While there are many ways of conceptualising learning, at its’ core is the idea that learning is the transfer of knowledge and skills to the long term memory - it is a change in our long term memory, our human hard drive.
Returning then to our main question - if learning is a change in the long term memory of learners, what does the teaching that will help to achieve this look like?
In many respects this is a difficult question to answer. Learning as an outcome can be relatively easily measured by a test, however the process of learning, the journey to the learning goal is difficult to measure as it involves the mysterious organ that sits within our skull - the brain.
If we also factor in the multitude of contextual factors that impact if learning will occur, such as the learners’ situation (motivation, prior learning, expectations, stress levels to name a few), the social dynamic of a group, and the physical (and increasingly online) environment that the learning takes place, then it can be a challenge to outline clear guidelines.
There is however no shortage of advice as to what effective teaching looks like, some of it evidence backed and some of it not. For instance ‘theories of learning’ have developed such as Behaviourism, Cognitivism, and Constructivism, which provide alternative perspectives on the processes and conditions in which learning takes place, and there is a growing interest in the ‘science of learning’ with a clear focus on cognitive processes as a way of understanding how we can optimise our teaching.
While these are all valuable sources to draw upon, it would seem useful if we could distil some key principles that transcend all of the different learning environments and situations we may find ourselves, and can be applied regardless of which theory of learning we believe best supports our perception of the learning process.
Fortunately a study that attempts to achieve this exists, authored by David Baume and Eileen Scanlon (2018), it seeks to synthesis the findings of four large meta-analyses, and presents seven principles of what good teaching looks like, such that learning will be most effective when they are implemented, they are:
- A clear structure, framework, scaffolding surrounds, supports and informs learning
- High standards are expected of learner, and are made explicit
- Learners acknowledge and use their prior learning and their particular approaches to learning
- Learning is an active process
- Learners spend lots of time on task, that is, doing relevant things and practicing
- Learning is undertaken as least in part as a collaborative activity, both among students and between students and staff
- Learners receive and use feedback on their work
We also need to be clear on the requirements of learners both in sessions and also for assessments, and all of this needs to be communicated clearly and effectively, such that the learner is fully aware of the expectations of them. They need to see the mountain, the waypoints along the route to the top, and have a clear understanding of how they will get there.
Principles three, four and five focus on the fact that learning is an active process. This active process can manifest in both physical and/or cognitive activity, however research suggests that when students adopt a passive approach whereby learning is something that washes over them (a good analogy being that the student is a bucket that the teacher simply fills up with knowledge), then the outcome is significantly limited in relation to more active learning approaches.
An important part of this active process is the engagement with past experiences and prior knowledge. The change in the long term memory (learning) that is desired, is something that is continually reshaped and reiterated, such that we assimilate new knowledge within existing knowledge, and where required tear down existing understandings should it become evident that they contradict our new conceptions.
The sixth principle is concerned with the idea that while the process of transferring information to the long term memory is a personal experience, there is great value and benefit in collaborative and interactive approaches that encourage dialogue between students, and between teachers and students.
Not only can this lead to further learning through recall, having to formulate ideas effectively to be able to communicate them, and the feedback that is received between individuals, collaboration can also lead to greater motivation and persistence to the learning process and as such better outcomes.
The final seventh principle states that feedback is a vital part of the learning process, such that it can provide clear guidance and instruction on what went well and not so well, and also how to move forward. Feedback can be elicited from a variety of sources, such as the teacher, peers, external sources, and the outcome of the task itself, with the ultimate goal that learners can formulate their own effective internal feedback.
As has been outlined, good teaching and by default effective learning, is a complex process and subject to a multitude of factors and considerations, aligned to the challenge that we cannot see the learning process happen. Application of the 7 principles above however, can help to optimise the learning experience for learners, and so can form the basis of 'what good teaching looks like'.
Reference:
Baume, D. and Scanlon, E. (2018). What the research says about how and why learning happens. In: Luckin, R, ed, Enhancing Learning and Teaching with Technology - What the Research Says, 1st ed. London: UCL IoE Press, pp. 2-13.
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