Effective Pedagogical Practices

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 Effective Pedagogical Practices - in detail

 
Effective approaches are based on evidence:

Teachers are best placed to engage in effective pedagogical practices when they can
competently select and use high quality resources and/or approaches that have been built
around a strong evidence base.

With a strong awareness of what has been demonstrated to be effective, the choice of
particular pedagogical approach, or the selection of a particular program, will then depend
on the response to identified student learning needs.
 
School leaders model effective practice:

Masters (2010) suggests that principals need to take a strong leadership role in encouraging
the use of research based teaching practices in all classrooms to ensure that every student is
engaged, challenged and learning successfully. Effective principals will set high
expectations across the school that effective teaching strategies will be used, and will act as
instructional leaders in communicating, promoting and modeling evidence-based
approaches which may include:
 teachers set high expectations for every student’s progress and ambitious targets
for improving classroom performances
 all teachers implement teaching methods that have been shown to be effective in
promoting successful learning for all
 teachers create classroom learning environments in which all students are
engaged, challenged, feel safe to take risks and are supported to learn
 teachers work to build students’ beliefs in their own capacities to learn
successfully and their understandings of the relationship between effort and success
 teachers provide regular and timely feedback to students in forms that make it
clear what actions individuals can take to make further learning progress.

The importance of the principal’s role in assisting staff to engage in differentiated teaching
approaches is also consistently highlighted in studies cited by Hattie (2009:236) who
suggests “it is the differences in the teachers that make the difference in student learning.”

 
NSW schools use effective strategies

Each of the strategies above responds directly to students’ learning preferences, styles and
interests. Research, supported by classroom consultations in NSW schools, implies that
teachers need to engage in the following activities if differentiated teaching and learning
are to have an impact on enhanced student outcomes:
 developing a clear understanding about what students’ learning needs actually
are
 including what students need to be able to understand and also to do
 ensuring that teachers have a clear and comprehensive knowledge of what
students already understand and can do
 understanding when instructional methodologies need to vary to accommodate
differences in student learning needs or pace
 ensuring a range of strategies that can be employed to build variation into their
teaching plan.
 
Teachers reflect on their work and that of students

Research published by Effective Philanthropy (2011) highlights the importance of teachers


being able to adopt a reflective teaching approach if they are to become constantly
responsive to student learning needs. The most effective teachers combine strong
professional teaching skills with reflective teaching practice. They assess student
performance on a regular and frequent basis to understand where each student is up to and
what they need to be able to progress. 

Where their students struggle to come to terms with an area, they start by looking at what
they are doing as teachers and ask themselves what they can do/do differently to help the
student to learn. They then adapt their teaching strategies and practices to help make that
happen. They take responsibility for their students’ learning and look to themselves and
what they can control to help their students to develop and learn.

ANSWER QUESTIONS

1. According to this article, what is the main tool for teachers to engage students in their
classes?
2. In your opinion, teachers have; most of the times, resources to make their students’
learning process more effective. Yes/no? Why?
3. What does school leadership mean? Explain in your own words.
4. Choose three most important aspects for you about the evidence-based approach in
teaching and support them.
5. Do you think it is possible to focus a class on the students’ preferences or styles? Support
your answer.
6. Mention 3 advantages and 3 disadvantages of the evidence-based approach.
7. Do you think a teachers’ planning could include students’ performance regularly and
how it could improve the teaching-learning process.
8. Write an argumentative essay about teaching in the 21 st century, taking into account this
article.

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