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Different Approches to Teaching- which is most comfortable for you?

by Phil Dexter, British Council, Slovakia.

There are a deluge of course-books and other books for teachers that claim to be the up to date methodology which will transform your teaching and help your learners learn. Most of these materials can be very useful but how do you decide which are the best? How do you decide which good teaching method(s) are appropriate for you? How do you best incorporate new ideas into your own teaching style? Look at the following statements and decide which might help you discover what your approach to teaching and learning is. 

Which of the following statements are closest to your view? Of course, you may wish to agree with more than one statement or partially agree with more than one.

A    ".......The best way to learn how to teach is by watching experienced teachers in action and by modelling yourself on them. Teaching is a craft like any other and can be learnt by following the expert....."

B    ".......The best way to learn about good teaching is by following a teacher training course, learning about different theories and methodological approaches and applying them in practice. Through experience you can decide which of the theories are the best ones and disregard the rest. You will become a better teacher as you gain more experience (including attending more and more in-service courses)..........."

C    "....The best approach to teaching a foreign language is through a good understanding of both methodology/educational theories and your own intuition and knowledge of your school, your learners, your materials and teaching in general. By combining both your own experience and the experience of others you can try out different ideas in the classroom, reflect on your teaching and therefore continually improve......"

D    "......A good teacher training course should include an important element of self-development. Of course, I have learnt about teaching through reading methodology books, attending in-service courses and sharing ideas with other teachers, However, the idea that we should always take ideas from others and apply them in our own teaching can be very limiting. We need to look at ourselves and develop our own individual strengths and work on what we perceive to be our weaknesses. Only in this way can I improve my teaching..."

My response to the above statements

In my view there are (and can be) no right or wrong answers to these statements. The following is only my response. There is some value in all the approaches. My aim here, though, is to help you to think about how you might make your own judgements.

A ... You can learn a lot from observing other teachers - especially when you are a trainee or inexperienced teacher. There are definite skills to learn but teaching, for me, is about much more than technical skills. Of course, watching the 'craft' can be about much more than technical skills. You are watching how someone is being, doing and relating. However, you are focusing on how they are being, doing and relating. This may not work for you for all sorts of reasons. While there are always things to learn from others just following the 'expert' may not really help you . 

B    Learning about methodology and theory is important. Teaching cannot just be a collection of interesting activities or following a course-book lesson by lesson and unit by unit. All good teachers read methodology books, ELT journals and newsletters, talk to other teachers and attend courses. It is important to experiment with different ideas. However, there could something missing in this approach (which is often called an 'eclectic approach'). The focus is on others and taking ideas from others as opposed to you developing your ideas and your own approach.

C   This, for me, seems to be getting at what good teaching is really about as it involves other people's good experience and practice and your own knowledge of your school, your learners and above all your intuitions about teaching. This is sometimes called the 'reflective approach' and starts from your thoughts and hypotheses about teaching and then relates other ideas to them.

D   My strongly held view is that 'good methodology' should really involve a combination of both C and D. Theories, ideas in coursebooks, teachers books, and from in-service courses are very important but not quite enough. When you really think about it only you know what works for you. How you use ideas with your learners is something that only you can decide. By all means experiment with ideas learnt on courses or from books and materials. However, developing your individual style and approach is really the only way that you will develop as a teacher. Learner Independence is a very fashionable phrase at the moment. Perhaps what I am talking about is Teacher's Independence. It might be worth spending some time thinking about the aspect(s) of your teaching that you feel are specific to you, whether they are effective and if so why. What does this mean for the ways you want to, like and have to work. What inspires you is probably where your greatest strengths lie. If you play to your strengths you are probably onto a winner! 

Acknowledgement:

Some of these ideas have been influenced by these two books:-

 Wallace, M, Training Foreign Language Teachers, CUP, 1991
  Edge, J, Co-operative Development, Longman, 1992

An amended version of this idea in the form of a worksheet first appeared in 
Learner Independence Worksheets II, eds. Sue Sheerin and Phil Dexter, IATEFL 1999.

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