Teaching Without Gimmicks

Diana Senechal:

In discussions of "effective" teaching, we often hear about the "objectives" that teachers should spell out and repeat, the "learning styles" they should target, the "engagement" they should guarantee at every moment, and the constant encouragement and praise they should provide--all in the interest of raising test scores. The D.C. public schools IMPACT (the teacher assessment system for D.C. public schools) awards points to teachers who implement such practices; Teach For America addresses some of them in its forthcoming book.

Except for the misguided notion of targeting learning styles, none of these techniques is wrong in itself. But together they raise a barrier. Instead of bringing the subject closer to the students, this heap of tools proclaims: "No entrance! The subject is too hard without spelled-out skills, too boring without adornment, and too frustrating without pep talks and cheers!"

Worse still, such techniques take precedence over the lesson's content. A literature teacher is evaluated not for her presentation of specific poems, but for stating the objectives, keeping all students "on task," reminding them about the relation between hard work and success, using visuals and manipulatives, and, ultimately, raising the scores. It matters little, in such a system, whether the poem is excellent or trivial, what kind of insight the teacher brings, or what the students might take into their lives.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at January 24, 2010 2:31 AM
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