1.If you have (or have had) a role in teaching or training, do the concepts, theories and evidence described in my paper fit your own experience as a teacher or trainer?
I would regard conceptions 1-4 as being essential elements of most teaching beyond conveying the most elementary information. Students however often prefer 1 & 2 and this reflects the comment in Richardson that ‘the students themselves may conspire to induce the teachers to adopt a more didactic approach (Newman, 2004).’
I find that my introductory law students much prefer me to ‘teach’ clear information – such as the structure of the court system – than to consider in discussion the grey areas, discretionary nature and dependence on debateable evidence of most legal outcomes.
It is also worth considering that not all students will welcome 5. In our Elluminate discussion Ruth commented that she had had a student who, due to the poor regard that education had among his peers, concealed the fact that he was studying for a degree. The fear was that he would be accused of thinking that he was ‘better’ than his friends, which might result in alienation, or even violence, from them.
I have certainly known students who have not told their families that they are studying because of similar beliefs about education and people who study. I have also encountered one student who gave up a course rather than accept change to certain basic personal concepts that she felt important.
With regard to the ‘student or tutor-focus’ issue it seems that there is a tendency to tutor-focused approaches where there is a great deal to cover and not much time. Student- focused work seems much more time consuming as it will often progress at the pace of the student who is finding the material most challenging. If there is a need to ‘cover the course material’ this may mean that use of student- focused activities will need to be rationed.
I wonder if this is as relevant to the issue as the conceptions that the tutors have of what teaching is. We may aspire to student-focus but we need to get through the course. This may explain the disparity between self-reported conceptions and observed practices reported in Richardson:
‘However, in Trigwell and Prosser's study, more than half of the teachers described approaches to teaching that were less learner-focused and more teacher-focused than would have been expected from their reported conceptions of teaching.’
Teachers approaches to teaching
1. If you have (or have had) a role in teaching or training, do the concepts, theories and evidence described in my paper fit your own experience as a teacher or trainer?
I would regard conceptions 1-4 as being essential elements of most teaching beyond conveying the most elementary information. Students however often prefer 1 & 2 and this reflects the comment in Richardson that ‘the students themselves may conspire to induce the teachers to adopt a more didactic approach (Newman, 2004).’
I find that my introductory law students much prefer me to ‘teach’ clear information – such as the structure of the court system – than to consider in discussion the grey areas, discretionary nature and dependence on debateable evidence of most legal outcomes.
It is also worth considering that not all students will welcome 5. In our Elluminate discussion Ruth commented that she had had a student who, due to the poor regard that education had among his peers, concealed the fact that he was studying for a degree. The fear was that he would be accused of thinking that he was ‘better’ than his friends, which might result in alienation, or even violence, from them.
I have certainly known students who have not told their families that they are studying because of similar beliefs about education and people who study. I have also encountered one student who gave up a course rather than accept change to certain basic personal concepts that she felt important.
With regard to the ‘student or tutor-focus’ issue it seems that there is a tendency to tutor-focused approaches where there is a great deal to cover and not much time. Student- focused work seems much more time consuming as it will often progress at the pace of the student who is finding the material most challenging. If there is a need to ‘cover the course material’ this may mean that use of student- focused activities will need to be rationed.
I wonder if this is as relevant to the issue as the conceptions that the tutors have of what teaching is. We may aspire to student-focus but we need to get through the course. This may explain the disparity between self-reported conceptions and observed practices reported in Richardson:
‘However, in Trigwell and Prosser's study, more than half of the teachers described approaches to teaching that were less learner-focused and more teacher-focused than would have been expected from their reported conceptions of teaching.’