Effective teaching comes down to details
An email from a reader of last week’s column on the importance of recognizing individual differences in kids gave me pause for thought. I had not, suggested the reader, mentioned the one factor that every piece of research on improving student achievement identifies as “the biggie” — effective teaching.
I thought about the many classrooms in which I’ve had the opportunity to observe teaching and what I’ve seen that distinguished really effective teaching from teaching that missed the mark.
The difference always came down to little things often ignored by teaching-methods courses or seminars on philosophies of education.
I remembered teachers who taught me more about teaching than just the subject matter.
There was Sister Mary Joan, my elementary-school teacher through Grades 5, 6 and 7. A diminutive nun, Sister Mary always communicated an important message: Whatever her other callings in life, she loved to teach and, just as importantly, enjoyed working with us individually and as a group. Her own enthusiasm for what she taught and her time spent with us was infectious and shaped our entire experience of learning.
I always advise student teachers: “If you think this might not be for you, if you are not enjoying it, get out immediately.”
In my all-male secondary school, it was our Latin teacher whose classes we always looked forward to. His ability to teach Latin to a fidgety group of surfers and rugby players was something I still think about.
Cicero’s prosecutorial orations came to life, as our teacher would roar “Iste” (that infamous person, that thing of yours) and point his finger at the imagined wretch in the prisoner’s dock. Cicero was cool.
Later, as an undergraduate, it was fiery feminist author Germaine Greer, she of the razorsharp mind and wit, who taught our literature seminars. Pity the student who held forth with a halfformed opinion about James Joyce without being able to refer to page and paragraph that supported the opinion.
From Greer, we learned that to be effective, a teacher must really know his or her stuff. No bluffing your way through a lesson.
In grad school, it was Joyce Wylie, a sociologist and a contemporary of Margaret Mead’s, who taught us that a really effective teacher could truly “educate” — could “lead out” of the student knowledge that he/she did not know they possessed. But Wylie always knew exactly where she was leading us as it related to the goals of the lesson or seminar — no wandering off track.
I always came away from sessions with Wylie feeling smarter than I had before.
So, in later years, as I observed teachers at both the elementary and secondary levels, this is what it came down to: The best teachers clearly enjoyed teaching and children and could, without saying it out loud, communicate that they were doing what they loved doing.
The best teachers knew their stuff frontward and backward and, with a well-organized lesson (no winging it), could bring depth and colour to history or literature. I would watch kids visibly relax and enjoy a lesson when the teacher clearly knew what he/she was talking about and could explain it five different ways if necessary.
A poorly organized lesson with the teacher unsure of the subject matter is like watching a musical performance when the musician is struggling just to get through the piece.
The best teachers knew exactly where they were leading the class and why.
The most effective teachers knew the kids individually, not just their names but their capacities, and how, as individuals, they learned most effectively. Part of that was understanding that kids’ lives were being shaped by their experiences outside the classroom, as well as in it.
Come to think of it, there are strong commonalities between what we know about effective teaching and what the graduate business school leadership programs teach about effective leadership. Effective leaders do what they say they will do.
Effective leaders believe in the inherent worth of others and see it as a responsibility of leadership to help others be successful and feel empowered.
Effective teachers, like effective corporate leaders, have developed transferable leadership skills in planning, organization, presentation techniques and the confidence to deliver to groups, handle meetings, manage clients and deal with difficult situations.
It should come as no surprise, then, that teachers who have arrived at a point where they are looking for a career change often find they are valued and soughtafter by the corporate world.