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x Approaches to Teaching PDSL – EN5211, PConway, Autumn 2021

Executive
Jim Murphy has taught a number of different lower classes in the primary school over the past twelve years.
The children like him. He is always firm and in command, but also kind and gentle. Jim believes that his
contribution to the education of these youngsters is to give them both a set of basic skills that will be useful
to them all their lives and a knowledge of specific subject matter that will allow them to successfully
progress through their schooling and eventually become productively engaged in a democratic society. He
has experimented with a lot of different curriculum materials drawing on the 1999 NPC, but the ones he
likes best and finds to be most effective share a number of common characteristics. They are highly
organized and systematic, so the children can follow them easily. Because of the materials’ logical
sequencing, the children are able to quickly develop useful patterns and strategies for dealing with them.
The materials are progressive; that is, the children need what they learn today to be able to do the work
tomorrow. Each new learning builds on the last and leads to the next. Jim also relies on numerous non-
threatening evaluations so he can know exactly how each child is doing, what each needs help with, and
when each is ready to move on. He prides himself on being a very efficient and effective teacher. Most
important, the children have a sense of accomplishment. They pride themselves on their achievements, and
more than a few have stretched their parents’ patience by insisting on reciting the whole of the
multiplication tables or a poem, showing how they can solve ten difficult maths problems, or classifying all
living creatures in appropriate zoological categories. There is a spirit of ‘can-do’ in Jim’s classes. He leads
and directs enthusiastically; he manages and executes skillfully; he judges and evaluates fairly. The
materials make sense, and the work is doable. Jim is a successful teacher.

Nurturer/facilitator
Nancy O’Flaherty is also successful at what she does. She teaches English to junior and senior cycle
adolescents who are beginning to discover who they are as persons. Nancy believes that the most important
thing an education can give to youngsters is some perspective on themselves, on who and what they are, on
who and what they might become. She teaches as if each word of literature they read was written for them
and was connected to their own life experiences. She finds that journal writing provides a real outlet for
feelings and personal perspectives, helping them to grow and develop, as well as a vehicle for encouraging a
student’s ability to communicate and write effectively. Books are chosen by her students because they are
about something they want to read about. There is no set curriculum. Any of the books in the school library
are fair game. Class discussions are genuine dialogues, the sharing of reading experiences by equals. Nancy
does not run the class as much as she runs with it. She shares her own perspectives and values with her
students; they see her as a sympathetic, understanding, encouraging adult, unlike most of the other adults in
their lives. They also see her as a teacher who cares about them as well as about the subject matter. There is
no doubt about her love for literature and poetry. It shines in her eyes. There is no doubt in their minds
either that she respects each one of them equally. It shows in her genuine interactions with each student.
Nancy feels good about her nurturing relationship with young learners.

Liberationist
Robert teaches history and geography in a disadvantaged secondary school that is beset by the many
problems of the under resourced urban settings. For many, however, his classes are an island of calm in a
sea of trouble. Racial and ethnic tension abound in his school. Robert understands and respects cultural
differences and tries to help his students do the same. He is, however, primarily a historian. His love for
history began at an early age, and as he progressed through his studies, he came to the realization that the
best way to learn history is to learn to be a historian. So that is how he approaches all his classes. Roberto
believes that education should be an initiation into the many ways human beings have developed to make
sense of their world. History and math, science and literature, music and art, all of the subjects are ways of
knowing. The theories and methods of the social sciences, for example, are ways we have developed to
understand the social world, and the skills and techniques of the historian help us unravel and make sense
of our collective past. His students quickly sense the difference in Robert’s classes. He treats them as people
who can think, who can have valid opinions and ideas. They quickly learn, however, that ideas and opinions
need to be backed up by facts. Historians cannot just tell interesting stories; they have to provide evidence
for their claims and interpretations. Perhaps the most exciting thing they learn is that there is not just one
true history. There are histories written from different national, cultural, and ethnic perspectives. There are
different interpretations of the same historical event. History is written by human beings trying to make
sense of the past, and no one is completely free of bias of some sort. Robert models the historian at work in
many of his classes and asks his students to do the same. They collect primary materials and secondary
sources dealing with an event or period of time. Conjectures and hypotheses are generated, and the
materials are mined to see if sufficient data can be found to support the students’ fledgling interpretations.
Students really appreciate reading diaries and letters, other firsthand accounts, and official reports. It makes
history come alive for many for the first time. While few if any of them will ever become historians, they
have, Robert feels, an appreciation of the past, of differences in interpretation and cultural perspectives, and
of a way to think and support claims made about human events. His students feel enabled.

TASK: Which teacher best characterizes your own approach to teaching – Jim, or Nancy, Robert?