Name: Rawan Abdelmoneem Saad Elkholy

Department: Professional Diploma in curricula

and Teaching methods in biological and
geological sciences in English

Subject : Teaching Strategies

Title : Self-Study teaching strategy

Prof : Rabab Abo-Elwafa

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 (( SELF-STUDY TEACHING STRATEGY ))

Introduction: -

The philosophy of self-learning has developed since the 1970s and early
1980s and has become one of the main features in education in the late 20th and
early 21st centuries. Self-learning goes by many other labels including self-
directed learning and self-access learning (Ranabahu and Tamala, 2006).
Language learning and self-learning has a fundamental philosophy which is based
on the idea that students need to learn how to learn. At the same time, they need to
learn how to be critical thinkers and learners, thus making them active and
productive global citizens. This philosophy of learning came as a reaction to the
mechanized individual programmed learning of the 1950s and 1960s, where
learning a language was considered as a mechanical process where practice and
learning of drills were considered as the new way of learning languages (Ranabahu
and Tamala, 2006). Peters (2000) pointed out that the term self-learning was used
in 1970s when Moore (1973) defined it as the ability that learners have in order to
decide on their learning.

Research of modern linguistics has established that learning of a foreign

language is very complicated. It is a process of cognitive development. The teacher
should guide and train his/ her learners to learn with plans, aims, and choices to
evoke learners to have their own learning strategies. According to modern
linguists, the cultivation of learning strategies should be done in the classroom and
divided into five parts: presentation, in which the teacher tells the learners the
strategies they are to learn; modeling of strategies, in which the teacher shows how
the strategies work; training, where the teacher provides relevant materials to test
the strategies; evaluation, where the teacher examines how well learners have

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mastered the new strategies and lastly; expansion, where the teacher provides more
opportunities for learners to test the strategies they have learned. (Fuming, 2007).

Margel (1998) stated that constructivism was founded by Bartlett in 1931.

Constructivists believe that learners can construct their own reality or interpret it
according to their experiences.

Bruner (1966) developed a framework for learning in which he regarded

learning as an active process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts
based upon their current and past knowledge. The learner chooses and transforms
information, constructs hypotheses, and makes decisions, relying on a cognitive
structure to do so. Cognitive structure (i.e., schema, mental models) provides
meaning and organization to experiences and allows the learner to get the
information given. Bruner (1966) argued that the teacher should try to encourage
his/ her students to discover rules by themselves. The teacher and student should
participate in an active dialog. The task of the teacher is to translate information in
order to help his/ her learners to understand easily. Bruner (1966) suggested that
curriculum should be organized in a spiral manner so that the student continually
builds upon what he/she has already learned.

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Definition: -

Self-study is the ability of the individual to use his/her skills in learning

process, it’s a student-centered approach, it’s also encourages teachers. to examine
their role and responsibilities to their students. It allows teachers to assess
their personal and practical theories in a situated context or in a particular setting ‫؛‬
Teaching starts with planning , Planning leads to acting, observing the actions
leads to evaluating the results. And this parallels what teaching is about. The
teacher plans for instruction. The instruction is implemented. The teacher observes
the instruction in progress and evaluates the effectiveness. This cycle of plan,
implementation, observation and evaluation, this spiraling parallels the spiraling
nature of research. It takes time to move from where one is as a teacher/researcher
to that goal of where one might want to be. It cannot be attained in a split second.
It requires thoughtful progress toward a goal, toward a belief, a value. And it is the
moving forward toward that belief and value that leads to new areas of focus, new
goals, expanding the spiral.

Cochran-Smith and Lytle (2004) discuss self-study as one form of

practitioner inquiry used by higher education faculty who work in the area of
teacher education. They note that self-study often uses biographical,
autobiographical, and narrative forms of data collection and analysis. Self-study
acknowledges and honors the postmodern assumption that the “self” cannot be
separated from the research process or in teaching (p. 607). Self-study employs d
Cochran-Smith and Lytle (2004) discuss self-study as one form of practitioner
inquiry used by higher education faculty who work in the area of teacher
education. They note that self-study often uses biographical ,autobiographical, and
narrative forms of data collection and analysis. Self-study acknowledges and
honors the postmodern assumption that the “self” cannot be separated from the

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research process or in teaching (p. 607). Self-study employs diverse methods and
uses primarily qualitative research to analyze and represent findings. averse
methods and uses primarily qualitative research to analyze and represent findings.

Beck, Freese, and Kosnik (2004) describe self-study as an inquiry-oriented

approach that is personal, reflective, collaborative, and constructivist. Hence they
use the term a personal-constructivist-collaborative approach to emphasize
important components of self-study. Self-study involves a strong personal
reference in that it involves study of the self and study by the self. When we
identify our own personal focus of inquiry, we feel an ownership of the research
and are more motivated to address our dilemmas of practice and gain a deeper
understanding of our teaching practice. Self-study is constructivist because it
includes elements of ongoing inquiry, respects personal experience, and
emphasizes the role of knowledge construction. The collaborative component of
self-study acknowledges the important role of the social construction of
knowledge.

Bullough and Pinnegar (2004) argue that the inclusive nature of self-study
and its multiple definitions provoke a continuous and communal conversation
about its characteristics. Regardless of the stance, Hamilton and Pinnegar (1998a)
conclude “acritical examination of the self’s involvement both in aspects of the
study and in the phenomenon under study” are central to self-study (p. 240).

Self-study teachers work to articulate knowledge discovered about their

practice so their work moves beyond the individual self (Loughran, 2005).The goal
of self-study is to investigate questions of practice “that are individually important
and also of broader interest to the teacher education community” (Loughran, 2004,
p. 9).With colleagues, self-study teachers collectively question and explore the

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complexities and possibilities in their teaching, and the interplay of their teaching
Actions within that exploration.

Self-study teachers work to articulate knowledge discovered about their

practice so their work moves beyond the individual self (Loughran, 2005).The goal
of self-study is to investigate questions of practice “that are individually important
and also of broader interest to the teacher education community” (Loughran, 2004,
p. 9).With colleagues, self-study teachers collectively question and explore the
complexities and possibilities in their teaching, and the interplay of their teaching
actions within that exploration.

When to use the self-stud teaching strategy :-

The classroom is a complex environment that requires more from a teacher

than just technical or applicative knowledge (Greene, 1978). It is often tapping into
the ways of knowing and of social and cultural Contexts that constitutes the notion
of effective teaching.

Self-study provides a process for contextualizing these complexities and for

organizing one’s reflective processes around a particular focus. Palmer (1983)
suggests that educational systems and instructional practices are designed around
creating a reality that simplifies life. He claims that much of what is considered
objective teaching (and research on objective teaching) persists because it limits
questioning, helps teachers control the environment, and allows us to feel in charge
of an object-world. His concept of learning is based on change and interaction that
reflects the real complexities of teaching: ‘‘To learn is to face transformation. To
learn the truth is to enter into relationships requiring us to respond as well as
initiate, to give as well as take’’ (p. 40). In self-study, the process of research
reflects learning as defined by Palmer. Through self-study, teacher-researchers

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place their values on the table. These values become the impetus for their research.
The inquiry into these beliefs and values through practice provides insights into the
manner in which the teacher-researcher imbue their teaching with their beliefs and
values. These insights are transformational in that they inspire the teacher-
researcher to respond, to make change, to transform practice as the teacher-
researcher progresses toward the goal that is the envisioned belief.

This progression in self-study characterizes teaching as well. Teaching is

progressive in nature insofar as teachers become more informed and adept at
instruction, interactions, management, and integration of content, time and
materials. In order that teachers progress in their knowledge of teaching, they must
also progress in their understanding of reflection. Berliner (1986, 1987) suggests
that teachers with different levels of experience organize and negotiate the
information and knowledge available to them differently both in the way they
conceptualize the classroom and in the way they implement instruction. Earlier
research on reflective practices in teaching supports this tiered notion of teacher
knowledge through a hierarchical 3-stage model of teachers’ use of reflection (Van
Manen, 1977). In this model, at the first level teachers appear concerned with
applying knowledge and using appropriate strategies. At the second level, teachers
move beyond concern about correct practice choice to concern about the
underlying assumptions within those practices. At the third level, teachers are more
concerned with the moral and ethical issues surrounding practice.

While the hierarchical model relates well to the novice and master teacher
phenomena, a non-hierarchical model can also be used to examine the elements
that foster reflection: cognitive, critical and narrative (Sparks-Langer & cotton,
(1991). The cognitive element refers to the knowledge about content and pedagogy
teachers have that leads to the decisions made about instruction. The critical

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element relates to the moral and ethical views that influence the decision-making
process and, the narrative element is the teacher’s actual account of the classroom
experiences. In this model, both novice and experienced teachers use these three
elements in their teaching, but the degree to which they address these elements
may vary by experience, which spirals ever broader as their experiences increase.
These elements of reflection work well with the idea of self-study in terms of what
knowledge is known, the ethical issues surrounding that knowledge, and the
subsequent instruction.

Self-study of teaching and teacher education practices recognizes the

complex and multivariable nature of the teaching/learning environment. However,
educational changes in the United States in recent years (e.g., a focus in ‘‘scientific
research’’ as the sole basis for instructional practices, licensure measures that focus
solely on learned skills) have ensconced US teaching in technical rationality, based
on ‘‘a set of technical skills that virtually anyone, properly motivated, can
acquire’’ (Brubacher, Case & Reagen, 1994, p. 16). The complexity of the
classroom is overshadowed by such a simplistic view of teaching (and therefore
learning) as relatively context-free and culturally generic. In such a view of
teaching and learning, teachers are seen as technicians possessing the right skills to
orchestrate the classroom. Brubacher et al. (1994) argue that within the context of
the complexities of the classroom, a more accurate description of the role of the
teacher is that of decision maker rather than technician. A decision maker
combines the use of technical knowledge with the art of teaching to create an
environment for learning. It is this decision-making role that becomes a pivotal
focus of self-study.

Using self-study strategy helps to get students more engaged in the learning
process , so it’s useful to use when I want students to learn at their own pace ,

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because ‘knowledge acquisition’ now takes place outside the classroom, each
student can control it to match their own personal abilities and appetite. In a
traditional classroom instruction-based method relies on every student absorbing
and understanding at the same time and pace. But self-study learning strategy
doesn’t. This can be particularly liberating for slower learners. No longer do they
feel the burden of having to ‘keep up’; they’re free to learn in a way that works for
them. And if they want to go back and study something again, they can.

Self-study researchers in teacher education and in teaching have studied

their own practice in many different ways. This research has been powerful in
making a difference in teacher-researchers’ understandings of their practice,
awareness of their beliefs in action, and improvement in their practice over time.
critical across their work is the grounding of their research in their values and
beliefs. from this grounding arises the purpose for their studies and the action for
change, both of which lead them to new understandings of their teaching and of
their professional selves.

Self-study in teaching is the ability of the teacher to motivate his/her

students to study the wanted curriculum on their own or by themselves by using
their abilities to study under his/her guiding; Self-study takes into account
individual differences and allows learners to acquire the habits and skills of
continuing self-learning.

Self-study is useful when I want to encourages students to come to class

prepared, after students have engaged with the content at home, they can come to
the classroom prepared with ideas and questions. It’s a great way to involve
students in shaping the classroom sessions, and thereby nurture their sense of
responsibility.

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Methods of self-study teaching strategy

 Identify learning objectives: The student should define the goal to be

achieved by specifying the field in which he wishes to research and read
about, or the skill to be acquired.
 Start creating background on the topic: By starting to read and
understand the topic gradually, then delve into its details, so that the student
can fully understand the topic in all its aspects.
 Programmatic learning: And that is through setting up a sequential,
organized and fragmented program for the learner so that it takes into
account student capabilities in order to being able to accomplish it, and what
distinguishes this method is its observance of the individual differences and
the different speed of learners .
 E-learning and technology: The Internet is used to obtain extensive
knowledge of all kinds, whether written, audio, visual, or video films and
others, so that it enables learners to take knowledge and information from
several reliable sources.
 Learning through inquiry and discovery: The student should ask
questions, do researches, read and not accept the information as it is, so the
student should raise questions about what he is looking for in order to access
the information himself.
 Learning in small groups: Some people may think that this method of
learning may conflict with self-learning, but the truth of the matter is that
this method helps the learner to access knowledge by exchanging opinions
and experiences with others instead of relying on the lecturer.
 Learning by using problem-solving technique: It is represented by trying
to solve the problem individually when it exists or if it is assumed, which

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 gives the learner the skills and abilities to solve the problems facing him
creatively, and this develops learners thinking.
 Learning through acting and drama: As the self-educational process is
represented by the learner's own role in representing the material to be
learned.
 Field learning: This type of learning is based on the learner’s actual visits
to museums, monuments, parks and forests, and various institutions, as they
confirm and document information on the real life.
 Learning through personal projects: The learner is assigned to create an
integrated project, plan and implementation, so that it takes care of all its
details, and the learner is responsible and the main focus of this project to
achieve the best results.
 Test-reinforced learning: The enhanced learning strategy is known as
testing or retrieval of information as the student’s ability to remember
information based on the tests that are given to learners. They may be
written tests and the answers are more extensive and detailed, in which
knowledge is activated and information is retrieved for the educational
content. The second is objective tests such as multiple choice, as it is
limited to choosing the correct.
 Elaborative self-explanation : The elaborative self-interpretation strategy
relies on the student to raise questions about the educational content that
stimulate memory and recall, which in turn stimulates information
memorization, which helps to better understanding of the material and use
that knowledge to solve problems.
 Distributed practice : it’s used to ensure that the information in the
educational content is remembered for a long time, and that is by dividing

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 the academic content and distributing the effort and studying it over different
sessions, which constitutes the ability to retrieve the information for a long
time, for example it is recommended when studying the material for the
exam to divide it into parts to study it over a long period of time and not
repeat for long hours before the exam.
 Interleaved practice: it depends on studying different topics or multiple
subjects at the same time instead of studying the same subject, and focus on
them well before moving on to study other subjects, and this method is
considered more effective in developing the skills of the mind in solving
problems and classification, and the ability to transfer the information that
has been acquired, and keep it for a period long.
 Monitoring the student's learning process : The student should follow up
on what has been learned, and check the extent of his ability to achieve his
goals that he set, follow them up and evaluate them on an ongoing basis, and
this will be in accordance with the standards set by the student himself.
 The student's sharing of what he learned with others : By discussing
what he has learned from the experiences and information of the other
students, and thus confirming that information, and developing his self-
confidence in front of them.
 Make something out of what the student learned: means the necessity of
reviewing and summarizing what was learned through a diagram, summary
book, or song, and this helps to retrieve information and establish it in the
student’s mind, and set new goals that complement the goals that have been
achieved.
 Using game-based learning strategies: It is necessary in the educational
process to use motivation and reinforcement in learning, and that is that the

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 student puts a reward of some kind upon achieving a goal, which gives him
an incentive to reach this goal to obtain the reward.
 Development of internal motivation: This self-motivation comes through
the desire to learn, it only comes with training and education, and this
motivation can be enhanced by reading, searching for information and facts,
and sharing what has been learned with others.
 Understand the student's approach: it lies in the student's identification of
the method or method that suits him in the learning process, and the
selection of subjects that fit his directions.

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Students Role:-

“The role of students in a self-study project is less about looking at the

self than it is about looking at what is going on between self and
practice. there is always a tension between those two elements, self
and the arena of practice, between self in relation to practice and the
others who share the practice setting. Each self-study researcher must
negotiate that balance, but it must be a balance – tipping too far
toward the self side produces solipsism or a confessional, and tipping
too far the other way turns self-Study into traditional research. this
balance of self and the arena of practice is an important one. Coming
to grips with the understanding of what it means to study self was an
evolving one for me as a researcher. My earliest efforts in self-study
framed the reliability of the data in terms of outsiders’ views of my
teaching (Tidwell & Heston, 1998). Through the use of students’
practical arguments and my role as the evaluator of those arguments,
the examination how students used practical argument to discuss their
actions and the beliefs that stem from those actions. Using the content
of their language, and the way in which they were able to connect
reading theory to reading practice, I examined their language and their
connections to the content I had been teaching. In this self as
evaluator position, my research focused on the question: Did their
understanding of concepts being taught come through in their
discussions of their rationales for their practice? I was tipping too far
to the side of traditional research. From an action research standpoint,
I could argue that I was following Lewin’s (1946, 1952) frame of
planning, acting, observing and evaluating my practice. But the locus

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 of my study was actually others, their understandings and their voice.
At that time in my research, I felt comfortable studying my practice
through others’ voices and perceptions. It gave me a sense of being
objective in my research. And, indeed, it was a way to look at the
manner in which the content I taught was manifested in my students’
language. While this was not a self-study that placed self in the center
of the research focus, it was a form of action research that answered
questions about my own teaching, about my self as teacher through
the lens of the students. Yet for me, it was a large step away from the
science model of research. It made me somewhat uncomfortable to
not be able to demonstrate statistical significance. However, I realized
the importance of examining the environment of my teaching in a way
that could not be quantified. There’s a research in teacher beliefs had
used qualitative methods of inquiry to examine patterns in the ways
teachers talked about and represented their beliefs. Specifically, I used
the constant comparative method of analysis to develop categories
emerging from the data. This type of research provided me with a
handle to hold on to in discussing self-study. It was important for me
to be able to justify my self-study research method using a
triangulated design for data gathering and a recognized method for
data analysis” (International hand book of self-study of teaching and
teacher education practice p75&83)
 The learner takes a positive and active role in learning.
 Students should have the ability to communicate with others and
coexist with them.
 Having the ability to innovate.

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  Awareness of self-interests and responses.
 Considering the credibility of content.
 Being open to new sources of information and perspectives.
 Continuing to build on the combination of feelings, information and
new discoveries.
 Adapt to changing conditions.
 Search, experimentation, and be organized.

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Teachers Role: -

We should realize that objectivity is elusive and that the research decisions
to create that objectivity belie subjective beliefs, places the decisions for research
questions and research design in the meaningful base of context. As the heading
for this section suggests, it is more than the object or subject that we study, it is the
context in which the object or subject exists and the relationship between that
context and the object/subject that is the point of study. In teaching, the classroom
context and the relationship between students and teachers in that context provide
the focus for examination of self and practice. In the classroom, self-study of
teaching. there are some practical procedures that the teacher should follow in
order to enhance self-learning; first, the teacher must give the learner enough
respect especially to those whose English is not good, to help them build up self-
confidence in learning a foreign language like English . next, the teacher should
vary and use extra-curriculum activities that can meet the needs of learners at
different levels and increase their sense of participation. The role of the teacher in
the classroom should shift from the classical teacher/textbook model to the more
self directed model. In this situation, teachers should vary the use of extra
curriculum activities that meet the learners’ interests and thus increase sense of
participation, they should conduct continuous evaluation of learners and develop
an acceptable criteria of performance for the collective whole.

The teacher has to follow the satisfaction strategies in which he/she should
know that learner will desire to do well, will think about success, and will feel bad
if he/she fails; give infrequent feedback; continue to monitor learner’s progress
when needed; require self-evaluation at intervals and at the end of the task shares

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ideas-in-progress with learner and suggests topics learner can write about for
publication.

 Know the capabilities of learners, their tendencies and attitudes.

 Helping learners acquire some basic skills to solve the problems they
face.
 Diagnosing the needs of each learners and evaluating their progress in
the study.
 Planning educational situations commensurate with the capabilities of
learners.
 Creating and developing an self-study plan.
 Planning and organizing the classroom and lessons, in order to build
an appropriate and effective environment for learning.
 Provide advice and guidance Raising and challenging thinking by
posing a problem or an inductive and inductive framework.
 Listening carefully to students’ problems and their academic
concerns, and developing realistic plans to address them.
 Giving the learner complete freedom to express himself, in the
manner that he deems to solve.
 Find resources on the topic.
 Talk about what your students are learning.
 Use different study methods.
 Have the required tools :-
A study area—such as a desk or table, free from distractions and
clutter.
A computer—so your students can read, watch, and listen to online
resources.
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 Study tools—including pens, highlighters, and paper so your child can
create organized study notes .
 Training students in library skills, including: the skill of accessing
information, knowledge and learning resources, the skill of scientific
use of resources, and the skill of using the educational aids available
in or outside the school library.

The Advantages of Self-study teaching strategy:-

 Providing an opportunity for the individual to discover the fields he

prefers and the talents in which he excels.
 Keep up with the openness of knowledge that occurs in the world
continuously because student will search.
 Learning important skills, and acquiring knowledge by making little
effort, at the lowest possible cost, without being restricted by place
and time to possess them.
 The existence of a positive role for the individual learner in the self-
study process, and a guarantee to participate effectively during the
educational process.
 Change in the behavior of the learner, and work to increase his self-
confidence, and the development of the skill of taking responsibility
for him.
 Providing an opportunity for the individual to discover the fields he
prefers and the talents in which he excels.
 Enhance students’ learning experience
 Go beyond simply learning what their class textbooks and instructors
teach them

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  Students can take control over their own learning , so they become
more interested in learning
 Students learn more effectively
 Students discover more about the topics they’re studying
 It can boost students’ self-esteem
 Students can learn at their own pace
 Encourages curiosity

The disadvantages of self-study teaching strategy :-

 It does not fit with some school subjects such as sports.

 Decreased interaction between teacher and learners, and feelings of
boredom and unwillingness to challenge.
 This type requires holding courses, lectures and seminars in order for
the teacher to be excellently qualified.
 Not suitable for individuals who prefer social learning.
 Good E-learning is difficult to do.
 lack of flexibility.
 Lack of transformational power.

Beside those advantages and disadvantages there are another aspects

that affect on self-study teaching strategy which are :-

 Academic factors : this is like number of learners , their

background ,intelligence level and the ability of each learner to learn
on his own.
 Social factors : Includes maturity, ability to attention, talents or
capacity, physical or emotional obstacles.

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  Learning conditions: The factors of strength and weaknesses are
meant in terms of senses and circumstances in general.

(( References ))

1- Laughran J,Jhon & Hamilton M,Lynn & Labaskey V,Kubler &

Russell,T.International Handbook of self-study of teaching and
teacher education practices.springer.
2- Saleem,L.2009.The impact of self-learning strategy on learners
Achievement in Public Secondary Schools from the English
Teachers Perspective In Tulkarm Governorate.Palestine:An-Najah
National University.
3- Abdal Majeed,A.2015.Self-Study.Arab Scout Region.Arab Scout
Region.
4- Biderman,A.2006.Self-Study of teaching practice.College of
Education and Human Development.

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