Chapter 1 Summary

This chapter introduced you to definitions of effective teaching and key behaviors that
help achieve it. Its key terms and main points are:

What Is an Effective Teacher?

1. Early definitions of effective teaching focused primarily on a teacher's goodness

as a person and only secondarily on his or her behavior in the classroom.
2. The psychological characteristics of a teacher—personality, attitude, experience,
achievement, and aptitude—do not relate strongly to the teacher's behavior in the
classroom.

A New Direction

3. Most modern definitions of effective teaching identify patterns of teacher-student

interaction in the classroom that influence the cognitive and affective
performance of students.
4. Classroom interaction analysis is a research methodology in which the verbal
interaction patterns of teachers and students are systematically observed,
recorded, and related to student performance.

Key Behaviors Contributing to Effective Teaching

5. Five key behaviors for effective teaching and some indicators pertaining to them
are the following:
 Lesson clarity: logical, step-by-step order; clear and audible delivery free
of distracting mannerisms.
 Instructional variety: variability in instructional materials, questioning,
types of feedback, and teaching strategies.
 Task orientation: achievement (content) orientation as opposed to
process orientation, maximum content coverage, and time devoted to
instruction.
 Student engagement: limiting opportunities for distraction and getting
students to work on, think through, and inquire about the content.
 Success rate: 60% to 70% of time spent on tasks that afford moderate-to-
high levels of success, especially during expository or didactic instruction.

Some Helping Behaviors Related to Effective Teaching

6. Five helping behaviors for effective teaching and some indicators pertaining to
them are the following:
 Using student ideas and contributions: Using student responses to
foster the goals of the lesson and getting students to elaborate on and
extend learned content using their own ideas, experiences, and thought
patterns.
  Structuring: Providing advance organizers and cognitive or mental
strategies at the beginning of a lesson and creating activity structures with
varied demands.
 Questioning: Using both content (direct) and process (indirect) questions
to convey facts and to encourage inquiry and problem solving.
 Probing: Eliciting clarification, soliciting additional information, and
redirecting when needed.
 Teacher affect: Exhibiting vigor, involvement, excitement, and interest
during classroom presentations through vocal inflection, gesturing, eye
contact, and animation, communicating a warm and nurturing relationship
to the learner.

Teaching Effectively with Diverse Learners and Content

7. The key behaviors, such as lesson clarity, instructional variety, and teacher's task
orientation appear to be consistently effective across all or most teaching
contexts.
8. The helping behaviors, such as use of student ideas and contributions,
structuring, and questioning, can be thought of as helping behaviors for
performing the five key behaviors. These behaviors may be applied differently in
helping lower and higher SES students achieve success and across areas of
instruction, such as the teaching of reading and the teaching of mathematics.

The Complexity of Teaching

9. Effective teaching involves the orchestration and integration of key and helping
behaviors into meaningful patterns to create effective teaching practices.