TEACHING TECHNIQUES AND SKILLS

(PEDAGOGY LEARNING AND TEACHING IN PRIMARY

SCHOOL)
(232A\B)
LESSON AIMS:
 develop students' skills in using stimulating learning strategies;

LEARNİNG OUTCOMES:
 Selects teaching methods according to students' age, knowledge levels and learning
strategies;
 Identifies opportunities to use different teaching methods in lesson planning,
analyzes them and prepares a summary;
A method is “an umbrella term for the
specification and interrelation of theory
and practice.”(Richards & Rodgers)
What’s the difference between Approach, Method & Technique?
 As in Teaching by principles by
Brown says that in the mid 1980s
there was a continuous search for
the right method to teach
students English as a foreign
language, Edward Anthony
(1963) gave a definition about
method, and he said that a
method was the second of the
three hierarchical elements
named, approach, methods and
tecniques.
7 EFFECTIVE TEACHING STRATEGIES FOR
THE CLASSROOM
 1. Visualization
 2. Cooperative learning
 3. Inquiry-based instruction
 4. Differentiation
 5. Technology in the classroom
 6. Behaviour management
 7. Professional development
 SKILLS NEEDED FOR TEACHING
As well as subject knowledge, there are some other, more general
qualities that teachers need.
As a teacher, you should:
ENJOY COMMUNICATING YOUR UNDERSTANDING TO OTHERS.

There is definitely a performance element to most teaching. Our section on interpersonal skills,
including effective speaking, covers this in more detail, and there is a great deal of overlap with
presentation skills.
HAVE CONFIDENCE
You will need the
confidence to
look calm and
professional even
when tired and
stressed. See our
page: Building
Confidence for
more information.
WORK EFFECTIVELY IN GROUPS.
STARTING FROM WHAT THE CHILDREN KNOW
TRY TO RELATE WHAT YOU SAY TO THE CHILDREN’S OWN EXPERIENCE AND
BUILD ON THIS TO TAKE THEM FORWARD IN THEIR LEARNING.

• Find out what they already know from the teacher, your mentor or by questioning the children.
Remember this is only your starting point. You are going to tell the children something ‘new’, ‘extra’,
‘different’; don’t rely upon the children’s existing knowledge to run your explanation for you!
• Show them how the new learning will fit into what they are already working upon, know about and
are able to do. Share your learning intentions with the children. Say things like ‘When you have
learned to do this, we will be able to…’, ‘This fits in here because…’, ‘We’re going to use what we
learned yesterday now, to…’.
LINK IT TOGETHER
(CONTINUITY)
• try to keep to the topic; don’t digress into side issues and lose the thread
• aim for fluency: think about how to make one point link to the next and how you will cue the
children into shifts from one step to the next. Use verbal cues like ‘so, that’s how we do that
section. Now then, let’s think about the next little bit’ will give the children a mental set that
there is a change of gear, that the explanation has moved into another stage.
KEEP IT SIMPLE
 The trick here is to make your explanation appear simple. It won’t be simple in the planning,
of course!
 avoid grammatically complex sentences
 use short sentences if you can
 explain any specialist terms
 use vocabulary that is within the experience of the children
EMPHASISE AND REINFORCE
You should aim to emphasise your key points. Try to:
• repeat and re-word main ideas as above
• talk about and put key words on the chalkboard as you go along and use them often in your
explanation
• have the children repeat them and use them back in responses to questions
• vary the tone of your voice, to make things sound interesting, significant, worth knowing
• point to and refer to your resources, e.g. artefacts, pictures, maps, as you talk
BE EXPLICIT
Say what you mean. Don’t say, ‘so I want you to
label the diagram properly’. Say, ‘Now, remember to
draw faint lines to write the label word on, and use a
ruler to draw inpencil the line to the exact edge of
the part on the diagram you are labelling’.
GIVE EXAMPLES
 Use multiple ways of explaining, i.e. pictures, diagrams, artefacts,
maps, real things, making sure that they are large and clear enough
for all the children to see.
 Refer to the illustrations in your explanation; don’t just say: ‘Here’s
a picture of a windmill’ and then carry on without further reference
to the windmill in the CLASSROOM picture. Use it, make it work
for you. Say, perhaps, ‘What do you notice about the shape of the
sails on this one?’
 Give verbal examples, ‘it’s like when you…’. Think these out
ahead. They don’t pop into your mind by magic.
SUMMARISE
• Draw together what has been learned as you go along, e.g.
‘So far we have found out these things’, ‘We know now the
five main ways of…’.
• Summarise main points at the end.
GROUP WORK:
 "Teaching techniques and skills"- Discussion with students on
topic reinforcement: Organizes group work and question-and-
answer sessions on learning strategies used in the classroom using
the mindmap method. Content of group work: students are divided
into 4 groups. Each group is presented with four different themes
(“Months and Dates”, “My favourite food”, “Hobbies”, “Funny
Animals”). What are the best ways and means to communicate
these topics to primary school learners? Students discuss the
question in a group for 5-7 minutes, create a map of the topic and
present it.
References
 Anthony, Edward M. 1963. Approach, Method, and Technique. English Learning. 17: 63-67.
Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
 Brown H. Douglas (1987). Principles of language learning and teaching. Englewood Cliffs,
New Jersey, Prentice Hall
 Harmer, J. (2001). The practice of English language teaching. Essex, England: Longman.
 Richards, Jack C. and Theodore S. Rodgers (1986). Approaches and methods in language
teaching: A description and analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press