Teaching Today A Practical Guide Fourth Edition - part 3 docx

The learner’s practical and emotional needs
118
A ‘chat’ A ‘word’ A ‘telling-off’
Non-directive adult- Parent-to-adult style Directive parent-
to-adult style to-child style
Teacher’s implied Teacher’s implied Teacher’s implied
message: message: message:
‘I think you are willing and ‘I think you need some ‘You are a perishing nuisance
able to solve your own pressure to solve your own and I don’t like you.’
problems.’ problems.’ ‘You can’t solve your own
‘I respect you as an individual
problems.’
and have some sympathy for
your diffi culties.’

Technique: Technique: Technique:
Ask probing questions and Set clear targets. Tell the ‘PEP’ – proximity, eye
LISTEN: student the consequences if contact, pose questions and/
‘What do you fi nd most the targets are not met. or use ‘broken record’:
diffi cult … ?’ Evaluate the achievement of ‘Why haven’t you ?’
the targets. (A persistent ‘Do you realise the
series of meetings may be consequences of
necessary.) this behaviour?’
Style and body language:
supportive/encouraging dictatorial
non-judgemental judgemental
accepting directing
listening telling
Likely student reaction: Likely student reaction: Likely student reaction:
cooperative compliant resentful but compliant
Escalating your response to repeated inappropriate

behaviour
If you have a persistent problem with a class or individual, your response to that
problem may be ineffective. You must change the response if it doesn’t work! This
idea is simple but critical, and often overlooked. If you fi nd yourself saying ‘For
heaven’s sake, how many times have I told you not to … ?’, then stop and think: why
are you using a response you have proved does not work? A response to misbehav-
iour should not be tried more than two or three times consecutively with the same
student. After this, change or escalate your response, or threaten to do so.
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If you’re in a hole, stop digging!
If you habitually respond in the same way, the students will begin to feel secure
about repeating the inappropriate behaviour: ‘He only tells you off if you talk, so I’ll
have another chat with Mandy.’ You must gradually increase the severity of your
response, until the gain the student experiences from the inappropriate behaviour
is no longer worth the unpleasant consequences of being caught at it. Only steady
escalation will help you discover what is a suffi cient deterrent.
If you always do what you’ve always done,
You’ll always get what you’ve always got.
Teachers who are very good at maintaining control often have a wide range of
reactions to inappropriate behaviour. This means they are rarely at a loss, and
are always able to move to a new reaction if a previous one did not work. The list
below is roughly in order of severity; it would, of course, be up to you to choose
which techniques are appropriate in any given situation. I certainly do not suggest
that you work mechanically through the list in every case, but if the strategy you
are using is ineffective, try one a little further down the list. (You may like to make
up your own list, using this one as a guide.)
Look at the student.•

Sustain eye contact.•
Move towards the student, maintaining eye contact.•
Remain close to the student.•
Shake your head or frown while looking at the student.•
(All these fi rst fi ve techniques can be used without interrupting teacher talk, etc.
Bear in mind when reading the following that you can request a change in behav-
iour, giving the work-related reason, you can insist on the change, then you can
threaten undesirable consequences if the change is not forthcoming, then you can
carry out the threat.)
Stop talking and look at the student until they notice your attention; sustain •
eye contact in silence, then continue.
Use the student’s name without explanation: ‘Then, John, I’ll look at Act II.’•
Ask the student a work-related question.•
Ask the student to explain some aspect of the work to the rest of the class.•
Stop what you are doing, and ask the student in a fi rm voice to stop the •
behaviour.
This can be done in public, but is best one-to-one.•
Do the above with more non-verbal pressure – e.g. sustained eye contact in •
silence, stern voice – while standing close to the student. Ask the student a
question about the behaviour (PEP).
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Speak to the student after the class, using adult-to-adult style. Set targets and •
evaluate these. Repeat as necessary.
Threaten to move the student.•
Move the student.•
Put the student ‘on report’ – that is, he or she must show you work done at •
the end of the lesson, or after every lesson in the week.

Threaten to report the student to a higher authority, e.g. to his or her tutor.•
Report the student. Keep the higher authority updated verbally on the student’s •
subsequent behaviour. Tell the student this. (Don’t be afraid to ask for help
from experienced staff or from your teacher education tutor. It is not an
admission of failure to ask for advice.)
Record the student’s behaviour on paper, sending a copy to a higher authority, •
keeping your own copy. You could tell the student you are doing this.
Threaten to ask a senior teacher to talk to the student.•
In response to misbehaviour that has been constantly repeated, despite every •
attempt to stop it. Stop what you are doing. Move away from the student if you
are close, and get a piece of paper; ask someone for the date and the exact time.
Coolly write down the behaviour on the piece of paper, saying: ‘OK. I’ve had
enough. If this is the way you want it, so be it.’ Do not say what will happen to your
piece of paper. If asked, be vague: ‘You’ll see.’ This will almost certainly stop the
student misbehaving. Give a copy to the tutor responsible for the student.
In response to outright defi ance• . As immediately above. This removes you from
the confrontation, and some students will ‘back down’ almost as soon as
the pressure is released. It is essential that defi ance is reported. It is widely
accepted in the profession that you should not be expected to teach students
who are not prepared to accept your authority in the classroom, for safety
reasons if for no other.
Contracts• . The student agrees, in writing, to a code of behaviour. The student
should then be ‘forgiven’ and fully accepted back into the fold.
In addition to all the above, your school or college may have standard forms •
of punishment with which you should comply.
Exactly what you do is less important than the fact that you increase the severity of
your response, and that you appear confi dent and in control at all times. Changing
tactics leaves the student uncertain of the consequences of repeating a misde-
meanour. This uncertainty acts as a deterrent.
Never physically handle or hit a student. Do not send a student out of a class unless

you have been told this is acceptable. If you do send a student out of a class, you
are responsible for anything the student does in class time.
Don’t bear grudges. Try very hard not to show resentment towards a student who
is causing you trouble. I know this is very hard, but if you show resentment the
student may retaliate. A student who believes you dislike him or her will make your
job much more diffi cult.
Having threatened a student, you must carry out this threat to the letter if the
student persists; otherwise, your credibility will go down in the eyes of the students,
and should you make another threat it will not be taken seriously. Only consistency
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121
will give your authority credibility. For this reason, it is very important not to get
so angry with a student that you deliver a threat that you regret, or that you could
not carry out! Long before you get really angry, pretend that you have reached the
end of your tether and ‘act angry’ with the student; that way you are more likely
to appear in control. Use your temper, don’t lose your temper.
Sometimes it is better to say ‘I will see you about this after the class’ than to rush
to hasty threats or punishments. This gives you time to think, and the student time
to reconsider.
Make sure you have your facts right before you reprimand a student.
ABC
ABC stands for antecedent → behaviour → consequences. Behaviourist psycholo-
gists suggest that inappropriate behaviour is triggered by a situation they call the
antecedent, and that the behaviour usually has desirable consequences for the
misbehaving student. Behaviour can be changed by changing either the anteced-
ent or the consequences, or both.
Avoid the antecedent that triggers the behaviour. If students squabble when they
collect equipment, give the equipment out yourself or elect a student to do so. If

students arriving late disrupt the teacher-talk introduction to your classes, start the
lesson with group or individual activities. If a class cannot maintain concentration
for longer than two minutes, then don’t talk for longer than a minute and a half at
a time. I followed this approach with a particularly diffi cult group: I communicated
with an overhead projector, with handouts, by talking one at a time to a series of
small groups, and with the blackboard which I prepared before the lesson.
This transformed the lessons. First, I wasn’t frustrated by students’ poor concentra-
tion or their interruptions; and, second, these methods of communication released
me from teacher talk, so I could give my undivided attention to fi refi ghting and to
praising and encouraging students who were working well.
Avoid situations you know cause problems. Why struggle over a wall when you
can walk round it?
If you can’t change the antecedents, see if you can change the consequences. If you
repeatedly come across a problem, ask yourself, ‘What are the students getting out
of this inappropriate behaviour?’ – then try to remove these gains. For example,
suppose you are having diffi culties with students packing up their folders fi ve
minutes before the end of the session. You can’t change the antecedent, which is
that the lesson is near its end, so what are the consequences for the students? They
do less work! You could change this consequence by asking students who pack up
early to summarise the main points of the lesson for you, or to answer searching
questions on the lesson. If packing up early begins to mean more rather than less
work, then this type of work-avoidance behaviour will naturally disappear.
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122

Sandra was repeatedly late to my classes, and she played the class clown when
giving excuses for her lateness. The consequences for her were that she got atten-
tion from the class. I made it clear that from now on I wanted written excuses for
lateness, and the behaviour disappeared. If students don’t gain from their misbe-

haviour, then the behaviour usually ceases.
However, the problem with denying needs is that, however successful in the short
term, it leaves those needs unsatisfi ed, and the student may seek their fulfi lment
in some other way. Attention-seekers and students who are bored, frustrated or
angry are not easily put off; if you close one door, they will soon fi nd another. Can
you discover what these students really want – perhaps attention, or an opportunity
to be a leader – and give this to them in a legitimate activity?
Authority without resentment
There is a difference between authoritarianism and the vigorous use of legitimate
authority. The former is resented and the latter is not. Suppose your ship sank on
a cruise, and you and the other passengers were marooned with the captain on
the proverbial desert island. What principles should be followed by the system
the captain might use to maintain ‘law and order’? Most people would suggest the
following guidelines:
There must be equality before the law• . The objective of the law must be to
protect the interests of all its subjects equally. It should not be used to the
unfair advantage of a privileged minority or those in authority. If subjects
believe the law benefi ts the lawmakers and law-keepers, rather than them-
selves, then they may well revolt (the ‘revolution’ syndrome). The law, including
case law, should be widely understood.
The law must be effectively policed• . Ideally, the policing should be conspicu-
ous and effective, and transgressors should know they stand a good chance
of being caught. If a law is not enforced effectively, at least some members
of the community will consider the law inoperative. (For example, it is illegal
to travel at 75 mph on the motorway, but many travel at this speed, believing
the police will not charge them.) If policing is conspicuously absent, then law-
breaking can become widespread; even the usually law-abiding may then take
advantage and join in the lawless behaviour (the ‘looting’ syndrome).
Policing should be seen to be fair• . If an element of the community believes it
is being ‘picked on’, harassed or kept down by policing, then respect for the

law and its enforcement diminishes, and it can even be seen as an instrument
of oppression.
Student teachers often complain of the lack of attention of some students in
their class while they are talking. What are the antecedents and the conse-
quences for this behaviour? Can you think of solutions to this problem? There
are answers in the box on page 115. (No, don’t look – think the answer out
for yourself fi rst!)
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During diffi culties in Toxteth in 1988, the police started ‘saturation
policing’. This caused resentment in the black community, who
complained of being harassed. Eventually, resentment at this perceived
injustice caused serious riots, and millions of pounds of damage was
caused.
Subjects should have a right to a fair trial• . Subjects should have a right to a fair
hearing, and the decisions of the court should be seen as impartial, consistent
and equally fair to all subjects.
In Los Angeles in 1992, a court saw a widely broadcast amateur video
showing four white policemen beating a black motorist, Rodney King,
whom they had pinned to the ground. The man sustained nine fractures
to the skull and was in intensive care for some time. The court found the
policemen not guilty on all charges. Riots ensued in which 60 people died.
Punishment should be fair and suffi ciently onerous.• Likely punishments should
also be well known, and they should be severe enough to have a deterrent
effect. Where possible, punishment should attempt to achieve rehabilita-
tion of the transgressor. After accepting punishment, the subjects should be
welcomed back into the fold without bitterness.
At the end of the First World War the German people were made to give

up German land, and to pay reparations to the Allies. Most historians
now recognise this as a dreadful if understandable mistake. The German
people were seething with resentment at the reparations; they saw them
as a humiliation, and looked around for someone to restore German
pride. This led to the rise of Hitler, and to the Second World War. If a
punishment is perceived (eventually) by the miscreant as being fair, it
is effective. If it is perceived as being unfair, it may actually encourage
further lawbreaking.
Law and order in the classroom
If the general principles above are applied to the classroom, class rules should be
based on educational, moral and safety criteria only. They should not be seen by
students as being primarily for the teacher’s benefi t. The rules and their purposes
should be well understood. The rules should be equally applied to all students. It
may help to emphasise that the rules are there to benefi t the students in the class,
not just the teacher.
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124
When you have more confi dence, why not try involving your students in rule-
making? Agree the class rules in your fi rst few classes, asking for educational
justifi cations for the rules. Punishments suggested by students can be surprisingly
tough; you may need to soften them. Then, if a student transgresses, you have the
class’s authority behind you:
‘Ashley, we agreed no talking when I’m talking.’
This democratic approach can be most effective.
Another effective ‘democratic’ approach is best shown by example. During a prac-
tical session a class works well, but is very noisy. Most teachers would stop the
class, say the noise is a disgrace, and tell the students to be quiet. An alternative
approach is:
Teacher I really can’t work in this noise. I like a quiet classroom, I just

can’t think straight with noise like this. I know it’s work noise
mainly, but is there something we can do about this please?
(Some students offer to work more quietly.)
Teacher Yes, but we have tried that before and fi ve minutes later everyone
is noisy again.
(A student suggests a new class rule that students can only talk to
someone within a metre of them. This is accepted by the class,
and the teacher thanks students for their consideration, but
enforces the rule.)
This approach, of honestly expressing your own feelings, accepting those of your
students, and then giving the problem to the students, is both assertive and demo-
cratic. It requires good rapport, but may not work immediately with very immature
students, though it may be worth a try.
Policing
Make sure you are constantly ‘on the beat’, enforce the rules conspicuously, and
be vigilant. However, don’t harass individuals. It is perceptions that count here.
If a student feels harassed, or ‘picked on’, he or she might rebel, making future
class management more diffi cult. It makes little difference if students are wrong
in feeling picked on (unless they can be persuaded they are wrong); it is not reality
that determines behaviour, but perceptions.
If a student feels picked on, tell other students off for the same offence (preferably
within earshot) before repeating a criticism of the ‘harassed’ student. Escalating
your response can avoid the need to nag a student for repeating a misbehaviour.
Fair trial and punishment
Don’t punish unless you are clear about the facts. Listen to excuses, don’t punish in
anger, be consistent. Only those who have transgressed should be punished; don’t
punish a whole class. After punishment, show that you don’t bear grudges – for
example, by showing an interest in the student’s work, smiling, etc.
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125

Unsolvable problems
God, give me the grace to accept the things I cannot change, the courage
to change the things I can – and the wisdom to know the difference.
Don’t blame yourself for failing to deal with diffi culties caused by factors
beyond your control – for example, severe local unemployment, or family
and emotional problems. Those who are unloved become unlovable; all
we can do is try to treat such unlucky creatures as professionally as we
can.
From an NSPCC poster:
‘He drinks, he smokes, he spits at his teacher … What he needs is a
damned good cuddle.’
Curriculum problems
Many criticise our school system because it recognises and rewards
intellectual skills, but in comparison ignores, for example, manual skills,
creative skills and personal skills, even though these are of great personal
and economic importance. Students with these non-intellectual skills feel
undervalued, and as a result tend to reject the system they feel has rejected
them. Many ‘behaviour’ problems are really curriculum problems.
It is beyond the scope of this book to look into this problem in any detail,
but on the next page is an exercise to make the point. Mark each type of
skill listed out of ten, fi rst for use and then for value.
Comment on any discrepancy you fi nd between the marks for ‘use’ and
‘value’, and its effect on learning – bearing in mind that success is a prereq-
uisite for learning, and that students will tend to value an education which
values their skills.
Suggested answers to the problem on page 120
The antecedent is that the teacher is using teacher talk, so use teacher talk
less often and for shorter periods. The consequence of inattention is that

the student avoids work. If every student who shows inattention is asked a
question, then the behaviour actually increases work rate – and so should
die out!
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The learner’s practical and emotional needs
126
This simple exercise raises more questions than it answers: for example, how
teachable or examinable are these skills? To some extent, the problems raised
are beginning to be addressed, with the moves towards vocational education and
common or core skills.
If, with some groups, discipline is a problem even for experienced teachers, then
there is something wrong. Often the problem is that the students do not see the
educative experience as being in their own interest. Frankly, they are sometimes
correct in this perception. If a curriculum consistently condemns a student as a
failure, then the student may well retaliate by condemning the curriculum and
those charged with teaching it. The solution for such problems lies in developing a
curriculum that is perceived by students as being in their own best interests. This
may be done in part by valuing every student’s attempts to learn, and by develop-
ing a curriculum which recognises such a wide variety of skills that most students
have a chance of having some of their abilities recognised and valued.
‘My argument is that our present secondary school system … exerts on
many pupils … a destruction of their dignity which
is so massive and persuasive that few subsequently recover from it.’
David Hargreaves
EXERCISE
Note:
‘Use’ = usefulness in the real world, e.g. in commerce and
industry, or at home.
‘Value’ = value and reward given by schools and by post-school
education.

Use/Value
Intellectual skills. Academic skills in any subject: arts or sciences,
humanities.
Manual skills. Any skills that involve coordination of hands and eyes:
woodwork, metalwork, electronic assembly, dressmaking, etc.
Creative skills. Ability in design; ability to create, in the visual and
other arts; ability to think up new ideas or use established ideas
in a new way; ability to be proactive rather than reactive, e.g.
entrepreneurial skills.
Self-organisational skills. For example, being organised and
dependable, able to work unsupervised.
Interpersonal skills. Ability to work well in a team; ability to lead or
to motivate others; sensitivity to others; caring skills; ability to cope
with diffi cult emotional situations; being ‘good with people’.
Vocationally specifi c skills. Knowledge and capability specifi c to
a vocation or profession.
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Discipline and problem-solving
127
The use of reinforcement
Don’t, in your diffi culties, lose sight of your most powerful ally, the use of reinforce-
ment for good behaviour. An American-inspired system called ‘assertive discipline’
has recently been introduced in some British schools. In outline, six rules are
displayed in every classroom. Pupils are told they must arrive quietly and on time
for lessons; bring everything they need; remain seated unless asked to move; follow
instructions the fi rst time they are given; raise their hand before speaking; and treat
others, their work and their belongings with respect. There is nothing surprising
here, so why are teachers using the system almost universally enthusiastic? Why
does it work? Because of reinforcement. Students who obey all six rules get an ‘R’

for reward in the teacher’s register every class. Six letters earn a ‘Bronze’ letter of
commendation, noting their high standards of behaviour, to take home to their
parents. Silver and Gold certifi cates can be earned for more ‘R’s.
This was a school-wide initiative, of a kind which you will not be in a position to
institute by yourself. But the principle is what counts: reward good behaviour with
recognition, encouragement and praise.
Below is a ‘mind-map’ for the topic of discipline. (You might like to ask your
students to prepare mind-maps for the topics you teach; research shows they aid
understanding and memory.)
A summarising concept map for Chapters 8 and 9. Try using mind-maps in your teaching.
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The learner’s practical and emotional needs
128
Further reading
Same as the further reading for Chapter 8.
EXERCISE
‘Problem page’
Can you solve these real-life problems? They have all been experienced by
learning teachers. Some suggested answers are given on page 129.
1 ‘My class is very diffi cult to get started at the beginning of a lesson. They
are noisy and unsettled every week, and won’t concentrate on what I say.
I think it’s because they have Mr Jones just before.’
2 ‘The class are reasonably OK when they are doing written work activities,
but as soon as they start a practical activity they go barmy.’
3 ‘I was telling a girl off for being late when there was a comment I didn’t hear
from someone in the class, and she then collapsed into a fi t of giggles.’
4 ‘I teach fi remen fi rst aid. They seem to think it is a blow to their dignity to
be taught by a woman, and they do everything they can to question my
authority.’

5 ‘One student in my computer class always fi nishes before the others; then
she causes problems by distracting others in the group.’
6 ‘Whenever I dismiss the class, Paul always runs out at breakneck speed to
get to the coffee machine fi rst. I tell him off, but it makes no difference.’
7 ‘Kevin is a pain. He wants attention all the time, and he keeps bossing
the others about. I’ve tried but I can’t stop him. He’s quite able, but can’t
concentrate for more than a fewminutes. When he fi nishes the task he
distracts me from helping the less able students in the group.’
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Discipline and problem-solving
129

ANSWERS
Note: I am assuming that the lessons are well planned and interesting, and
that there is plenty of reinforcement for success. These are skeleton sugges-
tions only.
1 Don’t use teacher talk at the start of the lesson. Give them something to
do and go round fi refi ghting, praising and settling them.
2 Talk to the class about it, and ask for their cooperation; it sounds as though
they enjoy the practicals. Plan activities with great care, and threaten not
to use friendship groups. Open a really interesting practical by threatening
to withdraw it if they are noisy. Firefi ght at the start of the practical, praising
individual groups for sensible behaviour.
3 Never start a battle you may not win. Tell her you will see her after the class,
and to settle down, then do your best to ignore her.
4 Tell them your qualifi cations. Act in a calm, relaxed and confi dent way. If
you teach well, sooner or later you will get their respect.
5 Give the class an interesting, stretching, ‘fun’ activity to do when they have
completed the routine work.
6 Change the antecedent. Dismiss the class in order of completing the last

task, or by rows. Alternatively, dismiss Paul last if he runs.
7 See the section on attention-seeking. Give his work plenty of attention while
he is doing it. Can you get him to help the others when he has fi nished his
tasks?
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130
Some teachers want to be the centre of attention in their classrooms, and are in
danger of putting their own needs before those of their students. Others want to
be liked, without realising that students like teachers who make them learn. Many
unquestioningly teach in the way they were taught themselves. This chapter begins
to look at the huge challenge of forging yourself as a teacher. What are your goals
and what is your philosophy?
Here is a questionnaire designed to evaluate your approach as a teacher, according
to a specifi c method of analysis. The background to the questionnaire is explained
later. Think of your teaching situation or intended teaching situation, and answer the
questions from your ‘teacher’s’ point of view. Answer the questions honestly; don’t
try to guess the ‘right’ answer. There is no need to tell anyone about your score.
Teacher’s self-analysis questionnaire
Tick the appropriate column to show your opinion:
YES! = emphatically yes Yes = on the whole, yes
NO! = emphatically no No = on the whole, no
YES! Yes No NO!
On the whole, students come to school or college 1
reluctantly.
Most learners can do well on an appropriate course 2
if the teaching is good.
The subject I teach is rewarding and interesting to 3
learn.
Most learners don’t like their work being appraised 4

by the teacher.
Learners can be divided into two groups: those who 5
want to get on, and those who want to get away with
as little work as possible.
Most learners can be motivated by an effective teacher.6
Every learner works best with plenty of individually 7
given praise and positive reinforcement.
Learners are reluctant to learn unless they are fi rmly 8
directed.
Most students like an orderly, well-managed 9
environment in which to work.
10
What kind of teacher are you?
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What kind of teacher are you?
131
YES! Yes No NO!
Bright students are diffi cult to control.10
It is only natural for students to do as little work as 11
possible.
There is always a reason for the way students behave.12
‘What’s in it for me?’ is a legitimate question for 13
learners to ask about a course.
On the whole, if learners fail to learn it is the fault of 14
the teacher, the school, the curriculum or poor
resourcing.
Most learners learn to their maximum if the teacher 15
is skilled.
What learners want and what teachers want is 16
different, therefore they can never see eye to eye

about work rate.
Work of a low standard deserves strong criticism.17
Teachers should be prepared to put their foot down 18
if necessary, even at the risk of temporary
unpopularity.
It encourages inattention if the teacher helps 19
students who don’t listen the fi rst time.
Teachers should go out of their way to behave 20
positively towards students who they know do not
like work.
The subject I teach requires natural fl air – either you 21
can do it or you can’t.
Students should be threatened with punishment if 22
they do not work.
Learners nearly always accept constructive criticism, 23
as they know it helps them improve.
Students welcome work if they are given a chance to 24
succeed.
Scoring
Using the table on the next page, for each question number, please circle the mark
corresponding to the answer you chose in the questionnaire. For example, if you
answered ‘No’ to question 1, score 3; if you answered ‘YES!’ to question 5, score
minus 5.
Add all your positive scores together and put the total in the positive score box.1
Add all your negative scores together and put the total in the negative score 2
box.
Combine your positive and negative scores by addition. For example, 3
+75 – 25 = +50.
Read off below the table the fi ndings which are appropriate to your fi nal 4
score.

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The learner’s practical and emotional needs
132
YES! Yes No NO! YES! Yes No NO!
1 –3035
13
5 3 –2 –3
2 5 3 –3 –5 14 5 5 –3 –3
3 5 5 –3 –5 15 –5 –2 2 5
4 –303516 –3 –3 3 5
5 –533317 –5 –2 3 5
6 5 2 –5 –5 18 5 3 –3 –5
7 5 3 –3 –5 19 –5 –3 2 5
8 –300020 5 3 –3 –5
9 5 2 –3 –5 21 –5 –3 3 5
10 –5 –3 3 5 22 –2200
11 –5 –3 3 5 23 532–2
12 5 3 –3 –5 24 3 5 –2 –3
Positive score
Negative score
TOTAL SCORE
–100 to –40 Your attitudes are likely to produce learners who do as they are told
and nothing more. Please read Chapters 5, 6 and 7.
–39 to zero Your attitudes are likely to produce learners who only rarely show
genuine interest in their work. Please read Chapters 5, 6 and 7.
zero to +40 Your attitudes are likely to produce an average bunch of students
who will do well on the whole; many of the more able will show some interest and
enthusiasm for their work.
+41 to +100 You will produce students who are committed to learning (and to

you), and they will fi nd their work enjoyable and rewarding.
If you are unhappy with your score, re-read the chapters on motivation and praise
and criticism.
Background to the questionnaire
The questionnaire is very loosely based on Douglas McGregor’s analysis of manage-
ment styles in his book The Human Side of Enterprise.
Broadly speaking, teachers have two different assumptions about human nature.
We can label those assumptions ‘Theory X’ and ‘Theory Y’.
Theory X
The average learner dislikes work and will avoid it if possible.•
Learning is diffi cult and not very interesting.•
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What kind of teacher are you?
133
Because learning is basically lacking in interest, most people must be coerced, •
controlled, directed and threatened with punishment in order to learn satis-
factorily.
The average learner is passive, unambitious and prefers to be directed rather •
than show initiative.
Theory Y
In most learning situations learners only work to a fraction of their full •
capacity.
Learning is rewarding and interesting. Learners have social, self-esteem and •
egoistic needs which they want to satisfy by their learning. They achieve this
satisfaction by gaining respect and recognition for their successes.
Students do not dislike work. Laziness, and lack of motivation or ambition, •
are not inherent human characteristics; they are reactions to unsatisfactory
learning conditions.
Learners can become committed to the goal of self-improvement.•
Theory Y does not preclude the setting of targets, nor should it encourage low

standards. According to Theory Y, the successful teacher must satisfy the self-
esteem needs of the learner through activities directed towards the teaching aims.
According to Theory X, the learner must be directed and coerced into carrying
out these activities. In a strange sense, both of these theories are correct. They
both have a tendency to work as self-fulfi lling prophecies. Theory X teaching can
make students bored, passive and demotivated. Theory Y teaching can be inspir-
ing, motivating students into self-improvement. To some extent, what the teacher
thinks will happen is what the teacher gets.
Of course, students also have theories about teachers. Theory A is that the teacher
is only in it for the money, and basically dislikes the students and the subject they
are teaching. Theory B is that teachers are interested in students, in their efforts
to learn and in their subject. If a Theory Y teacher meets a Theory A class, it can
take some time to turn the situation into one where learning is productive.
Are you an instructor or a facilitator?
Who should have control over learning, the teacher or the student? This is a central
question you must answer. Most teachers operate somewhere between ‘instructor’
and ‘facilitator’ described below, depending on the context.
Instructor
Here the teacher is in control. An instructor plans and directs all the students’
activities, giving clear, recipe-style instructions for the tasks to be carried out. Atten-
tion is focused on putting over a predetermined body of knowledge and skills.
There is an emphasis on the product, that is, the students’ work, which should be
neat, tidy and without error. The teacher checks the students’ understanding to
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The learner’s practical and emotional needs
134
discover any learning errors or omissions and then helps the students, usually by
re-teaching the appropriate material. The teacher is also in charge of assessing
and evaluating the students’ work.

It may seem a paradox at fi rst, but this approach has been criticised for being too
helpful. If you help too much, it is argued, you create ‘learned dependency’ and
‘learned helplessness’: a state of mind in the students where they believe they are
entirely dependent on teachers in order to learn, and do not have the capacity
to help themselves or to overcome diffi culties unaided. Consequently, learners
fail to take responsibility for their own learning and become passive learners, as
described in Chapter 5. They ‘go through the motions’, doing what the teacher
requires, but learn only very superfi cially.
For example, suppose a teacher intends her class to study the attitudes of adults
to the unemployed. She gives the students an investigation to carry out, providing
recipe-style instructions, references and a questionnaire the students must use
in the high street. In this case, students will not learn for themselves how to plan,
carry out and evaluate their own investigations, though they will learn the ‘product’
– that is, the attitude of adults to the unemployed.
Facilitator
Consider the alternative approach of giving the students more control. This can
be done by ‘teaching by asking’ rather than by telling. The teacher asks students,
‘What is the attitude of adults to the unemployed?’ They are then encouraged to
conclude that they must carry out a survey to answer this question.
The students plan, carry out and evaluate this survey for themselves. The teacher
does not hand all responsibility over to the learners. She looks at their plans,
she questions them and, if necessary, reminds or guides her students to ensure
their survey is effective. But she does her best to ensure that her students do as
much as possible for themselves. If a student asks for help she does not give it
straight away, but uses questioning to gently prompt students into answering their
own questions.
In this way, the student learns the product, that is, the attitudes of adults to the
unemployed, but also learns process skills such as how to carry out a survey, and
how to monitor and evaluate its implementation. Having designed their survey for
themselves, the students are likely to be much more committed and interested

in their work. They feel a sense of ‘ownership’ and so are more likely to become
active learners during the activity.
The approach described above, of encouraging the students to devise their own
survey, is an example of the facilitator approach. Here, instead of the teacher taking
control, the students are given control over their own learning, and so learn to
teach themselves. The teacher’s role is to facilitate (help) this process, by ensuring
that students really do take control and responsibility. However, help is given where
it is really needed.
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What kind of teacher are you?
135
Notice that the focus is on the learning process (how students learn) rather than
exclusively on the product, and mistakes are seen as an opportunity to learn, rather
than being reprehensible.
Learners often fail to make best progress because of fear and lack of self-belief.
So great stress is placed on developing a supportive psychological climate. Conse-
quently, facilitators are encouraged to put themselves into their learners’ shoes
(develop empathy) and try to become non-judgemental, yet genuine. They should
be supportive towards their students, whom they should hold in high regard as
people, however slight their accomplishments.
Only when fear of teacher criticism is overcome, and student self-belief is developed,
will students have the courage to take responsibility for their own learning.
Researchers into management styles have compared managers who
delegate responsibility with those who prefer more control. Some
managers tell their staff not just what to do, but also how they must do
it. Researchers fi nd that the staff of such controlling managers tend to
take little initiative, feel less committed, and are less creative in fi nding
and solving problems.
However, it is found that managers who delegate a good deal of

responsibility get much more commitment, creativity and initiative from
their staff.
Learners are the same: they tend to take initiative, and develop
enthusiasm only when they are given some responsibility and control
over their learning.
The instructor–facilitator continuum
Educationalists and many effective teachers come down heavily in favour of the
facilitator approach. However, in practice there is a continuum between ‘instruc-
tor’ and ‘facilitator’ where control over learning is shared, and most teachers move
back and forth along this continuum as the situation demands.
Where should you operate on this continuum? What aspects of teaching or learning
should your students have control over and responsibility for? The following
diagram is designed to help you answer this question.
Many teachers operate between ‘instructor’ and ‘facilitator’ on the continuum
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The learner’s practical and emotional needs
136
above, in a style which suits their current purposes. They might adopt the instruc-
tor style when introducing new material, but the facilitator style when encouraging
students to overcome a diffi culty, or revise for an exam. Like many things in teaching
the decision is made on the basis of ‘fi tness for purpose’. However, there is a general
consensus that the extreme instructor style, though common, is not effective.
Becoming a facilitator rather than an instructor is not so much about the use of
techniques or teaching methods. It is an attitude and a set of values. Facilitators
argue that giving students more control over and responsibility for their learning
has the following advantages:
It encourages active and deep learning, rather than passive and superfi cial •
learning.
It develops self-management and ‘learning to learn’ • process skills as well as

delivering the learning product.
It discourages learned helplessness and learned dependency and encourages •
the development of self-belief, self-reliance and autonomy.
It is less stressful and more enjoyable for the teacher, who also gains the •
students’ respect for treating them with respect.
The issues raised here are returned to in the chapters on course organisation (41),
independent learning (33) and self-directed learning (34).
Personal goals
What are you trying to achieve by your teaching? This is a very demanding, but
when you can begin to answer it, also a very illuminating question. Of course,
you want your students to learn successfully, but you may also have overarching
personal goals, such as encouraging in your students:
curiosity and interest in your subject•
self-confi dence and self-belief•
critical thinking skills and intellectual independence•
empathy, and a sense of personal moral responsibility•
Developing your own teaching style
Most novice teachers make these two mistakes:
•
They err on the side of the ‘instructor’.
•
They teach the way they were taught, even if this is not best practice or
most appropriate for the situation in which they are teaching.
Are you making either or both of these mistakes? If so, why, and what could
you do about it?
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What kind of teacher are you?
137
creativity, self-expression and personal development•

spiritual understanding and development•
appreciation of peoples and cultures other than their own•
appreciation of environmental or social issues.•
Which of these personal goals would excite your loyalty and motivate you? Or
are there other values which you want to work towards? It may take a year or so
before you feel ready to decide on your personal goals, and it may take a lifetime
to fi nd effective ways of achieving them. But such personal missions, and others
like them, can inspire and direct your teaching, and can allow you to realise your
own personal values through your teaching, and so help you to fi nd your work
meaningful and rewarding, as well as increasing its effectiveness.
You must, as a teacher, achieve goals that others set for you. Your students must
pass, and must not set fi re to the classroom! But within these constraints there is
still room for you to take control, and achieve your own vision of good teaching
and learning.
Further reading
Entwistle, N. (1988) Styles of Learning and Teaching, London: David Fulton.
McGregor, D. (1985) The Human Side of Enterprise (revised edition), New York:
McGraw-Hill.
Martinez, P. (2001) How Colleges Improve, LSDA Online. You might fi nd this in your
library, but I can’t fi nd it online anymore.
Maslow, A. H. (1987) Motivation and Personality (3rd edition), New York: Harper
Collins.
*Rogers, C. (1994) Freedom to Learn (3rd edition), New York: Prentice Hall.
On the humanistic approach to education:
*Russell, B. (1992) The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell (2nd edition), Part 10,
London: Routledge. Short essays on education, teaching and its aims.
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P01.indd 138 3/3/09 14:25:52
Part 2 The teacher’s toolkit

Introduction
139
In order to make an informed choice of teaching method or learning strategy, and
in order to be adaptable and have a variety of activities for lesson planning, the
teacher must know:
what teaching methods are available•
what are the strengths and weaknesses of these methods•
what purpose each of them can serve•
how each should be used in practice.•
This is the purpose of this section of the book.
Which is the best teaching method? You might as well ask a carpenter which is
his best tool; he chooses his tool depending on whether he wants to make a hole,
remove a screw or cut a piece of wood in two. Every tool has its uses, and good
carpenters not only know how to use each tool, but are able to assess which is the
most appropriate in a given circumstance. Teaching methods, like carpenters’
tools, are chosen on the basis of fi tness for purpose. As we will see in the chapters
on lesson planning (Part 4), the teacher should fi rst clarify the purposes of the
lesson, and then choose activities which will achieve these purposes.
Which learning activities or teaching methods you choose, and how you use them,
will not depend only on your purposes. It is crucial to consider also your students,
the physical environment such as the room and the equipment available, and the
emotional climate. Were they a bit bored last lesson? Have you had a lot of group
work lately? Do they fi nd worksheets tedious? All these factors must be taken into
account. You must be observant, and responsive to what you observe. You must
also know which methods have proved particularly powerful in classroom trials.
Student preference
What teaching methods do students prefer? This is not a deciding factor, but it is
certainly a very important one. It is better for students to have 80% concentration
on a moderately effective method than 10% concentration on a supposedly bril-
liant one.

M. Hebditch asked students aged 11–18 years what teaching methods they preferred.
The answers to his questionnaire are tabulated on the following page. Look at them
carefully before reading on: what do their preferences have in common?
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The teacher’s toolkit
140
Students’ preferences in teaching methods
Style Like % Dislike % Neutral %
Group discussion
80 4 17
Games/simulations
80 2 17
Drama
70 9 22
Artwork
67 9 26
Design
63 4 33
Experiments
61 11 28
Options (choice allowed)
61 4 33
Computers
59 22 20
Exploring feelings (empathy)
59 11 30
Reading English literature
57 9 35
Practical ideas

52 9 37
Laboratory work
50 11 37
Library research
50 24 26
Charts, tables, etc.
46 15 37
Craft work
43 17 39
Fieldwork
43 20 35
Open-ended work
43 20 37
Themes
41 11 48
Creating products
41 11 43
Working alone
41 26 33
Invention
39 20 41
Organising data
37 20 43
Empathy
35 30 35
Observation
30 13 57
Worksheets
28 17 52
Reading for information

26 30 43
Using technology
24 26 46
Deadlines
24 50 26
Time schedules
17 41 41
Analysis
17 35 46
Theories
15 39 43
Essays
13 28 54
Lectures
11 70 19
Data collected from questionnaire submitted to students from 11 to 18 years and provided by M.
Hebditch, Gillingham School, Dorset, 1990.
Students like action: talking in groups, making things, being creative, doing things.
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Introduction
141
Passive methods get an emphatic thumbs-down; bottom of the list is ‘lecture’. So
don’t fall for the commonly believed myth that students are fundamentally lazy,
preferring activities which intrude as little as possible into their daydreaming. In
general, the more active and engaged students are, the better they like it.
Many teachers develop one or two teaching methods and stick to them. This is a
mistake. A variety of methods – as well as increasing student attention and interest
– gives you the fl exibility to deal with the wide range of challenging and infuriat-
ing problems that teachers inevitably encounter. It also helps you deal with the
increasing demands of the teacher’s ever-changing role. In modern education, as

in evolution, the motto is ‘adapt to survive’.
Some teaching methods are much better
than others
Teaching is embarking on a revolution and I hope you will be part of it. In the last
few decades, researchers have tested teaching methods by asking a good teacher to
use their usual methods with a ‘control’ group; and to teach a parallel and nearly
identical ‘experimental’ group. This group is taught in the same way, except that
the method being researched is included in an appropriate part of the lesson.
Students are then tested to see if the experimental group has learned better than
the control group. When a method has been trialled like this many times with
different teachers, it is possible to fi nd its average effectiveness and to determine
the best way to use it.
Some methods improve students’ marks in the test by two grades, and improve
the pass rate by more than 30%. To the great surprise of many, the best methods
work their magic regardless of the age or ability of the students, or the subject they
study. For example, self-assessment works with primary school children learning
maths, but also with university students studying English. The potential effective-
ness of a teaching method is roughly the same in any context.
Professor John Hattie is a world expert on these experiments and other attempts
to measure what most infl uences attainment. He has collected hundreds of thou-
sands of studies and concludes that the most successful methods share three
characteristics:
They set students challenging tasks1 : rather than being given exclusively
attainable tasks, students are given an activity which involves them in deep
thought. See Chapter 1, especially ‘Bloom’s bits’.
Students and teacher get informative feedback2 : this is feedback on
what aspects of these tasks was done well, and what needed improving. See
Chapter 43.
The task was constructivist3 : it required the student to create and improve
their personal understanding rather than, say, remember by rote. See pages

4–7.
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The teacher’s toolkit
142
Here are some methods that have done particularly well in these trials; some
come from Hattie and some from Professor Robert Marzano who has done similar
work:
Whole-class interactive teaching• : active learning using the PAR structure,
with assertive questioning and/or student demonstration. See Chapter 24, and
the PAR structure on page 444.
Feedback• : formative assessment, including self-, peer and spoof assessment.
See Chapter 43.
Graphic organisers• : students creating and improving mind-maps, fl ow
diagrams, Venn diagrams, matrixes or similar visual ways to organise infor-
mation. See pages 344–5.
Same and different• : asking students to compare and contrast to fi nd similari-
ties and differences in what they are studying, e.g. fractions and percentages.
See page 235.
Good classroom management and discipline• : making sure that learning is
not disrupted, and is effi ciently carried out. See Chapters 8 and 9, and a free
chapter from my Evidence Based Teaching, which can be downloaded from
www.geoffpetty.com/evidence_based.htm
Strategy training• : teaching ‘learning to learn’, writing, thinking and study
skills by integrating this into your teaching. See Chapter 28. For the detail see
Chapters 21 and 24 in my Evidence Based Teaching.
Decisions, decisions• : see pages 228–30.
Hypothesis testing• : a challenging evaluation to develop arguments for and
against a hypothesis, policy, etc. For example, a hypothesis such as ‘Cromwell
was a dictator’ or ‘TV is the best advertising medium’. This is evaluation really.

See the end of Chapter 38.
In Evidence Based Teaching, I look at what we can learn from these trials, and other
evidence in detail. It follows on from Teaching Today and is intended for the last
half of your training and for continued personal and professional development.
Note also that by a lucky coincidence active methods are the most enjoyable, and
the most effective! Or is it a coincidence?
From learning styles to whole-brain
learning
In the last few years there has been a seismic shift in how learning styles are used
and understood. Having read this chapter you will be more up to date than most
teachers – but try not to appear too smug! Have a look at Herrmann’s learning
styles on page 149 to get the idea of ‘learning styles’.
It used to be thought that everybody had a personally preferred learning style,
or even that everybody learned in their own unique way. The idea was that the
student should use whatever style suited them best, as each style was capable of
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