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| 1.Tansmission Orientation | |
| Purpose: | to transmit knowledge, to reinforce routine skills, product focus |
| Assumption: | all children learn the same way, some just take a little longer |
| Context: | whole class |
| Motivation: | extrinsic |
| Teaching Strategies: | expository, direct instruction, demonstration; often step-by-step;
emphasis on cognitive, verbal activities in specific subject areas; problem- solving activities posed to reinforce routine problem-solving strategies Teacher decides what is to be learned; how material will be presented; how it will be learned. |
| Possible uses: | reviewing background material
presenting an "advance organizer" demonstrating steps of a procedure demonstrating use of equipment summarizing |
| 2. Transaction Orientation | |
| Purpose: | to acquire knowledge through posing problems, inventing strategies
for
solving them, attention to both product and process |
| Assumption: | children learn in their own unique way |
| Context: | a variety of cooperative groupings and individualized learning within the class |
| Motivation: | varies between extrinsic and intrinsic |
| Teaching Strategies: | encouragement of questions, acceptance of approximations
provision of concrete experiences; learning through inquiry; an on-going dialogue between students and teacher and between and among students; learners (both teacher and students) required to explain and to reflect in a variety of ways Teacher is still in control of general direction of curriculum but allows student choice and independence. |
| 3. Transformational Orientation | |
| Purpose: | to support the child in taking charge of his/her learning; recognition
that both
product and process will change as life-long learning continues; focus on needs and interests of learner |
| Assumption: | children learn in their own unique way, but need to become aware of
common
interests and concerns |
| Context: | a variety of cooperative groupings and individualized learning in school
and
in the community |
| Motivation: | intrinsic |
| Teaching Strategies: | encouragement of sense of competence and self-assessment
Teacher holds a broader view of education: holistic, integrated, connected to real life issues such as social concerns and environmental ethics. |
| Material summarized
from
Gough, R.L., & Griffiths, A.K. (1994). Science for Life. In The teaching of Science in Canadian primary and elementary schools. (Ch. 6). Toronto, ON: Harcourt Brace 7 Co. |
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| The Teacher's Role in Student Learning | |||||||||
| Often the categories as defined above can make us uncomfortable. We are confused by all the labels. Moreover, we recognize ourselves at times in each of the orientations. We question ourselves and ask if there ever is a place for direct instruction. The authors of Curriculum for the Primary Years: An Integrative Approach discuss this confusion, citing classroom vignettes in which the teacher, fearful of being too directive, misses an opportunity to extend the child's understanding of both product and process. | |||||||||
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| Further information for your interest: | |
| facilitation | setting up the learning environment and organizing it for student independence |
| mediation | practising informed, careful and systematic observation, providing explicit |
| instruction, demonstrations, models, informed, careful and systematic feedback | |
| methods of inquiry | adapting the methods of inquiry , content knowledge and skills required in the curriculum |
| integrated curriclum | planning for links within subject linking to other subjects and applying to life experiences |
| (Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession) | |
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