Teach English in Cape Broyle - TEFL Courses

Teaching Styles In my previous worksheets I have often stressed how strongly I feel about the effect of a teacher's energy and how much it contributes to shaping the environment of a classroom. Unit 5 states that every teacher will find his or her own style through experience, but for the moment, as an inexperienced teacher with an outside view, I see teaching styles simply as the varying levels of energy the teacher displays, or as I will explore later, the many different roles a teacher can slip into during a lesson. When it comes to defining teaching styles, many researchers have developed categories of styles or approaches to be used in the classroom. Though outdated in comparison to more modern models, Fischer and Fischer (1979) laid a foundation for teaching styles when they identified six learning styles known as task oriented, cooperative planner, child-centered, subject-centered, learning-centered, and emotionally exciting and its counterpart. In a much more recent text, Grasha (2006) recognized these foundations and developed them into five simple teaching styles called expert (explaining new material), formal authority (goal-setter), personal model (demonstration), facilitator (activity runner), and delegator (handing control over to students for tasks). Another interesting approach is a method developed by Pratt and Collins (2002) which singles out five perspectives needed to give a teacher direction in a classroom, called transmission (commitment), apprenticeship (knowledge model), developmental (finding the student's point of view), nurturing (long-term effort) and social reform (preparation to enter society). Together, Grasha, Pratt and Collins' model categories definitely cover all the bases of interaction teachers need to have with students and they roles that they need to play during a lesson. Unit 1 expands this list into an even wider one and names five more roles a teacher can play, all variations of Grasha's styles. Combining these that pertain to specifically esl teaching with the researched generic roles above, I have come up with four main styles that I find most important and think would be all-encompassing for various learning stages. These are mentor – to introduce and explain new concepts or knowledge – authority – to manage activities and plan lessons – model – to be the main source of english in the class and thus a constant demonstrating figure – and lastly confidant – to guide students on specific topics and give individual attention or to participate in class activity as an equal. When it comes to choosing what style would be appropriate at what stage, I think I would refer to a fantastic article written by Haney1 as a guide to follow. This article makes a very valid argument for the idea that instead of choosing a style to run stages of the classroom, teachers must instead adapt their teaching style specifically to the learning style of the students – which she identifies as learning by either audio, visuals, tangible objects, global ideas, or logic. Ultimately, when considering its deconstructed elements, it can be said that the advantages of using differing teaching styles are infinite. It helps structure and manage a classroom, and lets a teacher create various different apt environments for students to practice their skills in. Not only can it let a student know what type of activity is happening when, but also help them relate to the teacher on different levels. Having a teacher that often takes part in activities or guides students according to their personal needs can help them be more comfortable in approaching a teacher, while acting as the model and mentor can make a student see you as the source of knowledge to seek out when struggling with course material. Connecting to students in all these different roles has the ability to strengthen a teacher's relationship with his or her students, and the ability to let students identify with their teachers in a way that goes beyond a simple teaching/learning dynamic. Looking at the way a teacher can use teaching styles to his or her advantage, as well as the positive influence that it has on building the teacher/student relationship, it is easy to see that teaching styles is a necessity to focus on when planning lessons and managing a classroom.