Considering the Deliberate Acts of Teaching

One of the best things about being a facilitator in the world of education is the opportunity to grow every single day as I reflect and evaluate the learning that is taking place, and carefully consider the feedback that comes my way from all of the dedicated teachers at the coal face.

Something that has been on top for many teachers I have been working with lately is the rapid change towards explicit teaching models, which has me reflecting on the power of deliberate acts of teaching and how we can ensure we are applying them well in the lessons we teach.

The beauty of the effective use of deliberate acts of teaching is that, when we apply them well, we keep the learner at the centre. We also ensure our planned approach to learning is explicit, cohesive and purposeful. The deliberate acts of teaching are essential elements of effective pedagogy and assessment for learning practices and have a place in all manner of pedagogical delivery.

When I consider the deliberate acts of teaching, I think of them as the bricks and mortar of scaffolding students' knowledge and understanding. They are the tools and strategies teachers use to help their students meet the intended learning goals. While these strategies are generally intuitive, we can also deliberately play to apply them at critical moments in the teaching and learning sequence.  

When we are effective in the way we plan for and apply deliberate acts of teaching we build the mana and self-efficacy of our learners as we scaffold and support them with new or complex learning tasks in responsive ways. In doing so we improve their confidence as they develop and apply new skills, new knowledge and grow their understanding of the big ideas behind our curriculum.

The Deliberate Acts of Teaching

 

So what are the deliberate acts of teaching and how do we get more bang for our buck when we use them?

Modelling, prompting, explaining, telling, directing, questioning and giving feedback make up the deliberate acts of teaching. They can be applied in all types of learning - whether we are teaching dispositions, knowledge, skills or strategies. They are effective in traditional classroom settings, modern learning environments, flipped learning and play-based or project-based learning. Their effectiveness comes down to why and when we choose to use them.

Take some time to reflect on your teaching practice - how many of the deliberate acts of teaching happen in each learning block? With each group? In each curriculum Area? Do you have one you want to find out more about?

In my next post I will unpack each deliberate act more closely.