Models of Teaching - Taba and Turner

MODELS OF TEACHING

Introduction

            Teaching is not just to sit on an armchair with a cup of tea in hand to sip. It is an art and skill to be learnt. It requires the knowledge of subject content, method, techniques and teaching aids to be used for making teaching interesting and effective. This is the main objective of education. For this purpose, the teachers need a variety of approaches. Educators and psychologist have designed several types of teaching models which provides suitable guidelines to the teachers for modifying the behaviour of the learners. In simple language, models of teaching may be defined as a blueprint designed in advance for providing necessary structure and direction to the teacher for realizing the stipulated objectives.

Meaning

            Models of teaching helps a teacher to improve his capacity to reach more children and create a richer and more diverse environment for them. Model of teaching consists of guidelines for designing educational activities and environments. It is meant for creating suitable learning environments.  

Definition:

            “Model of teaching can be defined as instructional design which describes the process of specifying and producing particular environmental situations which cause the students to interact in such a way that a specific change occurs in their behavior”.

Assumptions of Teaching Model

1. Specification of learning outcomes: Models of teaching specify what the students should perform after completing an instructional sequence.
2. Specification on environment: Models of teaching specifies in definite terms the environmental condition under which a student’s response should be observed.
3. Specification of criterion of performance: Models of teaching specifies the criterion for performance which is expected from the students.
4. Specification of operation:  Models of teaching specifies the mechanism that provides for the reaction of students and interaction with the environment
5. Scientific procedure: Models of teaching is based on a systematic procedure to modify the behavior of the learner. It is not a haphazard combination of facts.

Uses of Models of Teaching

Teacher Benefits

•         Systematic approach to planning for instruction.

•         Facilitates awareness about students’ learning needs.

•         Assess impact of instruction.

•         Offers alternative ways of representing content/skills.

•         Develop learning experiences that yield successful outcomes.

•         Explicit use of teaching models can accelerate rate of learning.

Student Benefits

•         Increases aptitude for learning and retention.

•         Facilitates different kinds of learning.

•         Builds academic self-esteem.

Fundamental Elements of Teaching Models

Focus: Focus is the central aspects of a teaching model.  Objectives of teaching and aspects of environment generally constitute the focus of the model.

Syntax: Syntax includes the sequences of steps involved in the organization of the complete programme of teaching.

Principles of reaction: This element is concerned with the way a teacher should regard and respond to the activities of the students. 

Social system:  It is related to the description of the following:

1.      Interactive roles and relationship between the teacher and the students.

2.      The kinds of norms that are observed and student behavior which is rewarded

Support System: The support system relates to the additional requirements other than the usual human skills or capacities of the teacher and the facilities usually available in the ordinary classroom. Teacher requirements refer to special skills, special knowledge of the teacher and special audio-visual material like films, self-instructional material, visit to special place etc…

Application: Several types of teaching modes are available. Each model attempts to desirable the feasibility of its use in varying contexts.

Types of modern teaching models;

1.      Information processing models

2.      Social interaction models

3.      Personal development models

4.      Behaviour modification models

• Information processing models refer to the way people handle stimuli from the environment, organize data, sense problem, generate concepts and solution to problems and use verbal and nonverbal symbols.
• Concept Attainment Model               - Jerome S Bruner
• Inductive thinking Model                   - Hilda Taba
• Inquiry training Model                        - J. Richard Suchman
• Advance Organizer Model                 - David ausubel
• Memory model                                     - Jerry Lucas
• Biological Science Inquiry Model     - Joseph Schwab
• Cognitive development model           -Jean Piaget, Kohlberg, Siegal
• Social interaction models stress the relationship of the individual to other person and to society.
• Group investigation model                 -Herbert Thelen
• Role playing model                              -Fannie & Gerorge Shaftel
• Jurisprudential inquiry model            -Donald oliver
• Laboratory training model                  -National training laboratory
• Social simulation model                      -cyberneticcs psychologists
• Social inquiry model                            -Thelen, Oliver, Sharer
• Personal development models assist the individual in the development of selfhood; they focus on the emotional life an individual.
• Non-directive teaching model            -Carl Rogers
• Synetics model                                     -William J. J. Gordon
• Awareness training model                  -William Schutz and George Brown
• Class room teaching model                -William Glasser
• Behaviour modification models stress changing the external behaviour of the learners and describe them in them of visible behaviour rather than underlying behaviour.
• Contingency management model                      -B. F. skinner
• Self control through operant methods             -B. F. Skinner
• Stress reduction model                                       -Joseph Wolpe
• Desensitisation model                                         -Rimm & Master
• Assertive training model                                    -Wolpe & Lazarus

Conclusion

Development of models of teaching is the recent innovation in teaching.  An important purpose of discussing models of teaching is to assist the teacher to have a wide range of approaches for creating a proper interactive environment for learning.  An intelligent use of these approaches enables the teacher to adopt him to the learning needs of the students

Hilda Taba Model – Inductive Thinking Model

Hilda Taba is a curriculum theorist, a curriculum reformer, and a teacher educator. she had a strong belief that students could be taught to think — specifically to analyze information and create concepts. She believed that students make generalizations only after data are organized.  She believed that students can be led toward making generalizations through concept development and concept attainment strategies. According to Taba, the best way to deal with increase in knowledge is to emphasize the "acquisition, understanding, and use of ideas and concepts rather than facts alone."

Assumptions

1.              Thinking can be taught.

2.              Thinking is an active transaction between the individual and data.

3.              Processes of thought evolve by a sequence that is "lawful."

Teaching Strategies

Taba developed three effective strategies in the inductive model that enable students to form concepts, interpret data and apply principles. they are:

Concept Formation: This stage includes three major steps: listing items (exemplars of concepts), group similar items together, label these (with a concept name).

Phase 1: Identifying and listing: differentiation

What did you see? What did you hear? What do you know about...?

Phase 2: Grouping: Identifying the common attributes

What belongs together?

Phase 3: Labeling & Categorizing: Determine the hierarchical order of items.

How would you name these groups?

Interpretation of Data: This stage includes interpreting, inferring, and generalization and leads to concept attainment (i.e. students develop deductive capabilities).

Phase 4: Identifying critical relationships: differentiating

What do you notice about the data ? What did you see ?

Phase 5: Exploring relationships: Relating categories to each other or See the cause-effect relationship

Why did this or that happen? What do you think this means?

Phase 6: Making inferences: Going beyond what is given. Finding implications.

What can you conclude?

Application of Principles

Phase 7: Predicting consequences, explaining an unfamiliar phenomenon, hypothesizing: Analyzing the situation and retrieving the relevant knowledge

What would happen if?

Phase 8: Explaining and/or supporting predictions: determine the causal links.

Why do you think this or that would happen?

Phase 9: Verifying prediction: Using logical principles to determine the necessary conditions.

What would it take to make this generally true ?

Hilda Taba Model

Focus: Its focus is to develop the mental abilities and lay emphasis up on concept formation.

Syntax:  Teaching takes place in nine phases. The first three phases are related to concept formation they are: 1. Listing and enumerating the examples 2. Grouping 3. Labeling & categorizing. The second three phases are related to the interpretation of the data by 1. Identifying relationship 2. Explaining relationship 3. Drawing inferences. The last three phases are concerned with an application of principles by 1. Hypothesizing 2. explaining and/ or supporting predictions 3. Verifying the prediction.

Social System: In the all nine phases, the classroom climate it is conducive to learning and co-operation. A good deal of freedom should be given for pupil-activities. The teacher is usually the controller and initiator of information. Teaching activities are arranged in a logical sequence in advance.

Principles of Reaction: Teacher matches the tasks to the students’ level of cognitive activities. Teacher senses the students’ readiness for new experiences and monitor how the students process the information using appropriate eliciting questions.

Support system: The teacher should help the students in dealing with the more complex data and information. He should encourage them in processing the data, designed to develop thinking capacity. A particular mental and cognitive task requires specific strategy to improve thinking.

Application: The primary application of this model is to develop thinking capacity. This can be used in every curriculum at all levels of education. This model enables students to collect information and examine it closely, organize it into concepts and manipulate those concepts. When used regularly the strategy can increase the students abilities to form concepts efficiently.

Turner’s Teaching Model

            Turner and Fattu were initially interested to develop a diagnostic test for teachers to identify the learning difficulties which students had to encounter. The mastery over the subject matter is essential for teachers to diagnose the students learning difficulties. It is an assumption of this model. Turner establishes the following postulates about teaching:

1. Teaching is a form of problem solving behaviour.
2. The problem-solving skills may be measured by teacher performance.
3. The teaching performance of the teacher is the criterion for teacher effectiveness.

This model of teaching utilizes stimulated teaching to develop problem solving skills. The learning difficulties are diagnosed and suggestions are given for improvement. This model is more useful for teachers rather than classroom teaching.