How to Teach

I feel a bit presumptuous writing all this, because although I have been teaching for almost 35 years, man and boy (literally, because in that distant past I had my own primary-school class, as a temporary unqualified teacher, in what is now called the “gap year” before I went to university — poor souls, I wonder what became of them), I have not cracked it yet. I still have lousy classes, without understanding quite why. Going by the results of my evaluation questionnaires, my students think I have even more of them than I do!

There are practical points about producing web pages on these topics.

• First, I do not have to satisfy a publisher. I also by-pass peer review, so the content may be rubbish: caveat emptor (not that you’re paying, anyway). Seriously, you are the peer review process, so give me some feedback!

• Second, and much more important, many people prepare their teaching materials at a computer nowadays. Bookmark or add this page to your “Favorites” (sic), and you can check out what you are doing, very easily. Strangely enough, there is very little on the web about face-to-face teaching — but see the links page.

• However, I have no idea who you are, where you are, what you teach, who your students are, or how much experience you have. Please excuse parts of this site which are on the one hand blindingly banal and obvious, and don't feel insulted, and those rarer parts which are on the other hand convoluted and obscure. Just like you and your students, I can't pitch it right all the time.     

I am not especially proprietorial, but please ask if you would like to reproduce this material in any form.

I have no problem with the reproduction of pages to support teaching in not-for-profit contexts, although I should like to be acknowledged, in the standard format at the bottom of the page. If you would like to use any of the diagrams, email me and I may be able to supply vector images which project better than web bitmaps.

Linking is welcome. Note to punctilious university copyright clearance units—it is not necessary to ask permission; the site is on open access. I am however, not open to link exchanges with commercial enterprises; all the external links on this site are driven purely by considerations of content and relevance.

• setting up a purposeful exchange with a learner about a pre-determined topic, including 
• telling them something new, and  
• carrying through that exchange while monitoring its success and modifying it as necessary, so that  
• the learner ends up knowing and being able to do more as a result.

The significance of the terms used should become apparent as you go through the site, as well as the ideas and techniques they embrace.

These pages are about the nitty-gritty of the practice of teaching. They are not apologetic about the fact that the teacher knows more about the subject than the students, although they respect the students’ knowledge and experience. They assume that the teacher’s job is to get students to change their level of knowledge, understanding and/or practice. Beyond that, they outline the “craft skills” of the teacher. It remains up to you to decide when to use what.

Adults

This means people over the age of 16, in the arbitrary world of education policy — people over the (UK) school-leaving age. There is a world of difference between “adult” learners, and it goes almost without saying that you tune your approach to your students. I long ago learned not to generalise about “student needs”. However, most of what follows is about competence in doing whatever it is you do: it is up to you decide whether a particular technique is appropriate or patronising or whatever for a particular class. Even andragogic practice — perhaps especially andragogic practice — requires that practice be competent.