Principles and Methods of Teaching

PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF TEACHING
Activity 1: State in your own words your understanding of the guiding principles in the
selection and use of teaching strategies.
Selecting teaching strategies is vital. A teacher must select appropriate strategies to use in
the classroom. To select the best strategies, the teachers must follow the principles in the
selection and use of teaching strategies. Guiding principles enable teachers to stay focused on
what is important. For teachers, the principles are important because it will guide them in
selecting the appropriate teaching method. Students will indirectly benefit from these guiding
principles too. When the teacher selects the best strategies to use, the teaching-learning process
will be efficient and effective thus students will learn successfully.
There are six principles in the selection and use of teaching strategies. First, learning is an
active process. This implies that teachers should use strategies that encourage students to engage
in different learning activities. It is important to consider strategies that allow students to be
responsible for their own learning. In this principle, inquiry is emphasized. Inquiry encourages
students to question, conduct experiments, and make discoveries on their own. Students will
learn through learning by doing and learning by teaching others. Active learning is manifested
when students engage or participate in classroom activities. Second, the more senses that are
involve in learning, the more and better the learning. Active learning process requires students to
use senses. To grasp information, we use our five senses – sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell.
If teachers use only visual aid in delivering instruction, some students will not learn especially
auditory learners. This is why teachers should use teaching strategy that makes use of a
combination of three or more senses. Students learn better when they see and hear the lesson
they are learning. Also, using five senses accommodates students’ different styles of learning.
Third, emotion has the power to increase retention and learning. Emotions play a crucial in the
learning process. When students are emotionally involved in the lesson, they become active.
Students tend to listen, ask questions, and share thoughts and opinions thus they learn better.
Students remember the lesson that strikes in their hearts. Thus, teachers should use strategy that
values emotional dimension. Fourth, learning is meaningful when it is connected to students’
everyday life. This implies the use of teaching strategy that makes a lesson relevant to students.
Asking students before discussing the lesson is a good strategy. The questions are of course
connected to the topic which allows students to share their experiences. To make learning more
meaningful, the teachers should add more sufficient examples related to students’ experiences.
The lessons that are useful and relevant in student’s everyday life will be processed in the long-
term memory. Thus, learning will not easily be forgotten by the students. Fifth, good teaching
goes beyond recall of information. This means that teachers should not only use strategies that
only focus on recalling information. It is important that teachers select strategies that develop
students’ higher order thinking skills. Teachers should allow his/her students to engage in
activities that require them to use creative and critical thinking. Lastly, an integrated teaching
approach is far more effective than teaching isolated bits of information. Learners are diverse in
terms of race, gender, nationality, and more specifically in the way how they think or process
information. Learners have different learning style. Thus, teachers must use strategies that are
appropriate for all learners.
To conclude, a teacher should consider the principles of selecting teaching strategies in
order to choose the best teaching methodologies that engage students in active learning process,
allow them to use their five senses, values emotion, makes learning relevant to students, enhance
higher order thinking skills, and accommodates all kinds of learners.
Activity 2: Discuss
1. How do you decide on which method to use? Why is it important to choose the best
method in teaching the content?
In selecting the method to use, I consider first the learning objectives. I will ask myself,
“is this strategy aligned with the objectives and will it help to achieve the expected learning
outcomes?” Next to be considered is the needs and interest of the learners. Learners learn in
different way so I must think a strategy that is appropriate for all learners. Another one is the
subject to be taught. I must choose a strategy that fits to the subject matter. For instance, some
lessons in science are better taught through discussion rather than through controlled
experimentations.
The teaching strategy affects learning process. If a teacher uses strategies that are weak or
ineffective, students lose interest to listen and they get bored hence learning will not easily take
place. However, if the teacher employs the best method, the students will obtain a meaningful
learning. Therefore, a teacher should choose the best method in teaching content to achieve the
desired learning outcomes.
2. What practice(s) should we avoid to make teaching-learning more meaningful?

There are practices that teachers should avoid to make teaching-learning more
meaningful. For me, first in the list is, employing only one teaching strategy for the whole term
or course. If the teacher uses the same strategy in everyday instruction, the students may get
bored or will not learn especially if the strategy used is not aligned with their preferred
individualized learning style. A teacher should employ different strategies because students learn
in different ways. If the strategy is less effective, the teacher should innovate and apply new
strategy. It is essential to develop and implement new methods of teaching. If the method of
teaching is effective, then there’s a great chance that students will learn successfully.
Another practice that the teachers should avoid is bringing personal problems in the
classroom. When I was in elementary and high school, I encountered teachers who were weak in
terms of controlling their emotions. I had a teacher who shouted and punished us because we’re
not able to accomplish the task on time. We did not understand the instruction she wrote in the
board so we approached her but she just told us, “I wrote the instruction on the board. Meaning
to say, you have to read and understand it. Go back to your seat!”. She looked strange. Another
student asked her. We were shocked when she yelled, “Don’t you see that I am talking to
someone on the phone?” Our classmate went back to her seat. She looked disappointed and
afraid. We really didn’t know what to do because the instruction was unclear. The task was like a
motivational activity. We didn’t know what we were trying to learn or what the purpose of that
activity. She didn’t explain it. She only gave us 30 minutes. We heard her shouting and scolding
someone on the phone. Later we find out that she was talking to his son. She brought her
problems in the classroom hence she was distracted during our class. Personal problems can
interfere with teacher effectiveness in the teaching-learning process. If the teacher enters the
class without worrying his/her personal problems, she can focus on teaching and he/she will
show enthusiasm on teaching the content. Therefore, teachers should avoid bringing his/her
personal problems in the classroom to teach effectively and students will attain meaningful
learning.
There are more practices that teachers should avoid such as showing negative feelings
and emotions to the class, entering the class without clear and specific objectives, hating
students, etc.
When do you consider yourself “actually teaching” the days lesson?
A teacher prepares the lesson objective before entering the class. With the specific
learning objectives, I will have the sense of direction. Meaning to say, I will not lose sight of
what I intend to teach. Lesson objectives will guide me throughout the lesson. It directs to what
appropriate materials and specific instructional procedures should be applied thus it helps me to
teach the content effectively. If the learners attained the desired learning goal, then it means I
am actually teaching the days lesson.
Teachers must planned everything including how they will teach the content, what
learning activities appropriate for that lesson, and how they will encourage the learners to engage
in learning discussion and activities. When they start the class, they keep the lesson objectives in
mind. Teachers should follow the step by step procedure of delivering the instruction. They
should follow what they planned in order to reach the lesson objectives. When students engage
themselves in a variety of learning activities and use required skills or competencies for that
lesson, the teacher actually begins teaching the day’s lesson. If I am the teacher, I will be
satisfied seeing my students exchanging thoughts and ideas with their classmates, and using
creative and critical thinking to learn and understand the subject matter. If students successfully
connect their prior knowledge to the new knowledge, then it means meaningful learning takes
place. If students have gained knowledge and apply their learning in real life problems or make
their learning relevant to their everyday life, then I can confidently say that I am actually
teaching the days lesson.

Principles and Methods of Teaching

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PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF TEACHING

2. What practice(s) should we avoid to make teaching-learning more meaningful?

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