Three Strategies That Support The Delivery Of Teaching And Learning In A Classroom In this essay I will be discussing three different strategies that support the delivery of teaching and learning in a classroom. I will also be using examples from my own learning environment. I will be discussing the benefits of self-directed learning, kinaesthetic learning and classroom discussions. I will conclude with a final opinion on the different strategies and some criticisms of them. The first of the three strategies that I will be writing about is self-directed learning. “Self-Directed Learning is seen as any study form in which individuals have primary responsibility for planning, implementing and even evaluating the effort.” (Rothwell, W., Sensenig, K. 1999). This is a definition of Self-Directed Learning by American doctors. It is a good definition but was written in 1999, since then SDL has changed a great deal and there are a few different variations of it. The simplest form of SDL is to just be able to focus on a simple task that a teacher has set while managing distractions from pupils around the learner. Although this is probably not what a person would think of when hearing the term Self-Directed Learning it still is a basic form of SDL. A slightly more difficult form of SDL is to be given a task by a teacher and for the learner to then plan how they will perform the task, evaluate their own performance during the task and then to evaluate their performance after it. This is example of SDL is heading more into the direction of what a person would think of as SDL. The most independent form of SDL is for the learner to choose their own task, plan how they will perform it, select appropriate resources for the task, and evaluate themselves and their peers after the completion of the task. This example is probably what the average person would think of when SDL is mentioned. “If we want to understand and develop more self-directed learners, it’s most productive to focus on what such a learner can do.” (Watkins, C. 2003). This is from an article commissioned by The Education Union. The last part of the quote can be linked to how this strategy of learning is used within my own learning environment. I work in behavioural unit with a class of 8 pupils. They study 5 different qualifications whilst they are in school. As their tutor I will often give them a choice of which of the five different qualifications that they want to work on during that lesson. Although they would not meet the minimum requirement of SDL which would be that they can manage themselves against distraction, they are choosing which topic they would like to work on, setting themselves tasks that match the topic, figuring out how to perform the task and then using necessary resources to perform the task. I believe that this gives the pupils a sense of ownership over their work and they are more likely to work hard on something that they have chosen to do rather than something that they have been told to do. The second strategy is kinaesthetic teaching. “A kinaesthetic learner needs to be actively doing something while learning in order to truly get the materials. Often, those with a kinaesthetic learning style are going to have a hard time learning during sedentary things like lectures because the body does not make the connection that they are doing something when they're listening. Much of the time, they need to get up and move to put something into memory.” (Roell, K. 2017). This quote is taken from a website dedicated to adult learning, it describes kinaesthetic learning as learning through movement. Kinaesthetic learning is part of the four types of learners, the other three being visual, auditory and writing/reading. Kinaesthetic learners require their bodies to be physically doing something in order to learn and have very good motor memory skills. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible for a teacher to accommodate this kind of learning in all lessons, so it is then up to the learner to make these lessons easier for them to learn. The solution can be something as simple as bouncing a leg up and down to relieve energy whilst the teacher, this small movement can be enough for the brain to think that because the body is moving it can now concentrate on the teacher. However, there are strategies for teachers to use in order to accommodate kinaesthetic learners, for the lessons that require a class to remain in the classroom during the whole lesson a good strategy can be having different tasks be assigned to different tables, this then means that a student would have to walk over to a new table to start a different task. Once again this subtle and small movement can be enough to trick the brain into thinking that is it moving so it can now take in information. Kinaesthetic learning is more commonly found outside of the classroom, it can be found design and technology lessons or in physical education lessons. Personally, I believe that kinaesthetic learning is mostly found in extracurricular activities. For example many young people in Wales will play rugby. In the book ‘Advances In Rugby Coaching, An Holistic Approach’ it says “Learning styles can be tested and used as the basis for developing training programmes and that players have a dominant learning preference, which is mainly kinaesthetic or visual.” (Evans, J., Harvey, S., Hassanin, R. and Light, R. 2014). This quote says that most rugby players are kinaesthetic learners and it is easy to see why when looking at a typical club or school level training session. The pupils involved are encouraged to try out the techniques themselves rather than be shown a visual example or to read about it. Kinaesthetic learners will thrive in this environment as the majority have excellent motor memory skills and the body is always moving so the brain is therefore taking in information much more easily that the body was still. The third and final strategy I will be writing about is having topic based class discussions. “Engaging students in a carefully planned classroom discussion stimulates a more active role in the learning process.” (Metts, S. 2009) This sentence perfectly summarises how classroom discussions can be a major factor in engaging students. Classroom discussion are getting the students of the classroom have an organised debate about whichever topic the class would be learning about at that time. They are more common with students in a higher level of education and are more likely to be used in an KS5 setting than a KS2 one. “Student-centred discussions can be an effective learning environment if developed properly. While it doesn’t take much effort to get students to discuss issues among themselves, there are a number of critical conditions to be met if these discussions are to be effective. “(Byrd Jr, J. 2008) This quote taken from a guide about how to approach classroom discussions talks about how important it is that a discussion has certain rules and conditions put in place beforehand. One would be that the teacher has questions prepared before the discussion begins, although the teacher should be an expert on the topic that is being discussed, sometimes despite being an expert it is still hard to spontaneously be able to come up with questions to give the class in the middle of the discussion. However, if the teacher is interrupting the discussion to ask a new question then they are disrupting the flow of the discussion, a good way for the teacher to avoid this is to give each student a question that could ask during the discussion when they feel that the timing is appropriate. It is also important to keep the students within the boundaries of the topic and allow the discussion to stray into something that will not benefit the students on their course, giving them questions also helps with this as well, but another way to talk about certain key words that are relevant to the topic. Students should be encouraged to use these key words and will not only help them remember the importance of the words but also keep the discussion within the boundaries of the topic. In my learning environment the evidence of how classroom discussions can improve engagement, help the students to learn the topic, help them to become more confident when speaking and also teach them how to correctly discuss something with another person. The learning environment is an on-site PRU modelled provision within a secondary school. The pupils are all low ability and have considerable behavioural issues. However, when the classroom discussion where introduced those lessons would see a dramatic drop in inappropriate behaviour and a dramatic rise in engagement. The students felt that because they were able to give their opinion on the topic rather than write out work and answer questions they felt more connected to the topic and enjoyed the lessons much more than before the introduction of classroom discussions. Having written about the positives of the three learning strategies they are not without their issues. Self-directed learning only works if the learner is willing to direct themselves to take part in the task and complete it. If the learner decides that they do not want to take part them the strategy of self-directed learning has failed and a more teacher led lesson must take place instead. The problem with kinaesthetic learning is that it limits what the teacher can do in the lesson, they are ways to assist kinaesthetic learners when they are in a lesson that does not suit their learning style but when it comes to teaching strategies kinaesthetic learning is mostly limited to sports. Also, it is very difficult to show how a student has improved or succeeded through kinaesthetic teaching strategies compared to a lesson that involved the student having a book and record of their work. Classroom discussions can easily go off topic and is very difficult to accommodate all students if the teacher has a large class. When the class sizes of today are rising classroom discussions are becoming harder to do in a truly beneficial way. However, to conclude all of the teaching strategies that are in the essay are used within my learning environment and other educational environments throughout the world. Through personal experience all of the teaching strategies allow the young people of today to learn more, succeed more and enjoy education more than most generations that have come before them. References • Byrd Jr, J. (2008) Guidebook for Student-Centred Classroom Discussions. Parkersburg, West Virginia: Interactivity foundation. • Evans, J., Harvey, S., Hassanin, R. and Light, R. (2014) Advances in Rugby Coaching An Holistic Approach. Oxfordshire: Routledge. • Metts, S. (2009) Suggestions for Classroom Discussion. [Online]. Available at: https://www.holycross.edu/sites/default/files/files/centerforteaching/discussion_readings.pdf • Roell, K. (2017) The Kinaesthetic Learning Style. [Online.] Available at: https://www.thoughtco.com/the-kinesthetic-learning-style-3212046 • Rothwell, W., Sensenig, K. (1999) The Sourcebook for Self-Directed Learning. Amherst Massachusetts: HRD Press • Watkins, C. (2003) Learning: A Sense Makers Guide. London: The Education Union.