The job of a teacher encompasses many roles, including coach, facilitator, and manager, as well as thinker, scholar, researcher and critic with regard to both content expertise and pedagogical practices (Fried, pg. 53). A good teacher must be aware of the various roles necessary to foster adolescent development and facilitate learning. A good teacher must also become adept at switching roles as needed in the classroom. A facilitator who does not encourage and motivate students toward their best performance may deprive students in this way, of a more full and complete learning experiences. Teachers must learn to recognized the needs of individual students as well as the needs of larger groups. Varying roles is as important as varying methods of instruction in order to reach all learning styles and backgrounds in the classrooms. Direct instruction is a method of teaching reminiscent of lecture formats where a teacher provides information and students listen and perhaps record notes. The roles of thinker and scholar may work to good affect in such scenarios. But students will tire of direct instruction eventually. In order to keep students engaged and active in the learning process, a teacher may plan to use direct instruction for the first 20 minutes of class, then switching into the roles of facilitator and manager dividing the class into collaborative groups to complete a relative assignment.
A second key point in the third chapter, “A Passion for Content,” of Fried's book is the belief that teachers need to teach less content in order to engage students with that content on a deeper and more meaningful level. “We need to get to the heart of our field of knowledge,” Fried suggests, “in part, by teaching less material” (Fried, pg. 53). Supporting this claim further, Fried notes the perspective that “forcing vast amounts of information on students only dulls most of them to the intellectual engagement that lovers of content ardently seek,” (Fried, pg. 54). Fried also notes that “advocates of less-is-more argue that we must be ready to sacrifice breadth of content in order to achieve the depth of engagement that passionate teachers seek to engender in their students” (Fried, pg. 55). “Students cannot dig deeply when they are rushing to get through quantities of stuff,” (Fried, pg. 57). Fried recommends, in conjunction with this “less-is-more” approach, that teachers set up a framework for inquiry by posing interesting questions and then get out of the way to let students do the work. (Fried, pg. 57)
An experience I had with a student today, while substituting in a chemistry class, helps to illustrate a small portion of the above ideas. The student approached me after having read Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet In Heaven. I had seen the movie and the student, seeking a comparison between film and print versions of the same story, asked how the movie ended. I described a dreamlike, symbolic scene where the protagonist stepped into a river with a child, whom he had tried to save from a fatal roller coaster accident, and washed away the burns that covered much of her body. I explained that water imagery and symbolism in literature often involves deeper meaning about cleansing and purification, etc. The student seemed uninterested or distracted, mumbling, “I know,” and walking away. Instead of taking the stance of informative giver of knowledge, I might have instead prompted him to think aloud. Instead of throwing information at the student, instead of expressing my thoughts, I could have expressed more interest in his thoughts and ideas about the use of water in the book.
As another brief example, teaching Shakespeare helps illustrate this point further. It would be unreasonable for a teacher (and meaningless for a student) to attempt to cover all the nuances and elements in any of Shakespeare's plays. Limiting content for which students are held accountable allows students to experience more fully the process of learning through discovery for themselves. This process, this experience of studying the literary qualities in a Shakespearean tragedy, for example, is of equal or greater importance than master of all the complexity of content covered. One successful way in which Fried's book advocates this “less-is-more” approach is by having collaborative groups work on separate topics on a common subject, Shakespeare in this case. The groups then reconvene in the larger, whole-class format to share findings. In this way, much content is covered on the broad scale, yet each group has also had the opportunity to study an aspect of Shakespeare in depth and greater detail.
References:
Fried, R.L. (2001). The passionate teacher: A practical guide. (2nd ed.) Boston:Beacon Press.
A second key point in the third chapter, “A Passion for Content,” of Fried's book is the belief that teachers need to teach less content in order to engage students with that content on a deeper and more meaningful level. “We need to get to the heart of our field of knowledge,” Fried suggests, “in part, by teaching less material” (Fried, pg. 53). Supporting this claim further, Fried notes the perspective that “forcing vast amounts of information on students only dulls most of them to the intellectual engagement that lovers of content ardently seek,” (Fried, pg. 54). Fried also notes that “advocates of less-is-more argue that we must be ready to sacrifice breadth of content in order to achieve the depth of engagement that passionate teachers seek to engender in their students” (Fried, pg. 55). “Students cannot dig deeply when they are rushing to get through quantities of stuff,” (Fried, pg. 57). Fried recommends, in conjunction with this “less-is-more” approach, that teachers set up a framework for inquiry by posing interesting questions and then get out of the way to let students do the work. (Fried, pg. 57)
An experience I had with a student today, while substituting in a chemistry class, helps to illustrate a small portion of the above ideas. The student approached me after having read Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet In Heaven. I had seen the movie and the student, seeking a comparison between film and print versions of the same story, asked how the movie ended. I described a dreamlike, symbolic scene where the protagonist stepped into a river with a child, whom he had tried to save from a fatal roller coaster accident, and washed away the burns that covered much of her body. I explained that water imagery and symbolism in literature often involves deeper meaning about cleansing and purification, etc. The student seemed uninterested or distracted, mumbling, “I know,” and walking away. Instead of taking the stance of informative giver of knowledge, I might have instead prompted him to think aloud. Instead of throwing information at the student, instead of expressing my thoughts, I could have expressed more interest in his thoughts and ideas about the use of water in the book.
As another brief example, teaching Shakespeare helps illustrate this point further. It would be unreasonable for a teacher (and meaningless for a student) to attempt to cover all the nuances and elements in any of Shakespeare's plays. Limiting content for which students are held accountable allows students to experience more fully the process of learning through discovery for themselves. This process, this experience of studying the literary qualities in a Shakespearean tragedy, for example, is of equal or greater importance than master of all the complexity of content covered. One successful way in which Fried's book advocates this “less-is-more” approach is by having collaborative groups work on separate topics on a common subject, Shakespeare in this case. The groups then reconvene in the larger, whole-class format to share findings. In this way, much content is covered on the broad scale, yet each group has also had the opportunity to study an aspect of Shakespeare in depth and greater detail.
References:
Fried, R.L. (2001). The passionate teacher: A practical guide. (2nd ed.) Boston:Beacon Press.
A Teacher's Roles and
the Importance of Limiting Content
the Importance of Limiting Content
