Educational Psychology:
Effective Teaching,
Effective Learning
3^rd Edition
Elliott, et. al.

Chapter One Outline

WHAT TEACHERS NEED TO KNOW

When you first enter a classroom, you'll have already acquired considerable knowledge about the characteristics of students, how to teach, and what to teach. You have acquired this knowledge over many years from personal experiences and formal education. You need this basic knowledge the minute you enter the classroom, which isn't to say that you won't add to it as you gain teaching experience and probably take graduate courses to pursue your goal of being the best teacher you can be.

Before we discuss the various types of knowledge that you need, remember that all of these ideas about children, about subject matter, and about teaching are filtered through your network of personal beliefs (Calderhead, 1996). For example, how do you think students learn? Your answer will have a lot to do with the methods and materials you select, as well as how you interact with your students. Do you have any underlying assumptions about teaching? For example, do you believe good teaching is a matter of presenting pertinent facts to students, or do you think good teaching is a matter of guiding students in their learning?

Let's turn to some specific examples of the kinds of knowledge that teachers need and use in their quest for "good teaching," while keeping in mind the uniqueness of all the learners we might interact with in a classroom. As Alexander (1996) noted: One of the most powerful and consistent findings to emerge from the research in cognitive psychology over the past several decades is the realization that what knowledge learners possess is a powerful force in what information they attend to, how that information is perceived, what learners judge to be relevant or important, and what they understand and remember. Truly, one's knowledge base is a scaffold that supports the construction of all future learning. (p. 89)

In analyzing the basic data teachers need, our first consideration should be the knowledge base of teaching. In a thoughtful essay, Good (1990) identified several topics with which you should be comfortable enough to use almost automatically in assessing your teaching. These include pertinent data from developmental psychology, motivation, classroom management, teacher expectations, and learning and learning strategies (topics that are at the heart of this book).

If you are familiar with this rich teacher knowledge base, you can then use it while your lesson is in progress. For example, in the middle of your lesson, you might decide that things aren't going as well as you had anticipated and you determine that motivation may be the reason, or that the strategy you had decided on just isn't reaching your students. You can then make changes during the lesson. You can do this, however, only if you are completely at ease with your ideas about your students, about the subjects you're teaching, and the various ways of teaching.

We'll use three categories to sort out the kinds of information you'll need to become an outstanding teacher: teaching (pedagogical) knowledge (managing the classroom, instructional techniques, etc.), subject matter knowledge (facts, structures, beliefs, etc.), and teaching subject matter knowledge (how you make a subject understandable to others).

Teaching Knowledge

Teaching knowledge refers to how the basic principles and strategies of a subject are best acquired and retained. Some refer to this as pedagogical knowledge. Questions like the following are about pedagogical knowledge. Am I sufficiently prepared in this subject to know the best way to introduce it? What is the best way to teach its core elements? What is the best way to evaluate my students? To answer these questions, you must have usable knowledge about teaching, learning, and students (Borko & Putnam, 1996). Each of these three categories tells a story in itself, a story that helps to refine your personal skills.

For example, classroom management is critical, but keep in mind that positive classroom functioning depends on many things, perhaps most importantly on your personality. What style of management are you most comfortable with? You'll soon discover what's best for you, and once that happens you'll steadily improve your management strategies. But, unfortunately, that's not your only consideration. You'll have to adapt to the philosophy of your school, and to the wishes of your principal, a very real force to be reckoned with. For example, in the course of writing this book, one of us visited a school where the principal casually remarked that when she went by a classroom, she liked to "hear the clock ticking." The management style in this school is quite different from that of another school in which the principal wants to hear the hum of activity as a sign of learning. Your task then is to keep a group of twenty to twenty-five students working together and focused on classroom tasks within the boundaries established by your unique personality, your students' needs, and the overarching philosophy of the school.

Another aspect of teaching knowledge is that of instructional strategies, that is, how you structure activities in your classroom (Borko & Putnam, 1996). Although some teaching techniques will appeal more to you than others, you'll find that you need an arsenal of strategies to meet the widely varied needs of your students. At this point, you may well ask, "Why?" "Why can't I just use what works for me?" The answer to these questions cuts to the heart of what makes a good teacher. Different subjects demand different strategies; would you use the same methods for teaching algebra as you would in teaching Hamlet? Also, if you're to be a facilitator of meaningful learning for your students, you'll find yourself using many different approaches to reach them. Our final concern regarding teaching knowledge relates to learners and learning. As a result of observations and your own education, you no doubt have certain ideas about how students think and learn, and how you can use these ideas to further their learning. Students are active problem solvers who will take the data available, and with your guidance and their own view of the world will give learning their own interpretations based on your efforts, their personalities, their home situation, their friends, and their own personal bank of experiences. As you can see, this constructivist view of learning sees learning as a student-mediated process. We'll have much more to say about this process and the topic of constructivism throughout the book.

Subject Matter Knowledge

Subject matter knowledge refers to a teacher's comprehension of a subject when compared with that of a specialist. How comfortable am I with this subject? Can I answer students' questions accurately and in a relaxed manner? For example, think of recent events that have captured our headlines:

• The Human Genome Project has resulted in the discovery of the genes that cause cystic fibrosis and Huntington's disease, and researchers are closing in on the elusive genetic causes of breast cancer.
  
  
• The Hubble telescope has sent back a series of amazing pictures of the universe.
  
  
• The Mars probe has resulted in a series of remarkable pictures, detailing facts about its surface.
  
  
• Astronauts walk in space as if it were the natural thing for us all to do.
  
  
• Computer technology is opening new vistas that are as startling as they are ingenious.

On and on it goes, almost as if knowledge that has been forced below our level of consciousness has burst through restraining barriers and, as if to make up for lost time, has exploded before our eyes. Students, in the midst of this marvel of discoveries, have a unique opportunity to acquire learning that will shape their future as never before.

We're not concerned here with how you teach a particular subject, but with your knowledge of the various subjects. Our focus is to urge you not to be content with the basic facts and information of a subject. Rather, acquire familiarity with the ideas, facts, and concepts of a subject, and how they are organized. In other words, know the basic ideas of a subject, and how these ideas are "put together." Try to keep up with the results of current research. What seems to be essential here is that you should know more than the facts of a subject; you should understand how facts and ideas interrelate, and what they mean for truly understanding the subject (Borko & Putnam, 1996).

Does your knowledge of a subject affect how you teach it? Subject matter knowledge cuts both ways. If you feel shaky about material, you may attempt to brush by it quickly. Conversely, if you have depth of knowledge, you may do too much with your pupils. However, research indicates that knowledgeable teachers can better detect student difficulties and seize opportunities for meaningful learning. Teachers who are less knowledgeable in subject matter may avoid presenting critical material if they are uncomfortable with it, and thus their students will not see the whole picture (Dill, 1990).

Nevertheless, it all comes down to one fundamental question: How much and what should teachers know of what they teach (Shulman, 1986, p. 26)? The best advice is to know as much as possible about your subject, to present it as dynamically as possible, and to be prepared to answer all kinds of questions about what you teach.

Teaching Subject Matter Knowledge

Teaching subject matter knowledge refers to the most appealing manner in which you organize and present content-telling, guiding, and using texts, computers, media, or workbooks. According to Shulman (1986, p. 9), teaching subject matter knowledge means the ways of representing and formulating the subject that make it comprehensible to others, and an understanding of what makes the learning of specific topics easy or difficult: the conceptions and preconceptions that students of different ages and backgrounds bring with them to the learning of those most frequently taught topics and lessons. For example, assume that you are teaching one of Faulkner's stories and your students are having difficulty. What do you do? Do you yourself turn to the story and attempt to clarify themes, or do you search for an outside interpretation?

To help you organize your thoughts about how to teach various subjects, think about the following questions that help to shape your personal style (H. Grossman, 1990):

• Why are you teaching what you're teaching? In other words, what do you think is important for your students to know? Your decisions on what to teach will influence the objectives you want your students to achieve, the teaching strategies you'll use, and the materials you'll select (texts, videos, computer programs, etc.).
  
  
• What are your students' typical understandings and misunderstandings of a subject? For example, students usually understand that George Washington was our first president and the "father of our country." Don't count on them understanding the complex reasons that led to our involvement in Vietnam. They may understand fractions, but totally misunderstand the division of fractions.
  
  
• How much do you know about curriculum and curricular materials? Do you know the range of materials-texts and other instructional materials-available for teaching a particular topic? You should also understand how the topics and ideas of a subject are organized horizontally (within a course or grade level) and vertically (kindergarten through grade 12).
  
  
• Have you thought about the strategies and representations you could use for particular topics? Our concern here is that you give considerable attention to the best way of representing a particular subject or topic. What model, illustration, demonstration, example, or simulation is best suited for the needs of your students? Do you have to adapt your model to satisfy the individual differences in your class?

  What Does All of This Mean for You?

  If you remember one guiding principle, you'll be able to relate the various kinds of teacher knowledge to your daily classroom work: Your task is to help students learn as much as they can. To be more specific, here are several principles of learning, agreed upon by almost all educational psychologists, that will help you to use your knowledge most effectively. In fact, this list serves as an advanced organizer for much of what we cover in depth in the remaining twelve chapters in this book.

  Be sure you know what you want to accomplish; that is, keep clearly defined objectives in sight at all times. In this way, you recognize the stages in any task that are necessary for mastery. If you're comfortable with the subject you're teaching, you're also aware of the progressive stages that students need to master. For example, pupils can't do long division until they can add, subtract, and do short division.

  Encourage as much student activity as possible. Students will be-should be-engaged in multiple activities, ranging from reading a text with comprehension, to discussing topics in class, to searching for materials for their research projects. As they become engaged, provide reinforcement, but be sure it is both specific and deserved. Students need encouragement; just be sure it is appropriate, and don't use praise carelessly.

  Guard against student anxiety, which can have many causes: pressure from home, pressure from you, pressure from competition. Frequently monitor the classroom atmosphere so that it remains challenging but not overwhelming. Remember that tried-and-true cliche: Match the mix; that is, use teaching techniques and materials that are appropriate for the level (emotional as well as cognitive) of your students.

  Teach for understanding, and encourage the use of learning strategies. What do we mean by "understanding"? To answer this question, Perkins and Blythe (1994, pp. 5-6) stated that understanding is being able to do a variety of thought-demanding things with a topic-explaining, finding evidence and examples, applying, and representing the topic in new ways. For example, why do skates need to be sharp if you are to skate well? What are the pros and cons of a superpower's invasion of a small country to restore order?

  Remember that students very often don't understand what they learn. They master facts, but their comprehension lags far behind. Changing these conditions is a difficult task for many reasons, but far too often we're more interested in how students do on standardized tests, on how many sheer facts they have mastered. In a complex and technological society, we simply can't afford this type of thinking any longer. As Bruer (1994) reminded us:

  The world didn't need Isaac Newton to know that apples fell off trees. It did need Newton to give us a general theory that explains why apples fall off trees. Knowing why apples fall off trees has allowed us to go to the moon and to see television images of the planets. Knowing why leads to other discoveries, new applications, and further refinements. (p. 17)

  We hope you share our belief that teachers and schools that teach and assess understanding as an outcome of instruction can make a significant difference in students' lives. To accomplish this, however, we believe that teachers must be part scientist and part artist. Let's examine this idea for a moment. Following are definitions of artist and scientist found in Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th edition.

  artist: a skilled performer
  
  scientist: a scientific [knowledgeable] investigator
  By permission. From Merriam-Webster's Collegiate(r) Dictionary, Tenth Edition (c)1998 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.

  Teaching as an Art and Science

  You must know your subject, which implies that you grasp not only the material that you currently are presenting in class, but also the core of the subject, and what researchers are discovering at the frontiers of the discipline. In an age devoted to empirical research, you'll find yourself doing independent study to prevent personal obsolescence. You don't want to plead ignorance on too many of your students' questions.

  You, and any teacher, will avoid such work unless you like your subject and enjoy interacting with students. To devote hours of study beyond the demands of duty requires a commitment to a discipline and the company of the young, both of which can be provocative masters. You have already made a commitment that reflects a love of study and pleasure in working with youth. These categories actually mirror two basic themes that are at the heart of this book: the teacher as a professional and the teacher as a person.

  Musing about the art of teaching, Cohen (1992) described the lives of five veteran secondary school teachers and concluded that common to them all was a passion and enthusiasm for the subjects they taught. Particularly interesting was her finding that they were not locked into any single teaching style. They had developed their own unique and, for them, effective styles, which they constantly modified. In many ways, they never lost the perspective of a novice: always wanting to try something new, to seek constantly for improvement. As Cohen noted, they were "originals." These innovative, flexible teachers undoubtedly performed as artists in their classrooms.

  Considering teaching strictly as an art, however, is too limiting. Given the knowledge that we have acquired about the nature of instruction and about the methods of inquiry into any discipline, we should explore the notion that teaching also be considered a science.

  You'll find that you, knowingly or not, adopt-and adapt-the scientific method in your work. You'll adopt the role of experimenter as you try new instructional methods and classroom procedures (even something as simple as changing the seating arrangement). A quick rundown on your role of teacher-as-scientist will include the following four steps:

  1. Identifying the problem. You must decide exactly what you want your students to learn.
     
     
  2. Formulating a logical series of steps to reach a goal. You'll decide not only which topic to present but how you'll do it.
     
     
  3. Gathering the data. You'll conclude just what student behavior is to be assessed and then the best means of measuring it.
     
     
  4. Interpreting the data. You'll judge if your students' performance has achieved the desired goal.
  
  

  By following the "scientific method" in instruction and by your involvement at various levels of scientific inquiry, you'll act as a scientist: you'll identify objectives, devise strategies, gather and evaluate their data, and communicate their results.

  Thus, teaching is both art and science, a needed combination for today's changing classrooms and for enacting effective teaching-learning interactions.