Methods of Teaching

Whether you are a seasoned educator, getting ready to start your first teaching job, or planning your dream career in the classroom, the topic of teaching methods means different things to different people. Your individual approaches and strategies for imparting knowledge and inspiring students to learn are most likely based on your academic education as well as your instincts and intuition. Whether you discover your preferred teaching methods organically or by actively studying educational theory and pedagogy, having a comprehensive working knowledge of the various teaching methods at your disposal can be beneficial.

The term teaching method refers to the general principles, pedagogy, and management strategies used in the classroom. Your preferred teaching method is determined by your educational philosophy, classroom demographics, subject area(s), and school mission statement.

Read more: Teaching Strategies

• Teaching Centered Method

It is a method in which the teacher serves as the sole expert or authority figure for the learners or students. They rely on the expert and receive knowledge in order to achieve high grades in final exams or assessments. In the teacher-centered method, the lecture method is used, and it requires very little involvement of students or learners during the teaching process. If no learners or students are involved, it is also known as a closed-ended method.

• Learner-Centered Method

Teachers play two roles in this teaching method. They act as both students and teachers; they learn new things every day while giving lectures. The learner-centered approach benefits both the teacher and the student. Following the class's discussion, inquiry-based, or discovery strategies is the best way to implement this method.

Read More: Objectives of Curriculum

• Content-focused Method

When the content, set of information, or skill taught by the teachers or experts cannot be changed or altered, the teacher can use the content-focused method. It means that the content to be taught is so important or unquestionable that both the learner and the teacher must fit in the subject without questioning it.

• The Study Assignment Method

It is one of the instructional methods that encourage active learning. Before the class, the teacher or instructor assigns a task to each student. It could be a book or research paper reading, project analysis, or a review of any relevant material. This method improves students' research skills, and the discussion portion of class allows the teacher and students to learn about each other's different points of view.

• The Tutorial Method

It is a teaching method that can only be used when a teacher or instructor works directly with one student. This method, also known as online tutoring, is more expensive and time-consuming than other teaching methods. Those who use such methods understand the importance of safety and active participation on the part of both the learner and the reader. The tutorial teaching methods are simple to understand. Students can skip or restart the lesson at any time, leave the tutorial in the middle, or access it whenever they feel like learning or being motivated. These are mostly recorded lectures.

• The Seminar Method

The seminar method is one of the more expensive teaching methods used by experts or teachers to guide or educate students on a particular topic or project. In this method, instructors assign projects to groups of students and then ask them to share the information or techniques they learned while working on the project. Highly qualified teachers must organise a seminar method and then evaluate the study, research paper, or project.

• Interactive or Participative Method

It is a type of learning method that is thought to benefit both students and teachers. The teacher's responsibility is to explain the key points or the importance of using the interactive or participating method in general during class so that students do not resist. This teaching method employs a variety of strategies, such as writing exercises, think-pair-share, debate, problem-based learning, and situation analysis.

• The Lecture Method

The lecture method is one of the most common formal or semiformal teaching methods. This method is mostly used by teachers when they have a large class. Teachers use this method to select a topic and explain its basic definitions, facts, events, principles, and the overall point of the subject or topic using relevant examples and problems. At the end of a lecture, students are permitted to take notes and ask questions, and the subject master is required to answer them all. Thus, in this method, the main role model for the large class is a teacher who has a strong mastery of that specific subject.

• Discussion Method

Only when the teacher is highly skilled and disciplined can the discussion method be used. Because, in this two-way communication method, students are willing to listen to and exchange ideas with their peers. A teacher's role is to introduce disciplined group discussion techniques to students while also clarifying the topic's concept. This method is primarily used to make use of each student's knowledge, experience, and creativity. When the discussion is finished, the teacher corrects any errors and clarifies any ambiguous concepts.

• The Demonstration Method

The demonstration method is a type of teaching method in which the teacher must demonstrate something or perform an operation in order for the learner to understand deeply and clearly. It could be the operation of a tool or piece of equipment, the teaching of troubleshooting, the performance of a specific job or operation, or anything else. This method of instruction can only be proposed if the instructor explains why, how, where, what, and when. It will save time and help the students perform well if the highly competent teacher chooses the method and practises thoroughly before teaching. In laboratories, the demonstration teaching method is commonly used.

• Direct Teaching

The direct teaching method is widely used in all institutions because it allows teachers or instructors to communicate directly with their students within the school or institution's premises. This method reduces the communication gap between students and teachers. It focuses on the immediate teaching process, and students are permitted to ask questions or make suggestions in between, subject to time constraints.

• Online Teaching Method

Online teaching is one of the most adaptable methods of instruction. The teacher and the learner can offer a flexible timetable that is not limited by time or location. Both can communicate with one another via email or other digital means. The ability to listen to recorded lectures after the online session allows students to better understand them. In the last few decades, technological advancement has transformed learners into online learners. Online and private tutors each have their own method of teaching concepts within a set time frame. Students who work mostly use this teaching method to learn in their spare time and achieve their goals without having to relocate.

• Independent Study

Some teachers or instructors use the independent study or practise teaching method because it improves students' self-learning or self-study abilities. Teachers usually assign the same task to each student to practise or study at home on their own, and then the next day, teachers evaluate the task and answer the students' questions.