The Dynamic Teaching Model

For years we thought the primary emphasis in school should be to teach digital technology to our students. The Information Era would solve everything! Mind you, tech skills are absolutely essential. But, this emphasis, at the exclusion of something else, has placed a couple of generations at a major disadvantage!

Why the current school system doesn’t serve us and what we can do about it

Consider that many adults are children in adult bodies. And it is not their fault. Emotionally they have not matured. Often, in childhood we decide something about ourselves e.g. I’m not smart enough, I’m not loveable or I’m not good enough. Then we spend the rest of our lives looking for evidence to prove our point of view, a tendency known as confirmation bias. And it has us reacting instead of responding to life.

The current public school system was created in the Industrial Era, where students learned to be compliant so they could be factory workers. Now, in an era of innovation, we must develop students in essential skills such as:

What if there is a way to teach our students academics through whole-brain learning strategies and social and emotional skills while saving time, having a noticeable impact and being energized by the experience?

What could this new teaching model look like? Could it have less screen time?
How would it serve us going forward?

The Learning Potential Scale™

With this, I am proposing the learning potential scale. The scale has 4 states:

The first state is a state I call Dysfunction. Dysfunction means there is a very low potential for learning. You know you are in this state when you are pulling the class along and there is an atmosphere of emotional distrust.
The second state is a state I call Struggle. Struggle means there is some learning potential. You know you are in this state when your students get work done but often to minimum standards and you are very involved in relational problem-solving, especially with group work.
The third state is a state I call Traction. Traction means there is a mediocre potential for learning. You know you are in this state when a few students carry the discussions and most complete well-structured work to minimum standards. Students tolerate each other socially.
The final state is a state I call Thriving. Thriving means there is full learning potential. You know you are in this state when your students have a high level of participation, are discovering their strengths and building on them while nurturing their relationships and seeking to make a difference to others and the world.

When emotional safety is absent, students do not learn to their potential. They do not take risks such as raising their hand or offering a response, because trust is lacking. They need to trust their classmates and teacher to build them up (not mock or shame them). In the states of dysfunction and struggle, both students and teachers can experience a sense of fear and are just surviving.

Is there a gap between the state you see yourself in and the state of thriving? There is for most teachers.

But before we can get there, let’s first look at the cause. Why are we in this situation in the first place?

I believe what every teacher wants most is to have their students reach their full potential. When we are in a state of thriving, our students and teachers are at the top of the triangle.

Let’s consider three basic foundations most teachers have for developing their programs. They are indicated at the bottom left of the triangle model.

Linear curriculum: Most teachers teach single subjects e.g. the first Language then Math then Science then Social Studies and so on. And, every year we stress about getting through the curriculum content inside a school year. This is part of the problem.
Academic expectations: Schools are laser-focused on academic expectations and we know we are successful when our students learn and master the academic expectations/standards for each grade level. This is also part of the problem.
Deductive teaching: This is a teacher-centred approach to presenting new content starting with rules, then examples, and then practice. We often teach this way because we feel rushed to “cover the curriculum.” So, we tell the students what they need to know and expect them to regurgitate it on a test. This also contributes to the problem.

Based on these three basic assumptions, or even just one, teachers create their program. And that is the problem, indicated by the solid black line in the triangle model.

There is often simply not enough time in a school year to do a good job inside a linear curriculum. As well, it requires hard work for students to fit new learning into previously established patterns in their minds. This uphill struggle is not entirely necessary. Teaching thematically is more compatible with how we learn.

Focusing on academics can create a disempowering context where we are not able to get our students to master the specific concepts for the grade level within the allotted time, one school year. Our stress transfers to our students and causes them to react. This sets up a situation in which a high level of social and emotional learning (SEL) skills are urgently needed, which many teachers do not possess.

Deductive teaching is prescribed and often dry. The focus is to listen, read, and remember. Since the brain loves novelty and innovation, the lack of variety in pedagogy is disengaging.

What is Needed?

Essentially, schools need to integrate updated neuroscience and whole-brain learning of how children learn best. For example, children are born movers. If we don’t teach through movement, our students are handicapped in reaching their learning potential.

P. 277 ( Reclaiming our Student…) Sir Ken Robinson, argues in a 2018 article, “Why Dance is Just as Important as Math in Schools,”

Children also learn best through discovery. This is called inductive learning and it occurs when students experience things, wrestle with concepts and draw their own conclusions. When they discover new concepts on their own there is a much greater potential for deep retention.

One of the biggest factors in memory retention is emotional engagement. Students must be interested and find their learning relevant. When students are emotionally invested in their learning, cognition is peaked. We all want our students to reach their full potential and thrive. Teachers must thrive as well! What is missing? How do we get there? What is missing is something I call your Teacher Cultural Impact It is a critical component to enable students to thrive. There are three segments: teacher self-care strategies, teacher mindset strategies, and teacher problem-solving strategies. The Dynamic Teaching Model is a program to enable teachers to get their Teacher Cultural Impact. It starts with SEL Wisdom which focuses on social and emotional learning (SEL).

Thus, it is important to adopt a model that not only caters to SEL needs and demands of the students but also the teachers. A holistic SEL approach targeting the key stakeholders is the need of the hour.

For more information on “The Dynamic Teaching Model”, see:

References:

Appleton, J. J., Christenson, S. L., & Furlong, M. J. (2008). Student engagement with school: Critical conceptual and methodological issues of the construct. Psychology in the Schools, 45(5), 369–386.

Beach, H., & Strijack, T. N. (2020). Reclaiming our students: Why children are more anxious, aggressive, and shut down than ever-and what we can do about it. Page Two Books.

Ladd, G. W., & Dinella, L. M. (2009). Continuity and change in early school engagement: Predictive of children’s achievement trajectories from first to eighth grade? Journal of Educational Psychology, 101(1), 190–206.

mainadmin. (2017, January 4). Transcript of Simon Sinek millennials in the workplace interview. Ochen.Com. https://ochen.com/transcript-of-simon-sineks-millennials-in-the-workplace-interview/

Nurlaela, L., Samani, M., Asto, I. G. P., & Wibawa, S. C. (2018). The effect of thematic learning model, learning style, and reading ability on the students’ learning outcomes. IOP Conference Series. Materials Science and Engineering, 296, 012039.

Perry, J., Lundie, D., & Golder, G. (2019). Metacognition in schools: what does the literature suggest about the effectiveness of teaching metacognition in schools? Educational Review, 71(4), 483–500.

Sir Ken Robinson, “Why Dance is Just as Important as Math in Schools,” TED-Ed Blog, April 2, 2018, blog.ed…ted.com/2018/04/02

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Originally posted on : https://mgiep.unesco.org/article/the-dynamic-teaching-model.