There are many teaching strategies, and every teacher should know them in order to know how to choose which one is the most appropriate depending on the occasion, the students and the content to be taught.
Whatever is going to be taught, it is essential that in order to achieve meaningful learning, the teacher makes his classes enjoyable, fruitful and awakens the interest, curiosity and motivation of his students.
Next we will see what teaching strategies are in addition to seeing the most common and applicable in education.
What are teaching strategies?
Teaching strategies are methods, procedures or resources used by teachers to ensure that their students achieve significant learning The application of these strategies allows teachers to transform learning into an active, more participatory process that the student remembers more easily. Many of these strategies share in common being very cooperative, something that facilitates the assimilation of values, develops a better emotional adjustment in students and prepares them for life in society.
These strategies, although very versatile, should not be applied without prior knowledge of the material to be taught. The selection of the teaching strategy must be made taking into account what purposes you want to achieve, as well as the skills you want to develop in the students. It is very important that the teacher knows how to play his role, since it is his responsibility to foster a learning environment.
Traditionally, the teaching strategy has focused on transmitting knowledge from the teacher, seen as an absolute expert, and the student, seen as a complete ignorant person. This process placed special emphasis on memorization of content, evaluated through exams or written exercises which, on many occasions, did not invite critical positions, prioritizing being easy to correct by the teaching staff.
Fortunately, this has been changing, making teachers more aware that, to achieve better learning, it is necessary to apply varied teaching strategies, appropriate for each type of person, content and situation. Thanks to its diversity, the teaching process can be made truly effective awakening the curiosity of the students, their participation and adding an important recreational component.
The most common teaching strategies in education
Below we will see the most common teaching strategies, which every teacher should know to make their teaching task truly fruitful. These methods can serve both to activate the knowledge that students already master and to teach them new ones, in addition to fostering a critical spirit and better logical argumentation.
1. Illustrations
The illustrations are visual representations of the concepts, objects or situations described in the theory, or a specific topic that has been discussed in class, such as a historical photograph, a drawing exemplifying the structure of a building, diagrams, graphs and other visual supports. There are four different types with different functions.
Although they can be used with students of any age, They are essential for the little ones, since they do not yet have extensive knowledge of the world and the best way they have to build it is through visual representations.
2. Objectives
Objectives are statements in which the conditions, the type of activities and how learning will be evaluated are established It is through his explanation at the beginning of the course that makes the students understand what is expected of them, in addition to outlining the path they should follow.
It is very important to establish these objectives, since, In addition to serving as a guide for the teacher, it makes the student know, in advance, what they will have to do during the course
In this way, students are given the opportunity to take responsibility for their own learning, researching on their own instead of waiting for the teacher to tell them what is going to be done at the beginning of each session. This way, students will not have a daily surprise, but will at least have a slight idea of ​​what is going to happen and will be able to relate it with knowledge from other courses more easily.
3. Preview presentation
Consists in prepare the introductory material well to facilitate the process of acquiring it This strategy should not be confused with the presentation of the objectives, since the previous presentation implies introducing the content in each session, awakening knowledge that the students already have or preparing them for the syllabus that is going to be explained. Whether through pre-reading or a brief and explanatory presentation, the process of acquiring new information can be greatly facilitated.
4. Debates and guided discussion
The incorporation of debates and guided discussions is an essential teaching strategy in any education that wants encourage freedom of opinion, critical thinking, respect and understanding that other points of view exist
Debates should be informal exchanges of ideas and information on the topic being discussed, always under the direction of the educator to ensure that students do not stray from the point being discussed. During the debate, opposing positions will be presented on a certain topic, with each participant having to defend their point of view with respect and tolerance, using logic, reflection and due argumentation.
It is very important that if the teacher chooses this strategy, he presents a topic that gives rise to different approaches and points of view. In addition, the teacher must act as director or mediator in the debate, asking a series of questions to invite his students to make their opinions known. The ideal is that they previously know the topic that is going to be talked about, or that they have an idea of ​​what it is about so that they can be a little prepared and argue their positions.
It is very important that the questions posed by the debate mediator follow a logical order, and that a conclusion is reached at the end of the debate. In this way, the debate will allow for organized reflection and presentation of one’s arguments, stimulating critical capacity. The students They will develop better critical and reflective thinking skills, collaborative work and better communication skills
5. Workshops
The transformation of theoretical classes into workshops is a very good teaching strategy, useful for acquiring new knowledge in a practical and collaborative way. Groups are created in the workshops so that students present their own proposals, debate and carry them out, in addition to using logic and making intelligent use of theoretical content seen in classes. This strategy promotes the development of cognitive, procedural and attitudinal knowledge.
The beauty of this type of activities is that students learn in a context very similar to real life, in the sense that, once they are older, they will not have access to a book or presentation that explains what they should do in a situation. new. The best way to put creativity and intelligence into practice is through this teaching strategy, making them think innovatively in a situation they have never faced before.
6. Practical classes
Although they may seem the same as workshops, they are not. The workshops invite students to explore on their own how to do things, discuss what they should do among themselves and implement various activities. On the other hand, practical classes are the organizational modality in which activities directly related to theory are developed, that is, it is the practical representation of what the teacher has already explained in class or what appears in the book.
It involves teaching, through practical examples, the basic and procedural skills related to the subject matter under study. This type of strategy is ideal for subjects and other subjects that have a high practical component, such as computer science, biology, chemistry or physics. Practical classes can be carried out in special classrooms such as the laboratory or the IT classroom.
7. Troubleshooting
Problem solving is put theoretical knowledge into practice but that can only be adequately acquired through exercises in which formulas, algorithms or routines are applied. This strategy, also classic, if used correctly, allows students to arouse interest in seeing how problems of all kinds are solved.
The exercises may have one or more solutions known to the teacher, whose main intention is to apply what has been learned to strengthen knowledge of the theoretical content. It is very important that the teacher pays attention to how the students do it, to detect possible procedural errors and prevent them from being repeated over and over again. This strategy is basic in subjects such as mathematics, chemistry and physics.
8. Cooperative learning
Cooperative or peer learning is a form of teaching organization that consists of making small groups in which its members encourage the learning of others, collaborating and exposing what they know. The members of the groups interact with each other, making that those who have learned the content best explain it in a more entertaining way and in a language that is more accessible to those who have problems
In addition, socio-affective and intellectual skills are also worked on, since explaining what has just been learned implies putting into practice a better ability to organize information, explaining it in an empathetic way for those who have more difficulties. It is through all this that not only class content is acquired, but also more prosocial values ​​and attitudes.
9. Pedagogical simulation
Pedagogical simulation is a strategy in which students are asked to represent a context or stage a situation.
So, Students have to abandon for a moment their own personality and identity, acquiring the one they must represent This allows them to have a greater understanding of the characteristics of, for example, professions, ethnic groups, injustices or everyday situations since, when representing them, they have to put themselves in the role and act as if they were really another person.
This can be seen as a kind of game, and in some ways it is. Students have to assume their role, acting creatively and openly based on what they have to represent, or how they believe the person they have to represent behaves. Within the pedagogical simulation we have role plays, sociodramas and psychodrama
10. Interspersed questions
The interspersed questions are inserted in the teaching situation or in the reading of a text, with the intention of maintaining the students’ attention and promoting practice and obtaining relevant information.
These questions are productive, since it is from them that you can know the degree of involvement and, at the same time, understanding of the students. With them it is possible to bring out the latent knowledge in the mind of the individual which, perhaps, it would not have occurred to him to make known before because he simply did not remember. It is giving you the clues to remember what you may know.