Approaches to teaching: current opinions and related research
Published by Elsevier
Maggi Banning , B.Sc. (Hons), M.Sc. PGDE, EdD, SRN, SCM.
Approaches to Teaching
The changing face of teaching has moved away from didacticism to learning facilitation and with this is the need for teachers to play different roles and use new techniques
(Griffin, 2002, Jarvis, 2002). Three main styles of teaching are propounded; didactic, socratic and facilitative. The diversity of styles provides a degree of flexibility that allows one to alter the task of teaching whether it is teacher-centred or student-centred. Jarvis
(2002) views teaching as both an art and a science. In doing so, one can combine the authoritarian didacticism approach with the democratic facilitator’s approach with no limit on the combinations.
The lecture is “probably the most frequently employed teaching technique despite all the criticisms that have been levelled against it” (Jarvis, 1983 p 117). It is “an economical means of transmitting factual information to a large audience, although there is no guarantee that effective learning will result” (Walkin, 2000, p 55). The didactic approach to teaching primarily involves lecturing and is essentially teacher-centred (Entwistle,
1997). Fry, Ketteridge & Marshall (2003) reminds us that although the lecture remains a major method of teaching in adult and continuing education, and is still recognised “as a
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Nurse Education Today, Volume 25, Issue 7, Pages 502-508 useful teaching tool” as it can provide a framework of ideas and theories but it needs to be complemented by interaction and adult-oriented strategies due to attention span and lack of participation.
Didacticism raises numerous constraints which involve rote learning, learning by note taking, and potential boredom as the approach limits student participation and reflection.
Many traditional lecturers continue