Liam Julian, who writes for the Fordham-sponsored Education Gadfly, has an editorial in the 20 December issue that amounts to a call for employing Direct Instruction. In “Check yourself before you wreck yourself,” Mr. Julian writes about the utility of checklists. He explains that when doctors use specific, scripted methods they are not criticized for doing so, but that many educators complain about scripted instructional methods.
The popular value of ________ creativity and autonomy as high priorities must give way to a willingness to follow certain carefully prescribed ________ practices.”
Replace the first blank with the word “doctor,” the second with the word “medical,” and you’ve constructed a commonsense sentence that will garner nods of agreement. Replace the first with “teacher” and the second with “instructional,” however, and you’ve got on your hands a 40-year-old dogfight.
The above sentence is originally found–with the words “teacher” and “instructional”–on the Direct Instruction website. One also finds out on the website “that 32 of 34 qualifying studies demonstrated a positive effect of Direct Instruction on student achievement” and that the practice, which provides teachers with scripted classroom-lessons, is effective in improving academic performance in a bevy of subjects and has a positive effect on students’ social skills.
Link to Mr. Julian’s column.
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Hi John — I’ve added a blog to my quiver, now I’m contributing to Kitchen Table Math.
My comment on scripted instruction and resistance thereto is at
http://kitchentablemath.blogspot.com/2008/01/sigh-misunderstanding-scripted-learning.html
I should have written “misrepresented” rather than “misunderstood”.
But good scripts alone are not enough — teachers’ expertise in delivering the scripts is just as important as actors’ ability to bring the scripts to life.
Yo, your comment about scripts being insufficient is right on the nose. Teachers may have well-designed lessons (especially those that have been tested repeatedly so that they can be scripts), but they still have to present them with enthusiasm, monitoring of students’ responses, and careful provision of feedback.