Methods of Teaching

Activity 1: Professional journal work 
If your interviews with children and your study of the teacher effectiveness research 
raise questions or issues about your personal theory of teaching, make notes to that 
effect in your journal. Think about those notes for two or three days before you 
consider making a change in your theory of teaching. If the interviews and research 
cause you to think that your theory may contain a misconception of teaching, be sure 
to note that.
Activity 2: Interviews with two experienced teachers 
If possible, return to the primary school you attended and identify two teachers 
with whom you want to speak. Ask them what they think makes a good teacher. 
If they are available to talk with you separately, tell them that you have decided to 
become a teacher and are researching traits and actions of teachers whose children 
learn well in school. As you did with the children, make notes of their answers 
and then write a two-page paper reporting on their views of good teaching. If 
you cannot get to your primary school, find two teachers among family, friends, 
or neighbours and interview them. (The interviews do not have to take place in a 
school.) Bring this paper to the next class. 
Activity 3: Read Handout 2 ‘Principles and Procedures of 
Classroom Observation’
Read this handout before the next class. You are going to conduct two classroom 
observations next week and you need to be prepared for them. Bring a list of any 
questions you have about the information in the handout to class and be prepared to 
discuss the conduct of an observation with your two partners.
Activity 4: Obtain permission to observe two teachers in a school 
near your home or university
If you have to find classrooms to observe on your own, do that before the next class 
session. You will have to work with your two partners. Remember that you must have 
permission from the teacher and the school to do this. If you need an official request 
from your course instructor, ask the school official if you can bring it with you on the 
day of the observations.

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COURSE GUIDE: Methods of Teaching
31
UNIT 1
UNIT 4
UNIT 5
UNIT 3
UNIT 6
UNIT 2
UNIT 7
NOTE TO FACULTY: The lesson that you just taught illustrates an important point. As you are 
asking for volunteers to answer questions and participate in class activities, keep a record 
of which Student Teachers participate in each class session. This is important in order to 
ensure that every student in the class participates and that everyone is given that opportuni-
ty. Also, you can use class participation as one criterion for determining students’ grade.
When you read Student Teacher papers for this unit, try to identify potential connections 
between sources of knowledge about teaching and learning that the Student Teachers are 
exploring and their personal theories about teaching and learning.
Week 1, session 3 lesson