Module III methods/Strategies of Teaching History

3.0 
Differentiation between Methods and Strategies
3.1 
What is a method? 
A method is a way of doing something. It is an approach which a teacher adopts to impart a 
subject matter to a group of learners. This definition can be represented by a simple triangle 
thus; 
Teacher 
Method
Learners 
Subject Matter 
Figure 1:
Interrelationship among the Teacher, Learner, Subject Matter and 
Choice of Method. 
The above figure shows the interrelationship among the teacher, learners, the subject matter 
and choice of method. At the top of the triangle is the teacher, and the two other angles at the 
base are the learners and the subject matter. Each of the angles of the triangle is very 
important to the selection and development of a method. For a method to be successful, it 
must bring about positive relationship between the teacher, learners and the subject matter. 
Hence, the three variables cannot be separated. 
3.2 
What is Strategy?
Whatever method a professional teacher decides to adopt in classroom teaching, there are 
many techniques which a teacher can use to effectively improve on the methods. The 
sequential order through which these techniques are utilized can be described as strategy. In 
other words, strategies are special techniques organized and employed in a systematic way 
by the teacher to make any method unique in his/her way. That is to say that two or more 
teachers may be using the same method but different strategies. A strategy, therefore, is a 

---

36 
teaching device or technique adopted by a teacher to teach a lesson. Strategies include the 
use of films, games textbooks, library study, project, field trips, and simulation. Strategies act 
as a stimulus to learning. In any teaching activity, a teacher has to use several strategies 
within a teaching period to make his classroom lively.