Sir, – William Reville's article "The reason why modern teaching methods don't work" (March 2nd) is at best reductionist, missing completely the complexity of the teaching and learning process. The title of the article itself exposes its central flaw. Teaching, as a pedagogical interaction with learners, requires both a complex knowledge base and a reflective wisdom. The argument he advances that a teacher should "stand at a blackboard, teach the whole class the established body of knowledge, test the children with questions and ensure a disciplined class environment" ignores the significance of the teacher-pupil relationship, flies in the face of inclusive education practices and suggests that teaching is simply a process of transmission. The recent policy shift towards a masters level award for teachers is recognition both of the inherent complexity of the teacher's role and of the significance of supporting teachers as lifelong learners in a profession which has become increasingly challenging and complex. – Yours, etc,
Dr JUDITH HARFORD,
School of Education,
University College Dublin,
Dublin 4.
Sir, – Teachers know the difference between and the importance of both long-term and short-term memory and all modern teaching methods aim to help children improve both. But to say that “the aim of all instruction is to add to long-term memory” is a very narrow interpretation of education or teaching. In western societies where on the one hand we say people are allowed think for themselves and on the other hand we are constantly under the influence of advertising and the media, we must teach our children a lot more than facts and how to memorise them in their long-term memory banks.
Prof Reville falls in to the trap so many teachers in the past fell into and that is to think everybody learns in the same way as we do ourselves. This traditional teaching style only catered to some and we had huge dropout levels from school. Today we aim to teach all children and thus we must adapt our teaching styles to suit all.
This means that sometimes the teacher will talk to the whole class but the teacher must be able to adopt a number of different approaches to teaching a topic in order that all the children benefit from their schooling. This can look very unstructured, even noisy. Some children need a lot more individual attention; they may not have been taught how to “listen” at home or they may have a learning difficulty that requires a bit more reinforcement. Smaller groups or two teachers working with a group can help here.
Silence in class often meant many students were present in body but not in mind. Teachers today want their students working with them and we need students who can think and argue the facts, not just remember them. – Yours, etc,
MARY FRIEL,
Clonsilla,
Dublin 15.