different types of teaching styles essay

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Every teacher has her or his own style of teaching. And as traditional teaching styles evolve with the advent of differentiated instruction, more and more teachers are adjusting their approach depending on their students’ learning needs.

But there are a few fundamental teaching styles most educators tend to use. Which one is yours?

You’ve Got Style

These teaching styles highlight the five main strategies teachers use in the classroom, as well as the benefits and potential pitfalls of each.

The Authority, or lecture style

The authority model is teacher-centered and frequently entails lengthy lecture sessions or one-way presentations. Students are expected to take notes or absorb information.

• Pros : This style is acceptable for certain higher-education disciplines and auditorium settings with large groups of students. The pure lecture style is most suitable for subjects like history, which necessitate memorization of key facts, dates, names, etc.
• Cons : It’s a questionable model for teaching children because there is little or no interaction with the teacher. Plus it can get a little snooze-y. That’s why it’s a better approach for older, more mature students.

The Demonstrator, or coach style

The demonstrator retains the formal authority role by showing students what they need to know. The demonstrator is a lot like the lecturer, but their lessons include multimedia presentations, activities, and demonstrations. (Think: Math. Science. Music.)

• Pros : This style gives teachers opportunities to incorporate a variety of formats including lectures and multimedia presentations.
• Cons : Although it’s well-suited for teaching mathematics, music, physical education, or arts and crafts, it is difficult to accommodate students’ individual needs in larger classrooms.

The Facilitator, or activity style

Facilitators promote self-learning and help students develop critical thinking skills and retain knowledge that leads to self-actualization.

• Pros : This style trains students to ask questions and helps develop skills to find answers and solutions through exploration; it is ideal for teaching science and similar subjects.
• Cons : Challenges teacher to interact with students and prompt them toward discovery rather than lecturing facts and testing knowledge through memorization. So it’s a bit harder to measure success in tangible terms.

The Delegator, or group style

The delegator style is best suited for curricula that require lab activities, such as chemistry and biology, or subjects that warrant peer feedback, like debate and creative writing.

• Pros : Guided discovery and inquiry-based learning place the teacher in an observer role that inspires students by working in tandem toward common goals.
• Cons : Considered a modern style of teaching, it is sometimes criticized as eroding teacher authority. As a delegator, the teacher acts more as a consultant rather than the traditional authority figure.

The Hybrid, or blended style

Hybrid, or blended style, follows an integrated approach to teaching that blends the teacher’s personality and interests with students’ needs and curriculum-appropriate methods.

• Pros : Inclusive! And it enables teachers to tailor their styles to student needs and appropriate subject matter.
• Cons : Hybrid style runs the risk of trying to be too many things to all students, prompting teachers to spread themselves too thin and dilute learning.

Because teachers have styles that reflect their distinct personalities and curriculum—from math and science to English and history—it’s crucial that they remain focused on their teaching objectives and avoid trying to be all things to all students.

What you need to know about your teaching style

Although it is not the teacher’s job to entertain students, it is vital to engage them in the learning process. Selecting a style that addresses the needs of diverse students at different learning levels begins with a personal inventory—a self-evaluation—of the teacher’s strengths and weaknesses. As they develop their teaching styles and integrate them with effective classroom management skills, teachers will learn what works best for their personalities and curriculum.

Our guide encapsulates today’s different teaching styles and helps teachers identify the style that’s right for them and their students. Browse through the article or use these links to jump to your desired destination.

• What is a teaching style inventory, and how have teaching styles evolved?
• What teaching method is best for today’s students?

How does classroom diversity influence teachers?

Emergence of the teaching style inventory.

How have teaching styles evolved? This is a question teachers are asked, and frequently ask themselves, as they embark on their careers, and occasionally pause along the way to reflect on job performance. To understand the differences in teaching styles, it’s helpful to know where the modern concept of classifying teaching methods originated.

The late Anthony F. Grasha, a noted professor of psychology at the University of Cincinnati, is credited with developing the classic five teaching styles. A follower of psychiatrist Carl Jung, Grasha began studying the dynamics of the relationship between teachers and learning in college classrooms. His groundbreaking book, Teaching with Style , was written both as a guide for teachers and as a tool to help colleagues, administrators and students systematically evaluate an instructor’s effectiveness in the classroom.

Grasha understood that schools must use a consistent, formal approach in evaluating a teacher’s classroom performance. He recognized that any system designed to help teachers improve their instructional skills requires a simple classification system. He developed a teaching style inventory that has since been adopted and modified by followers.

• Expert : Similar to a coach, experts share knowledge, demonstrate their expertise, advise students, and provide feedback to improve understanding and promote learning.
• Formal authority : Authoritative teachers incorporate the traditional lecture format and share many of the same characteristics as experts, but with less student interaction.
• Personal model : Incorporates blended teaching styles that match the best techniques with the appropriate learning scenarios and students in an adaptive format.
• Facilitator : Designs participatory learning activities and manages classroom projects while providing information and offering feedback to facilitate critical thinking.
• Delegator : Organizes group learning, observes students, provides consultation, and promotes interaction between groups and among individuals to achieve learning objectives.

Although he developed specific teaching styles, Grasha warned against boxing teachers into a single category. Instead, he advocated that teachers play multiple roles in the classroom. He believed most teachers possess some combination of all or most of the classic teaching styles.

How does differentiated instruction affect teaching styles?

Carol Ann Tomlinson, a professor at the University of Virginia, is an early advocate of differentiated instruction and a pioneer in the development of learning-based teaching styles. If Grasha laid the groundwork for 20th-century teachers to adopt styles tailored to match their personalities and strengths, Tomlinson has advanced this theme into the 21st century by focusing on differentiated instruction.

In the simplest terms, differentiated instruction means keeping all students in mind when developing lesson plans and workbook exercises, lectures, and interactive learning. These student-focused differences necessitate instructional styles that embrace diverse classrooms for students at all learning levels and from various backgrounds without compromising the teacher’s strengths.

What teaching style is best for today’s students?

Whether you’re a first-year teacher eager to put into practice all of the pedagogical techniques you learned in college, or a classroom veteran examining differentiated instruction and new learning methodologies, consider that not all students respond well to one particular style. Although teaching styles have been categorized into five groups, today’s ideal teaching style is not an either/or proposition but more of a hybrid approach that blends the best of everything a teacher has to offer.

The traditional advice that teachers not overreach with a cluster of all-encompassing teaching styles might seem to conflict with today’s emphasis on student-centered classrooms. Theoretically, the more teachers emphasize student-centric learning, the harder it is to develop a well-focused style based on their personal attributes, strengths, and goals.

In short, modern methods of teaching require different types of teachers—from the analyst/organizer to the negotiator/consultant. Here are some other factors to consider as teachers determine the best teaching method for their students.

Empty vessel : Critics of the “sage on the stage” lecture style point to the “empty vessel” theory, which assumes a student’s mind is essentially empty and needs to be filled by the “expert” teacher. Critics of this traditional approach to teaching insist this teaching style is outmoded and needs to be updated for the diverse 21st-century classroom.

Active vs. passive : Proponents of the traditional lecture approach believe that an overemphasis on group-oriented participatory teaching styles, like facilitator and delegator, favor gifted and competitive students over passive children with varied learning abilities, thereby exacerbating the challenges of meeting the needs of all learners.

Knowledge vs. information : Knowledge implies a complete understanding, or full comprehension, of a particular subject. A blend of teaching styles that incorporate facilitator, delegator, demonstrator, and lecturer techniques helps the broadest range of students acquire in-depth knowledge and mastery of a given subject. This stands in contrast to passive learning, which typically entails memorizing facts, or information, with the short-term objective of scoring well on tests.

Interactive classrooms : Laptops and tablets, video conferencing, and podcasts in classrooms play a vital role in today’s teaching styles. With technology in mind, it is imperative that teachers assess their students’ knowledge while they are learning. The alternative is to wait for test results, only to discover knowledge gaps that should have been detected during the active learning phase.

Constructivist teaching methods : Contemporary teaching styles tend to be group-focused and inquiry-driven. Constructivist teaching methods embrace subsets of alternative teaching styles, including modeling, coaching, and test preparation through rubrics scaffolding. All of these are designed to promote student participation and necessitate a hybrid approach to teaching. One criticism of the constructivist approach is that it caters to extroverted, group-oriented students, who tend to dominate and benefit from these teaching methods more than introverts; however, this assumes introverts aren’t learning by observing.

Student-centric learning does not have to come at the expense of an instructor’s preferred teaching method. However, differentiated instruction demands that teachers finesse their style to accommodate the diverse needs of 21st-century classrooms.

The ‘sage on the stage’ meets the ‘tiger mom’

The objective of blending teaching styles to leverage the teacher’s strengths while meeting the demands of diverse students has become increasingly difficult, as parents take a decidedly proactive role in child-learning techniques.

The traditional authoritative/expert, or “sage on the stage” lecture style, has come under attack by some parents—and contemporary educational leaders—who emphasize that a more diverse approach to teaching is necessary to engage students. This is compounded by the rise of “tiger moms,” a term made popular by parents devoted to improving the quality of education with laser-precision focus on A-list schools and a highly competitive job market.

Age of the proactive parent

Regardless of what style a teacher adopts, it’s important for teachers to develop positive attitudes, set goals, and establish high expectations for students.

“Assume students can excel!” education authors Harry and Rosemary Wong declare. As former teachers with a combined 80-plus years of educational experience, the Wongs emphasize in their best-selling book, The First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher and their more recent, The Classroom Management Book that successful teachers share three common characteristics:

• effective classroom management skills
• lesson mastery
• positive expectations

All instructors, when developing their teaching styles, should keep in mind these three goals, as well as the primary objective of education: student learning.

It is abundantly clear that today’s teachers are responsible for students with a diverse range of learning abilities. The 21st-century teacher does not have the luxury of “picking the low-hanging fruit” and then leaving the rest of the tree for experts who specialize in children with behavioral issues or learning disorders.

Today’s teachers must develop instructional styles that work well in diverse classrooms. Effective teaching methods engage gifted students, as well as slow-learning children and those with attention deficit tendencies. This is where differentiated instruction and a balanced mix of teaching styles can help reach all students in a given classroom—not just the few who respond well to one particular style of teaching.

The wonderment of teaching, what author/educator Dr. Harry Wong refers to as “that a-ha moment” when a child “gets it,” is one of the most rewarding and seemingly elusive benefits of becoming a teacher. This transfer of knowledge from expert to student is an art form and a skill. Fortunately, both can be learned and perfected.

Knowing how to engage students begins with selecting the teaching style that’s right for you. And remember, even though you may prefer one teaching style over another, you must find the style that works best for your students! Try different styles to meet different objectives, and always challenge yourself to find ways to reach each student.

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Teaching Styles: Everything you need to know about teaching methods and strategies

Have you ever thought about how each classroom teaches things differently? In this article, we answer what are teaching styles, why are there multiple teaching styles, what are the different styles, and which style works the best today?

What are teaching styles?

Teaching styles , also called teaching methods, are considered to be the general principles, educational, and management strategies for classroom instruction.

The use of different teaching styles started in the beginning of the twentieth century. This was due to the amount of research being poured into different learning methods. Once we understood that everybody learns differently, it became obvious that there need to be different teaching styles to accommodate the learning styles .

Two philosophers, John Locke (Some Thoughts Concerning Education) and Jean-Jacques Rousseau (On Education), developed different theories as to how to educate which lead us to have the idea of different teaching styles today. Locke saw the importance of developing a child’s physical habits first anything else. To Locke, this was essential to a child’s development. Rousseau believed that education should be more centered on a child’s interactions with the world and the teaching style should concentrate less on books.

Why have different teaching styles?

Why can’t everyone be taught the same way? Well, why can’t you learn something the same way as your partner or next door neighbor? Everybody learns different ideas at different times at different paces. Some people can learn something on the first try after being told what to do whereas others might need to have hands-on experience in order to learn and possibly repeat it a few times to really get the hang of things. 

Different teaching styles  are necessary because the students need to be able to learn what the teacher is teaching. However, the choice of teaching styles used can also depend on the school mission statement, the classroom demographics, the educational philosophy of the teacher, and most importantly, the subject area.

Types of teaching styles:

There are five main types of teaching styles and methods to choose from.

• The Authority method , also known as the lecture style , involves sitting and listening to the instructor speak about a pre-assigned topic while the students take notes and memorize to the best of their ability what is being said. This particular style is more popular in universities and some high schools due to a larger student population. However, less common in the standard classroom setting due to its lack of allowance of student participation and inability to meet individual needs. The Authority method , also known as the lecture style , involves sitting and listening to the instructor speak about a pre-assigned topic while the students take notes and memorize to the best of their ability what is being said. This particular style is more popular in universities and some high schools due to a larger student population. However, less common in the standard classroom setting due to its lack of allowance of student participation and inability to meet individual needs.
• The Demonstrator method , widely known as the coaching style , similar to the lecture style, The Demonstrator method tries to maintain authority in the classroom. Even so, instead of using only a verbal lecture to give information and teach, this style coaches students using gateways like multimedia presentations, class activities and demonstrations. For subjects like music, art, and physical education subjects, this style is perfect because the demonstration is usually necessary to acquire a full understanding of the subject. However, a downside is that there is little individual interaction between the teacher and students which makes it difficult to accommodate to personalized needs.
• The Facilitator style recognized also as the activity or action method , tries to encourage self-learning through peer-to-teacher learning. In contrast to the lecture style, teachers ask students to question rather than give them the answer. The goal is for students to develop a deeper understanding of the topic by using self-discovery and develop problem-solving skills. This technique is best used in small classroom settings because, as a facilitator, the teacher needs to interact with students on an individual basis, which can be difficult with a larger number of students.
• The Delegator style , or group method , is used for school subjects that require group work, lab-based learning, or peer feedback. For example, science classes and certain language learning classes. The teacher acts as a delegator, becoming an observer to promote peer collaboration and encourage student-to-student learning. The Delegator style is becoming more and more popular throughout many classrooms. However, some people consider other styles to be more proactive due to the fact that the group method removes the teacher from a position of authority.
• Last, but not least, the Hybrid method , also known as   blended learning , is an integrated teaching style that incorporates personal preferences, individual personalities, and specific interests into their teaching. It’s popular in English, science, and religion classes because it’s easy to incorporate extra-curricular knowledge into a developed, deeper knowledge of a particular topic. Some argue that this style weakens the learning process because the teacher tries to be all things to all students.

Teaching style Inventory

Teaching styles can also be organized into four categories with two parameters each: a teacher-centered approach versus a student-centered approach , and high-tech material use versus low-tech material use .

Teaching Styles: Student-Centered Approach

In a student-centered approach to learning, teachers and students share the focus and interact equally while the teacher still maintains authority. This can be beneficial to students because group work is encouraged; thus, communication and collaboration are used and encouraged. However, due to the fact that students are talking, classrooms may be noisier and may be more difficult to manage.

One method to use is inquiry-based learning which makes the teacher more of a supportive figure (rather than completely authoritative) who can provide support and guidance throughout the learning process. By being an inquiry-based learning facilitator , the teacher and student undergo the learning process together with student learning lightly guided by the teacher. By being the personal model , comparable to the personal model in the direct instruction, the teacher acts as the guide and mentor to help enable students to learn by observation and copying the teacher’s actions. By using the delegator method, teachers act as a support for students, are able to answer questions and most importantly are there to provide a sense of freedom and independence for the student.

Another method commonly used is the cooperative learning style where students work in small groups and the teacher can act as the facilitator, where everyone learns together, or as the delegator, where the teacher gives more free-reign to the student while still pointing them in the right direction.

Teaching Styles: Teacher-Centered Approach

In the teaching styles, especifically the teacher-centered approach to learning, the students put their attention on the teacher, students work alone, and collaboration is prevented. This is great because students are, in theory, quiet and paying full attention to the teacher while being able to make individual decisions. However, a student may suffer in their communication skills and feel unable to ask questions due to the fact they normally work alone and quietly. Plus, this classic method is sometimes thought of as dull and uninteresting.

Direct instruction is a method that uses little technology and relies on lecturing. The teacher may take on the formal authority role, where the teacher is in power due to their senior and level of knowledge over the students. They may also take on the expert role where students can be referred to as “ empty vessels” because they are viewed solely as receptors of information and knowledge. The other role a teacher can take on in the direct instruction method is that of a personal model . This method uses the teacher as a model of instruction, to lead by example, and students learn by observation.

Teaching Styles: High-Tech Approach

Many schools and classes are taking advantage of the recent advancements in technology which has enabled us to develop a high-tech approach to learning.

The flipped classroom is a high-tech idea developed in 2007 by two teachers who began to pre-record their lectures which allow students to learn from home by completing assignments to go along with the lectures. This is great if students want to work at their own pace, but if there’s a slow internet connection it’s near impossible to use this method.

Inquiry-based learning can involve technology by asking the students a question about the world and they have to do some research. The findings could be presented in the forms of a website, self-made videos, or PowerPoints.

Based on the man who founded Outward Bound , expeditionary learning is a project-based learning involving expeditions and engagement in in-depth topics that impact their schools, communities, and lives. This was created so students can see how problem-solving is happening in the real world, that is, the world around them. A student in NYC could study statistics about the pollution surrounding them or a student from Alaska could study the snow impact from where they live. G-Suite (Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Drive ) is used for this method because it helps students collect and show research in a way that makes it easy for everyone.

Personalized learning is a relatively new style of teaching that, as the name gives away, is all about personalizing the student’s method of learning according to their specific interests and skills. It’s founded on the idea of student self-direction and choice. The assessments are also personalized and quite individual by using a competency-based progression. This means that once a student has mastered a certain skill or subject, they can move on to the next level, regardless of their current grade level. There is also an emphasis on college and career preparation involved because students work on their own, with a mentor (boss) guiding them along. The technology involved is, like the learning itself, quite personalized. However, everyone involved will need to have a certain comfort level with navigating online lessons and programs between the student and instructor.  

Another high-tech learning option is game-based learning which encourages students to develop a “mastery” mindset rather than focus too much on grades. Students develop problem-solving skills by working on accomplishing a specific goal (also known as a learning objective ) by choosing actions and different activities and then experimenting with them to achieve the goal. As students progress, they can earn badges and points, as they would in video games . Some of the software that makes game-based learning possible on the teacher’s part is 3DGameLab and Classcraft . Although this style of teaching isn’t completely student-centered, it’s still rather relatively focused on the student because they are able to work at their own pace and make independent choices while still in a gaming environment.

Low-Tech Approach

Some schools or teachers may not enjoy or have the money for high-tech learning and instead, they opt for a low-tech approach to teaching by using a technique called kinesthetic learning . Also known as tactile learning or hands-on learning , kinesthetic learning is a teacher-centered approach that uses the concept of multiple intelligences , the idea that everyone has a strong suit in certain intelligences than in others (i.e. better with words than math). Instead of lectures, students use physical activities to learn. For example, drawing, role-playing, and building. This isn’t as common of a teaching style one might think. However, this teaching style rarely uses technology by putting a stronger emphasis on movement and creativity. Because of this, it’s a cheap and screen-free teaching style.

Another low-tech teaching method is d ifferentiated instruction . Although this is a student-centered teaching style that aims to meet a student’s specific needs, it is mostly implemented by the teacher. Used commonly with students with special needs, differentiated instruction became popular in the United States in 1975 when a law was passed that ensure every child has equal access to an equal education. Some examples of differentiated instruction could include having students read books at their own reading levels or offering different spelling tests to different students depending on their literacy ability. Due to the lack of necessity to use technology and the adaptability of the teaching style, it’s a low-key and traditional teaching style.

What teaching style is best for today’s students?

As a teacher, it’s difficult to cater to each student’s needs. Constructivist teaching style  follows the theory that learning is an active, constructive, and valuable process. It carries with it the idea that people construct their own personal reality and any new information is given is then linked and connected to prior knowledge . Every person will bring with them cultural factors and past experiences to the table. Thus, any mental representation is made personal and individual. The constructivist teaching style assumes that all knowledge is constructed from information given in the past, regardless of how one is taught. It’s important to keep this idea in mind when choosing a teaching style.

Some students might learn better with being an empty vessel and having information , simply processed data, lectured to them. This is a form of passive learning and is commonly used when “teaching to the test,” meaning that the teaching style is structured to pass a certain exam like the ACT, for example.

Proven to be the most effective in a number of ways, an active learning style is best suited for interactive classrooms . That is to say, both the teacher and the student are engaged in the teaching style and learning process which helps the student gain knowledge , information modeled to be useful.

Do you have any fun teaching styles or strategies? What’s your favorite way that you were taught in school? Let us know in the comments below.

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Home » Tips for Teachers » 15 Teaching Styles: The Complete Guide for Effective Teaching

15 Teaching Styles: The Complete Guide for Effective Teaching

Teaching styles are instrumental in helping students reach their educational goals. With a breadth of teaching strategies available, it can be difficult to determine which approach is best-suited for different age groups, curricular objectives and lesson plans.

Teachers can foster a more engaging classroom by tapping into the power of multiple teaching styles. Incorporating alternative approaches to instruction helps capture student interest and provides additional reinforcement that facilitates long-term knowledge retention – creating an unbeatable learning atmosphere!

Education is the cornerstone of progress, and teachers are a driving force behind its success. By understanding different teaching styles they can employ in their classrooms, educators gain an invaluable tool to shape future generations – equipping them with knowledge that will be passed down for years to come. It’s essential for instructors everywhere to understand the advantages and disadvantages of various instructional techniques so they may select the best approach possible when guiding students towards enlightenment

To provide clarity on the matter, this article presents an overview of 15 top teaching styles complete with recommended ages for each style’s implementation as well as benefits and drawbacks associated with its use. Additionally included are teaching styles examples illustrating how these types of teaching styles may look within the classroom setting along with guidance on incorporating multiple approaches into one session or determining what works most effectively for today’s learners overall:

What are we waiting for? Let’s begin!

1. Lecture-based teaching style

Lecture-style teaching is one of the oldest types of teaching styles in existence. It enables teachers to share their knowledge and wisdom with students; while giving learners an opportunity to take notes, absorb information, then apply it through exercises or tests.

Distinctive features:

• Emphasis on teacher-centered learning;
• Focus on delivering information through lectures;
• Limited interaction between students and teachers.
• Efficient way to deliver large amounts of information;
• Suitable for large groups of students;
• Can be used to introduce complex or abstract concepts.
• May lead to passive learning and lack of engagement;
• Limited interaction and feedback from students;
• Can be monotonous and may not cater to different learning styles.

Student ages it works best for:

Lecture-based teaching style is a versatile learning tool, helping students of any age gain knowledge and understanding. From elementary school to college and beyond, this style of instruction encourages critical thinking by engaging learners in an immersive educational experience.

Usage examples:

• A college professor delivering a lecture on the history of philosophy;
• A high school teacher providing a lecture on the principles of chemistry.

Check out how a professor from the Kansas State University developed and introduced Lecture-based styles of teaching for his students.

2. Inquiry-based teaching style

Inquiry-based teaching is a student-focused method that encourages active learning and creative thought. With this style, students explore the world around them by questioning, analyzing challenges, and developing their own understanding of topics.

• Emphasis on student-centered learning;
• Focus on inquiry and investigation;
• Encourages critical thinking and problem-solving.
• Promotes active learning and engagement;
• Encourages students to think independently and critically;
• Provides opportunities for collaboration and peer learning.
• May require more planning and preparation from teachers;
• Can be challenging to assess student learning and progress;
• May be less suitable for students who prefer more structure and guidance.

Inquiry-based teaching can be an effective strategy for engaging students of all ages, but may require a tailored approach when it comes to younger learners.

• A middle school teacher designing a lesson where students investigate the impact of pollution on local waterways;
• A high school science teacher leading a class on the scientific method, where students design and conduct their own experiments.

See how the 4th grade teacher from Wildwood IB World Magnet School uses the inquiry-based model to put students in charge of their learning, with lessons that stem from student questions and harness the power of curiosity.

3. Collaborative teaching style

By utilizing collaborative teaching, students reap the benefits of cooperation and team-work – working together to pool ideas and resources with their peers in order to solve problems, complete projects or reach shared goals.

• Focus on collaboration and teamwork;
• Encourages communication and social skills.
• Promotes teamwork and communication skills;
• Provides opportunities for peer learning and support;
• Encourages creativity and innovation.
• May require more planning and coordination among teachers;
• Can be challenging to assess individual student learning and contribution;
• May be less suitable for students who prefer to work independently.

Collaborative style of teaching brings amazing results for student learning at all ages, and with some patience and tweaking, can be a powerful tool when educating younger students.

• A high school English teacher organizing a group project where students create a podcast series on a literary theme;
• A middle school math teacher designing a lesson where students work in pairs to solve complex problems.

Learn how the students at The College Preparatory School are making collaboration the driving force in their learning.

4. Flipped classroom teaching style

The flipped classroom is a revolutionary pedagogical approach that shakes up traditional learning models. Students can access lecture materials online, allowing them to tailor their study habits outside of the classroom setting. While in-class activities focus on active engagement such as discussions and group work for deeper understanding of content material.

• Lecture materials are delivered outside the classroom, allowing for more active learning inside the classroom;
• Emphasizes the role of the teacher as a facilitator and guide rather than a lecturer;
• Encourages collaborative learning and peer-to-peer teaching.
• Provides more opportunities for active learning and student engagement;
• Allows students to learn at their own pace and review lecture materials as needed;
• Facilitates deeper learning and understanding through collaborative and peer-to-peer teaching.
• Requires students to have access to technology outside the classroom;
• May be challenging for students who prefer a more structured and teacher-led learning environment;
• Can be time-consuming for teachers to create and manage the online lecture materials.

By utilizing the flipped classroom style of teaching, educators have an effective way to reach students from middle school up through college. This approach enables teachers to increase engagement and maximize learning potential no matter their age group.

• High school math students are given the unique opportunity to explore their understanding of algebraic equations by viewing engaging lectures and collaboratively problem-solving with classmates. This stimulates a deeper appreciation for mathematics that extends beyond lecture hall walls;
• College history students come to class eager and prepared, having read primary source documents and watched videos on a particular time period. In this environment of inquisitive minds, they discuss the historical events in order to gain deeper understanding of our past.

Watch how Jon Bergmann, founder of of FlippedClass.com, explains what a flipped classroom is and how to get started.

5. Problem-based teaching style

Problem-based teaching invites students to take the helm in their learning journey, utilizing real-world problems as a motivation for critical thinking and problem solving. Working collaboratively with peers, they can foster creative solutions while developing invaluable skills that are transferable across multiple contexts.

• Emphasizes the use of real-world problems as a means of learning;
• Encourages student collaboration and peer-to-peer teaching;
• Emphasizes the role of the teacher as a facilitator and guide rather than a lecturer.
• Provides opportunities for deeper learning and understanding through problem-solving and critical thinking;
• Encourages collaboration and peer-to-peer teaching, promoting social and emotional learning;
• Prepares students for real-world problem-solving and decision-making in their future careers.
• Requires teachers to have a deep understanding of the subject matter and the ability to facilitate student learning effectively;
• Can be time-consuming to design and implement effective problem-based learning activities.

Problem-based teaching is an incredibly effective way of engaging students, especially in middle school, high school and college.

• In a middle school science class, students work together to design and build a device that can purify contaminated water;
• In a college business class, students are given a real-world case study of a company facing financial challenges and must work together to develop a business plan to help the company succeed.

See how teachers and students from four South Australian primary schools stepped right out of their comfort zones, to participate in this semester-long problem-based learning program.

6. Demonstration teaching style

Demonstration teaching is a powerful method for bringing concepts to life in the classroom. By showing students how problems can be solved and tasks completed, rather than simply explaining it to them, teachers create an engaging learning experience that allows their pupils to more easily retain complex ideas from Science or Maths classes.

• The teacher demonstrates the task or problem-solving process;
• Students observe and take notes;
• Students are then asked to perform the task on their own.
• Provides clear examples and explanations of complex concepts;
• Encourages active listening and note-taking skills;
• Allows students to see how concepts are applied in real-world situations.
• May not be suitable for all learning styles;
• Can be time-consuming, especially if there are many students in the classroom;
• Does not provide individualized attention to each student.

With its effectiveness proven across different educational settings, demonstration teaching is an invaluable resource for boosting student success at all levels. From elementary students to college undergraduates, this engaging style of instruction offers a unique opportunity for learners to absorb practical knowledge and gain important skills.

• A science teacher demonstrating the process of photosynthesis to their students;
• A mathematics teacher demonstrating how to solve a complex equation to their class.

Learn more about the demonstration teaching style from Dr. Peter Kibet Koech from Machakos University

7. Hands-on teaching style

This strategy ensures that each student is placed in the most beneficial learning environment, with groups continually adjusting to reflect their evolving needs and interests.

• Students actively participate in the learning process;
• The teacher provides materials and instructions for a task;
• Students learn by trial and error.
• Encourages active participation and engagement in the learning process;
• Provides opportunities for hands-on experimentation and exploration;
• Helps students develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
• Requires significant preparation and planning on the part of the teacher;
• May require additional resources or materials.

Instructing through hands-on activities proves to be effective across all educational levels, from elementary schoolers mastering the basics of arithmetic to university students developing critical thinking skills.

• A science teacher providing materials for students to conduct an experiment and observe the results;
• An art teacher providing materials for students to create a sculpture or painting.

Here is an example of how you can yse flexible groupping in your classroom.

8. Visual teaching style

Visual teaching techniques have become a popular approach to education, utilizing visual aids such as videos, images, charts and more. This helps students further engage in the educational process by enabling them to learn concepts quickly through visuals that are easier for their minds to digest than pure texts alone.

• Uses visual aids to enhance learning;
• Emphasizes the importance of images, diagrams, and other visual materials;
• Encourages students to create their own visual aids to reinforce learning.
• Enhances learning by making information more engaging and easier to remember;
• Helps students who are visual learners understand concepts more easily;
• Can be especially helpful for teaching complex or abstract concepts.
• May not be as effective for students who learn best through other modalities, such as auditory or kinesthetic learning;
• Can be time-consuming to create high-quality visual aids;
• Some students may find the use of visual aids distracting or overwhelming.

Visual teaching can be an invaluable tool when it comes to helping young minds grow – aiding students in their educational journey by providing them with a memorable and engaging way of learning.

• Using diagrams and flowcharts to explain scientific processes in a biology class;
• Creating visual timelines to help students understand historical events in a social studies class.

Learn more about the visual teaching style from Matthew Peterson’s TEDxOrangeCoast speech.

9. Kinesthetic teaching style

Experiential learning through kinesthetic teaching style is a great way to help students retain information. Through physical activities like games, simulations and role-playing, teachers have the potential to open up exciting new possibilities for their students’ educational journey.

• Emphasizes hands-on, experiential learning;
• Encourages students to actively engage with the material;
• Uses physical activities and games to reinforce learning.
• Helps students learn by engaging multiple senses and making learning more memorable;
• Encourages active participation and engagement with the material;
• Can be especially effective for teaching subjects that involve physical processes, such as science and math.
• May be challenging to implement in large classes or with limited resources;
• Can be time-consuming to plan and execute hands-on activities;
• May not be as effective for students who learn best through other modalities, such as visual or auditory learning.

Kinesthetic teaching is a powerful tool for young minds – allowing students to channel their boundless energy in ways which facilitate learning and engagement. Such an approach enables the utilization of all senses, providing educational experiences that can satisfy even the most dynamic learners.

• Conducting science experiments to teach about chemical reactions in a chemistry class;
• Using role-playing activities to teach about historical events or social issues in a social studies class.

In this video Janice from Sharp Cookie shares her top 8 study tips to people with kinesthetic intelligence learn more effectively.

10. Game-based teaching style

Game-based teaching is a powerful tool for engaging and motivating learners of all ages. This teaching approach uses game mechanics such as rewards, points, and leaderboards to make learning fun while helping students stay focused on the subject matter.

From math to language arts, social studies or science (and many more!), games can be used effectively to stimulate comprehension in any classroom setting. For instance, in a platform like Smartick, game-based learning is exceptionally well-executed to teach complex math concepts. They provide seamless guidance for finding the least common multiple , turning it into a challenging yet enjoyable task for students.

• Game-based teaching is characterized by its focus on engagement and interactivity;
• Games can be used to provide immediate feedback, challenge students at their individual skill levels, and promote a sense of healthy competition among students.
• Game-based teaching can be highly motivating for students and can help to build problem-solving and critical thinking skills;
• It can also be an effective way to provide immediate feedback and to personalize learning for individual students.
• Some educators may struggle to find appropriate games that align with their curriculum, or may find that certain games are too distracting or difficult for some students;
• Additionally, game-based teaching may not be suitable for all subject areas or learning objectives.

Game-based learning can provide an exciting, engaging way for students to gain knowledge. From kindergarteners to high schoolers, every age group benefits from tailored games that use fun challenges as a source of education and growth.

• A teacher might use a game-based approach to teach math concepts by having students play a digital game that requires them to solve math problems in order to progress to the next level;
• A language arts teacher might use a board game to reinforce vocabulary and reading comprehension skills.

In this video, teacher diaries channel shares their top 10 favorite game-based learning apps.

11. Project-based teaching style

Project-based teaching is an effective way to engage students in relevant, meaningful learning experiences. It encourages collaboration among peers and allows learners to explore a topic more deeply while applying their knowledge and skills towards addressing real world challenges – a valuable exercise that develops critical thinking skills!

• Project-based teaching is characterized by its emphasis on student-centered, collaborative learning;
• Students typically work in groups to plan and execute projects, which can involve research, problem-solving, and creative thinking.
• Project-based teaching can be highly engaging for students, allowing them to explore their interests and develop important skills like communication, teamwork, and problem-solving;
• It can also help to promote deeper learning and understanding of subject matter.
• Project-based teaching can be time-consuming and may require a significant investment of resources and planning;
• It can also be challenging for educators to manage and assess student work in a way that is equitable and meaningful.

Project-based instruction offers an exciting learning opportunity for students of all ages; however, it may be better suited to those with more advanced capabilities in research and teamwork.

• A science teacher might use a project-based approach to have students investigate a local environmental issue, researching and proposing solutions to address the problem.
• A history teacher might have students work together to create a museum exhibit that explores a particular period or event in history.

Watch Suzie Boss, Education Writer and Project-Based Learning Consultant, introduce what project-based approach and how to get started with it.

12. Direct instruction teaching style

By utilizing a direct instruction teaching style, teachers provide students with an organized and structured environment from which to acquire the foundational knowledge they need for more advanced topics. This teacher-centered approach allows all learners to benefit from clear explanations as well as engaging activities that help reinforce concepts taught during class.

• The teacher plays a central role in the learning process;
• The focus is on delivering information through lectures, demonstrations, and explanations;
• Students are expected to listen, take notes, and complete assignments based on the information presented.
• Provides clear and structured instruction that can be effective for teaching foundational knowledge and skills;
• Can be helpful for students who prefer a more structured learning environment.
• May not be as effective for promoting critical thinking or problem-solving skills;
• Can be less engaging for students who prefer a more interactive or hands-on learning approach.

Direct instruction is a teaching style well-suited for all ages, but it can be particularly beneficial in early academic settings such as elementary and middle school classrooms.

• A teacher using direct instruction teaching style to teach math facts, such as addition and subtraction, to a group of second-grade students;
• A teacher using direct instruction teaching style to introduce new vocabulary words to a high school English class.

Learn more on how to motivate the students, activate background knowledge, and explain the new skill through Direct instruction style with TeachLikeThis channel.

13. Socratic teaching style

With the Socratic teaching style, teachers provide an engaging student-centered learning environment where ideas and critical thinking skills can flourish. It emphasizes collaboration among peers to help students come up with their own answers through discussion—an invaluable educational tool for today’s learners!

• The teacher encourages discussion and questioning among students;
• The focus is on students arriving at their own conclusions through critical thinking and analysis;
• The teacher acts as a facilitator rather than a lecturer.
• Encourages critical thinking and promotes student engagement;
• Can help students develop strong problem-solving and analytical skills.
• Can be less structured than other teaching styles, which may make it less effective for teaching foundational knowledge and skills;
• Can be challenging for students who are less comfortable with public speaking or expressing their ideas in a group setting.

Socratic teaching is a versatile and effective method for educating students of all ages, but shines particularly in higher level academic settings.

• A teacher using Socratic teaching style to lead a discussion about a current event in a high school social studies class.
• A teacher encourages critical thinking and analysis of a literary text in a college English class.

Here’s some more information on the Socratic Method.

14. Experimental teaching style

Experimental teaching provides students an engaging and meaningful learning experience with a hands-on approach. Through experiential exploration, this style of education promotes interaction between the material and student in subjects varying from mathematics to literature.

• This teaching style is characterized by its focus on hands-on learning and experimentation;
• Students are encouraged to explore and investigate the subject matter through experiments and other activities, rather than simply memorizing information;
• This approach emphasizes critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity.
• Encourages active engagement with the material;
• Develops critical thinking and problem-solving skills;
• Fosters creativity and innovation.
• Can be time-consuming and require additional resources;
• May not be suitable for all subjects or learning objectives;
• Requires careful planning and preparation to ensure experiments are safe and effective.

All students can benefit from experimental teaching, but the style is especially impactful among older learners who have a greater appreciation for science and are ready to tackle more sophisticated experiments.

• In a biology class, students might design and conduct their own experiments to investigate the effects of different variables on plant growth;
• In a physics class, students might use simulations and hands-on experiments to explore the principles of motion and energy.

In the video below you’ll learn what an Open Ended Question is how you can help children think through problems on their own.

15. Self-directed learning teaching style

Self-directed learning is a powerful approach that equips students with the autonomy to drive their own progress. Through this style of teaching, learners are encouraged to cultivate self-motivation and critical thinking while developing independence.

• Students take responsibility for their own learning, set their own goals and pace of learning;
• Students choose their own learning materials;
• Students manage their own progress.
• Encourages self-motivation and independence;
• Allows students to pursue their own interests and passions;
• Can be more efficient and personalized than traditional teaching methods.
• Requires a high level of discipline and time-management skills;
• May not be suitable for all students, particularly those who require more structure and guidance;
• Can be challenging for teachers to implement and assess.

Self-directed learning offers a unique opportunity for learners of all ages to take their education into their own hands. For those driven by motivation and passionate about knowledge acquisition, it can be an especially powerful tool!

• A high school student who sets their own goals for an independent research project;
• A college student who creates their own study plan for an online course they are taking.

In this video, teachers at Summit Public Schools explain the role of the teacher in self-directed learning.

What Teaching Style is Best for Today’s Students?

Today’s students have a wide range of needs and educators are responding by exploring new, creative teaching methods. We’ve already dove into 15 proven teaching styles, but which one is most beneficial for today’s learners? By examining current research in education, we will discover which style empowers our future generations to succeed!

Overview of current research and trends in education, and how they relate to teaching styles

Educational researchers are revolutionizing the classroom experience. The latest trends focus on personalization, student-centered interactions and making use of cutting edge technology to create a more interactive learning environment than traditional lecture teaching styles can offer.

Rather than an academic setting dependent on monotonous lectures and memorization of material, the flipped classroom offers a more interactive experience. Here students benefit from pre-recorded materials that prepare them for class discussion where they can collaborate with peers. Project-based learning allows learners to tap into their own creativity by tackling longterm projects covering multiple topics while being given freedom in its execution

Technology has revolutionized the modern classroom, empowering teachers to leverage innovative educational approaches such as game-based learning and advanced online resources. This trend is transforming instruction into an engaging experience that encourages students to acquire knowledge through interactive activities.

Overall major pros and cons of switching different teaching styles

Empowering students and using technology as part of the classroom experience can offer many learning benefits, but teachers must factor in extra preparation time to ensure success. Thoughtful structuring of activities is key for engaging students and creating an effective learning environment.

Technology-based teaching styles and the consequent need for specialized resources can be a costly hurdle. Additionally, student-centered learning requires proper assessment methods with an emphasis on providing formative feedback throughout the course of instruction.

By implementing these teaching styles, teachers can not only ignite student motivation and engagement but also enhance learning outcomes for an all-around enjoyable educational experience.

How to choose the most effective teaching style

Educators seeking the most optimal instruction for a lesson or unit should take into consideration multiple aspects, such as content and aims of learning. Furthermore, it is crucial to factor in students’ specific preferences and capabilities by providing distinct activities that accommodate their individual styles. Making these considerations can help ensure an engaging class environment where all learners feel supported!

Teachers must be resourceful and creative when it comes to instruction, leveraging what is available to them and tailoring their teaching styles accordingly. Adopting an adaptive approach enables educators to assess the effectiveness of strategies in real-time from feedback gathered directly from learners.

In the ever-evolving education system, teachers must factor in many variables when deciding how to teach. According to research findings, student-centric learning involving technology appears as a beneficial and engaging way for students of all abilities to learn successfully – though one should be mindful of any potential drawbacks that may arise from these approaches.

Keep Learning

Teachers looking to elevate their pedagogical acumen can explore a world of teaching styles and techniques by taking advantage of various platforms. With numerous resources available, educators can discover useful advice on best practices that will bring any classroom alive! Some highly recommended options include:

• Edutopia  offers an invaluable resource for teachers, providing a wide array of articles and tools to help educators further their students’ knowledge. Its vast library of topics covers everything from instructional techniques and style preferences, to the latest in educational trends – helping ensure that both experienced instructors as well as novices can stay up-to-date on essential teaching strategies.
• TeachThought is the ultimate professional development destination for educators, offering a diverse selection of courses and resources to help teachers upgrade their skills and stay current with best practices. With inspiring articles and podcasts on teaching approaches from industry experts, they’re an invaluable resource in today’s classroom.
• ASCD provides teachers with premier professional development opportunities, such as webinars and conferences tailored to help them enhance their teaching practices. With personalized resources at the forefront of our mission, we hope all educators can unlock the potential within themselves and their students.

With a variety of accessible resources, teachers are empowered to further refine their approach to teaching and create positive learning experiences for students. By capitalizing on the knowledge provided by these cutting-edge strategies, educators can continue developing best practices that lead directly to greater student success.

Educators who recognize the value of flexible lecture styles, and are willing to experiment with various approaches tailored to their students’ unique needs can unlock learning potential in powerful ways. By creating an interactive environment that fosters growth, teachers set up meaningful pathways for academic success – giving each student room to explore what works best when mastering course material!

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• Teaching Tips

11 Teaching Styles to Increase Student Engagement

We uncover the key types of teaching styles to help you accelerate student engagement

Christine Persaud

A one-size-fits-all approach never worked in higher education—for learning or teaching. Just as no two students learn the same way, no two educators can deliver their courses identically. Teaching styles offer a more flexible course experience , for both students and educators. 1 Mixing and matching teaching styles , or simply re-evaluating your current ones, can make your course delivery feel fresh and even improve student engagement.

In this guide, you will:

• Learn what teaching styles are and how they impact learning
• Get teaching styles examples and resources
• Review an inventory of different teaching styles, informed by higher ed experts like Anthony Grasha, Kay Mohanna, Ruth Chambers and David Walls
• Receive methods for experimenting with a range of different teaching styles (including the demonstrator and facilitator teaching styles) to improve your course delivery

Table of contents

• What are teaching styles?
• How different teaching styles affect learning
• What are the different types of teaching styles?
• Teaching styles proposed by Mohanna, Chambers and Wall
• Teaching styles proposed by Grasha
• Why teaching styles are important
• How teaching styles can improve student engagement

1. What are teaching styles?

Teaching styles are linked to a professor’s educational value system and stem from their philosophy of education. Being aware of your own teaching style (or styles) can help you improve your teaching methods, by designing your course to increase student engagement and, ultimately, enhance student outcomes. The types of teaching styles you adopt will depend on your course goals, course material and learning objectives.

Teaching styles not only refer to the instructional strategies and methods employed but also the use of certain types of rhetoric. In fact, Daniel K. Schneider, an associate professor at TECFA , a research and training unit in the faculty of psychology and education at the University of Geneva, says that educators are usually not aware of their own teaching style and it could even be described as an “emergent property.”

One educator, for example, might be more teacher-centered, viewing themselves as an authority figure on a particular topic. Another, meanwhile, might approach teaching from a mentorship perspective, functioning more in an advisory role and giving students the latitude to work more independently. Neither would be making a necessarily conscious decision to teach in that way.

Anthony Grasha, the late Professor of Psychology at the University of Cincinnati, and a noted expert on teaching styles defined five types of teaching methods: expert , formal authority , personal model , facilitator and delegator . Ideally, educators can experiment with multiple styles, consider their strengths and develop an approach that they’re comfortable with that can maximize student engagement. Often, this will involve making conscious use of a mix of teaching styles.

2. How different teaching styles affect learning

Harry and Rosemary Wong, former teachers and co-authors of The First Day of School: How to be an Effective Teacher and The Classroom Management Book , believe that there are three goals of teaching styles: to develop effective classroom management skills, to achieve lesson mastery and to have positive expectations.

Teaching styles can vary considerably based on individual classroom settings, the subject you’re teaching and the diverse group of students in your class. An authority or lecture-based teaching style, for example, is well-suited to large classes and subjects that require heavy memorization, like history. A delegator or group teaching style might be more conducive to subjects that require lab activity, like chemistry, or subjects that involve significant feedback, like debate and creative writing. In the latter style, the teacher inspires and observes rather than recites facts.

The goal of any teaching style is to remain focused on teaching objectives and engaging students as best you can. Not all students respond well to a particular style, which is why many professors who are versed in teaching styles use a combination of them based on the subject matter or environment.

Students are the most important factor in building your course environment: and it’s essential to use a teaching method to engage students at all levels of learning and ability. Using a balanced mix of teaching styles that blend the best of what you have to offer will reach every student effectively.

2.1. A teaching style inventory made for any course or instructor

The first step in developing and understanding your curriculum delivery is to review a teaching style inventory. 2 Several resources can offer structure to this self-reflective exercise. The most effective resources that can help you understand the different teaching styles are below.

• Mohanna, Chambers and Wall’s Staffordshire Evaluation of Teaching Styles (SETS) is a self-evaluation questionnaire and scoring sheet that helps educators select their own teaching style from a list of six options. The types of teaching methods include: a) all-around flexible and adaptable, b) student-centered and sensitive, c) official curriculum, d) straight facts; no-nonsense, e) big conference and f) one-off. 3
• The Teaching Behavior Preferences Survey by Behar and Horenstein (2006), meanwhile, includes statements (such as “My teaching is guided by instructional strategies”) to determine if you are more teacher- or student-centered, and into which of four subdomains you might fall. 4
• The Principles of Adult Learning Scale by Conty (1983) includes 44 self-administered questions to determine where you fall on the spectrum of teaching styles. 5
• Another option is the Constructionist On-Line Learning Environment Survey by Taylor and Maor (2000), which measures the quality of an online environment and teaching styles. 6

3. What are the different types of teaching styles?

There’s no canonical group of teaching styles. The concept can be sliced in many different ways in terms of definition. One group of classifications, for example, is based on content while another is based on student communication.

The important consideration is that teaching styles identify the gaps between where learners are and where they need to be and find a way to help bridge that gap.

Teaching styles can range from strict authorities to, more commonly nowadays, those that promote active and collaborative learning. Here are two of the most commonly used sets, which stem from Mohanna, Chambers and Wall’s teaching styles and Grasha’s teaching methods.

3.1. Types of teaching styles proposed by Mohanna, Chambers and Wall

Kay Mohanna, Ruth Chambers and David Wall developed SETS in 2007, to discover if there were distinct teaching styles that could be measured. 7 They were familiar with the idea of learning styles but felt that these did not take into account the importance of the teacher in the learning process as well. They also wondered if a mismatch between an educator’s teaching style and a student’s preferred learning style could stand in the way of positive educational outcomes.

The researchers analyzed aspects of teaching by studying educational literature and looked for patterns and associations. The themes they came up with fit into six identifiable teaching styles: all-around flexible and adaptable; student-centered, sensitive; official curriculum; straight facts, no-nonsense; big conference; and one-off. From there, they created a self-evaluation questionnaire and scoring sheet to provide professors with personal scores in each type to identify their strongest preferences. Plotting these points onto a Staffordshire Hexagon provides a visual representation of an educator’s personal teaching style matrix.

Below, we break down the six types of teaching styles as proposed by Mohanna, Chambers and Wall.

3.1.1. Student-centered, sensitive

This teaching style emphasizes emotions and gives students more responsibility for their own learning. It’s used by educators who are not comfortable delivering lengthy presentations, or when a subject does not necessarily call for formal lectures. Roleplay and drama can even be involved. For example, professor Sergio Juarez at California State University, Fresno takes an empathetic approach to student assessment. Using a dynamic Top Hat textbook, he allows students to deliver speeches in the language they feel most comfortable in, boosting student engagement and morale.

This student-centered teaching style promotes greater interaction and uses an active learning environment to help students develop critical thinking and meta-cognitive skills. However, this teaching method might not be effective for all students—many people can quickly get frustrated or lose a sense of direction with personal, unsupervised learning. Top Hat’s interactive and inclusive discussion tool sparks conversations where students are invited to share their ideas in a variety of ways, no matter how big the class.

This teaching style is best used in smaller classrooms, and where discovery and exploration would be more effective in the learning process than reciting facts and note-taking. It can be used in disciplines such as medicine and teaching a patient-centered mindset. It’s also ideal for a subject where activities like role-playing, lab work and drama can be used, such as debate and creative writing.

3.1.2. Official curriculum teacher

Teaching styles like this one are for the well-prepared and accredited educator who is aware of and wants to follow the formal curriculum to a tee. As Wall explains, “As well as being familiar with the curriculum statements, this teacher is very careful to match their teaching with these curriculum statements so that over time, the whole curriculum has been properly covered.”

This teaching style focuses on external targets for teaching, as well as faculty development and “teaching the teacher,” and offers dependency and security to instructors and students alike. Knowledge of the curriculum itself, of course, is paramount and this teaching style cannot work without it. However, one major disadvantage to this is that teaching with a structure in place means that one cannot deviate from it, even for subjects that students may find interesting or worth more time. As a result, student engagement can potentially suffer.

3.1.3. Straight facts, no-nonsense

Similar to the official curriculum teaching style, this style describes educators who like to teach facts and figures, typically in a lecture format. These educators are less focused on multi-disciplinary teaching and learning and place more value on specific course material that needs to be taught. It’s most appropriate for students at the beginning of a subject who need to absorb the foundations of a topic. This teaching style also works well for subjects that involve heavy memorization.

Content-based, teaching styles like this align well with the cognitive domain in Bloom’s taxonomy . For skills, Miller’s pyramid may be more useful. But aligning to structure could be hard for educators who prefer to take a more personal approach to their class—the authors recommend anybody who wants to adopt this teaching style attend ‘teach the teacher’ courses.

3.1.4. Big conference

This teaching style is adopted by professors who like to get up on stage in front of a big audience to share their knowledge on a topic. These teachers can potentially be very engaging speakers who can hold students’ interest, even if there is little interaction in class.

This teaching style works well when applied to subjects like psychology, philosophy or law, especially for large first-year courses. Quizzes and polls are one of the best ways to get a read on how your students are progressing. You can use them to highlight concepts in different, interactive ways and encourage student collaboration—but with Top Hat, they also create real-time insights that instantly let you know how your class is doing.

Of course, stage fright or fear of public speaking can be a significant problem for many teachers in this particular teaching style. Being able to network, engage others and engender respect are vital parts of speaking at a conference and teaching in a conference style. And, just because somebody can give a compelling presentation, it doesn’t mean they can necessarily teach. As Chambers says, “Quite often when a charismatic speaker has given a rousing lecture, you can think afterward, ‘Well, what did they actually say?’ and not be able to voice a single take-home message.”

3.1.5. One-off

The one-off teaching style is defined by professors who prefer to deliver small, self-contained bits of teaching on a one-on-one basis versus lecturing on a topic for an hour in front of a big audience. There are no props or fancy presentations—just the teacher and student. It can also cover any impromptu teaching time or guest workshops. The downside to this teaching method is that students often have little-to-no connection with their professor, making learning feel highly impersonal.

“One-off teaching is impersonal, flexible, self-confident, self-contained, resourceful, centered more on the purpose of teaching than learners’ needs [and] discontinuous,” Chambers writes. A one-off teacher ultimately might be brought in to fill a knowledge gap so that curriculum goals can be fulfilled.

3.1.6. All-round: Flexible and adaptable

Those who prefer this teaching style are comfortable using different skills and methods in the classroom. Educators take into account both the environment and individual student needs and adapt on the fly—knowing that students differ in needs and learning styles. The integrated approach is inclusive and allows professors to adjust as needed, thus potentially reaching more students effectively.

Some educators might feel that it’s easier to stick to one teaching style, but a base awareness of different teaching styles and how they can apply to different students is a good first step towards developing an all-around mentality. “The all-around flexible teacher does however possess one skill we should all aspire to as teachers; the main role of any teacher is to create an educational environment that supports learning,” says Mohanna.

3.2. Teaching styles proposed by Grasha

Anthony Grasha coined five approaches to teaching styles in 1996 8 : expert, formal authority, personal model, facilitator and delegator.

Grasha believes that all educators possess each of these five teaching styles to varying degrees, though they gravitate to some more than others. He likens teaching styles to an artist’s palette: the teacher’s primary or dominant teaching style(s) are similar to the foreground of a painting, while the other qualities still exist, but are farther into the background. All styles and colors, however, are needed to some degree to create a painting with dimensions and layers.

Many educators and educational institutions use Grasha’s styles to help define their approaches to learning and teaching. One study with English as a First Language (EFL) 9 educators found that this group most frequently adopts the facilitator teaching style, followed by delegator, personal, expert and formal authority. The study determined that these types of teaching methods helped create an environment that was more conducive to learning, promoted higher levels of motivation and helped students achieve their goals.

3.2.1. Expert

The expert teaching style defines professors who want to showcase a high level of knowledge and expertise in a subject and use the information to challenge students. The goal is to transmit information to students to prepare them for assignments, exams and further studies. This tremendous knowledge transfer can be helpful for students looking to soak up information from credible resources in their field. But this method can be intimidating for students if it’s overused. And while this style focuses on facts and figures, it might not successfully show the processes used to find answers to problems.

Similar to the official curriculum teaching style—and the one-off style, for parachuted-in knowledge—the expert style is ideal for large and more mature classes in higher education, including introductory sophomore classes where there are countless facts and figures that students need to grasp.

3.2.2. Formal authority

Educators who use the formal authority teaching style establish status among students, clearly define their learning goals and expectations and follow a set list of rules of how things should be done. This teaching style is great for students who need structure since there are clear guidelines and expectations, and an understanding of the acceptable way to do things. 

However, this teaching style can also be too rigid and standardized for many students who appreciate more active learning settings, interaction and better engagement. This teaching method can work effectively in disciplines like law or music where there are established rules that need to be followed, and where an instructor can lead by example by playing an instrument or discussing legal procedures.

3.2.3. Personal model

In the personal model, educators use any opportunity they can to teach by using real-life examples and establishing a prototype of how to think and behave based on their own beliefs and methods. Educators oversee, guide and direct work, but don’t necessarily present themselves as authorities on a subject. Rather, they show students how to do things and encourage them to observe and follow directions to complete tasks. This educator, then, is essentially a role model.

This type of teaching style provides hands-on experience and direct observation. But some educators run the risk of pushing their own way as the best way, which can cause some students to feel inadequate if they can’t live up to the standards. This method could work well, however, in a higher education setting where students already have a good grasp of the material and abstract concepts, and where all students are working on the same level, like in advanced medical studies.

3.2.4. Facilitator

Providing a warm, more emotional climate, the facilitator’s teaching style focuses on teacher-student interaction on a personal level. Students are encouraged to ask questions, explore different options and suggest alternatives, and are guided along the way as they learn by trial and error. The goal is to help students think independently and take more responsibility for their own learning process. Elizabeth Sargent, Biology Lecturer at Georgia Southern University , takes on a facilitator teaching style in her classroom. During assessment time, she asks students to suggest new topics to discuss and debate. Sargent also runs group exams—held before a formal end-of-term test—to allow students to build connections with their peers and to help one another arrive at a solution.

In this teaching style, the instructor works in a more consultative role, providing support and encouragement. This style allows for much greater flexibility in the classroom and focuses on student needs and goals. But it can be time-consuming and ineffective if the subject matter is one where a more direct approach is needed. Some students might also be uncomfortable with a less structured approach. Facilitation can work well in smaller classroom settings or upper-level and graduate courses where creativity and exploration are encouraged, and if students are at a point they feel willing to take risks.

3.2.5. Delegator

The ultimate goal for someone adopting this teaching style is for students to be able to function autonomously, working independently on assignments and projects or as part of small teams with peers. The instructor is available when needed, to be used as a resource. Educators who use the delegator teaching style don’t host formal lectures.

A teaching style like this can help students develop the tools to be confident and independent learners. Still, students who aren’t ready for such autonomy could become anxious and not perform well. This method is great for upper-level studies where students already have an appropriate level of knowledge and don’t need much hand-holding. They are ready to rise to the next level of learning and view the educator as a guide, not someone who’s there for standard instruction.

4. Why teaching styles are important

4.1. teaching style examples in higher education.

Teaching styles used in K-12 classroom settings won’t necessarily work in higher education settings. Younger children will initially respond more to authoritative teaching methods, and while older students might benefit from blended learning or working on their own projects, incoming college students will be expected to do a great deal of research and work on their own.

Many studies have found that there is value in higher education instructors sharing some aspects of their personal lives with students. It humanizes them and makes them appear more relatable and approachable. Doing so could be as simple as mentioning your love of a popular TV series as an aside (bonus points if you can relate it to the course material) or even some family circumstances. “When [a faculty member] shared that she has a daughter beginning college at another university, she showed that she understands from multiple perspectives what it is like to be a college student,” says Dr. Sarah M. Ginsberg, associate professor at Eastern Michigan University, in an essay entitled Shared Characteristics of College Faculty Who Are Effective Communicators .

Content isn’t the be-all, end-all of classroom management. More important than knowing is being able to use effective instructional strategies to share it. In other words, how you teach something is just as important as what you teach.

“I think that deep engagement is really hard work for students. If they become engaged that means they’re applying effort, it means they’re exposing themselves to possible failure, it means they’re taking risks. One of the best ways to engage students is to challenge them. To push them to the outskirts of their ability and even a bit beyond. For all of those reasons, engagement is hard work for students. I view it as offering them an open hand to succeed.” Professor Sarah Rose Cavanagh, author and psychology professor, author of Hivemind and Spark .

In addition to trying to make your curriculum more personal, seeking feedback from students throughout the year (not just at the end of a course) can help educators gain a better understanding of how well their teaching style is working, and how they can adjust it to better reach students. Technologies like clickers and in-class polls and surveys can help, as well as simply observing student behavior to gauge their interest and enjoyment in the class.

Change doesn’t have to be drastic. Employing simple tactics can go a long way to increasing student engagement . It could be asking students to write their questions, comments or responses on assignments for your feedback—taking some inspiration from the more student-centered teaching styles—or structuring an otherwise lengthy lecture to include breaks, which would require some flexibility in teaching.

4.2. Teaching styles and academic performance

Many studies have found a relationship between teaching styles and academic performance. In Malaysia, one study 10 found a “significant but moderate” relationship between a lecturer’s teaching style and student academic engagement. More support for the relationship between student engagement and a teacher’s teaching style can be found in the OECD Program for International Student Assessment (2000).

A student’s ability and willingness to learn also depends on how suitable a teaching style is to the way they prefer to absorb course material. Psychological investment and the institution’s culture can also impact student participation.

Overall, student involvement is an important predictor of academic performance. The more students are involved in and engaged with their studies, the better they are likely to perform.

4.3. Teaching styles and active learning

Not surprisingly, some teaching styles lend themselves more to active learning than others. Any teaching style that involves less lecture time and more student interaction is conducive to active learning. This includes teaching styles like the delegator, facilitator and personal model in Grasha’s classifications, and the student-centered, sensitive, one-off and all-around, flexible and adaptable teaching methods in Mohanna, Chambers and Wall’s. Any blended teaching style, of course, incorporates some active learning components.

To encourage an active learning environment, and ensure that it thrives, find a comfortable balance between both the cognitive and affective dimensions of teaching and work to develop a genuine relationship with students in some way.

Even if you gravitate more toward an expert or authoritative teaching style, try and make yourself more approachable by carving out some time to create meaningful activities for students. Presentations, demonstrations, and responsive feedback—part of the delegator or facilitator teaching style—are vital aspects of active learning.

Even teaching styles such as formal authority or a one-off lecture can incorporate some active learning strategies. Flipped classrooms can be achieved with a curriculum-based teaching style; a ‘straight facts’ approach melds well with a ‘muddiest point’ exercise.

4.4. Teaching styles versus learning styles

Teaching styles and learning styles can work hand-in-hand. And when they match, it can result in a positive experience all around

Learning styles, in general, describe ways that students prefer to absorb and understand information, and the classifications they put themselves in based on their preferences. Some sets include visual learners, auditory learners, kinesthetic learners or verbal learners. Since there’s no common definition for learning styles, there’s no scientific basis to them: nevertheless, taking the student’s perspective is valuable when considering your teaching style.

Like learning styles, it’s widely acknowledged that teaching styles fall on a spectrum and are contextual rather than fixed. An educator doesn’t necessarily adopt just one type of teaching style but they might employ a secondary or tertiary style when necessary. Or the instructor might switch styles based on subjects, students, course curriculum or other mitigating factors as part of a plan to adopt more effective learning strategies.

At least one study has found a statistically significant correlation between successful teaching styles and learning styles. 11 But a mismatch between the two, for example, could in some ways be beneficial for first-year students and those in the early stages of learning. Some students can benefit from being pushed to learn in new ways outside of their comfort zones, and thus develop new learning skills.

Regardless of the primary teaching style, the goal should always be to adopt a balanced method that doesn’t favor one style too much, that is open-minded to different types of teaching and can accommodate different learning styles.

5. How teaching styles can improve student engagement

The teaching style(s) you choose to employ can directly predict student engagement, collaboration and participation. Research shows that when students feel that their teacher is more involved and supportive of their goals, students will be more engaged inside the classroom and, in turn, more likely to perform better academically. 12 For example, the delegator teaching style may require a greater level of effort and persistence on students’ part. The facilitator teaching style prompts students to take the lead in managing discussions and projects, which will simultaneously increase their engagement and sense of agency. Here are some ways that students may feel more involved in the learning process.

• Polls and discussions may encourage students to reflect upon a statement and voice their opinions
• Visual diagrams, 3D simulations and even hands-on dissections can allow students to observe and experiment with something foreign
• Group work and activities can lead to friendly competition and help learners forge connections with their classmates

6. Conclusion

Teaching styles are not set in stone, and course delivery shouldn’t be placed in specific boxes. Every educator falls somewhere on a spectrum, from the authoritative expert to the student-centered facilitator and delegator. More important than defining where you fall on the spectrum—though this is useful to determine—is analyzing and observing your curriculum, students and subject matter and finding the best teaching style to match.

Teaching styles that match students’ learning styles, and that put student needs and learning at the forefront, can lead to more positive academic outcomes. Students tend to be more engaged, and thus better grasp the material.

Educators who are aware of their teaching style, who re-evaluate it, try new things and get feedback from students can take teaching to a new level.

• Bohren, A. (2019, March 8). Teaching styles: Everything you need to know about teaching methods and strategies. CogniFit. https://blog.cognifit.com/teaching-styles/
• Teaching Styles. (n.d.). Center for Research on Learning & Teaching, University of Michigan. https://crlt.umich.edu/tstrategies/tsts
• Mohanna, K., Chambers, R., & Wall, D. (2007). Developing your teaching style: increasing effectiveness in healthcare teaching. Postgraduate medical journal, 83 (977), 145–147. https://doi.org/10.1136/pgmj.2006.054106
• Teaching Style. (2018). ART 601: Teaching Assistant Seminar. http://art601.weebly.com/uploads/2/2/5/1/22512830/teaching_style.pdf
• Principles of Adult Learning Scale. (n.d.). Conti-Creations. http://www.conti-creations.com/Online_Page.htm
• The Constructivist On-Line Learning Environment Survey (COLLES). (n.d.). Curtin University of Technology. https://surveylearning.moodle.com/colles/
• Mohanna, K., Chambers, R., & Wall, D. (2008). Your teaching style: A practical guide to understanding, developing and improving. Oxford: Radcliffe.
• Grasha, A. F. (1994). A Matter of Style: The Teacher as Expert, Formal Authority, Personal Model, Facilitator, and Delegator. College Teaching , 42(4). 10.1080/87567555.1994.9926845.
• Heydarnejad, T., Fatemi, A. H., & Ghonsooly, B. (2017). An Exploration of EFL Teachers’ Teaching Styles and Emotions. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language Research , 4(2), 26-46.
• Shaari, A. S., et al. (2014). The Relationship between Lecturers’ Teaching Style and Students’ Academic Engagement. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences , 118. 10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.02.002.
• Hussain, Nasreen & Ayub, Nadia. (2012). Learning Styles of Students and Teaching Styles of Teachers in Business Education: A Case Study of Pakistan. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences. 69. 10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.12.122.
• Fall, A.-M. and Roberts, G. (2012), High school dropouts: Interactions between social context, self-perceptions, school engagement, and student dropout. Journal of Adolescence, 35: 787-798. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2011.11.004

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25 Teaching Styles Examples

The simplest way to differentiate between teaching styles is to compare student-centered to teacher-centered.

• Student-centered teaching focuses on the student and their needs. 
• Teacher-centered teaching puts the teacher center stage.

Arguably, many of the remaining teaching styles examples on this list sit along a spectrum from highly student-centered to highly teacher-centered.

Other examples of teaching styles examples include inquiry-based, didactic, democratic, facilitative, and andragogic (the art of teaching adults ).

Teachers can switch between teaching styles depending on the needs of their students, but often a teacher will have one preferred style that they default to in the classroom.

Teaching Styles Examples

1. student-centered.

Student-centered teaching occurs when the student is the main focus. The student is center stage while the teacher stands on the sidelines and supports the students as they learn.

It means there will be more focus on the student doing things (i.e. active learning ) as opposed to the teacher standing out the front talking.

For example, the teacher might set up a scenario for learning and provide the building blocks, resources, and instructions, but the student must learn by doing the task rather than just listening to the teacher speak.

2. Teacher-Centered

The teacher-centered approach involves the teacher taking center stage. This is the traditional approach that you might see in classrooms from generations past and is often called the banking model of education .

In this classroom, the teacher talks, and the student listen. There might be a lot of passive learning in this classroom, meaning the students don’t learn by doing but rather by listening .

Major criticisms of this approach include:

• Students are passive and not learning by doing
• It is hard to differentiate instruction when it’s just the teacher talking and the students listening.
• It is hard to or collect just-in-time feedback.

While this approach often gets a lot of negative attention, it can still be valuable sometimes. For example, sometimes some basic teacher-centered instruction is required before an active learning scenario can begin to give students an orientation.

3. Student-Led

A student-led teaching style will involve encouraging students to not only learn through doing, but also direct what should be learned.

For example, a student-led approach might involve the teacher consulting the students about what inspires them or interests them, and then the teacher structuring a learning environment where they can conduct inquiries into these things.

The student-led approach is more common among young children (e.g child initiated play ). As students get older, the demands of curricula and standardized tests mean there are less opportunities for unstructured learning and more pressure to follow a set curriculum.

4. Didactic

Didactic teaching is mostly teacher-centered. It involves an educator imparting (or, perhaps, imposing) their wisdom or knowledge from a podium.

Didacticism is most commonly associated with moral instruction. It is the approach used by priests and ministers for example, when they stand on the altar and give their sermons every Sunday.

But didactic models are also seen during lectures at universities and even in podcasts, where a teacher imparts their wisdom without receiving just-in-time feedback from their listeners.

5. Democratic

The democratic teaching style involves treating the classroom like a democracy where the students can vote and share their views openly.

This approach focuses on giving students agency and critical thinking skills. By treating the classroom like a democratic forum, students have to make decisions and live by the consequences.

For example, a democratic educator would allow students to set the class rules and class culture. The students would have to debate the merits of various rules before they are set, which leads to students who can think more critically and have buy-in for why they are following the rules.

6. Progressive

Like the democratic teaching style, the progressive teaching style focuses on promoting critical thinking and social justice. These values are intertwined into the class culture as well as the lesson content.

A progressive educator, for example, might put greater emphasis on critical and sociological thinking than a teacher-centered educator whose main job would be to simply teach to the test.

Progressive education has recently faced backlash for some of its methods, such as teaching CRT in the classroom and ensuring their books have protagonists who are people of color.

7. Demonstrator

The teacher who is the demonstrator sits between teacher-centered and student-centered. They won’t just teach from the front of the classroom with theoretical examples. Instead, they will demonstrate how to do things and then give students a chance to have a go themselves.

A common teaching method from this approach is the gradual release of responsibility model (Commonly called the I Do, We Do, You Do method). This is a three-step approach going from teacher-centered to student-centered:

• I Do: The teacher demonstrates the task while the students watch (teacher-centered)
• We Do: The class does the task together with the teacher’s guidance (hybrid)
• You Do: The students attempt the task independently (student-centered)

8. Moderator/Facilitator

The moderator is a student-centered techer who observes and supports students as they learn through the use of prompting questions or strategic interventions.

This teacher tries to be student-centered while also being supportive. They often use scaffolding – a teaching method where the teacher provides targeted support depending on the student’s needs. As the student gets more competent, the moderator teacher takes more and more of a backseat role.

Commonly, the moderator (also known as the facilitator) will ask prompting, open-ended questions like “Explain to me why you did it that way?” in order to get students thinking more deeply about their activities.

9. Delegator

The delegator teaching style involves a student-centered teacher who delegates task roles to students, who often work in groups to achieve their goals.

This style is similar to the moderator style because the teacher takes a backseat and allows the students to take the lead. However, the delegator has a stronger focus on structuring students into groups and ensuring each student knows their roles within the groups.

Once the delegator has set the conditions for learning and interactions between students, they can observe and intervene when necessary to ensure the student interactions are efficient and fit for purpose.

10. Laissez-Faire

The laissez-faire teacher is your stereotypical detached and disinterested educator. It is analogous to the famous neglectful parenting style.

A laissez-faire teacher often lacks direction and classroom management skills. Instead, their focus is often on ‘getting through the day’ or placating the students to make their own lives easier.

In this sense, the teaching style is teacher-centered. It’s about ensuring the teacher has the easiest possible time, and generally represents a failure of pedagogical skills .

11. Collaborative

The collaborative teaching style is common among teachers who like to have students work in groups to discuss and peer teach .

This teaching style gets its name from the fact that this teacher is always encouraging students to collaborate . The classroom layout may include a seating plan where students sit in table groups. The teacher presents challenges or questions, then uses methods such as think-pair-share and expert jigsaw to have students discuss topics, compare notes, and challenge one another in small groups.

12. Coaching

The coaching teaching style places a strong focus on motivation as the teacher’s central task.

The ‘coach’ gives students the motivation and mental strength to succeed, which can help them push through difficulty and succeed in their learning.

A big benefit of the coaching style is that it doesn’t only teach information but also a lifelong learner mindset.

13. Formal Authority (Lecturer)

The formal authority style represents a traditional teacher-centered style with a strong focus on teacher knowledge at the expense of much emphasis on teacher pedagogy .

In other words, students are expected to listen to the teacher because they’re an authority on the topic and not beacuse they’re a good teacher per se. As a result, the teacher is often hard to understand and speaks using jargon that the student or layperson may struggle to understand.

14. Hybrid (Both Student and Teacher-Centered)

In teaching style taxonomies, you will often come across the ‘hybrid’ teaching style as a style that refers to a style that fluctuates between student- and teacher-centered depending on the scenario.

According to this approach, there is a time and place for both teacher- and student-centered learning scenarios.

For example, an introduction to a module may necessarily be teacher-centered because there is a requirement for introductory notes to be provided. Follow-up lessons may be more student-centered because the students have the basics and can now transition to a student-centered environment.

15. Flipped Teaching

The flipped teaching style involves ‘flipping’ teaching time and homework time. In other words, students learn new things by reading and watching videos in their home time; then at school, the students do practice tasks with teacher guidance.

This teaching style allows the teacher to maximize the amount of student-centered learning that takes place in the classroom, and quarantines all the teacher-centered instruction for home time. It’s a style that’s enabled by technology, because it’s often very reliant on videos for homework.

16. Socratic Teaching

The Socratic teaching method takes inspiration from Socrates himself – one of history’s greatest teachers. A socratic teacher focuses on questioning, probing, and challenging students’ assuptions.

The goal of a socratic teaching style is to get students to clarify their viewpoints and think more deeply about a topic. To do this, the teacher prods at the student’s assumptions, challenges their belief systems , and attempts to find flaws in their arguments so the students can amend their views and make them as solid as possible.

The six socratic questions that a socratic teacher might use are:

• Clarifying concepts: Asking students to clarify any terms or ideas they present (e.g. “how do you define that?”
• Probing assumptions : Having students identify where their assumptions come from and whether their assumptions have a sound basis.
• Probing rationale, reasons and evidence: Ensuring students have evidence for their claims and a sound reason for making those claims.
• Questioning viewpoints and perspectives: Asking students to acknowledge their perspective and alternative perspectives, and having them weigh up the strengths and weaknesses of their perspectives.
• Probing Implications and consequences: Having students reflect on the consequences of their actions and beliefs to ensure an ethical lens is cast on their views..
• Questioning the question: Asking students if they’re asking the right question, or asking it in the right way.

17. Team Teaching

The team teaching style involves having multiple teachers teach one or more classes on a rotational or co-teaching basis.

One benefit of this teaching style is that you can leverage each teacher’s subject-level and even pedagogical strengths. For example, if one teacher is excellent at math and another is excellent at literature, the teachers can split the workload and each gets to focus their attention on their strength.

As an educator, I also find this model useful because it enables teachers to efficiently split the workload and minimize planning duplication.

Furthermore, this model often enables more student-centered time because there is always a support teacher who can act as an assistant who can walk around the class and help remedial students.

18. Inquiry-Based

An inquiry-based teaching style focuses on creating lessons based upon student inquiry. In other words, lessons revolve around researching and investigating topics to find information and answers.

This is a student-centered approach.

A typical example of an inquiry-based teaching style involves the teacher creating a detective lesson where students are given clues or questions and they have to conduct research online or in textbooks to find the answers.

Another example is when the teacher has students conduct research to create a poster presentation on their topic.

19. Project-Based

Project-based teaching involves structuring lessons based around projects that students must complete.

While it is similar to inquiry-based teaching, it has more of a constructivist focus where the students have to produce something by the end of the lesson. It often involves creating a physical product such as a garden or artwork. Similarly, it might involve having students complete a project like cleaning the trash from a certain area of the school or building a model airplane. 

20. Andragogy

Andragogy is a teaching style that is specifically focused on the teaching of adults.

Popularized by Malcolm Knowles (1980), this style acknowledges that adults have different motivations than children and adjusts its methods accordingly.

Key assumptions of andragogy include:

• Self-concept : Adults have developed a clear self-concept, meaning they are more autonomous and independent than children.
• Prior knowledge : Adults are full of experiences (indicating prior knowledge) that they leverage when learning.
• Readiness to learn: Adults don’t have compulsory education. They generally learn when they want to learn, meaning they’re often more receptive to the content being delivered.
• Just in Time Learning: Adults learn information in otder to apply it immediately in their jobs, not in order to store it for the future.
• Intrinsic motivation : Adults’ motivations are more likely to come from inside rather than outside (they’re less easily coaxed by candy!).
• Need to Know: Adults are more inclined to question ‘why’ they’re learning something.

21. Apprenticeship

The apprenticeship teaching style involves having students learn in a workplace environment. It is the traditional teaching style that occurred before formal educaiton began.

We commonly see this teaching style in the trades, such as plumbing and carpentry, where the apprentice learns on the job alongside a journeyman worker.

Lave and Wegner introduce the term ‘ situational learning ’ to describe how this occurs. Often, the apprentice starts on the outskirts of the community, being given basic tasks. As they get more ingrained in the culture and trusted by the senior workers, they’re given more and more tasks and roles until they become the expert and they take on an apprentice of their own.

22. Developmental

The developmental teaching style embraces a belief in stage-based cognitive or physical development (e.g. Piaget’s stages of learning). It relies on these stages to underpin the teacher’s methodology.

Formally, we often see this when teachers create curricula. They will use tools like bloom’s taxonomy or Biggs’ SOLO taxonomy to create lessons that increase in difficulty as students move up the steps in their learning.

While this approach helps educators to structure a general progression into their teaching, it may fail to acknowledge students’ agency and abilities that may transcend stage-based assuptions about learning. For example, a 6 year old may “read at a 12 year old level”, so a teacher needs to make adjustments to their developmental model to accommodate for this.

23. Nurturing/Humanist

The nurturing teaching style, often based on a humanist philosophy , involves leveraging unconditional positive regard and inclusive spaces to ensure students feel safe and secure in the learning environment.

The underpinning idea of the nurturing teacher is that students’ basic needs such as comfort and safety needs must be met in order for them to learn at their optimal levels. This approach was made famous by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs , which demonstrated that the most successful people in life reach success by having a very nurturing and safe environment to explore, take risks, and develop.

24. Montessori

The Montessori teaching style is based on the philosophy of Maria Montessori. It is characterized by student-centered and student-led play in resource rich environemnts.

One thing you will notice in a true Montessori classroom is that the teacher will try not to interfere when a student is struggling. Instead, the teacher will ensure the student has the resources available to find their way over or past their obstacles. By allowing the student to struggle, fail, and try again, Montessori believed that she could raise strong-willed and competent children.

25. Post-Structuralist

The post-structuralist teaching style ’s focus is on having students deconstruct their assumptions.

According to post-structuralist educators, students are provided ‘metanarratives’ in life (by parents, television, books, etc.) that should be critiqued . For example, one metanarrative that we’re all taught in school is that we should work hard, get good grades, then get a good job. This metanarrative has a fatal flaw: it fails to teach people how to be entrepreneurs!

Similarly, post-structuralist educators are very concerned about metanarratives about race, class, and gender, and throughout their teaching they encourage students to deconstruct these metanarratives and think critically about their assumptions.

Every teacher will develop their own teaching style. This may depend on personal teaching philosophy , the needs of the students, and the demands of the school they’re in. Skilled teachers can also alternate between teaching styles in order to match the style to the lesson they are required to teach at any one time.

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 5 Top Tips for Succeeding at University
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• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 100 Consumer Goods Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 30 Globalization Pros and Cons

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Teaching Methods and Strategies: The Complete Guide

You’ve completed your coursework. Student teaching has ended. You’ve donned the cap and gown, crossed the stage, smiled with your diploma and went home to fill out application after application.

Suddenly you are standing in what will be your classroom for the next year and after the excitement of decorating it wears off and you begin lesson planning, you start to notice all of your lessons are executed the same way, just with different material. But that is what you know and what you’ve been taught, so you go with it.

After a while, your students are bored, and so are you. There must be something wrong because this isn’t what you envisioned teaching to be like. There is.

Figuring out the best ways you can deliver information to students can sometimes be even harder than what students go through in discovering how they learn best. The reason is because every single teacher needs a variety of different teaching methods in their theoretical teaching bag to pull from depending on the lesson, the students, and things as seemingly minute as the time the class is and the subject.

Using these different teaching methods, which are rooted in theory of different teaching styles, will not only help teachers reach their full potential, but more importantly engage, motivate and reach the students in their classes, whether in person or online.

Teaching Methods

Teaching methods, or methodology, is a narrower topic because it’s founded in theories and educational psychology. If you have a degree in teaching, you most likely have heard of names like Skinner, Vygotsky , Gardner, Piaget , and Bloom . If their names don’t ring a bell, you should definitely recognize their theories that have become teaching methods. The following are the most common teaching theories.

Behaviorism

Behaviorism is the theory that every learner is essentially a “clean slate” to start off and shaped by emotions. People react to stimuli, reactions as well as positive and negative reinforcement, the site states.

Learning Theories names the most popular theorists who ascribed to this theory were Ivan Pavlov, who many people may know with his experiments with dogs. He performed an experiment with dogs that when he rang a bell, the dogs responded to the stimuli; then he applied the idea to humans.

Other popular educational theorists who were part of behaviorism was B.F. Skinner and Albert Bandura .

Social Cognitive Theory

Social Cognitive Theory is typically spoken about at the early childhood level because it has to do with critical thinking with the biggest concept being the idea of play, according to Edwin Peel writing for Encyclopedia Britannica . Though Bandura and Lev Vygotsky also contributed to cognitive theory, according to Dr. Norman Herr with California State University , the most popular and first theorist of cognitivism is Piaget.

There are four stages to Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development that he created in 1918. Each stage correlates with a child’s development from infancy to their teenage years.

The first stage is called the Sensorimotor Stage which occurs from birth to 18 months. The reason this is considered cognitive development is because the brain is literally growing through exploration, like squeaking horns, discovering themselves in mirrors or spinning things that click on their floor mats or walkers; creating habits like sleeping with a certain blanket; having reflexes like rubbing their eyes when tired or thumb sucking; and beginning to decipher vocal tones.

The second stage, or the Preoperational Stage, occurs from ages 2 to 7 when toddlers begin to understand and correlate symbols around them, ask a lot of questions, and start forming sentences and conversations, but they haven’t developed perspective yet so empathy does not quite exist yet, the website states. This is the stage when children tend to blurt out honest statements, usually embarrassing their parents, because they don’t understand censoring themselves either.

From ages 7 to 11, children are beginning to problem solve, can have conversations about things they are interested in, are more aware of logic and develop empathy during the Concrete Operational Stage.

The final stage, called the Formal Operational Stage, though by definition ends at age 16, can continue beyond. It involves deeper thinking and abstract thoughts as well as questioning not only what things are but why the way they are is popular, the site states. Many times people entering new stages of their lives like high school, college, or even marriage go through elements of Piaget’s theory, which is why the strategies that come from this method are applicable across all levels of education.

The Multiple Intelligences Theory

The Multiple Intelligences Theory states that people don’t need to be smart in every single discipline to be considered intelligent on paper tests, but that people excel in various disciplines, making them exceptional.

Created in 1983, the former principal in the Scranton School District in Scranton, PA, created eight different intelligences, though since then two others have been debated of whether to be added but have not yet officially, according to the site.

The original eight are musical, spatial, linguistic, mathematical, kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal and naturalistic and most people have a predominant intelligence followed by others. For those who are musically-inclined either via instruments, vocals, has perfect pitch, can read sheet music or can easily create music has Musical Intelligence.

Being able to see something and rearrange it or imagine it differently is Spatial Intelligence, while being talented with language, writing or avid readers have Linguistic Intelligence. Kinesthetic Intelligence refers to understanding how the body works either anatomically or athletically and Naturalistic Intelligence is having an understanding of nature and elements of the ecosystem.

The final intelligences have to do with personal interactions. Intrapersonal Intelligence is a matter of knowing oneself, one’s limits, and their inner selves while Interpersonal Intelligence is knowing how to handle a variety of other people without conflict or knowing how to resolve it, the site states. There is still an elementary school in Scranton, PA named after their once-principal.

Constructivism

Constructivism is another theory created by Piaget which is used as a foundation for many other educational theories and strategies because constructivism is focused on how people learn. Piaget states in this theory that people learn from their experiences. They learn best through active learning , connect it to their prior knowledge and then digest this information their own way. This theory has created the ideas of student-centered learning in education versus teacher-centered learning.

Universal Design for Learning

The final method is the Universal Design for Learning which has redefined the educational community since its inception in the mid-1980s by David H. Rose. This theory focuses on how teachers need to design their curriculum for their students. This theory really gained traction in the United States in 2004 when it was presented at an international conference and he explained that this theory is based on neuroscience and how the brain processes information, perform tasks and get excited about education.

The theory, known as UDL, advocates for presenting information in multiple ways to enable a variety of learners to understand the information; presenting multiple assessments for students to show what they have learned; and learn and utilize a student’s own interests to motivate them to learn, the site states. This theory also discussed incorporating technology in the classroom and ways to educate students in the digital age.

Teaching Styles

From each of the educational theories, teachers extract and develop a plethora of different teaching styles, or strategies. Instructors must have a large and varied arsenal of strategies to use weekly and even daily in order to build rapport, keep students engaged and even keep instructors from getting bored with their own material. These can be applicable to all teaching levels, but adaptations must be made based on the student’s age and level of development.

Differentiated instruction is one of the most popular teaching strategies, which means that teachers adjust the curriculum for a lesson, unit or even entire term in a way that engages all learners in various ways, according to Chapter 2 of the book Instructional Process and Concepts in Theory and Practice by Celal Akdeniz . This means changing one’s teaching styles constantly to fit not only the material but more importantly, the students based on their learning styles.

Learning styles are the ways in which students learn best. The most popular types are visual, audio, kinesthetic and read/write , though others include global as another type of learner, according to Akdeniz . For some, they may seem self-explanatory. Visual learners learn best by watching the instruction or a demonstration; audio learners need to hear a lesson; kinesthetic learners learn by doing, or are hands-on learners; read/write learners to best by reading textbooks and writing notes; and global learners need material to be applied to their real lives, according to The Library of Congress .

There are many activities available to instructors that enable their students to find out what kind of learner they are. Typically students have a main style with a close runner-up, which enables them to learn best a certain way but they can also learn material in an additional way.

When an instructor knows their students and what types of learners are in their classroom, instructors are able to then differentiate their instruction and assignments to those learning types, according to Akdeniz and The Library of Congress. Learn more about different learning styles.

When teaching new material to any type of learner, is it important to utilize a strategy called scaffolding . Scaffolding is based on a student’s prior knowledge and building a lesson, unit or course from the most foundational pieces and with each step make the information more complicated, according to an article by Jerry Webster .

To scaffold well, a teacher must take a personal interest in their students to learn not only what their prior knowledge is but their strengths as well. This will enable an instructor to base new information around their strengths and use positive reinforcement when mistakes are made with the new material.

There is an unfortunate concept in teaching called “teach to the middle” where instructors target their lessons to the average ability of the students in their classroom, leaving slower students frustrated and confused, and above average students frustrated and bored. This often results in the lower- and higher-level students scoring poorly and a teacher with no idea why.

The remedy for this is a strategy called blended learning where differentiated instruction is occurring simultaneously in the classroom to target all learners, according to author and educator Juliana Finegan . In order to be successful at blended learning, teachers once again need to know their students, how they learn and their strengths and weaknesses, according to Finegan.

Blended learning can include combining several learning styles into one lesson like lecturing from a PowerPoint – not reading the information on the slides — that includes cartoons and music associations while the students have the print-outs. The lecture can include real-life examples and stories of what the instructor encountered and what the students may encounter. That example incorporates four learning styles and misses kinesthetic, but the activity afterwards can be solely kinesthetic.

A huge component of blended learning is technology. Technology enables students to set their own pace and access the resources they want and need based on their level of understanding, according to The Library of Congress . It can be used three different ways in education which include face-to-face, synchronously or asynchronously . Technology used with the student in the classroom where the teacher can answer questions while being in the student’s physical presence is known as face-to-face.

Synchronous learning is when students are learning information online and have a teacher live with them online at the same time, but through a live chat or video conferencing program, like Skype, or Zoom, according to The Library of Congress.

Finally, asynchronous learning is when students take a course or element of a course online, like a test or assignment, as it fits into their own schedule, but a teacher is not online with them at the time they are completing or submitting the work. Teachers are still accessible through asynchronous learning but typically via email or a scheduled chat meeting, states the Library of Congress.

The final strategy to be discussed actually incorporates a few teaching strategies, so it’s almost like blended teaching. It starts with a concept that has numerous labels such as student-centered learning, learner-centered pedagogy, and teacher-as-tutor but all mean that an instructor revolves lessons around the students and ensures that students take a participatory role in the learning process, known as active learning, according to the Learning Portal .

In this model, a teacher is just a facilitator, meaning that they have created the lesson as well as the structure for learning, but the students themselves become the teachers or create their own knowledge, the Learning Portal says. As this is occurring, the instructor is circulating the room working as a one-on-one resource, tutor or guide, according to author Sara Sanchez Alonso from Yale’s Center for Teaching and Learning. For this to work well and instructors be successful one-on-one and planning these lessons, it’s essential that they have taken the time to know their students’ history and prior knowledge, otherwise it can end up to be an exercise in futility, Alonso said.

Some activities teachers can use are by putting students in groups and assigning each student a role within the group, creating reading buddies or literature circles, making games out of the material with individual white boards, create different stations within the classroom for different skill levels or interest in a lesson or find ways to get students to get up out of their seats and moving, offers Fortheteachers.org .

There are so many different methodologies and strategies that go into becoming an effective instructor. A consistent theme throughout all of these is for a teacher to take the time to know their students because they care, not because they have to. When an instructor knows the stories behind the students, they are able to design lessons that are more fun, more meaningful, and more effective because they were designed with the students’ best interests in mind.

There are plenty of pre-made lessons, activities and tests available online and from textbook publishers that any teacher could use. But you need to decide if you want to be the original teacher who makes a significant impact on your students, or a pre-made teacher a student needs to get through.

Read Also: – Blended Learning Guide – Collaborative Learning Guide – Flipped Classroom Guide – Game Based Learning Guide – Gamification in Education Guide – Holistic Education Guide – Maker Education Guide – Personalized Learning Guide – Place-Based Education Guide – Project-Based Learning Guide – Scaffolding in Education Guide – Social-Emotional Learning Guide

Similar Posts:

• Discover Your Learning Style – Comprehensive Guide on Different Learning Styles
• 15 Learning Theories in Education (A Complete Summary)
• 20 Huge Benefits of Using Technology in the Classroom

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• Philosophy of Teaching

Three Teaching Styles

• September 30, 2013
• Paul B. Thornton

The most effective teachers vary their styles depending on the nature of the subject matter, the phase of the course, and other factors. By so doing, they encourage and inspire students to do their best at all times throughout the semester.

It is helpful to think of teaching styles according to the three Ds: Directing, Discussing, and Delegating.

The directing style promotes learning through listening and following directions. With this style, the teacher tells the students what to do, how to do it, and when it needs to be done. The teacher imparts information to the students via lectures, assigned readings, audio/visual presentations, demonstrations, role playing, and other means. Students gain information primarily by listening, taking notes, doing role plays, and practicing what they are told to do. The only feedback the teacher looks for is “Do you understand the instructions?”

Suggestions for using the directing style:

• Start with the big picture. Provide the context before launching into specifics.
• Be clear and concise. Students need to know exactly what they must do to succeed and by what criteria their work will be evaluated. Clear goals, specific deadlines, and concise directions increase student motivation and eliminate confusion. Wordy, sloppily written, and poorly organized instructional materials confuse, overwhelm, and discourage students.
• Provide sufficient detail. Communication breakdowns occur when important details are omitted or instructions are ambiguous. For example, when I once neglected to specify the font size students should use, the papers they turned in had font sizes ranging from 8 to 14!
• Don’t sugar-coat the message. There are times when teachers need to be very direct and candid to get through to students.

The discussing style promotes learning through interaction. In this style, practiced by Socrates, the teacher encourages critical thinking and lively discussion by asking students to respond to challenging questions. The teacher is a facilitator guiding the discussion to a logical conclusion. Students learn to have opinions and to back them up with facts and data.

Suggestions for using the discussing style:

• Prepare questions in advance. Great discussions don’t just happen. Ask one question at a time. Be open, curious, and interested in learning what each student thinks.
• Don’t allow one or two students to dominate the discussion. Solicit everyone’s ideas and opinions. Gently draw out students who seem insecure and reticent to participate. I sometimes start my classes by saying, “I want to give each of you one minute to discuss your views on this topic. Let’s go around the room and hear from everyone.” Get closure by reviewing the key points you want to make.
• Have students create questions. I like to have my students read a case study and formulate three questions to ask their classmates. We then discuss their answers in class.
• Utilize clickers. Clickers are an easy way to get students involved during class. Pose a multiple-choice question and their responses are tabulated on the screen. You can then open it up for discussion as students share why they selected a certain answer.

The delegating style promotes learning through empowerment. With this style, the teacher assigns tasks that students work on independently, either individually or in groups.

Suggestions for using the delegating style:

• What are the main performance measures your company uses to evaluate each employee’s performance?
• What are the key lessons you, as a manager, have learned about conducting effective performance appraisals?
• Assign team projects. Have each team select a team leader, define roles and responsibilities, and hold each other accountable for completing the project on time. In my management class, I have teams of students analyze the management and leadership behaviors on movies like Remember the Titans and Crimson Tide.
• Assign a capstone project. Let students show you what they can do when working independently on a topic that’s important to them.

Use an appropriate mix of each teaching style. I typically structure each of my classes to include some amount of each teaching style. However, during the first part of a semester I use more of the directing style. In the middle part of a semester I typically rely more on the discussing style. And in the latter part of a semester I generally lean more heavily on the delegating style.

Using an appropriate mix of teaching styles helps students learn, grow, and become more independent. Too much reliance on one style causes students to lose interest and become overly dependent on the teacher.

Summary There is no one best teaching style. Effective teachers use a variety of styles, and they know how and when to choose the most appropriate one for the specific situation. In essence, the three teaching styles boil down to this:

• Direct — Tell students what to do
• Discuss — Ask questions and listen
• Delegate — Empower students

Paul B. Thornton is speaker, trainer, and professor of business administration at Springfield Technical Community College, Springfield, MA. He teaches principles of management, organizational behavior, and principles of leadership. He is the author of Leadership—Off the Wall and twelve other books on management and leadership. He may be contacted at [email protected]

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The Complete List of Teaching Methods

Teaching Methods: Not as Simple as ABC

Teaching methods [teacher-centered], teaching methods [student-centered], what about blended learning and udl, teaching methods: a to z, for the love of teaching.

Whether you’re a longtime educator, preparing to start your first teaching job or mapping out your dream of a career in the classroom, the topic of teaching methods is one that means many different things to different people.

Your individual approaches and strategies to imparting knowledge to your students and inspiring them to learn are probably built on your academic education as well as your instincts and intuition.

Whether you come by your preferred teaching methods organically or by actively studying educational theory and pedagogy, it can be helpful to have a comprehensive working knowledge of the various teaching methods at your disposal.

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The teacher-centered approach vs. the student-centered approach. High-tech vs. low-tech approaches to learning. Flipped classrooms, differentiated instruction, inquiry-based learning, personalized learning and more.

Not only are there dozens of teaching methods to explore, it is also important to have a sense for how they often overlap or interrelate. One extremely helpful look at this question is offered by the teacher-focused education website Teach.com.

“Teaching theories can be organized into four categories based on two major parameters: a teacher-centered approach versus a student-centered approach, and high-tech material use versus low-tech material use,” according to the informative Teach.com article , which breaks down a variety of influential teaching methods as follows:

Teacher-Centered Approach to Learning Teachers serve as instructor/authority figures who deliver knowledge to their students through lectures and direct instruction, and aim to measure the results through testing and assessment. This method is sometimes referred to as “sage on the stage.”

Student-Centered Approach to Learning Teachers still serve as an authority figure, but may function more as a facilitator or “guide on the side,” as students assume a much more active role in the learning process. In this method, students learn from and are continually assessed on such activities as group projects, student portfolios and class participation.

High-Tech Approach to Learning From devices like laptops and tablets to using the internet to connect students with information and people from around the world, technology plays an ever-greater role in many of today’s classrooms. In the high-tech approach to learning, teachers utilize many different types of technology to aid students in their classroom learning.

Low-Tech Approach to Learning Technology obviously comes with pros and cons, and many teachers believe that a low-tech approach better enables them to tailor the educational experience to different types of learners. Additionally, while computer skills are undeniably necessary today, this must be balanced against potential downsides; for example, some would argue that over-reliance on spell check and autocorrect features can inhibit rather than strengthen student spelling and writing skills.

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Diving further into the overlap between different types of teaching methods, here is a closer look at three teacher-centered methods of instruction and five popular student-centered approaches.

Direct Instruction (Low Tech) Under the direct instruction model — sometimes described as the “traditional” approach to teaching — teachers convey knowledge to their students primarily through lectures and scripted lesson plans, without factoring in student preferences or opportunities for hands-on or other types of learning. This method is also customarily low-tech since it relies on texts and workbooks rather than computers or mobile devices.

Flipped Classrooms (High Tech) What if students did the “classroom” portion of their learning at home and their “homework” in the classroom? That’s an oversimplified description of the flipped classroom approach, in which students watch or read their lessons on computers at home and then complete assignments and do problem-solving exercises in class.

Kinesthetic Learning (Low Tech) In the kinesthetic learning model, students perform hands-on physical activities rather than listening to lectures or watching demonstrations. Kinesthetic learning, which values movement and creativity over technological skills, is most commonly used to augment traditional types of instruction — the theory being that requiring students to do, make or create something exercises different learning muscles.

Differentiated Instruction (Low Tech) Inspired by the 1975 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), enacted to ensure equal access to public education for all children, differentiated instruction is the practice of developing an understanding of how each student learns best, and then tailoring instruction to meet students’ individual needs.

In some instances, this means Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for students with special needs, but today teachers use differentiated instruction to connect with all types of learners by offering options on how students access content, the types of activities they do to master a concept, how student learning is assessed and even how the classroom is set up.

Inquiry-Based Learning (High Tech) Rather than function as a sole authority figure, in inquiry-based learning teachers offer support and guidance as students work on projects that depend on them taking on a more active and participatory role in their own learning. Different students might participate in different projects, developing their own questions and then conducting research — often using online resources — and then demonstrate the results of their work through self-made videos, web pages or formal presentations.

Expeditionary Learning (Low Tech) Expeditionary learning is based on the idea that there is considerable educational value in getting students out of the classroom and into the real world. Examples include trips to City Hall or Washington, D.C., to learn about the workings of government, or out into nature to engage in specific study related to the environment. Technology can be used to augment such expeditions, but the primary focus is on getting out into the community for real-world learning experiences.

Personalized Learning (High Tech) In personalized learning, teachers encourage students to follow personalized, self-directed learning plans that are inspired by their specific interests and skills. Since assessment is also tailored to the individual, students can advance at their own pace, moving forward or spending extra time as needed. Teachers offer some traditional instruction as well as online material, while also continually reviewing student progress and meeting with students to make any needed changes to their learning plans.

Game-Based Learning (High Tech) Students love games, and considerable progress has been made in the field of game-based learning, which requires students to be problem solvers as they work on quests to accomplish a specific goal. For students, this approach blends targeted learning objectives with the fun of earning points or badges, much like they would in a video game. For teachers, planning this type of activity requires additional time and effort, so many rely on software like Classcraft or 3DGameLab to help students maximize the educational value they receive from within the gamified learning environment.

Blended Learning Blended learning  is another strategy for teachers looking to introduce flexibility into their classroom. This method relies heavily on technology, with part of the instruction taking place online and part in the classroom via a more traditional approach, often leveraging elements of the flipped classroom approach detailed above. At the heart of blended learning is a philosophy of taking the time to understand each student’s learning style and develop strategies to teach to every learner, by building flexibility and choice into your curriculum.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) UDL incorporates both student-centered learning and the “multiple intelligences theory,” which holds that different learners are wired to learn most effectively in different ways (examples of these “intelligences” include visual-spatial, logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, linguistic, musical, etc.). In practice, this could mean that some students might be working on a writing project while others would be more engaged if they created a play or a movie. UDL emphasizes the idea of teaching to every student, special needs students included, in the general education classroom, creating community and building knowledge through multiple means.

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In addition to the many philosophical and pedagogical approaches to teaching, classroom educators today employ diverse and sometimes highly creative methods involving specific strategies, prompts and tools that require little explanation. These include:

• Appointments with students
• Art-based projects
• Audio tutorials
• Author’s chair
• Book reports
• Bulletin boards
• Brainstorming
• Case studies
• Chalkboard instruction
• Class projects
• Classroom discussion
• Classroom video diary
• Collaborative learning spaces
• Creating murals and montages
• Current events quizzes
• Designated quiet space
• Discussion groups
• DIY activities
• Dramatization (plays, skits, etc.)
• Educational games
• Educational podcasts
• Essays (Descriptive)
• Essays (Expository)
• Essays (Narrative)
• Essays (Persuasive)
• Exhibits and displays
• Explore different cultures
• Field trips
• Flash cards
• Flexible seating
• Gamified learning plans
• Genius hour
• Group discussion
• Guest speakers
• Hands-on activities
• Individual projects
• Interviewing
• Laboratory experiments
• Learning contracts
• Learning stations
• Literature circles
• Making posters
• Mock conventions
• Motivational posters
• Music from other countries/cultures
• Oral reports
• Panel discussions
• Peer partner learning
• Photography
• Problem solving activities
• Reading aloud
• Readers’ theater
• Reflective discussion
• Research projects
• Rewards & recognition
• Role playing
• School newspapers
• Science fairs
• Sister city programs
• Spelling bees
• Storytelling
• Student podcasts
• Student portfolios
• Student presentations
• Student-conceived projects
• Supplemental reading assignments
• Team-building exercises
• Term papers
• Textbook assignments
• Think-tac-toe
• Time capsules
• Use of community or local resources
• Video creation
• Video lessons
• Vocabulary lists

So, is the teacher the center of the educational universe or the student? Does strong reliance on the wonders of technology offer a more productive educational experience or is a more traditional, lower-tech approach the best way to help students thrive?

Questions such as these are food for thought for educators everywhere, in part because they inspire ongoing reflection on how to make a meaningful difference in the lives of one’s students.

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In our free guide, you can learn about a variety of teaching methods to adopt in the classroom.

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Home / Teaching / How to Teach Writing for Different Learning Styles

How to Teach Writing for Different Learning Styles

Posted 12 April 2018

Under Teaching

In high school, I was one of the lucky ones: a visual learner. To this day, I prefer to sit down and read an article as opposed to listening to a podcast. Many of my classmates were not so fortunate. In many cases they slipped through the cracks, missing out on valuable knowledge and skills because their learning styles weren’t addressed.

It wasn’t until I started my teacher education program that I realized the importance of teaching to different learning styles. Sure, there are skeptics who claim that “in the real world” you won’t be given an audiobook of your job training manual. But I believe that helping students recognize their learning styles, and using strategies that address them, will help them later in life. (Of course, this must be done while simultaneously encouraging students to exercise and strengthen their weaker skills.)

At the beginning of the year, my students write an essay in class so that I can assess the gaps in their writing skills. This year, I determined that my students needed to work on the first lines of their essays: the hooks. Before writing the first take-home essay of the year, we spent a class period looking up types of hooks with examples. Students wrote examples of their own for each type of hook (striking statistic, anecdote, vivid comparison, etc.) so that they they would have a collection of possibilities when it came time to start their essays. The mini hook posters they created that day are still hanging on a wall in my classroom so that any time the students need help writing a hook, they can reference them.

I also post resources on Google Classroom so that if a student is working on an essay at midnight and can’t remember something from class, they have access to the materials, even if they lost the papers I gave them. Some teachers would consider this “babying,” but my priority is demystifying content area knowledge and skills—not forcing students to learn in a certain way. (Having spent many a late night writing essays myself, I also understand that sometimes, this is simply reality.)

For both timed writings and take-home essays, students need a variety of strategies because no two students learn the same way. Some students can look at a rubric and understand what is expected, but many need examples. Sometimes even phrasing requirements differently can help. The SPED teacher at my school recently shared the document she uses to break down essay expectations sentence by sentence by phrasing each requirement as a question. For example, instead of, “Must use a sentence to introduce a quote,” the requirement is phrased: “This sentence answers the questions ‘Who said this?’, ‘When did they say it?’, and/or ‘Who did they say it to?’” I gave that handout to all of my students because it’s one more way to provide an explanation that might click with some.

In most of my classes I read rubrics out loud because some students see that page full of words, can’t process it, and give up. Hearing the requirements out loud sinks in. Practical learners may not comprehend requirements by reading or hearing them but need to use the rubric in context for it to make sense. For this reason, I don’t grade first drafts until after they have been peer reviewed (except for timed writings). I grade peer reviews to ensure students are really thinking about each part of the rubric when they assess their peers. If a student gives her peer a 5/5 on the hook, when there is no hook, she either did not understand what a hook is or did not really check her peer’s introduction. This holds students accountable for understanding the rubric while they still have time to make changes to their essays.

To me, one of the most important aspects of teaching is variety, not only in teaching strategies but also in assessment types. This is especially true in English class because there are so many different ways to be a skilled writer and reader, none more objectively valid than another. A creative writer is not more talented than an analytical writer. It’s important to value and work on all the skills that fall under the blanket of English class, and find ways to help students improve their writing through the strengths they already have.

For example, one of my students who has trouble writing academic papers recently wrote and delivered an impassioned speech about patriotism. He made a strong argument and even used some of the writing techniques we practiced—skills that we can now work on transferring to persuasive written work. Using different teaching styles and assessments not only enables students to learn more, it also helps them develop confidence in their abilities rather than just giving up.

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About the Author

Jamie breitner.

Jamie is a high school English teacher at a charter school near Denver, Colorado. She has taught Language Arts and Creative Writing in the United States and overseas, including middle school Language Arts and three different IB and AP English courses. Jamie loves teaching and constantly strives to improve her pedagogical methodology to better serve her students.

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The 7 main types of learning styles (and how to teach to them), share this article.

Understanding the 7 main types of learning styles and how to teach them will help both your students and your courses be more successful.

When it comes to learning something new, we all absorb information at different rates and understand it differently too. Some students get new concepts right away; others need to sit and ponder for some time before they can arrive at similar conclusions.

Why? The answer lies in the type of learning styles different students feel more comfortable with. In other words, we respond to information in different ways depending on how it is presented to us.

Clearly, different types of learning styles exist, and there are lots of debates in pedagogy about what they are and how to adapt to them.

For practical purposes, it’s recommended to ensure that your course or presentation covers the 7 main types of learning.

In this article, we’ll break down the 7 types of learning styles, and give practical tips for how you can improve your own teaching styles , whether it’s in higher education or an online course you plan to create on the side.

Skip ahead:

What are the 7 types of learning styles?

How to accommodate different types of learning styles online.

• How to help students understand their different types of learning styles

How to create an online course for all

In the academic literature, the most common model for the types of learning you can find is referred to as VARK.

VARK is an acronym that stands for Visual, Auditory, Reading & Writing, and Kinesthetic. While these learning methods are the most recognized, there are people that do not fit into these boxes and prefer to learn differently. So we’re adding three more learning types to our list, including Logical, Social, and Solitary.

Visual learners

Visual learners are individuals that learn more through images, diagrams, charts, graphs, presentations, and anything that illustrates ideas. These people often doodle and make all kinds of visual notes of their own as it helps them retain information better. 

When teaching visual learners, the goal isn’t just to incorporate images and infographics into your lesson. It’s about helping them visualize the relationships between different pieces of data or information as they learn. 

Gamified lessons are a great way to teach visual learners as they’re interactive and aesthetically appealing. You should also give handouts, create presentations, and search for useful infographics to support your lessons.

Since visual information can be pretty dense, give your students enough time to absorb all the new knowledge and make their own connections between visual clues.

Auditory/aural learners

The auditory style of learning is quite the opposite of the visual one. Auditory learners are people that absorb information better when it is presented in audio format (i.e. the lessons are spoken). This type of learner prefers to learn by listening and might not take any notes at all. They also ask questions often or repeat what they have just heard aloud to remember it better.

Aural learners are often not afraid of speaking up and are great at explaining themselves. When teaching auditory learners, keep in mind that they shouldn’t stay quiet for long periods of time. So plan a few activities where you can exchange ideas or ask questions. Watching videos or listening to audio during class will also help with retaining new information.

Reading and writing (or verbal) learners

Reading & Writing learners absorb information best when they use words, whether they’re reading or writing them. To verbal learners, written words are more powerful and granular than images or spoken words, so they’re excellent at writing essays, articles, books, etc. 

To support the way reading-writing students learn best, ensure they have time to take ample notes and allocate extra time for reading. This type of learner also does really well at remote learning, on their own schedule. Including reading materials and writing assignments in their homework should also yield good results.

Kinesthetic/tactile learners

Kinesthetic learners use different senses to absorb information. They prefer to learn by doing or experiencing what they’re being taught. These types of learners are tactile and need to live through experiences to truly understand something new. This makes it a bit challenging to prepare for them in a regular class setting. 

As you try to teach tactile learners, note that they can’t sit still for long and need more frequent breaks than others. You need to get them moving and come up with activities that reinforce the information that was just covered in class. Acting out different roles is great; games are excellent; even collaborative writing on a whiteboard should work fine. If applicable, you can also organize hands-on laboratory sessions, immersions, and workshops.

In general, try to bring every abstract idea into the real world to help kinesthetic learners succeed.

Logical/analytical learners 

As the name implies, logical learners rely on logic to process information and understand a particular subject. They search for causes and patterns to create a connection between different kinds of information. Many times, these connections are not obvious to people to learn differently, but they make perfect sense to logical learners. 

Logical learners generally do well with facts, statistics, sequential lists, and problem-solving tasks to mention a few. 

As a teacher, you can engage logical learners by asking open-ended or obscure questions that require them to apply their own interpretation. You should also use teaching material that helps them hone their problem-solving skills and encourages them to form conclusions based on facts and critical thinking. 

Social/interpersonal learners 

Social or interpersonal learners love socializing with others and working in groups so they learn best during lessons that require them to interact with their peers . Think study groups, peer discussions, and class quizzes. 

To effectively teach interpersonal learners, you’ll need to make teamwork a core part of your lessons. Encourage student interaction by asking questions and sharing stories. You can also incorporate group activities and role-playing into your lessons, and divide the students into study groups.  

Solitary/intrapersonal learners 

Solitary learning is the opposite of social learning. Solitary, or solo, learners prefer to study alone without interacting with other people. These learners are quite good at motivating themselves and doing individual work. In contrast, they generally don’t do well with teamwork or group discussions.

To help students like this, you should encourage activities that require individual work, such as journaling, which allows them to reflect on themselves and improve their skills. You should also acknowledge your students’ individual accomplishments and help them refine their problem-solving skills. 

Are there any unique intelligence types commonly shared by your students? Adapting to these different types of intelligence can help you can design a course best suited to help your students succeed.

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How to help students understand their different types of learning styles 

Unless you’re teaching preschoolers, most students probably already realize the type of learning style that fits them best. But some students do get it wrong.

The key here is to observe every student carefully and plan your content for different learning styles right from the start.

Another idea is to implement as much individual learning as you can and then customize that learning for each student. So you can have visual auditory activities, riddles for logical learners, games for kinesthetic learners, reading activities, writing tasks, drawing challenges, and more.

When you’re creating your first course online, it’s important to dedicate enough time to planning out its structure. Don’t just think that a successful course consists of five uploaded videos.

Think about how you present the new knowledge. Where it makes sense to pause and give students the time to reflect. Where to include activities to review the new material. Adapting to the different learning types that people exhibit can help you design an online course best suited to help your students succeed.

That being said, here are some tips to help you tailor your course to each learning style, or at least create enough balance. 

Visual learners 

Since visual learners like to see or observe images, diagrams, demonstrations, etc., to understand a topic, here’s how you can create a course for them: 

• Include graphics, cartoons, or illustrations of concepts 
• Use flashcards to review course material 
• Use flow charts or maps to organize materials 
• Highlight and color code notes to organize materials 
• Use color-coded tables to compare and contrast elements 
• Use a whiteboard to explain important information
• Have students play around with different font styles and sizes to improve readability 

Auditory learners prefer to absorb information by listening to spoken words, so they do well when teachers give spoken instructions and lessons. Here’s how to cater to this learning type through your online course: 

• Converse with your students about the subject or topic 
• Ask your students questions after each lesson and have them answer you (through the spoken word)
• Have them record lectures and review them with you 
• Have articles, essays, and comprehension passages out to them
• As you teach, explain your methods, questions, and answers 
• Ask for oral summaries of the course material 
• If you teach math or any other math-related course, use a talking calculator 
• Create an audio file that your students can listen to
• Create a video of you teaching your lesson to your student
• Include a YouTube video or podcast episode for your students to listen to
• Organize a live Q & A session where students can talk to you and other learners to help them better understand the subject

Reading and writing (or verbal) learners 

This one is pretty straightforward. Verbal learners learn best when they read or write (or both), so here are some practical ways to include that in your online course:

• Have your students write summaries about the lesson 
• If you teach language or literature, assign them stories and essays that they’d have to read out loud to understand
• If your course is video-based, add transcripts to aid your students’ learning process
• Make lists of important parts of your lesson to help your students memorize them
• Provide downloadable notes and checklists that your students can review after they’ve finished each chapter of your course
• Encourage extra reading by including links to a post on your blog or another website in the course
• Use some type of body movement or rhythm, such as snapping your fingers, mouthing, or pacing, while reciting the material your students should learn

Since kinesthetic learners like to experience hands-on what they learn with their senses — holding, touching, hearing, and doing. So instead of churning out instructions and expecting to follow, do these instead: 

• Encourage them to experiment with textured paper, and different sizes of pencils, pens, and crayons to jot down information
• If you teach diction or language, give them words that they should incorporate into their daily conversations with other people
• Encourage students to dramatize or act out lesson concepts to understand them better 

Logical learners are great at recognizing patterns, analyzing information, and solving problems. So in your online course, you need to structure your lessons to help them hone these abilities. Here are some things you can do:

• Come up with tasks that require them to solve problems. This is easy if you teach math or a math-related course
• Create charts and graphs that your students need to interpret to fully grasp the lesson
• Ask open-ended questions that require critical thinking 
• Create a mystery for your students to solve with clues that require logical thinking or math
• Pose an issue/topic to your students and ask them to address it from multiple perspectives

Since social learners prefer to discuss or interact with others, you should set up your course to include group activities. Here’s how you can do that:

• Encourage them to discuss the course concept with their classmates
• Get your students involved in forum discussions
• Create a platform (via Slack, Discord, etc.) for group discussions
• Pair two or more social students to teach each other the course material
• If you’re offering a cohort-based course , you can encourage students to make their own presentations and explain them to the rest of the class

Solitary learners prefer to learn alone. So when designing your course, you need to take that into consideration and provide these learners a means to work by themselves. Here are some things you can try: 

• Encourage them to do assignments by themselves
• Break down big projects into smaller ones to help them manage time efficiently
• Give them activities that require them to do research on their own
• When they’re faced with problems regarding the topic, let them try to work around it on their own. But let them know that they are welcome to ask you for help if they need to
• Encourage them to speak up when you ask them questions as it builds their communication skills 
• Explore blended learning , if possible, by combining teacher-led classes with self-guided assignments and extra ideas that students can explore on their own.

Now that you’re ready to teach something to everyone, you might be wondering what you actually need to do to create your online courses. Well, start with a platform.

Thinkific is an intuitive and easy-to-use platform any instructor can use to create online courses that would resonate with all types of learning styles. Include videos, audio, presentations, quizzes, and assignments in your curriculum. Guide courses in real-time or pre-record information in advance. It’s your choice.

In addition, creating a course on Thinkific doesn’t require you to know any programming. You can use a professionally designed template and customize it with a drag-and-drop editor to get exactly the course you want in just a few hours. Try it yourself to see how easy it can be.

This blog was originally published in August 2017, it has since been updated in March 2023. 

Althea Storm is a B2B SaaS writer who specializes in creating data-driven content that drives traffic and increases conversions for businesses. She has worked with top companies like AdEspresso, HubSpot, Aura, and Thinkific. When she's not writing web content, she's curled up in a chair reading a crime thriller or solving a Rubik's cube.

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Adapting teaching strategies to accommodate all learning styles.

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Embracing Every Learner's Potential

As educators, recognizing and addressing the diverse learning styles in our classrooms is crucial for fostering an inclusive and effective learning environment. This comprehensive guide will explore various teaching strategies that cater to visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners, ensuring that every student's educational needs are met.

Understanding the different learning styles is the first step towards creating a dynamic and responsive classroom. Visual learners process information best when it's presented in diagrams, charts, or videos. Auditory learners benefit from listening to explanations and participating in discussions. Kinesthetic learners, on the other hand, need to engage in hands-on activities to grasp new concepts effectively.

To support visual learners, teachers can utilize tools like infographics, annotated texts, and mind maps. These visual aids help crystallize information and make complex ideas more digestible. Incorporating multimedia presentations and encouraging note-taking with visual elements can also enhance retention for these students.

Auditory learners thrive in environments where verbal instruction and collaborative discussions are prevalent. Implementing teaching strategies such as read-aloud sessions, group debates, and the use of rhythmic mnemonics can greatly benefit these students. Additionally, podcasts and audio recordings are valuable resources for reinforcing lessons outside of the classroom.

Kinesthetic learners require a more tactile approach to education. Strategies that involve movement, such as role-playing activities, experiments, or building models, can significantly improve their learning experience. Incorporating physical activities into lessons not only aids kinesthetic learners but also brings a dynamic energy to the classroom that all students can enjoy.

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Teachings Methods in Modern Educational System Essay

In any modern educational system, the dominant issue is the types of methods used for instruction. The curriculum is usually designed to cater for the educational needs of all students. However, methods of presenting it to students are usually tabled in educational legislation.

Many experts argue that it is necessary for teachers to use different methods of teaching in order to ensure effective presentation of curricula. The major concerns of teachings methods include ways used by learners to obtain information, how to use theoretical knowledge to acquire experience in work situations, and how to use teachings aids effectively in order to achieve positive teaching outcomes.

Good teaching methods equip learners with problem-solving skills and empower them to think critically and creatively. In addition, they empower learners to apply theoretical knowledge in real life situations. The research study was conducted in Jordan, a country in which the learning system is centralised.

The research study aimed to find out the effectiveness of book-centered teaching methods that involve lecturing as the major method of instruction. In addition, the study aimed to develop a relationship between the effectiveness of a centralised educational system and the teaching methods used by teachers in presenting the curriculum to learners.

Book-centered teaching methods discourage the participation of learners in the learning process and as such result in poor academic outcomes. In Islamic educational systems, instructors are free to choose the learning methods they deem appropriate.

However, that freedom is not practiced in the real world of teaching. The study involved 46 schools located in different educational jurisdictions around the country. The researchers collected both qualitative and quantitative data. Data was collected through questionnaires that were issued to 1242 students, 98 teachers, and 8 supervisors.

In addition, 46 school heads and 8 principles of resource centers participated. The study also investigated some of the reasons why teachers failed to use different types of teaching methods for better learning outcomes. Questionnaires and interviews were the main methods of data collection.

The findings of the study revealed that the dominant teaching method used by teachers was lecturing. This was due to unavailability of materials to support other teaching methods, lack of adequate training among teachers, large class sizes, excessive workload, and great pressure of completing the curriculum.

Many schools had inadequate materials that could support other teaching methods. In addition, teachers lacked the pedagogical skills needed for effective application of those methods. Overcrowding in classes was a hindrance to the use of certain teaching methods that involve interactions among students.

Teachers disclosed that they had excessive workload because many of them had several lessons to teach daily. Moreover, the time allocated for a single lesson was inadequate to complete the learning material assigned for that day. Finally, the teachers revealed that they were under great pressure of getting through the textbooks and so chose to use methods that facilitated speedy completion of learning material.

According to the study’s results, the major reasons that caused overreliance on traditional teaching methods were inadequate training and directives from the Ministry of Education that ordered teachers to use textbooks and avoid other learning materials.

Allowing teachers to use other learning materials, improving teacher training programs, reducing the amount of learning content in the curriculum, and increasing the duration of individual lessons could be effective in alleviating the problem.

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Essay about Teaching Techniques for Different Learning Styles

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Teaching Techniques for Different Learning Styles As teachers we will be faced with many difficult tasks one of which will be finding creative ways to motivate the children in our classes to learn. There are so many teaching techniques it may be overwhelming for new teachers. With the emphasis on test scores and the “ No Child Left Behind” Act many teachers may fear being creative in the classroom. This paper will attempt to explore some creative teaching techniques. Recently there has been much discussion about different learning styles. As teachers it is important that we try to teach to all the styles in order for the children in our classes to be motivated to learn. Flexibility and creativity can aid teaching different learning …show more content…

Some Tips for teaching auditory learners are: - Read instructions for assignments and tests out loud - Verbally explain charts and graphs - Brainstorm with the children - Have students work in small groups - Use music Music is an excellent way to increase language skills in auditory learners. Teachers can have the children write their own songs and use songs and rap as poetry to teach reading. Kinesthetic learners make up fifty percent of the population. Some tips for teaching kinesthetic learners are - Have the children make their own charts and graphs - Have plenty of opportunity for the children to “do” for themselves - Provide ample time for students to move around minimizing time sitting and listening - Make sure the children have some time to work out their energy (through recess or physical education) Science is an excellent area for kinesthetic learners. In reading teachers can have students act out stories. Teachers should try to have as many hands on activities as possible to encourage these students to perform to their full potential. The most difficult thing for teachers to do is to balance the 3 styles to ensure that all students will feel motivated to learn. Teachers need to find a way to tailor their teaching styles to fit all types of learners in their classes. All children will benefit from being exposed to the different teaching styles that accompany the different learning styles.

Myth Of Learning Styles Essay

In school everyone learns differently; however, according to the article The Myth of Learning Styles, “The idea of learning styles is based on a theory… developed in the early 1980’s.” (pg 1.) A lot has certainly changed from the 1980’s as we learn new more material in every class we take. With this being said, someone the scientists referred to in the article “assumed” that learning styles challenged the way of the educational system when in reality, it is simply a myth. Students, like myself, only prefer to process information that they find useful or interesting to him or her. Thus giving us the problems of that teachers may take too long to cover one idea, and students may miss out out on information because he or she did not prefer that learning style.

Annotated Bibliography On Learning Theories

For years, there have been many theorists who have shared their views on how individuals learn. Such research has determined that individuals have different learning styles. It is important for teacher to understand the learning styles of both themselves and their students because it helps them to relay the subject knowledge to the students. The teacher is in a position where they must be able to assess the learning styles of their students. This means that the students and teachers are both in a process of learning.

Essay on Unit 008 Ptlls

You can find out what learner style each learner is by conducting a simple test in the form of a handout, count the ticks in each column and it will give a rough idea of the best way they learn. You will need to make sure each lesson is delivered to facilitate each of the learner styles so each learner is catered for, so progressive leaning takes place which is being professional incorporating equality and diversity. Different resources what are available can be used to deliver the lesson to engage learners and make their learning experience one that they remember and learn from.

What Is the Purpose of Initial Assessment and What Kind of Methods Could Be Used? Evaluate These Methods with Reference to the Ways They Can Help in the Overall Objective of Achieving Learning Goals. How Can You Ensure

This assessment is vital and is an integral part in the learner and tutors planning. Ensuring that your learners preferred style is embedded in the lesson plan (differentiation) can ensure that the learner’s motivation is continued. There are no right and wrong answers but in some cases there is not always a clear result, many learners may have a mix. However this could be seen as a positive when teaching a larger group as you can embed all three learning styles ensuring that a larger number will participate therefore keeping learners motivated and achieving goals and also progressing.

Essay on Dtlls Assignment 2

Bearing this in mind the different groups of learners, visual (where the learner finds observing a task and then repeating it easier), auditory (where the learner explanations of what to do easier) and kinaestic (where the student learns by experience and doing the task themselves) and having opportunities for all types of learners and combining more than one type in your scheme of work, will ensure equality in your teaching practice.

The Importance Of Diversity In Education

Students have their own best way in effectively learning the lesson. With the diversity of students, the problem is each student has a preferred learning style. It becomes undeniably one of the reasons that make it difficult to achieve the best expected outcome out of teachers’ effort. However, teachers try to incorporate various teaching techniques to make every learning opportunity become productive, meaningful, and relevant for the learners.

Why Is It Important To Create An Inclusive Teaching And Learning Environment

It is practical to assume that students will do better in tasks that reflect their particular style of learning, so knowledge of students’ learning styles, including a variety of tasks will make teaching more inclusive. A learning style questionnaire could be handed out at the start of a course which, once completed will inform the teacher about the learning styles of the students.

Learning Style Assiginment Essay

From an early age I found learning hard and in my early educational years I

Customized Learning Theory Paper

“Just as students have different personalities, they also have different ways of learing (Slavin, 107).” Learning styles are another important factor to incorporate when implementing the best learning environment. Learning styles are defined as an individual's mode of gaining knowledge. The most common learning styles addressed are auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. Auditory leaners understand information through hearing. Visual learners need more visual aids in the learning process, such as diagrams, webs, or pictures. Kinesthetic learners learn better by using manipulatives or by being physically involved in the learning process. Learning styles is a piece of the “backbone” of differentiated learning. Both are used to individualize instruction to help students achieve the most success.

Applying Minimum Core - Essay

“Recognizing and using a variety of different teaching styles is particularly important to support literacy, language and number skills development. Learners working towards literacy, language, and numeracy goals will benefit from teaching which works to their strengths. The teaching styles

Theories of Teaching and Learning Essay

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There are many theories that are relevant to classroom teaching today. Marsh (2008, p. 17) states that “each theory is nothing more than a set of reasonable suggestions”. A teacher should look at the information available to them and take what is necessary to achieve a positive learning environment in their classroom. This may mean taking a little part of one theory and combining in with another part of a different theory, there is no singular theory or theorist that encompasses everything that is required in a modern classroom. Some of the most important theories of learning are motivation, constructivism and behaviourism. Teachers choose their teaching style and strategy to complement their students, to arrive at their own personal

Effective Diversity in Learning Essay

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Learning styles is one of the ways schools have changed over the past couple of years in regards to diversity. The varieties of learning styles of students have become more

My Learning Style Essay

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A person with this learning style excels in the capacity to examine situations from many angles and generate many ideas. Studies indicate that individuals with the diverging learning style are interested in people and are creative and expressive. They also tend to be fascinated in the arts and often have humanities or liberal arts backgrounds. Counselors, organizational development specialists, and human resource managers have exhibited this learning style. (casa colorado teaching seminar Kolb Learning Style Inventory Info pdf website, 2008)

Compare And Contrast Traditional Teaching Styles

No teachers are similar as well as no students learn in the same way. Every teacher has their own unique teaching style which is based on their educational philosophy, their classroom’s demographic, what subject area they teach, and the school’s mission statement. Up until now, teachers are looking for a system that will engage students in the educational process and will develop the students’ critical thinking skills. Moreover, teachers want the classroom to be in order and in control, but they also want their students to appreciate the learning procedure. These teaching styles can be divided into two approaches – the teacher-centered and learner-centered.

Reflection On Teaching Style

In fact, I realized, as I continued to read, my teachers did a lot of modeling and demonstrations on completing a task. In addition, they had the ability to adjust learning to their students learning need and style, even though learning styles were not part of the system yet (Hamond et al., n.d.). Therefore, much of my teaching mimics how I learned from those teachers. I believe in guiding my students toward discovery on their own; therefore, my lessons were thought out, so they encompassed each student’s learning style. I taught 6th-grade social studies, not an exhilarating course to garner excitement.

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