The ongoing debate between teacher-led and student-led learning is simplistic. Education is a complex field and teachers adapt their methods to context. It’s never just one or the other.
There are two types of knowledge – we’ve evolved to acquire the first naturally; we need schools for the second. Cognitive load theory explains how to teach knowledge we don’t automatically get.
Instead of just memorising facts and figures, an inquiry-based approach is one where the teacher facilitates students to discover knowledge for themselves.
Explicit instruction - where the teacher stands at the front of the class and teaches - is out of vogue with educators who prefer collaborative learning. But it’s really the only teaching style with proven results.
Yesterday’s announcement of a $22 million grant for a Direct Instruction program - a direct method of teaching using lectures and demonstrations - to improve literacy outcomes for remote Indigenous children…