Teaching technique: Awkward to artful
I saved a tweet last year from my colleague and contributor to Harnessing the Science of Learning, Dr Zach Groshell. It hits at the challenge of getting technical in teaching. There are a growing number of resources for teachers to offer practical and detailed support for the techniques that can comprise great teaching. Check out the following to see but a sample:
But these resources are often critiqued by voices across the profession that argue that they somehow force teachers into automatons, devoid of creativity and disconnected from the art of teaching.
Is it because these resources go into the fine-grained aspects of how a teacher could carry out a teaching technique or practice? In the tweet, Dr Groshell pushes back against this idea that detailed descriptions automatically turn teachers into robotic imitators. Yes, there are well-placed teacher concerns that the art of teaching matters (as well as the science). However, I am wondering if the discomfort people have comes from the following problem: Teachers do not routinely share and discuss the actual nuts and bolts of their craft in detail.
We need to go there.
To harness the knowledge of how effective teaching can be enacted, we have to get better at working in the intricacies of teaching practice. We have to break down the complex task of teaching into manageable chunks which we can then get better at.
All artists are technically (not just artfully) brilliant
When you look holistically at any great artistic profession, be it pianists, painters, writers or architects, you should rightfully be blown away at the artful way they play with and manipulate the rules and conventions of their discipline. But when you unpack how it is that any artist gets to a master level, it is not by avoiding the requisite practice and mastery of many many component skills and background knowledge.
Technique is noticed most markedly in the case of those who have not mastered it.
– Leon Trotsky
A master of any artform cannot hone their work with blunt tools. Like Jazz artists who begin their education with classical skills-based training, teachers as artists need to master the fundamentals of the discipline to then become the artful practitioner we all aspire to be.
A profession that critiques technique?
If you think back to your teacher education you may not have discussed the nitty gritty of classroom instruction that much. Teachers often complain their learning hasn’t been practical enough or real world in professional development or in their teacher training.
But what I think many student teachers are decrying is that lack of workable tools they can use to teach in a variety of situations. Many of my own students thank me for giving them something they can use, not just something they can talk about.
To move past a way of thinking about teaching that’s mostly personality, with a sprinkling of skill, we need to make the connection between the technical and artful. This shift is not going to be easy though.
One of the many challenges of having shared understandings of effective use of instructional practices like pace, questioning, modelling and guided practice is that we actually need to re-tool. Teachers who have not engaged with materials like those mentioned above, need to learn and rehearse the actual moves within these techniques. And this can take any teacher way out of their comfort zone, and firmly into the novice seat. For teachers to use these practices fluently and with impact there has to be new learning, and trial and error.
But talking is not the same as enacting
It’s good that we’re having the conversation. I feel the UK teacher blogosphere has been in this space for far longer than us down under. Recently, I’ve enjoyed listening to the discussion about these intricacies of teaching in the conversation between Melbourne instructional coach Bronwyn Ryrie Jones and UK teacher and author Tom Sherrington. We need more in-depth conversations and professional development where we get down to the substance of great teaching.
I do think, however, that talking about practice is still not the same as getting in there and doing it.
Learning a technique can feel awkward
My dance teacher used to occasionally repeat an odd phrase, especially when her teaching wasn’t translating to the desired result. She would exclaim “I wish I could jump into your body and do it for you.” With dance, although the teacher might explain and show and model to an extent, the dancers had to interpret the cues and hints and explanations and make it work for themselves. And gosh it is awkward when you are learning a new move or technique for the first time. It’s an uncomfortable, stilted, and vulnerable feeling when you are trying to imitate a move but have not yet found your fluency.
Teaching is no different.
When you are adopting a new technique, you’re going to need to try to unpack each step, rehearse it, work to implement it with support, get feedback and keep working at it. I believe that when many teachers throw up their hands and say ‘this feels robotic’, they just haven’t moved through the initial awkwardness when learning any new skill or technique. When we learn new repertoires of skills it can feel disjointed initially. Practice, experimentation and coaching help to make it feel natural and allow you to add your flair.
Where’s the art?
Like learning a new technique for teaching, with dance NO ONE can completely imitate and copy the moves of the coach perfectly. There is always an element of adaptation, and of ‘making it your own’.
Feeling awkward or dysfluent when trying out a new teaching technique should be expected. Like dance or sport or any technical skillset, a new technique is not going to feel natural or easy at first. Once you have begun to master it, and own it, that’s where the artfulness comes in.
It’s not a simple shift
At a time when there are significant moves within education departments and other school systems to improve explicit teaching, teachers may want to brace themselves for some new learning about the nuts and bolts of their instruction. There is great potential in improving our effectiveness as educators when we change the way we use high yield instructional techniques. But, it’s often not as simple as reading an article and then trying it tomorrow.
We are talking about altering our everyday practice (the stuff that likely feels natural right now). We are talking about adding to it, or even replacing it with something that is going to feel unfamiliar and disjointed (at least initially). But, I hope you are catching my drift that just because something feels awkward when you first try it out doesn’t mean the technique itself is mechanical or robotic.
Cautions
There is a big risk when we just talk about the new technique or practice that might be coming in. Seeing and observing is VITAL. Rehearsing and getting feedback on your implementation is often a missing step in the process.
Critically, I would not want the person writing the guidebook, or designing the training, to be unable to model the practice or technique themselves. While I wouldn’t need them to literally jump into my body to show me, I would want them to be able to jump into my classroom, with my students, and demonstrate how it’s done.
So you want to improve your technique?
1. Select a research-informed technique (see list at top)
2. Study the technique, and understand the steps and considerations involved
3. Plan for and rehearse the technique
4. Try it out and get feedback from colleagues or coaches.
Ready to get technical?
Nathaniel Swain, PhD is a teacher, instructional coach, and teacher educator. He is a Senior Lecturer in Learning Sciences at La Trobe University School of Education, Australia. Dr Swain has taught a range of learners in schools, and founded a community of teachers committed to educational excellence and equity: Think Forward Educators.
A brief plug
I get into these tensions in depth in the book Harnessing the science of learning. This book is a new volume I have had the pleasure of writing, with help from some amazing contributors: Pamela Snow, Tanya Serry, Zach Groshell, Reid Smith, Toni Hatten-Roberts, Simon Breakspear, Katie Roberts-Hull, David Morkunas, Steven Capp, Shane Pearson, and Eamon Charles.
You can secure your pre-order copy (or a copy for a sceptical colleague or leader) from any great bookstore. For example: Amazon Australia, Amazon US, Amazon UK.