THE SKILLFUL TEACHER

1. THESKILLFULTEACHER Stephen Brookfield Distinguished University Professor University of St. Thomas Minneapolis-St. Paul

2. ASSUMPTIONS OF SKILLFUL TEACHING • Good teaching = whatever helps students learn • Best teaching is critically reflective • Most important teaching knowledge we need: how students experience learning

3. CRITICAL INCIDENT QUESTIONNAIRE (CIQ) • Moment Most Engaged as a Learner • Moment Most Distanced as a Learner • Action Most Affirming/Helpful • Action Most Puzzling/Confusing • What Surprised You Most

4. HOW TO USE THE CIQ • Last 5 minutes of last class • Anonymous • Reviewed at beginning of next week’s class • Illustrates diversity in class • Allows you to emphasize why class is organized as it is • Negotiation is NOT capitulation

5. BENEFITS OF CIQ • Helps you take informed actions • Builds a case for using multiple methods and techniques with students • Allows you to catch problems, confusions & misunderstandings early • Builds trust • Models Critical Thinking

6. WHAT STUDENTS VALUE IN TEACHERS CREDIBILITY • Expertise (you really know your stuff) • Experience (as a real life worker & as a teacher) • Rationale (you have a thought through plan of action) • Conviction (that the learning is important)

7. AUTHENTICITY • Congruence (between your words & actions) • Full Disclosure (of your expectations & criteria) • Responsiveness (to students’ learning difficulties) • Personhood (appropriate autobiographical examples)

8. EMOTIONAL RHYTHMS • IMPOSTORSHIP • CULTURAL SUICIDE • LOST INNOCENCE • ROADRUNNING

9. WHY LECTURE? • Provide overview/outline of a broad body of material • To explain and illustrate with examples difficult ideas & concepts • To introduce alternative perspectives & interpretations • To model intellectual attitudes and behaviors • To encourage learners’ interest in a topic

10. USE A VARIETY OF APPROACHES • Chunked in 15 minute segments • Structured Silent writing (3 minutes) - most important/confusing point, question / illustration of concept. Shuffle these & ask students to read them or read them yourself. • Buzz groups • Lecture from ‘Siberia’ • Assign Roles to Students each week - summarizer, devil’s advocate • Team lecturing with peer critique

11. VARIETY OF APPROACHES • Video clips • Spot the deliberate teacher error (when you contradict yourself, say something clearly inaccurate etc.) • Example inventories - students provide examples to show they’ve understood concepts you’ve covered (on 3x5, newsprint, blackboard on online)

12. ORGANIZED AS HELPFUL INFORMATIONAL MAPS • Scaffolding Notes - Main headings & sub-headings with space for examples • Clear verbal signals - global (now a whole new area is being introduced), key point (a main idea is being explored), example, meta-review • Frequent summaries • Where are we now?

13. MODEL LEARNING BEHAVIORS • Begin with questions the lecture will try to answer • End with questions the lecture has raised • Structured Devil’s Advocacy • Assumption Hunting • Team teaching - peer critique

14. LESSON PLANNING • Multiple Modalities (aim for 3 per lesson) - e.g. lecturing, demonstration, small group application, silent writing, visual illustration, newsprint dialog • Lesson Structure depends on learning you wish to achieve • CIQ will tell you what is working & for how many

15. LESSON PLANNING contd. • Frequent recaps • Frequent explanations • Regular example exercises - students write (on 3x5, on newsprint, or on board) examples to illustrate a skill or idea you’re teaching • Tie each learning activity to homework

16. FINAL THOUGHTS • Beware the ‘Perfect Ten’ syndrome • Teaching is “Informed Muddling Through” • Don’t be who you aren’t • Resistance / Hostility are normal & not caused by you • Never underestimate your power

17. RESOURCES • www.stephenbrookfield.com • THE SKILLFUL TEACHER • DISCUSSION AS A WAY OF TEACHING • BECOMING A CRITICALLY REFLECTIVE TEACHER All available from Jossey-Bass Publishers (San Francisco) www.josseybass.com