Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society

This blog post is a tribute not only to Robin Williams, but also to all the great teachers out there. In the movie "Dead Poets Society", Williams played the role of John Keating, an unconventional English Literature teacher. John Keating's teaching style - it involved tearing "boring bits" out of textbooks - would have horrified sequential thinkers and delighted simultaneous ones. (To read more about Learning Styles, please click here.)

Some famous John Keating quotes include:

• When you read, don't just consider what the author thinks, consider what you think.
• No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world.
• We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, "O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless... of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?" Answer: that you are here; that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?

John Keating was their inspiration. He made their lives extraordinary. He was a real teacher.

More provocations for better classroom management

(excerpt from The Power of Diversity by Barbara Prashnig)

Fallacy 6: Eating should not be permitted in classrooms during lessons.

Many students concentrate better when they can concentrate better when have something to eat, nibble, chew or drink while learning, and many teachers will have observed that a number of students chew on whatever they can get hold of during classes, particularly when they have to listen for a while, when they are bored or nervous. It seems that mouth stimulation helps them concentrate, and as the brain dehydrates during thinking processes, it is essential that students are allowed to have drinks of water whenever needed.

Students with a high need for intake should be allowed to have healthy snacks, and with good management techniques there will be no mess in class. Thousands of teachers who have successfully introduced a ‘healthy nibbles policy’ are proof that it works, and discipline, together with student performance, improves significantly.

Fallacy 7: Effective teaching requires clearly stated objectives followed by detailed, step-by-step, sequential explanations until students understand what’s being taught.

While holistic, right-brain dominant learners tend to grasp large concepts first and then deal with the related facts and details, analytic, left-brain dominant learners pay attention to the facts first and use them for building up the whole concept. Only these are the ones who work well with step-by-step teaching. Many, probably most, teachers use analytic styles and a few teach only holistically, using a lot of creativity. Every teacher should (and successful teachers always do) include elements of both styles in their teaching.

("The New Look of Learning and Teaching", excerpt from The Power of Diversity by Barbara Prashnig)

Wondering what the learning needs are in your classroom? Start here.

What is a Teaching Style?

We all know that every individual has his or her unique style of learning, be it using visual props, listening to a tape recorder or pacing up and down the room. However, while working extensively with Learning Styles, Barbara realised that the same is true of those who teach: every educator will have their own special Teaching Style.

A Teaching Style is the way in which the educator communicates his or her knowledge to the students and delivers the curriculum.

But do styles of teaching really vary so much? When we think back to our school days, some teachers were better than others, yet they all used the blackboard or the overhead projector. It was all pretty much the same, wasn't it?

Yes, most teachers use the blackboard – or now the whiteboard - even if they themselves are not visually inclined. And most teachers will expect pupils to sit still in their desks. Still, in her research, Barbara discovered that the personal learning style of a teacher will always influence the way they teach, the way they interact with their students and the way they shape expectations of their students’ performance.

For example, if the teacher enjoys making study aids, they will bring those to the classroom, and they will probably give their students lots of hands-on projects to do, like building a model of the water molecule. If the teacher learns kinesthetically, they will probably deliver the lesson in a much more lively style, moving about the room and involving students in physical activities.

There are many benefits to knowing your Teaching Style.

Every teaching Style is unique. What is yours? Have a look.

Teaching Style Analysis and Group Profile of Learning Styles

· Why is it that the same group of students will behave perfectly with one teacher but act up in front of another one?

· Why are some classes notorious as “the bad” ones?

· What can the school do?

The answer

That’s 3 questions, but the answers all in Creative Learning’s special Style Assessment tools.

It’s all a matter of latches and mismatches. Every student has a unique Learning Style. Every class has a unique Group Profile. Every teacher has his or her unique Teaching Style. It’s as simple as that.

But how does it work, exactly?

While some principals use the teachers’ teaching style (TSA) to decide which teacher should teach which group of kids, most schools don’t have that luxury.

What they do instead is compare the TSA to the group profile of the class once they've assigned teachers and classes, in order to determine what the potential areas of tension might be. For example:

· The teacher functions best under bright light, but 80% of that class's students need dim light to concentrate.

· The teacher is an analytic while the class is holistic.

· The teacher teaches visually, the students learn best kinaesthetically.

Preventative measures

Once the school knows where the mismatch lies, they can put preventative measures in place to avoid conflict. In the examples above, the following solutions could be implemented:

· The teacher uses a desk light which only lights up her area.

· The teacher, aware of her analytic style and the students' holistic one, plans lessons in a way that caters to the needs of the students, e.g., starts with objectives and goals, uses anecdotes, etc.

· The visual teacher gets ideas about kinesthetic methods of teaching from colleagues, web and CLS.

Not an evaluation tool

TSA is not an evaluation tool of the teacher or the teacher’s skills. It is a diagnostic tool to help the teacher use her strengths and the strengths of the students in her class in order to avoid conflict and create a fun place for learning.

Matching Group Profiles to Teaching Styles

Attention All Teachers

Do you know what Creative Learning’s best-kept secret is?

You won’t believe it.

It’s the good old Group Profile.

Group Profiles have been around for more than a decade, and yet our latest research shows that fewer than 30% of the teachers know how to use it to make their lives easier.

Group Profiles

A group profile is a summary of all the learning strengths and flexibilities in your class. It explains what makes your pupils:

· Misbehave

· Not do their homework

· Do poorly in tests

· Hand in their projects late

Learning Styles

Creative Learning instruments for assessing Learning Styles identify 48 learning elements. That’s a lot of information to remember per student! Group Profiles give you a snapshot of your students’ learning needs and pitfalls.

Teaching Styles

As a teacher, you have your own unique Teaching Style, too. Is it compatible with your class’s Group Profile? If your one of your student groups seems particularly unruly and underachieving, have a look at their Group Profile and compare it to your Teaching Style.

Teaching Styles, Learning Styles and Staff Retention

Think back to the most memorable teacher you’ve ever had, be it your favourite, your least favourite, or the quirkiest one.
· Did they require absolute order and silence in class, or did they stand in the doorway and shout “Hello world!” at the top of their voice? (One of mine did.)
· Did they stick to the textbook or act like the teacher from “Dead poet society”?
· Did they give you the details or the overview?
· Did they march around the room with you pretending to start the French revolution?
· Did they encourage projects such as mini-plays, craft or group work to help put the new concepts across?
· Were the tests that they set up traditional or eccentric?
· Were their classrooms decorated with learning tools and visual prompts?

Every teacher has their unique teaching style: the way in which they explain new and difficult problems. But chances are, the teachers that you love and remember best are the ones who can expand their teaching style beyond the traditional and the expected.

(To analyse your own teaching style and improve your job satisfaction, have a look at this free online demo.)

Many schools find it difficult to employ or retain good teachers. Could it be that teachers find their teaching style mismatched to the school’s expectations? Or are teachers simply disillusioned by the lack of discipline and the hate of learning displayed by the new generation of students?

Most discipline issues can be solved by reaching the students through understanding and appreciation of their unique learning needs. To find out more about the topic, please email info @ clc.co.nz.