TEACHING STRATEGIES - 3

H. CHITSONGA AND V. MPAKA

• By the end of this lesson presentation, you should be able to:

 Describe the principles underling each teaching strategy

A Technique in which students assume an identity other than their own to cope
up with real or hypothetical situations in life with a view to internalize ideas and
relations realistically.
It allows students to explore realistic situations by interacting with other people
in a managed way in order to develop experience and trial different strategies in
a supported environment.
Role play deals with solving problems through action.
 ADVANTAGES OF ROLE PLAY METHOD
It has a very unique value since it is the only strategy that gets the students to identify
with situations and thus allowing him/her the opportunity to perceive how others
might feel, think and act.
In role play the students have a special interest towards the act and they always
motivated, hence the student is encouraged to express his/own feelings and attitudes.
During role play students are helped to learn real life situations.
Role play helps the students to develop socially.
The role play process provides students with an opportunity to increase problem
solving skills.
 DISADVANTAGES OF ROLE PLAY METHOD
It can be time consuming both during preparations and also during
the acting.
If not well organised, students who are naturally talented tend to
monopolise and get carried away by the situation.
On the other hand, role play may be psychologically harmful to those
students who lacks necessary acting skills. Such students may include
those who are shy or have speech problems.
Sometimes role play may not help to achieve the objectives of the
lesson if it fails to relate to the students and the intended topic.
 GUIDELINES FOR EFFECTIVE USE OF ROLE PLAY METHOD

Before involving the students in role play, the teacher should organise the
situation and the roles to be played in advance.
As a teacher its your responsibility to assign roles to the participants (students)
and give them enough time to prepare.
Those who are not taking part in the role play should be advised to take down
most important points in the course of the activity.
There should be a conducive atmosphere of freedom and security in the
classroom so that students have the freedom to express their feelings during the
lesson.
GUIDELINES FOR EFFECTIVIE USE OF ROLE
PLAY CONTD./…
Whenever the activity gets out of hand as a result of emotional reaction, the
teacher should switch the roles amongst the students in order to restore order and
ensure security.
Certain parts of the activity may be improved if the students are given a chance
to repeat the act after a discussion of the first performance.
Upon the completion of the act, the teacher with the help of the students should
make a summary of what has been covered during the lesson
 CASE STUDY METHOD
• This is a narrative account of a series of events or situations that relate
tom a specific issue that might relate to the lives of the participants.
• Generally, it is an investigation into an individual circumstance. The
investigation may be of a single person, event or a group.
• Case studies usually provoke reflections and discussion by participants,
who seek ways to analyse or solve problems.
 CASE STUDY METHOD
Case studies may be used in different ways:
a. They can be read aloud by the teacher or students or be presented by means of an
audiotape and analysed in class thorough discussions.
b. Case studies may also be presented and analysed in small groups. The groups can
be given different case studies or same case studies. Either way, at the end
recommendations and conclusions may be shared with the entire class to provide
the basis for further discussions.
Furthermore, when writing case studies, it is very motivating if teachers or students
use names of local places like schools, streets, shopping centres, mountains and so on
to make the situation more relevant and meaningful.
 ADVANTAGES OF CASE STUDY METHOD

 Case studies allow a lot of detail to be collected that would not normally be easily obtained by
other research designs. It simplifies complex concepts.
 Case studies expose the participants to real life situations which otherwise is difficult.
 It truly adds value to the participants through discussion on concrete subjects.
 It improves analytical thinking, communication, developing tolerance for different views on the
same subject, ability to defend one’s own point of view with logical and enhances team work of
the participants making them efficient over time.
 It turns opinion into fact. Case studies provide facts to study because you are looking at data
which was generated in real time.
 ADV OF CASE STUDY METHOD CONTD../..
It can be done remotely. Researchers/students do not need to be present
at a specific location or facility to utilise the case study method.
It is very accessible to readers since case study method put data into a
usable format for those who read the data and its outcome.
Good source of ideas about behaviour
Good opportunity for innovation
Good method to study rare phenomena
Good method to challenge theoretical assumptions
 DISADVANTAGES OF CASE STUDY
Hard to generalize from a single case. One of the main criticisms is that the data
collected cannot necessarily be generalised to the wider population.

Case studies are generally on one person, but there also tends to only be one
experimenter collecting the data. This can lead to bias in data collection, which can
influence results more than in different designs.

It is also very difficult to draw a definite cause/effect from case studies.
 FIELD TRIPS AND EDUCATIONAL VISITS
Though field trip and education visit are considered to be the same
but on a larger part they do differ.
According to Mtunda and Safuli (1985) a field trip is a teaching and
learning strategy which is conducted outside a classroom. The setting
may just be within the school’s environment or it can be away from
the school campus.
 FIELD TRIPS AND EDUCATIONAL VISITS
Education visit is defined as a planned and organised outing for students to
consolidate a previous lesson or a long unit/topic of study. A very good example is
when you take your students to visit Malawi stock exchange premises when you are
teaching a topic or concept to do with listing of companies on a stock exchange
market.
It has to be noted that, an education visit is an informal teaching and learning
situation. In such cases the teaching is usually done by a resource person. Normally,
the teacher does not prepare a lesson plan since the teaching will not be done by
him/herself.
 ADVANTAGES OF FIELD TRIPS/EDUCATION VISITS
• They provide students with first hand experiences and hence help them learn more
effectively.
• Students acquire additional knowledge and are able to clarify information accordingly.
• Educational visits help to create an awareness and understanding about the
interrelations in the natural environment.
• If well planned and organised, both they can give opportunities to the students to carry
out practical activities.
• They can help to bridge a gap between abstract ideas and the real world. In such cases,
they make the learning more meaningful and very interesting to the students who are
bored or have failed to relate to the classroom situation.
 LIMITATIONS OF FIELD TRIPS/EDUCATIONAL
VISITS
• Require more time in planning, hence time consuming.
• Most schools in Malawi are not adequately funded, hence it would be very
difficult for most schools to conduct educational visits for students.
• They cause problems for the school administration. For instance, students may
spoil or vandalise other people’s property while on the educational visit.
• Organising a field trip or educational visit requires a considerable planning and
organisational skill on the part of teacher. Most teachers may lack such skills as a
result a trip or the visit can be poorly organised thereby not achieving the
intended purposes.
 PLANNING AND ORGANIZING A SUCCESSFUL FIELD
TRIP/EDUCATIONAL VISIT

The following are some of the suggestions which a teacher can follow in order to ensure a successful
field trip or educational visit:
• The teacher has to be clear in his/her mind about the objectives of the intended field trip or educational
visit.
• Before the actual trip with the students, the teacher has to make a preliminary visit to the area where he
intends to take the students to. This preliminary visit will enable him to have an idea of what is
available and what is not available in terms of the facilities.
• If there is a need for transport, the teacher should always make transport arrangement in advance and
be able to indicate the departure time and the date the students will leave the campus. The teacher can
work hand in hand with the authorities of the place where the students will visit so that they agreed on
the date and the time.
• As a teacher you should always be careful when planning your lesson plan, this will ensure that the
students are only engaged in a variety of useful learning experiences.
 ORGANISING AND PLANNING A FIELD TRIP/EDNAL VISIT

• Specific instructions should be given to the students before the departure for the trip or visit. Such
instructions can be in terms of the intended learning experiences or the code of conduct.
• When you get to the place of your visit, as a teacher you need to introduce the resource person to
your students.
• While on visit or trip, the teacher should always keep an eye on the difficult students and the
young ones.
• At the end of the visit, encourage your students to ask some questions.
• When you come back to your school, follow up your educational visit with a classroom
discussion. And if possible let the students report individually or in groups.
• Lastly, it is advisable to thank the owners or the authorities of the place where you visited.