General Instructional Methods

ECT 3250
Introduction
Instruction is the transfer of learning from one person
to another. Any time you are given directions or told
how to do something you are receiving instruction.
Instruction is a vital for education ; it is define as the
transfer of learning from one person to another. This
is an activity that has to do with imparting knowledge
or skill from an expert to a less experience person.
Instruction is the facilitation of another’s learning
A series of procedures and events designed to aid
learning and achieve measurable learning outcomes
Instructional methods consist of principles and
methods used by teachers to enhance and relate
the training to learners.
 It is defined by the process that is used to instruct
people on a particular topic.
In this ever-changing world, the needs,
expectations, and demands of learners have also
changed a lot. Therefore teachers need to come
out of the traditional teaching practices and opt for
creative techniques.
Teaching
 Edmund Amidon (1967) defined teaching as “an interactive
process, primarily involving classroom talk which takes place
between teacher and pupil and occurs during certain
definable activities”
 Teaching is the process of attending to people’s needs,
experiences and feelings, and intervening so that they learn
particular things, and go beyond the given.
 Teaching is a scientific process, and its major components
are content, communication and feedback. The teaching
strategy has a positive effect on student learning.
Characteristics of Teaching
The characteristics of teaching are :
1. Teaching is an effective interaction between teacher
and students.
2. Teaching is both arts as well as science. Teaching is an
art as it calls for the exercise of talent and creativity.
Teaching as science involves a repertoire of techniques,
procedures and skills, that can be systematically
studied, described and improved. A good teacher is
one who adds creativity and inspiration to the basic
repertoire.
3. Teaching has various forms, like formal and
informal training, conditioning or
indoctrination, etc.
4. Teaching is dominated by the skill of
communication.
5. Teaching is a tripolar process; the three poles
are, educational objectives, learning
experiences and change in behaviour.
6. Teaching should be well planned, and the
teacher should decide the learning outcomes,
methods of teaching and evaluation
techniques.
7. Teaching is suggesting and not dictating.
8. Good teaching is democratic, and teacher
respects the students, encourages them to ask
questions, answer questions and discuss
things
9. Teaching provides guidance, direction and
encouragement to the students.
10. Teaching is a cooperative activity and teacher
should involve students in different classroom
activities, such as organization, management,
discussion, recitation and evaluation of results.
11. Teaching is kind and sympathetic, and a good
teacher develops emotional stability among children.
12. Teaching is remedial, and the teacher must solve
the learning problems of students.
13. Teaching helps learners to make adjustments in life.
14. Teaching is a professional activity that helps to
bring about harmonious development of children.
15. Teaching stimulates students’ power of thinking
and directs them towards self learning
16. Teaching can be observed, analyzed and evaluated.
17. Teaching is a specialized task and may be taken as a
set of component skills for the realization of a
specified set of instructional objectives.
Teaching involves telling learners what to do:
persuading them to participate in activity;
demonstrating with objects or movements to illustrate
a concept, or guiding and directing their effort.
The process consists of observable and verifiable
qualities and behaviour in terms of the teacher’s
relationships with students, the organisation of learning
content, the skills and methods of teaching and most
important of all the learning outcomes or purpose of
the teaching effort
Learning
Learning is “a process that leads to change, which occurs
as a result of experience and increases the potential for
improved performance and future learning” (Ambrose et
al, 2010, p.3).
The change in the learner may happen at the level of
knowledge, Skills, attitude or behaviour. As a result of
learning, learners come to see concepts, ideas, and/or the
world differently.
Learning is not something done to students, but rather
something students themselves do. It is the direct result
of how students interpret and respond to their
experiences.
Learning is the relatively permanent change in a
person’s knowledge or behaviour due to experience.
This definition has three components:
1) the duration of the change is long-term rather than
short-term;
2) the locus of the change is the content and structure
of knowledge in memory or the behaviour of the
learner;
3) the cause of the change is the learner’s experience in
the environment rather than fatigue, motivation,
drugs, physical condition or physiologic intervention.”
Learning is the lifelong process, both conscious
and unconscious, of transforming information and
experience into knowledge, skills, behaviour, and
attitude.
learning is the transformative process of taking in
information that when internalized and mixed
with what we have experienced changes what we
know and builds on what we do. It’s based on
input, process, and reflection. It is what changes
us.”
Learning is a process that:
1. is active - a process of engaging and manipulating objects,
experiences, and conversations in order to build mental
models of the world (Dewey, 1938; Piaget, 1964; Vygotsky,
1986). Learners build knowledge as they explore the world
around them, observe and interact with phenomena,
converse and engage with others, and make connections
between new ideas and prior understandings.
2. builds on prior knowledge - and involves enriching,
building on, and changing existing understanding, where
“one’s knowledge base is a scaffold that supports the
construction of all future learning” (Alexander, 1996, p. 89).
3. occurs in a complex social environment - and thus should
not be limited to being examined or perceived as something
that happens on an individual level. Instead, it is necessary
to think of learning as a social activity involving people, the
things they use, the words they speak, the cultural context
they’re in, and the actions they take (Bransford, et al., 2006;
Rogoff, 1998), and that knowledge is built by members in
the activity (Scardamalia & Bereiter, 2006).
4. is situated in an authentic context - provides learners with
the opportunity to engage with specific ideas and concepts
on a need-to-know or want-to-know basis (Greeno, 2006;
Kolodner, 2006).
5. requires learners’ motivation and cognitive engagement to
be sustained when learning complex ideas, because
considerable mental effort and persistence are necessary.
Training
Training is teaching a person the procedure for
performing a task, by shaping the person’s
behaviour systematically , so that particular
knowledge, skill and habits of performing the task,
with a high degree of proficiency are required by the
person concerned.
When a teacher coaches or guides a learner to
perform a particular task by first observing and then
imitating teacher’s actions; the teacher in such case
is a trainer and the learner an apprentice.
In order to acquire skills through training, a learner is
expected to practice each skill consistently, repeat
the performance and internalize the skill such that it
is transferable to other similar real life situation
The process of acquiring a skill by a learner requires
that she/he recognizes presented stimulus; responds
to it appropriately, then establishes a sequence of
pairs of stimuli and their corresponding responses
which lead to proficient performance of the final
target
CBC VISION
The vision of the basic education curriculum
reforms is to enable every Kenyan to become
anengaged, empowered and ethical citizen
CBC MISSION
The mission of the basic education curriculum
reforms is „ nurturing every learner’s potential
Core Competencies for Basic Education
1.Communication and Collaboration
2.Self-efficacy
3.Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
4. Creativity and Imagination
5.Citizenship
6. Digital Literacy
7.Learning to Learn
Core Values of CBC in Kenya
(i) Love,
(ii) responsibility,
(iii) respect,
(iv) unity,
(v) peace,
(vi) patriotism,
(vii)social justice,
(viii) integrity
Guiding Principles
The Framework is based on the following guiding principles:
1. Opportunity
 In order to achieve the reforms' vision and mission, the
curriculum provides learners with a variety of opportunities to
enable them to identify their needs, talents and potential.
This will enable them to participate in the world of work and
the development of the nation. The emphasis will be on equal
access to education for all. This will enable learners to enjoy
learning and reduce wastage in terms of learners leaving
school because the curriculum is not relevant to their needs.
2. Excellence
Every learner will be nurtured to excel in their
areas of greatest interest and ability. The
Framework values excellence and competitiveness
rather than raw competition for examination
grades. This will play a role in helping to reduce
the challenge of malpractice in examinations
because each learner will be guided to excel in
their area of interest and ability.
3. Diversity and Inclusion
 Basic Education Curriculum Framework Nurturing Every Learner’s
Potential 20 Engaged, Empowered & Ethical Citizens There are
two dimensions in the guiding principle of diversity and inclusion.
First, the Framework will guide learners to appreciate Kenya‟s
diversity in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, language, culture, and
religion. The second dimension relates to the fact that learners
are different in terms of their learning needs and abilities and
these differences need to be respected and valued within an
inclusive learning environment. Inclusion will entail ensuring that
all learning institutions accommodate all learners regardless of
their physical, emotional, intellectual, or any other need
 It involves provision of reasonable accommodation
characterized by flexibility, responsiveness and support. The
Framework recognises that not all learners are academically
gifted but considers every learner’s social and cognitive
capabilities, their needs and desires, and respects the
differences in the way children learn. The ultimate aim is to
guarantee basic education for every learner according to their
abilities and needs. The curriculum reforms should address
the needs of children and youth who are out of school, and
adults, to increase their access to and participation in
education, and hence, raise their literacy levels for personal
and national social economic development.
4. Differentiated Curriculum and Learning
Differentiated curriculum and learning builds on
the principle of diversity and inclusion. It ensures
that the curriculum content and instructional
approaches are appropriate for each learner. It
provides space for teachers to adapt the
curriculum to suit the learner. It does not demand
that every learner learn the same content in the
same way, in the same number of hours and at the
same time.
5. Parental Empowerment and Engagement
Parents play a very important role in determining
the success of a child's education. They have a
shared responsibility with schools to provide an
enabling environment that is conducive to learning
and which motivates the child to achieve their full
potential. The Framework will provide opportunities
for schools to empower parents to contribute to the
learning outcomes for their children and to be
engaged at all tiers and levels of basic education.
6. Community Service Learning
 Involving students in community service is a
form of experiential education that enables
students to apply their knowledge and skills in
a different setting. Teachers then support
students to analyse what they have learned by
taking part in this activity and how it might be
applied to their academic and personal
development.
Community service learning entails a balanced
emphasis on both students‟ learning and addressing
real needs in the community. Learning outcomes are
linked to meaningful human, safety, educational, and
environmental needs that are co-determined with
community partners and service recipients. The
service experience is brought back to the classroom
to enhance learning. Learners work on real problems
that make academic learning relevant while
simultaneously enhancing their social skills, analytical
ability, civic and ethical responsibility, self-efficacy,
and career development.