5 Instructional Strategies That Are Often Misunderstood And Misused In The Classroom

The following five strategies are intertwined with one another, furthering their misconception by educators. With the popularization of the science of learning, we can get these back on track in today's classrooms by understanding the nuances associated with each and, in some cases, the slight variation necessary for them to be effective. On the surface, they're all very good ideas, but the implementation has to be done well or they backfire. The truth is that they don't have to be misunderstood or demonized as bad ideas, and some folks have been getting them right all along. Let's take a look at the differences in what makes them work versus how they can be misused.

#1. Using Direct Instruction

Direct instruction got a bad name. I'm guilty as a former school leader of saying, "I don't want to see so much direct instruction." That didn't mean that we should banish it altogether, and I shouldn't have even used the phrase "direct instruction." Even a lecture has it's place. What we really need to avoid is the use of a bad and boring lecture. Direct instruction, as defined here, is super important for learning. What we're trying to prevent is the classroom where students are disengaged with their heads down while the teacher drones on in a monotone voice. Bring back quality direct instruction and learners will flourish.

#2. Implementing Project-Based Learning

I'm a big fan of project-based learning (PBL), but it got misconstrued. All of a sudden, every test and quiz was replaced with a project. PBL is good because it allows students to demonstrate their learning in a way that isn't just rote memorization. But, rote memorization and recall are still critical for learning. I hope there's a day when tests aren't just used for grades but rather the process of studying for a test, the habits associated with studying for tests, and tests themselves are used to support learning and brain function. In fact, mistakes on tests are some of the best learning tools, but not if we just grade the test and move on without test corrections and reflective analysis. Keep PBL and bring back the tests.

#3. Applying a Student-Centered Approach

Students should feel a sense of agency as learners. They must be in control of their environment, and the acquisition of knowledge should make them feel powerful. That's why the classroom should be student-centered. But, not all the time. The pendulum swung, leaving some folks with the notion that the teacher should never be in command. Wrong. Quality routines and predictable environments will always be important so that students know what to do and how to act in the classroom. And, when PBL is done right, students are at the center. That doesn't mean that we don't balance the need for teachers to be on center stage at times, providing direction and instruction.

#4. Fostering Productive Struggle

Productive struggle, especially with mathematics (although I would argue that it's important for every subject), is really valuable for learners. But, somewhere along the way, we started to take the productive part out of the struggle. This means that students are just left with struggle, which isn't productive at all. For students to productively struggle, with a math problem for example, they have to have the right amount of prerequisite knowledge to do so. If every lesson begins with problems that students don't know how to approach, they're mistakes will be more ingrained in their minds than the ability to arrive at a solution. They have to know what kind of problems they're trying to solve before they can productively struggle to solve them.

#5. Elevating Student Voice

My chips are pushed in when it comes to elevating student voice. The talkers are the learners. You don't have to be a neuroscientist to understand that students need to be able to communicate, debate, and discuss their ideas for real learning to take place. My favorite quote of all time is, "I didn't know what I thought until I said it." I like to add, "I didn't know what I said until I wrote it." That said (and written), ideas have to come from somewhere, which means that teachers need to teach, and students need to read (a lot). This brings us back to the beginning of the conversation about direct instruction. Without it, students don't typically have enough to even talk about. Teach them, test them, and then let them talk about what they know.

Mastering Instructional Strategies

We can master these instructional strategies and prevent the pendulum from swinging too far back to a traditional classroom. We just need to support teachers on their path to balancing projects with tests, student-centered with teacher-driven instruction, productive struggle with knowledge acquisition, and learner voice with idea development.