Direct instruction is one of the most common teaching
strategies that teachers adopt in their everyday teaching. Killen (2009,
pg.118) refers to the basic forms of direct instruction, such as lectures and
demonstrations, as a “very popular
approach to teaching for many years.” He also discusses that direct
instruction is a highly structured and teacher-centred approach (2009, pg.122).
Due to the fact that this strategy is heavily teacher focused, it creates some limitations
when implicating and using this strategy within a classroom setting. Some of
these limitations include; student boredom and lack of interest - possibly due
to no student participation, a lack of opportunity to process and understand
and presents difficulty in catering for all learners. However, these
limitations can be overcome and there are several benefits that derive from
using direct instruction, including; students who are engaged are learning more
deeply, it is a great way to teach explicit and new concepts, and direct instruction works well with most
cultures, class sizes and low and high achieving students. Jeff Lindsay (2012) argues
that direct instruction, being a method that focuses on basic skills, allows
children to learn much more than a child centred approach. This is quite an
interesting opinion, as many educators would argue the opposite opinion.
However it is helpful in noting the importance of using the direct instruction
teaching strategy for students learning.
I believe direct instruction is a fantastic strategy to
control the learning environment, as well as using some of the other teaching
strategies (such as discussion and small group work) to incorporate further
student engagement. This strategy also correlates with the Universal Design for
Learning (UDL) (CAST, 2011) as it provides multiple options for perception
through teacher demonstrations and presentations, it provides options for comprehension
through supplying background knowledge and highlights important information
through explicit instruction and it also provides options for recruiting
interest when good teacher planning has been involved.
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