Discussion on Contingent Teaching: Understanding Wood's Theory

Discussion On Contingent Teaching1
DISCUSSION ON CONTINGENT TEACHING
By Name
Course
Instructor
Institution
Location
Date

Discussion On Contingent Teaching2
Discussion on Contingent Teaching
The theory of contingent teaching was developed by Wood in 1980 where he tried to
explain the differences in the control levels the adults exercise within the zone of proximal
development. In his theory, he suggests that contingent teaching is the most effective form of
teaching (D’Agostino et al, 2016). This essay is a discussion of what I personally think Wood
means when he says: ‘If children are able and willing to be contingent upon the thought process
and actions of another, then learning may proceed. If they are not, then it seems unlikely that
learning will follow.' Wood suggests that those who want effective teaching should practice
contingent teaching.
I think wood in his statement he implied that children should be willing to learn
contingently. If the children do not use what they have learnt previously to solve a given task at
hand then no learning will take place. The teacher or parents would apply different methods such
as demonstrations these methods cannot work effectively without contingent teaching. In his idea
of contingent learning, he demonstrated how the control of the teacher affects the learning and
development of the child. Woods explained general verbal prompt (GVP), Specific verbal
instructions (SVI), indicates materials (IM), prepare for assembly (PFA) and Demonstrates
(DEM) respectively and demonstrated that control was increasing respectively (Broza and
Kolikant, 2015). The children were having a difficulty in learning as the control levels were
increasing, therefore, suggesting that contingent learning is the way to go.
According to his above statement, he implies that even if the teacher or parent tries to
control the learning, the student has to be able to apply knowledge learn before for efficient