Teaching and Pedagogical Perspectives Report, AVID College, Nov 2018

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of teaching and pedagogical perspectives, focusing on effective classroom management strategies. It begins with an introduction that emphasizes the significance of teacher-student relationships and the impact of teaching approaches on the classroom environment. The report then presents observations of three different lessons, detailing teacher activities, student responses, and the overall context. These observations are analyzed to identify various classroom management strategies, including non-verbal communication, reward systems, enhancing positive behavior, task-based teaching, two-directional teaching, and inductive teaching. For each strategy, the report provides explanations and examples. Furthermore, the report discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the observed strategies and concludes with recommendations for improvement. The report also includes a reference list.

Running head: Teaching and pedagogical perspectives
TEACHING AND PEDAGOGICAL PERSPECTIVES

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Teaching and pedagogical perspectives
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Overview..........................................................................................................................................2
1st lesson.......................................................................................................................................2
2nd lesson......................................................................................................................................3
Classroom management strategies...................................................................................................4
a. Non-verbal communication......................................................................................................4
b. Reward system.........................................................................................................................4
c. Enhancing positive behavior....................................................................................................5
d. Task based teaching.................................................................................................................5
e. Two directional teaching..........................................................................................................6
f. Inductive teaching.....................................................................................................................6
Strengths..........................................................................................................................................7
Weaknesses......................................................................................................................................7
Recommendations............................................................................................................................8
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
Reference list.................................................................................................................................10

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Teaching and pedagogical perspectives
Introduction
Classroom management strategies and teaching approaches are very important for
facilitating an effective classroom environment. This is so because the relationship between the
students and the teacher is based upon how the teachers conduct their teaching strategies and
management skills in the classrooms. So, in this study, these teaching and pedagogical
perspectives have been explored through a detailed study of effective classroom management
and teaching strategies. For that reason, three different lessons conducted by three different
teachers have been observed. For the observation, three criteria have been kept in mind including
the teacher’s activities and behavior, student’s responses and actions and context of the lesson.
For a detailed analysis of these lessons, the teaching and management strategies, used by the
teachers, have been identified and explained. In addition, some individual and common strengths
and weaknesses found in the applied strategies have been mentioned in the study. Finally, some
recommendations have been given that can be helpful for reducing the weaknesses of the lessons
in the future. For that reason, some of the effective teaching approaches and strategies have been
discussed in the study such as cooperative learning, visualization technique, differentiation,
behavior management, learner accommodation, relation building and so on.
Overview
1st lesson
The first lesson that has been observed was an English grammar class for the students of
class 6. In the lesson, the teacher taught the different uses of adverbs to the learners. There were
a total of 25 students present in the class at the time of observation. 5 students were absent. The
teacher entered the class by greeting the students a good morning and all the students responded
collaboratively. It has been noticed that there was a smile on the face of the teacher when she
greeted the students. The teacher did not tell the students to open their books initially and rather
threw some questions towards them regarding their previous lesson. It has been observed that
most of the students tried to give answers to the questions asked by the teacher but the teacher
only responded to the answers given by the students sitting on the first bench.

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Teaching and pedagogical perspectives
For that reason, after a certain time, some students stopped responding spontaneously.
The classroom was noisy but yet organized. There were very few students who did not
participate in the teaching learning process. However, the teacher formed three groups of
students and gave separate tasks regarding the topic of the lesson. The students were not asked to
write definitions and rather the teacher encouraged the students to give definitions as per the
examples identified by the teacher. The teacher picked calls during the lesson and the students
started making chaos at those times. Moreover, the class was an interactive one and showed an
organized way of teaching. The teacher praised the students who gave right answers and
encouraged the students to learn who failed to give right answers.
2nd lesson
The next lesson that has been observed was a lesson on mathematics and it
involved students of class 5. The teacher of this class looked serious throughout the class. It has
been noticed that most of the students were afraid to ask questions to him. However, the teacher
gave several chances for the students to interact but very few students responded. Some students
were seen to be yawning and the teacher was seen to be scolding them every time. The teacher
interacted with the students but only regarding the lesson. Over all, the class seemed to be well
disciplined.
The teacher solved the mathematical problems one by one following the book
and the students also followed the book. Very less tasks were given to the students except one
group activity at the end of the lesson. The teacher managed time to check the class works given
to the students within the class. The teacher used very less teaching aids. However, the teaching
aids, used in the class, were properly utilized by the teacher. The classroom was one directional
most of the time where the students listened to what the teacher was saying.
3rd lesson
The third and final lesson, that has been observed, was again an English class for the
students of class 5. The teacher engaged the students in some small talks after entering the class.
The teacher shifted the sitting arrangements twice in the class. There was a projector on the wall
and maximum amount of the teaching was done through the projector and audio visuals shown
on that projector. Some students left their seats and gathered around the teacher so that they

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could see the projector better. The teacher allowed them to do so. For that reason, the physical
environment of the classroom seemed to be chaotic. However, there was no out-of-the-place
noise coming from the students. No books were used in the class.
The teacher advised the students to note down their questions on their copies so that they
could ask them when they would be told to do so. Some students followed that instruction while
some did not. After the completion of the projector based lesson, the exercises also appeared on
that projector. The teacher interacted with each and every student to discuss the answers of the
questioned flashed on the projector. However, this interactive questions answer process could not
be finished within the scheduled time fixed for that particular lesson. No home works were given
at the end of the lesson. Moreover, the teacher showed a mixture of a strict and a soft spoken
personality throughout the whole lesson.
Classroom management strategies
After analyzing the observations focused on three different lessons conducted by three
different teachers, certain teaching and classroom management strategies have been identified.
These strategies are the following:
a. Non-verbal communication
Non verbal communication, as a classroom management strategy has been used by the
teachers in their lessons. According to Reinke, Herman & Stormont (2013), there can a limitless
list of non verbal communicative gestures such as complementary words, a simple nod and a
smile on the face and so on. This strategy can be aligned with the theory of Operant conditioning
by Skinner (Korpershoek et al. 2016). Implementation of this theory helps the teachers to use
reinforcements in order to promote good behavior and performance of the learners in the
classroom. For example, in one of the lesson, it can be noticed that the teacher entered the class
with a smile on her face that automatically eased the students. So, these non verbal positive
gestures have the capability to create a positive environment for learning in the classroom.
b. Reward system
Reward system is another way of managing the classroom in a healthy manner. In a
learner centric approach of teaching, the students are at the centre of the whole teaching learning

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process. For that reason, it is important to acknowledge good performances of the students by
responding to their actions (Dicke et al. 2014). However, it is also important to point out bad
behaviors but not by physically punishing them. According to the theory of operant
conditioning, an immediate feedback needs to be given to the students who respond to the lesson
and also to the students who do not respond (Pas et al. 2015). This strategy is helpful in engaging
the students with the lesson so that they do not lose their attention abruptly. For example, in one
of the lessons, a teacher used praises to acknowledge the learners who responded to the
questioned asked by the teachers. This is a way of rewarding the students in order to condition
their future behavior.
c. Enhancing positive behavior
Positive behavior can be enhanced not by didactically telling them the positive
consequences of good behavior. On the contrary, the teacher needs to show positive behavior to
the students so that the students can spontaneously follow the teacher. This is more relevant for
the students of early ages because at that time the learners have a tendency of following their
elders (Yin, Lee & Zhang, 2013). Quality of learning is based on enhancing a positive behavior.
According to the Choice theory by Glasser, a classroom can be managed through building a
positive relation between the teacher and the students (Jones, Bailey & Jacob, 2014). This is so
because if the teachers punish the students to make them disciplined then they may follow the
instructions when the teacher is in the class but they may not follow that code of behavior
outside of the classroom. For example, in two of the above mentioned lessons, the teachers were
seen to be building a rapport with the students. This rapport building is an effective way of
enhancing positive behavior in the classroom. This, in turn, facilitates a good classroom
management process.
d. Task based teaching
Task based teaching is one of the most helpful teaching strategy best suited for the
learner centric teaching approach. This is so because involvement of the students is highly
important for facilitating the increased role of learners in the teaching learning process.
According to Freeman et al. (2014), the role of the teacher in a learner centric classroom is to be
the guide of the learners. Lecture methods are strictly avoidable in the above mentioned teaching

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strategy. This kind of teaching can be traced in one of the observed lesson highly where the
teacher engaged the students in various activities based on the lesson. This, in one hand, helped
the teacher in evaluating the performance of the students. On the other hand, active participation
of the students in the lesson was helpful in keeping the interest of the students intact. In another
lesson, it has been noticed that the teacher divided the students into three groups for assigning
different tasks to them. These group activities also fall under task based teaching that enhances
the quality of teaching.
e. Two directional teaching
Two directional teaching refers to the kind of teaching strategy where the information
does not pass from the teacher to the students only. On the contrary, the whole class is based on
continuous interaction between the teacher and students regarding the lesson. This helps the
teacher to modify own teaching techniques as per the needs of the students. This strategy helps
the teachers to get immediate feedback from the students (Sieberer-Nagler, 2016). For example,
in one of the lessons, it has been noticed that teacher did not just state the definitions of
important terms and rather encouraged the students to form the definitions on the basis of their
understanding. This strategy is based on the Operant conditioning theory that allows the teachers
to form a question answer session in the classroom so that the learners can grasp the information
gradually and systematically on their own.
f. Inductive teaching
The same strategy can be explained through another teaching strategy that is the
inductive teaching. In this type of teaching, the teachers first make the students familiar with the
real life examples or uses of the lesson. This helps the learners to get an idea of the value of the
lesson. Unlike deductive teaching, this strategy encourages the students to come forward with
their questions to the teacher. For example, in one of the lessons, it has been observed that the
teacher taught the uses of adverbs to the students before stating their definitions (Vaughan,
2014). So, it can be said that this strategy is highly suited for language classes where the
practicability of the lessons are more important than the theories related to it.
On the other hand, other teaching techniques like collaborative learning, differentiation,
visualization technique have been used by the teachers in the lessons observed by me. For

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example, one teacher used the projector to organize the whole lesson that facilitated quality
learning (Roehl, Reddy & Shannon, 2013). This is so because when the students could visualize
the contents of the lesson then it automatically became easier for them to understand the lesson.
Strengths
After analyzing each lesson, many instances of strength have been observed in each one
of them in the relation to their teaching and classroom management strategies. For example, in
the first lesson, the teacher entered the classroom with a smile on her face. This gesture can be
termed as strength of that lesson that other two teachers did not show that much. On the other
hand, it has been noticed that the teacher always encouraged students who failed to give right
answers to the asked questions (Tanner, 2013). This is strength because this is how a classroom
can be managed that is filled with diverse kinds of students (Gay, 2013). The main motto of the
teacher is to engage the students even if they learn slowly but their efforts need to be
acknowledged.
However, there were very few instances of strength in the second lesson except the fact
that the teacher managed time to evaluate the students within the class. In addition, the teacher
also implemented the teaching aids even though the number of teaching aids was very less in his
class (Anjaniputra, 2013). Finally, the last lesson showed a lot of instances of strength
throughout the whole class. One of the main strengths of that lesson was that the teacher always
allowed and respected active participation and decisions of the students (Dudley, Cotton &
Peralta, 2015). Apart from that, the teacher also switched the sitting arrangements twice in the
class that helped the teacher to look after each and every student with the same amount of time
and attention.
Weaknesses
The second lesson seemed to be the weakest one as per my observation. This is so
because of many reasons. For example, it has been noticed the students were afraid of the teacher
and as a result, they were afraid to ask questions to him (Tofade, Elsner & Haines, 2013). This is
one of the weakest elements of that lesson because the role of the teacher is to make the students

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Teaching and pedagogical perspectives
feel comfortable as much as possible. Discipline is indeed needed but over disciplining the class
can highly hamper the spontaneous teaching learning process (Sullivan, Johnson, Owens &
Conway, 2014). In one of the lessons, the teacher tried to encourage student’s active
participation by asking them questions regarding the previous lesson which is a good thing.
However, the teacher failed to give response to all the students who were eager to give
answers du shortage of time. So, that was a major weakness of that lesson because the teacher
was unable to manage the class and its students. The third lesson was very impactful but yet the
question answer session at the end of the teaching process could not be finished on time. This
happened because the teacher did not organize the class with a proper lesson plan (Callahan,
2016). Another major weakness found in the second lesson is that the teacher was seen to scold
the students who yawned during the class. On the contrary, the teacher needed to handle the
situation in a more mature and planned way rather than by losing his temper.
Recommendations
As per the weakness discussed in the above mentioned section, it can be said that the
main reason behind those issues were lack of pedagogical knowledge on the part of the teachers
(Hudson, 2013). Apart from that, there was a lack of theoretical knowledge regarding the
preferable teaching and classroom strategies. A minute and advanced level of teachers training
was also needed for the teacher so that they could learn how to manage a class full of students
with different learning potentials (Clarke & Braun, 2013). There are also some specific subject
oriented teaching strategies that were missing in the teaching techniques of the teachers (Al-
Darayseh, 2014). For example, the teachers need to follow one or two teaching strategy
throughout the whole lesson so that it becomes easier for them to follow it properly.
Secondly, teaching aids are one of the most important elements of a class. Thus, all the
teachers need to come up with more interesting and useful teaching aids in order to get an
uninterrupted attention from the students (Sever, Oguz-Unver & Yurumezoglu, 2013). On the
other hand, positive non verbal gestures are very important to accommodate a class which was
missing in one of the class. The effect of this can be of long term (Abrami et al. 2015). Thus, the
teachers need to comfortably mix up with the students sometimes by putting a smile on the face

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or sometimes by asking questions that are not related to the lesson. Furthermore, it has been seen
that ne teacher scolded the students because they yawned in the class (Clarke, Cheeseman, Roche
& van der Schans, 2014). Scolding is not the solution for this situation because the teacher
needed to understand the drawbacks of his teaching methods that forced the students to yawn.
Apart from that, students could yawn for many reasons including the fact that they were
mentally exhausted. Thus, an overall impact of teaching can only be accomplished if the teachers
give heed to the pedagogical aspects while teaching. For that reason, the teachers can implement
the theory of Operant conditioning while planning the lesson. This step may help them in
understanding how to condition the behavior of the students in a positive way. Moreover, each
and every gesture of the teacher and the tasks need to be constructive and proactive in nature so
that the weaknesses of the lessons can be eradicated.
Conclusion
So, this study has revolved around an exploration of teaching and classroom management
strategies in the context of the three different lessons observed by me. For that reason, each
lesson has been summarized thoroughly as per my own observations. In addition, the
observations have been analyzed in order to identify the teaching strategies used by the teachers
in their respective lessons. Apart from that, the positive and negative aspects of the lessons have
been mentioned in the study. This has been in order to give a set of recommendations to
eradicate the weaknesses identified in the lessons. It has been found that the lack of pedagogical
knowledge was one of the reasons behind the lessons being weak. For the discussion of the
teaching and classroom management strategies, theories like Operant conditioning theory by
Skinner and Choice theory by Glasser have been implemented in the study.

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Reference list
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