Murari Jha, PhD’s Post

Jane Hunter's insightful article addresses the current debate between explicit and inquiry-based teaching methods. In Australia and beyond, there's a noticeable shift towards explicit instruction. As Hunter notes, "These changes and the media coverage around them suggest there are binaries or 'either/or' options when it comes to teaching methods." Associate Professor Jorge Knijnik criticises this approach, arguing that it "overemphasises a single method and undermines teachers' professional expertise." There is a saying that teaching is "about lighting a fire, not filling a bucket". Implementing an exclusively explicit approach risks a lot of 'bucket filling', which can stifle student voice and critical thinking, potentially leading to disengaged behaviour. Effective teaching is nuanced, not binary. Great educators know when to follow student interests and lines of inquiry, and when to apply explicit instruction. For further reading, here’s an article I wrote on this debate in 2021: https://lnkd.in/g6yn64K https://lnkd.in/gCuQuSaA

What are Core Competences for teachers to engage in innovative teaching? Research conducted over 10 years, find out which core competences: https://lnkd.in/eWnji5tc

DIALOGICAL RELATIONSHIP IN CRITICAL PEDAGOGY The third chapter of Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed speaks of the importance of dialogue. Human beings are not built in silence, but in word, in work, in action-reflection. Dialogue is thus an existential necessity. Dialogue is an act of creation; it must not serve as a crafty instrument for the domination of one person by another. In an article written by Prof. Leander Marquez entitled Critical Thinking in Philippine Education, the role of dialogue in critical pedagogy is to help people realize that the way towards their emancipation is through confronting their personal social conditions by thinking and talking about them as well as by recognizing the fact that they can do something to change it. It is the responsibility of teacher education institutions to produce educators that are not afraid to establish a dialogical relationship with their students in order to develop them to become critical thinkers. Dialogue is the encounter between men. Dialogue generates critical thinking. Through dialogue we can generate ideas where both parties are actively involve in the learning process. Without dialogue there will be no communication and without communication there will be no true education. But to engage in a dialogical process requires mastery. In order for us to create critical thinkers, we must first equip those who are tasked to cause knowledge. Here, in connection with Thomas Aquinas’s understanding on teaching and learning, he mentioned that teacher’s mastery on the subject matter can greaty help in the process to cause knowledge. Reference: Marquez, Leander (2017). Critical Thinking in Philippine Education: What We Have and What We Need. https://lnkd.in/gVGXs_DF Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Translated by Myra Bergman Ramos. USA: The Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd.

What an excellent, succinct read on progressive education. Here's a juicy extract: "The modern student has the world at their fingertips – no longer an empty bucket to be filled by a guru, they have gained some control over the spigot. The teacher role has changed from ‘holder of knowledge’ to ‘facilitator of learning,’... “Do we really need students to learn how to memorize X, Y, and Z?... Or do we need them to be able to find X, Y, and Z and apply it in an authentic way?... "In this environment, the curriculum places less emphasis on memorizing facts and more on critical thinking and problem-solving, bringing about more interactive, hands-on, and student-centered approaches to teaching and learning. Instead of passive receivers of knowledge, students are becoming partners in its creation."

"Context matters." This is the SINGLE BIGGEST thing that policy makers in Australia continue to get wrong. There is not 'one way' to teach, one way to learn... one way to be human. As the authors point out (hats off to them), research exists demonstrating that students need diverse learning experiences as an important contributing factor of their overall development. Enforcing any singular method of teaching and or learning is not only detrimental to that development, it categorically reestablishes the sausage factory production of 'learning outcomes' that remain the thorn in side of school experience. The 'so what's changed' cartoons exist for a reason! So what does this direct instruction 'shake up' from NESA mean for the budding poet, the avant guard creative in their English lesson, the young artist seeking to discover the possibilities of their chosen medium... anything where students have to garner and GENERATE their own thoughts and not just regurgitate what they've told to think? Is a standardised outcome what we actually want from our schools? "What works" is an easy but lame 'out'. It blindsides you into thinking you have The Answer; as though there were a single panacea to the context specific challenges of schools in Australia, and education in general. I'm not an expert in all things 'direct instruction', but so long as policy makers and the media continue to reinforce the either/or binaries and absolutisms of 'what works' for teaching and education, they will routinely continue to fail our students, our teaching professionals and the our education system at large. On a more optimistic note, our teachers are brilliant. I see it every term when I head into classrooms around NSW to liaise with student teachers on their placements. This 'shake up' from NESA will do nothing to change that. It's just a blunt force tool, like the RBA use of interest rates to manage the complexity of inflation. Our teachers will continue navigate the realities of their work, despite the myopic systems tightening (not system improvements) that NESA and other policy making institutes continue to brandish lavishly, like musketeers saving no one really other then the rule elite from which they herald. Our teachers will continue to work with and against the restrictions and prescriptions of practice thrown against their efforts - control that is not placed on a single other profession to the same extent. Frankly, I don't care if direct instruction works for some, or even often. Enforcing it as rule of law in the context specific, relationship building, infinitely complex and deeply human work of teaching will never produce the whole-of-human outcomes that are most deeply needed and called for from education in this day and age. C x #educationdesign #designthinking #educationconsulting #educationconsultant

Enhancing Education: The Key Role of Observations in Teaching: https://lttr.ai/ATaUa #CollaborativeFeedbackMechanisms #TransformativePower #TargetedStrategies #InfluentialSchoolBasedFactor #CulturalMetamorphosisBeckons #InvolvesCarefulSelection

GOT TEACHING? Interesting perspective on teaching effectiveness within institutions of #highereducation https://lnkd.in/dx3UJ5eZ

Impactful pedagogy: 10 culturally responsive teaching examples https://buff.ly/4c2Lgd5

What Is Critical Pedagogy: Exploring Definition and Impact 👉 https://lnkd.in/dGmzMiBH

Our latest article on Science Education is out now! If you're into Education, Science, pedagogy, or Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL), this read is for you! Explore the dynamics between teacher perspectives, instructional methods, and students' scientific understanding. Dive in and share your thoughts! 📖👉 https://lnkd.in/d3srqtux #ScienceEducation #Pedagogy #InquiryBasedLearning #PublishedArticle #EducationInsights