The possible effects of theory on teaching
I’m writing what could turn into a monster of an essay on theory and practice in the Cambridge DELTA Module 2 (= observed lessons and the accompanying essays), as part of which I brainstormed this list. If you can add anything to the list, evaluate any of the points, reject any of them, draw any conclusions etc, you might get a mention (and the accompanying fame and fortune that comes with it, of course)
Possible negative effects
• Becoming too dogmatic, e.g. when planning lessons or observing other people’s lessons
• Applying theories to the wrong situations, e.g. ones based on research on situations totally different to your own (different countries, different education systems, immersion rather than a few hours a week, different levels of motivation)
• Trying to apply a theory that is worse than the previous theory applied or just eclecticism
• Spending too much time researching theories and not enough on lesson planning
• A violent reaction against the teaching methods or materials of the school
• A violent reaction against the beliefs of the students
• Using a theory (related or not) to back up bad practices
• A loss of confidence
• Rejecting out of hand speakers and books that do not support that theory
• A rejection of teaching ideas because they don’t match the theory (maybe only to find that the theory was there all along in a book that you hadn’t read yet)
• Trying to apply a teaching idea that is in fact not related to the theory
• Trying to apply a theory that has no or limited connections to language teaching
• Being left with very few options in the classroom because it is possible to find theories to reject almost everything. Ditto with supplementary materials
• Rejecting classroom ideas and materials for trivial reasons when there are more important reasons (which you were distracted from or were unaware of) for rejecting the things you then end up with
• Losing respect for students’ own ideas on the best way of learning
• Paralysis when planning lessons because there are too many things to think about
• Overruling a good instinctive reaction to something
• The fact that all classroom activities are new to match your new theories meaning that little things like them being polished up and knowing how to use them well
• Too much experimentation in the classroom
• A rejection of experimentation in the classroom because you already know from the theory that it shouldn’t work
• The inability to judge what happens in the classroom in an unbiased way because you see it all through the prism of theory
• Ending up with a whole list of theories who are all accepted and rejected by various famous people for various reasons and having no way to choose between them except for the teaching instinct that you relied on before you started
• Convincing you that everyone is doing or should be doing something because the theory seems generally accepted, when in fact the reality is quite different (see Rose Senior’s The Experience of Language Teaching for examples)
Possible positive effects
• Reconsideration of beliefs
• Reinforcement of good beliefs
• Improved confidence because the theory backs up previous practices
• A desire to do more CPD due to an interest in the theory or a desire to adapt practice to theory
• Can justify your classes to students and potential students
• Can access previously overcomplicated and jargon filled research, journals etc
• Overruling a bad instinctive reaction to something
• Making teaching more interesting and therefore motivating, with a consequent boost in your enthusiasm in the classroom
• Consideration of non-intuitive ideas
• Theory could link to other interesting fields like psychology or neuroscience, making teaching more interesting and motivating
• New teaching ideas that are inspired by a new bit of theory (even if not actually closely related to it)
• Being able to justify your teaching methods to superiors, students etc
• Being able to explain and therefore argue for and pass on opinions about teaching that were there but unformed
• Being able to use that theory in other parts of your life too
• Understanding that theory leading to understanding of other theories
• Understanding that theory making sources such as ELT and applied linguistics journals more accessible
• Having the confidence to reject ideas that you were doubtful about but didn’t have enough evidence on
• Not being scared or intimidated by theory, e.g. the holes in most teaching theories giving you confidence in your own teaching instinct
• Help you rethink and polish up practical ideas
• Help you come up with your own theories
• Give you ways of testing your own theories and practises
• Provide useful metaphors
February 7th, 2010 at 1:35 pm
Hi Alex,
Good listing but a rather frightening one. Still, I am considering putting up in my DELTA wiki…
The reality is rarely so gruesome but over the many years of supporting Diploma candidates (DTEFLA & DOTE first and now DELTA), I have seen evidence of one or the other symptoms you mention.
But on the other hand, may I suggest that this is just a stage in a DELTA candidate’s development, too, it’s not the sum total of attitudes they inherit on exiting their course of study.
Sure, some candidates are more fretful than others, but given time to assimilate course input and of course the motivation to be open but critical, enthusiastic but reflective and adventurous but cautious, most DELTA trainees eventually “get it”.
The ones who don’t “get it” will, generally, need more time before they can pass their Module II’s, simply because that is the time it takes some people between registering on the DELTA thinking it will give them a solution for everything and coming to see that the course is there to help them figure out both the questions and the answers themselves.
February 7th, 2010 at 10:56 pm
Thanks for your comments Marisa. This is obviously just a brainstorm, and I don’t have enough experience or data to narrow it down or choose the most likely, so any feedback gratefully accepted. I wonder what you mean by “get it”. It seems to me that the main “it” that the DELTA wants candidates to get is “the motivation to be open but critical, enthusiastic but reflective and adventurous but cautious”, but I wonder if that is something you can help people pick up at all.
The other possible outcome is that you use the skills and knowledge you already have to pass the DELTA and so come out of it little changed, but again I think that is a small minority.
Will try to polish my essay up into an article and get it up eventually, but will take a month or two.
February 9th, 2010 at 11:51 am
As with Marisa, I’ve seen many of the symptoms in my colleagues who are participating in the course and indeed remember ‘suffering’ from most of them myself at one point or another, especially while I was doing the course.
February 9th, 2010 at 7:07 pm
Does anyone feel that over theorising may have sprouted the seeds of confusion? Language acquisition is different from learning isn’t it? Most theory centres on teaching and learning and multiple theories have been born out of ever deeper academic naval gazing and unnecessary specialisation in the eternal quest to be top of one’s own particular tree. The confusion is borne of the professional imperative to survive and prosper not the ultimate objective.
March 17th, 2010 at 10:01 pm
Jason,
The DELTA includes theory, sure, but with its feet firmly planted in the classroom. There is neither room nor time to ruminate as if one were doing some rarified upper stratosphere research.
Alex,
Usually monster essays tend to be “All I know about” essays and will usually not pass. Instead of researching ALL the theory, you always need to research with a specific set of learner problems in mind – I’m sure your tutors have told you all about narrowing down your topic focus. But that is what happens to my trainees too in their first essays. Sure, this is great for revision, but if on an intensive course, you rarely have this luxury.
March 17th, 2010 at 11:49 pm
Hi Marisa
My own DELTA is faaaaaaaaaaar in the past, just trying to remember it to be a DELTA tutor for the first time
March 19th, 2010 at 7:51 am
Oh, welcome to the fold!
Have fun on the other side of assignments!
Let me know if you need any help.