K-12 Rethinking the Role of Teachers--Historical Context

While those of us in the class have many unique life experiences, it would not be uncommon for our elementary education to have some commonalities. Typically, the classroom would have been populated with other boys and girls of the same approximate age. There would have been desks or tables with small chairs. A section of the room may have had room for coats or backpacks. And, a teacher (often female in lower elementary grades) would be assigned to educate us during a period of time (usually from fall until spring, or the entire year for those with a year-round schedule). Often, the teacher would have stood in front of the classroom and lectured or imparted information directly to students. This direct instruction methodology has been used in classrooms in the United States and in other countries for more than 100 years and can be an effective teaching strategy.

While direct instruction has been a traditional practice, it places teachers in the position of controlling the quantity and quality of knowledge (Johnson, Becker, Estrada, & Freeman, 2014). In essence, direct instruction methodology places the teacher as the gatekeeper of instruction and decreases the impetus of responsibility for students to learn. For example, a science teacher may talk about the water cycle -- precipitation, evaporation, condensation, transpiration, etc., but if the discussion does not include the conservation practice of rainwater harvesting, the student may feel that conserving water is unimportant because it was not covered in class by the teacher. In reality, arid climates such as in Arizona would be highly impacted by conservation practices. But, direct instruction leaves learners with little emphasis on self motivated (lifelong) learning.

References:  Johnson, L., Becker, S., Estrada, V., and Freeman, A. (2014). The horizon report (K-12 ed.). Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.