Effective teaching
Barak Rosenshine's 2012 study sets out principles for effective teaching, along with suggestions for how they can be used in the classroom.
The principles are grounded in cognitive research, research on skilled teachers, and research on scaffolding for learning.
Principle 1: Begin the lesson with a short review
A brief review of earlier content helps students remember better. Effective teachers begin the lesson with 5–8 minutes of review. This might include words and concepts, formulas or earlier walkthroughs. It is also useful to review what is needed for today's lesson. This makes knowledge more automatic.
Principle 2: Present new content in small steps
Do not give too much new information at once. Effective teachers break the teaching into small parts. After each step, students get to practise. It might look like this: the teacher demonstrates a step, students try it out, and once it works you move on. That way students do not become overwhelmed.
Principle 3: Show clear examples (model)
Effective teachers show how to do something and think aloud. It might look like this: the teacher demonstrates a finished solution step by step, for example in mathematics. That way students can focus on how it is done, instead of guessing.
Principle 4: Let students practise with support and then on their own
Effective teachers first practise together with students and then let them work more independently. It might look like this: the teacher shows how to write a text, the class writes together, and the students write their own texts.
Principle 5: Ask many questions
Effective teachers ask many questions that help students think and understand. It might look like this: the teacher asks a question and lets students talk to each other about the answer, write a short answer and hold it up, or raise their hand and explain how they are thinking.
Principle 6: Check that students understand
It is not enough to ask "Do you understand?" – effective teachers check students' understanding more actively. It might look like this: the teacher asks students to explain in their own words, asks them to summarise, has them repeat instructions, or asks whether they agree or not.
Rosenshine, B. (2012). Principles of instruction: Research-based strategies that all teachers should know. American Educator, 36(1), 12–19, 39.