Provide an overview of the characteristics of the inquired approach and a discussion of how that approach does or does not align with your chosen topic.
What is Direct Instruction? Direct Instruction is a teaching and learning model that emphasizes avoiding misinterpretations of taught/learned material by providing explicit and Direct Instruction. For many, this style closely reflects a traditional classroom, as it is one of the most widely used forms of instruction. Direct Instruction often has a poor reputation for being archaic and encouraging passive learning. However, this reputation is often attributed to a poor understanding of Direct Instruction.
Direct Instruction, when properly used to teach a topic, follows these steps:
- Set expectations, and provide background information for the chosen topic.
- Get the students motivated to learn by explaining why and how they are learning the chosen topic.
- Model what the students are learning and guide them through an example to provide context for what a good result/model is as an example. At this point, students should be encouraged to participate in creating the model so that they stay engaged.
- Once students are familiar with the correct result/model example, they should be provided assistance and guidance through making their own model.
- Finally, students are set to create a model without guidance with frequent assessment. With frequent assessment, misinterpretations can be re-directed and corrected.
Direct Instruction is usually used along with other instruction models and is optimal for teaching new concepts or skills to students. For instance, in our chosen topic of “Wellbeing & Mindfulness in Children,” Direct Instruction could be used to teach some of the sub-topics, such as what mindfulness is due to its high level of structure. Since videos can be considered a form of Direct Instruction, Direct Instruction is already being used to explain mindfulness to children, such as the videos created by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2023). While structure can be ideal in some situations, the highly structured nature of Direct Instruction can limit instructors and students. The highly structured nature of Direct Instruction is also a disadvantage in our topic. Since due to mindfulness’ highly experiential nature, it would be best to pair it with an instruction model that emphasizes that type of teaching, such as Experiential Learning.
You can read more about Experiential Learning on Mathews blog here.
Sources:
The Education Hub. (2019, August). A brief introduction to direct instruction – the education hub. The Education Hub. https://www.theeducationhub.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Direct-Instruction.pdf
Main, P. (2021). Direct instruction: A teacher’s guide. RSS. https://www.structural-learning.com/post/direct-instruction-a-teachers-guide
National Academies of Sciences, E. (2023). Emotional wellbeing in children and Youth. | The National Academies Press | Tools for Supporting Emotional Wellbeing in Children and Youth. https://nap.nationalacademies.org/resource/other/dbasse/wellbeing-tools/interactive/
Hi Caelum! What an excellent overview of Direct Instruction! I especially appreciate the tips for the successful implementation of this teaching method in the classroom. Definitely, the Direct Instruction teaching method is designed to be highly structured and focused on specific learning objectives. With careful planning and preparation, teachers can effectively engage students and help them achieve their educational goals.
Hi Caelum! Your description of direct instruction is very detailed and clear. The explanations and examples you provided allow the audience to have a clear understanding of the benefits of direct instruction and its relevance to your topic, “Children’s Well-being and Mindfulness.”