TEACHERTRAINING

Aroma Hut Institute®

Rebecca Park Totilo, Instructor

TEACHING STYLESYour Approach to Lecture

TEACHING STYLES

No two teachers will teach in the same way, just as no twostudents will learn something in the exact same way. A teacher’steaching style is based on their own educational philosophy, theirclassroom’s demographic, the subject manner, and their purposeand mission in presenting it.

If you are a new at teaching, you might be wondering what yourteaching style is and how it could affect your students.

There are two key approaches we will be looking at – teacher-centered and student-centered.

TEACHER-CENTERED

The main focus behind the teacher-centeredapproach is the idea that the teacher is the mainauthority figure.

The students are simply there to learn throughlectures and direct instruction, and the focus ismainly on passing tests and assessments.

A teachers’ role in this approach is to pass on theknowledge and information needed to theirstudents. There is only one subcategory underthis approach, and that is direct instruction.

DIRECT INSTRUCTION

Direct instruction is used to define traditionalteaching, which includes lectures and teacher-leddemonstrations. The idea is that only the teachercan give students the knowledge and informationthey need to succeed.

If this is your preferred style of teaching, youmight want to consider using PowerPoint tocreate lectures. There are three teaching modelsbeneath this subcategory.

FORMAL AUTHORITY

These kinds of teachers are thesole person of authority andleadership. They have moreknowledge than the students andhold a higher status over theirstudents.

Classroom management is usuallybased on traditional methodsinvolving teacher-designed rulesand expectations.

EXPERT

The teacher described in thismodel is basically the “know-everything” in the classroom.

Students are nothing more thanempty vessels designed to receivethe knowledge being given by theteacher.

PERSONAL MODEL

In this method, the teacher leadsby example. They show thestudent how to find informationand how to understand it.

Students will learn by watchingand copying what the teacherdoes exactly as the teacher doesit.

STUDENT-CENTERED APPROACH

In this approach, the teacher is still theauthority figure, but the student plays anactive role in what is learned.

The teacher will advise and guide thestudents down a learning path.Assessment involves informal and formalmethods – tests, group projects,portfolios, and class participation.

The students are learning theinformation the teacher is giving, and theteacher is learning how best to approachhis students. There are twosubcategories in this approach – inquiry-based learning and cooperative learning.

INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING

Facilitator Personal Model Delegator

A teacher using this model will work under an open classroom model. The students’ progress will be loosely guided, and the teacher will work on encouraging the students to be more independent, more exploratory, and involve more hands-on learning.

This type of model is similar to the personal model from the direct instruction subcategory. However, these kinds of personal models are learning with the students so that they can learn to explore and experiment with new ideas. In this way, students can learn that making mistakes are part of the learning process as they watch their teacher make mistakes as well.

A delegator has the most hands-off approach of all of the modeled teaching methods. The idea is to encourage autonomy in the student’s learning process. The teacher explains what is expected, gives them the resources needed, and spends the rest of the time acting as a resource of sorts. They will answer questions and check on progress when needed.

THIS TEACHING STYLE FOCUSESON LETTING THE STUDENTEXPLORE AND ACTIVELYPARTICIPATE IN LEARNING.

RATHER THAN BEING ADICTATOR, THE TEACHER ISMORE OF A GUIDE, GIVING THESTUDENTS ADVICE ANDSUPPORTING THEIR EFFORTS.

STUDENTS ARE EXPECTED TOPARTICIPATE AND PLAY ANACTIVE ROLE IN THEIR OWNLEARNING. THERE ARE THREEMODELS UNDER THISSUBCATEGORY.

COOPERATIVE LEARNING

The idea behind this kind ofteaching style is community. Muchof the work in the classroom isgroup projects, and the studentsare responsible for their ownlearning and development. Thetheory behind this style of teachingis that students learn best wheninteracting with their peers.

FINAL NOTE

Knowing how your students learn plays a key role in your teaching style.

If you can discover your teaching style early on in your aromatherapy career, both you and your students will be better off for it.

You will know exactly where your teaching strengths lie and just how to reach your students through their learning styles.

AROMA HUTINSTITUTE®

©2015 Rebecca at the Well Foundation