Direct+Instruction+as+a+Teaching+Strategy


 * Direct Instruction: A Useful Strategy?**

Direct instruction is a teaching strategy in which the method of learning focuses on the teacher as a conduit of knowledge (Krause et al, 2010). It is based around the concept that the teacher has subject mastery, and through interactions with a knowledgeable master a student will learn and develop their own subject mastery. Direct instruction is an example of explicit teaching, where the attention and direction of the class is focused on a specific learning outcome, and as such the classroom becomes a highly structured environment where the teacher guides the students through each lesson (Foreman, 2008). Direction instruction works best when the knowledge conveyed through a subject master has an immediate applicable use (Olsen, J., & Cooper, P, 2003). As such the students are often guided as a group through several questions to meet the academic outcomes, and are provided with opportunities to work through problems individually. Elements of tasks are often broken down into smaller parts, and students are taught the parts step by step (Foreman, 2008).
 * What is it?**


 * Positive outcomes?**

Direct instruction is useful in dealing with students with special needs in a few ways. The first is it creates an environment where physically students are easier to monitor, as typically the class is in the one area, the teacher is the focus of the whole class, and in turn the whole class is the focus of the teacher. This means that students who might otherwise lose task focus have a clear and present reminder of what the focus should be simply through the physical presence of the teacher (Woolfolk, A., & Margetts, K., 2007). Feedback is also immediate and constant. As the teacher runs the pace of the lesson they can monitor class progression through each basic step. A teacher can immediately spot where errors are occurring, why they are occurring and take steps to rectify them. Direct instruction breaks down a potentially complex task into its most basic steps. In this sense students who might have felt overwhelmed are given the opportunity to be scaffolded and build upon their knowledge (Foreman, 2008).


 * Downfalls?**

Direct Instruction might not be the most effective method for dealing with a particular student’s individual needs. It requires that the student is capable of focusing, and there are a variety of circumstances which may prevent that. The other main downfall with DI is that retention is often low, mostly because there is an over emphasis on teacher activity rather than student activity, and even students who manage to stay focused the entire time may simply forget concepts (Foreman, 2008).


 * How should it be used?**

In an Additional needs classroom Direct Instruction should be used according to the needs of the student. It should be a part of an array of learning, in which student needs are approached from a variety of angles and strategies (Foreman, 2008). It should be used in conjunction with other methods to ensure that students are developing the cognitive strategies they need to apply the knowledge learned through direct instruction.

References: Foreman, P., (2008) //Inclusion in Action,// Cengage Learning Australia Pty Limited Krause, K., Bochner, S., Duchesne, S., & McMaugh A.,(2010) //Education Psychology For Learning and Teaching,// Cengage Learning Australia Pty Limited Olsen, J., Cooper, P., (2003) Dealing with Disruptive Students in the Classroom, Kogan Page Limited, London Woolfolk, A., Margetts, K., (2007) //education psychology,// Pearson Education Australia

//**[|The SRA Corrective Reading Programme]**//// (SRA/McGraw Hill) // provides intensive, sustained **direct instruction** to address deficiencies in ** decoding ** and ** comprehension **. It is a systematic, highly-structured, explicit, teacher-directed instructional strategy, designed to accelerate learning and literacy skills.

//Corrective Reading// is one of many commercially available instructional materials or “classroom scripts” – these scripts are written, tested, rewritten, retested and polished in a cycle of classroom field testing and revision that ends only when trials show that 90 percent of students grasp a lesson the first time around.

The SRA/McGraw Hill website has available for [|free download examples of classroom scripts], including //Corrective Reading//. It is recommended this program be implemented for students with low levels of literacy in Years 4 – 9.

This direct instruction technique emphasises clear transmission of information to the student. A word or concept is broken down into component steps or parts, and each step or part is explicitly explained to students in sequence. Students apply the word or concept in a controlled setting by way of prompt and reinforcement techniques (specified in the script), and then further practice is scheduled through independent seatwork or out-of-classroom homework.

**EXPECTED OUTCOMES FOR STUDENTS WITH ADDITIONAL NEEDS** Sands, Kozleski and French (2000) argue that by teaching one step at a time and providing adequate practice for that step, students are assisted in internalising the steps (leading to what cognitive researchers call “automaticity”). Once the skill has been learned to the point of automaticity, cognitive studies show it is transferred from short-term to long-term memory, and students are then able to generalise their learning in new, untaught situations (Sands et al., 2000). Moreover, students are also able to then move on to more progressively difficult and higher-order skills.

**IMPLEMENTATION IN AN INCLUSIVE CLASSROOM** Classroom scripts that use direct instruction are ideal for the inclusive classroom as they combine the benefits of one-to-one tutoring with the effectiveness of group instruction. This is because of the students’ choral responses as prompted by the teacher - the class group answers every question in unison, allowing the students almost limitless opportunities to answer correctly. The teacher pays attention to each student’s response in order to monitor skill development and teaching effectiveness. If a student makes a mistake, a simple correction procedure is brought into place for the group to respond to, without any students being individually identified. However, tasks are organised for a ‘first-time-right-response’ (via teacher modelling), meaning students will be successful in their answers on the first time almost all the time (SRA/McGraw-Hill, n.d.).This is hugely encouraging – the students are set up for success, and as success is continually replicated, confidence soars (SRA/McGraw-Hill, n.d.).

**REFERENCES**

Sands, D.J., Kozleski, E. B. & French, N.K. (2000) //Inclusive education for the 21st century.// Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

SRA/McGraw-Hill (n.d.) //The unique power of direct instruction.// Retrieved from http://www.mcgraw-hill.co.uk/sra/downloads/The-Unique-Power-of-Direct-Instruction.pdf