What am I good at for designing a lesson?

(Gagne, Briggs, & Wager, 1992, pp 119) proposed an Instructional design for different learner characteristics. There are eight learner characteristics: intellectual skills, cognitive strategies, verbal information, attitudes, motor skills, schemas, abilities, and traits. Ideally we ought to infuse these eight characteristics into the teaching practice. Ultimate goal is to develop new scheme in the minds of the learners.

I teach math and am very good at integrating (a) intellectual skills, (b) cognitive strategies, (c) verbal information and (d) attitudes. I am also ok at schema as I keep that as my focus. I get the learners to talk about the math that they have learnt, I ask questions more than I give answers and I also understand fear of math and hence integrate art and music to it to differentiate learning.

My preference is to (a) ask inquiry based questions, (b) build attitudes using ATL (Attitude to Learning) skills of the IBO (iborganization., n.d.) and (c) work on eradicating fear of math using art and music. My focus is always to push the learners towards becoming an independent learner (Kochar, 2010). Hence what I prefer most is working on the attitudes. I think it is because I realized long back that unless one works on attitudes to learning, the aptitude is hard to develop. Attitude is the blocker in the face of aptitude.

This is also influenced by the environments that I have worked in which were always progressive schools (Free Progress School, n.d.). They focused less on exam results and more on human growth and schools being a crucible for the same. Hence the natural shift for me was to focus on attitudes and I found that learning naturally built when one focused on them. As the centre of work was building relationships, it also needed a continuous change in me as a person. Hence this was an all-round development of humans with other humans.

I think I can bring in (a) motor skills and (b) adapting curricula. The first is due to my laziness and the second is due to not having enough information and also the external conditions set of (a) large classrooms, (b) not understanding parents and (c) lack of resources. The first one I should be able to do but the second is too far my comfort zone.



References

1. Free Progress School. (n.d.). Retrieved from 
https://www.mirambika.org/Pgcw01.htm

2. Gagne, R. M., Briggs, L. J., & Wager, W. W. (1992). Principles of instructional design. https://www.hcs64.com/files/Principles%20of%20instructional%20design.pdf

3. iborganization. (n.d.). International education. https://www.ibo.org/

4. Kochar, M. (2010). User driven learning in mathematics. Academia.edu - Share research. https://www.academia.edu/1563753/User_Driven_Learning_in_Mathematics