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The most common
approach used by teachers with a classroom
of 25-40 students. Many homeschoolers also use this
approach.
What is education?
In this approach, the student takes
in information, usually through a textbook or lecture.
The student then gives the information back to the
teacher through a project or test.
Often, the textbooks will teach the
same material year after year, adding a bit of new
information each year. For example, American History may
be taught for six consecutive years, adding new
information each year.
This approach sees the student as a
learner who is able to take in bits and pieces of
information, and put them together to form the big
picture. Short term retention, via making a good test
score, is stressed and rewarded.
What are the roles of teacher
and student?
The teacher's main job is to follow
the curriculum. These teachers believe that the
curriculum creators know more about the students than
the teacher does. If the student has difficulty, most
proponents of this approach will recommend that the
teacher force the student to conform to the curriculum.
In that sense, it is a "one size fits all" approach.
What is the role of curriculum?
In The Classroom Approach, curriculum
is the most important part of education.
Pros & Cons of the Classroom
Approach:
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Possible high standardized test
scores in early years.
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Teacher has little input in
curriculum.
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Students may simply master the
tests, rather than the material.
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Students often become bored.
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Students who do not fit the
curriculum will feel inferior.
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Students learn "factoids" rather
than the big picture.
Let's look at the study of ducks
from the Classroom approach.
The study will begin because it is
the next chapter in the science book. The student will
read the section about ducks in the textbook, answer the
questions at the end of the chapter, and perhaps create
a project on ducks. The teacher will give the student a
test to complete, which will determine if the student
remembers certain facts about ducks. It is probable that
the student will never see an actual duck.
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