Editor—Donald’s article on “effective teaching”1 left us with the feeling that this was an opportunity missed. To begin with the analogy of good teaching sessions being akin to parties gives the impression that the prime aim of teachers is to entertain whereas what we need is teachers who are trained to be effective and stimulating.
To illustrate a different approach, in our department all academic members of staff do a formal induction programme on how to teach.2 This programme is planned with the staff concerned and is geared to their particular needs. Initially, they have a detailed analysis of their consulting skills as this gives many relevant insights into their likely attitudes to, and behaviour in, teaching.
The teacher then learns how to encourage students to adopt a deep approach to learning by creating an environment in which, among others, the following characteristics are modelled and valued by the tutor: an intention to understand material for yourself, interacting vigorously and critically with content, relating ideas to previous knowledge or experience, using organising principles to integrate ideas, relating evidence to conclusions, and examining the logic of an argument.
The novice teacher progresses by first observing experienced teachers in action and then analysing video recordings of their seminars. In this way they learn how to recognise particular teaching strengths and weaknesses in other teachers and themselves and then how to overcome weaknesses and enhance strengths.
Eventually, the novice teacher progresses to teaching in concert with an experienced teacher, receiving feedback on his or her performance. Self assessment and reflection on the experience gained are encouraged as these are essential for continuing development. To assist the teacher training process we have developed assessment instruments.3,4
This induction programme ensures that new teachers have a repertoire of teaching skills from which they can choose the most appropriate for the particular teaching task. Their key aims are to ensure that students can see the relevance of their learning and that they can apply it effectively in practice. Kit Kats are gimmicks which will not succeed if the teacher’s basic skills are inadequate.
References
- 1.Donald A. Effective teaching [Career Focus] BMJ. 1998;318(classified section 18 July):2–5. ) [Google Scholar]
- 2.McAvoy P, Fraser RC. Teaching the teachers at Leicester: the general practice approach. Med Teach. 1990;12:35–38. doi: 10.3109/01421599009010559. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 3.Preston-Whyte ME, McCulloch R, Fraser RC. Establishing the face validity of the criteria of teaching competence in the Leicester package for the assessment of teaching skills (L-PAST) for tutor-led, task-orientated small group teaching. Med Teach. 1996;18:135–139. [Google Scholar]
- 4.Preston-Whyte ME, McCulloch R, Fraser RC. Advances in medical education. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic; 1997. Modifying the categorisation of validated criteria to assess teaching performance in the tutor-led, task orientated small group setting; pp. 575–580. [Google Scholar]