An Essay on Practical Education Theory

The teaching profession is most times, synonymous with the ability to enforce rules, impart textbook knowledge, grade papers and manage classroom discipline, but the practical theory that is involved in teaching is most of the time, obscure. Sepia-toned ‘school photographs’ of inappropriate images and inadequate expectations can become frozen in a time and context unreal to the present reality and complexity of present day schools, classrooms and day-to-day teaching.

Every teacher is a theory builder, because teachers create a basis, or a theory of action for effective teaching, and all teachers desire to make changes to, or fine-tune their teaching methods.

This is a point of view which, until a decade or so ago, would have been roundly rejected, perhaps even ridiculed in some educational circles. Let us consider this proposition in some detail. Think about this question for a moment: Why do teachers teach the way they do? Most times, teachers do not read from a script prepared by others, nor are they clones of some master teacher or some central office bureaucrat.

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Teachers are not robots that have been pre-programmed to behave in accordance with some centrally approved approach to teaching. Teaching is far too complex and variable for any of these approaches to have any hope of working. Rather, teachers use methods that are consistent with their own notions and beliefs about the ends and means of teaching, and which have been tailored to suit their own attributes and the contexts in which they work. When we think about it, we would realize that truly, teachers are theory builders.

A theory is a well-substantiated explanation of an aspect of the natural world. It is an organized system of accepted knowledge that applies in a variety of circumstances to explain a specific set of natural occurrences. A theory can also be seen as a belief that can guide behavior, and it can incorporate facts, laws and tested hypotheses. There is a very close link between theory and practice, as one modifies the other. Practice provides a basis for theory building, and practice is itself guided by theory.

It is a fact that teachers’ theories are built up over considerable time and involve creative design, shrewd observations of student reactions to various approaches, risk taking, and a lot of hard work. “It seems, however, that the results of these practical theories are very worthwhile and do provide rewards for the teacher, as well as the students. ” Marland (1997). Theory building addresses significant problems related to student learning. It can also create designs, and experiment with various ways of solving these problems.

It also involves inquiring into the relative effectiveness of these ways of solving problems, by using data from observations, tests and feedback to assist teachers to identify patterns which give rise to predictions about what is likely to happen, and build a basis for professional action. Teachers construct their own notions about how to teach. To a large extent, teachers’ notions are based on their experience and what they have learnt from those experiences. These notions are also informed by what teachers read and hear about from a variety of sources.

As human beings, we are regularly involved in attempting to fully understand our experiences. We think about our interactions with others, the way we play sport, how we behave at work and as family members or parents. We look for regularities in those experiences and try to identify what worked, how and why it worked, and in planning or thinking about how we might operate in those contexts, we try to refine our behavior, and we try to ensure we can cope with uncertainties. We gradually build up patterns for action which work and which we then use in similar situations that arise subsequently.

Through this kind of personal theorizing about our experiences, we create ‘theories for action’ which we use until we find they no longer serve our purposes well. For example, we establish ways of getting on with our neighbors, handling disruptive students, parenting, playing spin bowling and engaging in other significant activities in our daily lives. This is one way in which we develop our expertise. When our ‘theories’ lose their relevance or effectiveness, we try to create better ones to replace them.