Teaching methods in the Philippines

Tonee Marie Gabriel BSN

– II Teaching Strategies of our Instuctors Instuctors

The way in which teachers spend their time in and out of class can reveal much about their teaching philosophies. A learner-centered teacher makes time to collaborate with others and problem solve as challenges evolve. This teacher spends his or her day researching new ideas and learning key concepts that students must acquire to gain competence. Evaluation is on-going and done mostly in the context of students' learning. A curriculum-centered teacher  works mostly by himself or herself when he or she is teaching or developing lessons. When teachers do collaborate in team meetings, all involved agree to teach the same lessons. These assignments usually result in a lot of correcting at the end of the day. In our Nursing Informatics and English class, the main strategy used is the traditional Lecture method. Traditional classroom learning, this word is very familiar to all of us. Yes, it is the method of teaching where the teacher takes us through the learning experience and guides us through the learning and the most important advantage of this kind of learning is the physical presence of the teacher guiding us through the learning. Lecture is often the method of choice when introducing and explaining new concepts. It can also be used to add insight and expand on previously presented material. Traditional lectures were the most common lesson type in the past, if not indeed the only type. Teachers would read from a text or explain a concept and students were expected to listen quietly and take notes. Modern approaches to lessons are much more varied. They make use of group work, games, computer   presentations and other activities that encourage student participation. Modern-day teachers need to give straightforward lectures from time to time, but these make up part of a much  broader curriculum. In Nursing Informatics, our teacher also incorporates lecture with demonstration. She would first discuss what the chapter is all about then shows us the step-by-step method of  creating the final output (if necessary). She also used video-taped instruction in the creation of one of our outputs. She also gives us situation analysis relating technology to nursing for  our critical thinking assignments. The manual itself is self-explanatory self- explanatory and she doesn’t really need to go into a much-detailed lecture. She usually just reads off definitions and concepts right from the book  –  book  –  written in a language everyone can understand. Most often than not, some students are left scratching their heads not knowing what just hit them! In her fast paced lectures, she forgets that there are students in the class who are really clueless in computer applications or have slow digestion of her lecture concepts. She has not really assessed her students on their individual learning needs. In this technology-advanced world, she just assumed that ever yone has caught up with the fast-changing world of technology. These students are partly to be blamed as well, as they don’t raise their questions. They are afraid to let the teacher know that they don’t understand or don’t know how to create the required outputs. We are all responsible in our own learning. If we want to learn, be assertive assertive and direct your own path. Learn to ask questions, there’s

nothing to be afraid or even ashamed of. Leaning is a two-way street. We must do our part in order for learning to take place. But to her credit, she does spend enough time to those who are brave and humble enough to admit their short-comings with the lessons. She admits that the topics can be very boring and redundant especially to those who are already computerliterate, but she balances every lecture with her own kind of humor. She would usually poke fun at herself, on how medically naïve she is. But that’s where the balance of the class is she says, with her being a computer master and we, her students, being the medically inclined ones. So in a way, teacher and students compliments each other. Initially, we were all like “What’s this class got to do with Nursing?” But as we dived on to the lectures and activities, we realized just how vital technology is in the nursing profession  – from the smallest to the  biggest task. In our English/Speech class, she uses Lecture as well with the incorporation of small group activities and textbook exercises. The exercises are designed to evaluate our  understanding of the concepts discussed. The small group activities designed to evaluate our  ability to apply what we have learned and how we think and communicate in a group setting. After her lectures, she would also ask us to do some drills  –  basically, pronunciation drills. She speaks eloquently that her students doesn’t need any audio -taped instructional aid. That’s very important most especially for an English teacher  – to be able to speak/pronounce words correctly. That’s where her credibility as a teacher lies. It’s a Monday to Friday class and everyday, I look forward to attending her class (even though she questions as to why I still needed to take her class being a “natural English speaker”). She can be very serious at one  point then becomes funny and would be cracking jokes the next minute. Her long quizzes are really L-O-N-G (est). But it’s understandably so, since this semester is really short so topics are condensed into the time allotted. The way she presents the topics/concepts are very short and straight to the point. It’s presented in a manner where the students can easily comprehend. Her strategy is very much effective as there really is no other way/strategy that can be used in teaching the class. We also questioned ourselves the relevance of Speech class to the Nursing profession, “Speech? What for?” This country prides itself as the top English speaking country in Asia. One of our university’s vision is for its’ students to become globally competitive. This can be accomplished with the proper training/preparation with word pronunciation, blending,  phrasing and public speaking techniques. This class is just one of the ways we, as students, could become globally competitive!

In today’s fast moving world we need to keep ourselves updated and upgraded all the time. Or else we shall be left behind. Historically, schooling have been predominantly focusing teaching instead of enabling a culture of learning, the process of providing mass education has been criticized by many as similar to mass production in factories. Children have been regarded as raw materials to be efficiently processed by technical workers (the teachers) who are the only source of filling knowledge in “empty” minds of the students!