Direct Instruction= Droid-like Teachers in the Classroom Teaching

When I read the chapter that gave insight to Direct Instruction I did not truly grasp the concept the author was trying to relay. So, as every great scholar before me has done, I googled the terms.

According to the National Institution for Direct Instruction, “Direct Instruction (DI) is a model for teaching that emphasizes well-developed and carefully planned lessons designed around small learning increments and clearly defined and prescribed teaching tasks. It is based on the theory that clear instruction eliminating misinterpretations can greatly improve and accelerate learning.” Below are two YouTube videos that provide an example of Direct Instruction.

1. Teaching Spelling Skills with Direct Instruction

2. Teaching Reading using Word Modeling

Just by the video, anyone can see how the classroom is turned into mindless practice. The teacher reads from this script that is handed to him/her and conducts the class verbatim. On the NIFDI website, they said: “All details of instruction must be controlled to minimize the chance of students' misinterpreting the information being taught and to maximize the reinforcing effect of instruction” (NIFDI, 2010). Exactly whose information are they referring to? Subjecting a teacher to follow a script in the classroom prevents them from teaching.

If Direct Instruction is suppose to minimize the chance of students misinterpreting information, then why do we need teachers in the classroom? Principals should just have pre-recorded machines that instruct the students to repeat after them. I knew with my mindset about Direct Teacher, there had to be someone in the virtual world that felt that same way. An educator of ten years, Mayflor Markusic is a user on The Hub for Bright Minds, who writes, “Direct teaching, if utilized by unprepared teachers, can be disastrous. For direct teaching or direct instruction to be effective, the teacher must have a mastery of the subject matter, must prepare a well-organized content, and must have excellent communication skills…without these traits, direct teaching could not develop higher order thinking skills in the students” (Markusic, 2010).

I am left to wonder, why are there mandates for teachers to be highly qualified in their subject areas, if once they graduate, they are told to read from a lesson book. Are the opinions of teachers even taken into account? Or, are we simply left to succumb to the pressures of administration and spend the rest of are days as droid-like teachers, giving our students mindless instruction?

References

Markusic, Mayflor (2010). Classroom Instruction: Pros and Cons of Direct Teaching. Retrieved from http://www.brighthub.com/education/special/articles/5487.aspx

NIFDI (2010). About Direct Instruction (DI). Retrieved from http://www.nifdi.org/15/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=52&Itemid=27