DISCUSSION METHOD OF TEACHING AND LEARNING.

Exchange of ideas between several people is the best process of learning and
teaching from one another.
In the classroom environment ,discussion is the best way of promoting
conducive learning and convenient teaching situation. It refers to the method of
instruction which give pupils an opportunity to express their views or opinions
orally on certain issues. One person speaks at a time,while others are listen. It
doesn't always involve the presentation of new information and concepts. It also
invoves sharing of ideas and experiences ,solving problems and promoting
tolerance with understanding. Discussion method is suitable in many situations
and can be used in many situations of teaching and learning.There are different
forms of discussion that can be used in the classroom.
Kochhar(1985)identifies two major types of discussions which are formal and
informal.
Informal discussions are governed by pre-determined set of rules and it includes
debates,panels,symposia etc.
Whilst formal discussions may involve whole group or small groups of people
divided with the intention of discussing themes . These are not governed by predetermnined set of rules.Lets focus on the informal type of discussions.
In the classroom discussions involve a free verbal interchange of ideas for all
pupils as a whole. Here the teacher is the leader who guides the discussion .
Through conducting the discussion process,ask questions and decides on who
should speak. This method can be suitably used in the first stage of child book
child approach.
This is where the teacher asks about the assummed knowledge through
reviewing pupils' experiences .For example Do you have friends? Why do you
need friends for? Do you sometimes quarrel with them ? What do you do after
have a quarrel with a friend?
Small group discussions is better than a whole class discussion. It encourages
more pupils to give their own views through open participation . Pupils are
divided into small groups of ,four,five,six ,seven ,eight or nine and given
questions or task to discuss and then reportback. Each group should have a
group leader who is instructed to control the discussion process and someone
who can reportback of what has be discussed.
The group setting arrangements should be in such a way that pupils are relaxed
and can hear ,see each otherwell. This type of discussions is more appropriate in
the second stage of the child book child approach. Which happens to be
evaluation stage where pupils can discuss questions related to the text found in
the book.For example in the parable of a prodigal son in the bible pupils can
discuss this questions:
Why do you think father received his son in a positive way?
Was that the right thing to do?
Why do you think in such similar situation?

General guidelines to a good discussion should involve a well planning where

the teacher should have a clear understanding of the subject topic , content and
objectives of the lesson to be discussed.
The teacher's way of giving instructions should be clearly and effectively
communicated in an atmosphere that is conducive for free discussions. Please
don't ridule or belittle pupils. Rather stimulate their interests by giving positive
comments and discourage domination of the discussion by the outspoken
members in a group.
A teacher who helped the reserved and shy children is doing good than harm by
providing the child with an opportunity to contribute. For example ,''John, what
do you think about ? or Helen how do you handle this problem ?''
Stick to the topic and discurage private conversation and should conduct
discussions to an end as scheduled.
The major advantages of discussion method are :
It teaches interpersonal skills such as understanding and communication.
It is child centred through provides an opportunity for pupils to learn from each
other,thus encouraging teamwork.
It promotes tolerance and helps pupils to understand that they are many aspects
or opinions to any one topic.
It also helps leadership ,speaking and listening skills.
The demerits of discussion methods includes time consuming ,easily dominated
by the outspoken pupils,those perceived to have high sttus. Some pupils may
not interested from listening to others and easily get out of hand and lose
direction. Moreover some teachers can neglect planning and take advantage of
literally this method haphazardly.

SCHEMES OF WORK IN THE EDUCATION SYSTEM.

No teacher can effectively teach with out schemes of work ,worse still the
syllabus and lesson plans. Schemes of work is the candle light which guides the
teacher to follow the education curriculum designed in the society to educate its
own members.
The scheme is the breakdown of syllabus into teachable units for a specifically
given time frame. For example week ,month or term. In other words it is the
amount of materials the teacher prepares and intends to teach during a stipulated
period of time.

The reflective teacher has to plan a scheme of work in advance for the coverage
of subjects topics or concepts as drafted in the syllabus. It's basically the
teacher's own personal plan of what he /she intends to teach why and how will
teach over a period of time thus aims ,methods and activities.
Characteristics of good schemes of work should take into account the pupils'
needs and interests which allow plenty of activities and involvement suited to
their age ,experiences and stage of cognitive development.
Normally pupils in any class organisation usually without strict and precise
sreen criteria, they possess different learning levels ,that's slow ,average and
fast. Then the teacher must have a variety of learning activites to cater for these
differences.
The schemes must be very clear in its various components ,that's the content
,instructional media ,methods , aims and also duration of lessons.
In most developing countries where internet and computer technology is still at
its infancy usually schemes of work is done manually written by hand in a hard
cover exercise book A4 size ,neatly well covered and submitted to the head of
institution normally on weekly basis.On the cover before plastic cover a label of
the name of the teacher and relevant personal details are included.
On the first page normally contains timetable ,information of the number of
pupils ,thus in terms of their sex and age range. Page two is used to reflect the
index of all subjects in the order they are schemed. Anywhere the teacher can
device his/her own methods of attaching labels to the first page of each separate
scheme.
Then the rest of the scheme book is divided into section for individual subjects .
On the first page of each subject or discipline usually contains the index -name
of the subject ,topics to be covered ,broad aims of the subject to be achieved.
A good aim contains words which express the philosophy of the subject ,that's it
defines the unique of reference which the subject seeks to investigate for
example in social science: To develop pupils ' ability to relate to others in the
home ,school or community.
The format of the schemes of work like the different of schools or teachers is
also the same .Each institution has its own agreed format which they all
emphasise.
Generally scheme include the week ending date which in most countries ends
on Friday or week's beginning of Monday. The topic to indicate the material to
be covered during a particular week .Content derived from the topic and to
cover a number of lessons per week.
Sources of matter should show the reference books ,journal ,newspapers,sites or
resource persons from which information to be taught taken.
The media or instructional aids are objects ,charts ,pictures,wordcards or
anything used by the teacher and pupils to facilitate learning process, to enhance
the comprehension of the concepts in question. Please note to be specific in
listing media ,value it and name only which is readily available.

Methods and activities enumerate the various steps to be followed when

teaching .Lessons should flow sequentially . The activites of both the teacher
and pupils to facilitate learning process should include discussion,story
telling,dramatisation,demostrate ,practice ,questioning and answering and so on.
Evaluative comments are made at the end of the period for which each topic is
schemed normally at the end of the week.The evaluation should reflect the
lessons performance ,without bias list what has being achieved and not achieved
or successes and failures or strength and weaknesses of the lessons within the
same topic. The teacher should then gives possible extension or remedial work
as solutions on how she/he intends to rectify the findings.

3.4 Syllabus Implementation

No matter how well developed a syllabus, it would not be able to achieve what
it is meant to if serious consideration is not given to its successful
implementation.
Various sources have cited a number of factors which need to be given
consideration in the successful implementation of a language syllabus. These
factors would also affect the choice of an appropriate syllabus for use.
Maley (1984) gives the following factors:
i.

cultural

ii.

educational

iii.

organizational

iv.

learner

v.

teacher, and

vi.
i.

material
Cultural factors are cited as the most powerful factors in the
implementation of any language programme. It depends on whether a
society is outward-looking and welcomes innovation, or inward-looking,
seeking inspiration from deeply-rooted traditional values. The attitudes of
a given society towards the learning process, towards books, towards
teachers are also of key importance.

ii.

Educational factors refer mainly to educational philosophy. Other factors

are whether the system is authoritarian or participatory, whether it views
learning as acquiring knowledge or acquiring skills, whether learning is
considered a product-oriented business or as a life-long process, and
whether the system encourages dependence or learner initiative. It is also
important that top-level administrators are well-informed about the
syllabuses. It is also important to take account of the role of exams in a
given educational system.

iii.

Organizational and administrative factors will affect the implementation

of a programme especially if the national educational system is highly
centralised or highly decentralised. This will be reflected in the way
decisions are arrived at and communicated to others, that is, whether they
are by open consensus or by closed decree.
It is equally important that there is a clearly defined structure of
communication between the administration and those executing a
programme. There should be sufficient channels of communication
between syllabus designers and classroom teachers. There should also be
a clear structure of communication between technical and secretarial staff
on the one hand and the teaching staff on the other.

iv.

Learner factors involve the age and background of the learners as being
highly significant. It is also significant how learners are selected for the
programme because certain syllabuses may not suit the study habits of
certain learners.

v.

Teacher factors refer to the training and experience of teachers which

provide an important criteria for successful implementation. The
availability of teacher training is a key factor. It is important that the
teacher is proficient in the target language. Teachers' language
proficiency and training may well favour the choice of one syllabus vs.
another. Teachers will have to understand why the syllabus is as it is so
that they see the necessity of having to change their teaching procedure if
necessary. Teachers, administrators and educators must be familiar with
the objectives of the syllabus. It is also important that teachers are aware
from the start about the number of hours they are expected to work as this
will have important consequences for time-tabling and teacher morale.

vi.

Material factors mean that there should be an adequate budgetary

provision for all aspects of the programme. The hardware ordered for the
programme should be appropriate and not just ordered for prestige
reasons. Spares for the hardware should be readily available and they
should be serviceable in the vicinity. Software should also be appropriate
and available to those who need it. There should also be adequate
provision for secretarial assistance.

Other sources have also given class size as a variable or factor to be considered.
For example, the sorts of drills associated with structural syllabuses would be
difficult to conduct where there are classes of 50 or more.
The economic condition is another important factor, mainly because new
materials and retraining of teachers is expensive, it is vital that this factor be
kept in mind for all aspects of the implementation process because the whole
process actually depends on it.
The successful implementation of a syllabus also depends largely on the extent
to which materials, methodology and exams are compatible with it.
These very same factors would also have to be taken into consideration when
selecting an appropriate syllabus type to achieve the purpose desired.

characteristics
agriculture
of
teachers
first
round.
identified
All
respondents
counsels,
students
and
as
cares
characteristic
effective
of
an
teacher.
Table
1 actively
Characteristics
ofinfor
Effective
Teachers
Agriculture
(n=30)
Responses
and
cares
for astudents
30
of
the
FFA,
FFA
chapter,
advises
and
effectively
23
CDEs
Encourages,
counsels,
and
30
cares
for
students
FFA,
actively
advises
the
effectively
FFA
chapter,
and
CDEs
23
matter
22
students
for
instruction,
needs,
evaluates
plans
students,
19
achievements
Excellent
time
management
(good
planner)
skills
17
techniques
and
has
teaching
knowledge
&
learning
of
17
Theory
relations
17
(dedicated)
15
of
SAE,
actively
supervises
encourages
SAEs,
and
14
students
to
have
SAEs
teachers
and
administrators
13
organizations,
professional
displays
positive,
image
professional
demonstrates
leadership
11
people
skills
10
improvement
learner)
(life
long