Principles of

Effective
Teaching and
Learning
Chapter 2
The word principles came
from the Old French
principe, from Latin
principium meaning
‘beginning, foundation’.
From the Greek princeps
meaning “first”.
 It refers to the fundamental
practices in teaching and learning
which serves as guide for teachers
to effect worthy learning
outcomes.

Particular in
education
Teaching and lear
ning were derived
grounded results from well-
of research studie
s.
e.g A compara
tive study of e
and ineffective ffective
teachers in term
their styles and s of
how they addr
various and sp ess
ecific needs of
learners in spit
e of their diffe
rences,
etc.
 A teacher’s belief in teaching or his
so called ‘teaching philosophy’
should be guided by a well-
established principle in education so
that it will blend with what is
expected of him as a teacher

“ A good blend if teaching philosophy with

time-tested teaching principles will surely
make a difference in students; life
 Twelve Principles of Effective Teaching and
Learning
Teacher’s knowledge of the subject matter
1. is essential to the implementation of
important teaching tasks.
5. There are many roads to learning.

Active involvement of the learner Expect more and you will achieve more.
2. enhances learning. 6.

Interaction between teachers and students Learning od enhanced in an atmosphere of

3. is the most important factor in students
motivation and involvement.
7. cooperation.

Students benefit from taking responsibility Material must be meaningful

4. for their learning. 8.
 Twelve Principles of Effective Teaching and
Learning
Both teaching and learning are enhanced
9. by descriptive feedback.

10 Critical feedback is only useful if the

learner has alternatives to pursue.
.
11 Time plus energy equals learning.
.

12 Experience usually improves teaching.

.
 Principle 1: Teachers’ knowledge of the subject matter is essential to the
implementaion of important teaching tasks.

A teachers’ good foundation about the

subject matter is essential to enable
him/her to conduct substantial
discussion. This will allow him/her to
deliver the lesson with ease and
confidence and will permit greater
possibility for students to be challenged
and inspired by the manner on how
he/she delivers the information with
mastery.
 Principle 2: Active involvement of the learner enhances learning.

To enhance learning, students should

be actively involved in the learning
process. This is called engagement.

Learners should be seen as active

participants in the teaching-learning
process

Teachers should plan and implement

engaging activities for the students
to intrinsically love learning.
Principle 3: Interaction between teachers and students is the most important
factor in students motivation and involvement.
The dynamic atmosphere of allowing
the learners to share their talents,
interests, experiences, and beliefs to
support the cognitive aspect of the
lesson are effective means to
promote lively interaction in the
classroom.

The vibrant attitude of the teacher towards the

learner is an essential factor to encourage
them to join and actively participate in the
learning process.
Principle 4: Students benefit from taking responsibility for their learning.

“You cannot force

someone to learn’’
Learning can only be activated by the - one philosopher
learner himself. Even if you are a
good lecturer, there will be times
when your students would not even
recall the things you’ve said.

A teacher should be open-minded to the fact

that circumstances like this can happen, thus,
he/she should allow learners to figure out the
solutions/answers through proper motivation.
 Principle 5: There are many roads to learning.

There are diverse ways for a “Learners learn in

different ways, at different
pupil/student to learn something. rates, for different
This may be influenced by some reasons.’’
- Gardner’s theory
factors like their developmental
differences, interests, learning
aptitude, learning style, and other
reasons influencing their attitude
towards learning.
The teacher should give a lot of
scaffolding behavior and guide the
learners in the maze of learning.
 Principle 6: Expect more and you will achieve more.

“Trust that learners will

improve with each try.’’
High expectations from the teacher - Gandhi
begets high outcomes from the
students. It is given a fact that
learners differ in terms of their
ability: slow, average, and fast
learners.

If the teacher wants the students to

achieve something, it is the teacher’s role
to provide activities that will help, guide,
and encourage the students to perform at
their best
Principle 7: Learning is enhanced in an atmosphere of cooperation.

“Learning is collaborative
Cooperative learning produces and social, not
greater student achievement than competitive and isolated.’’
- Chickering et al., 1987
traditional learning methodologies
(Salvin, 1984).
Cooperative learning groups set the
stage for students to learn social
skills.
These skills help build stronger cooperation
among group members. Leadership, decision-
making, trust building, and communication are
different skills that are developed in
cooperative learning (Dahley, 1994)
 Principle 8: Material must be meaningful.

Meaningful materials refer to its

capacity to rely relevant and
substantial information. It is
imperative that teachers use materials
maximally for instruction so that it
will serve its purpose.
Principle 9: Both teaching and learning are enhanced by descriptive
feedback.

Descriptive feedback to the specific The KWL strategy can be

used before, during, and
information in the form of marginal after the lesson.
comments or conversations that help
the learner understand what he needs
to do in order to improve
- Brown et al. 2014

This is a sincere move on the part of the teacher and

it is proven effective in the sense that the learner is
made aware of his strengths and weaknesses in
detail, thus enabling him to reflect further on the
progress he needs to exert to make his performance
better next time.
Principle 10: Critical feedback is only useful if the learner has alternatives
to pursue

Hearing critical feedback is discouraging In life, mistakes are

and a few of us understand the benefit of inevitable.
knowing our odds. Therefore, as a ground
rule, every critical feedback should offer a
solution in order to allow the person to
redeem himself from that impression.

“Relocate yourself into the student’s

circumstances, and help the student
overcome his/her negative actions.
- Gandhi & King
 Principle 11: Time plus energy equals learning.

The metaphor behind the ladder of Time + Energy =

learning can best explain this equation Learning
wherein it tells us that it takes time and
effort to learn something before moving
on to the next step.

A patient teacher would see this

principle as a challenge to help and
see all the learners move up and
achieve the learning goal.

The only thing you cannot recycle is wasted

time. Teachers should make use of the time
allotted for teaching-learning wisely.
 Principle 12: Experience usually improves teaching.

e.g If you are an ecology teacher expected “You cannot give what you
to teach the marine ecosystem, you must do not have”. You need to
have an actual experience of the marine “walk the talk”.
- Full cup theory
environment itself other than what is
described in the textbook.

Similarly, if you want to become a well-

rounded geography teacher, traveling
from one country to another shall be an
advantage to deliver the discussion
well.
It is a must for teachers to continually enrich their Speak not from the book,
professional growth so as not to short-change the speak from wisdom and
information they impact to their students. experience.
Thank you!