Innovative Teaching

Strategies
Intan
Wawa

Overview
Current
development
requires
teachers to vary their teaching styles
to suit the learners` needs and
interests.
However, some teachers are still
retaining the old teaching style.
This causes them to be frustrated as
the students are being passive in the
classroom.

 Raiff
(1992)
stated
that
understanding students` learning
styles will help teachers to reduce
their
frustration as well as their
students` disappointment.
To understand students` behaviours,
their learning style becomes an
indicator to know how they learn and
which learning style that they prefer.

 Learning style is also seen as

teaching
strategy
because
understanding the students` learning
styles give information about the
learning contexts.
E.g. The changing of KBSR to KSSR
focussing on students` learning
styles (child centred) and eradicate
teacher centred.

 In individual learning, Ingham (1992) and

Wan Zahid (1993) encourage teachers and
parents to understand students` learning
styles and regard their differences as
special and that the speciality could be
used maximally in their learning.
Therefore, a neat and systematic lesson is
needed to ensure an excellent teaching
and learning happen in the classroom.

 In
addition,
methods,
sources,
and
programs need to be suited with the
students` learning styles to increase
students` involvement and achievement.
To sum up, students will be more interested
to learn if teachers are being innovative
where they are able to transform or create
something new in a form of relevant source
of method which is suitable to the students.

Characteristic of Innovative
Teachers
Friendly
Outgoing and approachable to the students
while still applying the teacher-students
boundaries.
Stable emotion
Able to control emotion and does not make
judgements based on own emotion.
Committed
Being dedicated as a teacher to the students
and as an employee of the school

 Knowledgeable
Equip with knowledge together with good
values and have the ability to deliver effective
instruction in and out of the classroom.
Interest
Have the interest to teach and devoted to
increase students` performance
Creative and innovative
Always changing in order to suit their
learners` style.

How To Be Innovative?
1. Knowing in depth the students`
characteristics
. Teachers need to understand what
the students want, their behaviours,
actions, and manners.
. This could be done on the first day of
entering the class.

2. Teaching strategies
Teachers need to vary the teaching
strategies
which
includes
approaches,
techniques,
and
methods of delivering the lesson.
Varying teaching styles is essential to
suit the students` different learning
styles.
E.g. visual, auditory, kinaesthetic,
and so on.

3. Creative and innovative

Teachers should not just rely on the syllabus,
lesson plans, and teaching materials.
Instead of being so rigid, teachers should be
able to change their teaching strategies in
an instant when the situation requires them
to do so.
As a result, students will be more active in
the classroom during the teaching and
learning.

4. Humorous
Students are more likely to be interested to
teachers who are jokey while delivering the
lesson.
However, the jokes must not be too
excessive that it might hurt or offend the
students` feelings.
Instead, it is just to create interest to learn
and dissolve stress and boredom during
the teaching and learning.

5. High imagination
Before starts teaching, teacher should
begin with asking general questions to
the students which is known as
essential questions.
This aims to open the students` mind
and think outside the box where they
could give their own thinking and
perceptions.

 Then, teachers will monitor the students

with questions which related with learning
unit (unit questions) and move on to
learning contents (content questions)
Using this approach, students are trained
to think globally and eventually able to
relate with things that will be discussed in
the learning content which also related to
the learning objectives.

6. Choice and application of teaching

media
Attractive media includes video,
audio, text, or graphics.
These
medias
can
be
used
respectively or combined using
software presentation.
To be able to use media, teacher
needs to have the technology skills.

Other Approaches

Inductive
Deductive
Eclectic
Thematic
Mastery
Cooperative
Collaborative

Teacher as Observant
(Perceiving)
4 Quadrant Model known as 4MAT System
Through the observation, teachers classify the
learners into 4 categories:
o Quadrant 1: Imaginative learners
(feel and observe)
o Quadrant 2: Analytic learners
(observe and think)
o Quadrant 3: Usual thinking learners
(think and do)
o Quadrant 4: Dynamic learners (do and use senses)

 Nelson (1997) stated that by using

4MAT System, teachers will be able
to categorize 4 ways of learning
which
are
activist,
pragmatist,
reflective, and theorist.
Activist learners fully participating,
associate with new experience,
always active and ready to try things
that have been learnt.

 Pragmatist learners will try beforehand

to make sure that it is really practical. They
will only learn if it is practical and useful.
Reflective learners isolate themselves
but still viewing the learned things from
different perspectives. They take time to
think before making any decisions.
Theorist learners like to use logical
approach, well- arranged, and constructing
own theories.

Challenges
Multiple intelligence theory (Howard
Gardner, 1983).
Spatial,
kinaesthetic,
linguistic,
musical,
logical,
interpersonal,
intrapersonal, and naturalistic.
Teachers face challenges where they
need
to
plan
their
teachings
according to students` multiple
intelligences.