Passage uit: 

The Learning Rainforest: A model for great teaching and learning: over  teacher-led instruction e.d. 

Overall, in my view, perhaps the most important conclusion from research (en m.i. ook vanuit eeuwen ervaringswijsheid van leerkrachten)

 Teacher-led instruction is designed explicitly to build knowledge in long-term memory is at the core of successful learning. There is no canopy in the lush rainforest, without strong trunks and branches. This is critical in planning effective schemes of work and delivering great lessons in real classrooms.

The large body of evidence from cognitive science tells us that building knowledge is crucial to taking learners on the journey from novice to expert. This is a technical business where effective instructional methods are vital.

Effective teacher-led instruction and teaching for long-term memory are strongly evidenced in the research. Strong knowledge-rich trunks and branches are fundamental to building deeper, wider schema that then inform creative processes and problem solving.

Finally, there’s no doubt that varied practice and opportunities for challenge reinforce the knowledge acquisition process. In the right sequence and proportion, a wide range of learning experiences can be used to elicit evidence of student understanding in order to support effective feedback and to adjust teaching inputs. Multiple learning modes can provide students with opportunities to reinforce their conceptual understanding whilst also supporting the development of various dispositions.

MAAR: However, at the same time as assimilating research findings into our reservoirs of wisdom, there is a need to continually keep the research in perspective. There is a huge risk in becoming excessively reductive and linear, overly blinded by the reassurance of science-like research findings, when the processes we are dealing with are much more organic, unpredictable and non-linear. Real life is more rainforest than plantation.

For example, even though research might lead us to believe that knowledge-rich teacher-led instruction is hugely powerful , it’s a mistake to assume that this mode of teaching must replace all else. It’s much more subtle than that.