I want to share with our readers a key instructional approach currently in vogue in the teaching community. It is called Teaching and Learning Critical Pathways. Basically it is an instructional approach to move students towards independence in the classroom. A common problem in the classroom for the teacher is the situation where the students are too dependent on the teacher for their learning. Without the teacher, the students feel lost. If the teacher is not teaching them directly, they don’t know what to do with themselves. That is when the misbehaviour begins or the apathy; in other words, the students lounge around and wait until the teacher comes to them. The Teaching and Learning Critical Pathways approach offers a method of scaffolding new learning and more importantly releasing responsibility to the students. In essence, making students responsible for their own learning.
Following is a brief overview of the components of this approach.
Modelling: The teacher demonstrates the action or the technique. The teacher might have some experienced or senior students also demonstrate the technique, while he explains the points to be observed. The teacher shows the technique and performs the actions; the students watch and listen and think about the technique taught.
Shared Practice: The teacher and the students work together on the activity. If the students already have some idea of how to do the technique, a shared practice can provide an opportunity to discuss the finer points of the technique with the teacher’s active involvement. It is also an ideal time to give explicit instruction about the strategies and behaviours necessary to perform the technique successfully. The teaching is accompanied by hands-on learning where the students are attempting the new learning.
Guided Practice: In this stage, the students have an opportunity to apply new concepts, skills, or strategies taught in the previous stages. The teacher is still actively engaged with the students – conferring, clarifying, providing feedback. The students are using the strategy, performing the action, practicing in small groups or pairs. The students share the thinking processes with the teacher and each other to consolidate their understanding.
Independent Practice: This stage occurs after the students have had time to practice with support from the teacher and each other. The teacher observes and monitors and provides opportunities for independent practice and application. The students are using the strategies independently and directing their own activity. Finally, they reflect on their own performance.
So, in closing, this TLCP approach is an approach to gradually release responsibility to the students. This is the ultimate goal in teaching: to get the students to the stage where they take their own learning into their own hands. They are independent and responsible. You don’t have to hold their hand.So, let’s examine again this approach but this time as it applies to martial arts and what happens in a martial arts dojo.
Modelling: The teacher demonstrates the action or the technique. The teacher might have some experienced or senior students also demonstrate the technique, while he explains the points to be observed. The teacher shows the technique and performs the actions; the students watch and listen and think about the technique taught.Basically, this stage is about a demonstration. The teacher demonstrates the technique. Or else, he has his senior students do it while he elucidates on the points that he wants to highlight. The students watch and learn.
Shared Practice: The teacher and the students work together on the activity. If the students already have some idea of how to do the technique, a shared practice can provide an opportunity to discuss the finer points of the technique with the teacher’s active involvement. It is also an ideal time to give explicit instruction about the strategies and behaviours necessary to perform the technique successfully. The teaching is accompanied by hands-on learning where the students are attempting the new learning.The students work on the technique under the active instruction of the teacher. The teacher observes, comments, and instructs them on how to succeed in their execution of the technique.
Guided Practice: In this stage, the students have an opportunity to apply new concepts, skills, or strategies taught in the previous stages. The teacher is still actively engaged with the students – conferring, clarifying, providing feedback. The students are using the strategy, performing the action, practicing in small groups or pairs. The students share the thinking processes with the teacher and each other to consolidate their understanding.Here the students practice by themselves. Basically the students can perform the technique quite well. The teacher comes around to offer feedback or correction. He fine-tunes their execution of the technique, offering guidance on finer details.
Independent Practice: This stage occurs after the students have had time to practice with support from the teacher and each other. The teacher observes and monitors and provides opportunities for independent practice and application. The students are using the strategies independently and directing their own activity. Finally, they reflect on their own performance.In this stage, the students need no prompting. They do the technique by themselves. If they are performing kata, they do not need to be prodded. They independently take the initiative to begin practice. After the practice, they reflect on how their performance went and how they can improve it. The teacher is in the background now and fulfills the role of simply providing the environment in which they can practice. The students direct themselves, in some cases teaching themselves and examining applications of the techniques by themselves. The teacher just monitors them and is around to serve as a resource if the students run into difficulties or dilemmas.
Thus, as you can see, this TLCP approach is a standard teaching approach to move students from total reliance on the teacher to independence from the teacher. While it may seem like the latest and greatest fad, it is far from it. It has been used in martial arts for a long time.Another interesting point is that this approach can be applied to an individual lesson or a specific technique or a particular kata. It can also be applied to a student’s overall growth and development as a martial artist, from beginner to expert, very similar to the old martial arts concept of shu-ha-ri.
What is shu-ha-ri?
“Shuhari roughly translates to “first learn, then detach, and finally transcend.”
shu (守) "protect", "obey" — traditional wisdom — learning fundamentals
ha (破) "detach", "digress" — breaking with tradition — detachment
ri (離) "leave", "separate" — transcendence —without clinging to forms; transcending… ”
Source: wikipedia definition of Shuhari
Even in modern professions such as software development, the same concept of shu-ha-ri is now employed in the process of learning and gaining knowledge. In particular, it is an integral part of one movement in software development, called the “agile movement”. Here is an example from one website of how they envision the use of shu-ha-ri in the process of software development:“The idea is that a person passes through three stages of gaining knowledge:
■Shu: In this beginning stage the student follows the teachings of one master precisely. He concentrates on how to do the task, without worrying too much about the underlying theory. If there are multiple variations on how to do the task, he concentrates on just the one way his master teaches him.
■Ha: At this point the student begins to branch out. With the basic practices working he now starts to learn the underlying principles and theory behind the technique. He also starts learning from other masters and integrates that learning into his practice.
■Ri: Now the student isn't learning from other people, but from his own practice. He creates his own approaches and adapts what he's learned to his own particular circumstances.”
Source: Shu Ha Ri in software development
Although there are other similar interpretations of this concept, more slanted towards Zen- based ideas of transcendence and enlightenment, the basic premise is the same. The learner starts off learning in a strict format under the close guidance of a teacher. In the middle stage, after the learner has mastered the fundamentals and understood the process of learning, the learner begins to become a little more independent and self-directed in his learning. Although still under the guidance of the teacher, the teacher serves as much more of a resource than an active force in the learning process. In the final stage, the learner has become a master of the subject matter himself and takes his own learning into his own hands.In the academic world, this learning process is also evident. First, second, and third-year students learn about their field of study in general ways, learning also how their field works, how the university system works, the academic process, and how to learn most efficiently and effectively. Basically, the fundamentals of how to learn and succeed at their chosen field of study.
Third and fourth-year students progress to the level that they begin to assist in the process of teaching, even while they themselves are learning more in-depth about their field of study. This is when they become seminar leaders, lab assistants, etc…While this is still at an elementary level, they are starting to become more immersed in their field and coming to make some small contributions to the process of learning and teaching.
This process is continued to a greater and deeper degree in their first and second year of their Master’s program, where you will find that they progress to the stage where they are beginning to teach courses to undergrads, and consistently running seminars and workshops. On the learning side, they are attending symposiums and conferences in their given field of study and researching their subject matter in more depth, learning all the latest ideas and theories on their subject. In effect, becoming more knowledgeable in their field of study and learning all there is to learn in their field. From my own experiences, if you wanted to be able to argue your point, you had better have a good grasp of what you were talking about. That meant study, study, study.
At the end of their Master’s program, they are now at the level that they are actively teaching courses consistently and now managing undergrads who run the seminars. They are writing articles for the academic journals in their field and becoming known in their field. They are not only attending all the symposiums and conferences in their field but are presenting papers and seminars there too. They are now creating knowledge in their field and contributing to the knowledge base of their learning community and their profession. By the time, they have passed their dissertation, they have now become a master in their field of study. Hence, the meaning of the title, Master’s in Science, Master’s in Arts, or Master’s in Education, etc… Basically, they are a Master in that field now.
I have one account from this stage which I remember vividly to this day. I remember how shocked I was when my Thesis Advisor suggested that we present a joint paper at one of the major national conferences in our field. That meant all the bigwigs were going to be there, everyone who was anyone, people who could shoot you down if you didn’t know what you were talking about. I was scared to death. But my advisor, a well-respected professor, had confidence in me. I prepared like crazy. Well, the short story is that it went fine. She handled the theory side, I handled the practical side. The presentation was a success. That was my baptism of fire. From that one momentous experience, I learned many valuable lessons about what it meant to be a Master in your field.
The journey from being a first-year student to becoming a Master in a field of study is basically the story of the movement from total dependence on the teacher to independence and self-reliance, from being directed by someone else to becoming self-directed. Essentially, this is the process envisioned in the currently in-vogue idea of critical pathways. But whatever you want to call it, whether TLCP or shu-ha-ri, it is a pathway for the student to ultimately achieve independence as a learner.
For those people who would like to read up more on this teaching-learning approach, there is a wealth of information online. Here is a good synopsis from the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat of the Government of Ontario’s Ministry of Education. This is the current teaching model that all schools in the Province of Ontario must follow: TLCPMr. Tong has a Master’s in Education in Curriculum Studies.