This is one of the best posts that I have read this month. Thank you for sharing. I teach alternative prep program teachers and will share this with them.
I appreciate the amount of thought that Groshell has put into what makes “good” explicit instruction. There is plenty of work to be done to provide a toolkit of direct instruction skills to teachers, and he gets really clear about what those are. My question with his work has always revolved around the difference (in math at least) between teaching content skills and procedures versus teaching problem solving habits as outlined in the Standards for Mathematical Practice, for example. I don’t see how solely providing direct instruction could support students in building strong habits with those practices which are ultimately very important as students progress to high school and later college. Groshell seems overly focused on the acquisition of content and skills, which is important but is not the whole picture. I have argued (and am currently writing a book that argues) that an ideal lesson structure should include both opportunities for inquiry that specifically target development of problem-solving habits paired with explicit instruction and worked examples followed by practice, which will allow for acquisition of skills and building student confidence. I see the either/or argument as counterproductive to these goals.
Hi Kristen, thanks for this thoughtful comment. This is something I've tried to think about and address in my reporting as well. It was the topic of this interview with former head of KIPP Nashville math instruction Neily Boyd, which you might find interesting: https://hollykorbey.substack.com/p/how-to-teach-math
Some recent research from cog scientists Daniel Ansari and Nicole McNeill tried to address this as well--their study shows that the right balance of memorization and thinking strategies produced better results for students. Here's my interview with McNeill about the study: https://hollykorbey.substack.com/p/the-end-of-the-math-wars
This is one of the best posts that I have read this month. Thank you for sharing. I teach alternative prep program teachers and will share this with them.
I appreciate the amount of thought that Groshell has put into what makes “good” explicit instruction. There is plenty of work to be done to provide a toolkit of direct instruction skills to teachers, and he gets really clear about what those are. My question with his work has always revolved around the difference (in math at least) between teaching content skills and procedures versus teaching problem solving habits as outlined in the Standards for Mathematical Practice, for example. I don’t see how solely providing direct instruction could support students in building strong habits with those practices which are ultimately very important as students progress to high school and later college. Groshell seems overly focused on the acquisition of content and skills, which is important but is not the whole picture. I have argued (and am currently writing a book that argues) that an ideal lesson structure should include both opportunities for inquiry that specifically target development of problem-solving habits paired with explicit instruction and worked examples followed by practice, which will allow for acquisition of skills and building student confidence. I see the either/or argument as counterproductive to these goals.
Hi Kristen, thanks for this thoughtful comment. This is something I've tried to think about and address in my reporting as well. It was the topic of this interview with former head of KIPP Nashville math instruction Neily Boyd, which you might find interesting: https://hollykorbey.substack.com/p/how-to-teach-math
Some recent research from cog scientists Daniel Ansari and Nicole McNeill tried to address this as well--their study shows that the right balance of memorization and thinking strategies produced better results for students. Here's my interview with McNeill about the study: https://hollykorbey.substack.com/p/the-end-of-the-math-wars
Thanks for sharing those links. I’m excited to dig into them!