Facilitator's
Role
The
Teacher's New Role in the ETE Classroom
The amount of student learning and personal development that occurs
in a classroom is directly proportional to the quality and quantity
of student involvement in the educational program (Cooper and Prescott,
1989). Yet descriptive research indicates that teachers typically
dominate classroom conversation, consuming nearly 70 percent of
classroom time. A large portion of this teacher talk consists of
lectures and directives. Such an educational environment results
in learners assuming passive roles and relying mainly on auditory
skills, a limited dimension of the intellect. ETE modules diminish
teacher talk. By teaming students with one another, students have
frequent opportunities to talk as they construct knowledge themselves
in the course of solving an open-ended problem. Thus, when students
use ETE modules, they may potentially use more of their intellect
than they use during traditional instruction.
Facilitate
Rather Than Teach
When you use ETE modules in your classroom, your role will be more
that of facilitator and less that of teacher. Rather than teach
content, you will manage team member interactions so that teams
stay focused and make progress. With your careful encouragement,
each team's problem, plan of action, and outcome will emerge on
its own, the unique product of its members' collective strengths
and interests. In your role of facilitator, you will begin by briefing
students on the ETE modules they will be using. When team work begins,
you will spend most of your time observing team members to determine
what problems they are having working together and completing their
assignments.
Using
Restraint
You are reminded to help out only when necessary. If you must answer
a question, you should be sure to ask first, "Is this a team
question, " meaning, could one of the team members answer this
question instead of you. You may clarify instructions, review strategies
for completing an assignment, answer "teacher" questions,
and demonstrate task skills as necessary. You may also assist students
in developing questions that help them focus their activities or
that help them decide whether particular sources of information
are appropriate to their research.
In your role as facilitator,
you will:
There may be times when
you feel you have to intervene. For example, you may need to intervene
so that students critique each other in a constructive manner or
compromise for the welfare of the team
