Helping Behaviour and Key Behavior in Effective Teaching

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Helping Behavior

In the context of teaching, helping behavior refers to the actions or behaviors of a teacher that support and assist students in their learning process. It involves providing guidance, support, and resources to help students overcome challenges, understand concepts, and achieve academic success. Examples of helping behavior include

  • using student ideas and contributions,
  • structuring lessons with advance organizers and summaries,
  • questioning to stimulate thinking and problem-solving, probing for deeper understanding, and
  • developing a positive teacher-learner relationship through enthusiasm and effective communication.

Key Behavior

The text mentions five key behaviors identified by T. Good and J. Brophy in 1987 that are essential for effective teaching. These key behaviors play a significant role in promoting student learning and engagement. The five key behaviors are:

  1. Lesson clarity: Teachers should present ideas in a clear, step-by-step order, minimizing distractions and ensuring that learners at all levels can understand them. Techniques like using advance organizers and summaries can help enhance clarity.
  2. Instructional variety: Teachers should employ a variety of teaching tools, such as technology, materials, activities, space, and displays, to keep the instruction engaging and diverse. Varying the voice, gestures, and question types also contribute to instructional variety.
  3. Teacher task orientation: Teachers should manage their time effectively, handle interruptions promptly, organize lessons well, and establish smooth transitions to maximize instructional time.
  4. Engagement in the learning process: Teachers should constantly monitor students’ seat work and group work, set clear rules for leaving the class without disruption, maintain a daily schedule, and provide independent work that is interesting and appropriately challenging.
  5. Student success rate: Students should spend a significant portion of their time on tasks that allow them to understand the material with minimal errors. The content should build upon prior learning and present new material in easily comprehensible steps.

These key behaviors collectively contribute to effective teaching practices and positively impact student learning outcomes.

These behaviors can be remembered using their short form LITES.