Variety, pace – interest and motivation
Boredom and disinterest are the great enemies of learning. Regardless of whether or not a teacher is facilitating experiential activities, or teaching in a way that accommodates different learning styles and preferences, the simple idea of variety can make a big difference in itself, by reducing the potential for loss of interest and engagement.
The world has changed. Though there is still a case for limited amounts of rote learning in some circumstances, there is widespread agreement that learners are likely to learn best when they are interested, motivated and engaged. There is a cost however – a lot more preparation and different resources may be required, and often the practical requirements of educating large numbers of learners severely limit the extent to which variety of activity can be accomplished. It can however be done in many cases. Much comes down to the planning and in particular the planning of the pace of a learning session.
In my own teaching I use images, video, music, practical exercises, role-playing and other strategies to help achieve variety and to keep the pace up. I have found that this has been easier to accomplish in adult/tertiary teaching environments than in secondary schools.
Fifty or sixty years ago, few educators would have considered this an important part of their teaching. Schools were primarily following a military/behavioural model. Students went there to be filled with knowledge, they were expected to do what they were told and to learn what was put in front of them whether they liked it or not. This was possibly explained as part of developing self-discipline and preparation for the world of work that they would encounter on leaving school. The main approaches were, chalk-and-talk and lecture, perhaps with occasional references to monochrome diagrams or pictures if you were in a subject that required it. Students were there to soak up and memorise information and gain skills by rote learning and repetition.