The benefits of explicit instruction

Explicit instruction involves teaching skills explicitly. To be successful with this approach. a tutor must know specifically where a sudent is struggling and instruct explicitly to this area.

For example, there can be many underlying reasons why a student might struggle with comprehension. Simply getting a student to complete more comprehension exercises could be a waste of time, if the underlying cause for the difficulty is unknown and if instruction is not explicit.  

In maths, many students struggle with wotded problems but asking them to simply do more worded problems as practice may again, be a waste of time. The issue may be based on literacy, specifically comprehension or could be a numeracy based. Again, instruction must be explicit in order for the student to improve their skills and understanding.

If your tutor does not understand explicit instruction then do you need a different tutor? Should your child have individualised instruction as opposed to group classes in a tuition centre? 

Please speak to Jenny if this raises questions for you, or if you are unsure about the type of tuition your child might need. 

 

To read more about explicit instruction for reading, please read the article in The Australian.