What are the Marzano’s Instructional Strategies that the Best CBSE school in Noida Extension Follow?

posted on Feb 19, 2020

The struggles of schools to implement the right instructional strategies are real. One can easily say that inquiry-based learning can create engagement and thus, must be followed by all schools.

The struggles of schools to implement the right instructional strategies are real. One can easily say that inquiry-based learning can create engagement and thus, must be followed by all schools. But what about the shy students who refrain from asking or answering questions? Then, the argument can also hold that adding project-based learning can take care of that drawback. But how do you then fit students who prefer the instructional approach rather than fidgeting with laboratory equipment? Including both the techniques is the next obvious answer. But schools only have so much time on their hands to complete the whole curriculum and have to include other non-academic activities as well. The best CBSE school in Noida Extension does follow the right mix of modern learning and instructional strategies and it will agree that creating that perfect blend is a continuous process.

No school can set forth a set of learning strategies that they can conclusively say will work for all classes. Every batch of students will bring their own unique learning demands and the schools have to modify their approach on those lines. It is indeed fortunate now that the best CBSE school in Noida Extension is willing to follow such an adaptive method. Even when the going is tough, they are simply refraining from falling back to the old rules where all students were put into a single curriculum.

Is the struggle never-ending then?

It might appear that way. Going back is not an option that schools can afford in the 21^st-century. Neither is there a ready-made learning mix which the schools can immediately adopt. But there are educational researchers around the globe who are combining data-driven and research-based facts and coming up with instruction proposals that can work in almost all classrooms. One such researcher is Robert J. Marzano and one of his famed proposals is the 9-9 Instructional Strategies which he published in his acclaimed book, ‘Classroom Instruction That Works’, back in 2001.

Here, Marzano lists 9 effective instructional strategies that schools can adopt in their classrooms to enable their students to achieve higher educational engagement, learn better, and of course, result in high yield and overall performance. Every suggested strategy is backed by both data and research and naturally, it is not uncommon that you will find those approaches in place in the best CBSE school in Noida Extension. So, what are those 9 effective instructional strategies? And how full-proof are they? The next section gives a detailed overview.

Marzano’s 9 effective instructional strategies

The core intent of the following strategies was to revolutionise teaching, end the struggle to some extent, and simultaneously lead to student achievement. The book has naturally received a few revisions since its first publication but these proposed instructional strategies have remained the same.

1. Identifying similarities and differences in concepts

You can match this instructional strategy with the principles of inter-disciplinary learning that the top schools in Noida Extension follow. Marzano says that teachers need to possess the ability to completely deconstruct a particular concept, relate it to similar concepts and also state what it is not by identifying the differences. This helps the students to connect the new concept to the existing information in their memories and better grasp the matter at hand. Similar to inter-disciplinary learning where science teachers often take help of mathematics to reach the appropriate base, connecting concepts to each other help educators to build on the already existing knowledge foundation of students and speed up the whole process.

Research has naturally proven that this strategy works. After all, our biological wiring to learn follows a similar pattern. When we encounter something new, our minds immediately start searching for relevant connections and identify differences to remember what it is not. This is why a particular smell seems similar and a voice appears known. When teachers follow nature’s rule of learning, it goes without saying that the matter’s retention among students will be high.

2. Summarising and taking notes

Note-taking in classrooms cannot go obsolete. Yes, the traditional dictation method can receive some modification but students still need to carry notebooks to classrooms. Marzano says that the summarising and note-taking instructional strategy helps to improve comprehension. It paves the path for retention and future revisions. When the teachers are actually teaching the subject, students are having to consume a lot of information at a stretch. The attention span of children is not that developed to concentrate completely all the while the teacher is speaking. During summarisation, the teacher merely focusses on the important points of the entire lesson and students immediately revisit the parts that they might have missed out on. In the note-taking session that accompanies summarisation, those concepts get further rooted as there is seldom a better way to remember things than writing down.

Another reason why the best CBSE schools in Noida Extension emphasize greatly on the summarisation and note-taking strategy is the impact of recall has on memory. When students are presented with information and later asked to recall, that specific data tends to stay in the mind for a longer time. With this method of instruction, teachers can tackle both comprehension and retention, as Marzano stated in his book.

3. Reinforcing effort and providing recognition

Saying a “good job” if a student answers a question correctly or reading out the best essay to the class comes under this instructional strategy. Providing recognition can go a long way to motivate students and the best CBSE school in Noida Extension acknowledges that. Reinforcing effort lays the groundwork for greater ambitions and hard work. If students feel that their input is going to be valued in the classroom from where they can draw appreciation, they will willingly participate in the lessons. Marzano stresses the importance of building a correlation between achievement, effort, and recognition. Teachers need to shower the due appreciations of students wherever possible.

The strategy also devalues tangible rewards to some extent. Marzano encourages the use the symbolic recognition and gestures regularly as opposed to just sticking to grading assignments and presenting a prize later. Teachers also must keep in mind to appreciate all students for their own merits and make sure no child feels singled out. In the reinforcing effort and providing recognition strategy, teachers need to acknowledge right impromptu answers, put up students’ paintings on classroom walls, print essays on school magazines, and also praise the class’s effort to tackle an unfinished project.

4. Homework and practice

No matter what the popular belief is, the best CBSE school in Noida Extension will never abolish the practice of homework. And Marzano backed this instructional strategy with this extensive research and data. The educational researcher has argued in his book that learning is not a one-time job. Students cannot learn a new concept and afford to never visit it again. They need regular practice, that escalates learning, and homework is the way to do it. Teachers should set meaningful homework that has specific goals and outcomes clearly stated. Where most schools go astray is that they tend to set assignments without setting a learning destination and that is what has earned the strategy its bad fame.

Marzano also states that teachers must do their very best to provide students with all the resources they will ever need to complete the assignment. If students feel that there is a lack of tools to complete the project at hand, a delay is inevitable. Here, digital communication is vital where educators can merely share the relevant links to all students with a mere click of a button. Or the teacher can simply direct the students to the relevant resources available in the school’s library. Either way, homework needs to intentional and resourceful.

5. Non-linguistic representations

Simply stated, including visuals, images, animations, and other such non-linguistic media to aid in concept reinforcement and improve vocabulary. Smart educational technology has already brought about this revolution. In fact, nearly two decades later from the time when Marzano first proposed this instructional strategy, non-linguistic representation has currently the most extensive application. With the help of smart boards, projectors, and internet connectivity, the best CBSE school in Noida Extension is already including visual media into their lessons and taking assistance from the various online educational tools. Today’s students are also tech-savvy enough to incorporate such resources in their assignments and projects and are making full use of the available potential with backing from their school.

The direct challenge that teachers face while implementing the non-linguistic representation strategy digitally is including value. Not all online educational resources are enriching or helpful and some work to distract students rather than feed their curiosity. However, including such resources into the lessons has already shown an increased level of engagement, greater willingness to learn and lower rates of monotony. This practice is here to stay as more schools are actively adopting it in their classrooms.

6. Cooperative learning

Or, group engagement. Taking reference again from nature’s design of human beings, we are meant to function as a social group. We are supposed to learn from each other, take inspiration from each other, and help each other to move forward in our present quest. The cooperative learning instructional strategy taps into this natural instinct of students right in the classrooms. Marzano proposed organising students into small groups every now and then and strategically placing educational roles to these teams. Students can explain answers among the group, participate in debates, engage in shared reading, and work in group reports. With cooperative learning, the benchmark of education in the best CBSE school in Noida Extension leaves individual boundaries. The entire group escalates to the intended level.

However, Marzano has been specific about the teachers’ abilities to use the potential of cooperative learning. Just like learning from each other works, it might also create unnecessary dependency. Hence, the suggested method entails strategic use and not overuse and the teachers must dawn the responsibility of assigning group roles and functions. Cooperative learning is powerful; hence, caution is primary.

7. Setting objectives and providing feedback

Only the best CBSE school in Noida Extension currently follows a goal-oriented instructional strategy even when Marzano has clearly stated its importance back in 2001. Setting objectives or goals of learning gives students a sense of direction. They know what they are working towards rather than following instructions blindly. And once a goal is achieved, students feel accomplished. They automatically start searching for the next goal and sets to work to achieve it as well. With proper feedback in the loop, students get to evaluate their progress. When they see that the completion of the goal is near, their intrinsic motivation gives the required push. The objectives and feedback approach to instructions is entitling in nature. It is similar to breaking down the bigger picture into small achievable chunks rather than tackling the entire story.

Writing about this instructional strategy, Marzano has been specific about the educational goals being adaptable. Teachers must set objectives depending on the class’s learning needs rather than simply focusing on the curriculum’s timeline. Plus, more than two lessons cannot have the same goal. Students will soon lose interest as the end will seem far away and the process dragging in nature. For effectivity, the goals need to be realistic. And the associated feedback measurable and proper.

8. Generating and testing the hypothesis

This is Marzano’s instructional strategy where the control of education rests with the students. By generating and testing the hypothesis, Marzano directs teachers to allow their students the platform and freedom to form their own theories, bounce them against each other, critically analyse the situation and solve the problem at hand. You can also imagine it as making way for meaningful discussions in the classrooms. On a specific topic, students at the best CBSE school in Noida Extension are at complete liberty to generate their own hypotheses and test their relevance. This promotes constructive social interaction, encourages rational reasoning, inspires positive conflict, and leads to better decision making. In a way, this instructional strategy also accommodates skill development that is so crucial in the present age.

Allowing students to share their own hypotheses also brings in different perspectives. Plus, every student participating in the discussion feels that their voices are heard in the classroom and will naturally engage better. Here, it is the students to control the flow of education. It is the students who decide whether the discussion should be textbook-oriented or focus on real-world problems. Education needs to become bidirectional, at times. The freedom element must exist.

9. Questions, cues, and advance organisers

In a way, Marzano talked about the now-popular inquiry-based learning technique followed by the best CBSE school in Noida Extension while suggesting his last effective learning strategy. He stressed the importance of introducing a specific set of questions or cues with the help of advanced organisers before the start of each lesson. Then, allowing the students ample time to come up with their responses and analysis. And when the young minds have brainstormed enough, presenting them with the intended facts of the lessons leading to appropriate inferences and conclusions. As already known, inquiry-based learning or question-oriented instructional strategy first spurs curiosity, a need to know, and when the information is presented right after that, retention is naturally better.

The success of asking questions before lessons are already acknowledged. However, what teachers struggle with is manage enough time to fit all these within the limited class hours. Plus, not every student might be willing to ask questions or answer them owing to their introverted nature and that is where teachers need to come up with strategies to include all. Random selection of students to participate can help. Maintaining answer bowls may also work. It depends on the class, again, and its needs and the teachers must adapt accordingly.

Every instructional strategy is high-yielding

Which is only natural as Robert J. Marzano has backed all his findings with research-driven data. Many of them have evolved their moniker and are now known as common educational terms like smart classes and collaborative learning. The best CBSE school in Noida Extension may not directly state that it is indeed following Marzano’s 9 effective instructional strategies but the effort from its end will be visible. The classrooms will have a mix of these approaches, maybe with a few more, where the sole purpose is to assure student achievement. Marzano is a great believer in adaptability. And good schools take cues from these strategies and adapt as per their educational ambiance. These instructional methods are not absolute. They are mere guides that facilitate better classroom education.

The curriculum pedagogy of the BGS Vijnatham school, the best CBSE school in Noida Extension, is designed exactly on the lines of these working strategies. BGS believes that learning is ongoing, activity-based, adaptable, rigorous, and personalised which are nothing but evolved terms of Marzano’s researched-backed instructional suggestions. The school places its students under a goal-oriented curriculum, encourages questions and meaningful discussions, adapts to specific learning needs, and believes in always creating engagement. It is in the school’s ethos to follow effective instructional strategies that work. And the results are visible in BGS’s continuous performance.

It might be difficult for most schools to create that perfect pedagogy. But only the best CBSE school in Noida Extension understands that perfection lies in the simplicity of things and empowering students to control their education.