Teaching Methods: Individualized vs. Socialized vs. Globalized Approaches
Method, Technique, and Procedure
The teaching method is the rational and practical organization of media, teaching techniques, and procedures to direct student learning toward desired outcomes. It proceeds in an orderly fashion to achieve increased knowledge transfer and training. Essentially, it is a specific order based on a set of rules.
The technique comprises the concrete ways to implement a specific teaching method. These are the instruments used throughout the course, appropriate to each method. The method is broader than the technique.
The procedure is a set of steps geared toward achieving a goal or objective. It is the way to effectively develop any activity—the particular path followed when implementing a method.
Individualized Instruction
The principle of individualization considers each individual as unique and integral to education, adapting to each student’s characteristics for both individual and social development.
Individualized teaching methods assume quantitative (grade level) and qualitative (learning style) differences between individuals in developing mental faculties. This individual psychology calls for differentiated teaching, accepting that children develop primarily through personal experiences.
An individualized plan includes the minimum program (instrumental and social matters), while socialization is linked to creative activities or development.
To achieve effective individualized teaching:
- Determine the normal age for each agenda item through careful experimental research.
- Differentiate students according to mental age.
Students move progressively as they complete portions of the program using rich materials, without needing to change classes.
Examples of individualized teaching include: the Dalton Plan, the Winnetka System, Skinner’s thesis, and the Crowder system.
Socialized Education
Socialized education methods primarily aim for social integration, developing group work skills, and a sense of community. Originating from the New School movement of the early 20th century, they remodel schoolwork, changing the traditional school’s course.
The teacher views concepts and knowledge not as rigid but as functional and dynamic. The fixed curriculum and subject classifications are de-emphasized. School becomes less about teaching specific subjects and more about creating an environment where activities constantly involve speaking, writing, counting, measuring, and calculating correctly.
There’s no fixed schedule for individual knowledge, but rather a climate of activity where the professor acts as a guide. The group’s cohesion is fostered by furniture and materials organized by the group itself.
These methods, including the Freinet system, the Project Method, and the Cousinet-Kilpatrick method, offer the advantages of active group work. However, teachers must monitor for inconstancy and fickleness.
Globalized Education
Globalization in education represents a historical trend since the early 20th-century New School, grouping content around children’s interests. Today, it’s a facet of “interdisciplinary” learning, essentially interdisciplinarity applied to basic education.
Globalization requires interest, which arises when a child feels a need or tendency toward something. Instead of integrating courses and lessons, it focuses on two points of interest:
- The child and their needs
- The child and their environment
Through these centers of interest, the child studies all necessary “subjects,” regardless of traditional subject boundaries. This globalization is enhanced by the interconnectedness of these two interest types. Each focus develops through three stages:
- Observation
- Association
- Expression
The Decroly method exemplifies this globalized “centers of interest” system.