Teacher using direct instruction in whole class lesson.

Direct Instruction Works—But Balance Makes It Better

On my X (Twitter) feed lately, I’m seeing a large amount of posts that advocate for teacher-dominated, whole group, explicit instruction.  And it’s true–we do need to teach foundational skills–and so much more–explicitly.  Vocabulary and reading comprehension strategy instruction also benefit from whole-group, explicit instruction.  Yes, direct instruction works.  But there’s a whole lot more to consider. 

The call for primarily direct, explicit instruction leaves out three very important points.

First, there is a place for inquiry-based learning.  I’m not going to dig into this today. But as a way to pique curiosity and to explore how a concept you’ve just taught works, inquiry is an excellent tool for increasing student engagement and critical thinking.  

Second, the time direct teaching takes can be quite lengthy. Even a fantastic “perky pace” vocabulary lesson can take nearly 20 minutes (as demonstrated by Anita Archer’s middle school lesson here.) When you consider the short literacy block most of us have, this is a significant chunk. Especially if you’re teaching more than just vocabulary with this approach, like phonics.  

In Reading Above the Fray, Julia B. Lindsey shares a note of caution about this.  She says, “When you start focusing on word reading, it’s all too easy to overdo it.  You might be tempted to create a time of day for each foundational skill:  a phonological awareness block, a phonics block, a fluency block, and so on. This won’t serve your students.” She goes on to explain that these skills “must be applied in concert” and that research doesn’t even support this siloed approach (pg 44).

While direct teaching works and  has an important place, it means less time for other important parts of literacy instruction.

Things like independent reading and writing, small group instruction, and shared writing and reading. 

Also concerning, advocacy for a predominance of teacher-led, whole group direct instruction leaves out the fact that every child comes to us with different levels of knowledge and experience. 

Thinking back to my many years as a K/1 teacher, I saw this every single year. You, no doubt, see this too.  Some came to school  already reading very well with strong comprehension. Those students tended to also have larger vocabularies, which of course directly impacts reading comprehension and strength of writing. Some came to school never having picked up a book or pencil and didn’t know a single letter.  Some couldn’t even recognize their own name.  There was an obvious need for different levels of support. 

“Learning does not happen in the same way for all people because cultural influences are influential from the beginning of life.”

Pearson & Tierney

Let’s talk vocabulary as an example of why direct instruction cannot do it all.

We know that language comprehension is crucial.  But teaching vocabulary words is only part of language development. What kids bring to us from their own home lives and their culture play a major role.  Socioeconomic factors are often associated with degree of experience.  Level of English proficiency also varies greatly.  And let’s be honest.  Wide variance could also be due to the massive detrimental impact on vocabulary (and attention span) that constant device use has caused. These considerations go far beyond “teaching vocabulary” and it’s something teachers must be keenly aware of.

Every classroom contains students of various backgrounds and experiences.

Background knowledge, upbringing, and culture matter. A lot. Which very much affects how we should respond as teachers.  Nell Duke reminds us  that educators would do well to understand “how and why race, religious background, socioeconomic status, and other factors impact the reading process—why social justice concerns are relevant, even in understanding the process of reading.”  Duke also says, in her explanation behind the need to move away from the Simple View of Reading to a more comprehensive model,  that “indeed, knowledge from one’s cultural experiences affects listening and reading comprehension.”

Teachers are charged with helping every child learn the content of their grade level and the accompanying skills associated with that content, no matter where students are.  In other words, because students come to us at different levels, they need different levels of instruction. 

As I saw in my own K/1 experience (and frankly it showed up in every grade level even beyond K/1), the base vocabulary and learning experiences that every child comes with from their home lives means that not only are word meanings more or less accessible to each child, it also means that concepts will be more or less accessible to each child.  

Giving the same level of whole group, direct instruction will not hit the mark for all students.

In their book Fact-Checking the Science of Reading, Tierney and Pearson caution “it is a step too far to assume that all students would profit in the same ways from high-fidelity implementation of particular practices.” We cannot just blindly follow a given curriculum without taking our students, and what they come with, into consideration..

And we must bear this in mind when we design our instructional approach.

Vocabulary isn’t the only thing kids come with varying degrees of knowledge about.  They also come with a variety of knowledge of story structure, print concepts, and  letter and sound knowledge, to name a few more.  And I think every math teacher out there would shout a resounding “here, here!” when it comes to the concepts they’re responsible for teaching. 

Which begs the question: why is there such a push for blanket, treat-everyone-the- same, whole group, direct instruction? 

The answer lies in wanting to ensure equitable, strong instruction.  A noble goal we all share.  But in approaching instruction only in this way, many kids will inevitably not get what they need.  Teaching everything this way is bound to leave some kids in the dust and will also be far below what others are ready for. 

So what’s a teacher to do?

Some tips:
Teacher in green shirt with chalk outline of balance scale above her head thinking about balancing whole group instruction and small group instruction.
Balance is key when it comes to instruction! Image from ra2studio.
  • Remember:  fidelity to students, not fidelity to curriculum. Curriculum is nothing more than a teaching tool.  
  • Keep in mind that literacy is meant to be integrated. Real application of even foundational  reading and writing skills is not only best practice, it’s what the National Reading Panel advised all those years ago about phonics when they said that it is “critical to objectively determine the ways in which systematic phonics instruction can be optimally incorporated and integrated in complete and balanced programs of reading instruction.”
  • Carefully consider how much time you’re spending on instruction, direct or otherwise. If you’re constantly running out of time, you might need to reconsider the time allocations you’re providing. My favorite way to ensure there’s time for it all? Combining reading and writing lessons into just one lesson whenever possible (and it’s very, very often possible.) 
  • Send the message that reading and writing are a natural part of the day.  Literacy cannot and should not just happen inside of the “ELA block.” Integrating literacy into content and content into literacy will also relieve you of the pressure of trying to fit it all in….and will provide enormous benefit to students.

Who is Coach from the Couch??  I’m Michelle, a 25-year veteran educator, currently a K-5 literacy coach.  I continue to learn alongside teachers in classrooms each and every day, and it’s my mission to support as many teachers as I can.  Because no one can do this work alone. I’m available to you, too, through virtual coaching calls!  

Simply email me at [email protected] or reach out for a coaching call! I’m here to partner with you to build that foundation of student motivation for writing so your students can realize greater success.

Or, join my Facebook community–a safe, supportive environment (really–no blame or shame allowed!)  where you can ask questions, learn ideas, and share your thoughts among other literacy-loving educators! 

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