Best Practices in Education

Zemelman, Daniels, and Hyde (2005).

Best Practices in Education is defined as serious, thoughtful, informed, responsible, state-of-the-art teaching.  Teaching must be research-based using up-to-date resources and tools for educating others.

Principles of Best Practices

1.) Student-Centered 

Schools should take cues from students' interests, concerns, and questions.  Learning must be an experimental approach where students have opportunities for hands-on experiences.  Learning is also a holistic approach, which means learning material as whole-to-part where big ideas are broken down into meaningful contexts.  Authentic learning is an essential part of teaching in order to make learning meaningful, rich, where students can apply their learning to real-life experiences. 

Fred Newman and colleagues came up with the following:  Students construct their knowledge, draw conclusions, elaborate their understanding, apply topics to their everyday lives, and be able to demonstrate prior knowledge when a topic is introduced.

2.) Cognitive in Nature

Powerful learning comes from cognitive experiences.  Students' prior knowledge must be activated in order to comprehend real-life schemata.  Students must learn metacognition, or thinking about their thinking or reasoning.  This usually takes place when reading in context.  Learning must be developmentally appropriate where a differentiated approach is essential so that all students can learn. 

3.) Social

Social reflections promote learning.  Collaborative learning is one of the most effective social learning strategies.  Democratic procedures in a classroom can allow students to learn more effectively.  Students should be given opportunities to express their sense thinking and reasoning in a social atmosphere with their peers.    

The strongest influence on the subject matter in the curriculum is Standards-Based Reform Movement.  This movement was designed to create excellence and give students a quality education.  It is directly linked to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

*Culturally Responsive Teaching is a pivotal Best Practice.  It is essential for teachers to know the cultures of the students they educate.