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4.0 TEACHING AND LEARNING METHODS IN DRUG EDUCATION
This section examines the teaching and learning methods used in observed lessons. Section 4.1 reports general patterns in methods, while section 4.2 examines methods employed with different age ranges. Section 4.3 examines any differentiation in methods, and section 4.4 examines methods of using specific packages.
4.1 General Patterns
During the course of each observation the researchers also noted down the methods employed by each teacher for each segment of the lesson or each specific learning activity. The results are summarised in Table C4.1. In most of the observed lessons teachers employed more than one method. Therefore the percentages in the following table relate to the number of lessons in which a particular method was used at least once.
Table C4.1. The teaching and learning methods employed in observed lessons
Teaching and Learning Methods | Number of Examples Observed |
|---|
Structured discussion using circle time, question & answer formats, debates, etc | 106 |
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Sharing, checking and assessing their information through quizzes, card sort activities, drawing up lists, completion exercises, etc | 90 |
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Using a range of different ways to communicate or present findings to others, including presentations, posters, writing guidelines, information leaflets, etc for other pupils and/or parents | 44 |
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Brainstorming on options, attitudes, feelings; unstructured or open-ended discussion; pupils sharing ideas and opinions and learning from each other | 44 |
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Direct teaching with teacher, community police officer, community health worker, school nurse or other visitor providing the input, supported by powerpoint, OHTs or DVDs | 34 |
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Enquiry-based approaches involving some individual or group research on leaflets, information booklets, cards, school-based surveys, website searches. | 19 |
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Learning through watching videos, extracts from television programmes, and watching visiting theatre groups perform plays on relevant topics and themes | 14 |
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Rehearsing and practising different kinds of strategies and solutions to drug-related situations, role play, writing scripts for scenarios, empathising with individuals in particular situations | 12 |
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Problem-solving, prioritising, Diamond Nine activities to identify options and work out what would be the best, safest, most appropriate approach to everyday situations involving drugs | 11 |
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Other (e.g. teacher telling a story, class reading fiction) | 3 |
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Note: Percentages were not used in this table because most observed teachers employed at least two and often up to five different methods in a given lesson.
As can be seen from this table, a wide range of teaching and learning methods were observed in the 40 schools which were visited. The pattern of heavy reliance on videos, which has been commented on by earlier research in several countries was not apparent in the participating Scottish schools. The most commonly-used method was structured discussion often taking the form of whole-class and small-group brainstorming around headings introduced by the teacher. This often encompassed a great deal of information provided by the teacher as part of these activities. The second most frequently employed group of methods involved the use of card sort activities, drawing up lists, quizzes to check what pupils already know and what they have picked up from previous drug education lessons.
Another common group of methods and activities focussed on pupils being asked to use the information on drugs which they have now acquired through either enquiry or structured discussion, to produce posters and guidance for other pupils. Where such methods were used with P6-7 and S1-S2 pupils the messages tended to be stark, e.g. 'Smoking kills!', "X per cent die from sniffing solvents", "Steroids can permanently damage your health", etc. As such they tended to fit more an approach to drugs education concerned primarily with not taking drugs rather than with informed choice or harm reduction. Generally, it was our impression that most of the teachers who employed these methods were mainly concerned with getting the pupils to put pen to paper and to be creative rather than with exploring with them the actual ideas about drug education which underpin he messages they wanted to impart. That is, we saw hardly any examples of teachers clarifying whether a particular message would work with the pupils' own age group or even older pupils and, if not, why not. In such circumstances there is a risk that the focus on 'doing' masks the potential for learning.
Some of the methods which are central to a number of published drug education packages and are often recommended in the literature on good practice in drug education were observed but they were not frequently employed by teachers. These include prioritising activities such as Diamond Nines, problem solving, enquiry-based learning and scripting and role playing strategies for dealing with drug-related situations.
4.2 Methods Employed with Different Year Groups and Age Ranges
The data have been analysed by year group and the results are presented in Table C4.2 below.
Table C4.2. Methods and Age Groups
Methods | Primary | Secondary |
|---|
P1-3 | P4-5 | P6-7 | S1-S2 | S3-S5 |
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Number of Examples Observed |
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Direct teaching | 4 | 2 | 8 | 13 | 7 |
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Structured discussion | 11 | 15 | 29 | 34 | 17 |
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Assessing and checking information | 10 | 12 | 25 | 17 | 26 |
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Enquiry-based learning | 0 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 1 |
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Presenting findings to others | 10 | 6 | 9 | 14 | 5 |
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Problem solving and prioritising | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 1 |
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Unstructured discussion and brainstorming | 3 | 4 | 10 | 11 | 16 |
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Rehearsing and role playing strategies | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
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Watching drama and videos | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 5 |
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Other | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
|---|
Note: Percentages were not used in this table because most observed teachers employed at least two and often up to five different methods in a given lesson.
Most of the teachers, regardless of the age group they were working with, employed structured discussion during the lesson. Use of card-sorting activities, quizzes and completion exercises were spread across the age ranges, although early-years and middle-years classes were more likely to be given completion exercises than quizzes and card sorts.
Enquiry-based learning and presentations of information to others were most likely to be used with S1-S2 pupils but we only observed a relatively small number of examples of this approach in action.
Unstructured discussion and role play were only employed in a small number of lessons as well and these were mostly for upper primary and secondary classes.
More generally there is some evidence here, but it is far from conclusive, that teachers delivering drug education to S1 and S2 classes may be a bit more adventurous than those delivering it to older students.
4.3 Differentiation
It was noted in the sub-section on topics that we did not observe any examples of differentiated topic work in composite classes. The same point also applied to the use of teaching and learning methods. Some teaches with composite classes were taking steps to ensure that their small groups included younger and older pupils, with the latter taking responsibility for seeking out information and acting as scribes. However, where these teachers would usually use different resources, age-related worksheets and differentiated learning activities for number work or reading their approach to drugs education was usually more undifferentiated. We only saw one example of differentiated methods with a composite class and that was where the P4s in a P1-P4 class were given as worksheet to complete at the end of the lesson while the P1-P3 children moved on to something else.
4.4 Methods Used with Specific Packages
Those lessons where teacher were using published packages tended to make more use of structured and unstructured discussion than those lessons where the teacher was not using a package of some kind. Conversely, teachers who were drawing on a school-developed bank of resources tended to be more likely to use direct teaching.
Less use was made of drama and enquiry-based learning in the observed lessons which employed published packages and in the early-years and middle-years classes the teachers not using packages were more likely to use sorting and categorising activities, usually where the children were asked to sort the medicine chest or sort medicines from a bag.
There were a number of methods which were common across most of the published packages - structured and unstructured discussion, creating and displaying lists, illustrating, direct teaching and completion exercises.
Structured discussion featured in all of the published packages but is particularly prominent in those lessons delivered with the Drugwise packages. Here the observed lessons used structured and unstructured discussion, creating and displaying lists and learning through drama, which would have included the video which comes with the pack. It is these methods which the pack itself places an emphasis upon and it appears to have been delivered in the methods in which it was intended. To a lesser extent sorting and categorising and peer-based learning were also observed.
Lessons using What's the Score? also included a high proportion of methods and exercises involving structured and unstructured discussion. These were combined with direct teaching and strategies for sharing and structuring knowledge, such as creating and displaying lists. Other methods observed to a lesser extent included use of presentations, problem-solving exercises and quizzes. What's the Score? appeared to have the widest range of methods of any of the packages we saw in use. However, the results may be slightly distorted as we observed more instances of this package being used than any other.
Glasgow's Health also utilises a relatively wide range of methodsand most of these were observed in the sample of lessons where this package was in use Again, it is mainly delivered through discussion. However, compared to Drugwise Too and What's the Score?, there seemed to be more use of presentations and acting and role play and more emphasis on developing creative ways to present key messages to others.
The Police Box and STEPS lessons predominantly used the methods of structured and unstructured discussion, and organising information through creating and displaying lists. We observed few examples of other methods, such as direct teaching, completion exercises and sorting and categorising being used.
In lessons using both the Delta packages the main method observed in use tended to be direct teaching with some role play, even though the packs put a lot of emphasis on structured and unstructured discussion and brainstorming and drawing up lists of information.
The BBC Resource Pack lesson which we observed used both structured discussion and problem-solving exercises. However, it was difficult to infer much from this as only one lesson was observed. Nevertheless, it appeared to be in keeping with the intentions of the package.
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