Instructional Communication Practices: A Guide to Effective Learning and Teaching

The 21st century learner has had much exposure to information through new information technologies and, in most cases, they are much ahead of the teacher. This therefore calls for new approaches to classroom instruction. Tanui, Choge and Ndegwa discuss new approaches to teaching and learning aimed at making the teacher more informed and a better instructional planner. The authors also seek to make learners active and motivated participants in the learning process. This book maintains that, it is the learner who receives, interprets and gives meaning to the information from the teacher. Therefore, the main function of a teacher is to guide learners through activities to enable them construct the intended learning outcome(s).

This book also highlights on the classroom environment and how it affects learning. The teacher needs to manage the class environment to provide safety and sense of belonging to learners. The book brings out these into perspective based on the need for emotional, cognitive and social support for the learner. In addition, the book discusses the importance of feedback during instruction. This is achieved through formative and summative approaches. This book also sheds light on special needs learning, a vital element since most education systems have integrated handicapped learners into the regular system. There is therefore need to make all teachers acquire skills for the whole class of students. To add to the growing corpus on the teaching profession, the authors also discuss the attributes of the profession. The professional aspects are needed in this profession to bring back the adage “teaching is a noble profession” which will remind teachers of their valuable position in the world today. This is thus a conclusive book giving balanced content for students, teachers and general public.