No single best method

one of the professional skills of a teacher is to know how to use all of these different approaches and when to

apply them. there is no single best way of teaching and that is even more true in the 21st century than in the past.

teachers today need to know how to combine “guided discovery” with “direct instruction” methods, depending

on the individual students, the context of instruction and the aims of the teaching. one extensive review22

concludes that innovative learning environments are characterized by a good balance between discovery and

personal exploration on the one hand, and systematic instruction and guidance on the other, all the while bearing

in mind individual differences in students’ abilities, needs and motivation. It also finds that the balance between

external regulation by the teacher and self-regulation by the student will vary during the student’s education: as

the student’s own competence increases, the share of self-regulation can also grow while explicit instructional

support can diminish.

research finds that most of the preferred methods and approaches result in positive learning outcomes when they

are done well. this means that teachers must have a good understanding of how particular approaches are used and

must be flexible enough to adapt and apply them to different situations or students. The drive to enlarge teachers’

repertoires is, then, less a matter of encouraging innovation than of improving student learning.

desIgnIng eCosysTems For A 21sT-CenTury TeAChIng profession

consider what would happen if you were on an airplane and the pilot came on the intercom as you were starting

your descent and said, “I’ve always wanted to try this without the flaps.” Or if your surgeon said to you in your presurgical conference, “you know, I’d really like to do it this way. I originally learned how to do it in 1978.” Would

you be a willing participant in this?

one of the key challenges for the teaching profession is to strengthen the “technical core” of its professional

practices. What does it take to improve the use and dissemination of proved and promising teaching practices?

how do we generate and share cumulative knowledge in education? this requires the development of educational

ecosystems that support the creation, accumulation and diffusion of this professional knowledge.

turning teaching into an even more knowledge-intensive profession implies a re-consideration of how knowledge is

generated and applied within education. an ecosystem conducive to innovation and constant improvement is based

on the attitudes and prevailing culture of the various players in the sector, the development and transmission of

knowledge, and initiative and calculated risk-taking. such ecosystems need to draw on four sources: innovation and

knowledge inspired by science (research and evaluation); innovation inspired by firms (entrepreneurial development

of new products and services); innovation and knowledge inspired by practitioners (teachers, school heads); and

innovation inspired by users (students, parents, communities)

ConClusIons

Many nations around the world have undertaken a wide range of reforms of curriculum, instruction, and assessments

with the intention of better preparing all children for the higher educational demands of life and work in the 21st century.

various frameworks have been developed to systematize the skills that young people need to be successful in this

rapidly changing world and to identify the competencies which teachers need, in turn, to effectively teach those skills

to their students. the demands placed on teachers in the 21st century are high: teachers need to be well-versed in

the subjects they teach in order to be adept at using different methods and, if necessary, changing their approaches

to optimize learning. they need a rich repertoire of teaching strategies, the ability to combine approaches, and the

knowledge of how and when to use certain methods and strategies. such strategies should include direct, whole-group

teaching, guided discovery, group work, and the facilitation of self-study and individual discovery. they should also

include personalized feedback. importantly, teachers also need to have a deep understanding of how learning happens,

in general, and of individual students’ motivations, emotions and lives outside the classroom, in particular. Teachers

need to be able to work in highly collaborative ways, working with other teachers, professionals and para-professionals

within the same organization, or with individuals in other organizations, networks of professional communities and

different partnership arrangements, which may include mentoring teachers. last but not least, teachers need to acquire

strong skills in technology and the use of technology as an effective teaching tool, to both optimize the use of digital

resources in their teaching and use information-management systems to track student learning.

this leads to the question: What teacher preparation programs are needed to prepare graduates who are ready

to teach well in a 21st century classroom? one of the key challenges for the teaching profession is to strengthen

the “technical core” of its professional practices which requires the development of educational ecosystems that

support the creation, accumulation and diffusion of this professional knowledge. such ecosystems need to draw on

four sources: innovation and knowledge inspired by science (research and evaluation); innovation inspired by firms

(entrepreneurial development of new products and services); innovation and knowledge inspired by practitioners

(teachers, school heads); and innovation inspired by users (students, parents, communities). While the evidence

base in this area is only emerging, this chapter has identified a range of promising practices in these areas

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