The TEEP Model

TEEP explores active and effective learning behaviours in the areas of collaborating, thinking and metacognition, and communicating. We look at ways to help students construct meaning in their learning, monitor their own progress and reflect on the whole process.

There is a wealth of research on this topic, and the TEEP programme draws on this to summarise
teacher effectiveness under four headings-

• Classroom climate,
• Classroom management,
• Whole class interactive teaching,
• Variety of teaching and learning styles

Effective teacher behaviours underpin the TEEP model- it is designed to support teachers in
developing and applying the behaviours in the classroom.

The TEEP model recognises that assessment is an important tool in the learning process. As the term Assessment for Learning implies, any assessment should lead to improved learning outcomes for students. The TEEP model explores strategies and techniques that support teachers and students to give and receive quality feedback, use assessment in a purposeful and on-going way, supports a positive approach to learning and makes sense to the Learner.

Our students are growing up in a world that increasingly uses ICT to communicate knowledge, ideas and information. The digital world is their present and their future. Teachers need to be constantly seeking  opportunities to use ICT to reflect real world examples that will enhance student learning The use of a range of technologies like cameras, game consoles, mp3 players, mobile phones, computers, and  electronic white- boards can be used by students and teachers to enhance teaching and learning.

Thinking is a process that invites the learner to make sense of the information at hand. It is the way to understanding. The TEEP model explores strategies and techniques, to support and develop higher order thinking in order to deepen understanding and enrich student learning.

Accelerated learning is the term that the TEEP model uses to describe the techniques and strategies that we use to actively engage learners in learning. It is based on research of brain function, student motivation and multiple intelligences and provides a platform for life-long learning by promoting the importance of understanding how we learn as much as what we learn.

Collaborative learning is an approach to teaching and learning that involves groups of students working and learning together to complete a task, solve a problem or create a product.

“It is based on the idea that learning is a naturally social process during which participants talk amongst themselves. It is through the talk that the learning occurs.” Gerlach 1994

Teachers will strategically work with their students to develop a climate that is conducive to learning. It will include consideration of 3 main areas:

• The physical environment
• The social/emotional environment
• The intellectual environment
  

Teachers explicitly share the purpose of the lesson/s with their students so that the students are in no doubt as to what is expected of them during the lesson. The teacher will:

• Make the content, skills and thinking explicit
• State clearly what the students will have learned by the end of the lesson
• Share the criteria against which the learning will be assessed.

Now students will be presented with or introduced to the new information that they are required work with. Teachers need to consider what will be the best way to present the information so that it provides for maximum inclusion of the students.

Students are given the time and opportunity to develop understanding of the new information and to practice using their developing skills. The students are actively engaged in exploring the content. At this time it would be common for them to be working in groups, talking with each other about, their work quite often making errors but most of all working towards building a personal understanding what they have been presented with.

Students are participating in a task or tasks that will allow them to demonstrate their developing understanding of the content that was presented. During this time teachers and students may be involved in assessing and evaluating the outcomes of the students’ learning. Over time there should be a variety of techniques and methods used to determine the levels of achievement

Reviewing is a critical element in the process of teaching and learning as it is at this point that teachers can challenge the students to make their learning explicit.  Although Review is the last of the elements of the cycle to be described, it should not be seen as coming only at the end of a lesson. It is useful to include different review opportunities throughout every lesson so that teachers and students can identify challenges and supports, and strengths and weaknesses. Review is a significant part of developing metacognitive awareness.