Evolutionary Lesson Style

Recently I attended a workshop on lesson planning and it was both good fun and very informative. It turned out we, conciously or not, use one of the 5 lesson styles:

• progressive
• topical
• unconnected
• skills-centred
• evolutionary

During the workshop I remarked that the evolutionary lesson style (ie. kick it off, wait what comes up and deal with on the spot) appeals to me greatly as it is definitely student-centred and student-driven but, like most non-native teachers, I am not very confident about putting it to use. The very prospect of facing the unknown and handing the reins over is intimidating to many.

It dawned on me though that encouraging learners to take charge of our lessons and bring their own materials imposes the evolutionary lesson style and requires lots of self-confidence, experience, knowledge, creativity and flexibility on the teacher's part. This prospect is indeed worrying and my only hope is that the teacher - student distinction disappears as both learners work together to unearth the meaning and learn from each other.