Levels of Teaching

Teaching can be conducted at three levels of increasing depth, each linked to a thinker and a type of learning. Memory level (Herbart) aims at retention and recall of facts. Understanding level (Morrison) aims at grasping meaning, principles and relationships. Reflective level (Hunt) aims at independent thinking, problem-solving and critical judgment. They form a hierarchy: understanding includes memory, and reflection includes both.

The memory level is the lowest, often called “thoughtless” teaching because the learner reproduces information without grasping its meaning. Its objective is knowledge acquisition and retention (corresponding to the knowledge category of Bloom). The teacher is the active transmitter and the learner a passive receiver, so it is highly teacher-centred and rooted in the “empty vessel” view. Learning here is rote, reproductive and often uses drill, repetition, mnemonics and cramming. It is evaluated by recall-type or objective tests. It is suitable for facts that must simply be remembered (tables, formulae, vocabulary, dates), and it is a necessary foundation, but if teaching stops here, students cannot apply what they know. Herbart’s five formal steps are the lesson-plan model associated with this level: Preparation, Presentation, Association (comparison), Generalisation and Application.

At this level the learner must see the relationship between facts and the principles behind them, so that knowledge can be used in new situations. Morrison’s mastery approach is built on insight: the learner can explain, generalise and apply in his or her own words. It is reconstructive rather than reproductive learning. The teacher’s role changes from a mere transmitter to a guide who explains with examples, uses questions and builds scaffolding, and the learner is more active than at the memory level but still depends on the teacher for direction. It is assessed with essay and short-answer tests that demand explanation, and with objective tests that require application. Morrison’s teaching cycle has five steps: Exploration, Presentation, Assimilation, Organisation and Recitation.

The reflective level is the highest and most demanding. The learner is placed in a problem situation and must use analysis, imagination and judgment to find a solution, so learning is problem-centred, active, independent and creative. The teacher is a facilitator or co-inquirer who creates the problem situation and supports reasoning without giving the answer, and the learner is the main actor. Because the outcomes are higher-order (analysis, synthesis, evaluation), assessment uses essay-type questions, projects and open-ended problems. This level is closest to Dewey’s reflective thinking (Topic 1) and to the project and problem-solving methods (Topic 6). It cannot be reached without a solid base of memory and understanding, so a teacher should treat the levels as cumulative stages of the same unit, not as rival choices.

• Aim: retention (memory); insight and application (understanding); independent problem solving and critical thinking (reflective).

• Teacher’s role: transmitter (memory); guide (understanding); facilitator or co-inquirer (reflective).

• Learner’s role: passive receiver; active participant under direction; independent, self-directed investigator.

• Learning type: rote and reproductive; insightful and reconstructive; creative and problem-based.

• Motivation: extrinsic (rewards, marks) can be enough at the memory level; at the understanding level interest and meaning are needed; at the reflective level intrinsic motivation is essential.

• Test type: recall and objective items; short-answer, essay and application items; essay, project and open-ended problem items.

• Bloom link: knowledge; comprehension and application; analysis, synthesis and evaluation.

• Vygotsky link: memory is mostly what the child already can do; understanding works inside the ZPD with scaffolding; reflective teaching pushes toward independent performance at the upper edge of the ZPD.