Page 236 - Nutrition Counseling and Education Skills: A Guide for Professionals

Teaching style is a related matter that affects learning significantly. Teaching style refers to the sum of what
one does as a teacher—the preferred instructional methods, activities, organization of material, interactions
with learners, and the like. People may be categorized as either teacher-centered or learner-centered.16 The
teacher-centered approach is associated more with Skinner and assumes that learners are passive and that they
respond to stimuli in the environment. It is currently the predominant approach to education. In the learner-
centered approach, such as Knowles’ andragogy, individuals are assumed to be proactive and to take
responsibility for their actions. Focus is on the learners and their needs rather than on the subject matter.

Some evidence suggests that teachers tend to select learning activities based on how they themselves prefer
to learn, but instead they should be focusing on the learner’s preferred style. Do you teach in the same way you
were taught? Do you see yourself as the expert or as a facilitator? Good teachers seek to improve their styles
through self-evaluation and adapt to the styles of learners.17

Educators Costa and Kallick18 encourage the use of “16 Habits of Mind” (Box 10-1). These habits can be
used by teachers and learners alike to assist in problem solving and outcome-oriented behavior. Encouraging
these habits in clients with chronic disease states can be an effective action-oriented tool.

The learner-centered approach encourages active learning.
Source: US Department of Agriculture.

1. Persisting
2. Managing impulsivity
3. Listening with understanding and empathy
4. Thinking flexibly
5. Thinking about thinking (metacognition)
6. Striving for accuracy
7. Questioning and posing problems
8. Applying past knowledge to new situations
9. Thinking and communicating with clarity and precision
10. Gathering data through all senses
11. Creating, imagining, and innovating
12. Responding with wonderment and awe

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