Perkins, D. (1992). Smart schools. New York: The Free Press. Chapter 3: Teaching and learning (pp. 43-72). Reviewed by Regina Montera.

This chapter argues that most teachers waste precious energy trying to find new methods of teaching, when they should be deciding exactly what it is that they want to teach.

Perkins introduces his personal theory, Theory One, and expands its meaning. The theory states, "People learn much of what they have a reasonable opportunity and motivation to learn." There are four conditions that need to be met in order to elaborate on Theory One: clear information, thoughtful practice, informative feedback, and strong intrinsic or extrinsic motivation. Clear information deals with presenting good direct instruction by making all information being taught reasonable to the student. Teachers may model for students how to organize and utilize the information given. Thoughtful practice is the process of having students working through a learned topic in a situation that is meaningful for students to solve problems and reflect about what they have learned. Examples of this would be collaborative and cooperative learning. The third condition, informative feedback, is best seens as a key strategy of coaching. When a teacher offers feedback, it should be relevant, meaningful, and clear in order to motivate and produce student success and achievement. As far as intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is concerned, there were pros and cons for both. For example, when a topic already provides enthusiasm in the absence of extrinsic motivation; students are more likely to be intrinsically motivated to return to that topic. However, students sometimes need a boost, such as an external reward, to engage in some tasks that hold less intrinsic interest.

This chapter definitely provides teachers with a sound basis for reasoning about their teaching. With so many new methods of teaching being presented yearly, it is easy to lose sight of the direction that one's classroom approach is taking. Sometimes it is not how one is teaching, but what one should be teaching that have the long-term impact on student success.

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