What is entry behaviour during teaching?
There is need for order and application of teaching process schematics while presenting a content of instruction to students to facilitate learning. There are very important steps to take note of before a child can easily grasp a topic so well enough that he or she can feedback the teacher excellently. One of the important steps to ensure understanding of a topic that is being taught is the teacher’s emphasis on a previous knowledge that can enhance the reality or reduce the abstraction of the topic to be considered.
Entry behaviour is also known as previous knowledge put simply. It promotes relatedness of a new topic to be considered in the classroom. A widespread misconception among some teachers is that entry behaviour is only the last topic taught the last week or last period to students in class. While the last topic sometimes might show some connection to a new topic being taught, it is not always true. There are times the most suitable previous knowledge which can facilitate the students’ conceptualization of a new topic does not reside in what was taught the last time.
Therefore, what is entry behaviour/previous knowledge? It is that past experience students have had whether in the classroom or outside the classroom that can aid the conceptualization of a new set of instruction (topic) being taught. The student’s interaction with his/her immediate environment, social engagements, maturational responsiveness e.t.c are sites from which the teacher synthesises what constitutes his/her previous knowledge. The teacher harnesses the theory of transfer of knowledge when he or she chooses to relate the topic being considered to the past experience of the students that can enhance conceptualizing new set of instruction (topic).
Moreover, if the last lesson can ensure conceptualization of new topic to be discussed the teacher may go ahead with it’s use for the new lesson but previous knowledge is not just emphasizing what the teacher has taught the students last time. Discussing the last topic is already a step (usually the first step of presentation) in normal presentation procedure. The teacher should not state previous knowledge just the way it is in his/her lesson plan but should discuss it stressing it’s relatedness to the new lesson and giving real world examples.
Entry behaviour helps us to understand that the Child’s active interaction in the society has critical bearing on his/her intellectual, social and emotional development. Parents, guardians and teachers are to ensure that not only academic work is attended to but also relevant social and emotional development activities so that the child can infer concepts even from beyond the classroom and develop intellectually.
