First, a definition.
Although you may hear defenders spout limits justifying its use, narration is any talking by the teacher while students are meant to be performing a task that was asked of them.
Typically, it sounds like reminding. But it can also be repeating or restating directions, encouraging, praising, thanking, reciting, or describing what students are doing or not doing.
All of it, however, is bad.
Here’s why:
1. It weakens listening.
When students realize you’re going to talk them through directions that you’ve just given them, then you remove any reason for them to listen to you the first time.
This is why they seem to become less attentive as the year goes on. Before long, you’ll have to narrate and repeat yourself just to get them through the simplest task or routine.
2. It teaches learned helplessness.
Narration lightens responsibility. It subverts and subdues problem-solving skills. It causes students to shut off their brain and rely on you to do their thinking for them.
This results in learned helplessness. It’s the same reason why so many people need their smart phone to narrate directions to a local restaurant.
3. It makes school boring.
One of the keys to motivating students is to give them purpose from morning bell to dismissal. After a direction, they must be left to their own devices to complete the challenge you’ve given them.
Your doing or thinking for them causes apathy and boredom. It encourages students to create their own purpose, which will often oppose whatever you’ve asked of them.
4. It makes students immature.
If you treat your students like helpless babies, then that’s how they’ll behave. The key to maturity is to push the limits on your expectations and load up on responsibility.
Give students a job, assignment, routine, etc. and expect them to do it. Once they prove they can handle it, then increase the complexity. If you believe in a growth mindset, then you must live it.
5. It wastes time.
As students become poorer listeners and more dependent on you, they’ll wander around, mentally or otherwise, as if they have no willpower, autonomy, or personal guiding mechanism.
It’s all you, you, you—talking, guiding, reminding, and praising them through every little this and that, which, sadly, they can do perfectly well if only given the chance.
Instead
So what should you do instead?
You teach and model with clarity and the expectation that whatever you ask of your students, they will complete without additional input from you. You check for understanding, of course. You take questions if need be.
But once you give your ‘go’ signal, they’re on their own. And if they don’t get it right, then you send them back to the previous transition for reteaching.
Never, ever remind or repeat yourself while your students are in the process. Never say a word. Just observe and verify that it’s done as taught.
Once they know that they’ll be given the tools to succeed and left alone to complete every task, all five areas above will improve drastically.
And you’ll have a different, far more capable class.
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Thank you for the article on narration. A perfect reminder for me to educate my student teachers about their instruction.
So helpful.
So challenging!
When I see a student not actively working, my instinct is to jump in and prompt them. But 9 times out of 10, if I wait, they figure out the next step I had previewed for them.
My only caution is for students who need accommodations. I have students every year who need non-verbal cues to stay on task, or need tasks broken into smaller steps. Any thoughts for those students?
I love this and I do this all the time! When I had my review with my AP she said I was a good instructor but I talk too much. Since then I have been talking much less. Wow, what a difference. At the the end of any explicit instruction, I ask “What questions do you have?”
This is the moment to ask for clarification. After that, I give very limited help and I do not hover.
Changed my teaching style for the better and helped my class with accountability.
Yes! After I model I say this exact thing EVERYTIME- “are there any questions? If there are no question who can tell me what the expectation is? And go”
Thank you thank you thank you for your 5 reasons to never, ever narrate. I LOVE this and really needed to hear this. I teach high school, grade 11 and this is the EXACT thing I needed to hear!! You guys are AMAZING. THANK YOU!
This is sooooo true. I am a learning support teacher and I hear teachers complain all the time about “learned helplessness”. We teach them to wait it out until someone does the work for them.
Just need to remind the administrators writing their five-minute clipboard, tablet, or laptop computer performance evaluations to check off the appropriate boxes, and not to negatively criticize or fault the educator based on lists of pre-programmed AI generated statements.
This is something I had never thought about. I remember during a lesson with writing involved I kept adding tips, especially if a student asked me a question that I thought others might need to answer too. I started hearing sighs when I started to speak. Also, I realize that it became harder to get their attention to add these tips.
So I would add one more point, when we speak while they are writing or reading, we are breaking their concentration. This is the feedback I received from those who sighed. At first, I just thought that they didn’t need the info, but now I see all the signs that they were being interrupted in their flow.
This is why I insist on absolute silence, as another student talking does the same thing. For me, some thing that has helped both me and students – is setting a timer. It gives a little urgency, and kids get with it and into the zone.
This, as always, is outstanding advice and advice I try to practice. It’s been difficult in my new charter public school because they are exceptional micro managers. I’m expected to refer back to the objective on the board constantly and pretty much do exactly what Michael says not to do. I’ve literally had to train my high school students that we all do things differently when “the corporate suits” come through for their reviews. Luckily, they tell us in advance when they’re coming. The unannounced in-house observations by the instructional coach and the principal are a little harder, but we make it through! I was the highest rated teacher at my school last year, but it’s sad that it was done through deception in order to be the good teacher I am when left to teach the RIGHT way!
Thank you for these great ideas. I may be guilty of narration so I will bring in a second set of eyes to help me stay the course!
This is so true! As a teacher librarian I see every class in the school and it’s plain which kids have the teacher who narrates constantly at loud volume – it’s the kids who now can’t think for themselves. I find it very sad and frustrating that these kids miss a year of growing as independent leaders and learning to regulate themselves individually and as a class.
I recently did a short online course where the presenters continued to “narrate” during the 10 mins they gave us to complete a task – it was extremely difficult to have my own thoughts and complete the task … poor teaching!
Thank you for a very helpful and insightful article
Thx! I find myself taking too much. The issue is 85% or more of my classes require accommodations. This can become a difficult road, quickly… Especially with 30 students in each class… Too many!
This is me! Thank you for reminding and clarifying this topic. I already have realized that repeating directions make students more distracted and it is a waisting of instructional time. What we have to do is to be clear the first time giving directions.
Thank you.
We have created a generation of lazy listeners and I am to blame just as much as the next teacher. I thoroughly enjoyed your article and plan to share it with coworkers. I plan to be very intentional about not narrating for my students this year. I have a feeling my level of exhaustion will improve as well!
Excellent article and much needed advice. (sigh) back to the drawing board. 🙂
Not defeated though; but with hope!