Part 3: Traditional versus Kagan teaching approaches

As a teacher, questions contribute to our perception of understanding and learning. For many practitioners, once a concept has been described or an equation has been explained to students, a question will follow to test, gauge and reinforce the class’s understanding. Yet for many classes the same students will put their hands up, often the highest achievers or more confident public speakers. And once answered, the teacher is no better off. Even random selection can provide little value and insight into the class’s individual level of learning.


In this, the final article of our 3-part series on Kagan structures we delve deeper into the way that Kagan strutures are being applied, how they complement new styles of flipped classroom teaching and consider whether they serve as a replacement or supplement to traditional teaching techniques.

Revision: 5 tips for using quick classroom quizzes

Revision is never a particularly enjoyable period of the academic term for many students, regardless of whether they’re at the top of their class or are underperforming. Mock exams are a useful way to gauge student performance levels before their final accredited exam, but do these really help revision?

Examinations are regarded by many as a necessary evil: the pressure on students to perform in a two- or three-hour formal assessment places immense pressure on individuals and goes against empirical research on optimising performance. Some children, for example, are not good at recalling information or memorising particular dates and names; others feel anxious at the prospect of taking an end-of-year test. So what are the options?

Part 2: Examples of successful Kagan classroom structures

Kagan structures have spanned over 30 years of academic integration with thousands of teachers attending training workshops each year.

The development of this approach followed an extensive period of experimentation before being transferred into applied classroom teaching. The concept centres on the principle that cooperativeness is most powerfully determined by the situations in which children find themselves. On this basis, an individual can be encouraged to be extremely cooperative or extremely competitive, depending on the learning environment created.

Part 1: The benefits of Kagan classroom structures

In the USA and in small but increasing numbers of UK classrooms, teaching and learning is taking quite a different approach.

Students are not seated in rows, they are not asked to be quiet, to keep their eyes on their work – just the opposite. For proponents of alternative teaching styles, Kagan has become one of the most revolutionary learning strategies.

 Whether you’re familiar with Kagan structures or interested in learning more about alternative teaching techniques. In this article, the first of a 3-part series, we consider the uses and benefits of implementing kagan structures in your classroom, particularly in relation to boosting student engagement and learning.