A Parent's Guide To Understanding High School Teaching Methods
You and I began teaching our children probably even before they were born. I remember well how my late wife played a Mozart symphony or some Gilbert and Sullivan while she was pregnant. She also frequently read aloud. Teaching by example truly is one of the most effective teaching methods. Teaching by example still has its place in teaching high school examples, but things are a bit more complicated, or should I say, enriched, in 2025. As parents of high school students, we often find ourselves puzzled by the teaching methods our teens tell us about. Gone are the days when education meant simply lecturing and memorizing facts. That may be true, but I can still conjugate the Latin verbs I learned in 8th Grade. But I digress. Against that backdrop, let's take a look at how teachers function in today's high schools.
Canva generated this picture of high school students.
Let's let Perplexity answer our questions.
RK: How do high school teachers teach these days?
Perplexity: Today's high school teachers employ a wide variety of approaches designed to engage students and prepare them for a complex world.
- Understanding these methods isn't just interesting. It's essential for supporting our teens throughout these critical years.
- When we understand how teachers structure learning experiences, we can better complement these approaches at home.
- We can have more meaningful conversations with teachers.
- We can provide the right kind of support for our children.
All teaching methods come back to the specific needs and requirements of each student. That's because they all learn differently.
The worst feeling in the world is watching your children struggle but not knowing how to help. We’ve all been there! When it comes to their education, we believe that there’s always a way to help students succeed. You just need to know how to help them! Source: A Grade Ahead
Foundation Teaching Approaches
Teacher-Centered Methods
RK: What is explicit teaching?
Perplexity: Many of us remember traditional classrooms where the teacher stood at the front, delivering information while students took notes.
- Incidentally, that's the way I was taught in the Westmount Schools and at McGill University back in the 50s and 60s.
- This approach still has its place in high schools today. Teachers use it to introduce new concepts or provide clear explanations of complex topics.
In explicit teaching, teachers carefully demonstrate procedures or concepts before students try them independently.
- This structured approach provides clarity and direction, especially helpful for subjects like math or science where specific processes need to be followed.
- This traditional method creates a foundation of knowledge that students can build upon with more active learning experiences.
While it may seem "old school," explicit teaching remains a valuable tool in a teacher's toolbox.
Explicit instruction is a purposeful way of teaching students, where instruction is systematic, direct, engaging, and success oriented — and has been shown to promote achievement for all students. Source: Reading Rockets
Student-Centered Methods
RK: How do Student-centered teaching methods work?
Perplexity: In contrast to teacher-centered approaches, student-centered methods put teens in the driver's seat of their own learning experiences.
Constructivism, a key theory behind these methods, recognizes that students build their own understanding by connecting new information to what they already know.
- In student-centered classrooms, teens actively participate in discussions.
- They work collaboratively.
- They engage with material in ways that make sense to them personally.
The teacher serves more as a guide than a lecturer, creating experiences that help students discover concepts rather than simply being told about them. This helps develop critical thinking and independence, skills our teens desperately need as they prepare for adulthood. The downside is that they also require more self-direction, which can be challenging for some students.
Read Froebel, Montessori and Steiner: Champions of Children to understand the foundations that were laid for student-centered learning by these piioneers of the method.
Student-centered teaching is teaching that is ‘aware’ of students and their needs above and beyond anything else. It places students at the center of the learning process. Source: Teach Thought.com
Scaffolding and Support Strategies
RK: I know about scaffolding as used in construction. But scaffolding in education? Please explain.
Perplexity: One of the most effective teaching approaches found in high school classrooms is scaffolding. Simply put, it is temporary support that gradually fades as students gain confidence and skill.
Think of it as teaching a teen to drive: first, you demonstrate, then you guide them while they practice, and finally, you let them drive independently. Your goal is to teach them how to drive knowledgeably and confidently.
Another way teachers use the scaffolding approach is with the
"I do, We do, You do" model.
- First, they demonstrate a skill or concept ("I do").
- Next, the class practices together with teacher guidance ("We do"). Finally, students work independently ("You do").
- This gradual release of responsibility helps teens tackle challenging material without feeling overwhelmed.
As parents, we can use similar approaches at home when helping our kids with homework or teaching life skills. The key is providing just enough support, but not so much that we're doing the work for them. Instead, we are providing enough support so that they can succeed and build their confidence.
Scaffolding is a classroom teaching technique in which instructors deliver lessons in distinct segments, providing less and less support as students master new concepts or material. Much like scaffolding on a building, this technique is meant to provide students with a framework for learning as they build and strengthen their understanding. When students reach the intended level of comprehension or mastery, the teacher can step back and gradually remove their support. Source: Professional and Continuing Education Department of the University of San Diego
This video explains how scaffolding works.
Differentiated Instruction
RK: I had no idea that teaching had so many methods. So, tell us about differentiated instruction.
Perplexity: Every classroom contains students with varying abilities, interests, and learning styles. Differentiated instruction acknowledges these differences and adapts teaching accordingly.
In practice, this might mean a teacher offers multiple ways to demonstrate understanding of a novel—perhaps through writing an essay, creating a visual representation, or producing a podcast. Or it might involve providing additional support for struggling students while offering enrichment activities for those who grasp concepts quickly.
At home, we can complement this approach by recognizing our teen's unique learning preferences and strengths. Some might need quiet study environments, while others think better when talking through concepts. Some learn best visually, others through hands-on activities.
Differentiated instruction involves teaching in a way that meets the different needs and interests of students using varied course content, activities, and assessments. Source: Center for Teaching and Learning/Stanford University
Modern Teaching Methodologies
Project-Based Learning
RK: I gather that Project-based Learning is not actually modern at all. Tell us about that.
Perplexity: That's right! Project-based learning (PBL) has a rich history that spans centuries. Its roots can be traced back to ancient Chinese and Greek philosophies, where learning by doing was emphasized by figures like Aristotle, Confucius, and Socrates. It enjoyed a resurgence in the 1960s as critical thinking began to resume a central goal of secondary education.
Project-based learning (PBL) engages students in solving real-world problems or creating authentic products over an extended period. Instead of studying environmental science through textbooks alone, students might monitor local water quality and develop proposals for improvement.
These projects develop not just content knowledge but also critical thinking, collaboration, time management, and communication skills. They often cross subject boundaries, helping teens see connections between different areas of knowledge.
As parents, we can support PBL by showing interest in these projects, helping teens manage their time for long-term assignments, and sometimes providing resources or connections to community experts. These projects often require more sustained effort than traditional assignments, so our encouragement matters.
Project-based learning (PBL) involves students designing, developing, and constructing hands-on solutions to a problem. The educational value of PBL is that it aims to build students’ creative capacity to work through difficult or ill-structured problems, commonly in small teams. Source: Center for Teaching and Learning/Boston University
Flipped Classroom
RK: Tell us about the Flipped Classroom.
Perplexity: The term "flipped classroom" gained popularity around 2007-2008, particularly through the work of high school chemistry teachers Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams, who implemented this approach in their classrooms. By the early 2010s, the concept had become widely recognized and adopted in educational settings.
In a flipped classroom, the traditional homework-classwork relationship is reversed. Students learn new content at home through videos, readings, or other resources created or curated by their teacher. Class time is then used for active learning—practicing skills, discussing concepts, working on projects, or getting individualized help.
This approach allows teens to absorb information at their own pace, for example, by rewatching videos as needed and gives teachers more time to work directly with students rather than just delivering content. It also helps students develop self-directed learning skills essential for college success.
For parents, the flipped classroom means we might see our teens watching instructional videos rather than completing traditional homework. We can support this by ensuring they have the necessary technology access and a quiet space for this important first exposure to new material.
The Flipped Classroom approach also recognizes the widespread use and availability of smartphones, tablets, and laptops that make watching videos ubiquitous.
Although flipping classrooms has long been the practice within certain disciplines (even if it was not given that name), the concept took off as technological changes made it easier to access and create educational materials. Source: The Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning/Harvard University
Inquiry-Based Learning
RK: These "modern" learning methods are interesting. Tell us about Inquiry-based Learning.
Perplexity: Curiosity drives powerful learning. In inquiry-based approaches, teachers design experiences that prompt students to ask questions and seek answers. Rather than being told scientific principles, students might conduct experiments that lead them to discover these principles themselves.
This approach develops research skills, critical thinking, and a deeper understanding of concepts. It also nurtures the natural curiosity that many teens still possess but might hide beneath a cool exterior.
We can foster this same spirit of inquiry at home by encouraging questions, modeling curiosity ourselves, and helping teens find reliable sources to explore their interests beyond school assignments.
Inquiry-based learning (IBL) is a learner-centred approach which starts with an essential question. Learners investigate the topic to find answers to the question, developing language and skills throughout the inquiry. The learner plays an active part in both their learning and the decision-making process. Source: World of better learning/Cambridge University
Technology-Enhanced Learning
Blended Learning Environments
RK: Now we get to the high-tech stuff. What's first?
Perplexity: Blended Learning Environments are first. Today's high school classrooms often blend traditional face-to-face instruction with digital learning experiences. This might involve online discussions, digital simulations, or adaptive learning programs that adjust to a student's progress.
Blended learning offers personalization and flexibility while maintaining the valuable social aspects of classroom learning. It also helps teens develop digital literacy—a crucial skill for their futures.
At home, we can support this blend by maintaining a balanced view of technology. Rather than seeing screen time as entirely negative, we can recognize the difference between productive digital learning and mere entertainment or social media scrolling.
Blended learning is an educational approach that combines traditional teaching methods (e.g., inside the classroom) with online teaching methods through a series of online educational materials and interactive activities. Source: LearnWorlds
Gamification
RK: It looks like we saved the best one for last. Tell us about gamification.
Perplexity: Many teachers now incorporate game elements into learning—points, badges, leaderboards, or actual educational games. These approaches tap into teens' natural competitiveness and desire for recognition while making learning more engaging.
Gamification can transform tedious practice into something teens actually want to do, whether it's mastering math facts, learning vocabulary, or understanding historical events.
As parents, we might notice our teens using game-based learning apps or talking about classroom "quests" or "levels." We can encourage these engaging approaches to learning while still helping teens maintain perspective about grades and actual mastery.
Games can introduce goals, interaction, feedback, problem solving, competition, narrative, and fun learning environments, elements that can increase learner engagement and sustain motivation. This teaching tip discusses the difference between gamification and game-based learning, the pedagogical values these two strategies can bring to instruction, and game elements appropriate for face-to-face and online courses. Source: Centre for Learning Excellence/University of Waterloo
Supporting Your Teen's Learning
Communication with Teachers
Understanding teaching methods helps us have more productive conversations with teachers. Instead of general questions like "How is my child doing?", we can ask about specific approaches: "How is my daughter responding to the project-based work in your class?" or "What kind of support would help my son with the independent research you're doing?"
Regular communication—through email, parent portals, conferences, or quick check-ins—helps us stay informed about teaching approaches and our teen's response to them. This partnership between home and school creates a stronger support system for our children.
Remember that teachers are professionals with expertise in both their subject matter and instructional methods. Approaching them with respect and curiosity rather than demands or criticism builds a collaborative relationship that benefits your teen.
Creating Complementary Home Support
RK: Now, how do we support all these different learning methods at home?
Perplexity: Once we understand the teaching methods used in our teen's classes, we can create complementary support at home:
- If teachers are using scaffolding, we can provide similar temporary supports that gradually fade as our teen gains independence.
- If project-based learning is emphasized, we can help with time management and show interest in the process, not just the final product.
- If constructivist approaches are used, we can ask questions that help our teen connect new learning to what they already know.
Most importantly, we can create home environments that value learning, curiosity, and effort—not just grades. Our teens are developing their identities as learners during these high school years, and our attitudes toward education profoundly influence them.
Conclusion
Understanding the various teaching methods used in high school classrooms empowers us as parents to better support our teens' educational journeys. By recognizing the purpose behind different approaches—from traditional lectures to project-based learning, from scaffolding to gamification—we can reinforce these methods at home and have more meaningful conversations with teachers.
The diversity of teaching methods reflects an important truth: students learn in different ways, and complex learning requires multiple approaches. As parents, we don't need to become educational experts, but familiarity with these methods helps us partner more effectively with teachers and provide the right kind of support for our teens.
Remember that our ultimate goal isn't just helping our teens get good grades—it's nurturing independent learners who can navigate an increasingly complex world with confidence and curiosity. By understanding and supporting effective teaching methods, we contribute to this broader development that will serve them long after high school graduation.
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