Prabu, “There is No Best Method” & Brown Ch. 1&2

When looking through the chapters in our textbook by Brown, especially chapter two, a common theme I found was how in almost all of the methods talked about throughout the chapter they all value comfort, relaxation, listening, and support.  When reading through Prabu’s piece then on there being no best method I could not help but think that comfort, relaxation, listening and support were all parts of a method that carries onto other methods like Prabu discussed.  Before even reading the piece, just from all the different classes that I have already taken, I knew the reason there is no best method is because there cannot be one single method for everyone or every context.  To me the best method, if there has to be one, is a mixture of all methods that include such things as comfort, relaxation, listening, and support, but then include what works within the context you are teaching. Everything in our learning differs depending on the person and the content. When in the article Prabu says “because it all depends,” it is true; it really does depend on a number of different factors (162).  First off, one of the main reasons I myself believe that one best method cannot be determined is because all the definitions, even ones as simple as motivation or environment, etc. all have very ambiguous meanings to different people depending on their context and content. There are numerous shades and layers to each term; our knowledge on how to define these terms is uncertain; again it all depends.  This is the reason so many different methods are constantly surfacing, teachers must use what works for us for each of our different contexts and what makes sense to us based on our definitions and what we know.

There is some argument on there being truth to every method, but how do we know what part of the method is the truth? Again, it all comes down to the teacher, students, and what is being taught. What works for one may not work for another. To me, I think each teacher just needs to worry about one’ own theory; that is what is most important for both teachers and their diverse learners and learning situations. If we are trying to make teaching not mechanical and have teachers instead be truly involved and engaged, they need to create theories that work for them.

At one point in our reading it says, “this implies that, for any single teaching context, there is in fact a method that is best and, further, we are able to determine what it is” (163). My question is after reading and using my prior knowledge and experience, why do we need to determine only one best method? And furthermore, why can’t we deem the one best method a mixture of methods that best work within each specific teachers content and context in which they teach?