Sage on the stage traditionally refers to the teacher as the sage imparting educational concepts to its students. Here the students are expected to memorize and learn the concepts and repeat them when asked to. Here the interaction between the teacher and students is less.
This technique is different from ‘Guide by the Side’ where the teacher interacts with the students and helps them understand the concepts in a more involved manner.
‘Sage on the Stage’ or ‘Guide on the Side’ Which one is better?
In most classrooms, teachers use these techniques to teach the students.
- In the Sage on Stage Technique, although the teacher gives lectures and presentations to explain the concept, some doubts might creep up and in the absence of proper communication, there might be a lag in learning.
- In this technique, the classroom is supervised by the teacher, but the children are not supposed to be participating in the learning process by asking doubts and questions.
- Alternatively, in the Guide on the Side technique, although the teacher allows maximum participation of students during teaching, there are still gaps where the teacher wishes the children only to listen to them and complete the work. Here teacher gets feedback from the students if the concept is not understood properly.
- Even if the child is being homeschooled, if there is two-way communication of feedback between teacher and student, the student can achieve the desired results.
