Expository means to expose someone to a new situation. The question is; who exposes what? The teacher exposes the pupil to knowledge. Therefore, expository refers to something the teacher does. This is the reason why it is a teacher-centered method of teaching.
It is a method whereby the teacher leads the pupils through a carefully planned sequence of activities to arrive at learning objectives using either statements or sequence of activities or questions or both. The teacher presents the materials or conclusions to be learned in a well-structured way while students attempt to assimilate or remember the facts or the information.
The process of expository teaching begins with the Presentation of organized materials by the teacher.
Continue with an effort by your pupils to remember or incorporate the facts into existing knowledge and Ends with your learners identifying examples or solving specific problems by way of applying what they have learned. Here are the steps in expository Teaching;
Step 1: Presentation of an advance organizer.
The advice organizer relates the ideas to be presented in a lesson to information already in students’ minds. It is the broad group on which more specific information will be presented.
Step 2: Presentation of learning task or material
At this second phase, the new material is presented using discussions, lectures, films, or student tasks. The teacher should maintain students’ attention and organize materials to correspond to the structure laid out in the advance organizer. Ausubel suggests a process called progressive differentiation which is a step-by-step progression from general concepts to specific information, illustrative example and contrasts between new and old concepts.
Step 3: Strengthening cognitive organization
Here is where the teacher tries to tie the new information into the structure laid out at the beginning of the lesson, by reminding students about how each specific detail is related to the big picture. Also, students are questioned to see if they have understood the lesson and if they can relate it to their prior knowledge and to the organization described in the advance organizer. Finally, students are allowed to ask questions that extend their understanding beyond the content of the lesson.
