The process of deductive teaching begins with the broadest explanation of an idea, such as explaining cognitive dissonance as, “the feeling of uncomfortable tension which comes from holding two conflicting thoughts in the mind at the same time.” The teacher continues by providing examples of the idea, such as describing the man who goes to a job he hates every day, thinking how much he hates his job, while never changing his actions of going to work. Deductive teachers then describe other situations, asking students to determine if the new situations are cognitive dissonance, while explaining the reasons behind their decisions.
Deductive teaching methods provide an obvious structured teaching method, dividing a class lesson between a structured lecture, lesson examples and the question and answer period where students analyze the information, making their own deductions based on their teacher’s examples. For teachers, this allows for a systematic approach to creating lesson plans, as teachers consider various examples, looking for situations which teach students to identify the important elements of the lesson.
For students, the deductive learning method begins as students extract the important elements of the lesson, such as identifying cognitive dissonance by the two differing thoughts and the stress it creates. Students see the deductive process during the initial evaluation, listening to the teacher explain about the working man who acts in contrast to his thoughts. The guided example period is the students' opportunity to demonstrate they have a grasp of the information, an understanding of the evaluation process and the ability to repeat the evaluation with other examples.
The deductive learning method allows students to see a step-by-step example of how to approach a situation based on the information from the lesson. For developmentally challenged students, this learning environment provides necessary structure, focusing student attention as the learning process continues. This structure is an essential element of developmental teaching, as it provides a learning framework, which developmental students learn to accept and trust.