Goodlad writes that many teachers feel, however, that their training in pedagogy leaves much to be desired. It is hard to deny that teachers in some circurnstances cause students to learn. On the other hand, that causation is difficult to control and when it doesn't occur, explanations abound to rationalize the failure. Under the Factory image of the school, teachers are expected to be technicians. A teacher's goal as a technician is to maximize student achievement as efficiently as possible.
Educational technology is looked to to enhance technical efficiency.
School instructional policies embodied in a curriculum are thought to provide a program to direct daily teaching. Every experienced teacher knows activities that bring students to learn and that some are more efficient than others. This is what methods courses try to get at. Many teachers are superb technicians and get results with many different kinds of children. The problem is that it is difficult to say explicitly just what it is they do.