🍼 Feeding with spoon 📚 Overly simple teaching

spoonfeeding

7.1

Giving information too simply so people do not learn to think for themselves

noun
/ˈspuːnˌfiːdɪŋ/

Informal

: enseñanza excesiva

Many teachers worry that too much spoonfeeding prevents students from developing critical thinking skills.

Examples

The course relied on spoonfeeding instead of encouraging students to explore topics independently.
The teacher's spoonfeeding of the material left the students unprepared for the exam.
Some learners prefer spoonfeeding, but others thrive when challenged to find solutions on their own.
Many parents worry about spoonfeeding their children too much.
Many teachers worry that too much spoonfeeding prevents students from developing critical thinking skills.
The course relied on spoonfeeding instead of encouraging students to explore topics independently.
The teacher's spoonfeeding of the material left the students unprepared for the exam.

Synonyms

hand-holding

vsspoonfeeding

1 4.3

Giving too much help so someone cannot act or decide alone

focuses on giving overly simple detailed information rather than ongoing personal support

How Guided

spoonfeeding

Informal

7.1

co-teaching

Specialized

3.6

Surface Forms

spoonfeeding singular

spoonfeedings plural

Morphology

spoonfeeding = spoon-feed (semi-transparent) = spoon + feed + ing

The morphological structure is clear, but the sense is figurative (giving information in an overly simple way) rather than literal feeding.

Etymology

Spoonfeeding is used to describe helping or teaching in a way that is too simple, like giving a child every bite with a spoon. So it means giving answers or information that stop people from thinking or trying by themselves.