Teaching and Nature of Teaching

 Teaching

Teaching and learning are the two aspects of a process which we call education. Education is concerned with the development and growth of human beings. The process of learning is a means of adjusting to the changing environment. The means by which this process goes on are both informal and formal. Informal education takes place in the home and in the community through experience. Formal education is the concern of the school system.

Meaning of Teaching

Teaching is an integral part of the process of education. It is a system of actions intended to induce learning. Its function is to impart knowledge, develop understanding and skill.

Teaching is a complex, goal oriented, multi-faceted activity. Teaching and learning are the set of events that are designed to bring about behavioural changes in learners. It is an event that happens outside the learners that supports the internal process which modifies the behaviour of an individual through learning. Hence teaching is an internal process of learning.

Teaching is a process which usually takes place in the classroom situations. It is a formal process through which the teacher interacts with the students to give what he/she wants the learners to learn according to the learning needs. It is systematic way to attain some pre-determined objectives.

Teaching is an art based on the growing science. It can be considered as an art of assisting another to learn by providing information and appropriate situations, conditions or activities. It is a science because it involves systematized procedures to create hypothesis and test them using different evaluative techniques. Hence it is both an art and science.

 

Concept of Teaching

·         Traditional Concept:

Teaching is the act of imparting instructions to the learners in the classroom situation. The teacher gives information to the students, or one of the students reads from the text-book, while the other students silently follow him in their text-books.

·         Modern Concept:

Teaching should cause the pupil to learn and acquire the desired knowledge, skills and also desirable ways of living in the society. It is a process in which learner, teacher, curriculum and other variables are organized is a systematic and psychological way to attain some pre-determined goals.

Definitions on Teaching

·      “Teaching is a relationship which keeps the child to develop all his powers.” – Ryburn

·      “Teaching is a system of actions intended to produce learning.” - B. O. Smith

·      “Teaching is the task of teacher which is performed for the development of the child.” - Thomas F. Green

Teaching is the process of attending to people’s needs, experiences and feelings, and making specific interventions to help them learn particular things.

Interventions commonly take the form of questioning, listening, giving information, explaining some phenomenon, demonstrating a skill or process, testing understanding and capacity, and facilitating learning activities (such as note taking, discussion, assignment writing, simulations and practice).

Characteristics of Good Teaching

·         Good Teaching creates meaningful learning experiences: A good teacher should understand the central concepts of the subject that he or she teaches and should create learning experiences that make these aspects of subject matter meaningful for students. He/she understands how children learn and develop and can provide learning opportunities that support their intellectual, social, and personal development. He/She also understands how students differ in their approaches to learning and creates instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners

·         Good Teaching uses a variety of instructional strategies: Good teaching uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage the development of critical thinking, problem-solving, and performance skills among their students.

·         Good Teaching is Well-Planned: The good teacher has his activities well-planned before entering the classroom. The order and sequence of class events are organized and scheduled in such a way which will enable the teacher to achieve the objectives of teaching. At the same time the plan is flexible enough so that it may be changed as need arises.

·         Good Teaching uses effective communication techniques: One of the very important characteristics of a good teacher is his communication skills. Good teaching uses knowledge of effective verbal, nonverbal, and media communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the classroom.

·         Good Teaching is democratic: Good teaching attempts to create a democratic environment in which rights of all students are respected. In classroom environment the teacher should take care that each individual is entitled to equal rights with every other individual in the class and that he is subject to the same rules with respect to social equity. They should be impartial and should strive to show each student the same amount of respect.

·         Good Teaching is cooperative: Teaching is a cooperative concern between teacher and pupils. Therefore good teaching should plan for abundant of activities which provides ample opportunities for cooperation in organization, management, participation in discussion, recitation and evaluation of results. The ownership of teaching and learning is shared by group of students and is no longer the sole responsibility of the teacher.

·         Good Teaching uses effective assessment strategies: A good teacher understands and uses formal and informal assessment strategies to evaluate and ensure the continuous intellectual, social, and physical development of the learner.

·         Good Teaching is reflective: A good teacher is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates the effects of his or her choices and actions on students, parents, and other professionals in the learning community and actively seeks out opportunities to grow professionally.

·         Good Teaching keeps a good sense of humour: A good teacher should also have the quality and characteristic of having a good sense of humor. It is a logical fact that a person generally teaches the next generation and as they are younger than the teacher, they are expected to have more fun in the class too. So, a good teacher is the one who can keep up with his sense of humor, and with his strong communication skills and personality, can also maintain the discipline of the class.

Views of great thinkers and philosophers on teaching

Views of Mahatma Gandhi on Teaching

According to Mahatma Gandhi a teacher is not only the nuclei of the education system, but is also the backbone of the system and the success or failure of this system depends to a large extent on the community of teachers. A teacher, if works with sincerity, honesty and a sense of duty, raises students to their all-round development on the one hand and contribute unprecedentedly to harmony and peace in society and the nation on the other.” He has also pointed out that education is an unending exercise till death. Only education can act as a means to a successful life. He said that a teacher should lay an example to be followed before society and students. This can only be done when he himself leads his life with high standards of morality and strong character. He needs to be polite and should set an example of simple living and high thinking. He should also remember that wasting time is a sin; therefore, he should be aware of his duties towards students and society.

Views of Plato on Teaching

According to him it is the duty of the teachers to search for truth and virtue. The teacher must know his or her subject. According to him ‘knowledge will not come from teaching but from questioning’. Plato is in favor of education in a free atmosphere without any compulsion or check. In this respect he is the predecessor of Froebel and Montessori. The concept of Kinder Garten finds its roots in the principles laid down by Plato. Plato is of the opinion that there should be no compulsion in teaching; rather, it should be a sort of amusement.

Views of Jean Jacques Rousseau on teaching

Rousseau  was  a  severe  critic  of  the  methods  then  in  fashion  in  the  schools.    For most children,  childhood  was  a  sorrowful  period,  as  instruction  was  heartlessly  severe.  Grammar was beaten into their memory.    Teachers had not yet imagined that children could  find  any  pleasure  in  learning,  or  that  they  should  have  eyes  for  anything  but reading,  writing,  and  memorizing.    The  only  form  of  learning  that  teachers  knew  was learning  by  rote.  Rousseau argued that child should be made the centre of education. He said that teaching and training consist,  not  in  inculcating  ideas,  but  in  furnishing  the child  with  opportunities  for  the  functioning  of  those  activities  that  are  natural  for  each stage. Nature would teach the child.  This did not mean that the child had to be  left  alone;  but  rather  that  nature  had  to  be  used  by  the teacher,  as  the  main  instrument  in  teaching  the  child.    

Rabindranath Tagore’s views on teaching

Rabindranath Tagore was primarily an educationist rather than a political thinker. According to him freedom is the basic guiding force for inculcating interest within a student. Students will derive inspiration from nature to pursue any branch of knowledge he likes. According to Tagore, teaching should be practical and real but not artificial and theoretical. A teacher according to Tagore’s concept is continuous learner and should be dynamic in his efforts to know the unknown and to let it be known to others.

Swami Vivekananda’s views on teaching

Vivekananda points out that the defect of the present-day education is that it has no definite goal to pursue. A sculptor has a clear idea about what he wants to shape out of the marble block; similarly, a painter knows what he is going to paint. But a teacher, he says, has no clear idea about the goal of his teaching. According to him the end of all education is man making. Vedanta is his philosophical ideals. According to Vedanta, the essence of man lies in his soul, which he possesses in addition to his body and mind. Swamiji defines education as ‘the manifestation of the divine perfection that is already existent in man.’ A child teaches itself. A teacher can help it to go forward in its own way. Knowledge comes out of its own nature the duty of a teacher is to take away the obstacles and loosen the soil a little, so that it may come out easily. Put a hedge round it; see that it is not killed by anything, and there the work of a teacher stops. The rest is manifestation from within its own nature. According to Vikekananda, no one can teach anybody. The teacher spoils everything by thinking that he is teaching. Thus Vedanta says that within man is all knowledge and it requires only an awakening, and that much is the work of a teacher.

Sri Aurobindo's views on teaching

According to Aurobindo, real education should provide a free and creative environment to the child and should develop his interests, creativity, mental, moral and aesthetic senses fully and finally leads to the development of his spiritual powers.

Aurobindo stated three principles of teaching they are:

1.      Nothing can be taught, but everything can be learned. The teacher is a helper and guide, not an instructor or task master. He doesn‘t impart knowledge but shows him the way to acquire Knowledge which is already within him.

2.      Mind has to be consulted in its growth. It is wrong to mould the child into the shape desired by the parent or teacher ignoring and destroying the divine in the child.

3.      Work from near to far, from the known to unknown. Education should be according to the nature of the child. He should be allowed to explore the unknown according to his own will.

The teacher should be a philosopher and a guide to the students to explore the unknown. Aurobindo says that the real teacher is within the learner.

John Dewey's views on teaching

John Dewey is probably most famous for his progressive education. Progressive education emphasizes the need to learn by doing. Dewey believed that human beings learn through a 'hands-on' approach. Dewey's approach was truly child-centered emphasizing the needs and interests of the child. In Dewey's view, children should be allowed to explore their environments.

Traditionally, a teacher would stand in front of a group of students who are all sitting in rows. The teacher is usually the deliverer of information and the job of the students is usually to receive this information and regurgitate it in some form of a written test. In contrast, a teacher in a classroom based on the ideas of John Dewey deliver the content information, but simultaneously the students work in groups exploring differing concepts within the content. There may be written tests, but also there are student projects, presentations, or other differentiated techniques of evaluation. According to him children should not be allowed to do whatever they wish, but the teacher should use his professional judgment to shape the learning process.

Madam Maria Montessori's views on teaching

Learning, according to Montessori comes from reality based, structured and prepared environments. Early years, from birth to six, are the most formative and are too often wasted by not realizing the child’s true potential. All materials in the Montessori environment must have a specific place, be structured, prepared, aesthetically pleasing and child sized. The organization of the environment is crucial to a child’s learning because that is where children will take in, or absorb the information and therefore learn. The role of the teacher in Montessori classroom is still very significant because through this observation the teacher is able to push the student to higher levels of thinking. Montessori called the teacher as a directress. It is the directress’s responsibility to make sure that the materials in which the students will gain knowledge from are readily available to the children. Montessori also had strong opinions on how a teacher should look in her classroom. The teacher must be attractive, pleasing in appearance, tidy and clean, calm and dignified. The teacher’s appearance is the first step in gaining the child’s confidence and respect. It is imperative in a Montessori classroom that the teacher takes the role of the observer. Student’s gain knowledge through work and play and the teacher must facilitate that process. The directress of a Montessori classroom watches the children manipulate the materials and only interjects when necessary.

Froebel's views on teaching

Friedrich Froebel was a German educationist. He was known best for the founding of kindergarten. To Froebel, education is growth from within. Education is to unfold the child’s innate powers and awaken his spiritual nature. Teacher in the Kindergarten acts as a gardener, whose function is to see that young plants (small children) under her care grow according to their own natural course of development. Froebel compares young growing children with plants and, therefore, he asks the teachers to let the children grow and develop in accordance with their natural endowments. So the teacher is instructed not to distort the natural endowments, powers and tendencies of children by undue and willful interference in their activities. The teacher is simply to redirect the child’s growth to natural direction when she feels that the child is going astray.

J.Krishnamoorthy's views on teaching

J.Krishnamoorthy holds the view that human mind is deeply conditioned by thought. He opposes that the existing systems of education all over the world are faulty for they have not been aiming at creating a free and holistic human being, but they are busy in deeply conditioning the students to the sick and rotten social structure of utterly materialistic values like possession of power, wealth, position and prestige. The educators are moulding the student’s mind according to their own wish and will. Teachers should transform themselves before transforming the students. It is not enough if the teachers impart knowledge to the students, they should understand the truth and help the students understand it. Teachers should live as human beings without images and labels. If a teacher has not been rightly educated what can he teach except the same mechanical knowledge on which he himself has been brought up? The right kind of education begins with the teacher, who is free from established patterns of thought.  Unless teachers are philosophers, education cannot accomplish the task of changing man and society. 

Dr. Radhakrishnan's views on teaching

Dr. Radhakrishnan defines education as the instrument for social, economic and cultural change. “The importance of education is not only in knowledge and skill, but should help us to live with others.” Through education Radhakrishnan wants to establish a classless society in order to bring equality among humans. Radhakrishnan said, “Teacher is the corner stone of the arch of education”.  Without quality and effective teachers the educational institution, curriculum, teaching aids, Educational planning etc. are meaningless. He warned against idolizing teachers as gurus and becoming a congregation of faith without openness of mind.  He encouraged the students to question and criticize their teachers. According  to  Radhakrishnan  a  true  teacher  always  helps  the students to  think and should widen their knowledge. A good teacher must know how to arouse the interest of the pupil in the field of study for which he is responsible. He must himself be a master in the field of study and be in touch  with  the  latest  developments  in  the  subjects, he  must  himself  be  a  fellow  traveller  in  the pursuit of knowledge.

 

Reflective Teacher

Teaching young children is complex work. Every day teachers face many challenges. Due to these challenges it is difficult for a teacher to keep the joy of being with children at the heart of teaching. To truly share meaningful experiences with children one must learn to become a reflective teacher.

Reflection is a metacognitive strategy that helps teachers think critically up on their experiences, actions and decisions during their teaching. Reflective practice helps teachers to have a deeper understanding of their own teaching styles and beliefs.

Reflective teaching

It is a process where teachers think over their teaching practices, analyzing how something was taught and how the practice might be improved or changed for better learning outcomes. Reflective teaching is a personal tool that teachers can use to observe and evaluate the way they behave in their classroom. It can be both a private process as well as one which can be discussed with their colleagues. According to Jack Richards, reflection or “critical reflection, refers to an activity or process which involves conscious recall and examination of the experience as a basis for evaluation and decision-making.

 

 

Becoming a Reflective Teacher

Many different approaches can be employed if one wishes to become a critically reflective teacher.

·         Peer Observation – Peer observation can provide opportunities for teachers to view each other’s teaching in order to expose them to different teaching styles and to provide opportunities for critical reflection on their own teaching. Teachers would work in pairs and take turns observing each other’s classes. The two teachers would meet after the lesson and report on the information such as organization of the lesson, time management, students’ performance on tasks, teacher questions and student responses, student performance during pair work, classroom interaction etc., and discuss it with each other.

·         Written accounts of experiences

•         Self-Reports – Self-reporting involves completing an inventory or check list in which the teacher indicates which teaching practices were used within a lesson or within a specified time period and how often they were employed. Self-reporting allows teachers to make a regular assessment of what they are doing in the classroom.

•         Reflective Diary – It is a procedure which is becoming more widely used as a valuable tool for developing critical reflection is the diary or journal. This is the easiest way to begin a process of reflection since it is purely personal. After each lesson the teacher can write in a notebook about what happened. He/she may also describe his/her own reactions and feelings and those that are observed on the part of the students. Diary writing does require a certain discipline in taking the time to do it on a regular basis.

·         Recording Lessons - For many aspects of teaching, audio or video recording of lessons can also provide a basis for reflection. While there are many useful insights to be gained from diaries and self-reports, they cannot capture the moment to moment processes of teaching. Many things happen simultaneously in a classroom, and some aspects of a lesson cannot be recalled. Hence the need to supplement diaries or self-reports with recordings of actual lessons.

·         Student feedback – Student’s feedback on the experience of the classroom it a great tool for reflection. It allows the teacher to grow in areas in which they are lacking in. Their opinions and perceptions can add a different and valuable perspective. This can be done with simple questionnaires or learning diaries for example.

 

If teachers are engaged in reflective analysis of their own teaching it is a valuable tool for self-evaluation and professional growth. Reflective teaching suggests that experience alone is insufficient for professional growth, but that experience coupled with reflection can be a powerful motivation for teacher development.

Characteristics of Reflective Teacher

·         The reflective teacher has time set aside specifically for thinking about his professional practice, growth needs, and students’ needs.

·         The reflective teacher takes action upon his focused thoughts about professional practice. He does not continue in a course of action that he has realized is not working.

·         The reflective teacher analyzes his own lessons to see what worked and what did not. He makes changes as necessary. When a lesson does not go well, which will happen to everyone, he learns from it and does not teach the lesson the same way again.

·         The reflective teacher recognizes the inherent differences in his classes (when he has more than one group of students) and does not treat all classes the same by teaching exactly the same lesson.

·         The reflective teacher takes planned time within class to determine the efficacy of the lesson and take steps to improve it, if need be.

·         The reflective teacher knows both his strengths and his students’ strengths. His lessons are designed around their strengths and areas of interest to maximize learning.

·         The reflective teacher is cognizant of his own weaknesses and takes planned steps to improve in those areas.

·         The reflective teacher seeks feedback from many sources, such as other teachers, students, parents, and administrators. He is open to constructive criticism.

·         The reflective teacher understands that he cannot optimally teach students by himself. Teaching is a complex field and it takes help from many others.

·         The reflective teacher shares his experience with the understanding that it can benefit others who may be able to learn from his experiences.

 

My goals as a teacher

Teachers are in a unique position to have a direct impact on their students. Goals for teaching are highly individualized.

1. Educate

A great teacher should love educating students, and one of the principal goals many teachers set for themselves is to be the best educator they can be. There are different methods a teacher can use to teach, the most important thing is that he/she engage, motivate and inspire students to learn. Many people teach out of a passion for their subject.

2. Inspire

Teachers seek to inspire students in all aspects of their lives, and for many teachers, their greatest goal is to be a role model. A role model is someone who inspires and encourages students to strive for greatness, and teaches them through experience and commitment how to realize their full potential to become the best they can be. Teachers can inspire an uninterested student to become engrossed in learning. They can motivate them to participate and focus, and even bring introverted students out of their shells. A great teacher can get students reading, inspire a passion for languages, and make math or science fun, and turn history lessons into fun and exciting stories

3. Learn

Teaching is one of those careers where one learn something new every day. On a strictly professional level, the education one attain to become a teacher opens one’s eyes to many things one may never have been exposed to before. Teachers also learn a great deal about themselves through teaching.

4. Change

The goal of a motivated teacher is to affect change. They make it their goal to help improve the quality of education for everyone. These teachers are willing to work in schools, where there is low teacher maintenance and poor facilities.

5. Help students to articulate and follow their values

One of the main goals of higher education is to help students understand who they are and how they can be of service to their society. Great teachers’ help students understand the social responsibilities and have an integrated value system.