Professional Documents
Culture Documents
WHAT IS TEACHING?
MODULE OUTLINE
Key Terms
Summary
References
From childhood to being an adult we have had teachers. Teachers who have imparted
their knowledge to us. Every teacher is different. Do you remember your teachers.
How were they? How did they interact with you? Were your experiences in their
classroom something that has enhanced your thinking skills? Were the things learnt in
your classroom applicable in your life? Did you feel involved in the lessons conducted
by your teachers? Was there laughter in your classroom? Did you sit and listen more
than actually do interesting things? Were your teachers passionate about the way
knowledge was transferred in the classroom, or was mere memorization and
regurgitation enough? Were you made to understand each idea and concept? Which
teacher do you remember the most and why? Has your experience with your teachers
given you a framework for your own future career as a teacher? What is teaching?
1.1 Teaching Defined
Teaching is teaching the what, how and why of a subject (Halmos, 1994)
Teaching involves activities that impart knowledge or skill (Dictionary.com)
Teaching is the act, process, or art of imparting knowledge and skill
(Answers.com)
Teaching is the educational process of instructing (Online Medical Dictionary)
Teaching is the profession of those who give instruction, especially in an
elementary or secondary school or a university (The FreeDictionary).
Teaching is the act and business of instructing (Webster Dictionary)
a) TEACHING PROFESSION
Teachers are born, not made. Some people believe that the ability to teach is
a natural endowment like being musical. Some teachers seem to be "naturals"
and some theorists posit an innate tendency in human beings to explain things.
Some believed that teaching was "women's true profession" because it tapped
their instinct for nurturing the young. Still, the belief that teachers are born,
not made rests on a narrow view of the intellectual and personal requirements
of teaching. It ignores the growing understanding of teaching as a complex,
uncertain practice, and minimizes the role of professional education on the
grounds that the practice of teaching cannot be taught.
If you know your subject, you can teach it. Whatever else teachers need to
know, they need to know their subjects. There are teachers whose abundant
knowledge and love of their subject make them extremely effective even
though they have had no special preparation for teaching. Other teachers who
possess extensive subject matter knowledge are unable to present this
knowledge clearly or help others learn it. Research is beginning to clarify what
it means to "know" one's subject for purposes of teaching it, and why
conventional measures of subject matter knowledge are problematic.
1.1 ACTIVITY
Give your definition of the following:
Teach ……………………
Instruct ………………….
Educate …………………
Train …………………….
The education literature is filled with many models and methods of teaching.
There are many powerful models of teaching designed to bring about particular kinds
of learning and to help students become more effective learners.
TEACHER- STUDENT-
CENTRED CENTRED
Lesson Tasks: The teacher controls the questions, activities or tasks during the
lesson. Usually the textbook is the main source of exercises given in the
classroom. The main aim of such activities is to prepare the students to face
examinations and not aimed at in-depth understanding and internalisation of
the content.
Lesson Tasks: The aims and objectives of the lessons are determined by the
teacher. These objectives are embedded within carefully thought of tasks. The
content to be delivered is embedded within the tasks and activities. The
teacher will design the tasks so that the student is responsible for their own
learning with a lot of interaction with the teacher.
1.2 ACTIVITY
Throughout the lesson you feel the synergy among the students and the teacher
in the class. You feel a sense of a ‗learning community‘ in the class. You feel
that there is a shared accountability towards achieving the lesson goals. You
feel that there is an air of excitement in the class. Students and teacher show
respect for the varied talents, competencies and perspectives in the class. It is
clear to you that the students experience the knowledge that they are learning
(Cedar Rapids Community Schools, 2007, & Teacher Vision,2007).
As you enter another classroom, you notice that the teacher talks about the
objectives of the lesson and enters straight into the presentation of the content.
The students do not talk, only listen and some take down notes. The students
ask the occasional question to which they receive standard textbook answers
and the teacher quickly carries on, in order to finish the lesson content. The
students have no opportunity to talk to each other. You hear the content covered
in breadth but the depth of understanding acquired by the students cannot be
evaluated. At the end of the lesson, the teacher rounds up, by summarizing the
main points.
Throughout the lesson you feel the lethargy and a certain amount of confusion
among the students in the class. You feel a sense of a authority in the class. You
feel that there is a main person who states the necessary content in a structured
manner towards achieving the lesson goals. You feel that there is silence in the
class – with minds that may be wondering. You feel that the teacher has one
plan that fits all and some students are feeling left out. It is clear to you that the
students memorize the knowledge that they are learning
All of us have been taught by ‗good‘ and ‗bad‘ teachers? ‗Good‘ or ‗bad‘ has
been determined by us. What is your definition of a ‗good‘ or ‗effective‘ teacher?
There is has been much research attempting to determine the characteristics of a
‗good‘ or ‗effective‘ teacher. There has some convergence of the available research
data pertaining to this question over the last two decades (Brophy, 2001; Hay McBer,
2000; Scheerens, 2003). Teacher characteristics are relatively stable traits that are
related to, and influence, the way teachers practice their profession.
Hay McBer (2000) identified a set of 12 characteristics of good or effective
teachers based on large-scale study conducted in the United Kingdom. These
characteristics are organised into Four ‗clusters‘: Professionalism,
Thinking/Reasoning, Expectations and Leadership (see Table 1.1).
1.4 ACTIVITY
a) Comment on the list of characteristics of effective
teachers. Do you agree with the list?
b) List other characteristics that you think should be
included to describe an effective teacher.
Good teaching is all about putting your heart and soul into planning a superb
lesson that will engage students from the beginning to the end. Good teaching will
have the teacher thinking about the simple aspect of the arrangement of chairs in the
classroom to more complex issues of touching the young minds that are waiting to be
inspired to learn. Good teaching requires teachers to be entertaining as well as
humorous. Teachers must also demonstrate caring and nurturing behaviour. In short,
teaching is about wanting students to learn and learn well. The following is another
list of characteristics of habits of effective or good teachers.
In essence a teacher who brings a passion for teaching to the subject, and takes
responsibility for the creation of an environment that allows for the sharing and
enjoyment of that knowledge, will be creating an effective learning climate.
Habit 9: Good Teachers Know How to Pace their Teaching and Prior
Knowledge of Learners
Pacing is the speed with which students move through material to be learns, as
well as how fast it is presented. Low achievers sometimes fail to learn simply because
the pacing is too fast. They cannot sufficiently process the information, and thus
negatively impacts their own perception of their learning competency and motivation
for learning. However, higher achievers need a faster pace for learning or they will
become bored and unmotivated. Good teachers know how to adapt pacing to the
needs of learners and the cognitive complexity of the information taught. They also
alter instructional techniques with short teacher presentations, interspersed with
practice and review to maintain instructional momentum and reduce wasted time.
Good teachers make a concerted effort to tie new learning to prior learning.
When prior learning is accessed, space is freed in working memory. Then there is
space for comprehension, application and problem-solving.
1.5 ACTIVITY
a) Comment on the list of 10 Habits an of effective
teacher. Do you agree with the list?
b) List other habits that you think should be included to
describe an effective teacher.
For many years, educators and researcher have debated over which factors
influence student achievement. A growing body of evidence suggests that schools can
make a difference in terms of student achievement, and a substantial portion of that
difference is attributable to TEACHERS. Specifically, differential teacher
effectiveness is a strong determinant in student learning, far outweighing the effects
of differences in class size and learner differences (Darling-Hammond, 2000).
Students who are assigned to one ineffective teacher after another have significantly
lower achievement and learning than those who are assigned to a sequence of several
highly effective teachers (Sanders & Rivers, 1996). Thus, the impact of teacher
effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) seems to be additive and cumulative.
Teachers and the instruction they give their student are only two of a complex
set of factors that have an impact on student learning. One of the fundamental truths
in education is that the knowledge, skills, aptitudes, attitudes and values with which
students leave school or a particular teacher‘s classroom are influenced to a great
extent by the knowledge, skills, aptitudes, attitudes and values that students possessed
when they entered the school or classroom.
In addition, the knowledge, skills, aptitudes, attitudes and values that students
possessed when they enter a school or classroom are the result of some intricate and
complex combination of their genetic composition and the environment to which they
have been exposed in their homes (Anderson, 2004).
In addition to these genetic and
environmental factors which are beyond the
control of any teacher, teachers are
powerless in terms of making learning
occur; they simply cannot open up the tops
of their students‘ heads and pour in the
desired learning. The stimulus-response
theory has long been dismissed as a viable
theory for understanding the link between
teaching and learning; i.e. teachers teach
(stimulus) and students learn (response).
As Ralph Tyler (1949) pointed out more than half a century ago, learning
depends on the activities of the student.
Students learn according to what they do, not according to what their
teacher does;
Student either pay attention or they do not;
Students either construct their knowledge consistently with the teacher‘s
intended construction of knowledge, or they do not.
Students have complete veto power to do or not to do. Teachers can neither
make students pay attention, nor can they construct meaning for them. SO WHAT
CAN TEACHER DO? WHAT EXACTLY IS THE ROLE OF THE TEACHER IN
STUDENT LEARNING? Teachers must create conditions that reduce the likelihood
that students will use their veto power and increase the probability that students will
put forth the time and effort needed to learn what their teachers intend them to learn.
―I give up‖. Some educators may throw up their hands and suggest that any
attempt to improve teacher effectiveness is therefore futile. After all, if the genetic
composition, home background and prior schooling experiences of students account
for more than the schools which they attend and the teachers they encounter. If a
standard set of behaviours, methods, techniques and practices that will lead to more
effective teaching cannot be identified, then why bother inquiring about increasing
teacher effectiveness?. Don‘t despair, there is a counter argument as to how teaching
influences student learning and they are as follows: (Anderson, 2004).
First, when looked at over extended periods of time (i.e. more than a week,
month, semester or year), teachers can and do have a tremendous impact on
the learning of their students. One of the most obvious impacts of schooling on
student learning is the dramatic increase in differences in student achievement
as shown in examinations and tests. It is important to understand what is it
about differences in teacher effectiveness that produce such remarkable
differences in student learning.
Second, there is ample anecdotal evidence that individual teachers can (and
do) have profound effects on individual students. Most people can think back
to their school days and recall one or more teachers who made a real
difference in their lives. Because of one particular teacher, a complex idea was
understood, a special interest in a particular subject area was developed, or a
desire to pursue a certain career was cultivated. There can be no doubt that
these teachers were effective. It is important to understand what it is about
such teachers that makes them effective.
Third, whether teachers have an impact on student learning depends not only
teachers possessing the knowledge and skills needed to facilitate student
learning, but also their knowing when to use that knowledge and those skills to
achieve the goals they establish or accept for their students. Generally, the
effective teacher (discussed earlier) are likely to enhance student learning than
an ineffective teacher. Hence, the task is to understand how teachers and the
schools in which they work can be helped to become more effective.
1.6 ACTIVITY
a) Do teachers influence student learning? Discuss
b) Describe how you as an educator have impacted
student learning?
c) Besides academic achievement, in what other ways have
you influenced students you have taught?
SUMMARY
REFERENCES
Bickford, A., Tharp, S., McFarling, P., & Beglau, M. (2002). Finding the Right Fuel
for New Engines of Learning. eMINTS Evaluation Team, and Monica Beglau,
eMINTS Program. Information Today.
Strong, R., Silver, H. F., & Robinson, A. (1995). What do students want (and what
really motivates them)? Educational Leadership, 53(1), 8-12.