CONCEPT, DEFINITION AND NATURE OF TEACHING

CONCEPT OF TEACHING:

In our day to day life we have acquired certain experiences from various sources of knowledge and these kinds of sources work as the most matured part which gives us knowledge and information, this can be called as a teaching through which we can acquire knowledge and information.

Teaching is the most effective part of our life which produces some effective learners and these effective learners help to complete the whole teaching process. It is a process through which one can acquire full potentialities and achieve desired goals of one’s life. 

It is a process of attending to pupils needs, experiences and feelings and making specific involvement to learn a particular thing.

Teaching is an essential part of the education system.Education is an important process through which men preserve their culture. In this context as  a part of the formal education system, School is a special institution which has been entrusted with the responsibilities of young ones, and teaching is the main activity through which schools discharge their duties and attain their objectives. If teaching is done effectively, schools, successfully, achieve their goals. Many efforts have been made to study teaching and improve it in order to make it realise pre-determined goals. Teaching refers to the multiple tasks carried out by the teacher for leading the learners to the expected learning. It is usually associated with the imparting of 3R’s i.e.Reading, Writing and Arithmetics- representing various school subjects.

DEFINITIONS OF TEACHING

Teaching is defined by various ways by prominent educationist :

Albrt Einstein (A Swiss Physicist 1879-1950): The supreme art of teaching is to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.

H.C Morrison (1934) : Teaching is an intimate contact between a more mature personality and less mature one which is designed to further the education of the latter.

B.O. Smith, (1960).Teaching is a system of actions intended to produce learning.

B.O. Smith, (1963).Teaching is a system of actions involving an agent, an end in view, and a situation including two sets of factors—those over which the agent has no control (class size, size of classroom, physical characteristics of pupils, etc.) and those that he can modify (way of asking questions about instruction and ways of structuring information or ideas gleaned) 

William Lyon (1970): In my mind teaching is not merely  life work, a profession, an occupation, a struggle, it is a passion. I love to teach, as a painter love to paint, as a musician love to play, as a love to sing, as a stronger rejoice to run a race.

Clark(1970): Teaching refers to activities that are designed and performed to produce change in student(pipil) behaviour.

Thomas P. Green (1971): teaching is the task of a teacher which, which is performed for the development of a child.

Paul Goodman (1980): A good teacher feels his way, looking for response

Joyce and Weil (1985) :  teaching as a process by which teachers and students create a shared environment including sets of values and beliefs which in turn colour their view of reality.

NATURE OF TEACHING

1. Teaching is Guidance: a teacher always provides guidance to the students to develop their all round capabilities. Teaching is to guide the pupils to learn the right things in the right manner and in the right time. Teaching is to guide the students in a way that time, material and  energy are not wasted.

2. Teaching is A science. Teaching  is a science in that there are strategies and practices involved in the teaching process. Here the teachers are constantly collecting data by observing their students in order to see if learning is taking place and how they are learning in the best way. Like  scientists, every teacher experiments with new techniques or strategies to see how the students progress 

3. Teaching is an art:It is an art in that teachers must bring themselves fully into their teaching. A teacher  needs to find the methods and strategies that work best for the teaching of students. Teachers always adopt a teaching situation and personal teaching styles and then apply it in the classroom for better teaching. 

4. Teaching is stimulation and encouragement: Teaching should free and enthusiasm of the child. It is to encourage the child in the development of his natural desires to work and to be active.

5. Teaching is training the emotion of a child:  Teaching is to develop the emotional life of the child by providing an atmosphere  of love, affection and freedom. Teaching is to provide such activists as will sublimate their instinctive urges to action.

6. Teaching is a means of Preparation : If a teacher is not prepared what to be taught in the class the process of teaching will not fulfill its objective. Though preparation for the future is not the only aspect of teaching, yet it is an important aspect. Teaching is to help the immature child to develop physically, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually to participate effectively in the life of the community.

7. Teaching is a skilled Occupation: Every successful teacher is expected to know the general methods of teaching and instruction in creating suitable learning situations. He/she is also expected to be familiar with the general objectives of education.

8. Teaching is formal as well as Informal: Teaching is that which provides information to us, it can be held in any situation whether  formal as well as informal . As the first agency of teaching is the family therefore parents are the first teacher of the child. On the other hand formal education is carried by the teachers in the school. In this context the teaching is deliberately planned , systematically organised and it is always purposive. 

A teacher always cultivate the skill of teaching by various means including learning, reading, training,observation and experience. Ones said that " To teach is to learn twice". This profession takes immense passion to become a great teacher. when teachers are passionate about sharing their knowledge with students and have to make difference, then the teaching profession become the mother of all profession as all the other professions are the outcome of teaching. Teaching is more than a profession. The audience i.e. the students will be of different mindsets, egos, emotions and feelings. To reach out to them is a big challenge for educators.

REFERENCE

Book : Principle, Methods & Teaching, J.C.Aggarwal, second revised edition,Vikas publication

Internet source:

• http://bvpnlcpune.org/Results%20PDF/The%20nature%20of%20Teaching.pdf

• https://www.examrace.com/NTA-UGC-NET/NTA-UGC-NET-Study-Material/Paper-I/Research-Teaching/Definition-Nature-Characteristics-and-Requirements-of-Teaching.html

• https://physicscatalyst.com/graduation/teaching-definition/#:~:text=Concept%20of%20teaching,It%20is%20watching%20systematically.