“Learners love me, I love my lovers,
Searchers look me in unseen sheet of papers,
I am knowledge. “
An American definition of ‘Teaching’ envisages that ‘ Teaching is the consistent and effective transfer of appropriate behaviors which lead to the achievement of predetermined and specified results’. Hence in order to substantiate the purpose of teaching that is the transfer of knowledge to the students properly so that after receiving teachings they can acquire expected knowledge and pre-determined results. Hence a good teacher is he who teaches the students how to lead their lives cleanly and controlled towards acquiring knowledge. A good teacher is vitally important for ideal teachings to the students. He should know the correct way of teaching where the students are inspired to learn and devote themselves to study. A good teacher is an architect for building a good citizen in the country.
According to Comoneius, a famous educationist, in order to make teaching successful, the three things are vitally important. These are Good teacher, Good method and Good books. Indeed, a good teacher plays a vital role in making teachings to the students successful. Being a teacher, he should behave in such a way by dint of his own image, voice and body use so that interaction and transfer of behaviour between the teacher and the student are accelerated in a systematic manner.
About the image, he needs to behave like the following:
– Well-dressed
– Well rested and calm & quiet
– He has to arrive before the students
– He has to greet the students as they arrive
– He needs to be enthusiastic about teaching in relevant field
– He has to identify and help the less able students
– He should remain alert and concentrate on how his students are behaving
– He should be an attentive listener
– He should think before he speaks
– He should remain calm and quiet
Assuming in a teaching classroom, computer class on Visual Basic is going on. The students are feeling boring because the teacher was not well dressed and well rested. Rather he has arrived late and he has not greeted them. Some students do not understand his lecture. He is running fast. He is not identifying and helping the less able students. In this case, despite his sound knowledge in the relevant field, he may not be treated as a good teacher. Henry Fayol defines a teacher as an active student of the students who can play very much attractive and fascinate role upon overall performances in the class. Besides this, in order to make our teachings memorable by good preparation, we need to follow as appended below apropos to the use of Voice:
– A teacher must start with Bang and end with Bang.
– In between check and interaction, a teacher should understand one thing that the students are learning.
– To plan for accurate timing
– To choose a suitable teaching methods in respect of the students and topics with a great care. And to help the students learn, especially those who are with problems.
An ideal teacher needs to play a vital role in active advisor among the students. He needs to be careful about the criteria on Control, Guide, Consult and Facilitate.
– Control: To draw up and issue instruction, and stay with the students, closely supervising its action.
– Guide to clarify what is required, hand over ownership to students and offer to give advice when they call you.
– Consult: To give a broad outline, ask students to discuss ideas and agree actions, using us as a separate expert reference point.
– Facilitate to give overall direction, co-ordinate the group’s discussion and expect it to produce a progress report.
Being a teacher, we need to be very careful in using our voice for effective teaching class. A good teacher need not be excited and agitated towards the students. We should give chance to ask question to the students so that transfer of behaviour is made possible in a significant manner. Sometimes, we forget that we are a teacher and we have a particular job for the students on the concept of learning. According to Franchise Bacon, there are two types of learning: One is Pedagogy- children’s learning and the other is Andragoggy- Adult learning. In case of adult learning, we cannot teach anybody, we only help him or her to learn. So in the case of using our voice we need to be responsible and tactful. Hence Somerset Maugham says ” It is difficult to pass over the razor’s edge, but the wise say the path to salvation is hard “
An ideal teacher needs to be well conversant about using the language. It is indispensable to create awareness and congenial atmosphere on the part of a teacher. In order to develop lecture, group discussion is a vital thing. As a teacher, we have to ensure that group performance is effective.
Apropos to the teaching method, the following are important to apply in teaching the students virtually.
1. Telling is not teaching
2. Age is not a bar to learn
3. Meaningful learning experience
4. Voice, image and body use
5. Practically oriented way of teaching
6. Repeat, Recap and Review
In view of the above, a good teacher selects any method to teach the students but according to Franchise Bacon, most of the good teachers select the sixth Rule of teaching that is ‘ Repeat, Recap, Review ‘ which is the most important one to make the teaching vitally effective, meaningful, fruitful and up to the mark
The reasons in support of the argument are stated as follows.
(a) Repeat: According to Franchise Bacon, ‘when you tell something in the class to a group of students, it is only a saying but when you recapitulate it, repeat it and ask the question on the progress, it will be interacted and if you further emphasize the concept, they will be conversant with the relevant knowledge’. Indeed, in case of delivering an important message, if it is stated once-only 10% will be memorized but if it is stated 6 times then 90% are memorized after one year. So, reiteration/repetition is the most important tools for the teaching to make the topics memorable. If the message is not remembered and understandable then the whole thing will be treated as useless.
(b) Recap: It is generally meant by recap to go over again the vital point of the relevant contents. Using FULLE-R and VHF for better memorization can do the recap. As the first events are best memorized so to start with big message. Thereafter unusual event like cartoon, exercise etc. be used. Thirdly, linked event, here mnemonics or analogy can be used and lastly to end with big messages of fascination towards the topics. In this context, summing up the ideas to arrive the conclusion that is the gist in question to be communicated to the students as a good communicator of the teaching course. We should remember one thing that ‘ Telling is not teaching; we need to make teaching active and interesting; get students involved; see it from the student’s view; we should use VHF and FULL-R. According to Comoneus, a famous educationist, for an effective teaching, ‘only lecture is immaterial but in order to ornament it for better memorization, ideal approach, demonstration, visual display and varieties of attractions of the students are needed’
(b) Review: A proverb always goes like ‘ To err is human’. It is human nature to forget the things/message, which is not reviewed that are we losing what we don’t review. To review we are to regularly sum up where we have reached and invited questions. At the end of every topics if the teacher repeats, recap and review, ask questions and help them to answer properly, the students will be more motivated and conversant with the subjects and grasp it properly so that teaching will be effective and fruitful. That is to say, a teacher’s behaviour will be in such, which must attract the students for effective and efficient teaching.
In delivering lecture, there are limitations, which may create hindrance to learning on the part of the students. Sometimes the lecture may be monotonous and boring due to continuous saying. If there exists dryness amongst the students, the teacher should change the policy of his lecture. He should ask open-ended questions. Open ended question help get students involved. Assuming to know a particular thing, one may get interested if he is intended to know those particular items. An ideal teacher needs to be well conversant about using the language. It is indispensable to create awareness and congenial atmosphere on the part of a teacher. Otherwise, we have to live in the midst of frustration and unlawful activities where there will be no light of education as a symbol of blaze illumination and peace and prosperity of life. In this context, William Shakespeare says:
“Out! Out! A brief candle,
A life’s but a walking shadow,
A poor player!
That struts and frets his hour
Upon the stage!
And then is heard no more,
It is a tale;
Told by an idiot,
It is full of sound and fury;
Signifying nothing.”