Teaching: a Noblest Profesion
For the last 50 years, educators have devoted a great deal of energy to the debate whether teaching can be considered as a profession. Unfortunately, this turns out to be a wrong question, and so led us to the wrong sort of answers. Teaching is really a noble profession. Every one of us, including our nation’s President is the product of teaching. The teacher is the one who molds a child into what he will be in the future. In this study, we will learn about the teachers, and the nature, history, the art, essentials, strategies, cycle and imperatives of teaching.
Teacher
The teacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students. The role of the teacher is often formal and ongoing. Origin The word “teacher” is the noun form of the verb ‘teach’, the word ‘teach’ derives from the English word tæcan which means to show, point out or give instruction. In 1290, the word teacher began to be used for the index finger or one ‘that points out’. By 1300, it took on its modern meaning, or ‘one who teaches’. Teach in old English first meant “to present or to point out, instruct” and the word is Germanic origin.
The word teacher was first used to mean ‘that which points out’ and then quickly became used in the sense of “instructor”. Great Teachers A teacher shapes the personality of his student. They help child reach the highest possible degree of personal development. A good teacher not only shows the right path that the students should follow but also prepares the human resource for the further development of the nation. Most Famous Teacher Some of the most important men in history have been teachers. The most famous teacher in the western world was Jesus of Nazareth.
His teaching had two aspects, both vitally important and closely connected. He taught his own pupils, the Jewish people, his pupils were with him all the time. They were all poor, ordinary men, simple and good. He also taught the general public. He read out a piece of the scriptural books and then explains it to the others. But more often Jesus delivered short speeches in the open air, huge crowds gather to hear him, and simply hoping they would learn something. Nature of Teaching Teaching is regarded as the noblest of all professions in the world.
It is an occupation that will not give you a promotion on very easily base on your performance. In its broadest sense, teaching is a process that facilitates learning. The choice of learning activities whereby the goals of education are realized in the school is the responsibility of the teaching profession. Teachers vary in their views of the nature of teaching. Over the years many have debated on whether teaching is an art or a science or both. Others view teaching as a system. As an art, teaching calls for intuition, inspiration, talent and creativity.
Teachers who adhere to this view look at students as individuals with different abilities and backgrounds. These teachers believe that teaching requires an ability to see through and respond to individual differences among learners. As a science, teaching requires knowledge of scientific discoveries regarding the teaching- learning process, the objectives of education, subject matter and the nature of learners. Teacher who believes in this point of view consider knowledge and applications of techniques already tested to bring out learning as vital in their success as teachers.
When viewed as both, teaching requires striking a balance between the application of proven instructional principles and the use of intuitive approach of an artist. Teaching as a system, requires an understanding of the role of the more mature, experienced members of society in stimulating, managing and guiding the immature. Teaching Teaching is all about inspiring, engaging, and empowering our children and young people. It is about making a difference to future generations. History In ancient India, China, Egypt and Judea, teaching was often performed by a priest or prophet, and the teacher enjoyed prestige and privilege.
Among the Jews, many adults considered teachers the guide to salvation and urged children to honor their teachers even more than their parents. By the Middle Ages in Europe (5th century to 15th century), the Roman Catholic Church had taken over the responsibility for teaching, which was conducted in monasteries and specially designated learning centers. In North America a commitment to education played an important role in colonial development of the continent. They also valued the role of higher education.
They considered education not only a means of harnessing talent in the nation, but also a means of teaching people the demands of democratic citizenship. The Art of Teaching Teaching has defined not simply as a process of imparting knowledge nor getting a message across but rather a process of communicating aimed at affecting desirable changes in the behavior of the learner. It holds the key to character of its people. Teaching is not an easy task. It’s an art form; one that requires craft, sensitivity, creativity, and intelligence. Essentials of Good Teaching There are different ways of good teaching.
The primary characteristic of the teacher is to like children. A teacher must not only like the young because they are young. He must enjoy their company in groups. Meanwhile, it is enough to point out that there are many pupils than teachers in the world. Others include, proper training, patience, sense of humor, excellent attendance, hardworking, skill in lesson planning, interest in each child, patience and creating a positive learning atmosphere and developing a good rapport without showing favoritism. Hardest Jobs in Teaching The teachers play many roles.
The roles they played include the following: controller, assessor, a resource, coach, tutor, organizer, facilitator, counselor, an instructor, a provider of experiences, model, motivator, authority, arbiter, examiner, disciplinarian, balancer, mentor, prompter, participant, performer, rapport builder, public relations, specialist and parents surrogate. There are many jobs in teaching, but one of the hardest jobs is to be a leader. As a leader she is first to act to show ready, willing and active participation, first to show how things should be done correctly, and first to take a principal role in any group undertakings.
Above all, she is able to move the members, has full command and authority and can influence others to follow. Teacher leadership roles also vary in accordance with the professional development experience of the teacher. Teaching Strategies There are varieties of teaching that instructors can use to improve student learning. Listening At the four language skills, listening has been sadly neglected. Students listening comprehension usually lags behind. They lack the ability to comprehend the spoken language.
Because language is basically oral, students should develop their listening and speaking skills side by side with their reading and writing skills. Speaking In language teaching, the teacher serves as a model to the students. Teacher should therefore, be able to produce the vowel and consonant sounds correctly for the student’s imitate. Before the students can actually communicate in sentences, they have to know the sound system of the language. Hence, from the kindergarten to the sixth grade, pronunciation lessons are a must.
Students should know the proper stress of words, phrases and sentences and observe the proper stress of words, phrases, sentences, and observe the proper pauses when speaking to avoid misinterpretation of what they hear and to be understood by other. Reading Teaching strategies in reading are based on the philosophy and theories regarding the meaning, nature and structure of reading. They are also based on the important foundation disciplines such physiology, linguistics and sociology. Reading is the process of making and getting meaning from printed word symbols.
Efficient reading is an active dialogue between author and reader. The efficient reader is ready to evaluate, challenge and criticize reading materials. The man who read well is the man who leads. Writing Before one can teach properly, however, one must first have a clear idea of what good writing is and how it is produced. Based on the concept of writing as a thought process, the teacher of writing is concerned with developing in the learner ability to marsh all his ideas in such a way that he is able to select what are important and relevant to his purpose, at the same time to present them in a coherent and logical order.
The pupil must learn to manipulate English patterns in order to produce texts that are grammatically acceptable, and they are required to learn how to organize sentences in a way that a definite communication purpose is served such as narrating, arguing, defining, explaining, describing, etc. Planning for Effective Learning and Teaching These days, many people can be a teacher, but the question is, are these people can be an effective teacher? Clearly, to be an effective teacher is more complicated and difficult than many people think.
Effective teachers are distinguished by their dedication to the students and to the job of teaching, and feel responsible for the achievement and success of the students and own professional development. Effective teachers really believe that all students can learn, although all learn differently. Teachers will benefit when they learn how to plan for effective teaching and learning. Planning lessons for a whole school year can be challenging, but they can be successful if they start early and continue modifications throughout the year. Effective learning in school doesn’t happen by accident. Good lessons have to be planned for.
It is important that a teacher understands clearly what he should do to bring about desirable learning in the students. This is his main role. He needs to plan his work. Planning for effective teaching is a lengthy process, but teaching the lesson, requires implementation and skill. Planning effective learning and teaching experiences are one of the skills the teacher has to develop. Planning insures more or less the direction that his efforts will take. Careful planning can give the teacher a sense of confidence in overcoming nervousness and preventing wastage and confusion especially during the first days of teaching.
Teaching Imperatives In order to guarantee a continuing professional development of teachers these three distinct concerns must be applied: Knowledge Teachers must be sensitive, daring and ready to explore and widen the scope and coverage of the content they are teaching. They must not only be grounded in the basics of discipline, steep in recent trends, new understandings and logical predictions characteristics of professional growth, but more importantly well-versed in assimilating and sustaining valuable learning.
Skills Teachers play a significant role in developing the same skills and creativity in using the technologies must appropriate for the kind and nature of learning desired. They will be the most effective to provide such assistance only if they have been sufficiently trained and prepared for it. Attitudes and Values Knowledge and skills will undoubtedly enhance and nurtured if some valuable personal and professional values are firmly developed.
Teachers whose main responsibility is to mold the minds of the young should e imbued with such values as critical mindedness, creativity and innovativeness, strong motivation, to grow professionally and to adopt to the challenges of societal changes. In conclusion, teachers are the guiding light to students. Teachers are miracle workers when it comes to trying to get every student to pass a test. Teachers are also a knowledgeable worker, transporting much knowledge while shaping the minds of our youth and thus have a responsibility and image to uphold. In order to maintain structure of professionalism in the educational environment, education systems need to take steps to make sure they handle this task efficiently.
