Good Teaching Is an Art as Well as a Science

This essay contemplates my individual development, skill acquisition and exploration of teaching approaches; throughout and beyond the International Teacher Training Organisation (ITTO) program. The problems I encountered will be discussed; and their relation to establishing where my wealth of primary teaching experience aligns with English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching approaches. For example; efforts to reduce my teacher talk time compared to primary school education was important, correcting pronunciation in an appropriate manner and correctly pacing both my speech and activities were areas of development that were observed, reflected on personally and subsequently acted upon.

Another major issue that is addressed in the article is with the teachers and their teaching styles. The method in which most teachers teach their

Bearing this in mind the different groups of learners, visual (where the learner finds observing a task and then repeating it easier), auditory (where the learner explanations of what to do easier) and kinaestic (where the student learns by experience and doing the task themselves) and having opportunities for all types of learners and combining more than one type in your scheme of work, will ensure equality in your teaching practice.

Another problem that inhabits the educational system is teachers who are unprepared to prepare students for the many standardized test that are given. An example would be that the average teacher in Finland must go through a grueling curriculum in order to become teachers (Schneider, and Christison 30-32). This shows that we lack in preparing our teachers to teach. This of course also leads to unpreparedness from students, to low test grades and a loss of interest. Teachers should become more flexible in the way they teach, allowing creativity and a way for the student to gain feedback from the teacher to want to learn more of the subject (Slon 47-49).

Students have their own best way in effectively learning the lesson. With the diversity of students, the problem is each student has a preferred learning style. It becomes undeniably one of the reasons that make it difficult to achieve the best expected outcome out of teachers’ effort. However, teachers try to incorporate various teaching techniques to make every learning opportunity become productive, meaningful, and relevant for the learners.

There are different styles of teaching, as each pupil will learn in a different style, these include visual learners, auditory learners and kinesthetic learners. These learners all need different ways of helping them to learn. For example a

Teachers need to be flexible in how students learn and demonstrate their knowledge and understanding. For example, if a student is having trouble keeping up with written work, the student could accomplish a similar learning objective through a different method.

A teacher’s ability to get their subject across to their students is something that is acquired over time, and in order for them to learn how effective their teaching method is they have to be evaluated. A teacher’s strategy to get the student to learn and should be enthusiastic about the subject they are teaching. This enthusiasm then leads into their ability to motivate students to learn, which is how a student gains something from the class. A teacher should also be responsible, meaning that they are doing exactly what they should be when in a class room or when they are around their students.

My personal belief is that teaching is not just the profession of spitting out information to students that they in turn regurgitate to me. I think that teaching is a process of life learning for these students. I believe there are four extremely important factors that distinguish a well-disciplined class from others. They include the following factors: classroom environment, expectations and procedures, student-teacher relationships, and active learning.

In the practice of teaching, it is the responsibility of a teacher not only to teach students subject matter, but to teach students in order to enable them to grow and develop as a person. While it is essential for students to have an understanding of academic material, it is also equally as important that when students finish their education they have skills to use in

As an instructor it is important to always be flexible in regards to the learning objectives and the teaching plan in an effort to meet the individual needs of each learner.

Learning is not a skill that is necessarily instinctual or easy, and therefore different approaches must be used to make learning easier and more fun for students. Teaching is not a skill that can be memorized or made repetitive, and so teachers must continue to challenge not only their students, but also themselves. Teachers that become complacent in their jobs are not good teachers. Those who can find a way to make an old lesson new and exciting will have an energized classroom, and will be reenergized themselves.

They not only enrich their knowledge and abilities, but also communicate with their peers and teachers. So they can also develop their character.

In order to teach successfully teachers must learn about first learn about their students. Teachers must assess the student’s capabilities and interests. Some students are visual learners, while others learn from hands on activities, or verbal communication. Not all students can learn through memorization, rather they learn through interest and relation to the topic. “To realize what an experience, or empirical situation, means, we have to call to mind the sort of situation that presents itself outside of school" (Democracy and Education). The curriculum should encompass material that is most useful for a student to learn. It seems that in the majority of schools, students are not given the flexibility to guide their own learning, but rather follow rigid instructions that destroy the student’s imagination.

I think that teaching requires both art and science. They both play a role on each other, because if a teacher only demonstrates one of these types of teaching, their classroom will most likely be very boring.