Teaching Aptitude For UGC NET

Who, Whom, Why, Where,  What,  How  and When of Teaching.

The above definitions reveal that to play his role competently in teaching, a teacher is expected to understand the  significance of the following.

1. Who is to teach: The teacher is to teach and the must understand himself thoroughly his strengths and weaknesses and strive to present a reasonably good model before his students.
2. Whom to teach: The child is to be taught. Therefore, a teacher should understand him thoroughly his abilities, aptitudes, attitudes, manners and temperaments and accordingly cater to the individual differences of students.

3. Why to teach: The teacher should always keep in view that the aim of education is  to develop harmonious personalities, who are culturally refined, emotionally stable, ethically sound, mentally alert, morally upright, physically strong, socially efficient and spiritually enlightened.  He should not forget even for a moment that the traditional 3 R’s have been  replaced by 7R’s, that is, reading, writing, arithmetic (representing various disciplines), rights, responsibilities, relationships and recreation.
4. Where to teach: The teacher ought not to visualize the school to be merely a place of imparting information but  a place where men of tomorrow are trained to take their place as enlightened citizens in the society and contribute to national development.
5. What to teach: The teacher must have mastery over the subject the teaches.
6. How to teach: The teacher must use new teaching-learning technology to make his teaching effective and inspirational.
7. When to teach: Appropriate steps need to be taken by the teacher to develop motivation of the student in the entire work.

Nature and Characteristics of Teaching:

1. Teaching is Giving information: There are many things that the students cannot find out for themselves. There are many things that they can never know unless they are told. There are  many things the use of which they do not  know. These things they have to be told. So, one essential part of teaching is communicating  knowledge, Knowledge must be given in a systematised manner. Teaching should be made interesting. It must, however, be stressed that interesting.  It must, however, be stressed that  Knowledge aspect should not be unduly emphasized.
2. Teaching is Causing to Learn: It is wrong to think, that knowledge can be passed on from one person to another like money. Knowledge will be received only when the students are prepared to received only when the students are prepared to receive it. Real teaching consists in persuading the child, by  one method or the other to learn for himself. The teacher is an instrument in helping a child to learn and to do things fro himself.
3. Teaching is Helping a Child to Adjust himself to his Environment: A child is reacting in some way or the other to his physical and social environment, from his very birth. His reactions are both fruitful and harmful.  Teaching should help the child to make successful adjustment. This may be done in two ways.  Sometimes we modify the environment and at other times strengthen the child. Teaching should make the child socially efficient, that is a worthy member of society, making his contribution to the common good.
4. Teaching is Stimulation and Encouragement: Teaching should fire the 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 Guidance: Teaching is to guide the pupils to learn the right things in the right manner and at the right time. Teaching is to guide the students to do things in such a way that time, material and energy are not wasted.
6. Teaching is Training the Emotions of the Child: Ryburn observes, “it is also the encouraging and  training of the emotional life. This is an aspect of teaching  which is very commonly neglected, at least in practice.  But our teaching will be only one-sided and distorted unless we take into account the necessity for helping the child to develop a stable emotional life. “Teaching is to develop the emotional life of the child by providing an atmosphere of love, affection and freedom. Teaching is to provide such activities as will sublimate their instinctive urges to action.
7. Teaching is a Means of Preparation: Though preparation for 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.
8. Teaching is Formal as well as Informal: Formal teaching is deliberately planned, systematically organized and is always purposive. Teachers are just formal agents of teaching. Informal teaching is carried on by the parents, brothers and sisters at home, playmates, student community outside the  classroom etc. The few hours of the school are insufficient for the full development of the child.  Formal and informal teaching must co-operate, if good results are to be achieved.  School should ‘supplement’ not ‘supplant’, the training imparted by the home and vice-versa.
9. Teaching as a skilled Occupation: Every successful teacher is expected to know the general methods of teaching and instruction in creating suitable learning situation. He is also expected to be  familiar with the general objectives of education.
10. Teaching is a Form of Social Service: The teaching profession is regarded to be a sort of social service and the teachers as servants of society in whose hands has been entrusted the task of shaping and developing  the behaviour and conduct of the young children for maintaining and improving the social patterns.
11. Teaching is Both an Art and Science: Silverman (1966) has expressed the nature of teaching in these words, “To be sure teaching, like the practice of medicine, is very much an art which is to say, it calls for exercise of talent and creativity.  But like medicine, it is also a science, for it involves a repertoire of techniques, procedures and skills that can be systematically studies, described and improved. A good teacher, like a good doctor, is one who adds creativity and inspiration to the basic reportoire.
12. Teaching is a communicative process which furthers by verbal as well as non-verbal mediums.
13. Teaching is a bipolar process where a teacher ensures the participation of learners in the task through the medium of content.
14. Teaching is a tri-polar process also in which teaching objectives (teacher) learning experiences (content and changes in behaviour (students)  all work together in a unified from.
15. Teaching is diagnostic as well as remedial process. We first of all, find out the weaknesses of students and then suggest remedial measures.
16. Teaching is logical activity centering around planning, presentation and evaluation in a logical sequence.
17. Measurement of teaching is possible, i.e. teacher’s behaviour can be observed and rated quantitatively. For example.  Flander’s Interaction analysis.
18. Improvement in strategies of teaching and reinforcement can lead to better learning all the time. Thus, teaching is a learning process also. Search from good to better is a continuous process that makes the task a challenging one.
19. Teaching is a controlled activity where nothing is done by the teacher without proper deliberation.
20. Teaching is an activity of furthering the generalization of knowledge.