Imagine what the world would be like if there were no rules or no guidelines. It would be confusing. People wouldn’t know what to do.
Before getting on to talk about the principles of teaching, let us take a look at what principles are. Principles are the basic foundation that makes and builds something,i.e., in this case, the basic beliefs and sets of notions that make up the profession are called the principles of teaching. It is much like a guide book to live by.
What is teaching? The definition of teaching goes beyond a mere profession or occupation. Teaching is a mix of things. The principles of teaching, the levels of teaching, the roles of teaching, the responsibilities of a teacher, all this together, makes teaching a tough job and sets it a class apart from other professions.
As mentioned, the principles of teaching and the roles of a teacher completes the job. Now, we have seen what the principles of teaching are. Today, we will be looking at five important principles of teaching:
Five Important Principles of Teaching
1.Student Engagement
One of the most important things that teachers have to keep in mind is to ensure student engagement. It is not enough to talk about things in the textbook, it is necessary to ensure that the students are involved and understand the concept. Student engagement is difficult to tackle. Kids tend to lose focus and get distracted easily, teachers have to come up with techniques and strategies to ensure that it doesn’t happen. Engaging students in the process is essential to ensure the learning is effective. Activities for students will help to increase student engagement. Student engagement will increase critical thinking skills and promote meaningful learning.
2.Innovative Methods and Inclusion of Technology
Education is an ever-evolving sector. There are a countless number of changes happening every day and it is important to be adaptable and include these changes into the lesson plan and curriculum to make sure that the students get the maximum benefit from the innovations around them. Animation, augmented reality, online learning resources, there are a lot of things that technology has to offer. The advancement in technology and education technology in specific has been massive over the past few years. Being resistant to change is not an option for teachers and hence, being inclusive, in terms of technology and otherwise.
3.Assessment of Learning
Assessment is an important part of teaching. As a teacher, you have to understand where your students stand in terms of the subject and concept knowledge. Assessment of learning is also called a summative assessment. It is a process that tests the understanding of students and based on the test, they are either promoted to the next grade or are given positions.
For example, the final semester exam is a summative assessment that decides whether the student can go to the next semester and who has got the rank one and likewise.The teachers have the responsibility of assessing their students both summatively and formatively.
4.Grading
In addition to assessments, the teachers have to grade their students. This is not just based on the exams but on their overall performance in the class and how they have been responding to questions and discussions in the class. Grading the students is important because based on the grading and the analysis of the students the approach of teaching has to be altered. Each kid is different and grading them will help to understand where to place them.
5.Communication
Communicating with students will help teachers understand them better. Every kid’s learning style is different and communication will help teachers to understand their students better. When it comes to communication, a lot of things can go wrong. When the teacher assumes an authoritative role and the communication becomes one way, there’s not much learning involved. Neither for the student nor the teacher.
A classroom must be a platform for two-way communication and a teacher must listen to what her students are feeling. Communication need not always be verbal, the teacher has to pick up non-verbal cues and that’s where the real teaching skills of a tutor gets tested. It is important for teachers to have strong verbal and nonverbal communication skills.
Conclusion
As mentioned, teaching is an intermix of a lot of things. Understanding what your students need and their pulse is important to take across meaningful learning. The basic principle of education is to enable students to think and to introspect. The principles that we have discussed here will not only help you become a better teacher but will also help the students to learn better.
The different types of teaching principles help teachers to stay focused on what they have to do. As mentioned before, principles act as a guide and help teachers to stay focused on the important aspects.
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