What is Teaching?: A Definition
Teaching is the process of attending to people’s needs, experiences and feelings, making specific interventions to help them learn particular things.
Who is the self that teaches? How do I relate to my students, colleagues, my world? How can education deepen the selfhood from which good teaching comes? Teaching should set out with the intention of someone learning something, and should consider people’s feelings, experiences and needs. Teaching is only teaching if people can take on what is being taught. Seems obvious, right? But it’s sometimes overlooked and undervalued. Teachers need to look for and create interventions.
Interventions commonly take the form of questioning, listening, giving information, explaining a phenomenon, demonstrating a skill or process, testing understanding and capacity and facilitating learning activities, i.e. note-taking, discussion, writing and practice. The process of education flows from a basic orientation of respect for the truth, others and themselves, and the world. For teachers to be educators they must take into account people’s needs and wishes now and in the future, consider what might be good for them and the world in which we live, plan their interventions accordingly.
Engaging people in learning —
At the center of teaching lies enthusiasm and a commitment to, and expertise in, the process of engaging people in learning…creating positive student-teacher relationships. Interventions often involve shifting a conversation or discussion onto a different track or changing the process or activity. The process of moving from one way of working or way of communicating to another is far from straightforward. It calls upon us to develop and deepen our practice, no matter the subject.
When the timing is right, the ability to learn a specific skill will be possible. This is referred to as a “teachable moment”. It’s important to keep in mind that unless the time is right — learning will not occur. It’s important to repeat important points whenever possible, to continue to practice. (Havinghurst 1953). Learning requires repetition.
Teaching requires collaborative relationships and teachers must consider both the subject of what they are teaching and the people who are doing the learning. These social relationships are crucial. One of the things that has been confirmed by recent research in neuroscience is that our brains are wired to connect, we are wired to be social. (Lieberman 2013).
Differentiation involves adjusting the way we teach and approach subjects so that we can meet the needs of diverse learners. “One size doesn’t fit all” (Kathleen Stanford Grant) applies not only to a person’s physical being, but also to the way in which they learn and interpret information.
Teachers need to build up a repertoire of different activities that can be used to explore issues and concepts. Encouraging and representing a growth mindset versus a fixed mindset it key for a growth mindset concerns itself with getting better at a task. A fixed mindset focuses on outcomes and performance which is not always productive in experiencing a teaching moment.
What does good teaching look like? It comes from the integrity of the teacher. Their care, experience, enthusiasm, empathy, knowledge, interest and concern for people. Teachers need to be present in their environment.
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(What is heritage? A definition: Something that is handed down from the past. This includes both tangible and intangible objects, thoughts and beliefs. Heritage is an essential part of the Present we live in —- and of the future we will build. I am a devoted teacher. I am devoted to my practice and to yours. I’m devoted to heritage.)