The Teaching Process

Imagine you had just passed away and this is your funeral service. In the audience are all the students you have ever taught. What would you like to hear them say about you? How do you want to be remembered as a teacher? Write your own eulogy or obituary.

In Memoriam


We will take a look at the teaching process involving teacher, student and subject matter.

1. Teacher wrt Subject Matter
   
   To be an excellent teacher, you ...
   
   
   1. Must know the subject matter well and are passionate about it.
      
      Without mastery and clarity of thought, it would be difficult for you to explain clearly to your students.
      
      
   2. Are eager to learn more ... attending seminars, reading books, etc
      
      
   3. Prepare early and go through your materials each time.
      
      Thinking about the lesson not only when you are seated down preparing to teach but when you are walking, eating, taking a bus or a train ... allowing the lesson to soak into you.
      
      Preparing early also gives you time to gather illustrations, materials, teaching aids, etc
      
      
   4. Seek to improve on your teaching
      
      Evaluating your teaching each time ... reflecting on what worked, what did not and how to teach better the next time.
      
      


2. Teacher wrt Student
   
   You don't just teach a subject matter but you teach a subject matter to a particular group of students. To be an excellent teacher, you must ...
   
   
   1. Seek to know your students and their needs
      
      
   2. Know the age-group or group characteristics of your students
      
      
   3. Able to relate the subject matter and demonstrate its relevance to your students
      
      
   An excellent teacher must know not only what to teach but what is the best way to teach it to his students.
   
   
   4. Know how to structure and organise your materials
      
      Moving from the simple to the complex; from truth already known (prior knowledge) to new knowledge.
      
      
   5. Use different teaching strategies that are appropriate to your students' preferential mode of learning, concerns and needs
      
      


3. Teacher wrt Student and Subject Matter
   
   An excellent teacher is able to ...
   
   
   1. Arouse the students' interest in the subject matter
      
      
   2. Help students interact with the subject matter and learn for themselves
      
      

Conclusion

As now, so then. What you do now will determine what you achieve in the future. If what you do now will not help reach your goal of how you like to be remembered as a teacher then you have to make some changes.

Teaching skills can be developed and you must work to personalise and polish these skills ... till they are like second nature to you. Being an effective teacher is a challenging task, but should you accept this challenge and responsibility, you also find that it can provide rewards beyond your imagination ... changed lives.

For the next part, we will take a look at the teaching process where the subject matter is the Word of God.



The Teaching Process | Teaching the Word of God | Effective Persuasion | Main Page

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