Techniques of Good Teaching
Positive relationship: Maintaining a positive relationship among students, teachers and the administrators creates a harmonious leaning environment. When students are nurtured in such surroundings, they are likely to increase their intellectual accomplishments and learn more effectively.
Cooperative engagement: Encourage cooperation and mutual support by getting learners to study collaboratively. When learners study in a group, they share their ideas and knowledge to complete an assignment. Support from the peer group also helps to boost learners’ confidence. Unlike learning in isolation where discouragement or a sense of hopelessness may set in, learning becomes more enjoyable when friends are able to help or motivate one another.
Learning actively: Students learn when they are actively engaged in their class activities. A good teacher does not impose her ideas or opinions on the class but allows students to participate actively in a student-centric environment. To encourage the meaningful application of knowledge, the teacher should encourage students to link what they have learned with events/happenings in their everyday lives.
Constructive feedback: The instructor should allocate time to evaluate her students’ understanding of her instruction. From the feedback, she can assist learners with constructive advice to help them progress. It is the responsibility of the teacher to provide help in the form of feedback and suggestions in order to improve learning.
Communicate the outcome: The teacher should inform her students about what she expects them to achieve at the end of the lesson. If she tells her students that she has high (but realistic, of course) expectations of them, then they will try to live up to her expectations. Chances are that they will succeed, even the weaker ones. On the other hand, if the teacher does not expect much from her students, they are not likely to do very well, including the bright students.
Mutual respect: Just as students respect their teachers, the latter should also respect their students from diverse backgrounds, and take into consideration their different styles of learning. School administrators, the school-board and policy-makers share the teachers’ responsibility of creating a learning environment which takes into account mutual respect for those involved in the learning process.
Teacher as a responsible educator: The teacher must be passionate about her profession. She must carry out her responsibilities as an educator in the true sense of the word, going beyond merely imparting knowledge in the classroom.
Creating a knowledge consumption environment: The teacher must create a stimulating environment to make her students thirst for knowledge. She should the guide them seek knowledge independently. She should also bridge any gap in her students’ knowledge so that what learners have learnt in the classroom can be applied to their real-life situations. This will surely motivate students to pursue knowledge further on their own.
Be a good listener in the classroom: If the teacher wants to be a successful educator, she must be a good listener. When she listens to her students, she can empathize with them and understand them better. Hence having good listening skills is a prerequisite for effective teaching.
Make your teaching flexible: When students are pushed to the limit, they do not learn anything useful. Instead, they may learn to hate whatever is being taught. There must be time for learning by listening and learning by being hands on. The teacher should ensure that there is a good balance between study and play in order to achieve a better learning environment. Ideally, classroom learning should be an enjoyable experience, not fearful or stressful. So be sensitive to your students’ frame of mind and adapt your teaching style accordingly.
Use technology to make the class interesting: Using multimedia in the classroom makes the lesson more interesting and thus motivates students to be more attentive. Use a simple projector to present your instruction in the classroom. Sounds, pictures and graphics help learners to conceptualize the essential points. Thus, students learn faster and more effectively. Use the Internet to post assignments online for easy access by students.
