Due to difficulties in the evolution of teaching
theories, educationists are mostly concerned with the development of teaching
principles rather than theories. These principles are only tested guidelines
for a teacher because they are mostly based on learning principles and theories
- Important such principles are given below:
Principle of activity:
This principle states that teaching should mostly go in
the direction of students' activities, i.e., teacher should get his pupils
involved physically in his teaching as much as possible. The knowledge which is
gained by the involvement of activities is never forgotten. According to
McDonald, every child has some natural instinct of construction. Due to this
instinct, he is all the time in action doing one thing or the other. If a
teacher does not get him involved in any activity, he will himself do something
without purpose. Activities are of two types - mental and physical. Both these
activities are important in teaching. However, physical activities are
preferred to mental ones. Acquisition of knowledge is already concerned with
mental activities. The introduction of physical activities into teaching
learning process can be understood with an example. We can forget a story read
in a book after one or two years but we do not forget the skill of cycling
throughout life after we have learned it once. The reason is that activity is
involved in the second type of knowledge. So if a teacher wants to make a
knowledge fixed into the minds of learners, he must supplement the theoretical
knowledge with the practical one. Even history can be taught by doing
activities, i.e., by dramatizing the incident and staging it in the class. Due
to the high utility of this principle, many modern methods of teaching-
Montessori Method, project method, Kindergarten method etc.
Principle of interest:
According to this
principle, a teacher should teach in the class only when students take interest
in it. If this interest does not exist, it should be first created from outside
by the teacher. Interest in learning can be created in the class in so many
ways. Some of them are given below:
(i)
Tell the students the aims of their life.
(ii)
Tell them how useful they are for the country
and the society.
(iii) Develop curiosity of learning in them by
asking questions or by presenting problems before them.
(iv) Clarify the objectives of the lesson before
the students.
(v) Teach
the subject matter to students by relating it with their daily life situations.
(vi) Principle of learning by doing and motivation
should be followed. Clear cut relations must be established between content,
aims and the pupils. Lesson should be made by using proper material aids,
engineering technology and so on.
Principle of linking with life:
It has been seen that every child lives in his own world.
Thus, children take interest in those activities and objects only which have
direct link with their personal lives. Thus, according to this principle,
subject matter should be taught to students only after it has been linked with
the daily life of the child. This enables them to learn at faster rate and with
ease. The reason for this is =pie enough. When new experiences are integrated
with old ones, they also become the part of old experiences. The only problem
here is Go if a teacher is fully acquainted with the background of his pupils,
say then he can use this principle.
Principle of definite aim:
Teaching objectives must be clear before the teacher
prior to teaching because only on the basis of these objectives, selects
suitable teaching strategies and techniques. For example, if the purpose of a
poetry teaching is the appreciation of the poem, then renunciation and rhythm
will be emphasized and if comprehension is aim of poetry teaching, then
vocabulary and sense perception will be emphasized. Thus, a teacher must know
why he has to do a particular thing in the class before actually doing that
activity.
Principle of selection:
Content is selected in the class keeping in view the
larger objectives of education. There may be many irrelevant materials in a
lesson which are not useful for students. Similarly, many such things may be
there in a text book which does not pace with the level of the learner. So,
teacher selects only .that part of the subject matter which matches the
objectives and is meaningful for learners. For example, if a teacher decides
that his students should score 90% marks in the examination, he will, select
all those parts which will enable the students to score 90% marks.
Principle of planning:
A teacher must prepare a full plan of the lesson which he
is to teach in the class. Planning helps him to identify the expected problems
of teaching and selects suitable strategies to overcome them, if "any such
problem arises during teaching about which teacher had not even thought of
while preparing the lesson plan. This type of problem is solved by the teacher
on the basis of his experiences. Planning is actually the name of taking
benefit of experiences of others. Good plan means half of the task done.
Principle of division:
If a teacher teaches a lesson after dividing it into
different natural parts, his presentation will be effective. But the teacher
should keep this fact in mind that every unit of the lesson should be complete
in it and should be able to arouse curiosity for learning of next unit. This
makes the whole lesson easy and systematic for learners. When a teacher follows
this principle, he synthesizes all these units in a logical sequence into a
whole also.
Principle of revision:
Whatever lesson is taught to pupils must be revised by
them as well. If it is not done, it is forgotten won. Tough subject matter
needs more revisions and easy subject matter needs comparatively less revisions.
Home work is given to students only on the basis of this very principle.
Principle of democratic dealing:
The behavior of the teacher should be fully democratic in
the class. It means that he should give full opportunities to his pupils to
develop their self thinking and self expression by respecting their
personalities. In a democratic dealing, a teacher: is guided by his students
and vice versa. Thus, the teacher develops the lesson with the cooperation of his
students. He questions them and answers their queries as well. He also invites
them to criticize him at the end of his teaching. All these activities increase
the self confidence of his students.
Principle of motivation:
The task of a teacher becomes very easy if he is
successful in motivating his pupils for learning. Since, motivation is directly
related to needs, teacher must take steps to satisfy their needs to the maximum
level possible. Reward and punishment, praise and blame, knowledge of results,
arousing and quenching the curiosity of learners, using material aids in
teaching, competition, co operations etc. are some important techniques of
motivation.
Principle of recreation:
Lengthy and dull teaching tasks bore and frustrate the
students and proper enthusiasm on both sides can entertain both of them. In
order to reduce fatigue and boredom of students, teaching task is made
interesting. A teacher must make his teaching a means of recreation, not a
burden on his pupils.
Principle of individual differences:
No two individuals are alike in the world in their
abilities and interests. So, teaching work is done keeping in view the
individual differences of learners. Thus, a teacher has to satisfy at least
four groups of students by his teaching simultaneously.
(i) Superior and talented students.
(ii) Weak and dull students.
(iii) Students of average performance.
(iv) Students with special learning problems.
Principle of remedial teaching:
It has generally been seen that only those students shun
the classes who are educationally backward in anyway. Their problem of
backwardness lies in defective method of teaching and unsystematic classroom
management. A good teacher is one who diagnoses his fault of teaching by
applying Standardized tests and adopts remedial measures.
Principle of sympathy:
Those teachers who are sympathetic to their students can
easily motivate their students for learning. If a teacher is able to develop a
feeling in his students that there is none more sympathetic to them than the
teacher, the teacher will always be co operated by his students.
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