three kinds of teachers

Three kinds of teachers

@ Gopal Prasad Bashyal

ETC, Palpa

Abstract

Teacher leads all teaching learning activities. She decides to take appropriate strategies and conducts accordingly. Based on her pedagogical knowledge and beliefs, she maintains her performance as an explainer or an involver or an enabler.

Key words: the explainer, the involver, the enabler.

Teacher A: The explainer: Many teachers know their subject matter very well, but have limited knowledge of teaching methodology. This kind of teacher relies mainly on 'explaining' or 'lecturing as a way of conveying information to the students. Done with style or enthusiasm or wit or imagination this teacher's lessons can be very entertaining, interesting and informative. The students are listening, perhaps occasionally answering questions and perhaps making notes but are mostly not being personally involved or challenged. The learners often get practice by doing individual exercises after one phase of the lecture has finished.

Teacher B: The involver: This teacher also knows the subject matter that is being dealt with. (in our case this essentially the English language and how it works.) However, she is also familiar with teaching methodology; she is able to use appropriate teaching and organizational procedures and techniques to help her students learn about the subject matter. Teacher explanations may be one of these techniques, but in her case it is only one option among many that she has at her disposal. This teacher is trying to involve the students actively and puts a great deal of efforts into finding appropriate and interesting activities that will do this, while still retaining clear control over the classroom and what happens in it.

Teacher c: The enabler: Essentially teaching is about working with other human beings. This teacher knows about the subject matter and about methodology, but also has an awareness of how individuals and groups are thinking and feeling within her class. She actively responds to this in her planning and working methods and in building effective working relationships and a good classroom atmosphere. Her own personality and attitude are an active encouragement to learning.

            This kind of teacher is confident enough to share control with the learners, or to hand it over entirely them. Decisions made in her classroom may often be shared or negotiated. In many cases she takes her lead from the students; seeing herself as someone whose job is to create the conditions that enable the students to learn for themselves. Sometimes this will involve her in less traditional teaching she may become a guide, counsellor or a resource of information when needed sometimes when the class is working well under its own steam when a lot of autonomous learning is going on she may be hardly visible.       &                                                   email: gopalbashyal@gmail.com