Focal Points in Education
There are 3 Focal Points in Education:
The Teacher
The Child
The Subject
Teaching is the relation that is established between these three.
The Teacher seeks to bring his pupils into a relation with a certain subject matter.
Nature of the Child
One of the important things the teacher has to know is the Nature of the Child.
He has to know the nature of the child in general as well as the particular child he is teaching.
Children differ in bodily health and fitness, intelligence and other abilities and temperament. Also the home environment of no two children is the same; they have different interests and different opportunities for developing their interests.
The teacher’s success in establishing a fruitful relationship will depend on realizing the points of difference of his pupils and taking a practical account of them.
Knowledge of the Subject matter
The Teacher must have a knowledge of the subject matter that he is trying to teach his pupils. He should also have a knowledge of How to connect a child and the subject: that is a knowledge of Method.
Teaching is Giving Information
It is exposition. Communicating knowledge.
There are many things that children cannot find out by themselves. There are many things they would never know unless they were told. There are many things of which they do not realize the need or use. These things have to be told.
A good deal of the teacher’s time will be taken up telling his pupils things, with giving them information, with telling the how to do things, with telling them where to find out things.
The Art of Story Telling
A good story teller will always find his work of communicating knowledge easy. This can also be made more interesting if it takes the form of play. All types of teaching work are more effective when done in the spirit of play and communication of knowledge is no exception.
Understanding the Words
It is important that our exposition is being understood by the child. Too often our teaching misses the mark because the words the teacher uses the meaning of which the children have the vaguest idea, and sometimes they have completely wrong idea. It is common sense to make sure that hey understand what we are talking about; and not to go too quickly and to consolidate as we go.
If we go on piling in information and do not pause to see whether it is being assimilated or not, a great deal of our effort has been wasted.
When giving information we must keep in mind 2 aspects of our work:
Causing to Learn
Important as it is, the giving of information is not the most essential aspect of teaching. Still more important is the fact that teaching is “Causing to Learn”. It is not what we tell the child that teaches him, in the true sense of the word. It is the response we call forth from him.
Real teaching is not what we do for the child, but what we can persuade him, by one method or another, to do for himself.
The teacher is therefore an instrument. He is there to cause learning, to help development, to enable child to establish his own relationship with the subject and the environment.
“ It is only when the teacher appreciates the instrumental character of his work that teaching fulfills its true function of causing others to learn and ‘to learn’ here implies the power to do as well as power to understand; it means the attainment of knowledge in the sense of power to deal effectively with situations.”
This has been summarized and curated from "The Principles of Teaching" by W. M. Ryburn, 3rd edition, Oxford University Press, 1966, Chapter 1 " The aims of Teaching". These principles are still relevant today when we are going online.
There are 3 Focal Points in Education:
The Teacher
The Child
The Subject
Teaching is the relation that is established between these three.
The Teacher seeks to bring his pupils into a relation with a certain subject matter.
Nature of the Child
One of the important things the teacher has to know is the Nature of the Child.
He has to know the nature of the child in general as well as the particular child he is teaching.
Children differ in bodily health and fitness, intelligence and other abilities and temperament. Also the home environment of no two children is the same; they have different interests and different opportunities for developing their interests.
The teacher’s success in establishing a fruitful relationship will depend on realizing the points of difference of his pupils and taking a practical account of them.
Knowledge of the Subject matter
The Teacher must have a knowledge of the subject matter that he is trying to teach his pupils. He should also have a knowledge of How to connect a child and the subject: that is a knowledge of Method.
Teaching is Giving Information
It is exposition. Communicating knowledge.
There are many things that children cannot find out by themselves. There are many things they would never know unless they were told. There are many things of which they do not realize the need or use. These things have to be told.
A good deal of the teacher’s time will be taken up telling his pupils things, with giving them information, with telling the how to do things, with telling them where to find out things.
The Art of Story Telling
A good story teller will always find his work of communicating knowledge easy. This can also be made more interesting if it takes the form of play. All types of teaching work are more effective when done in the spirit of play and communication of knowledge is no exception.
Understanding the Words
It is important that our exposition is being understood by the child. Too often our teaching misses the mark because the words the teacher uses the meaning of which the children have the vaguest idea, and sometimes they have completely wrong idea. It is common sense to make sure that hey understand what we are talking about; and not to go too quickly and to consolidate as we go.
If we go on piling in information and do not pause to see whether it is being assimilated or not, a great deal of our effort has been wasted.
When giving information we must keep in mind 2 aspects of our work:
- The Child – his powers and nature
- The Subject – and its order of presentation.
Causing to Learn
Important as it is, the giving of information is not the most essential aspect of teaching. Still more important is the fact that teaching is “Causing to Learn”. It is not what we tell the child that teaches him, in the true sense of the word. It is the response we call forth from him.
Real teaching is not what we do for the child, but what we can persuade him, by one method or another, to do for himself.
The teacher is therefore an instrument. He is there to cause learning, to help development, to enable child to establish his own relationship with the subject and the environment.
“ It is only when the teacher appreciates the instrumental character of his work that teaching fulfills its true function of causing others to learn and ‘to learn’ here implies the power to do as well as power to understand; it means the attainment of knowledge in the sense of power to deal effectively with situations.”
- J Welton, Principles and Methods of Teaching , Universal Tutorial Press, 1929
This has been summarized and curated from "The Principles of Teaching" by W. M. Ryburn, 3rd edition, Oxford University Press, 1966, Chapter 1 " The aims of Teaching". These principles are still relevant today when we are going online.