Concept of Teaching in B.Ed. Meaning, Definition, and 9 key Functions. Become a Good teacher

Concept of Teaching in B.Ed.- When I was not much aware about the term “teaching,” I usually thought that it was a task of a teacher, which in turn created a bit of learning in students. But then there have been a number of people who became the most intellectual personalities over the globe, and the question remains the same: who taught them so well that they became powerful minds over the globe? Who taught the top doctors, engineers, officers, and many more who just became who they are today? The answer to these questions is given in various contexts, and it depends on how beautifully a person understands the term.

Basically, teaching is a process that takes place between two or more people or groups of people for a directed goal. A teacher teaches in the classroom aiming at learning in students, a mother teaches her child aiming for fine motor skills, and a senior employee mentors junior colleagues for better performance. In the above activities, each has an aim or goal. Similarly, a teacher teaches for all-round development of students. The success of teaching relies on the efforts of both teacher and student, since every teacher has different and unique teaching styles, which makes teaching unique and learning better.

Concept of Teaching in B.Ed. Nowadays teachers have a lot of challenges to conduct a class in a unique way; at the same time, they have a number of tools and devices that they can use to do effective teaching. From the above point of view, teaching is a complex process where teachers and students both have unique roles to play so that meaningful learning can happen. From parents teaching or guiding their children at home to educators or teachers shaping young minds in classrooms, teaching plays a vital and central role in the development of children and social structure. In the present scenario, the concept of teaching has become wide, scientific, logical, and child-centered.

Teaching is a very dynamic activity that leads to the creation of an adaptive environment for learners in which a teacher makes good use of their learning capabilities, skills, learning pace, and curiosity for learning. By teaching that the modification of behavior is possible among learners, modification in behavior simply means the acting and response of the learner towards any context regarding learning. Better teaching leads to a better learning rate among students with a strong understanding of the concept they are being taught. Since every teacher has a unique teaching style with respect to their subject mastery, it means different teachers have different teaching styles, skills, and ways of executing in the classroom.

Further, it doesn’t mean that every teacher is effective enough to teach in a diverse classroom; some of them are quite normal, traditional, and not quite adaptive. We should not take the meaning of teaching as just a classroom activity where a teacher comes and teaches for 40 minutes and moves on, but it is a lot more than that.

Meaning of Teaching

Concept of Teaching in B.Ed. is basically meant for imparting knowledge and growing individuals. The above statement sounds like a foolish act; it seems like we as teachers can pour knowledge into learners’ minds, but it is not possible.  As Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha quotes, “Wisdom cannot be imparted. Wisdom that a wise man attempts to impart always sounds like foolishness to someone else.” Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, and do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it. It is motivating learners towards learning and creating new things. It is not just about giving information; it is about inspiring young minds to think, question, and apply what they learn in real life.

As William Arthur Ward quotes, “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires, for example, a mother showing her child how to tie shoelaces. She explains the steps systematically, shows or demonstrates how to do it, and asks the child to try it once and corrects mistakes. This simple action reflects the core of teaching: guiding → showing/demonstrating → supporting/helping → motivating or encouraging. This example shows how an effective teaching process can proceed.

Definition of Teaching

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A few of the following definitions can make a basic meaning of teaching.

• H. C. Morrison-Teaching is an intimate contact between the more mature personality and a less mature one.
• Jackson- Teaching is a face-to-face encounter between two or more persons, one of whom (the teacher) intends to effect certain changes in the other participants (the students).
• N.L. Gage- Teaching is interpersonal influence aimed at changing the behavior potential of another person.
• Clerk- Teaching refers to activities that are designed and performed to produce in students’ behavior.
• Skinner-“Teaching is the arrangement of contingencies of reinforcement”.
• Smith-“Teaching is a goal-directed activity.”
• James M. Thyne-“All ‘teaching’ is the promotion of learning.”

Functions of teaching

Facilitates learning

The main function of teaching is to make learning easy, meaningful, and enjoyable. Teaching facilitates learning; this doesn’t fit in every teaching, but the real teaching facilitates learning. Since it is goal-oriented and the goal of teaching is to communicate knowledge from generation to generation. Effective teaching facilitates effective learning, makes clear understanding of facts and concepts, and strengthens the confidence level of the learner. Teaching makes adaptive space for learning and promotes construction of knowledge. Effective teaching not only facilitates learning but also encourages learners to create their knowledge.

Motivates learner

When a teacher praises a student’s effort, it motivates him and other learners, makes them appreciate the efforts of the learner, encourages the curiosity of the learner, and builds their confidence. A learner needs motivation to stay interested and active for learning. Good teaching always inspires learners and increases the participation of learners. It is important that teaching should increase the curiosity of learners and their confidence.

Provide guidance

Guidance is always needed, whether it’s teaching or another act; without the guidance, one cannot find the right direction, and it’s an essential part of the teaching-learning process. A good teacher always gives right guidance to his students while teaching or after teaching. Guidance includes additional help, supporting, and directing students so they can grow academically, emotionally, socially, and morally. It ensures that students learn with confidence and self-pace, choose the right direction, and overcome fears or difficulties in their educational journey.

Develop understanding

The context of teaching nowadays is much wider, and it is not limited to just delivering information or completing the syllabus and curriculum; it is intended to promote and support learners to develop a deep, clear, concrete, meaningful, practical understanding of concepts so that the student shall be able to apply it in the real world. A student with a deep understanding of any concept can connect ideas, apply knowledge in real life, think critically, and solve problems independently.

It is not going to matter how much a teacher teaches in the class, but the quality of knowledge that is communicated by the teacher matters. Here, quantity is not important, but quality of teaching is the real success of the classroom teaching. Therefore, the true measure of good teaching is not how much the teacher taught, but how much the learner understood.

Develop socially and emotionally

Teaching is also a social act that proceeds among a social group (classroom) having some aim and goal. Within the class, a student learns how to interact in a group and how to solve a problem when being in a group; good teaching always encourages positive interaction among students. Being socially and emotionally fit is the need of the present scenario, and most importantly in education, it is much needed that the child be socially and emotionally fit; if he or she is not, then the first function of teaching is to make that child comfortable and socially connected and emotionally active. A good teacher always appreciates the bonds between the student and promotes peer learning so that the emotional and social skills can be developed among students, for example, supporting, helping, cooperation, empathy, sympathy, and helping in peer learning.

Creating safe and supportive environment

The environment of teaching and learning is everything for a child; we can say the teaching and learning environment is the real factory where the mind of a young child is developed. For all-round development we should assure how safe a child feels in the class. Is he or she able to have some interest in learning? Is he or she able to express the problem? So it is in the hands of an educator how comfortable he or she lets the student feel in the class. A teacher should build his beliefs among students by his teaching and should build the support system for children that they expect.

Encourage self-learning

Effective teaching always includes thought-provoking questions among students and encourages students to ask why. How? And more deeply about the concept. A good teacher always appreciates individual efforts and ideas. Good ideas are communicated to the whole class so that the child is appreciated, which in turn enhances the rate of self-learning.

Connecting learning to real life

Effective teaching means the ability to bridge the gap between classroom knowledge and real-life situations. The main aim of teaching is to make such an impact among students that they understand why they are learning something and how it applies to their everyday life; their motivation, engagement, and retention significantly increase.

Good teaching transforms abstract concepts into practical tools that students can use beyond school. Using good and concrete examples and day-to-day life examples is very useful in creating such an environment in which students easily cope and learn lessons of life.

Evaluate and gives feedback

Evaluation and feedback are two major functions of teaching and learning process because these two helps to both teachers and students understand what is learned, what is not learned, and what needs improvement. Without evaluation and feedback, teaching becomes directionless.

• Evaluation and feedback are two major functions of teaching and learning process because these two helps to both teachers and students understand what is learned, what is not learned, and what needs improvement.
• Without evaluation and feedback, teaching becomes directionless.
• Evaluation Measures Learning Progress, a good teacher  always checks how much the learner has understood.
• It shows whether teaching goals are accomplished or not. It lets the teacher know how much the teaching methods are effective and beneficial for child.
• A good teacher always identifies students who need additional support. It defines the level of mastery of students.
• Diagnosing learning difficulties is important from the view point of all round development of child and a good teacher always identifies learning difficulties of child through continuous evaluation, teachers can find out where and why students are facing problems.
• Feedback Builds Confidence and Motivation. Throughout teaching a good teacher always give feedback to students  positive feedback increases student confidence and constructive feedback helps them grow without feeling discouraged.
• It leads to  enjoyable learning, students feel valued and they develop a growth mindset (like I can improve with effort).
• Evaluation provides data for planning future lessons and setting learning goals. Students can assess and track their own progress and both teacher and learner know what to focus on next.
• Evaluation ensures accountability and shows whether teaching and learning goals are being fulfilled. With the help of evaluation and feedback process schools can maintain quality standards. Teachers can justify their teaching strategies. Students become responsible for their own learning.

Conclusion

The concept of teaching in B.Ed. encompasses various functions that contribute to the overall educational experience. Among these, evaluation and feedback play a crucial role, as they enable both educators and learners to identify knowledge gaps and areas for enhancement. Effective evaluation informs instructional strategies, while constructive feedback fosters a growth mindset, ensuring that teaching remains purposeful and aligned with students’ needs. By integrating these elements, educators can cultivate a dynamic learning environment that promotes continuous improvement.