Teaching is one of oldest professions in world. In good old days students who had desire to learn used to come to learn and usually were self motivated. Moreover going through process was comparatively easy as things and concepts were relatively easy. With changing socio-economic scene whole process has undergone a tremendous change. In today’s society there are students who come just to earn a degree so as to have a respectable social status. Moreover due to advancement in various fields, concepts and applications have become quite complicated to understand and practice.

The teachers job under these environments has become more difficult wherein he has to ensure that learning takes place when he teaches for most of students who come from diverse backgrounds. The attitude that our task is to teach and they will learn only if they want to is a negative approach to my mind.

The Missing Links

What has largely been considered classroom teaching and learning process traditionally has got certain missing links to my mind. I consider following to be complete cycle of teaching learning process and I have tried to stretch it beyond learning to achieving proficiencies and developing competencies. The complete cycle is as shown below: -

(a)Teaching may lead to… (b)Awareness, you should go beyond to ensure… (c)Knowing, knowing does not mean …… (d)Understanding, if they understand next stage is… (e)Learning where they even can do things them selves this has to be developed to… (f)Proficiency where they become proficient in what they do and that has to be developed to… (g)Competencies

What is difference?

I always thought that if I teach and they (students) understand. I think I have done my Job well. Is that sufficient? Probably not! Let us take an example: -

I was trying to teach my daughter how to dance I taught her to my level best, put on best music, told all steps to perfection and gave enough time and attention and what not BUT It came out to be total failure. She probably understood dancing but could not dance way I wanted. What did go wrong?

Reason is very simple she was only a toddler and was in no position to dance, though probably she became aware and up to some extent understood also. But was that enough? Please remember that very first essential step to ensure that students learn what you teach is to ensure that you are coming to their standards, this becomes first essential step to bring them to your standards.

That could be one reason but there can be many more … What is needed?

For making teaching learning process to be successful a change in teachers attitude and approach is required following can be tried out:-

1. Paradigm shift from “Catch me if you can” to “catch them if you can”. Speak language which they understand and in manner that they understand.

2. Not only that! make sure that they don’t abandon you in between. You could devise mean to make sure that they stay with you. One technique is to ask students to repeat part of teaching of previous class and you should be able to identify students who are falling behind for what ever may be reasons. Target such students for your questions very often and let it be known by them after all it is for their own good.

How do you Ensure Learning

1. Generate interest in whatever you teach. Test their knowledge, which they gain by way of discussions and question answers. You could also ask some good students to give answers to questions raised by other students in class.