Taslim Ahammad :
Teaching is an art that unveils the approach in which a teacher uses creative ways to teach students, so that students find it to be pleasant and motivating to learn. In this way, the students enjoy learning. They find the learning full of fun and interesting as well.
Teachers need to determine the methods and strategies that work best for them to teach students. The direction of our lives has been improved forever because of the influence of these teachers. They are the special ones in our life. Most of us, we have been lucky enough to have at least one of those “superheroes” in our lives. Effective teaching is an art form and like most forms of art, there are skills involved. When these skills are implemented with passion and purpose, they become a characteristic of a teacher. These are the characteristics that define the strongest, most memorable, and most effective artistic teacher.
However, what works for one teacher, might not work for another. Thus, all the teaching strategies a teacher learns should be adopted to meet particular teaching situation and their personal teaching style. A teacher must shape up their own teaching philosophy and discover their own unique talents and pick up how to use them.
Becoming an effective teacher is all aboutpresenting art in the classroom through “PEACE” (P- Preparation, E -Experience, A- Activities, C- Curriculum and E- Empathy). Get each of these characteristics slight deeper: (P) Preparation – One important key to success is self-confidence, an important key to self-confidence is preparation.Planning is essential; hence plan entire curriculum before the session begins. Planning every minute in a class period is not overdoing it. Also planning exactly what you are going to say is not either.Teachers do not get paid for their planning time either, however, it is just as crucial to make it as anutmost art.(E) Experience – Teachers must be experienced in a variety of techniques and methods.We have to show that we arecredible;therefore the students should value what wedeliver. We must demonstrate to our students that we are experienced and capable to give them instruction. Only having a degree does not matter to them. We must actively and continually demonstrate that we are an experienced person.This means that we must demonstrate the processes to students in order for them to listen what we convey, most importantly to understand it. (A) Activities – Create artisticactivities and share relevant experiences for our students to understand, learn and grow, hence,need to teach through these experiences. We must not put a huge emphasis on grading, instead focus on their enhancement. Making sure we are designing our experiences; provide many ways for students to be successful along the way.Then they will look forward to our class and they will accept everything wemay offer. (C) Curriculum – Our curriculum should be designed and updated each session to maximize our effectiveness as a teacher and get the best out of our time with students.We should design our entire session’s curriculum before we meet the first student on our schedule. Teachers are the captain of the ship or the pilot of the plane;we should know where we are going.Over the course of the session, teacher should evaluate the effectiveness of the lessons. When a lesson fails, replace it and when a lesson succeeds, improve itmore.Keep shaping your lessons better until they are the greatest. (E) Empathy – In order to teach effectively, we must believe in all of our students and show it, especially when they do not believe in themselves. We will always have those students that it seems we are not reaching. Focus on each student as an individual and let them know frequently that you are there and genuinely interested in their success. Teachers should look for every opportunity to build a student’s confidence and success. Success only happens when it is believed to be possible; teachers must make students believe that it is. This means that teachers must try very hard and give students the opportunity to find success.
To be an effective teacher, we must be an actor and painter, from now, play and paint artistically! Try to include a consistent example to illustrate your point. Involve students and let them be active participants in their learning process, ask questions and invoke discussionand decision making process.
Indeed teaching is an art and great skill ever that is developed, day after day. If you notice yourself feeling hurt by the feedback you got, or rejecting it as unfair or wrong, pause and try to consider the feedback from a growing mind-set that through good practices, your skills are going to improve.
Most importantly, we should enjoy our job as a teacher. If we like what we are doing, it will show then students will like learning from us. They can sense it when a teacher is not enjoying their job. Hence, enjoy what you do and effectiveness naturally follows. Love what you do and let it show every single time. Get involve in your ultimate art and skill through the best teaching practices. Love your students and even on the worst days, try to think of that you are the most important person in their life who shows them the path.
Last of all, some qualities of an artistic teacher include skills in communication, listening, collaboration, adaptability, compassion and patience. Other characteristics of effective teaching include an engaging classroom presence, value in real-world learning, exchange of knowledge through suitable practices and the love for a lifelong learning process.
(The writer is Assistant Professor, Department of Management Studies, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology
University, Gopalganj).
