The art of teaching is governed by specific laws, which follow from the nature of learning. The students must attend to the lesson, with interest. The knowledge to be taught must be related to the prior lessons, and the experience of the student(s). The students must construct, in their own mind, the knowledge to be learned. The teacher must know, yet prepare afresh the lesson to be taught. The language for communicating meaning must be, using words, common to the teacher and the student(s). The teacher must motivate the students for self-learning, and guide the students’ learning activities. The teaching work must be evaluated and completed by facilitating application and revision of what is learnt. The violation, or ignorance, of these laws is the cause of ineffective education. In this article, we present an analysis of the activities constituting teaching, and a synthesis of a proper understanding of the governing laws, towards a theory of teaching.
Keywords: laws of (science of) teaching, activities of (art of) teaching.
PUBLICATIONS
- Paranjape, D. S. and Agarkar, S. C. (2006). Teachers as Reflective Practitioners. In “Quality Concerns in Teacher Education”. Paper presented at the National Seminar (with the same theme) at CASE (Centre for Advance Study in Education), M.S. University of Baroda, January 2006.
- Paranjape D. S. and Agarkar S. C. (2009). Integrating Concepts and Skills Through Design of Learning Activities. In Subramaniam, K., & Mazumdar, A. (Eds.), Proceedings of epiSTEME-3: International Conference to Review Research in Science Technology and Mathematics Education, New Delhi, India: Macmillan.
Thesis advisor: S. C. Agarkar
Discussants: Jayashree Ramadas, Ritesh Khunyakari & Abhijeet Bardapurkar