TEACHING APTITUDE: NATURE, OBJECTIVES,

CHARACTERISTICS AND BASIC REQUIREMENTS

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EasyNotes4U June 29, 2018

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Definition of Teaching

Teaching is the process of attending to people’s needs, experiences and feelings, and
making specific interventions to help them learn particular things.

Interventions commonly take the form of questioning, listening, giving information,

explaining some phenomenon, demonstrating a skill or process, testing understanding and
capacity, and facilitating learning activities (such as note taking, discussion, assignment
writing, simulations and practice).

According to Bingham – “teaching aptitude is a specific ability, potentiality, interest,

satisfaction and fitness in teaching profession”.

The teaching aptitude means an interest in the teaching work orientation, implementing
teaching principles and methods. Under the gamut of teaching aptitude, teaching skill
occupies a major place.

Every student is a different entity from the viewpoint of his intelligence, aptitude and
interest. Under a particular situation, different students may have different perceptions,
actions and reactions to a given issue/subject.

Teaching is a social process in which teacher influences the behaviour of the less
experienced pupil and helps him develop according to the needs of the society. Effecting
coordination among them could be a very difficult task for a teacher and is put to test only
on such occasions.

Teaching is an art and science as well. It is a professional activity involving teacher and
student with a view to the development of the student. Teaching is a system of actions
varied in form and related with content and pupil behavior under the prevailing physical and
social conditions.

Smith (1947)”considered teaching as a tripolar process involving (i) agent or source

producing learning which may be human or material; (ii) a goal or target to be achieved; (iii)
the intervening variables consisting of learning or teaching situation; involving human or
physical conditions and instructional methods”.

Amidon (1967) ” Teaching as a process of interaction between the teacher and the taught
as a cooperative enterprise, as a two-way traffic”. The manner of teaching should be such
that it makes the pupils feel at home in his class room. The teacher has to ensure that the
learner is well adjusted to the environment which includes his classmates, school mates
and other members of his society at large.

Common characteristics of good teaching

According to UNESCO (2004) and Scheerens (2004), the main characteristics of good
teaching relate to a number of broad categories:

Relevance: of the teaching content, in particular alignment with the curriculum.

Sufficient learning time: this refers to the time devoted to actual teaching, as
opposed to the official hours set in the curriculum.

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 Structured teaching, in which learners’ engagement is stimulated, their
understanding monitored, and feedback and reinforcement regularly provided.
A conducive classroom environment with, in particular, a task-oriented climate,
mutual respect between the students and teacher and among students themselves,
orderliness, and safety.
Teachers with appropriate subject matter mastery, verbal intelligence, a broad
teaching repertoire, and motivation to achieve.
What research also underlines though is that adaptability to context matters as
different countries and students may need different teaching contents (both in terms
of subject matter knowledge and of medium of instruction) and different levels of
structure tailored to students’ profile. It is therefore important to critically assess the
relevance of both current and planned objectives (in terms of the content, structure,
and context of teaching and learning) to the national situation.

Nature and characteristics of Teaching

1. The main character of teaching is to provide guidance and training.

2. Teaching is interaction between teacher and students.
3. Teaching is an art to give knowledge to students with effective way.
4. Teaching is a science to educate fact and causes of different topics of different
subjects.
5. Teaching is continues process.
6. Teacher can teach effectively, if he has full confidence on the subject.
7. Teaching encourages students to learn more and more.
8. Teaching is formal as well as informal
9. Teaching is communication of information to students. In teaching, teacher imparts
information in interesting way so that students can easily understand the information.
10. Teaching is tool to help student to adjust himself in society and its environment.

LEARNERS CHARACTERISTICS

1. Motivational Characteristics
2. a) Self-efficacy: Bandura defines the term perceived self-efficacy as a belief in one’s
capabilities to organize and execute the actions necessary to manage particular
situations. Bandura also notes physiological and emotional states can influence
individuals to interpret stress reactions and tension as indicator of vulnerability to
poor performance. Therefore one way to alter self-efficacy is to reduce stress and
negative emotional tendencies. Those who believe they cannot manage threats
experience high anxiety arousal. They view many aspects of their environment as
fraught with danger (Bandura, 1993).
3. b) Attribution Patterns: Attribution research focuses on the ways that individuals
arrive at casual explanations of what takes place in their lives. Success and failure
perceived as due to internal causes such as personality ability or effort respectively
raises or lowers self-esteem or self worth, whereas external attributions for positive or
negative outcomes do not influence feelings about one (Weiner, 1985)
4. c) Goal Orientation:Mastery Orientation (Learning goal): Student’s are concerned
with developing skills, knowledge, understanding.Performance Orientation (
Performance or ego goals): Student’s more concerned with the outcome
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 (performance) than the process/learning.

d)Intrinsic/Extrinsic Motivation:Intrinsic Motivation: Individual is self-directed. Could be

derived from a desire for academic success, knowledge, or working with a positive self-
esteem. Extrinsic Motivation: Individual is other directed. Could be a result of,

Parental influences: Parents hold academic success in high regard and have high
expectations for the learner.

Rewards: These could be monetary or material rewards.

Acknowledgement: Honor roll, or other academic awards, attention of other

students/teacher.

Classroom privileges for positive academic performances: These could range from
free time, time in organized centers, or other opportunities that students are not
guaranteed.

2. Multiple Intelligence Characteristics

Existential Intelligence: Students with existential intelligence are attuned to the human
condition. They are able to comprehend issues like the significance of life and death and
the experience of love:

Inter/Intrapersonal Intelligence: Interpersonallearners understand the mood and

motivations of others enabling them to work and communicate effectively. They enjoy social
activities. Intrapersonal learners have a deep awareness of their own inner feelings. They
have a strong sense of independence and self-confidence.

Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence: Students who possess bodily-kinesthetic intelligence

have the ability to work skillfully with objects involving both fine and gross motor skills. They
are characterized by a well-developed sense of balance and motor control. In addition, they
are skillful at translating intention into action. These students learn best by doing.

Visual-Spatial Intelligence: Spatial intelligence is characterized by a person’s capacity to

perceive the visual world and recreate aspects of it even in the absence of relevant stimuli.
This intelligence is fundamentally tied to the concrete world and the locations of objects in
that world.eg.,Play chess,Guess the mystery object inside a bag.

Musical/Naturalist Intelligence: No other intelligence emerges earlier than musical talent.

Those who possess high levels of musical or rhythmic intelligence constantly hear tones,
rhythms, and musical patterns in the environment and human voice, as well as music. The
auditory sense is crucial, although not mandatory.

Logical-Mathematical Intelligence: The logical-mathematical intelligence initially

develops through observation, manipulation, and handling of physical objects. In time, the
thinking becomes more abstract. This intelligence is closely related to scientific thinking
and deductive reasoning.

Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence: The power and love of the written and spoken word is at
the heart of this intelligence. Reading, writing, listening, and speaking are the activities that
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represent this intelligence

3. Prior Knowledge:

Prior knowledge is the knowledge the learner already has before they meet new
information. A learner’s understanding of a text can be improved by activating their prior
knowledge before dealing with the text, and developing this habit is good learner training
for them.

4. Economic/Home Life

Proper nutrition before school

Appropriate/necessary school supplies
Parents’ ability to assist learner with academic/school related homework and
activities.
Parents involvement in a teacher/parent relationship.

5. Values:

Our values are determined by the beliefs we hold which, in turn, will determine our
behaviors. Beliefs are based on our worldview. One common worldview is naturalism; the
idea that nothing exists outside of natural laws. Transcendentalism is the belief that nature
is god and god is whatever you want it to be. Theism is the belief in a god whom you hold
some responsibility to. The way you interpret the world will significantly effect what you
value. Your values will then determine how you behave.

6. Emotional intelligence:

Emotional intelligence(EI) is the capability of individuals to recognize their own and other
people’s emotions, discern between different feelings and label them appropriately, use
emotional information to guide thinking and behavior, and manage and/or adjust emotions
to adapt to environments or achieve one’s goal(s)

7. Culture: the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people

8. Language
9. Social Skills: A social skillis any skill facilitating interaction and communication with
others. Social rules and relations are created, communicated, and changed in verbal
and nonverbal ways. The process of learning these skills is called socialization.
10. Health: a person with good health learn better.

Characteristics of Good learners

Good learners are:

 Curious

 Creative

 Resilient in the face of challenges

 Able to embrace change

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 Adaptable

 Collaborative

 Open to diverse viewpoints and experiences

 Respectful of others

 Respectful of the environment

 Compassionate

 Optimistic

 Nurturing

 Challenge seeking

 Engaged and enthusiastic

 Future oriented with a global perspective

 Intrinsically motivated

Skills of Good learner

 Solve complex problems

 Make connections between present and future opportunities

 Think critically, reflectively

 Communicate effectively using a variety of media and technology

 Communicate effectively to a variety of audiences

 Utilize multiple literacy skills in learning

 Utilize organizational skills to enhance learning

 Mediate conflict peacefully

 Pursue a healthy lifestyle

 Appreciate beauty and the arts

 Advocate for oneself and others

 Apply current learning to new situations

 Synthesize multiple pieces of information to create new information

 Assume responsibility for learning

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