Eleven Techniques to Enhance Teaching Skills

Vinod Kakumanu
Aug. 31, 2019, 5:16 p.m.

It is said that a teacher is the second most important part of a person’s life after parents. Guru- shishya relation is a dominant one and highly significant in shaping a child’s mental, social and emotional behaviour for growth and development. It is important for a teacher to have good intent to impart knowledge so that they could fully apply themselves to serve the needs of the society when they grow up.

Teaching is undeniably a service that fulfils the purpose of educating young minds.

Keeping this in view, we are discussing some habits that should be inculcated by a teacher to be effective and memorable. They are, as all good habits, cultivated eventually over a period of time and are as follows:

1.Love the job that you do for it to love you back: Teaching requires not only passion but love for children. To gain love and respect from student, teachers should interact with them more often and let them know that they care about them. Instead of giving mere instructions, a teacher should get involved with the kids and join them in as many classroom activities as possible. This would definitely make the class a more positive and happier space.

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2. Teach to influence: let’s reflect on why children are hesitant to go to school during their initial years. The answer is that it is difficult for them to leave their home which is to them the safest place on earth. Everyone seeks safety and for kids it’s naturally a priority. In India especially, the idea of a teacher had traditionally been that of someone advanced in age, bespectacled, always wielding a stick. This image is somehow instilled in the minds of students and hence the reluctance to go to the school. It is a teacher’s responsibility to make the ambience viable for students emotionally and for that they should listen to them first. A Student should be able to tell his or her problems which he or she perhaps cannot reveal to their parents. And finally, try to be someone that children love and look up to, that gets you in a place to influence.

Be an influencer to bring a change in their attitude.

3. Smile to spread Positivity: Put a smile on your face once you are in the classroom. Try not to reflect the problems and tensions that are burdening you as it will serve nothing besides creating a negative environment. A happy welcoming face and forthcoming attitude would make students more comfortable.

4. Get to know their background: If a teacher talks to children personally one on one and genuinely tries to know where they are coming from or what are their parents like, it makes them feel someone is there for them to reach out at any time. Also, it is important to engage with parents to know more about the child.

5. Give your best: Don’t fail to give your 100% as a teacher. Teach not to instruct but to inspire. School, parents and children completely rely on you and you should not break their trust. Therefore, while doing any job like writing report cards, delivering lectures etc. give it all that you have and all that you can.

6. An Organized one with minimum mess:

Working with children sometimes requires you to be child-like but that does not give you the liberty to be disorganized. Make a well-knit plan and schedule everything on time so that the work doesn’t get piled up. This would decrease the pressure on you and thereby on your students as your mood reflects on them. Children will look up to their teachers and in the course of time they will also become well organized.

7. Be open to criticism: Teachers remain under the scanner of the principal, colleagues or even students and they are constantly being judged for their teaching skills and the way they conduct and carry themselves outside the classroom. So, be open to constructive criticism because every day brings new sets of challenges, tasks and if anyone points out your flaws, have the patience and courage to accept it without developing complexes. This is the best way of improvement there is.

8. Set Standards for yourself: It is highly important to create standard for yourself as well as your students. Teachers are solely responsible for giving directions about what is right and what is wrong for the children to understand what suits them best.

9. Inspire yourself: Aristotle once said that duty of a poet is to take inspiration from the surroundings and develop that in their writing. Likewise, teachers should inspire themselves from whatever they can see or listen which would help in gathering more information.

10. Change, an inevitable thing: As they say, change is the only permanent thing. Teachers should embrace change with open hearts. There will be incidents like the arrival of a new principle who is not as good as the previous one, or a new teacher whom you get compared with every now and then. These things should not affect you inordinately because it happens in every field and it’s better to work your way around it.

11. Reflect, React and Re-learn: Job of a teacher is to react, reflect and re-learn. React on the things which you feel strongly about, reflect what you know and re- learn the things which you have learnt from a different point of view.

Aforementioned are some pointers for teachers to be more effective in teaching and it takes a great amount of practice to excel in every single one of them.