Chapter 6.

The Teaching
Process
1. Definition of Teaching
2. Teaching as a Science and
Art
3. Functions of Teaching
4. Acts of Teaching

Definition of Teaching

Definition of Teaching
Teaching is the noblest of all professions.
This is the profession which could offer one with the
real joy of living, a life repeat with meaning and
fulfillment.
Ronal Hyman (1970) underscored the point that a
teacher must know what teaching is because his
concept of teaching guides his behavior.

10 Various Definitions of
Teaching
1. Teaching as a preactive or the giving off
process.
2. Teaching as involving more of the learner than of
the teacher.
3. Teaching as a system of actions and interactions
between the teacher and his students.
4. Teaching as basically an adjustive act on the part
of the teacher to promote students learning.

5. Teaching as providing the learner with basic

tools of learning so in the process he becomes a
self-sufficient and a self-reliant individual.
6. Teaching as inherently a humane activity.
7. Teaching as structuring the learning
environment for students.
8. Teaching as an inquiry process.
9. Teaching is the process of concretizing and
actualizing the fundamental principles of other
significantly related disciplines.
10. Teaching as a complex process.

1. Teaching as a
preactive or the
giving off process.
Teaching as organized, purposeful, and
deliberate efforts designed to bring out certain
specifically desirable ends to an individual, some
individuals, or a group of individuals.
Teacher initiates, directs, and leads his own class
towards the realization of certain goals.

To substantiate this point, the

following definitions of teaching are
given:
Teaching intends to induce learning.
Teaching is the process through which man endeavors to pass
along to his children.
Teaching is a form of pouring-in process of knowledge (Pacita
Fernandez, 1985).
Teaching is an art of leading the children and youth to live
normally upright and successful lives (Garner Murphy,1974).
Teaching correlates with buying in which the teacher should be
best in his sales talk to attract attention from his buyer - the
student, and to impress in the mind of his buyer.

BACK

2. Teaching as involving more of

the learner than of the teacher.
Goble and Porter (1977) There is a transformation
of teaching from monopolist into mediator function.
Mcluhan (1969) said Gone are the days when the
students were just on the receiving end.
Harold Benjamin (1969) defined teaching as a
process of arranging conditions under which the
learner changes his ways consciously in the
direction of his own goals.
BACK

3. Teaching as a system of actions

and interactions between the
teacher and his students.
George Kneller (1971) described this interaction as:
1. Teaching may be considered a system of actions
varied in form and content but directed toward
learning.
2. Logical operations involve three variables:
* Teachers Behavior independent variable
* Pupils Behavior dependent variable
* Various postulated entities- intervening variables

3. These three variables are related in many ways.

4. Independent variables in the teachers behavior consist of
verbal performative, and expressive

Verbal: Three Kinds of Verbal Acts

1. Logical operations- which include defining, classifying,
explaining, and the like;
2. Directive operations- which instruct the pupil on what
he is to do, such as write on a blackboard, read a poem,
or recite a multiplication table.
3. Admonitory operations- include praising, blaming,
reassuring, and so on.

 Performative acts acts are of

the motor variety but may be
accompanied by words.
Expressive acts - reveal the
psychological state of the
teacher, exemplified in facial
expression, tone of voice, body
movements, and so forth.
BACK

4. Teaching as basically an
adjustive act on the part of the
teacher to promote students
learning.
Fred Stocking (1963) described this adjustive act as:
a. A good teacher can tell his, students a lot of
questions; but the best teacher can play dumb while
helping his students think out the answer for
themselves.
b. A good teacher is an eager and enthusiastic talker;
but the best teacher knows how to be quiet and
patient while his students struggle to formulate their
own thoughts in their own words.

c) A good teacher is humble: he naturally feels that

the accumulated wisdom of his subject is far
more important than himself. But the best
teacher is even humbler for he respects the
feeling of young people that they are naturally
far more important than a silly old subject.
d) A good teacher knows that his students ought to
be responsible, honest, and good citizens; but
the best teacher knows that responsibility,
honesty, and good citizenship cannot be taught
in a course because such qualities are
communicated through daily actions, not daily
lectures.

e) A good teacher strives to keep his class under

control; but the best teacher knows that he must
first be able to control himself.
f) A good teacher earns his salary many times
over; but the best teacher also earns a deep and
secret satisfaction which would be ruined if he
tried to talk about it in public or convert it into
cash.
BACK

5. Teaching as providing the learner

with basic tools of learning so in the
process he becomes a self-sufficient
and a self-reliant individual.
Dela Cruz and Acufia (1986) specifically pointed
out :
Teaching is to develop further skills of students
through thinking, speaking, and writing tasks and
through the ideas and concepts in reading and
listening selections

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6. Teaching as inherently a
humane activity.
6 areas that a teacher must fully understand so he
can effect a truly humane instruction, Arthur Combs
(1982):
1.
2.

The nature and possibilities of the human organism .

The psychology of the learner.

3.

Beliefs about learning

4.
5.
6.

Goals and purposes .

Appropriate methods
About self.

.
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7. Teaching as structuring the learning

environment for students.

The word structuring means building,

constructing, or organizing.
It is the process of putting together certain
elements systematically in order to produce more
desirable results.

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8. Teaching as an inquiry
process.
It develops the learners intellect by subjecting
him to a series of thought-provoking and
challenging questions. In the process, he becomes
intellectually-enlightened and lit.

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9. Teaching is the process of

concretizing and actualizing the
fundamental principles of other
significantly related disciplines.
Nerbovig and Klausmeier (1974) elaborated
Teaching draws its basic principles and procedures
from many sources, but chiefly from psychology,
sociology, philosophy, and of course, pedagogy and
ecucational history.
William Burton (1969) defined teaching as
Stimulation, guidance, direction, or encouragement of
learning.

 Gage (1963) also suggested that:

Teachers need to know how children learn,
and how they depend on motivation, readiness,
and reinforcement. But they similarly need to
know how teach how to motivate pupils, assess
their readiness, act on the assessment, present
the subject, maintain discipline and shape a
cognitive structure.

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10. Teaching as a complex

process.
When one decides to be a teacher, he should expect
a world of myriad of activities.
He is a mentor, a tutor, a facilitator, a moderator, a
guidance counselor, a confidante, a friend, a
mediator, an adviser, a curriculum maker, a
consultant, a leader, a community worker, an
evaluator, and hosts of other functions.

Teaching as a Science and as

an Art

Eisner (1983) pointed out a couple of

distinguishing marks between these
two facets of teaching
1st: While the former is primarily directed to inform
the head, the latter is more suited to satisfy the
soul.
Science: It emphasizes the cognitive and
the psycho-motor aspects of learning.
Art:

The need for the learners to appreciate

and improve on whatever knowledge
he has gained and skills he has
acquired.

2nd: While the former makes teaching more skillfully

executed, the latter makes teaching more adaptive
and flexible to meet the highly varied and complex
needs of the learners.
Science: Views the teacher as an academician
as well as a craftsman. As an academician, he is
pictured to be disciplined, organized, systematic,
and therefore scientific in his teaching.
Art: Teacher goes beyond the prescribed level of
instruction. It views the teacher as an innovator, one
who is willing to modify and to create new forms of
teaching.

Functions of Teaching

12 Teaching Functions
1. Explaining, informing, showing how
2. Initiating, directing, administering
3. Unifying the group
4. Giving security
5. Clarifying attitudes, beliefs, problems
6. Diagnosing learning problems
7. Making curriculum materials
8. Evaluating, recording, reporting
9. Enriching community activities
10. Organizing and arranging classroom
11. Participating in school activities
12. Participating in professional and civic life

Acts of Teaching

According to Greene (1981) the

acts of teaching are composed of
3 categories.
2. Strategic Acts 3. Institutional Acts
1. Logical Act
Collecting
Motivating
Explaining
Money
Counseling
Concluding
Chaperoning
Evaluating
Inferring
Patrolling the
Planning
Giving
hall
Encouraging
Reasons
Attending
Discipline
Amassing
Meetings
Questioning
Evidence
Taking
Demonstratin
Attendance
g
Consulting
Defining
Parents
Comparing
Keeping Reports