Factors affecting Teaching
A. Teacher
If the learner stands on one end of the ongoing teaching-learning process as one of the pole then teacher act as the other pole for the desired flow of the teaching learning activities in classroom. Hence, teacher related factors play quite significant role in the process of teaching. Following are the teacher related factors in the teaching learning process.
1. Subject Knowledge
There is a saying that a teacher is only as good as what they know. If a teacher lacks knowledge in a subject, that dearth of understanding is passed along to the students. A teacher who knows his subjects well can only play a decisive role in leading the journey of the teaching learning process. How effectively the task of teaching learning will be carried out then depend merely on the scholarly nature and mastery over the subject matter demonstrated by a teacher in the class or work situations.
2. Knowledge of learners
This is a broad category that incorporates knowledge of the cognitive, social and emotional development of learners. It includes an understanding of how students learn at a given developmental level; how learning in a specific subject area typically progresses like learning progressions or trajectories; awareness that learners have individual needs and abilities; and an understanding that instruction should be tailored to meet each learner’s needs.
3. Teaching Skills
A teacher may know his subject well but for sharing, communicating and interacting various experience related to the learning of the subject, he needs specific teaching skills. The proficiency and deficiency possessed by a teacher in this regard are quite responsible for turning the teacher learning process a big success or failure.
4. Friendliness and Approachability
Because it’s the teacher’s job to help students learn, they must be easy to approach. Students will have questions that can’t be answered if the teacher isn’t friendly and easy to talk to. The unapproachable, mean, arrogant, rude, teacher can’t last long. If the students think of their teacher as their enemy, they certainly won’t learn much. The best teachers are the most open, welcoming, and easy to approach. A good teacher possess good listening skills and take time out of their busy schedule to solve all kinds of problems of their students.
5. Personality and behaviour
A teacher as a leader has to lead his students in the teaching learning process through the magnetic influence and incredible impression left on the minds of the students on the basis of his personality traits and behavior. He is a role model for his students. His actions, behavior pattern and personality traits carry a great meaning to his students for being imitated and brought in to practice.
6. Level of Adjustment and Mental health of the teacher
How adjusted a teacher feel in his personal and professional life and the state and level of mental health maintained by the teacher carries much weight in influencing his teacher behavior and teacher effectiveness needed for the effective control and management of the teaching, learning process. While a teacher possessing poor mental health and lack of adjustment in his personal and professional life may prove totally failure in realization of teaching learning objective, a teacher possessing good mental health and adjustment may prove an ideal image to his students and boon to the effectiveness of the teaching learning process.
7. Discipline
In a classroom, a teacher uses discipline to ensure routine is maintained, school rules are enforced, and the students are in a safe learning environment. A great teacher has effective discipline skills and can promote positive behaviors and change in the classroom. Without discipline, learning cannot be accomplished.
B. Learner
The learner is the key figure in any teaching –learning task. How he will learn or what will he achieve depends heavily on his own characteristics and way of learning. Such factors related with him can be described as below:
1. Learner’s physical and mental health
Teaching-Learning is greatly affected by the learner’s physical and mental health maintained by him particularly at the time of teaching task. A simple headache or stomach ache can play a havoc with the process and products of learning. Children who did not keep up with satisfactory physical health of the learner at the time of learning become potent factor in deciding the outcome of the l earning. A tense, emotionally and mentally disturbed learner cannot be expected to show satisfactory results in learning.
2. Basic potential of the learner
The results achieved by learner through teaching-learning task depend heavily upon his basic potential to undergo such learning. Such potential may consist of the following things:
i. Learner’s innate abilities and capacities for learning a thing.
ii. Learner’s basic potential in terms of general intelligence and specific knowledge, understanding and skills related to particular learning area.
iii. Learner’s basic interests, aptitudes and attitudes related to the learning of a particular thing or area.
3. The level of aspiration and achievement motivation
Learning is greatly influenced by the level of aspiration and nature of achievement motivation possessed by the learner. The teacher has to maintain the level of his aspiration and achievement motivation to a reasonable level neither too high causing frustration for non-achievement not too low as not to try for the things for which he is quite capable. In this way, one’s level of aspiration and achievement motivation works significantly towards gains in learning.
4. Goals in life
The philosophy and immediate as well as ultimate goals of one’s life affect the process and products of learning. His mode and ways of looking towards the things, his inclination towards the learning in a particular area and patience and persistence maintained for continuing his learning despite the heavy odds all depend upon his goals and philosophy of life.
5. Readiness and will power
Learner’s readiness and power to learn is a great deciding factor about his results in learning. Now power on earth can make a learner learn if he is not ready to learn. Contrarily, if has a will to learn a thing then automatically, he will himself find the way for its effective learning.
C. Support material
The availability and use of the study material, audios and videos, online courses, online tests and other teaching aids also increase the effectiveness of the teaching and learning. These materials aim to support teachers and students in achieving the learning outcomes. The teacher alone cannot provide all the needed condition for an effective teaching and learning process, other supporting materials should be provided.
D. Instructional facilities
These include the classrooms, laboratories, seminar rooms, seminar rooms, on-campus clinics, cybraries and other spaces used principally for the purpose of delivering formal instruction to students . Their availability ensures effective teaching and if these are not available in adequate amount as per the number of students, then students will not be able to learn properly.
E. Learning environment
Learning environment refers to the diverse physical locations, contexts, and cultures in which students learn. Since students may learn in a wide variety of settings, such as outside-of-school locations and outdoor environments, the term is often used as a more accurate or preferred alternative to classroom, which has more limited and traditional connotations—a room with rows of desks and a chalkboard. The term also encompasses the culture of a school or class—its presiding ethos and characteristics, including how individuals interact with and treat one another—as well as the ways in which teachers may organize an educational setting to facilitate learning. Effectiveness of teaching also depends upon the learning environment. If the teacher and learner are comfortable in the surrounding environment, then the learning will be effective; else, both the teacher and students will be distracted, leading to ineffective learning. In a noisy class, no matter how well-qualified the teacher is, he will not be able to teach effectively.
F. Institution
Effectiveness of teaching is also affected by the policies framed by institutions. These policies can give autonomy to the teacher or can control the classroom activity. If the teacher feels extremely controlled, then his performance will suffer. On the other hand, autonomy to teachers to choose teaching methods and classroom activities will bring an element of flexibility.
