Teaching is one of the academic or the non-academic act which can not afford to be passive. By passive here I mean that which does not serve any purpose academic or non- academic respectively. Teaching is bound to be ineffective and passive if in the process of teaching, a teacher fails to engage the attention of the learners or lulls them to sleep through his or her monotonous lecture ! Teaching cannot be 100 % effective always but if a teacher takes into consideration the various aspects of teaching ( like the use of humour, gestures, eye contact and voice modulation) teaching can be very effective comparatively. There can be no doubt about the fact that a teacher has to be very good at his subject, he must know his content, but he should not ignore the other aspects which helps to make his content of the lecture interesting.
A teacher is not just a source of information in the class, he is a guide, a role model and some times an example of what the students have never known before. In this case, it becomes really important for the teacher to be conscious of everything that he does or say in the class. As discussed in the class, my teacher singled out a few important aspects of teaching :
- presence
- voice
- clothes
- hands and body ( gestures)
- pauses
- humour
- eye contact
Ken Robinson in this talk discusses the role of schools in silencing the creative side of the children as soon as they are introduced to academic environment. Ken argues that schools regard any kind of art very low on the scale of hierarchy as compared to academic knowledge. It is a standard talk, a speaker under the limelight in front of audience sitting lower than the stage in low light. The speaker tries to make connections with his listeners very frequently. He is completely present with the audience, which is quite evident when he gives time to the audience to laugh at his jokes. And sometimes also try to break the monotonous tone of his lecture.
Voice modulation plays a very important role too, he modulates his voice on certain points, like his tone changes when he makes a strong point, his voice is firm while making arguments. He takes pauses where required, which helps him put emphasis on certain important points. Looking at his attire, it seems to be fitting with the occasion, and the formal stage. He makes a good use of body gestures too.
He indulges with humour in almost every two minutes, he understands the fact that it is not possible to go on speaking without keeping the audience in good humour. Too much serious talk often leads to boredom on the part of listeners. I am reminded of Aristotle's concept of 'comic relief' here, throwing in certain jokes and witty statements can often revive the interest of the listeners.
He is really good with his content and is able bring out the meaning clear to his audience.His talk has a logical succession of facts and interpretation of the facts, which makes his talk interesting and absorbing. He sticks to the time limit which exhibits his pre-lecture practice.
On the whole, I have summed up the characteristics of a teacher and also added a critical evaluation based on my viewing of Ken Robinson's video.
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