MODULE 1: CHAPTER 1: UNDERSTANDING TEACHING

 The Nature of Teaching

 Teaching Concepts
WEEK NUMBER: 1

TIME ALLOTMENT: 3 Hours

OBJECTIVES:

By the end of this module, the students shall be able to:

1. Describe comprehensively what teaching is;
2. Elucidate the nature of teaching; and
3. Explain why teaching is a multi-sided task.

LEARNING CONTENT:
THE NATURE OF TEACHING

Introduction
Teaching is one of the most demanding of all professions. It exacts a tremendous demand of the teacher’s
teaching skills and personal qualities before they can satisfactorily perform the multiple roles and manifold
responsibilities it entails. A more important role that teaching evokes is the unwavering commitment and
loyalty to the profession. Their adherence to the ethical and moral standards is elicited through a code.
Ultimately, an impeccable integrity, honesty, and sincerity it brings forth make them worthy of emulation
by the students, co-workers, and other professionals.
On the other hand, a teacher, as a person and as a professional is depicted as a well-spring of knowledge
and skill and a model of values, thus deserving to be called professional. Competent, compassionate, and
caring, her attitudes are reciprocated with love, respect, and emulation. Such is a rewarding life of a teacher.
Teaching is a challenging profession as it requires long hours of work and preparation. Moreover, it
necessitates skill in planning and skill in classroom. In the earlier times, teaching is universally acknowledged
as a respected and highly esteemed career. Its lifelong mission consists of a persistent pursuit of knowledge,
development of skills and proficiency in work dimensions and inculcation of values and attitudes of all
practitioners. It is a profession committed to serve children, adults, community and nation.
Teaching as a time-honored career, is viewed as a dynamic activity aimed at awakening and nurturing
the children’s spirit of inquiry, at the same time catering to their learning abilities, interests, and aspirations.
Regarded as an art, teaching is a conglomeration of a teacher’s talent and skill in reaching out their hearts
and minds.
Teaching is described by an educator as a moral activity. Whether conscious of it or not, a teacher teaches
values both implicitly and explicitly by the very way he relates to his students. He teaches respect by being
respectful, reasonableness by being reasonable and truthfulness by being truthful. Anyone who embarks on
a teaching career is a paragon of virtues, a staying quality in such a magnanimous calling.

Discussion

Teaching can be regarded in three ways- profession, mission, and vocation.

1. TEACHING AS A PROFESSION

Teaching is universally accepted as a profession. It is a noble profession. The term profession

commonly refers to one’s occupation, job or specialty. It has defined goals and from its performance, one
derives self-fulfillment. Educators and others in field of education view profession as one’s vocation,
employment, or field of lifelong endeavor.

Teaching is considered a profession if its choice is motivated by any or all of the following:

1. You must be willing to go through a period of long preparation.

2. You must be willing to go through continuing education.
3. You must strive for excellence (not “pwede na” mentality)
4. Involves direction borne by proper planning.
5. Display you must love, care, and compassion for children.
 6. You must commit yourself to moral, ethical, and religious values.
7. You must dedicate yourself to service.

2. TEACHING AS MISSION
 The word mission is derived from the Latin word “Misio” which means to send.
 According to Webster’s dictionary- “a task assigned”
 If you consider teaching as a mission, then:
a. It is a task entrusted to you in this world.
b. It is your assigned task thus; you have to prepare for it.
c. It calls for a continuing professional education. (Once a teacher, forever a student”.)

3. TEACHING AS VOCATION
 The word vocation comes from the Latin word “Vocare” which means “to call” thus vocation
is a calling. (Many are called but few are chosen)
 If you consider teaching as vocation, it means:
a. You said YES to your call to teach.
b. You commit your self to the total transformation of the learner.
c. You consider teaching as a lifetime commitment. (This aims through the years towards
quality teaching.)

TEACHING CONCEPTS

Garcia quotes Ronal Hyman (1970) - a teacher must know what teaching is because his concept of
teaching guides his behavior and his own interpretation of teaching becomes essential to his performance
as a teacher. (Example: a father to his teenage son)

1. Teaching is a complex human activity (Highet, 1954)

 It is so because teaching involves a wide range of human interactions, organizational
arrangements, and materials or resources covering the teaching-learning process.
 It is involving more of the learner than the teacher- from monopolist to mediator function.
a. Human Interactions- teaching is considered a system of actions varied in form of content but
directed toward learning. It is in the performance of these actions and in the interactions if the
teacher with his students that learning take place.
b. Organizational arrangement- teaching is an activity with four phases:
 Curriculum planning phase- helping to formulate the goals of education, selecting content,
and stating objectives.
 Instructing phase- creating intentions regarding instructional strategies and tactics,
interacting and acting on situational and feedback about instruction.
 Manipulating Models- selecting or creating measurement devices, measuring learning,
organizing, and analyzing measurement data.
 Evaluating Phase- evaluating the appropriateness of objectives of instruction and validity and
reliability of devices used to measure learning.
c. Material/Resources- the process of teaching includes:
 The selection and development of instructional units
 Planning individual lessons
 Organizing materials for instructional purposes
 Designing methods to be used
 Classroom management
 Evaluation of pupil’s achievements
 Reporting of pupil’s grades

2. Teaching is considered an art. It signifies the way a teacher expresses his emotions and
communicates his feelings through his teaching chores. In this light, teaching is a conglomeration of ones
talents, skills, and expertise in reaching out and enriching children’s lives. It aims to achieve an enjoyable
and fruitful learning depending on teacher’s attributes, crafts, and finesse in developing their knowledge,
attitudes, and values. A skillful teacher displays a caring, compassionate, and creative approach that
makes teaching a masterful act of touching people’s hearts and minds. It is an art which is more suited
to satisfy the heart. It makes teaching more adaptive and flexible to meet highly varied and complex
needs of learners. It views a teacher as a craftsman.
 3. Teaching as a Science- Teaching is likewise a science. While science aims at the discovery of the
nature and orderliness of our world around, teaching as a science seeks the application of a scientific
attitude and methodology in deciding about strategies to employ, instructional materials to use, and other
best practices to adopt. Guided by scientific procedure, teaching is regarded as a practical and consistent
way of modeling how a virtuous, trustworthy, and humble scientist works in raising the ethical standards
of the profession. Teaching is a science that is primarily directed to inform the head. It emphasizes the
cognitive and psychomotor aspects. It makes teaching more skillfully executed and it views the teacher
as an academician.

4. Teaching as a system of actions and interactions between teacher and his students. - It
requires an understanding of the role of more mature, experience members of society in stimulating,
directing, managing, and guiding the immature and inexperienced members in their adjustments to life.
With young and immature learners as input into the system, the processing take place in the school
setting with the teacher playing a major role in instructing the inexperienced so that they can develop
into upright and useful members of society and well- adjusted citizens with wholesome personalities
imbued with:

a. Love of country
b. Duties of citizens
c. Moral character
d. Personal discipline
e. Scientific, technological, and vocational efficiency.

5. Teaching is one of the most exalted forms of social service

 Gregorio (1976) states that the classroom is a society made up of teachers and learners working
together for the purpose of human growth and betterment. The opportunities of the teachers and
learners for good evil are boundless. For this reason, society has insisted that teachers should be
known for their high character, honesty, integrity, and skill.
 Teaching is guided by the spirit of service. Service maybe defined as the performance of a task for
the benefit of others given voluntarily, by request, or by fulfilling a social need. People look at it as
a beginning and end of the teaching profession.

Summary

As you reflect on what teaching is, some thoughts will surface and strike you. It is a profession as old as
humanity itself. Teaching is an activity that follows and guides every learner in his/her journey towards self-
fulfillment, from the moment he/she perceives the light of hope to the point of his/her learning success.

REFERENCES:
1. Acero, V. et al. (2015). Principles of Teaching 1. Rex Bookstore.
2. Corpuz, B. and Salandanan, G. (2003) Principles and Strategies of Teaching. Lorimar Publishing,
Inc.
3. Lardizabal, A. (2000) Principles and Methods of Teaching. 3rd Edition. Phoenix Publishing House, Inc.

CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED WEEK ONE MODULE!

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

Prepared by: Reviewed/Approved:

GILBERT N. BERSOLA, LPT, MAEd ANGELO K. LAHINA, LPT, MAT

Instructor Program Head, Teacher Education