What makes teaching an art

Dewey alone described the teacher as an artist, lover, gardener, composer, social engineer, and more Simpson, et. Serving as a through line in many of these conversations, the art of teaching thrives through a kind of expressive personality.

Friendly and open personalities often mark excellence in teaching: successful teachers have been shown to express their trust in students and willingness to invite students into their intellectual curiosity Bain The freedom to convey these traits derives from the particular choices a teacher makes in the wording of their syllabus, the ways they draw student attention, their sensitivity to human emotion.

Instead, individual teachers, guided by theory, experience, principle, inspiration, and instinct, cultivate their particular approaches that, in turn, define their teacherly profile. However, this art can be hampered when the conditions governing learning in a course are not set by the teacher. A syllabus can emphasize these points; a course design pursuing particular learning objectives can be aligned to meet these principles; but only the ongoing perception and creativity of the teacher in daily decisions, narrative flow, directing of attention, and encouragement of student thought can cultivate a consistent learning environment as such.

James Lang writes that, more than technology, design, objectives, and content, being fully present with students provides the most vital impression for them. Distracted teachers guided by technological prompts or measurable practices alone can only succeed so far; present teachers, committed to their students and invested to the point of their own excitement fueling student creativity, perform a balance and work of empathetic teaching that can only be called an art.

If art is human expression about the world, then teaching is human expression about the unfolding and ever-changing ways that we think and learn about the world. This art must be relational, for the ways we learn about the world cannot be pointed to and dissected, but only embodied and experienced: patience, empathy, collaboration, awe, and transformation. Ideally, readers will treat their teaching as they likely already treat their own scholarship or artistic creations: as serious and important intellectual and creative work, as an endeavor that benefits from careful observation and close analysis, from revision and refinement, and from dialogues with colleagues and the critiques of peers.

Like writing, teaching can be taught, mentored, and made into principles; but its actual expression will always have an individual style, a personal approach, a unique coalescence of practices that cannot be replicated by others.

In many ways, then, the art of teaching develops naturally as a teacher allows experience, mistakes, and successes to form and reform their approach, and cannot be summarized easily. However, a variety of practices can help teachers articulate their particular approaches, beliefs, and habits that comprise an art of teaching. Works of art extend their power beyond the moment of experience: they abide in our memories, alter our emotional states, inspire our actions, become part of who we are.

So do excellent teaching and impactful classrooms, as our own memories and experiences in school can illustrate.

To data mine teaching and insist solely on measurable outcomes dispenses with the emotive, creative, and formational elements of teaching that can only be defined by quality of thought, resonance of emotionality, care for the living, and curiosity for truth. Perhaps that is also why teaching is so prone to metaphors. Teaching is people changing, in the process of helping other people change, while they all consider changes in numbers, letters, natures, thoughts, and events.

I had not been studying. And life would be great. Of course, it was my child's mind, which was unaware of the world's reality.

I didn't know schools and knowledge are so important in life. I got all the best teachers in my school and the college. But they all were so good at their teaching skills. Many times I was being punished by them. So, I used to not like them because of the punishment. But, now, when I think about the past days of schools and colleges, I realized it was all for my goodness.

The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. In school, the mathematics' teacher was my favorite. Though they were strict. But I used to like them because the tricks they were using while teaching was so amazing. I don't like math. Because I am too bad in the calculations, either I can't remember their rules used in the problem while finding the solution. But still, I scored pretty good marks in my board exam.

It was only because of my math teacher. They made the subject easy for me. You also must have such a teacher in your life, whom you did hate because they were strict. But, their teaching was commendable. No one can beat that skill in any manner. Yes, it is true. Teaching is an art. And all the teachers are artists. Otherwise, think about a situation where there are many things which you can not understand without help.

If your teachers would not make you understand the things, whether it was geography or history, or science, and you would not learn it so simply. Good teaching must be slow enough so that it is not confusing, and fast enough so that it is not boring. There is artistry in the way teachers connect with students and foster their understanding. Learning is cumulative. Gaps in knowledge and skills become cracks in the foundation of lifelong success. Sadly, only some students in the U.

This pattern sets up a gap in college readiness that may not be immediately obvious. But when students get to college, the cracks spread.

High-quality curricula and instructional materials can help close these gaps, particularly when they are aligned with learning standards for what students should know and be able to do. They can level the playing field — if teachers have the support to implement them well. Truly effective application requires opportunities for deep thinking about materials and practice using them. As educational consultant Emily Freitag points out in her article on p.

David Steiner kicks off the section with a review of the research on why instructional materials matter. Jody Guarino and her colleagues from the Newport-Mesa California district then share their innovative process for fostering teacher ownership of curriculum decisions via professional learning. Christian fundamentalism is responsible for a great deal of conflicts, taking into account that fundamentalists lobby in regard to how God created the.

I think that teaching requires both art and science. They both play a role on each other, because if a teacher only demonstrates one of these types of teaching, their classroom will most likely be very boring.

Teaching as an art demonstrates ways in which the teacher may use creative ways to present the material so it is fun and interesting for his or her students. The point of this activity was for her students to be creative and learn …show more content… Teaching as a science demonstrates ways in which the teacher may use a more logical approach to present the material to the students.

I feel this is the more traditional way in which teachers teach their class. An example of this could be a teacher lecturing their class about the topic being discussed.

I think any type of teaching need a scientific background or base. A good teacher can balance both art and science in their classroom.