Understanding Teaching

About this chapter

Understanding Teaching is one of the most-tested chapters in the CDP Paper 2 Learning & Pedagogy section. It explains the dual nature of teaching as both art (Elliot Eisner, 1985 — aesthetic, dynamic, creative) and science (Herbartism, 20th-century scientific inquiry); teaching as a morally laden activity that builds character along with content; and the four related concepts a Paper 2 teacher of ages 11-14 must distinguish — teaching, learning, instruction and pedagogy. It develops three teaching styles (directing, discussing, delegating — Thornton 2013), four families of teaching models (Social Interaction, Behaviour Altering, Information Development, Personal Basis — Bruce Joyce), eight teaching methods (lecture, demonstrative, lecture-cum-demonstration, heuristic, problem-solving, project, inductive-deductive, analytic-synthetic), Philip Jackson's three phases of teaching (pre-active, interactive, post-active), ten maxims (simple-to-complex, known-to-unknown, concrete-to-abstract, particular-to-general etc.), Hokanson and Hooper's five levels (Reception, Application, Extension, Creation, Challenge), Gagne's nine instructional events, and the teacher's role in dynamic curricular experience for adolescent learners. CTET Paper 2 tests this chapter through pedagogy stems on style choice, model identification, phase-of-teaching diagnosis, maxim application, and the teaching-instruction-pedagogy distinction. Four tests — Practice 15, Quiz 15, Hard 15, Mastery 30 — cover all of these at CTET depth.