Good Teaching Is an Art as Well as a Science

“Good teaching is a skillful blend of artistic and scientific elements. Teaching as an art involves beliefs, emotions, values and flexibility, while teaching as a science utilizes instructional practices that are proven by research to improve student achievement” (Snowman and Biehler, 2006). According to (Peters, R.) teaching can involve formal methods of instruction as well as informal ways of organizing things so that children will be led to discover things for themselves. According to (Manning, H. 2003, p. 11) “A teacher is the one to impart knowledge to students in different ways to assist learning.” Teaching factors are considered if something must be accomplished. It is practically stating that teaching is what is being taught, who is being taught, by whom it is being taught and to how many individuals on a daily basis. The act of teaching is accomplished by preparation of the designated teacher. The teacher therefore must be thoroughly educated.

The teaching profession can be said to be partly an art as well as a science. Art and science may appear to be vastly dissimilar; however, under close scrutiny we can see that they are actually quite the same. In the Thorndike-Barnhart dictionary, art is defined as “3. Branch of learning that depends more on special practice than on general principles.” (p. 76). The Dictionary of Psychology defines science as “1. An organized and systematic body of knowledge.”(p. 472).

The art of teaching is presentational as well as improvisational. The lesson should be planned and scripted, but the script must allow for the unexpected teachable moment. It is important to be receptive to feedback. An effective teacher develops the art of reading their students and measuring comprehension. The text The Art and Science of Teaching describes a teacher as “an artist whose medium of expression of the spontaneous, unrehearsed and creative encounter between teacher and student.”(Parkay and Stanford p. 115). The art of teaching allows the teacher to be altered by the dynamics of the classroom. The teacher will gain new perspectives and learn as well. The artistic element of teaching incorporates the teacher’s beliefs, emotions, values as well as their flexible nature.

It is very important to recognize and state that what a teacher believes will influence their teaching behaviors. Each individual teacher contains the power to make or break the syllabus. The teacher helps shape the curriculum according to their beliefs; they operate their classrooms in accordance with their own particular definitions of teaching and learning according to Ross, F (1992). The importance of a teacher’s belief is that their development and refinement is one of the goals of teachers. It is important that teachers transform their beliefs in achieving and accomplishing good academic results from students by gearing toward greater cultural competence, through given assignments, working alongside the students as team members or through cultural and linguistic diversity.

Good teachers with high beliefs seek to ignite in their students an enthusiasm for learning through good demonstration of example and leadership. If teachers are faced with current issues or changes their belief pattern maybe questioned by themselves, or their established practices they have rendered towards an individual. Teachers’ beliefs strongly influence students’ development. A statement made in society today is that teachers should examine their beliefs as their belief not only affects how people behave but what they perceive in their learning environment.

Values cannot be taught by a teacher or any other individual as they would teach other parts of the school curriculum but good teachers can help develop in their students value through their teaching behavior and role model. It is essential for teachers to nurture in their students positive values so as to culture valuable citizens for the future. According to (Richard, 2003) a good teacher of either a public or private school should always emphasize on instilling basic values to students such as fairness, equity, tolerance, courtesy, honesty and to be responsible citizens. Instilling or helping students develop values helps shape their lives as to the type of person they become. However the ascertaining of good values is not only dependent on good teaching or the teacher herself/himself, because the children too have a major role to play in this skit of life. Children have to be able to display their values to others and try to rub them off onto others as well.

Emotions are stored in memory along with recorded information entering the individual’s senses at the time. A teacher; being a human being like everyone else, also experiences emotions and can have good days as well as bad days. However, the important thing is that teachers must learn how to turn/temper down or push aside their emotions and concentrate on their task at hand; teaching. It is never good if a teacher enters the class with all their anger or maybe sadness on their mind because they might say or do something that can affect both themselves as well as the students. Emotions trigger the ability of the teacher to think rationally. Good teaching is being able to deal with the emotions from previous experiences. Teachers must remember that most, if not all, children place their trust in teachers, especially those who feel they cannot develop it at home, with their parents, and they depend on their teacher to be their counselors; their psychologists; their friend. It is important that they are able to deal caringly and effectively with the varied emotional needs of the students. It is important for the teacher to prepare a curriculum where emotional skills are developed. Positive skills and knowledge can also be gained. This is so as it prepares students to live in a changing world.

According to William, C. (2007) good teaching is so much more than directing instruction. Students are being academically challenged and are performing at a higher standard. Their self esteem is increasing and this is because of the teaching curriculum and the teacher. Flexibility is crucial for a teacher to become successful in the classroom. It is essential for teachers to utilize varying methods of teaching as this will encourage greater success of the children learning. The teacher may find that a certain class is full of visual learners whereas another is full of auditory learners. The art is adjusting the lesson to accommodate each respective group.

When Wasserman states that teaching is not a matter of clear-cut answers, she is urging teachers to be flexible. Flexibility allows the teacher the ability to improvise