UNIT – 3
THE TEACHING PROCESS
The Teaching of English
English for Indians and for many is a foreign language. We need a step wise approach to enable each student to master English.
Step 1:
The first step is to grasp the words. The ability to read / listen, write/speak all Basic Words.
We must use the phonetic method, the method of breaking a word into the letters, which serve as sounds.
Thus the word
“Agree” is really not ‘A’ but the sound, A, ‘G’ is the sound and so on with ‘r’ and ‘ee’.
Only then, the student fully grasps the reading and listening of ‘Agree’.
We need to know the meaning too
Thus, we must teach with this method and here multiple inputs must be given from – stories, songs, poems, dramas. In each activity, he must LSRW – Listen, Speech, Read and Write each word with clarity and command over a period of time.
This is the result we must work towards.
Step 2:
100% clarity in sentence formation (Grammar)
Grammar in simple terms is really situational English.
With a different situation, the sentence changes in the verb’s place.
Thus we have
Active voice and Passive voice in Tenses and Modals and also ways of joining sentences. When each structure is learnt with around 25-30 examples and again, read and written, the students find it easy to observe grammar used in real life!
Thus his reading/listening or speaking/writing seems clear cut and sharp.
He notices ‘Grammar’ in stories/ text book/conversations, songs or AV content.
Step 3:
Lots of Listening/ Reading/ Speaking/ Writing.
This step really helps us!
The students should read/ listen – Text books, story books, essays, and especially the treasures contained in Literature. He should also freely check his English by writing a lot. Spoken English needs to be frequently used.
This is what is done in good schools including.
So every teacher should be conscious of this process and himself complete step 1 & 2 & 3 with the resources provided. Slowly, but surely, his mind and heart would open up to the power and beauty of Lnguage!!
Note:
The teaching of any other second language follows the same pattern.
The teaching of subjects
The most important thing to do is to implement TEXT BOOK READING in Social, Physical & Natural Sciences.
The text books have been prepared by eminent scholars/scientists who have an in-depth knowledge.
So the teacher himself should read the text book word by word and implement the same in students. Then the concept does unfold! The Text books have many activities and all of them should be done by students. It is part and parcel of the learning process.
The Text Book comprehension (TBC) can be checked by ‘TBC’ exam by converting each para into 2 – 3 questions. This can be done twice for 100% assimilation. This method ensures top marks/ranks too.
The teaching of mathematics.
Math too must follow the textbook. In the text book, each TOPIC HAS BEEN INTRODUCED IN A CONCEPTUAL WAY THAT ANY CHILD CAN UNDERSTAND.
This must be strictly followed. Also when each exercise has been completed, we must give an exam that mimics that exercise and check 100% skill development before we go to exercise 2 .
In this way all the exercises must be completed BY THE STUDENT HIMSELF AND WITH FULL UNDERSTANDING!!
Teaching for the preprimary
Pre primary is very demanding and very difficult, in one sense. It is very simple, beautiful and also energizing in another sense. It is this second sense that I want to share with you.
The child at the pre primary stage, what is called kindergarten, is a totally different entity than even normal children. He is prodigious, active, restless, full of expression and feeling. He is an absorbent mind as Montessori made clear.
If he is naturally and already that, then we seriously need to think of how to guide that enormous and deep energy into actions that he would love in a natural way AND LEARN!!
What a gift that would be to give him that!
Think of a day, a typical day, where the child sang a song, but with full expression and with full happiness!! He then did clay work, and really played with that clay to his heart’s content and learnt to make the shapes occuring in his brain. He ran/jumped/skipped/played physical games all with a purpose of becoming strong in the mind and the body!!
He leant letters but as a phonetic game that he could make sense of and repeated and repeated endlessly to his heart’s content etc
I think the point is clear. The child loves to learn!!
We need to simply grasp that and then the way we IMPLEMENT the systems of learning would be marvelous for children.
This requires a kind of childlike, almost a kind of very active and energetic quality in the teacher also.
Given this understanding all the methods that are standard, would come alive and if done this way, the child would develop with love in his heart and nil fear. So love has to be combined with a deep understanding of the child. Needless to say, this would develop the teacher’s personality in a great way!!