2.

Nature and Components of the Teaching/Learning Process

1. Teaching

 Teaching is a process of telling or showing someone how to do something either

through talking, telling, explaining, showing, illustrating and demonstrating.
 The ‘something’ is either content, facts, skills and processes.
 Although teaching is a process, the word is sometimes used to represent a system.
In this connection, when one refers to another as a teacher’, we automatically take
this to mean someone involved in teaching.
 This involves a series of steps which the teacher has to go through so as for effective
teaching to take place.
Some of the steps are;
 Consultation of the syllabus.
 Choice of the topics to teach.
 Interpretation of the objectives.
 Selection of the teaching methods.
 Selection of resource materials.
 Actual classroom presentation of the lesson
For teaching to take place, there must be harmony among the various components
involved.
The teacher should be motivated to teach and adequately equipped with the necessary
knowledge and skills. The learner should also be interested to learn.
Note
From the above definition; we realize that;
a teacher teaches learners and the teacher is assumed to have information or message or skill
that he or she shares with the learners.

Therefore, for teaching to take place, there must be a learner, content and a teacher as a
facilitator of the learning process (with his intentions or objectives). It is commonly said
that learners are taught by a teacher, but they also acquire information from other sources
such as books. In a teaching-learning situation, resources are very useful.

2. SYSTEMS APPROACH TO CLASSROOM TEACHING

Definition: A system is a set of elements or components or objects, which are interrelated and
work towards a common goal (Ayot et al 1993). Generally, a system is distinguished by the
following components.

 Well defined goals (known purpose of its movement or function)

 Has more than one element or parts
 All elements work in harmony. Each element has its function which itself contributes
in achieving the goal of a system
 Provision of feedback (knowledge of performance).

The concept of a system can be applied in a school situation. The School teaching meets
the ground of the system.
  Goals –schools are guided by national goals of education. The curriculum
objectives, long term and short – term objectives are sub-parts of the goals.
 More than one element. The school has an administrator, support staff, students,
content, examination activities.
 Harmonious activities – all elements involved in the school system work
according to the school calendar, scheme of work, school timing etc.
 Feedback – teachers’ questions in class, continuous assessment, written test,
internal testing programmes and written tests. All these form the element of
feedback and thus meet the last characteristics of a system.

The system approach to teaching has become meaningful in recent years because the role of a
teacher is changing from that of an authority in the learning process to that of a facilitator. If
the teacher is to play the role of a learning co-ordinator successfully, she/he must understand
the systematic way of presenting knowledge to the learners. This means employing the
systems approach. A systematic approach to instruction is defined as a systematic design of
instruction with clearly stated objectives, proper selection of media based on their potential for
implementing those objectives; follow the sequence of activities.

A model of systematic approach to classroom teaching as developed by V. Geralach and D.

Ely is illustrated in the figure below.

Teaching
Specification strategies
of content
Organization
Assessment
of entry of groups
Behaviour
Assessment of
Specification Allocation of performance
objectives time

Allocation of
space

Selection of
resources

Analysis of
feedback
Figure…

The content: here the teacher selects the content to help the students attain the specified
objectives. Content specification varies between subjects, schools, grades and classes and is
already identified in the system.

Objectives: From the general objectives, the teacher states the specific objectives of what the
learners should achieve at the end of the lesson. This should be related to the topic under
study.

Entering behavior: This refers to the background and the level of achievement of the
learners. Here the teacher monitors and finds out what each student knows about the topic to
be taught. This helps the teacher to know the needs of the learners, to decide where to start
and plan accordingly on “what” to teach and “How” to teach. In this way, the teacher is able
to meet the level of an average, above average and below average student. This can be done
by designing a pre-test, to test the general achievement of the class before the course starts.
This reveals to what extent the student knows the terms, concepts and skills that are part of the
course to be taught.

Teaching strategies: This refers to the teachers approach to teaching. It involves the selection
of the appropriate methods and preparation of learning resources, organizing students into
groups, space, time allocation and activities in order to attain the objectives of the lesson. All
these elements must function in harmony with the one another in order to achieve the targeted
objectives.

Evaluation of performance: The teacher does this to find out if the learners have learned
what they were supposed to learn. In other words, to find out if the objectives of the lesson
have been achieved. This is done by asking questions orally or written exercises etc.

Analysis of performance (Feedback). This is where the teacher examines components A-

D to find out where he/she has gone wrong or done well. Feedback information is used as
measure of the degree to which objectives have been achieved. If the feedback indicates
that the objectives have not been adequately attained, then the system must be revised. For
example, if a teacher finds out that the methods used did not help the students derive a
concept; she/he can reorganize the appropriate teaching methods, use suitable materials
and redesign the objectives.

3. PRINCIPLES OF GOOD TEACHING AND LEARNING

Evaluation studies conducted in Kenya and other African countries in the last three decades
have shown that in most schools and other educational institutions, teaching methods are
direct, teacher centered and authoritarian. Teachers do not allow students to discover by
themselves or interact with one another. To improve such a situation, many research studies
and educators have identified several basic principles of authentic teaching which have been
found useful in learning. These principles of good teaching include:

1. Connect new knowledge to what students already know. Prior knowledge. This
can be done in several ways
- By asking questions on what was learned in the previous lesson;
- Referring to other subjects to built up the concept to be taught
- Introducing the new topic with concrete examples the students know or by
experience.
- Illustration of the unknown of what is familiar and clear.
- Teacher connects the lesson to pupils life experiences.
2. Ensure that instruction is coherent, that is, connectedness of information
 presented as a whole not in pieces. According to Capper (1994) a critical factor
helping students to understand and make meaning is coherence. Coherence helps
students remember and understand what they learn. Learning is more meaningful
when done in whole than in bits. Indicators of coherent instruction include:
- The teacher presents information with reference to what the students already
know about the topic.
- The teacher projects enthusiasm for the content
- Teacher avoids vague or ambiguous language and digressions
- Teachers ensure that each step is mastered before moving to the next.
- Finishes the lesson with a review of main points.
 -
3. Make the students use higher –order thinking. Research has shown that
students learn better when they are given opportunity to manipulate ideas and
information

Indicators of use of higher order thinking:

- Students respond to the question that require higher level thinking

- Give students questions which enables them to think, apply, analyze and
evaluate.
- Teachers encourage students to think
- Teachers asks questions that require students to generate information or ideas
4. Cover topics at a deeper level rather than superficial level.
- Learning is deeper when it deals with significant concepts or central ideas. It is
superficial, when key ideas and concepts are covered shallowly. Students learn more
and understand and use information;
- When provided with learning experiences, which allow them to make clear
distinctions, solve problems, develop arguments and work with complex
understanding.
5. Enough time should be given for students to deal with important topics and a
variety of learning strategies are used.
Indicators of deep level learning.
- Significant ideas are presented in depth and their significance grasped
- Complex ideas are adequately covered
- Students demonstrate deep understanding of ideas
- The teacher concentrates learning on what is essential.
- Teacher encourages students to explain or elaborate on their answers
- Teacher invites students to comment on the classmates’ answers.
- Students are asked questions that require higher order thinking i.e to apply, analyse,
synthesize or evaluate what they are learning.
6. Provide students with opportunities for active learning. Students learn best
when they are actively engaged in a variety of learning activities such as note
writing, discussion, modeling, reading, playing games, collecting data, drawing
experimenting, sewing, weaving, listening to stories etc. reinforcement or rewards
that encourage continuing effort over time should accompany these. According to
research the more senses they use, the more the learning.

Indicators of active participation in learning among learners.

 Teachers make sure that all students are paying attention and are engaged
 Students ask questions
 Students participate in a variety of activities e.g modeling, carving etc.
 The can manipulate learning tools (use or handle skillfully)
 They share ideas and explain themselves
 Students follow directly comments of speakers
  Home work is assigned and done by students
 Students are self-directed and self motivated.
7. Connect learning to the real world beyond classroom

Research has also shown that learning is likely to be effective if the material studied has value
and meaning beyond achieving success in school. Connectedness to the real world beyond the
classroom occurs when students apply the information learnt to the large social context e.g.
collect data on causes of road accidents; they must go out and find out why.

Indicators of connective learning beyond the school.

- The topic and the learning activities have a clear connection to issues and experiences
beyond classroom e.g needle work lesson, the skill learned should be applied at home
in mending articles.
- Students Are involved in activities that influence the audience beyond the classroom
e.g the skill learnt in wood joinery will be demonstrated at home.
- Students will be able to use what they have learnt in a variety of real world situations.
For example, use various methods of cooking at home, personal hygiene, good social
relations etc.
- Students work individually or in-groups on problems that is connected to their
personal experiences.
8. Provide social support for student achievement

Gay and Wehlage (1994) have stated that social support involves high expectations, respect
and inclusion of students in the learning process. Social support is low when teacher or
student behaviour, comments and actions tend to discourage effort, participation or
willingness to express one’s views. Indicators of social support.

- The teacher should encourage the students and convey high expectations to them;
encourage them to take risk, master challenging work (skills in needlework). ****
- Create a climate of respect among all students, taking note of the uniqueness of each
and rewarding them accordingly
- Encourage low achieving students; give assistance to all students
- Reinforce students in a form of praise, marks, grades and rewards
- Teacher solicits and welcomes contributions from all students
- Evaluate students from time to time to check their progress
- Teacher gives rewards to steady work and conscientious efforts as well as success
- Teacher diagnoses learning difficulties and provides feedback accordingly.
9. Teachers spending most of the time on instruction

Students learn more of the available time allocated to curriculum related activities and
classroom management systems emphasis maintaining their engagement in those activities.
Brphy 1983, Denham and Lieberman 1980). Research indicates that teaching is effective
when teachers allocate most of the available time to activities designed to accomplish
instructional objectives.
Indicators of teachers spend most of the time on instruction

 Allocates most of the time in learning activities rather than non-academic activities
 Teacher begins a lesson on time
 Students maintain focus when working on assignments
 Students actively engage in learning tasks
 Teacher spends his time actively instructing

10. Students learn best in a supportive caring community

Research done by Good and Brophy (2000) and Sergiovani (1994) indicate that students learn
best within a supportive classroom climate. Indicators of a supportive classroom climate.

 The teacher is cheerful, friendly and caring about students as individuals and learners
 Teachers encourage students to work collaboratively and help one another
 Students contribute to lessons without fear of their ideas being ridiculed
 Teacher treats mistakes as natural parts of the learning process
 Teacher establishes and maintains collaborative relationship with parents and
encourages their children’s learning.
11. Teachers monitor student’s progress towards learning objectives and provide
immediate feedback

Research has shown that effective teachers routinely monitor their students; progress
towards instructional objectives using a variety of assessment methods (Dempster, 1991;
Stiggins, 1997; Wiggins, 1993).

Indicators of effective monitoring and evaluation

 Assessment is an ongoing and integral part of the lesson

 Results from assessment are used to identify learning needs
 Teacher uses assessment methods that call for higher order thinking and
application
 Teacher made tests focus on the learning objective that are emphasized in
instruction
 Teacher attends to individual students needs and interacts with them as a group or
individuals
 Teacher monitors whether students are on the task and assessed their progress in
learning.
12. Students learn better when the teacher uses a variety of instructional
materials. Recent research of Lockheed and Vespoor, 1991, Fuller and Heyneman,
1989) show that availability of textbooks and other instructional materials has a
positive effect on students achievement.
Indicators of the use of a variety of instructional materials:
- All students have textbooks and other reading materials with relevant contents
- Teachers have guide outline what to teach and how to teach
 - Classrooms are equipped with chalk boards and chalk
- Enough seats for all children
- Teachers use audio-visual aids to support instruction

4. Factors that contribute to effective teaching and learning

What is effective teaching?

The term ‘effectiveness’ refers to bringing about the desired results. Effective teaching and
learning, therefore, refers to the extent to which students acquire desired knowledge, skills and
attitudes as a result of participating in the teaching and learning process. Several research
studies have identified a number of key factors that influence student’s achievement. These
factors are:

 Curriculum planning
 Learning capacity of the students
 Adequate basic instructional materials
 Use of child – centered approach
 Teacher knowledge of the subject matter
 Frequent student assessment and feedback
 Parent and community support.

Knowing these factors enables us to identify the areas that require attention, for a teacher may
be effective in some areas of his/her teaching but less successful in others. These factors are
briefly explained below.

1. Curriculum planning. Research has shown that teaching is effective when the
teacher plans his/her work. Teaching does not accidentally; it needs thorough
planning and preparation. At the school level, curriculum planning means all the
stages of preparation of curriculum documents before they are actually used by the
students. It involves the preparation of the scheme of work, lesson plans, teaching
aids and assessment tools.
2. Learning capacity of the students. Research has shown that teaching is effective
when students are healthy; have positive attitudes towards teachers and school; are
self-directed and motivated for continued learning; have adequate academic
knowledge and ready to learn new knowledge.
3. Use of child-centered strategies. Teaching is effective when teachers use child
centered teaching strategies in a group or individual basis. Indicators of child
centered teaching strategies.
Group interaction
- Students work in-groups and interact with each other
- As they work in-groups, the teacher moves round interacting with them as
groups or individuals
- Students use manipulates as learning tools.

Individual activities
 - Children are self – directed and self-motivated in learning
- Teacher encourages children to think and pay attention
- Students are actively involved in a variety of learning activities
4. Basic instructional materials. Availability of instructional materials such as
student’s text books and reading materials, laboratory equipment, materials for
practical subjects leads to higher student achievement.
5. Frequent student assessment and feedback. Teaching is effective when:
i. Teachers continuously assess students to determine the extent to which the
objectives of the lesson have been achieved.
ii. The teacher provides feedback on students oral and written work
iii. Homework assigned and done by students, teacher marks and corrects the
work
iv. Teacher uses assessment to spot potential problems.
6. Parental and community support. Parental expression of affection to students and
their expectation of academic success.

5. CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING

1. Have specific objectives to be achieved within a lesson. It can be tested or measured to
find out if learning has taken place. For example, in Agriculture, students can learn
how to plant maize in row; then ask them to use the same principles to plant millet. If
they do it the same way, then the teaching was effective.
2. Relevant methods are used according to the subject matter being taught.
3. Should be pupil centered, relevant teaching aids.
4. There is a good teacher-student relationship (good atmosphere conducive to learning,
encouraging words to low achievers).
5. Proper communication; correct spoken language and tonal expression
6. Proper motivation. Learners are encouraged to work hard, praise their good work.
a. Give a variety of presents to good work done.
7. Well – prepared lesson (preparation, collection, collecting the appropriate
teaching/learning materials).
8. Good classroom control and management. Not allowing students to be rowdy,
disorganized etc.
 6. Learning
Definition
Philosophically, learning is a process people do, not a practice done to people. It is a change or
modification of behaviors as a result of going through some form of experience. This does not
however mean change in physical characteristics such as height, strength and size. The change
is expressed in terms of intellectual and emotional functioning. Learning therefore is a process
by which an individual acquires and retains knowledge, skills, values and attitudes which cannot
be attributed to natural growth and development.

Characteristics of learning
1. Learning involves change.
It is a reconstruction, combined thinking, skill, information and appropriation in a single unity
process. For example, when a child learns to read they can retain this knowledge and behavior
for the rest of their lives. It is not always reflected in performance. The change from the
learning may not be clear initially until a situation arises in which the new behavior can occur.
2. All learning involves participation in learning activities
For learning to take place learners must be involved in some activities either physical or
mental. They may be simple mental activities or complex, involve various muscles, bones, etc.
3. Learning Requires Interaction
Effective learning requires that a learner constantly interacts with and is influenced by the
learning environment. This experience makes him change or modify his behavior to deal
effectively with the needs in the learning environment. The interactions can be with other
learners or with the teacher over a given subject.
4. Learning is a Lifelong Process
Learning is a lifelong process of gaining and using the information learnt. It is not static. A
person never stops acquiring new information. Through learning a person’s mind is kept
active and conscious of the world around him.
 levels of learning
Bloom’s Taxonomy:
 According to Bloom there are three types, or domains of knowledge: cognitive
(knowledge), affective (attitudes) and psychomotor (physical skills). The cognitive
domain is further subdivided into six levels; Knowledge, Comprehension, Application,
Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation
 When developing course objectives, one need to be aware of the level at which students
are asked to perform. Objectives for introductory topics may be appropriately
concentrated in the lower levels, while objectives for upper level topics will normally
be concentrated in the upper levels.

Cognitive Domain
Level Definition Sample Verbs
Knowledge Recall and remember define, describe, identify,
information. label, list, match, name, outline,
select, state, tell.

Comprehension Understand the meaning, convert, defend,

translation, and interpretation distinguish, estimate, explain, give
of instructions and problems. examples, infer, interpret,
State a problem in one's own paraphrase, predict, rewrite,
words. Establish relationships summarize, translate, show
between dates, principles, relationship of, differentiate,
generalizations or values classify, compare, distinguish.

Application Use a concept in a new situation apply, change, compute,

Applies what was learned in construct, demonstrate, discover,
the classroom into novel manipulate, modify, predict,
situations. Facilitate transfer of prepare, produce, relate, solve,
knowledge use, experiment, utilize, organize
to new or unique situations

Analysis Separates material or concepts analyze, break down, compare,

into component parts so that contrast, deconstruct,
its organizational structure differentiate,
may be understood. discriminate,
Distinguishes between facts distinguish,
and inferences. identify,
illustrate, infer, relate, select,
separate, investigate, determine,
observe, examine
Synthesis Builds a structure or pattern from categorize, combine, compile,
diverse elements. Put parts compose, create, design, explain,
together to form a whole, with generate, modify, organize,
emphasis on creating a new rearrange, reconstruct,
meaning or structure. reorganize, revise, rewrite,
Originality and creativity. summarize, write, invent
construct, create

Evaluation Make judgments about the value appraise, compare, contrast,

of ideas or materials. critique, defend, describe,
discriminate, evaluate, explain,
interpret, justify, summarize,
calculate, estimate, discuss.
Bloom and Krathwol’s models compared
 7. Classroom communication: elements and barriers
What is communication?
 Communication is a process of sharing of ideas between the sender and the receiver
to arrive at a common understanding for mutual benefit (Berlo, 1960),
 A process of transmitting information and common understanding from one person to
another (Keyton, 2011).
 It is a process of generating meaning by sending and receiving verbal and non-verbal
symbols and signs.
 Communication is a two-way interactive process of interacting with others for a shared
meaning

Components/ Elements of communication

Communication has six major elements or components, and an intervening component:
 Source
 Message
 Channel
 Receiver
 Feedback
 Noise
 context

 Source/Sender/encoder
The source imagines, creates, and sends the message. In a public speaking situation, the source is
the person giving the speech. He or she conveys the message by sharing new information with the
audience. The speaker also conveys a message through his or her tone of voice, body language,
and choice of clothing.
 Message
This is the information shared between sender and receiver. For good communication the central
idea of the message must be clear. Thus, the teacher must decide what to communicate keeping
in mind the context and how the receiver (students) will interpret the message
 Channel
The sensory route through which the encoder will communicate his message to the decoder. The
medium can be print, electronic, or sound. The choice of medium may be dependent on contextual
factors, relationship between the sender and the receiver.
 Receiver/decoder
This is the person to whom the message is being sent. Receiver (student) may be a listener or a
reader depending on the choice of medium by the sender (teacher) to transmit the instructional
contents. The receiver receives the message from the source, analyzing and interpreting the
message in ways both intended and unintended by the source.

 Feedback
This is the response or reaction of the receiver to a message. Communication is effective only
when it receives some feedback as it completes the loop of communication. Feedback is composed
of messages the receiver sends back to the source. Verbal or nonverbal, all these feedback signals
allow the source to see how well, how accurately (or how poorly and inaccurately) the message
was received.
  Noise
This is anything that can distort the message. These include physical discomfort, perceptions on
the message, language.

Context
The context of the communication interaction involves the setting, scene, and expectations of the
individuals involved. A presentation or discussion does not take place as an isolated event. When
you came to class, you came from somewhere. So did the person seated next to you, as did the
instructor. The degree to which the environment is formal or informal depends on the contextual
expectations for communication held by the participants.

The person sitting next to you may be used to informal communication with instructors, but this
particular instructor may be used to verbal and nonverbal displays of respect in the academic
environment. You may be used to formal interactions with instructors as well, and find your
classmate’s question of “Hey Teacher, do we have homework today?” as rude and inconsiderate
when they see it as normal. The nonverbal response from the instructor will certainly give you a
clue about how they perceive the interaction, both the word choices and how they were said.

Context is all about what people expect from each other, and we often create those expectations
out of environmental cues.

The process of communication

In any communication process there are two main points, the source and the
receiver. The source sends out information or message and the receiver plays the
role of the message recipient. In between the source and the receiver there can be
other varying modes of transmitting the message for example, there can be a
channel, which can send messages in various forms, verbal or non-verbal. The
receiver can give some feedback to the source if it is required.
In a classroom situation the teacher usually initiates the communication process.
The teacher performs the role of a source. The learner or student is the receiver of
the message. Let us apply this to a common situation in a classroom where a teacher
asks a question. In this case the teacher is the source of communication, and the
message is the question. The channel used is verbal and the receiver of course is
the student. The student may answer the question. The answer to the question is
the feedback.
As indicated earlier, classroom communication usually uses two channels – verbal
and non-verbal. From experience we can say that verbal communication is by far the
 commonly used channel by teachers in a classroom. For verbal communication to
be effective in a classroom a number of aspects need to be given attention.

First, you should use or employ appropriate voice volume such that it can be
heard clearly from all corners of the classroom. It is recommended that a teacher
should not shout in a voice that makes learners feel that their eardrums are
tearing. On the other hand, he/she should not be so soft that learners have to
stretch their necks in attempt to capture the information. There should be an
appropriate voice level which allows a student to listen comfortably enough to
assimilate information from the teacher.

Second, your voice should carry an appropriate pitch. The pitch of a sound has to do
with how high or low (deep) the sound is. Some people naturally talk in a low or
high pitch. Both extremes can affect reception of a message. In a classroom
situation, a deep voice tends not to be audible enough while a high pitched voice
appears to ‘disturb’ the ears. A useful compromise here would be to moderate
whichever way to come up with an average pitch to be used for most of your voicing.
It is however useful to vary the pitch or tone in situations where you need to make
some emphasis.
The other characteristic likely to affect verbal communication is clarity of the voice. Clarity
has to do with the way we pronounce words. Words and terms should be clearly pronounced
using the set conventions. Some technical words and terms have been known to present
difficulties in pronunciations. Words such as, choir, lead, iron, crystallization, identification
etc have been identified as some common words that frequently present pronunciation
problems to teachers in a classroom. Pronunciation problems in English have also been
linked to ethnicity. There are some ethnic languages, which do not emphasize certain letters
as in English. For example,
some ethnic languages do not have letter r but use l instead. So that if for example they want
to say “If you want to fry rice”, it sounds as if they are saying “if you want to fly lice”. This can
be a local inhabitation but is an inhabitation, which has been known to go or reduce if an honest
effort is made to work on the proper.
Lastly, if your verbal communication is to be effective one should speak when facing the audience
 for most of the time. If you are in a classroom, then speak clearly and loud enough while facing
students. You may even give brief notes as you teach. In such a situation it is useful to ensure
also that the writing is legible and accurate.

Barriers to classroom communication

A barrier is any obstacle/challenge/ problem faced by communicators during the process of
communication. Barriers are part and parcel of the communication process.
Types:
 Physical/ environmental barriers to communication
These are barrier emanating from the communication environment. They include:
o Noise
o Defects in the communication channel
o Weather conditions

 Language/ semantic/ linguistic barriers

Barriers arising from the differences in the level of linguistic competencies between
communicators. What language items does the teacher use in his teaching vs the learners’ linguistic
competency?
 Psychological barriers
These are barriers that relate to the state of mind of the communicators. They be due to:
o Emotions and feelings (emotional disturbances experienced by the sender and
receiver of messages)
o Halo effect (Feelings of like or dislike)
o Prejudice and bias (wrong opinion on people based on race, class, religion)
o Exhaustion or short attention span
 Socio- cultural Barriers
These are barriers that arise due to differences in social status, or cultural backgrounds.
o Assumptions on the superiority of one’s culture visa viz others
o Differences in value system

How to overcome the Barriers to communication

1. Physical barriers: controlling the noise, avoiding the use of defective media and
ensuring modification of weather conditions in the learning environment
2. Language barriers: using language that is to the level of the recipients of a
communication event
3. Psychological barrier: Attempting to be the right frame of mind during the
communication process
4. Socio-cultural barriers: Respecting other peoples’ cultural practices. Having an
open mind in regards to differences in other peoples’ way of life.