In this blog, we will familiarise you with all the important factors affecting teaching in one way or the other.
As educators, you might be trying hard to make an impact through your teaching. If you are really passionate about what you do and dream of making it big as an educator every day you would be looking for a scope of improvement.
- How you can make your teaching more engaging?
- What methodology should I follow?
- Which medium should I make use of?
- How can you gain a better reach for your courses?
Your mind might be bombarded with such questions on a daily basis. To find an answer to these questions, you need to be aware of the important factors affecting teaching. To know how you can do well as a teacher or an educator you need to identify these pain points and work in the right direction.
To help you out on this front, from our team at Graphy here is a glimpse into the most important factors affecting teaching. Go through them one by one, analyse how they would be impacting your teaching, and find out how to charge your teaching with the efficiency that you always want to.
So, let’s get started.
Table of Contents
What are the important factors affecting teaching
Skills and experience of the teacher
The two active agents involved in the process of teaching are the teachers and the students. While students are at the receiving end, the teachers are at the dispensing one, therefore they are the source of knowledge. So, the most important factor affecting teaching is the ability or potential of the teacher.
Educational qualifications
Is the teacher qualified enough to teach? The answer to this question determines the quality of teaching. If the teachers don’t have proper knowledge regarding the subject concerned, effective learning can never happen. Apart from an in-depth knowledge of the subject, the teacher should also be well-versed in all teaching methodologies. Only then the teacher can deliver an education which can be accessed by students of different cognitive and social levels of development.
Skillsets
Apart from subject knowledge, there are different factors which determine how capable a teacher is.
- Communication skills
- Presentation skills
- Familiarity with different modes of teaching
- Listening skills. A teacher should always be a good listener.
- Adaptability. A teacher should be adaptable to the needs of their students.
And all of these elements could be counted among the important factors affecting teaching.
Related Blog: The macro teaching technique: How to teach large classes?
Learning environment
Apart from the teacher’s dedication and a student’s willingness to learn, another important factor affecting teaching is the learning environment.
To make a clear demarcation, there are two types of learning environments, namely,
- Physical
- Psychological
It’s when both of these environments are up to the mark can a quality teaching-learning process can take palace.
- Physical: The physical space where learning happens
Today, teaching has crossed the traditional boundaries of a classroom and has spread into a larger environment. From outdoor teaching environments to online sessions, teaching is no more restricted to the four walls of the classroom. While it made learning more fun, diverse and accessible, these models lack the decorum and discipline a traditional classroom space had at its core.
Earlier, classrooms were a neutral space which was never penetrated by differences of any kind be it social or economic. But when you shift to the online mode where students learn from their home, it is hard to maintain this neutrality. Teachers have little or no control over their learning environment and it’s hard to maintain an interactive mode of learning. So, the actual physical space where learning happens is one key factor affecting teaching.
- Psychological: A psychologically safe space for learning
In a place where you are rebuked for raising questions or for thinking out of the box, quality education can never exist there. If students are scared of the teacher and afraid of raising their queries, in such an environment learning can never take palace in full swing. It will be nothing more than a passive experience where the teacher delivers the lesson prepared for the day and the students simply note it all down even if they didn’t understand a single word.
So, an important factor affecting teaching is the nature of the teacher itself. It is important that teachers create a safe space where students feel understood and cared for. It is important for the teacher to be friendly and approachable so that students don’t limit themselves in the face of irrational fear.
An ideal classroom is where the teachers and students exchange ideas and where students learn from one another through discussion. To bring such a teaching experience into reality, the creation of a safe space is of utmost importance.
Access to resources
Access to resources can be a key factor affecting teaching. To trigger a learning process you need several resources at hand. Imagine a classroom with no access to books. Imagine a digital learning space where some students have no access to smartphones or laptops. So, quality teaching demands the support of some basic infrastructure and when there is a lack on this front, the scope of teaching is limited to a great extent.
So, to enable the proper flow of education, you have to ensure access to basic resources like:
- Support materials like books, lesson plans, curriculum, etc.
- Digital learning resources to extend the scope of learning outside of classrooms.
- Infrastructural facilities like a proper classroom, laboratories, seminar rooms, libraries, etc.
Pupil-teacher ratio (PTR)
Student-to-teacher ratio is one other important factor affecting teaching. At the primary level, the ideal PTR is 30:1 and at the upper primary level, it is 35:1. Simply because the more the students, the lesser the one-to-one interaction would be.
Imagine a classroom of 100 students and just one teacher to guide them all. Do you think the teacher would be able to pay attention to all the students? Except for the ones sitting in the first few rows or the ones that speak up, the educational needs of the rest might go unattended. Not an ideal scenario, right?
In the word of Benjamin Franklin, “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” and if this kind of involvement has to happen, the ideal student-teacher ratio has to be maintained.
Institutional factors
Several institutional factors also impact teaching. Imagine a learning environment that is closely regulated by the higher authorities. Their learning will always happen in a controlled manner. While some basic rules and regulations are to be followed to maintain decorum, the teacher should have the autonomy to a certain level.
For instance, the curriculum is to be decided by the institution itself, but the teacher should have the agency to adopt their desired mode of teaching while considering the needs of the students. This will not only make every teaching experience unique but also ensure that the needs of every student are properly met. So, how much control the authorities have over the teaching process is another important factor affecting teaching.
Learning potential of students
Every student is different and they have different learning abilities. So, there is no one teaching method that fits them all. For instance, for a group of students who are not well-versed in English, if the chosen language of communication is English, it will become a barrier to learning. Similarly, students have different IQs, so the methodology that you follow should be formulated while keeping all their needs in mind.
So, as a teacher, if you wish to impart quality education, you have to make sure that all your students are on the same page. As a teacher you have to consider:
- Innate learning abilities of children.
- Their general knowledge and the hold they have over the concerned subject.
- Their interests and skills.
- Which modes of learning are the students most comfortable with.
It while analyzing all these features can you come up with a teaching methodology that caters to each student in your classroom.
Address these factors and deliver quality education as a teacher
If you are really passionate about teaching, you would be bent on making a difference. Every day you would impart lessons not just for the sake of it but with an intent to empower your students. If you come under this category, you need to be receptive to all these important factors affecting teaching.
So, consider all these factors and curate an effective teaching process for your students.
Related Blog: Teaching Aids - Ideas for Teachers to Use in the Classroom
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