Practices vs. Theories of Teaching

Becoming an excellent school teacher is a life-long quest and challenge. The lessons do not stop when one receives a diploma or becomes certified. Teaching is as creative as art and as exact as science.

Motivation is one of the most important concepts of teaching.  This theory is related to other important concepts such as arousal, attention, anxiety and feedback/reinforcement. Motivation can be countered by hosts of factors such as anxiety, reward and punishment and the goal of the student (Kearsley, 2007).

Theory in teaching and the real practice could be two different things. The teacher might be surprised even shock that what he/she learns as a student could sometimes be difficult to implement inside the classroom. It is important therefore for teachers to have a plan. If they do, they can stick to the plan even if the reality poses a lot of obstacles at the moment.

As the days progress, the teacher will find that either he/she needs to find a way to adjust the plan to the reality at hand or the plan is actually highly feasible. Being flexible is important as this will allow teachers to be more adaptable.

Personal Responsibility

Encouraging personal responsibility is an important part of learning. The teacher must encourage participation of the student. Students feel committed to an endeavor that they participate in. Participation is, itself, a conscious decision each student makes. Teachers can invite participation of students by : sharing common interests of the group, knowing the goals that could be attained in the future, finding what's idea in the present and asking for commitment from each student (Drummond, 2002).