Gaining Confidence to Teach, Simplified!

Teaching effectiveness is all about gaining confidence to teach. This can be achieved by gaining knowledge and becoming an expert teacher.

Research indicates that atleast four different kinds of knowledge are key for expert and confident teaching:

-Knowledge of learners and learning -Knowledge of content -Pedagogical content knowledge -General pedagogical knowledge

>Knowledge of Learners and Learning Students need abstract ideas illustrated with examples. The more concretely you are able to put forth your ideas, the more meaningful they will become. Also different learners learn using different methods-some learn by reading, some by seeing and others by actually writing and doing. Understanding learning increases content knowledge and helps to provide meaningful representations.

>Knowledge of Content You can’t teach what you don’t understand. You need to know the topic as well as how it relates to other similar topics.

>Pedagogical Content Knowledge While content knowledge is an understanding of a particular topic, pedagogical content knowledge is the ability to explain that topic in a way which can be easily comprehended by the students. Teachers should be able to teach difficult ideas with real life examples which make them meaningful.

>General Pedagogical Knowledge This involves principles of instruction and classroom management. A teacher should be able to involve the whole class while teaching and use different ways like classroom and outdoor activities to promote learning. She should also know how to give feedback. A teacher should also know how to keep the classroom orderly and maintain discipline.

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