What is The Definition of Teaching and Learning

What Is The Definition of Teaching and Learning?

This article is the second of eight series dealing with Teaching Eye Health. Almost everyone involved in eye health in the community is a teacher but many have not received training on how to teach effectively. The purpose of this series is to encourage readers to teach and learn more effectively and we will work through important topics related to Teaching and Learning in a systematic and practical way. 

This Article sets the scene by examining some important concepts about "Teaching and Learning".

The Words We Use to Talk About Teaching and Learning

People use different types of words when talking about “Teaching and Learning”. Sometimes the same word means different things to different people and sometimes different words carry the same meaning. 

For example, Americans tend to use the word "assessment" to describe whether they have taught test students, while the British often use the term "assessment". Here are a few more examples of words with related meanings:

‘Educator’, ‘Teacher’, ‘Trainer’, ‘Tutor’, ‘Lecturer’, ‘Facilitator’, ‘Student’, ‘Pupil’, ‘Learner’, ‘Scholar’.

What do these words mean to you? There will never be a complete agreement on the ‘real’ meaning of each of these. If people seem to misunderstand us, we need to explain what we mean to them.

What is Teaching 

Again, understanding what 'Teaching' is is based on our past experience. Our first (1st) experience was at School, where the teacher was also a ‘master’ or ‘mistress’, standing in front of the class telling us what to do and what to learn. Some of us went to the same kind of ‘Teaching’ College. Others may gain pedagogical experience where the ‘teacher’ is more than equal, who considers the learner experience and even learns from the student. That’s why Abbott and McMahon say: ‘Teaching helps other people learn’ They also say that ‘Teaching’ has four components to the work of healthcare workers:

1. Teachers must decide what students need to learn. Students can participate in this decision, but everyone is guided by the same principle: this is the work that people have to do, it determines what they need to learn. They need to learn all the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to perform a certain task. They are 'must learn' and 'should know', not 'learn to be happy' 
2. Teachers need to help students learn. This does not mean that teachers ‘spoon feed’ students, as if they were children. This does not mean that the teacher's first concern should be that students should learn as much as possible. Teaching sessions or classes need to be carefully planned considering the style of teaching, language and background of the students. In short, teachers must be student-centered, not teacher-centered.
3. The teacher needs to make sure that the students have learned - they need to evaluate them. Assessment helps teachers and students to see how students are improving, so that they can participate in any weakness. It sets a standard, so that society is given to people who are capable of practicing. The assessment must be carefully planned so that it supports the lessons we want to see-we know that students believe what they need to pass their exams, and leave out the rest ...
4. The teacher has to look after the welfare of her students. Stressed and dissatisfied students do not learn well. Good teachers try to ensure that their students' normal living and environment is adequate. They also provide personal counseling opportunities for them. Teachers need to build a free and trusting relationship with their students.

What is Learning

We can all understand things in the light of our past experiences. This is also true of 'Learning'-from what has happened to us in the past we get an idea of ​​what 'Learning' means. So, for example, we can think of ‘Teaching’ as something that happens in a School or College, classroom. We can think of it as a person sitting alone at night, trying to memorize many things so that he can pass the test. But some reflection shows us that ‘learning’ is much broader than that. After all, kids can learn a lot before they even go to school-they learn to talk, to walk. Educational psychologists tell us that any activity that leads to a change in our behavior is 'Learning'.

Here are Some More Ideas About ‘Learning’  

1. Study can be formal or informal. We learn informally from what we feel day after day: Things that happen to us change the way we think and behave. We may not even be aware that what we are learning can cause problems-for example, health workers can learn bad attitudes from the example of others. Of course, the study can also be formal: we join a course planned in a structured way at a School or College.
2. We do wrong to learn knowledge and information-we also learn skills and attitudes. This is especially important for health workers, as it affects the health of the people we serve in our practical work. Interestingly, we learn knowledge, skills and attitudes in different ways-for example, we can learn a new idea from a discussion but we learn skills by practicing and getting feedback.
3. People learn in different ways. Researchers have identified different ‘Learning styles’. Some people like to 'memorize' what they are given. This is a very common style and has been reinforced by teachers who expect students to memorize and reward them for it. Other people are 'detectives': They like to understand, to investigate what they are Learning on their own. Yet others are ‘generators’: They choose to decide for themselves what they want to learn and then look for opportunities to learn those things.
4. Teaching can be patron or deep knowledge. Knowledge only when memorized (superficial reading) is quickly forgotten and the person can never influence his/her way of working. If the student is made to actively use the new knowledge, the learning is deeper. The student already connects new knowledge with his ideas and understands how it can be used in practice. So it is much more likely to be remembered and used.
5. Motivation is important for Learning. Is this what people want to learn? Some learn because they want to do better-get satisfaction from the feeling that they are capable. People are also strongly motivated in the hope that they will receive their rewards-for example, by gaining a qualification, leading to promotion and better pay. The need to pass the test is therefore very strong motivator.
6. Learning continues throughout a person's life-at least informally. We all know that health workers need to learn throughout their careers, because new information about health is becoming regularly available. However, many workers do not have access to formal service training. This means they have to take responsibility for keeping themselves up to date-they have to be 'lifelong learners'.

What’s The Difference Between Learning and Teaching?

It is very easy to differentiate between learning and learning. By direct definition, teaching is teaching a group of students about a specific subject. Knowledge is being acquired through study, teaching and experience while learning. Many will assume that teaching is more important than learning, in fact, learning is more important because it is the ultimate goal of education. Students can learn without teachers, but teachers cannot teach without students.

Finally

In the next article in this series, we will begin to apply these concepts and principles to ‘Communication and effective Teaching’. Stay with us Education Sciences topic site! Thanks.

(FAQs) - The Definition of Teaching and Learning

What’s the Difference between learning and teaching?

Answer: It is very easy to distinguish between learning and teaching. In the simplest definition, teaching is providing lessons about a specific subject to a group of students. Knowledge is acquired by studying, teaching and experiencing while learning. Many would assume that teaching is more important than learning, the truth is, learning is more important because it is the end goal of education. Students can learn without teachers, but teachers cannot teach without students.

What are learning and teaching support materials?

Answer: As we have already seen, the definition of teaching/learning materials is very broad. In some parts of the world, this is referred to as learning and teaching support material. The term has the same meaning: a learning and teaching tool used in the classroom. These may include teacher-created, student-created and commercially-created resources, textbooks, class reading books, dictionaries, e-books, stationery, worksheets and science equipment.

What are the different types of Teaching/ Learning Materials?

Answer: The definition of teaching/ learning materials means that it includes a variety of resources. So the resources chosen for a given activity will depend on the type of learning, the subject and what is available. For that reason, the following list is not exhaustive but provides an introduction to some of the teaching/ learning materials commonly used in the classroom.

What is teaching?

Answer: Teaching is an essential part of the learning environment. Learning is possible only through the teaching process. It can be formal and informal.

Formal education usually takes place within the walls such as schools, colleges, universities and informal education takes place within the community friends family etc. Home schooling is an informal education.

What is Learning?

Answer: The term learning is used regularly in discussions of higher education, so it is important to clarify what we are referring to when we talk about learning. Educational researchers agree that learning is much deeper than memorization and recall of information. Deep and lasting learning involves understanding, relating ideas and making connections between new knowledge, independent and critical thinking. Ability to transfer knowledge to new and different contexts.