Originally posted by thesonofsaulThen it's a daft question.
Which is more important for a teacher, knowledge in the subject at hand or skill as a teacher? Both is not an acceptable answer.
If I didn't know my subject then I wouldn't be able to teach. Pupils are aware if you don't know something. However, if I wasn't able to teach, then whatever I knew would be pointless. Skill as a teacher at its most basic is just general communication skills.
Originally posted by thesonofsaulDepends on the lesson.
As I said in my question, some knowledge of the subject and some knowledge of teaching are given. So either way, in a way, both is the answer. I'm looking more for a percentage. Are you saying 50/50?
For younger pupils probably more towards teaching skills, older pupils more towards subject knowledge.
So for say reading, a teacher needs to just know how to read (basic knowledge) or have advanced knowledge, such as grammar and vocabulary? Does a math teacher only need to know the level that he is teaching, or should he know more, like an arithmatic teacher knowing algebra, a trig teacher knowing calculus? Or does teaching skill negate any need to know more than that level?
Originally posted by thesonofsaulSkill.
Which is more important for a teacher, knowledge in the subject at hand or skill as a teacher? Both is not an acceptable answer--please choose one. Assume that skill comes with a basic knowledge of the subject, and knowledge comes with a basic idea of how to teach.
Although I reject the either/or premise of the question, I've been teaching and observing the effects of teaching (mine and others'😉 long enough to become terribly frustrated by the gross misinformation being spewed by skilled teachers.
Yesterday, after a high school sports event, during the awards ceremony, an error that I see daily provoked me to comment on it to some other parents. The announcer called a kid forward by name, and when the kid did not instantly stand up, the announcer said, "Are they here?"
Is he here? would have been grammatically correct. When our teachers are so lacking in knowledge that this error seems more common than correct syntax and grammar, then teaching skill becomes a liability. The more skilled an ignorant teacher, the more his or her particular ignorance becomes normative.
Knowledge comes first. Students have survived unskilled teachers for centuries. Now, skilled teachers escalate their ignorance.
I admit at the most basic level teachers need the knowledge of the subject as mistakes are a major problem as they will effect a whole generation. I think it is important to have a skilled teacher though as I am a student and you can tell when a teacher is interested in what they are teaching and it makes it more interesting to learn and makes a large difference, the difference between an interesting class discussion and someone reading out of a book. I know what I will remember better and absorb But I think all teachers need both skill and knowledge but if one would be added I would say skill would be needed as an expert in a field could be a terrible teacher but someone just one level about you (academic) with a good enthusiasm for the subject could just about teach you. Back to the point of errors I think the best thing to do is point it out to the teacher and best of all if a student brings it up in the long run it should make the teacher more careful and the student more critical.
Originally posted by thesonofsaulBoaff.
Which is more important for a teacher, knowledge in the subject at hand or skill as a teacher? Both is not an acceptable answer--please choose one. Assume that skill comes with a basic knowledge of the subject, and knowledge comes with a basic idea of how to teach.