ABSTRACT
You cannot learn how to teach from a text book; not even this one! While the printed page and formal lectures offer insights and strategies, it is in the rough and tumble of classroom life that you sharpen your teaching abilities, make
decisions about what is and is not appropriate for the children in your care, and learn to exercise judgement about your own and the pupils’ behaviour. For this reason it is essential to gain experience in a variety of teaching situations, with pupils of different ages and abilities, larger and smaller groups of children, in closely confined and open areas (e.g. gymnasium, hall, games field), with and without additional adult assistance. The best teachers learn to discern the class ‘mood’ and adjust their teaching accordingly. Poorer teachers simply carry on regardless, seemingly oblivious to the prevailing circumstances. For instance, contrast the following sets of conditions that commonly occur in school and how they might impact upon your approach:
• first thing in the morning on a grey, bleak day in a chilly classroom • immediately following an exciting drama presentation in the hall • the afternoon preceding the half-term holiday • during the winter when many of the children are coughing and wheezing • a glorious summer’s day towards the end of the year • in the middle of the week of national testing.
