ABSTRACT
In subject disciplines, different conceptions of the nature of the subject or different paradigms can affect the way one perceives that area of human activity. This is true of teaching. If one conceives of teaching as a list of skills, qualities, aptitudes and dispositions, as in some of the examples given in Chapter 1, or in the DfEE standards, then the focus in improving one’s teaching is achieving that particular skill or acquiring a quality. However, this says nothing about how one does so. For example, one might wish to develop Standard 4ki:
Use teaching methods which sustain the momentum of pupils’ work and keep all pupils engaged through: stimulating intellectual curiosity, communicating enthusiasm for the subject being taught, fostering pupils’ enthusiasm and maintaining pupils’ motivation.
(DfEE 1998a)