ABSTRACT
This chapter considers teacher behaviour, teaching skills and teaching styles. Teaching is primarily concerned with the process of obtaining desired pupil learning through educational activity. While teaching behaviour is acknowledged to be important, the underlying processes, principles and practice of effective teaching are equally significant. The diversity of teaching situations and contexts presents a major problem in looking at teacher effectiveness. Despite the acknowledged difficulty of linking specific teaching methods to pupil outcomes, there is a reasonable degree of consensus concerning the generic features or components of effective teaching. The literature on effective teaching is replete with the cues and tactics necessary for effective teaching. The research concerning teaching styles therefore is very much of a hortatory nature with little recourse to clear empirical evidence. The idea of artistry in teaching was summarised by L. Rubin: There is a striking quality to fine classrooms.
