The curricula of teacher education programmes have been revised to bring them in line with the recommendations of National Council of Teacher Education. The Department of teacher Education,Supporting literature is essential for the successful implementation of the new curricula.. In this book the opportunities and challenges faced by the elementary school teachers are explained with illustrations. it is easy to read and understand and related to the conditions under which Indian teachers work.
The book is divided into six parts. Part I introduces teachers to psychology,and explains the importance. Part II discuusses human developmental stages with the special emphasis to the elementary school stage. Part III is concerned with the indiidual differences. Part IV with the teaching learning process. Part discusses the role of guidance in the elementary school. Part VI is concerned with the factors that contribute to the effectiveness of the teacher.
The teacher is always refered as she in this book probably as most teachers are women. Teacher is compared with the gardener. Just as garener continually studies the plants under his care, A teacher must study the children for whom she is responsible.
The author compares the teachers approach with scientific method i.e Awareness of the problems, identification,collection of information, Organization of information etc. The early child hood characters like emotional outbursts, and sensory motor experiences are highlighted. The teacher is advised to be careful in dealing with children of impressionable age. The teacher is also expected to know the in fluence of the peer group.
Teacher has to explore the interests of the child. She should use activities and interests to find out.
the interests of the chidren. She can make the classroom joyful if she knows her student's interests.
The impotance of value based teaching is emphasised to develop proper attitude.
The skills like learning appropriate gender role should be taughtand concepts necessary for daily living to be emphasized. Attitude towards social groups and institutions have to be developed.
It is emphasised that if teacher enjoys her work, it is play for her,and she will carry out with enthusiasm and do it well. The chapters on individual differences high light the concept that each individual is unique and this realisation will go in a long way in preventing teachers from making un kind remarks. It also deal with the problems of slow learning children with the IQ range of 55/60 to 70/75. A wide range of abilities are found among these children. they can profit from ordinary school experience provided adaptations are made in the school programme. Different types of learning like conditioning,by trial and error method , instrumental conditioning, learning by imitation are explained.
Examples are given to use transfer learning to use old knowledge in new situations. Teaching strategies for retention is expained with examples. Some suggestions for creativity and humour to relax the students are given. Brief account of guidance is also given for the teacher.
The book summarises with the salient determinants to make a successful and effective teacher and also the personal and professional grpwth of the teacher in relation to teaching and learning process.