Key Elements of Teaching (8 M's of Teaching)

(Source: Curriculum Development System:A Handbook of School Practitioners in Basic Education by Jesus C. Palma. National Bookstore, c 1992)

What is Teaching?

In school, we are dealing with the young who are immature and who lack the experiences in life which learning emanates. That is why the teacher assumes an important role in their development. The learners who are expected to undergo the learning process cannot do it on their own without adult help and supervision. That is what teaching is all about. It is the process of "helping" the learners learn economically, efficiently, and effectively. The success of a learning situation depends to a large extent on the skillful intervention of a professional person, the teacher.

There are intervention or helping points in teaching process. These points encompass the key elements or the so-called 8 M's of teaching. These are:

1. Milieu: The Learning Environment
Since learning is triggered off by stimuli in the environment, it assumes primary importance in teaching and learning. The classroom is the usual although not the exclusive environment of learning at school. Teachers need to male the learning environment as "stimulating" as possible. Every stimulus in the classroom should contribute to learning. Very much part of this environment are the human stimuli, the most important of whom is the teacher himself. Material stimuli include objects in the room as well as common routine activities. Checking of receptors of the learning stimuli, the senses, to make sure that every student is properly equipped for and disposed to receive the stimuli of learning. Provisions for proper lighting and acoustics as well as corrective measures for students who may be impaired somewhat in this regard.

2. Matter: The Content of Learning. This refers to the what is to be learned as specified in the instructional objective. Mastery of every lesson instead of its mere coverage by the class is a very important "rule-of-thumb" The teacher should make sure that the minimum standard or level of proficiency is attained by the class before moving onto the next lesson or unit. Curriculum makers are advised to be realistic in projecting subject matter and avoid giving the students "too much, too soon," and to teach only "little matter, but well mastered."

3. Method" The teaching-learning Strategy. This consist of purposeful, planned activities and tasks that are undertaken by the teacher and the students in the classroom to bring about the intended instructional objective. Methods are means to an end, never an end in itself. There is good straggly per se, it is deemed good or effective only if it brings about the desired learning outcome. Furthermore, an objective may be archived using different strategies just as a strategy may be utilized to attain different objectives.The strategy must be appropriate to the level of maturity and sophistication of the learners. It must also be adequate or sufficient for the lesson objective and the teacher must be adept or skillful in the use of the strategy. The learners must also show efficiency in handling the activity, going through it without hassle. The strategy must also be effective to yield expected result and must be economical in time, effort and expense.

4. Material: The Resources of Learning. Materials are resources available to the teacher and learners which serve as stimuli in the teaching-learning situation. This may be either a "human person" or a "physical object." The whole purpose of materials is to initiate the students to the "real world" they live in. Instructional materials represent elements found in that world are are meant to help students understand and explain reality. Portraying reality can be by direct experience, reproduction, representation or abstraction

5. Media: Communication in Teaching and Learning. This pertains to the communication system in the teaching-learning situation. This serves dual purpose: to promote common understanding in instruction and to set and maintain a healthy psychological climate in the classroom conducive to learning.

6. Motivation: Arousing and Sustaining Interest in Learning. Motivation is the cardinal principle in learning. A learner will learn only those things he wants to learn.

7. Mastery: The Be-all and End-all of Learning. This means internalization of learning resulting in automatic or habitual change behavior through meaningful repetition and application. Mastery comes through a "fixation" of what is to be learned, shifting it from short-term to long-term memory, allowing for ease in use and transfer to new situations in the future. Some call it executive control"

8. Measurement: Getting Evidence of Learning. This is the final stage in the teaching-learning sequence, involving the systematic collection of the evidence of learning. This is concerned with the "behavior" aspect of the objective.

In preparing for teaching, the teacher should take all of these elements into consideration. These constitute thew warp and woof of a unified unit and session plan or Plantilla.

Nothing happens until it happens in the students.

(excerpt from the reflection paper of Mrs. Olga C. Alonsabe, delivered during the graduation ceremony of the SEAMEO-Innotech ExCELS -Excellence in School Leadership Scholarship Course held at Xavier University last January 29, 2008 representing the 69 graduates who are elementary and secondary school adminsitrators of Region X).

Nothing happens until it happens in the studens.

This concept is translated in how well the curriculum
is implemented which results can only be assessed through the
students. Since the curriculum is the total learning experiences
that the school designs for the learner, it is best to reflect on its
implementation, particularly in the school I am managing, the
Aplaya National High School.

In my day-to-day activities in the school, like checking
lesson plans, checking the campus, conferring with teachers,
monitoring instruction, I come to think of what particular way can
I influence the teaching-learning process given the realities and
problems experienced in the public school system.
The concepts I learned in enrichment curriculum made
me realized that this is the answer to what we, school heads aspire
for: to be empowered so that we can introduce and implement
a curriculum that will suit the needs of our students. While
making the core curriculum as the guide in designing mastery
learning approaches, the enrichment curriculum is a way to
supplement student learning while still targeting mastery of the
desired competencies. But since every school is unique in itself,
the culture of the school has to be considered in enriching the
curriculum, making learning more meaningful to the students.

As I studied the school environment, I come to realized
that our students need to be taught the value of the soil. While
they take TLE subject, focusing on industrial arts and computer
education as their electives, I come to think of reviewing the
educational qualifications of teachers and found out that one of
them has a background in agriculture. So I designed the electives
in such a way that all the students will be exposed to the
world of agriculture, homemaking arts, industrial arts and computer
literacy. Our students need to be taught about modern
technology, but since they are living in an agricultural area, they
should also be provided with opportunities to enhance their skills
to develop their God-endowed rich environment. The value of
work has to be inculcated which they found as they see the
fruits of their labor. Seeing their plants grow after they labored
for it is a joy for them.

Designing learning experiences that will make the
students enjoy while learning will lessen students’ boredom in
school. Excitement has to be introduced and this can be through
the enriched curriculum. These activities need not be reduced
into competitions instead, it supplement the classroom instruction.
With the teachers’ creative juices, the enriched curriculum
can surely translate the school into the best avenue to develop
responsible and productive citizens in a country and the place
where God’s most precious creature is nurtured and developed
in heads, hearts and hands.