Teachers are no more Grinding Preachers

In Shakespeare’s “As You Like It,” Jacques utters philosophically: “All the World is a stage, and all men and women are mere players. They have their exits and entrances”.

The question arises of whether we should include teachers among these players. The author Dr. Robert T. Tauber in his book “Acting Lessons for Teachers: Using Performance Skills in the Classroom” asserts that teachers are indeed players in their “version of a stage” where pupils are the audience. Tauber, perhaps, drops the hint that the onus is on the educators to optimize their effective communication with the students in the classroom between their entrances and exits.

Indeed, like actors, teachers in their domain are concerned with conveying a message and leaving a deep impact of the message on the impressionable minds of the children. In the book mentioned above, the co-authors Robert T. Tauber and Cathy Sargent Mester have given elaborate instructions about using acting techniques which can empower a teacher to grab the students’ attention so that the message to be conveyed gets through successfully.

Today, when the utility of classroom teaching-learning method is being sneered at as obsolete at seminars and workshops, the educators in this field must figure out smart ways to compete with the growing popularity of online teaching, and also, the various “media” vying for the students’ attention. No matter how knowledgeable the teacher is who comes prepared to deliver the lesson, he or she can’t afford to be mechanical or monotonous in the presentation of the topic under discussion.

A bland presentation, though packed with methodically arranged points of information on any topic could benefit only a few focused boys and girls present in the situation. So, the use of acting techniques can help in a great way to engage the maximum number of children in the classroom.

This does not mean that the teacher can get away with superficial knowledge on the topic under discussion, and try to use cheap dramatic antics to impress the students. One cannot befool the students for long with impressive gestures and unimpressive knowledge of the subject matter being taught in the class. It simply means that an educator must bring enthusiasm to his or her teaching style. Here enthusiasm implies physical and vocal animation, role-playing and the use of suspense and surprise in order to awaken the students’ attention and continue to hold them until the mission of the message to be conveyed has been accomplished with perfection.

This enthusiasm is naturally generated by the teacher’s passion for the subject that he/she teaches, and also, by a constant exploration of new facts about it. A successful teacher always finds fulfillment in sharing those new facts, and thus, stirring up the imagination of the students through his/her voice somewhat like actors and thus, creating a meaningful interaction in the classroom.

In fact, teachers and actors do share common goals. Firstly, the chief mission of both is to capture and hold attention. The teachers must remember that attention is a prerequisite to learning. Secondly, in both professions, there is an important mission to ensure that the listeners are able to perceive clearly and focus on the most salient features of their messages. Both use their voice and non-verbal expressions to direct the listener’s attention to the key points. Besides, both actors and teachers intend to present their material in such a unique manner that their messages are etched in the memory of the listeners for some time.

Teaching is a performance skill and can be made effective if it is entertaining. The quality of the instruction becomes naturally effective as the “teacher self” is developed by using proven performance skills in the classroom. The honing of one’s performance skill as a school teacher becomes indispensable at a time when the boys and girls are constantly put under the spell of all kinds of other performances— movies, concerts, live shows, iPods, the internet, and varied other influences.

Hence, planning a lesson not only means planning the content to be taught but also, the desirable means of delivering the content. Yet the best way to deliver them to the pupils is determined by their psychological needs which a teacher must figure out by observing their mood and disposition which may vary from one situation to another. As no two live stage performances of an actor can be similar because each of them is determined by the nature of the audience, so is the case with a teacher. His/her performance technique must vary according to the demands of the children.

Interestingly, the teacher can utilize a classroom as a stage by rearranging the space to maximize student visibility. There should be enough space provided so that it is flexible enough to use varied teaching and learning strategies: Physical movements and use of tools and artifacts that allow the user to place emphasis; demonstrate and recapture distracted attention.

Like actors on the stage, educators should also work on perfecting their non-verbal techniques. Also, like actors proficient in audience adaptation, the teachers must adapt themselves to the reality of their classroom environment. If the pedagogic principles, followed in schools, need to perpetuate its stories of success for the years to come, the age-old classroom teaching must come alive with freshness. There should be dynamic teaching that encourages learning. Teaching is an inspiration! It is supposed to illuminate the minds of the learners as the performance of a great actor does that of the audience

A good teacher must not only have an in-depth knowledge of his/her subject matter to be taught in the classroom but also acquire the skill to deliver it successfully to the students through effective teaching. Nothing can be more demotivating to young learners than a monotonous teaching style.

The message conveyed to the students through teaching should be accomplished with passionate enthusiasm to create interest in the subject matter. He /She must be able to arouse the curiosity of the class. A teacher must take up the challenge to hold the attention of the children in the face of varied media interests which tend to deviate their attention from classroom teaching. Indeed, exciting presentations through non-verbal communication skills, voice quality, and role-playing can pep up the classroom atmosphere.

These techniques can undergo changes according to the needs of different classes. A teacher must try to innovate a few interesting methods of performance in order to fulfill the unspoken needs of the listeners in various classrooms as an actor must discover new techniques of presentation to satisfy that of the audience at different places. A modern-day teacher must have dynamic body language because teaching is an inspired profession.