Which of the following set of statements represents acceptable propositions in…
2017
Which of the following set of statements represents acceptable propositions in respect of teaching-learning relationships ? Choose the correct code to indicate your answer.
(i) When students fail in a test, it is the teacher who fails.
(ii) Every teaching must aim at ensuring learning.
(iii) There can be teaching without learning taking place.
(iv) There can be no learning without teaching.
(v) A teacher teaches but learns also.
(vi) Real learning implies rote learning.
Codes :
Answer: B. (i), (ii), (iii) and (v) — Concept: Teaching and learning are related but logically independent processes. Teaching is an intentional, purposive activity undertaken in order to bring…
- A.
(ii), (iii), (iv) and (v)
- B.
(i), (ii), (iii) and (v)
- C.
(iii), (iv), (v) and (vi)
- D.
(i), (ii), (v) and (vi)
Attempted by 11 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Concept: Teaching and learning are related but logically independent processes. Teaching is an intentional, purposive activity undertaken in order to bring about learning; learning is a relatively lasting change in understanding, skill or behaviour, and it can arise from many sources — direct experience, self-study, peers, media or the environment.
Because of this, teaching is neither a sufficient condition for learning (the attempt may simply not succeed) nor a necessary one (a great deal of learning happens with no teacher present). "Teaching" names a task that is undertaken, while "learning" names an achievement that may or may not follow. At the same time, modern pedagogy judges teaching by the learning it produces, and treats the classroom as reciprocal: the teacher is also a learner.
Application: each of the six propositions is tested against that principle.
(i) When students fail in a test, it is the teacher who fails — acceptable. Outcome-based accountability makes learning the measure of teaching, so a class-wide failure points to the instructional design and not only to the learners.
(ii) Every teaching must aim at ensuring learning — acceptable. Intentionality is definitional: an activity that does not aim at learning is not teaching at all.
(iii) There can be teaching without learning taking place — acceptable. Teaching is only the attempt; the aim can go unrealised, which is exactly why teaching is not sufficient for learning.
(iv) There can be no learning without teaching — not acceptable. Incidental, experiential and self-directed learning occur without any teacher, so teaching is not necessary for learning.
(v) A teacher teaches but learns also — acceptable. Teaching is reciprocal: the teacher learns from students’ questions, from reflection on the lesson and from classroom feedback.
(vi) Real learning implies rote learning — not acceptable. Rote memorisation reproduces material without meaning; real (meaningful) learning implies understanding, connection to prior knowledge and transfer to new situations.
Cross-check: the two rejected propositions, (iv) and (vi), are precisely the two absolute claims — one makes teaching necessary for learning, the other equates real learning with verbatim recall. Removing them leaves (i), (ii), (iii) and (v), and the codes offered can be separated on exactly that basis: a code is consistent with the principle only if it contains neither (iv) nor (vi) and still keeps all four remaining propositions.
Result: the acceptable set of propositions is (i), (ii), (iii) and (v).