The underlying principle of ‘understanding-based teaching’ is the belief that :
2023
The underlying principle of ‘understanding-based teaching’ is the belief that :
- A.
learners’ abilities and needs are diverse which cannot be catered to without focusing on standard instructions.
- B.
learners are passive recipients and the teacher has the ‘right’ knowledge.
- C.
learners can construct knowledge when provided with a facilitative environment to do so.
- D.
learners know little and teaching involves transmission of facts to students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Understanding-based teaching rests on constructivist learning theory: the view that learners actively build knowledge for themselves through experience, reasoning, and interaction, rather than receiving it ready-made from a teacher. The teacher's role shifts from a source of facts to a facilitator of the conditions under which learners construct meaning.
Applying this to the given options: the statement that learners can construct knowledge when provided with a facilitative environment directly expresses the constructivist premise — that meaningful understanding is built by the learner when the teacher creates supportive conditions (materials, dialogue, guided inquiry) for that construction to happen.
Contrasting the other options by what each actually claims:
Standardising instruction for diverse learners describes uniform, one-size-fits-all teaching — the opposite of the differentiated, learner-driven construction understanding-based teaching assumes.
Treating learners as passive recipients who receive the teacher's 'right' knowledge describes a teacher-centred transmission model, which understanding-based teaching explicitly moves away from.
Treating teaching as transmitting facts to learners who 'know little' also describes a transmission model of instruction, where knowledge is deposited rather than constructed.
Confirmed by the official CTET August 2023 Paper II answer key: understanding-based teaching is grounded in the belief that learners construct their own knowledge when given a facilitative learning environment.