Maxims Of Teaching- All You Need to Know

Every profession needs proven facts and universal facts to understand and work. As every profession has its facts based on the experiences of people practicing that particular profession, so is the teaching profession. Maxims of teaching are the universally found facts by teachers on the basis of their experience. It is important for every profession to have some rules, ethics, code, and other boundaries to practice that profession with utter fairness and trust. 

Let us understand what is the meaning of maxims of teaching, maxims stand for a short statement that expresses a general truth, principle, or rule for behavior. With the understanding of maxims, we can now make teaching more effective and systematic. 

Here Are Some Maxims Of Teaching

These are universal facts that teachers have found over the years from their experience and are universally accepted. 

From Known To Unknown

A step from known to unknown explains that it is possible for students to have some prior known and unknown concepts that are to be learned. This maxim of teaching helps to make teaching more effective. To understand this let’s take an example, cooking and eating are known concepts for students, and photosynthesis is an unknown concept.

Students can relate cooking food themselves for eating with the process of photosynthesis as plants cook their own food. The known concepts can be used by teachers to explain the unknown concepts. This helps in improving the effectiveness of teaching.

From Simple To Complex

It is always easier to understand simple concepts for students such as theory but understanding analytics is a complex concept. Teachers must teach simple concepts first to make a strong base for the complex concepts and slowly increase the level of complexity for students. 

From Concrete To Abstract

Every fact of the maxims of teaching starts with a simple concept and lands up to a complex one. The fact for teachers from concrete to abstract can be explained with a simple mathematical solution. The numbers and digits can be used to make the students understand the concrete concepts that are tangible and with the help of formulas like BODMAS and infinity, abstract concepts can be explained that are to be intangible. This helps in creating a better understanding among the students.

From Particular To General

Examples are the best ways to understand any concept. This maxim of teaching helps teachers in creating a better understanding of the students. The teachers should give particular examples of an incident or scenario and then the students should be asked to generalize them. For example, you are teaching tenses to your students. Take a particular example to explain the use of tenses and then ask them to imply them in general situations and similar scenarios. 

From Whole To Part

It is easier for students to understand the entire concept at once and then focus on its multiple parts. This is a great way to make students learn the concepts and create an understanding of them. For example, in order to teach a poem, this maxim of teaching is the best way and it’s a fact for teachers.

First, read the entire poem in front of the class and make them understand the generalized concept of the poem and then start with the parts like understanding the meaning of each line, use of words, rhyme scheme, and other parts of the poem. 

From Psychological to Logical

It is always important to keep in mind the ability and level of understanding of your students. Initially, it should be kept in mind to prepare them in the best way. Starting with psychology helps them to create a logical understanding of the concepts. This is a student-centric maxims of teaching. 

From Induction To Deduction

Induction refers to arriving at a conclusion after analyzing all the statements and examples, whereas deduction is entirely the opposite. Teachers should move from induction to deduction. For example, while teaching active and passive voice, teachers should first give some explanations of turning sentences from active to passive and then use them in continuous conversation. 

From Empirical To Rational

This maxim of teaching is a journey from smaller maturity levels to a higher maturity level. Empirical is based on first-hand observations and rational is based on more argumentative and logical reasoning. Teachers should start with empirical knowledge and then get to rational concepts. This helps teachers in making students understand the logic behind general concepts. 

From Analysis To Synthesis

Analysis means breaking down a complex concept into simpler parts and analyzing them whereas synthesis is bringing all separated parts together or we can say it is used for fixation. The best way to explain this maxim of teaching is that a sentence can be analyzed by breaking it down into many parts such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, conjunction, etc., and by using synthesis it can be formed into a sentence. 

From Actual To Representative

The use of actual objects in education is really important, especially for students of lower classes to form concrete learning. Whereas for representative learning, pictures and visuals can be used to explain to senior students who already have an understanding of the real ones. This is a great way to teach students. 

From Definite to Indefinite

Starting from definite concepts makes it easier for students to understand and then move on to indefinite knowledge. Such as starting from rules of grammar, tenses, etc, and then the vast concepts. 

Final Thoughts

Everything has its own set of rules to work and some universal facts that form the foundation of the profession and grow forward. These are the maxims of teaching that are universally applicable. Use these in your teaching method and make your teaching more effective. 

Maxims Of Teaching- All You Need to Know FAQs