Teaching is the practice implemented by a ''
teacher
A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching.
''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...
'' aimed at transmitting
skills (
knowledge
Knowledge can be defined as awareness of facts or as practical skills, and may also refer to familiarity with objects or situations. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is often defined as true belief that is distinc ...
,
know-how
Know-how (or knowhow, or procedural knowledge) is a term for practical knowledge on how to accomplish something, as opposed to "know-what" (facts), "know-why" (science), or "know-who" (communication). It is also often referred to as street smart ...
, and
interpersonal skills
A social skill is any competence facilitating interaction and communication with others where social rules and relations are created, communicated, and changed in verbal and nonverbal ways. The process of learning these skills is called social ...
) to a
learner
Learning is the process of acquiring new understanding, knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, attitudes, and preferences. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals, and some machines; there is also evidence for some kind of learnin ...
, a
student
A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution.
In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementar ...
, or any other audience in the context of an
educational institution
An educational institution is a place where people of different ages gain an education, including preschools, childcare, primary-elementary schools, secondary-high schools, and universities. They provide a large variety of learning environments an ...
. Teaching is closely related to ''
learning
Learning is the process of acquiring new understanding, knowledge, behaviors, skills, value (personal and cultural), values, attitudes, and preferences. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals, and some machine learning, machines ...
'', the student's activity of appropriating this knowledge.
Teaching is part of the broader concept of ''
education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
''.
Profession
Training
Teaching in non-human animals
Teaching has been considered uniquely human because of mentalistic definitions. Indeed, in psychology, teaching is defined by the intention of the teacher, which is to transmit information and/or behavior and/or skill. This implies the need for the teacher to assess the knowledge state of the potential learner, thus to demonstrate
theory of mind
In psychology, theory of mind refers to the capacity to understand other people by ascribing mental states to them (that is, surmising what is happening in their mind). This includes the knowledge that others' mental states may be different fro ...
abilities. As theory of mind and intentions are difficult (if not impossible) to assess in non-humans, teaching was considered uniquely human.
However, if teaching is defined by its function, it is then possible to assess its presence among non-human species. Caro and Hauser
suggested a functionalist definition. For a behavior to be labeled as teaching, three criteria must be met :
* The behavior of the "teacher" must be observed only in the presence of a naive individual
* The behavior represents a cost for the teacher, or at least no direct benefit
* The possible consequence of the behavior is a learning gain for the learner
References
Further reading
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