Previously , teaching meant nothing more than mere "giving information and imparting knowledge" . It was time when teaching was regarded as a bipolar process,the teacher and the subject being its two poles . The child was altogether ignored.
No attention was given to his needs and desires. The child was a nonentity and the teacher and the subject matter was considered more important than him.
The child was measured by the adult yardstick. The subject matter was read out, or told by the teacher and the child simply memorised it. Readymade material was given to him which sapped his energies.

Modern education has brought the child into limelight. He stands at the focus of the educative process. Consequently , the concept of teaching has undergone a radical change.
In the light of this, we shall define and discuss the concept , nature and characteristics of teaching.

TEACHING DEFINED

A number of writers and experts have tried to define the concept of teaching. A few important definitions are noted and explained below:

View of Yoakam and Simpson: Yoakam and simpson have contributed a lot to the methodology of teaching. According to them:

"Teaching is the means whereby the experienced members of the group guide the immature and infant members in their adjustment of life"

Explanation : In the above definition, the key words are'guide, and 'adjustment'. Guidance is to be provided by the mature and experienced persons to the immature and inexperiened ones to help in the adjustment of the latter. This is the essence of teaching and education.

View of B.O.Smith: According to B.O. Smith, "Teaching is a system of actions intended to produce learning."

Explanation : The definition given by B.O smith is quite simple. It is the intention of the teacher to cause children learn. This invloves, "an agent, an end in view, and a situation including two sets of factors-those over which the agent has no control RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TEACHING AND LEARNING

(class size, size of classroom, physical characteristics of pupils etc.) and those that he can modify (ways of asking questions about instruction and ways of structuring information or ideas gleaned).

Clarke.s View: clarke gives a simple view of 'teaching' According to him, teaching refers to "activities that are designed and performed to produce change in behaviour."