Teaching is the practice implemented by ateacher aimed at transmittingskills (knowledge,know-how, andinterpersonal skills) to alearner, astudent, or any other audience in the context of aneducational institution. Teaching is closely related tolearning, the student's activity of appropriating this knowledge.[1]
Teaching is part of the broader concept ofeducation.[2][3]
Ateacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helpsstudents to acquireknowledge, competence, orvirtue, via the practice of teaching.
Informally the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. when showing a colleague how to perform a specific task). In some countries, teaching young people of school age may be carried out in an informal setting, such as within the family (homeschooling), rather than in a formal setting such as a school or college. Some other professions may involve a significant amount of teaching (e.g. youth worker, pastor).
In most countries,formal teaching of students is usually carried out by paid professional teachers. This article focuses on those who areemployed, as their main role, to teach others in aformaleducation context, such as at a school or other place ofinitial formal education or training.
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 demonstratetheory of mind abilities. As theory of mind and intentions are difficult (if not impossible) to assess in non-humans, teaching was considered uniquely human.[5]However, if teaching is defined by its function, it is then possible to assess its presence among non-human species. Caro and Hauser[6] suggested a functionalist definition. For a behavior to be labeled as teaching, three criteria must be met :
