Another way of conceptualizing teaching is to view it as an art or craft, and as something
which depends on the teacher’s individual skill and personality. Zahorik (1986, p. 22)
characterizes this approach to teaching in these terms: “The essence of this view of good
teaching is invention and personalization. A good teacher is a person who assesses the
needs and possibilities of a situation and creates and uses practices that have promise for
that situation.”
Art-craft approaches to teaching seek to develop teaching as a unique set of personal
skills which teachers apply in different ways according to the demands of specific situations.
There are no general methods of teaching; rather, teachers should develop an
approach to teaching which allows them to be themselves and do what they feel is best.
Teacher decision-making is an essential competency in this approach, because a good
teacher is seen as one who analyses a situation, realizes that a range of options is available
based on the particular class circumstances, and then selects an alternative which
is likely to be most effective for the circumstances. This does not deny the value of
knowing about different methods of teaching and how to use them, but it suggests that
commitment to a single method of teaching may impede the teacher’s full potential as a
teacher.