CHANGING ROLE OF TEACHERS
By- Priti Bhatnagar
To be an effective teacher, I think it is imperative to understand that a teacher is not a factory worker working in an assembly line for manufacturing first-grade products and label them. A teacher deals with the living entities full of emotions, possessing uniqueness in their learning, working, and expressions. Due to digitization and computer technology world is shrinking in terms of time, space, and information dissemination. Information is available with a click, and knowledge is served as a delicious cuisine to be grabbed and consumed according to the taste, appetite, time, place, pace; it is pretty evident that the archaic role to only transmit knowledge has just become rudimentary.
A teacher can be effective only by bringing positive change in the lives of their students, which needs a passion and vision and specific values and skills that need regular polishing or sharpening of a saw. Change is the only prevailing constant, and a teacher should be very mindful of the changes to make more resilient, egalitarian, creative, skillful, and accommodating citizens of this dynamic world.
Values are the principles or standards of behavior; one’s judgment of what is essential in life is critical to any profession or a good human being. An effective teacher should be patient, polite, kind, dedicated, and much more. Five essential core values, which will make a successful person when put into practice with skill. These are Truth (Satya), Dharma, Love (Prem), Nonviolence (Ahimsa), Peace (Shanti). These values underpin all other values and are reflected in the attitude and work of a teacher.
Today’s curriculums are nearing obsolesce. The future of education is going to be highly digital, personalized, merit centric and teachers will be utilized on an as-needed basis; therefore, despite having sound knowledge of a subject to be taught, a teacher must possess the following skills:
- Being a good classroom organizer: – A classroom is where teachers help children grow in knowledge and personality. The classroom should be ordered to maintain a positive, productive learning environment and keep children meaningfully engaged. Primary classroom management techniques involve practical seating, teacher-student relationships, rules and procedures, student independence.
- Grabbing attention is essential to bring wow factor in classrooms to break the monotony and to make students alert and attentive for the learning process.
- Student independence- Students need to take responsibility for their behavior and learning.
- Teacher-student relationship is essential for learning. Teachers should strike a balanced relationship with students, a proper balance of dominance and cooperation with awareness of student’s needs.
- A good teacher is prepared: – Teaching is a demanding profession-keeping positive outlook motivating, counseling, organizing, instructing, and leading takes a lot of skill. Teachers always struggle with designing instruction that caters the needs of all and can engage all learners, it should be innovative and, flexible and according to the needs of children.
- Instills confidence: – If a teacher makes learning goal-oriented, instills a growth mindset, and harnesses the power of educational technology, it can create confident personalities. The role of a teacher changes with age; a good teacher can incorporate 21-century skills -critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and problem-solving to make children confident.
- Sets high expectations and delivers actionable feedback. An effective teacher does not praise low-quality work, checks for comprehension, reacts to performance changes, and gives actionable, frequent, detailed, and specific feedback. To exemplify, while providing feedback for any work, just deeming it good or bad is not enough. It is also essential to tell why and what better can be done further; effective teachers try to raise the bars of their children every time.
- Good communicator: Effectiveness and coherence in communication with appropriate body language and dress code are quintessential.
To summarize, to be an effective teacher, it is quintessential to form and sustain a spiritual and emotional connection with students while being dynamic in the acquisition of skills and knowledge to cater to the changing demands of our changing learners. A teacher should be an effective instructor, friendly, helpful, and congenial, who can empathize with students, understand their world, and listen to them. As there are changes in learners, learning processes, and learning tools, it is essential to change the role of the teacher from sage on the stage to guide by the side.
Here I would like to quote the words of Sri Aurobindo
“The teacher is not an instructor or taskmaster; he is a helper and a guide. His business is to suggest and not impose. He does not actually train the pupil’s mind. He only shows him how to perfect his instruments of knowledge and helps and encourages him in the process.”
