“And what of teaching
Ah! There you have the worst paid and the best rewarded of all the vocations
Dare not enter it unless you love it.
For the vast majority of men and women
It has no promise of wealth and fame
But they to whom it is dear for its own sake are among the nobility of the mankind!
Here is a message for all of us to emulate!”
Ah! There you have the worst paid and the best rewarded of all the vocations
Dare not enter it unless you love it.
For the vast majority of men and women
It has no promise of wealth and fame
But they to whom it is dear for its own sake are among the nobility of the mankind!
Here is a message for all of us to emulate!”
Teacher is the pivot in any educational system. But this pivot is more or less neglected in research studies. If we thoroughly go through the researches or studies conducted under the faculty of education, we can see that these studies are clustered around the methods and strategies used in the Secondary and higher secondary level. Studies in Elementary education follow these two. A little work is done with regard to Teacher Education or rather about the aspect Teacher.
We know that Teacher Education is an integral part of the Educational process. It is the teachers who are the makers of tomorrow. The Quality of the citizens of tomorrow depends upon the quality of teachers of today. Nowadays the Quantity of teachers has increased but the Quality has not improved. In fact the quality of seems to be deteriorating. The teacher of today is not able to cope with the requirements of the modern fast paced technological materialistic world, where the brain rules over the heart.
We know that Teacher Education is an integral part of the Educational process. It is the teachers who are the makers of tomorrow. The Quality of the citizens of tomorrow depends upon the quality of teachers of today. Nowadays the Quantity of teachers has increased but the Quality has not improved. In fact the quality of seems to be deteriorating. The teacher of today is not able to cope with the requirements of the modern fast paced technological materialistic world, where the brain rules over the heart.
The Roles a Teacher is expected to play
From ancient times we know that a Teacher is expected to play the roles of a parent substitute, leader, friend, philosopher, guide, gardener, stage setter etc. With the advent of new methods a teacher is also expected to play the following roles,
Teacher as a Social Servant
Teaching is a profession, which is less attractive in terms of economic inputs but it has a large social value based on unconditional social commitment. Here the role of a teacher is that of a committed social servant.
Teacher as a Human Resource manager
Management aims at deriving maximum benefits from the given inputs. The scarce means and resources have to be carefully deployed and utilized for improving teaching practices. Human resource is the most valuable resource available in any country and it is for the teacher to manage and utilize human resources so that maximum output can be obtained.
The personnel who have to manage the system i.e. the teacher need also be properly educated on the market forces that encroach on the human resources in education namely cost effectiveness, productivity, efficiency, effectiveness etc.
Teachers as entrepreneurs: ‘Edupreneurs’
Another role that a teacher is expected to play is that of resource mobilisers. This role demands a lot of enterprise from the teachers. The only resources available to the teachers may be meagre contingency amounts for meeting the costs of chalk and dusters. Maintenance of infrastructure is often erratic; in any case there are often fewer classrooms than the student strength calls for. Mobilisation of resources from the community may sometimes act as a spur for social participation in school activities, or participation in school activities may lead to resource mobilisation. Involvement of the community in resource mobilisation also influences the quality of the utilisation of resources. Since the teacher mobilizes the resources including financial resources needed for the functioning of the school he can be called an entrepreneur or rather ‘Edupreneurs’
Teachers as Researchers
In recent educational practice, there has been a strong move towards empowering practitioners to undertake research. This move has received its impetus from various forms of action and participatory research, which encourage an active action-reflection role for teachers. Ultimately it is the teachers who have the cutting edge of educational practice, and such research, apart from addressing problems that are relevant and of concern to teachers, also adds a ‘researcher dimension’ to the conception of a good teacher.
Teachers as Change agents
The teachers who have evolved novel practices which have worked for them have, in a sense, countered the constraints posed by their specific socio-economic and classroom situations
Teacher as a Reflective Practitioner
Teaching is an art, which puts into practice what the scientific pedagogic theories have to say. Thus the teacher is a practitioner. Now the emphasis is also given on reflection or reflective practice, which analyses the path traversed by the teacher in achieving his objectives. Schon encourages professionals to think, ponder and reflect about past, present and future actions as a means of designing productive, problem solving strategies. The principles of Meta cognition and Meta analysis are followed in this context.
Teacher as a Technologist
A multitude of technological advancements have taken place in the past few decades. It is for the teacher to bring these developments to classroom practice. In India EDUSAT, the satellite exclusively meant for educational practices has started functioning. Online tutoring and web- based learning have been accepted as creative methods for extracting optimal output in students. So it is inevitable for a teacher to accept the role of a technologist or technological analyzer.
Teacher as a Mentor
Mentoring refers to the one to one supervision cum guidance given to an amateur practitioner by a mature experienced person of the same field. Mentor can be considered as a living working model for the ‘mentored’. Due to the rapid expansion in the field of technology, the world has become faster and narrower: the mind has become still narrower with no space to give vent to negative emotions and thoughts. In such a scenario, the teacher suits the role of a mentor, acts as a counselor, works as an effective instructor and gives valuable suggestions for the students to move forward.
Now let us deal with certain concepts related to Teacher where stress on educational researches will enhance the educational process
Teacher Accountability
Accountability for quality refers to the adhering to standards set by the practitioner himself or by any external agency.
The new approaches to accountability emphasize early intervention, peer review, and recognition of exemplary teachers who serve as mentors or lead teachers
Characteristics of Promising Teacher Accountability Programs
Promising teacher preparation and certification efforts to eliminate incompetent teaching and to assure proper assignment and support of teachers.
Teachers initiate and play major roles in the design and implementation of peer review systems.
Intervention (Supervision) occurs early and quickly to deal with burned out or incompetent teachers and provides mentoring and resources for improvement to occur.
Accountability policies emphasize that responsibility for a quality teaching force must be shared and must include recognition for accomplishments
Teacher Empowerment
Teacher Empowerment refers to the enrichment of the personality of the teacher with methods strategies and techniques both at the pedagogic level and at the psychological level. Teacher enrichment is another synonym for teacher empowerment.
Empowerment of teachers not only facilitates improvement of school education by preparing competent, committed and professionally well qualified teachers who can meet the demand of the system, but also functions as a bridge between schooling and higher education. Empowerment aims to meet twin demands: (a) challenges of the education system including higher education, and (b) the ever-changing demands of the social system. The role of teacher education as a process of nation building is universally recognised. Its objective is man-making and producing enlightened citizens. But teacher education in India, because of its history and also due to various factors beyond its control, has by and large been confined to school education only.
Empowered teachers are expected to assume leadership and share the leadership with others, establish and maintain trusting relationships, maintain honest and open communications with others and maintain high expectations for themselves and others.
Teacher Efficacy as a concept can also be viewed under this point of view.
Teacher Professionalism
A profession is defined as the sincerity and integrity combined with commitment and obligation towards the job pursued. An effective teacher professional should proceed from protection to emancipation; from separation to integration; from exclusion to incorporation; from restriction to expansion and from emotionality to knowledge in order to improve the quality of education.
According to Gall & Vojtek (1994) there are six methods in Professional Teacher Development for Quality assurance. They are
1. Expert presentation 2. Skill training 3. Action Research
4 . Organisation development 5. Change process 6.Clinical Supervision
Haavio, a Finnish educator identified three key characteristics of the good teacher.
Pedagogical discretion- the ability to use the most appropriate teaching for each individual -
Pedagogical love – the caring instinct, i.e. the desire to help, protect and support
Vocational awareness- it seizes the teacher’s personality in such a way that he is ready to do his utmost for it and finds in it internal gratification and the purpose of his life
The aforesaid concepts and roles are all important yet neglected aspects in research studies. It is high time that such concepts be tested in suitable surroundings so that yielding results are achieved.
References
1. Schon, D. (1995). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Aldershot, England: Arena.
2. Dewey, J. (1933). How we think. Boston. Heath
3. Mahony, Pat & Hextall, Ian (2000). Reconstructing Teaching. London: Routledge
4. Srivastava, Anand P (1985). Acquiring Excellence at college. New Delhi: Hindustan
5. Day, Christopher (2004). A passion for Teaching. London Routledge
6. http://www.ncte.in.org/curriculumframework/curriculum.htm
7. http://www.teachersnetwork.org/TNPI/research/change/clink.htm
Pedagogical discretion- the ability to use the most appropriate teaching for each individual -
Pedagogical love – the caring instinct, i.e. the desire to help, protect and support
Vocational awareness- it seizes the teacher’s personality in such a way that he is ready to do his utmost for it and finds in it internal gratification and the purpose of his life
The aforesaid concepts and roles are all important yet neglected aspects in research studies. It is high time that such concepts be tested in suitable surroundings so that yielding results are achieved.
References
1. Schon, D. (1995). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Aldershot, England: Arena.
2. Dewey, J. (1933). How we think. Boston. Heath
3. Mahony, Pat & Hextall, Ian (2000). Reconstructing Teaching. London: Routledge
4. Srivastava, Anand P (1985). Acquiring Excellence at college. New Delhi: Hindustan
5. Day, Christopher (2004). A passion for Teaching. London Routledge
6. http://www.ncte.in.org/curriculumframework/curriculum.htm
7. http://www.teachersnetwork.org/TNPI/research/change/clink.htm
good.
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