THE Roles OF THE Teacher IN Society PDF

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The main object of this paper is to highlight some of the characteristics of these responsibilities the teacher must shoulder as he/she goes about his/her daily activities. ...

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THE ROLES OF THE TEACHER IN SOCIETY Introduction Teachers’ roles and responsibilities are incredibly diverse and multi-dimensional. The main object of this section is to highlight some of the characteristics of these responsibilities the teacher must shoulder as he/she goes about his/her daily activities. These roles include the following: information provider, role model, the facilitator, counselling roles, the assessor, the planner, the resource developer, public relations roles and administrative roles. Some teachers will have to perform one of these roles while some others will have to perform all of them at the same time.

The information provider A traditional responsibility of the teacher is to pass on to the students, information, knowledge and understanding in a topic appropriate at the stage of their studies. This leads to the traditional role of the teacher as one of service provider of information in the context appropriate at various stages of students’ educational activity. Teachers use various methods but the lecture method remains teachers’ most used of all the methods even at the lower schooling level. However this method can be a cost-effective method of providing new information not found in standard texts, of relating the information to the local curriculum and of providing the teachers’ personal overview or structure of the field of knowledge for the student. In the act of providing information, teachers are responsible for creating the environment where learning can take place. In this role, teachers determine learning objectives, diagnose learners, plan learning activities, implement programmes and evaluate learners’ progress.

Role model The importance of the teacher as a role model is well documented. Teachers serve as role model not only when they teach students but also when they perform their duties as teachers in the classroom. Whether in a lecture theatre, small group discussion or a large tutorial group, a good teacher has a unique opportunity to share some of the magic of his/her subject with the students. Pupils and students learn from their teachers in more ways than one. They learn from the way teachers dress, speak and behaviour. You must note that a teacher, who smokes, fights or even appear drunk before his/her students or pupils cannot serve as a good role model to the pupils and students. Teachers, who dress or talk rascally before their students or pupils; those who want to have intimate and amorous understanding with their students cannot serve as good role model to their students. Even within the larger society, teachers are expected to exhibit certain level of demeanor; they are not seen as good role model once their behaviour runs contrary to their expectation. Teacher as a planner and facilitator

The teacher is both the curriculum and course planner. Curriculum planning is an important role of the teacher. Curriculum planning presents a significant challenge for the teacher and both time and expertise are required if the job is to be undertaken. The best curriculum in the world would be ineffective if the courses which it comprises have little or no relationship to the curriculum that is in place. Once the principles which underpin the curriculum of the institution have been agreed, detailed planning is then required at the level of the individual course or phase of the curriculum. The move to a more studentcentred view of learning has required a fundamental shift in the role of the teacher. No longer is the teacher seen predominantly as a dispenser of information or walking tape recorder, but rather as a facilitator or manager of students’ learning. The introduction of problem-based learning with a consequent fundamental change in the student-teacher relationship has highlighted this change in the role of the teacher from one of information provider to that of facilitator.

Teachers’ counseling roles Teaching requires many personal contacts with young people in the classroom. Certain interpersonalrelationship skills are part of the repertoire of all successful teachers. Indeed some have seen the interpersonal relations or counselling function of teaching as all but inseparable from the instructional function. Some understanding of the emotional condition of youngsters is essential before the instructional programme can be designed in such a way that learning takes place. Good teacher counselling does not simply mean becoming a ‘friend’ of the learner. Many beginning teachers confuse the roles of friendship with that of counselling. A youngster asking for help about a problem is not asking for friendship or at least, he/she is not looking for a friend in the sense that a fellow learner is a friend. The objective of seeking is to find help. Help is sought under the assumption that the teacher is a leadership figure capable of providing guidance that might help resolve a problem.

Many times, teachers do have a responsibility for counselling. Good counselling seeks to help youngsters live and behave in more constructive and satisfying ways. Some youngsters in school never have learned how to achieve their own goals. Frequently they do not understand the consequences of their own actions. In working with youngsters, teachers seek to help them clarify their own goals. Then the youngsters are helped to focus on the kinds of behaviour that seem most logically to have potential in facilitating movement toward those goals. A basic skill possessed by teachers who perform the counselling function well is attending. Attending means listening very carefully and seeing the world through the eyes of the youngster with whom they are working. A teacher who attends can help youngsters identify critical features of problems and help them sort out potential solutions. In 2|Page

performing the counselling function, teachers must above all be personally secure people who themselves have positive self-concepts. This is because an emotionally crippled teacher is scarcely in a position to help learners with serious problems.

The resource developer The resource material creator is another professional role of the teacher. An increased need for learning resource materials is implicit in many of the developments in education. The new technologies have greatly expanded the formats of learning materials to which the students may have access and make it much easier for the students to take responsibility for their education. The role of the teacher as a resource creator offers exciting possibilities. At least some teachers possess the array of skills necessary to select, adapt or produce materials for use within the institution. The teacher is also a study guide producer. Study guides tell the pupils/students what they should learn within a particular period of time. The guide also tells the pupils what the expected learning outcomes of the subject or course, how they might acquire the competencies necessary, the learning opportunities available and whether they have learned it. In a sense, the learning guide enables the student to assess his/her own competencies.

Public relations roles of the teacher Teachers play important public relations functions. Particularly, the kinds of relationship they establish with parents can truly influence the way the entire community feels about the school. Many schools have such contact mechanism as the Parents Teachers Associations (PTA) through which most teachers perform their public relations roles. Teachers can have great influence on how members of the public view the quality of education in a particular education authority. This is particularly true of parents. When youngsters in a particular school have positive relationships with teachers, they tend to like the school and in fact they also tend to like schooling. Such organs as the PTA provide opportunities for parents to work closely with teachers and for both parents and teachers to develop healthy friendship.

It is also through such medium that they reach the parents especially when there is need to report on oneon-one issues regarding their children’s academic and other behavioural activities. Teachers make attempts to meet and chat with the parents of youngsters in their homes. Regrettably many parents never hear from a teacher unless their youngster is having some kind of problem. However a call or a note from a teacher to convey a message that a youngster has done well can be a tremendously effective builder of parental support for the school programmes. It is important for the teacher to know if he/her comments are insensitive or if there are grammatical errors, the teacher, though probably not intent, has 3|Page

sent a very negative message about the school to the parents. It is therefore essential that any materials that may go home with a youngster be prepared carefully and reflects a high standard of educational practice. However, you must be mindful not to fake-up situation to please someone.

Teacher as the administrator Teachers also perform administrative duties even though some of them also feel such administrative responsibilities take some valuable time off the instructional time. Some administrative duties teachers perform include supervision, delegations and other in- and out of school extra-curricular duties. But among the most important of all teachers’ administrative roles is maintaining accurate attendance records. The teachers’ daily attendance record in many places is vital link in the school documentation chain. Serious financial loss could occur if such record as attendance becomes faulty or inaccurate. In addition to attendance records, teachers also keep records of the pupils’ academic progress.

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