The Role of a Teacher
The Role of a Teacher.
Being born in the 1950’s my education was mainly the traditional style of lectures. The information was dispensed by a teacher stood in front of the blackboard with chalk in hand and big clouds of white dust filling the room when the board was cleaned.
I felt as though my schooling was split in two. A lot of practical work was involved in physics, chemistry, and home economics. I found these subjects easy and enjoyed them. There were subjects I struggled with and had to work hard to achieve good results i.e. English, maths, and geography. At the time I did not know or understand the reason but I am primarily a Kinesthetic learner. The exception to the rule was history. This was still taught in lecture mode but with great enthusiasm and the odd interjection of Mr. Geoffrey jumping on a desk with a rolled up newspaper demonstrating a sword fight. My history teacher made the subject come alive for me with his enthusiasm. He would know when I had a problem with a topic and suggest how to overcome it, He would suggest additional books in the library, places for students to visit, appropriate museums or historical sites. He cared. Over 40 years on and he is the one teacher who still inspires me. On the other end of the scale was my Religious Education teacher. I hated his lessons. Everything was monotone and dull, he was unapproachable. I wanted to ask questions on some of the things we were being taught and after being humiliated a couple of times just gave up. As a result I did not have any further interest in the subject. At no point did the teacher seem to have any concern about how I was doing in the lesson.
My past experiences have shown me how a teacher can have a major influence on a student, which leads on the question of what is the role of a teacher? There are things that can be standard: Organisation, punctuality, preparation, all essential for a good teacher but there are many other things a teacher needs to be. None of the
Being born in the 1950’s my education was mainly the traditional style of lectures. The information was dispensed by a teacher stood in front of the blackboard with chalk in hand and big clouds of white dust filling the room when the board was cleaned.
I felt as though my schooling was split in two. A lot of practical work was involved in physics, chemistry, and home economics. I found these subjects easy and enjoyed them. There were subjects I struggled with and had to work hard to achieve good results i.e. English, maths, and geography. At the time I did not know or understand the reason but I am primarily a Kinesthetic learner. The exception to the rule was history. This was still taught in lecture mode but with great enthusiasm and the odd interjection of Mr. Geoffrey jumping on a desk with a rolled up newspaper demonstrating a sword fight. My history teacher made the subject come alive for me with his enthusiasm. He would know when I had a problem with a topic and suggest how to overcome it, He would suggest additional books in the library, places for students to visit, appropriate museums or historical sites. He cared. Over 40 years on and he is the one teacher who still inspires me. On the other end of the scale was my Religious Education teacher. I hated his lessons. Everything was monotone and dull, he was unapproachable. I wanted to ask questions on some of the things we were being taught and after being humiliated a couple of times just gave up. As a result I did not have any further interest in the subject. At no point did the teacher seem to have any concern about how I was doing in the lesson.
My past experiences have shown me how a teacher can have a major influence on a student, which leads on the question of what is the role of a teacher? There are things that can be standard: Organisation, punctuality, preparation, all essential for a good teacher but there are many other things a teacher needs to be. None of the