Traditional Point of View on The Teaching Job
According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, a teacher is defined as one who teaches or ones whose occupation is to instruct. A good definition however in today's society I believe that the teacher's role has more meaning and is not that simple. And as the years go by it has continued to grow. Before starting my career as a teacher I highly agreed with the first definition but after spending a little over six months inside of the classroom I realize how much more a teacher role can be. The role of a teacher not only fosters the growth in students academically but also provides mentoring, role modeling and several other components.
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This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Rorie-Ann H. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.
Mentor
As it regards to the role of being a mentor According to an article written by the Ministry of Education in Guyana a teacher should be able to give support for things students may not fully understand or need assistance with in addition, mentoring is a way a teacher can encourage their students to strive to their best, by doing so this will build on their confidence and help them to be more comfortable with new task. A teacher's role can extend beyond the classroom setting and sometimes becomes a parent or guardian for students. For example, when students are on a field trip the teacher must look after the students and ensure they are safe while the students are either learning or having a good time.
Also Read: What is an ESL teacher?
Role Model
Being a role model is another important role of a teacher. The teacher is the first person to come into contact with the students, they are the ones who the students see daily and so they are the ones who the student will more likely choose to imitate whether their actions are negative or positive.
Atmosphere Creator
Another role of the teacher is to create a positive class rapport and a more sociable experience inside and outside the classroom. Hence teachers need to know what role is expected of them in terms of fostering a good rapport not only between students to the teacher but also between student to student. There are many other roles a teacher can have such as the developer of content, which means the teacher research and prepare content for a lesson based on the student's academic level, the assessor who test and evaluate the students learning ability and give feedback to students about their strength and needs for improvement. In short, teachers are the managers in and outside of their classrooms thus they should at all times be required to provide the quality directions and guidance that their students need.
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In Conclusion The role of a teacher is very important as it has a big impact on students attitude and behavior because whatever the teacher portrays positive or negative it reflects on the student, and this can be very good or damaging to their character, so it is important for individuals entering the career of being an educator not to take the role of a teacher very lightly at all.
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