The Most Important Role that the Teacher Plays - Case Study Example

Teachers’ role in early literacy Introduction A teacher’s job is not only to give knowledge to the child about the details ofthe things through different material but it is also to educate a child. It is to bring about a life long lessoned change in the child. It is to tell the child how behave socially, how to walk, how to talk and how to keep his mood on various occasions. Therefore it is said that if a teacher teaches, he is actually telling the child how to live their life in the best way and also giving knowledge of everything surrounding them (Patrick et al, 2000). A child’s mind is on its learning stage at around 3 years to 5 years. This is the time when the child learns most things and grasps everything what they see or hear. This is why it is suggested that the child’s environment should be happy, friendly and positive in each and every way. The teacher i8s said to have a bigger influence on a child instead of the child’s family. This is because the teacher is someone the child thinks knows everything and she presents herself in the best way possible. It s also witnessed sometimes that the child does not listen to their parents instead the parents ask the teacher to tell their child to listen to them or do what they desire (Christie, 1991). Perhaps the most important roll that the teacher plays is in the behavior of the child. The teacher at every point should tell the child how to behave and what to behave like in different occasions in front of different people. Behavior is one of those things which help throughout the life. People always look at the person’s behavior. Changing behavior of the child As a person we always expect the child to be friendly, innocent, loving and caring. But obviously the person gets a little disturbed and wants to be away from the child if he finds out that the child is being ill mannered or is misbehaving. This also comes down to parents being blamed and it somehow is right. The teacher’s job is to change the child’s behavior from negative to positive. Some of the houses are violent and hence the produce a violent child. The teacher can easily change this violent child into a sweet and friendly one hence; this shows how important the teacher’s nature is (Reynolds, 1997). The child is not so sensible to control his own behavior and that’s why he behaves as he sees his elders behaving in the situations. For example a child who notices he not being attended will try to do things that will seek others attention. And hence that maybe by shouting because he may have noticed that if dad can’t hear the television he increases the volume so maybe he can’t hear me and if I increase my volume I will be heard. Here the teacher steps in and tells the child to control his volume and tells him how shouting is a bad thing for everybody and how it is not the solution to everything. This is how the teacher changes the behavior of a child. In this way the teacher can change the child’s behavior in every aspect. And as the child’s role model is teacher most of the time, he may experience a vast and better change in his behavior (Barone et al, 2004). Teacher’s behavior affecting the child A teacher who constantly scolds her class or who uses foul language does not realize what she is teaching the child indirectly, even though she is not addressing to the child, the child is listening to his teacher. And hence, he thinks that what the teacher is saying is correct because that’s what he as been taught. Also the teacher should realize that if her mood is upset for a day and she directly or indirectly vents her feelings on the children, she will be held responsible of the child’s mood that day because the child will eventually ruin his friendly side that day because he saw his teacher ruin her mood (Staples and Cochran, 2006). This is why Maria Montessori has said that the best preparation a teacher a teacher can do is make sure that throughout interacting with children, she should keep her imagination alive. Because the teacher’s imagination is what the child will be influenced by. And also the teacher’s imagination should be very positive; scaring children from fictional characters will make their behavior worst and paranoid (Goouch and Lambirth, 2010). It is also seen that most of the times parents tell teachers how the students mimic their teachers at home because they find the job interesting, but a teacher with a bad behavior will put in mind of the child that the teacher is always cranky or always like this or maybe he will think that this is the right way to behave. Hence, a teacher’s behavior is important to develop a child’s personality; if the teacher is not well behaved it hinders the child’s emotional and psychological growth. Reaction of a teacher on the Child’s behavior It is natural for any human being to be cranky or aggressive at any point in life, whether they are little children or adults. The difference is that adults at one point can control it and little children can not. They vent their feelings so their elders know that they are not in a good mood and they take notices to listen to them. It is believed that if a child is aggressive or is behaving negatively in any way then he has some serious issues and he is not just cranky. The first thing any good teacher would do is sit down relax and never scold the child on this matter. She would have to talk to the child in a very polite way and tell her how bad it is to be misbehaving. She should give him different activities to let him cool his temper down and be as good as ever. She should also tell him different stories of how misbehaving can cause something bad to happen and bad things should never happen because they are not good. Also, as the teacher is directly linked to parents, she should tell the parents to make sure that his sleep hours are complete and enough and his television hours are limited and restricted. She should also tell the parents to make sure what there child is watching on television as it should be something very calm and polite and not violent shows or cartoons (Goouch and Lambirth, 2010). Parents should also know that their child is never ever supposed to have soft drinks or any fizzy drinks and also that the amount of sugar they take in should be in a controlled level because usually the act of aggression and hyper behavior can be because of too much energy in them which they don’t know how to vent out. Also they should know that their child should have enough outdoor exercises or games and different activities throughout the day which will help make the child busy enough to change his mood. But this has to be kept in mind that the activities are of the child’s concern and they build his interest as time passes (Christie, 1991). Besides talking to parents and the children themselves, the teacher can also act out what she hears or observes about the child. This will make the child guilty and he will probably think how maybe everybody knows and how bad it looks. The feeling of guilt can always be the best method of using reverse psychology. Therefore, a behavior difference in the child can be noticed and hence, the teacher is successful in making the child a better person (McGee and Richgels, 2003). Conclusion Hence, the teacher is responsible for a child’s literacy, education knowledge and almost everything in a major way than parents. This is why the teacher has to be very well presentable in every case because almost all children are influenced by their teachers the most. Teachers should also realize that teaching is one of the most important and noble professions of the world. They actually pass on their knowledge to the upcoming generation and they prepare their students for further life, social, personal or religious. Also they indirectly or directly prepare the child for professional lives. The schools should also make sure that when appointing teachers, they should make a check of the teacher’s background as it gives an idea of how the teacher is also it should be checked that the teacher is at least trained for the class she or he is taking, especially if it is for Pre School. Even though most of the teachers that join schools today are not trained only they have a little bit of knowledge, it should at least be made sure that the teacher or person knows how to convey their message. Today’s generation is most likely not interested in teaching because they think it is very easy taking pre school sessions but they should figure out that it is one of the most difficult tasks ever and it is a huge responsibility and one should not do it if they are not ready. References Barone, D., Mallette, M. and Hong Xu, S. (2004). Teaching Early Literacy: Development, Assessment, and Instruction. Texas: Guilford Press. Christie, J. F. (1991). Play and Early Literacy Development. NJ: SUNY Press. Goouch, K. and Lambirth, A. (2010). Teaching Early Reading and Phonics: Creative Approaches to Early Literacy. London: SAGE. McGee, L.M. and Richgels, D. (2003). Designing Early Literacy Programs: Strategies for At-Risk Preschool and Kindergarten Children. Texas: Guilford Press. Patrick, B.C., Hisley, J. and Kempler, T. (2000) "Whats Everybody so Excited about?” The Effects of Teacher Enthusiasm on Student Intrinsic Motivation and Vitality", The Journal of Experimental Education, Vol. 68, No. 3, pp. 217-236 Reynolds, B. (1997). Literacy in the Pre-School: The Roles of Teachers and Parents. US: Trentham Books. Staples, R. and Cochran, M. (2006). Early Childhood Education. London: Greenwood Publishing Group. Read More