The Role of the Teacher and Purpose of Schools - Literature review Example

Critical Perspective Name: Institution: A. The Role of the Teacher/ The Role and Purpose of Schools There has been contradictory research on the importance of teachers in the classroom. Some scholars posit that teachers do not play an important role because schooling has become a factory or mechanical factory that produces students in the same manner as batch-processed products (Hansen, 2009). Others posit that teachers are not necessary because schooling reproduces socio-cultural patterns. However, increasing evidence points towards the necessity of teachers in education and the relevance of teacher education in achieving the purpose of schooling. Teachers play an important role in schools. They facilitate education by creating a learning environment where students can ask questions, develop projects, present arguments about a subject matter, and harness their individual talents (Hansen, 2009). Teachers are required to consider how culture, social aspects and psychology influence student learning as well as the logical elements of the subject matter. In addition, teachers are required to consider different dimensions of interaction within the classroom and political aspects in the relations among parents, teachers and administrators. Teacher education is important because it equips the teachers with the understanding of their roles and appreciation for the subject matter (Hansen, 2009). The purpose of teacher education is to help teachers to articulate their perspectives on global prospects and challenges, and to use the perspectives to help the young to look for meaning in life experiences. This purpose is influenced by the values of teacher education. Current values of teacher education are to prepare young students for their professional and personal life, to promote academic learning, to influence social justice and to facilitate human development (Hansen, 2009). Teacher education upholds these values by meeting the needs of teachers and training them perform their roles effectively. Thus, the purpose of teacher education is to equip teachers with the skills and knowledge to interpret subject matter and articulate their perspective on global world changes to prepare young students for their future (Hansen, 2009). Teaching education is not limited to acquiring a college degree. This is because a college degree is not sufficient to make an individual a successful educator. Teacher education is concerned with equipping teachers to explain subject matter and to achieve other purposes such as social justice and human development. This explains why teacher education programs are designed to meet the purposes of the education without excluding any purpose. Teacher education is necessary because it helps teachers understand their role in schooling. This understanding guides the teacher in developing learning programs that meet different purposes such as social justice, academic learning or human development (Hansen, 2009). For instance, teacher education helps teachers to respond to values such as academic learning as they prepare students for their future. Teacher education is necessary because it is a practice with significant consequences on the society. The point of teacher education is to fuse the different purposes of schooling into the teaching education program. Teacher education empowers teachers to incorporate the different purposes whilst considering cultural and political factors. Teacher educators could train teachers to incorporate life experiences (such as suffering or happiness) with academic knowledge to provide the best value for young students (Hansen, 2009). Teacher education works by promoting dialogue among education stakeholders on the cultivation of open minds towards multiple purposes of education. It promotes dialogue on the values and purpose of teaching education, creates a sense of togetherness, promotes individuality of teachers and creates a feeling of hope that the values of teaching are important (Hansen, 2009). The current teacher education system is effective because it allows teacher educators to create a sense of purpose among teachers. The system is the best because it recognizes the multiple purposes of schooling rather than emphasizing one purpose (Hansen, 2009). Moreover, the system promotes dialogue among stakeholders by creating research opportunities in teacher education, edifying stakeholders during interaction, expanding the vision for teacher educators and creating a sense of purpose and value among teachers. In conclusion, teachers play an important role education. They understand and implement curricula that achieve the purpose of education within an educational system. Teachers have an important grasp of influencers of student learning and can help educators and policy makers to develop a curriculum that addresses these influencers, promotes interaction in the classroom and reduces political conflict among stakeholders. B. The Context and Cultures of Schooling Technology is increasingly being used in education to enhance the learning and teaching experiences. Technologies such as the Internet, networking devices and mobile phones allow more people to access education. This is because the technologies allow instant and easy access to knowledge that was previously held by teachers. The technologies support education by democratizing knowledge and making it accessible to students globally. Technology plays an important role in education by making knowledge easily accessible. Technology has democratized knowledge by making it easy for any individual to freely access this knowledge over the Internet (Gilbert, 2011). Some technologies such as websites allow individuals to contribute to existing knowledge while technology networks facilitate the sharing of knowledge across computers located all over the world. Mobile technologies provide educational value by making knowledge instantly and easily available Technology and information does not mean that teachers are no longer needed. Technology helps teachers to contribute and distribute knowledge to students (Gilbert, 2011). For instance, e-learning technologies enable teachers to share their knowledge with students in geographically-dispersed locations. Teachers are important sources of information and technology facilitates learning and the dissemination of this knowledge to students (Gilbert, 2011). Teachers provide value that technology cannot. Teachers are an important source of information that is derived from their technical knowledge, understanding of subject matter and years of experience in life issues (Gilbert, 2011). This assimilated knowledge expands the though process for students and their perspective on social, technological and political issues. Furthermore, teachers are necessary because they possess the resources and skills to help students to find, evaluate and utilize knowledge. Technology is important because it makes information readily accessible to individuals in any part of the world. However, the accessibility of information is only one aspect of teaching or learning. This is because technology does not teach students how to differentiate between good and bad knowledge, to analyze knowledge, add to it and apply knowledge to solve real life problems (Gilbert, 2011). In addition, technology does not teach students important skills such as communication skills, self-esteem, creativity, teamwork, problem-solving and critical thinking. Men do not enter the teaching profession because it is overwhelmingly populated by women. According to Rich (2014), seventy-five percent of teachers are women. This gender imbalance has lowered the prestige of the teaching profession and hindered more men from entering the profession. Barriers to getting the men in to the classroom are cultural, economic and social. The cultural barrier is the lack of prestige for the profession caused by the devaluation of work performed by women (Rich, 2014). The economic barrier for men is the lower average pay for teachers caused by the saturation of women and devaluation of the profession compared to other professions such as teaching. Lastly, men are less willing to join the profession because there are few men in the industry (Rich, 2014). Social barriers that keep men away are gender imbalance, low desirability and low prestige of the teaching profession. Cultural barriers are the devaluation of the profession owing to the prevalence of female teachers, lack of respect for teachers and lack of a racially-diverse workforce (Rich, 2014). Economic barriers that keep men away are lack of competitive salaries or pay increases compared to other professions (Rich, 2014). These factors have lowered the desirability of the profession and reduced the number of male teachers that act as models for boys in school. In conclusion, technology improves access to education. However, technologies do not eliminate the need for teachers. Both technologies and teachers add value to schooling . On men in the teaching profession, the society needs to encourage men to enter the profession to act as models for young boys in school. There is a need to improve the pay scale of teachers and reduce the socio-cultural barriers that have made the profession less desirable for men. C. The Curriculum There are four schools of thought on curriculum. These are linear thinking, laissez-faire advocates, critical theorists and holists (Miller, 2010). Each school of thought is based on different philosophies on the type of learning, the classroom environment and the teacher-student interaction. Some emphasize a structured approach while others prefer a dynamic, student-led educational approach. Linear thinkers focus on enhancing the efficiency of education by establishing order, creating structures and setting up controls for the education environment (Miller, 2010). Their curriculum model does not accommodate diversity of teacher education purpose. Instead, the linear thinking model emphasizes routines, procedures and performance standards. This model influences linear thinkers to focus on developing programs whose outcomes satisfy or meet the standards or procedures for teaching. Linear thinkers use various tools to achieve their linear thinking such as sequence charts, Bloom’s Taxonomy and bell schedules (Miller, 2010). Linear thinking in curriculum development helps teacher educators and teachers to articulate goals, control variables and use resources to achieve specific performance standards. Holists believe in capturing the interest of the student during the learning process. They believe that once a teacher is able to capture the students’ interests, then there is no need to proceed to another subject (Miller, 2010). This organic approach drives curriculum development by emphasizing the need to develop a stimulating learning environment for students. This environment allows students to pose questions, share their concerns and engage with their teachers for the educational experience. For holists, the curriculum should be based on attraction to learning or empowerment. Unlike linear thinkers that eliminate emotion from learning, holists integrate emotions as a creative component of student learning and stimulation. Holists are concerned with developing curriculum that is produces enjoyable and substantive learning experiences with the aim of equipping students for life in democratic societies. Laissez-Faire advocates do not have official curricula. They believe that students should not be assessed or coerced to learn. The premise of their philosophy is the freedom of individuals in the learning process. This premise is based on Paiget’s assertions on the need and pursuit of elarning. These advocates believe that students should pursue and initiate learning so that they can develop their individual talents, personal responsibility and expertise in different areas (Miller, 2010). This student-led learning encourages individuals to create their environments and activities. Critical theorists are concerned with social justice (Miller, 2010). They believe that the role of the teacher is to help students to identify social injustices, become aware of constraining factors and develop knowledge to resolve these injustices. Their curriculum emphasizes respect, inclusion and appreciation of people. It also focuses on maximizing student-teacher interaction, authenticity, cultural relevance and social transformation (Miller, 2010). International Education The concept of international education has not been understood in the education sector. Generally, the concept refers to the internationalization of education. This internationalization is influenced by globalization and competition in the education industry. Presently, the term international is used to distinguish the type of education from national education. Educators use the term to leverage their learning programs, appear competitive and expand transnational networks (Tarc, 2013). The use of the term has created a need to understand the importance of international education. There is no anecdotal evidence confirming the establishment of a global curriculum in international education. Different curricula for international education provide value for students. This could be because one curriculum emphasizes the need for international experience while another emphasizes intercultural competence. There is no global curriculum because there is no common opinion on international education. Educators and schools have blurred the line between generation of profits from international students and the need to make a difference in young individuals. The lack of clarity means that there should be a global standard for international education rather than a global curriculum. This is because educators are yet to confront important issues concerning international education such as the purpose and the consequences of this education on the society (Tarc, 2013). Portable, global education systems play an important role in modern society. These systems enable international students and local students to access international-standard education to gain intercultural competence and competitive advantage in the global arena (Tarc, 2013). These systems promote economic competitiveness because governments profile international educational students as significant contributors to their national economies. Furthermore, portable global systems promote pragmatism by providing opportunities for learning to enhance the social mobility of the citizens. These education also create job opportunities for graduate teachers especially where there are few teaching positions locally but greater teaching positions for international teaching (Tarc, 2013). International education strategy helps education institutions to expand from local to global reach. Universities often use this internationalization as a form of branding. The purpose of this branding is to help the universities to increase their revenue stream in the global education sector. The universities promote their global outlook to encourage more intakes from international students and then use the international networks to build an international platform to attract more students, partnerships and scholars on a global level (Tarc, 2013). The shift from local to global also represents a change of pedagogical objectives. In the twentieth century, the pedagogical objective for international education was to promote international understanding. This objective changed to as schools began emphasizing national understanding. This pedagogical change was influenced by social framing where international education was framed as an education system that impinged on a nation’s sovereignty (Tarc, 2013). This framing affected the perception of and the demand for international education. In conclusion, international education has gained a lot of interest over the years. Previously, international teaching had been sidelined because national narratives created negative framing about international education. However, the internationalization of education cannot be ignored. It has created opportunities for learning institutions to increase their transnational alliances, acquire international students and increase revenue from these students. Moreover, institutions that offer international education are more competitive than their local counterparts as they are able to provide education that helps students become globally competitive and inter-culturally competent. References Gilbert, I. (2014). Why do I need a teacher when I have got Google? New York: Routledge. Kane, T., Kerr, K., & Pianta, R. (2014). Designing teacher evaluation systems: Measures of effective teaching. Jossey-Bass. Miller, D. L (2011). Curriculum theory and practice. What is your style? The Teachers, Schools, and Society Reader. Phi Delta Kappan, 92(7), 32-39. Rich, M. (2014, September 6). Why don’t more men go into teaching? The New York Times, 1-4. Retrieved from http://nyti.ms/1qE5qxH Stewart, V. (2010). Raising teacher quality around the world. The Effective Educator, 68(4), 16-20. Wiseman, A.W. (2013). Analysis: Teacher quality eludes Arabian Gulf education systems. Comparative Education for Development and Social Construction of Reality. Retrieved from http://www.comparative-education.com/teacher-quality-eludes-arabian-gulf-education-system.. Read More