The Role of Academic Qualifications in Becoming a Good Teacher - Essay Example

Running Head: Good teacher The role of academic qualifications in becoming a good teacher Introduction Education is one of the essential requirementsfor everybody to become useful citizens of a country and the teacher is the person who helps or guide students in achieving the knowledge required for this purpose. A good education always offers something new for everyone, irrespective of simple or complicated. The teacher should assist students to develop their personality, creativity and self esteem which will enable them in tackling the challenges in their life. The teacher helps students in establishing self confidence in their lives. Teachers combine their ideas with others while transferring the knowledge to the students. “Performance is a developmental process that needs to be supported and facilitated.” (Maloy & Seidman, P. 28) However, tradition and qualifications on paper alone does not guarantee success in teaching profession. In the case of tradition, learners of today have different learning styles and come from diverse backgrounds. In addition to this, the integration of technology into the curriculum demands a shift in the teaching styles of teachers since new set of skills must be utilized to impart learning. Traditional method is only focused on intellectual learning and it is teacher –centered. Contrastingly, non traditional styles which promotes cooperative learning lead to increased motivation and academic performance ( Johnson, R. T., and Johnson, D. W.p.25). Similarly, academic qualification alone does not guarantee effective teaching. Other aspects as such as teaching styles and behavior which have been acquired through training and experience is more important than academic qualifications. In a study of teachers style published by Grasha, it was reported that teachers who exhibit medium intellectual excitement and high interpersonal rapport “ are generally excellent for any group of students and teaching situation” ( Grasha P.35 ). It is important therefore that teachers do not only have academic qualifications but a set of skills as well as positive interpersonal behavior to be able to perform his role in the school setting. In the modern school setting, the teacher will not only deal with students but with the whole organization as well; thus, making him responsible to all stakeholders in the learning process. Some basic skills required for becoming a successful teacher are; Pedagogical skill, Interpersonal skill, Organizational skill, Subject matter (content) & methodology skill , Skill in cooperating with colleagues and Skill in cooperating with the environment. Pedagogical Skills The teacher should have a good perception about what the student needs to learn, or learning standards. Based on that, the teacher should device strategies. The strategies must focus all the students in the class irrespective of the individual differences. Ordinary teachers address only one segment of the class either the average students or the brilliant students. Brilliant teachers formulate good strategies for catering the needs of all the students irrespective of poor, average or brilliant. Only those teachers who were successful in effectively teaching all the segments of the class can be considered as good teachers. The success of the teacher lies in the methodologies he employed in transferring his expertise on the subject to the students. Some teachers motivate the students to the topic through some interesting experiences in daily life. For example in order to teach the physical term inertia, most of the teachers will use interesting experiences form life like what will happen if the driver applies an emergency break, to a person who stands freely inside a rapidly moving bus without holding anywhere. Another teacher who teaches the same topic going directly into the topic without any examples may not be successful in motivating the students to the topic. Motivation is an important aspect of learning processes and the teacher must have the skills for accomplishing motivation among students to the topic. A teacher with good academic credentials, but lacks skills in motivating the students may not become good teachers. Pedagogical skills are attainted through proper training in education. The teacher should have proper training in education, planning, evaluation and development of teaching program.. Training provides the basic ideas about the requirements of the students and the parameters controlling the learning process. The teacher should have a well defined lesson plan for each topic he discusses in the class. He should never think that since he is a good scholar he doesn’t need a lesson plan. He should decide well in advance about the intended learning outcomes of a particular lesson and should plan the activities required to execute the class in accordance lesson. The teacher must self evaluate his performances occasionally to see whether he can improve in any areas of his profession. It also significant to emphasize that teachers should be well organized since this reflects the amount of planning that a teacher has made in preparing for the lessons. A teacher who is well organized can save time and resources which reduces stress in class presentations. Even young students can perceive subtle hints that a teacher isn’t organized. They can easily be seen in the search for missing papers, forgotten documents, misplaced pens and tools that should be within reach of the teacher once he is inside the classroom. An organized teacher then sets routines and practices not only for the learners, but more importantly for himself. Routines may seem insignificant but they actually provide the structure in our daily activities. On the other hand, teachers who are disorganized would always have a hectic schedule since their tasks seems to be always beyond their allotted time. It is a reflection of poor time management. Indeed, this kind of behavior is stressful in a teaching career. In order to improve the pedagogical skills the teacher must interact continuously with teaching materials, administration of studies, work on reports, researches, experimental and development work etc. Teaching materials must be elected to suit the requirements of the class based on the individual differences. Moreover the teacher must constantly monitor the progress of the students. A teacher can never argue that once he has delivered the lecture, his responsibility is over. He should ensure that the lesson delivered has been grasped properly and the students don’t have any doubts about it. The teacher must ensure that the students are working on the projects and assignments and he must administer the development of the students through classroom activities along with the take home assignments. The teacher definitely should have a mastery over the topic which he is teaching. The teacher should develop effective methodology for the transfer of the knowledge from the teacher to the student. The intellectual levels of the student and the teacher may be different and hence only through suitable methods the teacher will be able to teach the students efficiently. Some topics like history or geography need only explanations. The teacher can teach these lessons with the minimum use of teacher aids like maps or charts. But the science subjects cannot be taught like that. It requires lab works and experimental backups for the proper learning. The teacher must be competent enough in devising the proper methods for the learning process based on the subject and the topic he is teaching. Interpersonal skills Since schools and colleges are places where thousands of peoples like students, teachers and other academic staffs are working, the teacher as a core element of the education should interact properly with all the entities of the institution. Establishing relationship with the students, other teachers and employees of the college/School is an essential component for becoming a competent teacher. “The Department of Psychology at UCLA suggested that there are five dimensions of interpersonal competence: Initiating relationships, self-disclosure, providing emotional support, asserting displeasure with others actions and managing interpersonal conflicts.” (Bilanich) Since most of the learning takes place through the interaction between the teacher and the students, interpersonal competence is essential for the teacher. The learning process is takes place through the communication between the teacher and the students. So communication has immense importance in the learning process. The teacher must be a good communicator in order to convey the topic effectively to the students. A person with good track records in academics, but a bad communicator, can never be a good teacher. Whatever the knowledge and the skills a person have should be transferred to the students in an efficient manner to become a good teacher. a. Interpersonal Relationships with students Revealing more about ourselves to other consciously or unconsciously (Self disclosure) is another aspect of interpersonal competence. Emotional problems are a common thing among students nowadays and the teacher should address such things as far as possible. Conflicts can occur between the teacher and the students and also between the teachers. The teacher must be competent enough to solve such conflicts. B. Interpersonal Relationships with Administration It is essential for a teacher to interact properly with the colleagues. Such interactions will always helpful in polishing the knowledge and in formulating new strategies for the class. Such interactions will help a teacher to know about other’s opinion about his teaching and also the intellectual levels of the students. Some of the learning activities require a combined effort from the part of teachers. In such cases the ability to coordinate with other teachers will be tested and hence the teacher needs to improve his competence in cooperation with others. The teacher must be able to develop himself as per the needs of the changing society. He should be able to make a self evaluation and also must consider other’s opinion about his teaching methodologies. He should consider the positive advices from others especially from the colleagues to improve his teaching skills. Only a lighted candle can enlighten another one. The teacher must be aware of this principle and should be ready to develop his mastery over the content through different sources C. Interpersonal Relationships with Public and Parents It is important for the teacher to maintain good rapport with the parents since they are key to supporting the learner’s needs. Constant and clear communication with the parents is essential so that they will be updated with the progress of their child. Organizational skills “The teacher should have the knowledge and skills to be able to use the standards, resources, and assessments to achieve superior results.” (A Vision for Professional Development in Education) The particular curriculum methodologies intended for the particular class designed by the administrative bodies must be implemented properly by the teacher. The teacher must organize the essential requirements for the subject he is teaching like, charts, lab equipments, reference books, etc. Skills in cooperating with the environment The internal school or college environment and the external environment decide the success of a teacher. The teacher must be comfortable with the school and the surroundings. Some institutions may not have enough infrastructure facilities and the teacher must adapt properly with such scenario. He must ensure the maximum utilization of the available resources from the school and the surroundings. Contextual skill, the skill to update professional knowledge of his own field and the developmental approach skill are some of the skills required to cooperating with the environment as far as a teacher is concerned. (Nevmerzhitskaya) Contextual skills are the ability to adapt with the organization and the community in which the teacher is working. The teacher must be flexible to adapt with the changing requirements of the students and also the organization. The teacher also needs to improve his knowledge on his subject and also other general subjects as well. The teacher must be able to incorporate new technologies like, internet and online libraries for the learning process. Along with developing his own skills the teacher must be able to develop his organization’s practices in relation to the changes in the educational environment. The chart given below explains various interactions in a comprehensive education package. Both student and the teacher have to interact with parameters like learning resources, learning standards, assessments, support resources etc for the effective learning. (A Vision for Professional Development in Education) Follow ups are often required to analyze the quality of a class. Colleagues or co teachers always can be useful in analyzing a class. The teachers must have the willingness to hear the criticisms about their classes from the colleagues and the students and should be able to correct themselves. It is necessary for a good teacher to enquire students about how well they understand the lectures delivered by him. The teacher should be a role model to the students and the society. Even a good teacher with bad habits cannot cultivate good things among students and we cannot say that he is a good teacher. The teacher must lead by examples. For example, a chain smoker or a drug addict teacher cannot advice students to refrain from such bad habits. Conclusion Teaching is a profession which shapes the future of a country by cultivating good habits in students. For that purpose, academic qualifications alone may not be enough for a teacher. Academic qualification is only one thing among so many other things required for being a good teacher. A teacher with immense knowledge and lack of communication abilities will be a liability for the students and the organization. Teaching is an art which requires lot of skill sets such as interpersonal, pedagogical organizational and cooperation skills with others and the environment. The teacher should have mastery over subject matter (content) & methodology. The teacher’s expertise will be useful to the students only when he/she able to transfer those expertise to students effectively. The success of a teacher lies in how competent he is in delivering the knowledge he is having about a subject. Aside from this, a competent teacher must manifest positive behavior that would motivate students to learn aside from adjusting to the learning styles of the students. Moreover the teacher should set examples through his/her own life for the students to imitate. Briefly, academic qualifications alone do not make a good teacher but a combination of styles, behavior and commitment to the teaching profession. References A Vision for Professional Development in Education, 2008, Retrieved April 3, 2009 from http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://academicbiz.typepad.com/piloted/images/2008/01/27/comprehensive_education_and_pd_2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://academicbiz.typepad.com/piloted/2008/01/a-vision-for-pr.html&usg=__534NncT-1pIfpXurN0BhGnvpV3A=&h=315&w=350&sz=21&hl=en&start=17&tbnid=wFHYLqjTPHmN1M:&tbnh=108&tbnw=120&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dteacher%2Bstudent%2Bdiagrams%26hl%3Den Bilanich, B. (2008, February 29). Self Awareness and Interpersonal Competence. retrieved April 3, 2009 from , from http://ezinearticles.com /?Self-Awareness-and-Interpersonal-Competence&id=1017877 Grasha, Anthony., Teaching with Style :A Practical Guide to Enhancing Learning bu Understanding Teaching and Learning Styles, Alliance Publishers. 2002. Retrieved April 10, 2009 from http://sunconference .utep.edu/CETaL/resources/tws /Teaching_With _Style.pdf. Johnson, R. T., and Johnson, D. W. (p.25), “Student-Student Interaction: Ignored but Powerful,” Journal of Teacher Education, 34(36), 22-26. Maloy Robert W. , Seidman Irving, The Essential Career Guide to Becoming a Middle and High School Teacher, Publisher: Bergin & Garvey (September 30, 1999) http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Career-Becoming-Middle-Teache r/dp/0897895592/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238727828&sr=1-2# Nevmerzhitskaya Julia , 2007, Pedagogical Portfolio, Retrieved April 3, 2009 from http://www.glenarik.com/julia/competences.htm Teacher Career Cycle, Retrieved April 3, 2009 from http://teacherinduction .cfans.umn.edu/pdfs/intro_teacher_induction/Intro_CareerExp_Teacher%20Career%20Cycle.pdf Read More