To educate or be educated

Teaching is an honorable profession. No doubt, it is. Teachers have to lead and educate a nation as much as they can. Holy Prophet (PBUH) was a great reformer, messenger as well as a great teacher for us, in fact for every man of this world. I sometimes think, being a teacher, what should be the properties in a good teacher. To have enough knowledge, enough experience, patience, regularity and be principled and sometimes even tolerance too or what else…

Unfortunately, when I analyzed myself including my colleagues, that whether we deserve teaching profession or not. A lot of things are missing, if we are having enough knowledge, we become weak in explanation. If we are having talent then sometimes we lose our patience. And even if we are having patience then we become so much lenient that our students start losing moral values. So what to do and what should be a change in our teaching methodology. The need is to rethink and evaluate ourselves whether we deserve this noble profession or we should say good bye to teaching. But saying Good bye to teaching ’is not a solution; we should also have to take some steps. The major objective of education is to develop a responsible, active and educated citizenship. Think about it today and now.

Education / talent

After visiting too many schools, and having detailed talk with students, one important thing that I felt missing there is the Respect of teachers. Almost 80% students of every class don’t respect their teachers. The reason, the teachers are not well educated and even if they are educated, they have not learnt the teaching skills. So as they enter in the classrooms, just pick up the chalks or markers and start writing on the board. They just bother to complete their so called prepared lectures and even don’t have time to see at the pupils that what they are doing. This situation leads to a disturbance in the classrooms as only front row of students can hardly see teacher s writing on the board. And rest of the students, would be laughing, playing, and nobody to see nobody to control. Now what the teacher is doing after all that situation, just shouting and passing unpleasant remarks. The result is No respect for teachers. Teaching doesn’t only mean that you must have to complete a topic but the purpose should be that your pupils must have to understand the topic. For this, you have to engage each and every student of the class in your lecture by giving examples, key points, questions and the list should goes on. There should be encouragement for students for their participation in class activities.

Moral Values

The Government of Pakistan is spending money and trying a lot to improve the standard of education, as they have increased the salary package of teachers. HEC is also bringing a huge change in the higher education sector. NGO s and several other private educational institutions are doing their best to maintain the education standards and to increase the literacy rate. However, when I look at the education institutes and the behavior of the student, I felt one thing badly that is lost in the students. That obsolete thing is Moral values. Students don’t know what is right and what is wrong. I think, it must be the foremost duty of teachers to give them the concept of right and wrong things.

That true, before it is said that children learn from their homes and now it is said they learn from their schools. Obviously, it is true to some extent, because schools are said to be great Alma mater for the growing kids. I have experienced that pupils will follow you and if fortunately you are a good teacher, then they would start obeying you in a good sense. Believe me, if you are a talented and educated teacher, your students would give you good results. If you are a regular and confident person then your pupils would be like you. If you are a responsible and sensible teacher then your pupils would be the same. You have to create all those abilities in yourselves that you think your pupils should have to be called a proper educated person.

Teaching Skills

Pupils are now fed up form the same old ABC of every subject. Now, it’s the 21st century, and our pupils want a change in teaching methodology. Teachers should have to be well known of modern ways of teaching. The objective of lectures should be based on creativity and observation. It should be like that the students have learnt something new today. Students learn better in stimulating environment. So depending on the subject, teachers should have to create novelty and inspiration for the pupils. This will lead to the production of researchers, mathematicians and technologist.

These major points a teacher should have to remember.

1. Ability to convey the competence in subject matter so that concept would be clear.
2. Must have confidence in one’s ability to teach
3. Ability to develop course curriculum and individual lessons
4. Awareness of effective use of common instructional aids, including audiovisual techniques
5. Ability to help students to understand the general principles and concepts underlying a particular lesson
6. Ability to explain both basic and difficult concepts clearly
7. Ability to ask good questions (testing, study, case histories)
8. Ability to provide feedback to students
9. Awareness of the strengths and limitations of various means for evaluating teaching performance
10. Ability to adjust lesson plan based on information garnered from student questions
11. Ability to foster an effective learning environment including showing respect for the student, encouraging their intellectual growth and providing a role model for scholarship and intellectual vigor

At the end, I must say, we have to teach student carefully. Not because of that we are paid of it but because of that the whole nation would have to pay at the end, if we are simply failed to make them an educated and responsible citizen.