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By the wise words of Albert Einstein “It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken the joy in creative expression and knowledge” we seldom truly understand when we stand in front of our students just how big of an influence we make on their lives and on their future paths that they will take after they have left our class. Teachers have the ability to shape or break a child and with that responsibility each teacher that decides to teach should have that in their mind every time they interact with their students. In Unit 1 of our study guide of the ITTT course we can get a clear view of what the role of the teacher is. The teacher as the Manager/ Controller: When we think of our school days we can clearly recall almost all the teacher had the traditional ‘stand in front of the classroom’ teaching strategy every time you would enter the classroom. Luckily things have changed and the system are much more student centered when teaching as in the old traditional way where being part of the class interaction was taboo. There is definitely a place and time for the Manager/Controller role in the classroom but one must be careful not to fall into the control strategy every lesson and every day. The teacher is the Organizer: As the word states itself ‘organizer’ the teacher needs to be the person in charge of making sure that the situation does not turn into a mad house. Being an organizer the teacher needs to make sure students get into groups, handing out papers for pair-work and the list goes on. This role is used frequently and the teacher needs to be well organised so that the students have clear instructions and know what is expected of them. The teacher as the Assessor: This is the part that does not end when you leave to go home, teachers have to grade papers and mark assignments till very early in the morning hours, making sure the students receive correct and fair marks before going on to the next chapter of the work that needs to be covered. As a teacher I feel that it is our responsibility to give feedback on a test, assignment or any other work that was done by the students as quick as possible so that the work is still fresh in their minds so that they can also be actively part in the discussion. The teacher as the Prompter: When students need to explain something in their second or third language it can be very difficult at times for them and then we come in as the prompter to help and guide them so that they can say the words that is in their head. We definitely need to give students room for struggle and figuring it out for themselves but there is also no use into discouraging the students if they truly need our help in structuring what they want to say. The teacher as the Participant: When the opportunity is there for the teacher to take part in the class activity students tend to enjoy it tremendously, they feel that the teacher is one of them and that creates space for creativity and stepping out of the box. The teacher should be vigilant not to act out so that all the attention is on her/him but motivate students into taking part in activity. The teacher as the Tutor: This is a fine line that teachers need to be aware of. Being there for each individual in the class can be very difficult at times but we need to make sure we divide our attention so that everyone gets equal amount of our one on one time. Helping students one on one or going to a pair to help as a tutor will benefit the shy students that are often too shy to ask in front of the hole group. The teacher as a Resource/Facilitator: The teacher takes on this role when giving work to students and her/his aim is for them to complete it on their own. She/he will still be there for assistance but the main aim is for the students to complete work on their own. The teacher as the Model: When teaching students, you might be the only person that they hear English from, thus it is our responsibility to be an example and talk in a way that will make it easy for them to understand and learn from us. The teacher as an Observer/ Monitor: When teachers walk around in class and observe or monitor the students’ progress or if they grasp instructions that was given to them, the notes that the teacher makes can be very helpful when grading tests to see how the learner that was bothering other students did or when feedback is given to parents at parents evening. Being a teacher we have to play so many roles in so many different situations in one single lesson. We have to be all over the place but also be there for one students if he/she requires our help. We need to have ears to listen to 20 or 30 students needs but also be there for that one students that really needs a shoulder to cry on. Teachers are superheroes and if that is your calling we need to take on the magnificent responsibility of sometimes handling little, fragile pieces of the future in our hands. Let’s go change to world one student at a time!
