Teach English in Shiwan Zhen - Chongqing

The Role of a TeacherIn traditional Eastern society the ?Guru? - equivalent to a teacher- enjoys the pride of place in both family and society. He is to be revered like a God on earth. His importance cannot be discounted nor the multifaceted roles he has to play be underplayed. The teacher?s roles are varied indeed-Manager, coordinator, organizer, assessor, facilitator, prompter, motivator, participant, tutor, observer and role model all rolled into one. The successful teacher is able to switch roles as the situation demands. Wenden states that teachers transform themselves into facilitators when they offer suggestions and guidance in the use of learning strategies. The student centered method of teaching stresses the importance of the teacher acting as a coordinator. The role of the teacher as a mere provider of information is fast diminishing with the advent of the IT revolution-immense information being easily available at one?s finger tips. The teacher in today?s scenario has to become more of a facilitator and coordinator of the vast information that is available to the students. He should be able to guide and route them through the right channels. The teacher?s role is not to inform the students but to encourage and facilitate them to learn for themselves using the problem as a focus for the learning (Barrows and Tamblyn 1996). The teacher should be an efficient resource provider. He should be able to direct the students to available resources and guide them in choosing the simplest form of finding and retrieving information. Information and resources are easily available and often there is a surplus. With so much of information at hand the teacher should be able to help the students evaluate the reliability of the resources available. . The student should be made aware when and how research could end up in plagiarism. Reid in The Learning-Centred Classroom opines that: ?Language teachers should provide a wealth of information to students in order to raise their awareness about learning style and strategies, and finally, to work with students? learning strengths? Evaluation and assessment of the students is a very important function a teacher has to perform. A teacher must be capable of an overall evaluation of the student. Character formation is of prime importance. The teacher should make note of any abrasion in character and the reasons for it should be identified. While doing so the teacher has to have utmost tact. It is not enough for the teacher to chart the progress or decline of the student. He should be able to go beyond the mere grades and find the reasons for the decline if any. The teacher, after identifying the problem areas should be able to suggest ways and methods of overcoming the problem. The overall holistic development of the student must be his motto. students should be encouraged to take an active part in co-curricular activities. The teacher should have a magical touch and be able to blend the various activities in the right measures to develop his students into well rounded personalities. Rev. Fr. Rebello S.J. a famous educationist and former Principal of St. Joseph College said that a student absorbs 25% of what he hears and 75% of what he sees. The teacher?s impact on the student is much more than what he conveys through verbal communication. The effectiveness of a teacher to a large extent depends on the students? perception of the teacher. Confucius has rightly said: ?Tell me and I will forget, Show me and I may remember, Involve me; I will understand? A good teacher should have a good knowledge of his/her subject, should be able to establish a rapport with students, involve all the students in a class, correct students without affecting their motivation and bestow individual attention when necessary. Reference: Wenden, A. Learner strategies for Learner Autonomy. Great Britain: PrenticeHall, 1998. Barrows HS and Tamblyn EM . Problem based Learning. An Approach to Medical Education. new york: Springer Publications, 1996.