Thursday, November 17, 2016
On Teachers
Here in America, a teacher's ability to "teach" students is often strictly limited. Teachers are usually expected to teach the curriculum, and they are often prohibited from going beyond that. Teachers are expected to pass on basic knowledge to students without much interaction with their own students. Teachers are usually underpaid and have no incentive to go beyond their role, despite being a teacher. Instead, teachers should be able to go above and beyond the curriculum and teach outside the books. A teachers role should be that of a mentor, one who is able to inspire students to pursue different venues outside of education in pursuit of their goals.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree Ken that a lot of these teachers are restricted, and have little flexibility to explore different teaching strategies. Perhaps if teachers were given more freedom, then teachers can teach students in a more inspiring way. Instead of traditional teaching, teachers can think of what will exactly inspire the students, and what will better them in the future.
ReplyDeleteA teacher's job is to teach, and although it is true that they do not get enough time to really interact with their students, I do not believe they should entirely grasp the role of mentor. Being a mentor requires a great deal of time and effort and a teacher just would not be able to do that with more than sixty kids a day. I partially disagree with your statement that a teacher teaching outside the curriculum should be allowed. The school system has the curriculum set because that is what the school system has deemed relevant to teach. If a teacher taught outside the curriculum then it could be seen as the teacher not doing their job. By teaching the curriculum, the teacher is fulfilling his or her duties for the school year.
ReplyDeleteI personally believe teachers are under appreciated. They have, in my opinion, one of the hardest jobs in the world - to mold the minds of children. In other countries, people with the profession of a teacher are praised. In the United States, they are payed poorly. Sure, there are some really awesome and also really dull teachers. This is why teachers should be given the freedom to teach their students uniquely instead of being restricted to uniform 'standards of the day'. The education system is so concentrated on making the population's test scores increase that it neglects the role of teachers as important role models in student's life's.
ReplyDelete