Gross materialism is eating into the vitals of society and a
certain agnostic attitude is evident almost everywhere. In today’s era, when
almost every child has easy access to the internet, kids have become curious
about certain aspects of life, which they want to explore much before the right
age. As such sometimes they fall prey to their curiosity and inadvertently land
into serious trouble. It is also seen that children today cannot deal with
emotional stress and they try to convert psychological pain into physical pain
by inflicting some sort of injury or harm to self or even commit suicide. This
radical change causes worry to the society and increases responsibility of
teachers.
Role of Teachers in Meeting the Challenges:
Teachers play a significant role in elevating quality of
students. Education must be focused at producing smarter, morally and
spiritually strong and globally competent students, who are motivated, value
based, able to take sound decisions based on critical thinking, communicate
effectively and pursue life long learning. Therefore, there is a need for the
teachers to modify traditional educational methods and their day to day
dealings with the students. The following points, if followed and implemented
strictly in letter and spirit, would go a long way in addressing some of the
problems of the students.
a) Teachers should be
role model, by setting personal example.
b) Teachers should be
caring and sensitive in their behavior towards students.
c) Rapport is to be
established and communication with students should be non judgemental, patient
and tolerant. Students should feel free to share their personal problems.
d) Teachers should never
condemn, compare or label a student.
e) Always help students
develop EQ along with IQ, so that they can face adverse situations and
calamities stoically.
f) The need to
sharpen and update their skills on a regular basis to meet the demand of
students, who are today far more inquisitive and tech savvy.
g) In today’s environment
E-learning and audio visual methods are of utmost importance and compatible
with the present day requirement, hence should be incorporated into the system.
h) Teachers must endeavor
to develop creativity and innovative approach in teaching to achieve the best
possible results and enriching personality, realizing full potential and
attaining multi-dimensional development of students.
i) Teachers
should provide ample opportunities in form of discussions, debate and
innovative projects to make classroom teaching more lively and effective.
j) The moral
values that nourish and nurture moral being should be laid stress upon and
developed in students.
k) Teachers should never
indulge in physical handling of a child for any mistake.
l) The
paradox of today’s metro-urban culture is that parents have time for everything
except for children, who are generally left alone. Since changing social
dynamics make double income families a norm, this also adds to the existing
problem of managing children. Therefore, it becomes imperative on part of the
teachers to have a regular interaction with the parents particularly in those
cases where the child is not upto the mark.
The above list is in no way exhaustive and comprehensive and
these are a few random thoughts with experience, which have been jotted down as
guide and can always be improved upon by a talented teacher.
About the Author:
The Author is Ms. Asha Chauhan, Teacher, Meenakshi Public School
www.meenakshipublicschool.com
