Teacher, A Nation Builder

Since ancient period teaching has been a respectable, reputable and most sincere profession in the society. Teachers occupy a pivotal position in any nation, as they shape the future of youth. The quality of nation depends to a great extent on the quality of schools. Interestingly the efficiency and effectiveness of schools lies in the hands of teachers. Earlier in many traditional societies, there was very little thrust on formal education. Boys picked up knowledge and skills from their fathers in a very process of living together, Girls learned from their mother’s child caring practices. When education came to be regarded, more as an accomplishment rather than a necessity, in some traditional societies, teaching became hereditary in nature. Traditionally the people not as concerned about teaching as they are now. Never did teaching then occupy such crucial roles as it does today nor was the act of teaching as complex as we see it today. Moreover, flourishing national development and a society truly prosperous draw their strength from teachers. While the role of knowledge and a skilled society with visions and aspirations in the success of a nation cannot be stressed enough, it should also be remembered that knowledge cannot be acquired if it is not sought and received through the help of the teacher. This is why everyone should put efforts into seeking as much knowledge as possible, and appreciate the teacher’s importance in guiding us and the generations to come, to become knowledgeable and morally upright people. Knowledge received without a teacher’s guidance can be compared to a blind man walking without his stick. Because of this, the teachers need to have a high level of commitment towards their duties and responsibilities already entrusted to them. Besides, the teacher is a representative of the society who inculcates moral precepts among the youth. In the development of a country, great attention has to be paid to education and learning for the purposes of building a strong society. Nobody is more suited to assist in this process than the humble teacher. Without teachers, both knowledge and morals would suffer. During most of 19th century, the scope vof schooling was somewhat narrow and a teacher’s role was rather simple compared to later ones. The early 20th century saw a sudden spurt in the spread of education and its objectives and with it teacher’s role took an added dimension. The goals of education gradually moved beyond the narrow purposes of basic literacy and number skills and came to include health, command of fundamental processes, worthy use of leisure, development of character etc. Today more than ever before, teachers are expected to have adequate knowledge and to use this knowledge in their day-to-day instructions.
A teacher’s job is to keep himself alive. His own discipline makes his own adjustment
Teacher training should ensure that teachers fulfill the requirement of at least a minimum knowledge base as a pre-requisite before certifying the individual’s competence to teach. Social and national expectations of educator’s are quite high. The demand for teachers is so varied that they often find it difficult to meet the needs of students coming from various socio-cultural backgrounds. Overcrowded classrooms, availability of multiplicity of techniques, methods and approaches, possibilities of an infinite number of modes and media, etc. have in their own way contributed toward making teaching more difficult. As experts and professionals, they are expected to use the most effective practice to help students learn essential skills and attitudes. It is no longer sufficient for teachers to be warm and loving towards children nor is it sufficient for them to employ teaching practice based solely on institution, personal preference or conventional wisdom. Teachers must not only posses the requisite mastery of knowledge but should also have the necessary competencies in selecting effective instructional systems in devising and implementing teaching strategies and in citizen’s effective audio¬visual aids for facilitating student learning. A teacher of today needs to pick up the art of motivating and inspiring students for good performance through proper feedback, reinforcement and rewards. He/she is expected to exploit different human, material and community resources to create a productive classroom atmosphere through careful planning, to promote a proper classroom climate setting-services as the situation demands. Teachers play a vital role in nation-building because the future is totally in their hands. They choose to shape the future of societies. If you really want to know how important teachers are for their country, try imagining a nation without them. It will only be a nation of utter chaos where nobody would try to make sure thsy kids get the best education and the knowledge to sustain a good and healthy life. The nation will no longer be able to progress and the population will be sick without teachers. Here are a few characteristics of the roles that our teachers play every single day. Making the children ready for a challenging life starts at a very early age. The teachers take the kids away from their parents for a few hours and teach them in a totally different environment. They try and make the environment as friendly as possible, but it is still different from the environment at home. Knowingly or unknowingly, the teachers prepare the kids for the unknown environment which they might have to face in their lives.
Teaching strategies…. The teachers not only make the child literate so that he/she can earn enough to have a moral lifestyle. They also provide words of wisdom. That shapes the personality of the child. Many children are influenced by their teachers more than the parents. A teacher is mostly selfless and believes in dissipating whatever information he/she can to make the kid wiser than yesterday. To make these things happen as a nation-builder, an ideal teacher should constantly seek knowledge, be of good character, have high motivation and be creative, innovative and effective in the teaching strategies. Thus it is important for us to recognise their noble service every day. The Teacher, we should respect their service as well as their hard work, dedication, sacrifices and nobility. All of us were students yesteryear. Today our children are studying under them. Thus it is our duty to greet them with our children and respect them forever for carving us to have a prosperous life today…..
(The author is a freelancer. Views are his own)
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