Towards Themselves

a) Be a teacher out of choice, and not by default.

b) Acquire relevant professional education and training to get the right concepts of teaching.

c) Honesty and sincerity towards the profession.

d) Accept that being a teacher does not make you a 'know-it-all'; so it's important to become a partner in the learning cycle with the students.

e) Accept that no two students will think, act and react alike, and respect that diversity.

f) Upgrade knowledge and learn new ways of teaching.

g) Avoid indulging in unethical behavior, and at all times maintain the dignity of a teacher-student relationship.

h) In an emerging world, responsibilities of an educator have increased several folds. From being a person who just imparts bookish knowledge, an educator now has the power to shape a better world for the students and empower them with knowledge to take on the world!

5. Group work. Discuss with your partner the following questions:

1) What years are considered formative in students’ life?

2) How can a teacher incorporate, facilitate and encourage intellectual and social development in the formative years of a student's life?

3) How can a teacher uplift his\her student socially, intellectually, emotionally, and personally?

4) What can a teacher foster in his\her children?

5) How can a teacher engage and challenge the students intellectually?

6) What teaching methods are most effective - formal or informal? Sustain your answer with examples.

7) Why is avoiding favoritism important?

8) How can you enforce discipline by firmly setting classroom rules? Give examples of these rules.

9) What conflicts can arise within a classroom frame? What are the ways to deal with them?

10) How can you adjust your teaching styles to meet individual needs of your students? Sustain your answer with examples.

11) How can you work with parents for the betterment of their child's future?

12) What is your understanding of the statement ’be a teacher out of choice, and not by default’?

13) How can a teacher avoid indulging in unethical behavior, and at all times maintain the dignity of a teacher-student relationship?

14) Do you agree that being a teacher does not make you a 'know-it-all'; so it's important to become a partner in the learning cycle with the students? Sustain your answer with examples.

15) Which of the enumerated responsibilities are the hardest to accomplish? Why?

6. Make up and act out: a) an interview between a school headmaster and a young teacher who came to apply for the position of a teacher at a specialized school; b) a conversation between an old retired school teacher and an assistant teacher who came to substitute him\her.

7. Look at the table below. Which of the functions do you find most challenging\difficult? Why?

21st Century Educator

The Adaptor

The Communicator

The Learner

The Visionary

The Model

The Leader

The Risk taker

The Collaborator