Role of Teachers Towards Child Education

The role of teachers towards a child's education is to create a caring environment in the classroom. Teachers who listen to what the students have to say and develop a curriculum that is meaningful to the children have the most successful students. Teachers with a concern for the needs of the students and a student-oriented philosophy have cooperative students who look forward to learning.

Curriculum

Students work harder when their teachers provide them with a curriculum that demonstrates a foundation the children value and care about. The role of teachers is to strengthen the curriculum with human values that produce children who care about goals and responsibility. A curriculum that emphasizes values such as kindness, honesty and respect for classmates and teachers along with subject matter enhances the learning experience. Integrating the principles of a caring classroom with existing school curricula offers students meaningful classwork and boosts self-confidence.

Questions

Teachers who ask questions show that they care about students' ideas and this caring leads the children to work persistently until the teacher is satisfied with their work. When asking questions, teachers teach the students to act as a researcher, analyzing information, gathering data and developing conclusions. The students learn how to discover knowledge through reasoning, rather than by merely listening to a lecture. A teacher's role is to develop curiosity in the students and to teach them to think for themselves and feel the excitement of discovery.

Strategies

The strategies for teachers' taking a positive role in children's education include clarifying the purpose and the value of the lesson. The teachers show how the lesson fits into the educational goal of building skills and ideas for real life situations.

Another strategy of a caring teacher is to spend time discussing with the students what high-quality work entails. The role of the teacher is to give the children criteria to work toward and how the quality of the work creates a sense of self-worth and confidence.

The role of teachers in children's education also includes giving the students the opportunity to assess themselves and correct their mistakes. Allowing the students to take an active role in assessing and correcting their mistakes shows the teacher's trust in their judgment and abilities.

Setting goals for the students is another role of effective teachers in a child's education. Teachers give the students extra time for setting goals for assignments.

Parents

A large part of the teacher's job is to share information with the parents, highlighting the goals and values of respect, honesty and trust being included in the curriculum. The support of parents is instrumental in the teacher's role as an educator. Teachers welcome and encourage suggestions from parents on how to create a caring, effective classroom.

Discipline

Teachers expect students to arrive in the classroom ready to learn and practice responsible, respectful behavior. Most students strive to become members of their classroom community and want to please the teacher rather than cause disruption in the class. When teachers accomplish this goal, the classroom functions smoothly.

Teachers instruct the students in the beginning of the school year that all behavior has an outcome. The children have choices in the way they act in the classroom setting, and they have the power to choose correct behavior. A teacher's role is to integrate discipline into the curriculum using a framework of listening, being respectful of students, avoiding sarcasm and teaching the students responsible decision making.

References

• Creating a Caring Classroom; Nancy Letts; 1997
• Creating Caring Learning Development
• The Caring Classroom

Resources

• Caring Classroom Community
• Checklist for Teachers