Teacher
A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching.
Informally the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. when showing a colleague how to perform a specific task). In some countries, teaching young people of school age may be carried out in an informal setting, such as within the family (homeschooling), rather than in a formal setting such as a school or college. Some other professions may involve a significant amount of teaching (e.g. youth worker, pastor).
In most countries, formal teaching of students is usually carried out by paid professional teachers. This article focuses on those who are employed, as their main role, to teach others in a formal education context, such as at a school or other place of initial formal education or training.
Contents
Duties and functions
A teacher's role may vary among cultures.
Teachers may provide instruction in Literacy education|literacy and numeracy, Artisan|craftsmanship or vocational training, the arts, religion, civics, community roles, or life skills.
Formal teaching tasks include preparing lessons according to agreed curricula, giving lessons, and assessing pupil progress.
- knowledge (such as: the subject matter itself and knowledge about how to teach it, curricular knowledge, knowledge about the educational sciences, psychology, assessment etc.)
- craft skills (such as lesson planning, using teaching technologies, managing students and groups, monitoring and assessing learning etc.) and
- dispositions (such as essential values and attitudes, beliefs and commitment).[2]
Qualities
Enthusiasm
It has been found that teachers who showed enthusiasm towards the course materials and students can create a positive learning experience.[3] These teachers do not teach by rote but attempt to invigorate their teaching of the course materials every day.[4] Teachers who cover the same curriculum repeatedly may find it challenging to maintain their enthusiasm, lest their boredom with the content bore their students in turn. Enthusiastic teachers are rated higher by their students than teachers who did not show much enthusiasm for the course materials.[5]
Teachers that exhibit enthusiasm are more likely to have engaged, interested and energetic students who are curious about learning the subject matter. Recent research has found a correlation between teacher enthusiasm and students' intrinsic motivation to learn and vitality in the classroom.[6] Controlled, experimental studies exploring intrinsic motivation of college students has shown that nonverbal expressions of enthusiasm, such as demonstrative gesturing, dramatic movements which are varied, and emotional facial expressions, result in college students reporting higher levels of intrinsic motivation to learn.[7] But even while a teacher's enthusiasm has been shown to improve motivation and increase task engagement, it does not necessarily improve learning outcomes or memory for the material.[8]
There are various mechanisms by which teacher enthusiasm may facilitate higher levels of intrinsic motivation.[9] Teacher enthusiasm may contribute to a classroom atmosphere of energy and enthusiasm which feeds student interest and excitement in learning the subject matter.[10] Enthusiastic teachers may also lead to students becoming more self-determined in their own learning process. The concept of mere exposure indicates that the teacher's enthusiasm may contribute to the student's expectations about intrinsic motivation in the context of learning. Also, enthusiasm may act as a "motivational embellishment", increasing a student's interest by the variety, novelty, and surprise of the enthusiastic teacher's presentation of the material. Finally, the concept of emotional contagion may also apply: students may become more intrinsically motivated by catching onto the enthusiasm and energy of the teacher.[6]
Interaction with learners
Research shows that student motivation and attitudes towards school are closely linked to student-teacher relationships. Enthusiastic teachers are particularly good at creating beneficial relations with their students. Their ability to create effective learning environments that foster student achievement depends on the kind of relationship they build with their students.[11][12][13][14] Useful teacher-to-student interactions are crucial in linking academic success with personal achievement.[15] Here, personal success is a student's internal goal of improving themselves, whereas academic success includes the goals they receive from their superior. A teacher must guide their student in aligning their personal goals with their academic goals. Students who receive this positive influence show stronger self-confidence and greater personal and academic success than those without these teacher interactions.[14][16][17]
Students are likely to build stronger relations with teachers who are friendly and supportive and will show more interest in courses taught by these teachers.[15][16] Teachers that spend more time interacting and working directly with students are perceived as supportive and effective teachers. Effective teachers have been shown to invite student participation and decision making, allow humor into their classroom, and demonstrate a willingness to play.[12]
References
- ↑ Williamson McDiarmid, G. & Clevenger-Bright M. (2008), 'Rethinking Teacher Capacity', in Cochran-Smith, M., Feiman-Nemser, S. & Mc Intyre, D. (Eds.): Handbook of Research on Teacher Education. Enduring questions in changing contexts. New York/Abingdon: Routledge/Taylor & Francis.
- ↑ Williamson McDiarmid, G. & Clevenger-Bright M. (2008) 'Rethinking Teacher Capacity', in Cochran-Smith, M., Feiman-Nemser, S. & Mc Intyre, D. (Eds.). 'Handbook of Research on Teacher Education. Enduring questions in changing contexts'. New York/Abingdon: Routledge/Taylor & Francis cited in F Caena (2011)
- ↑ Teaching Patterns: a Pattern Language for Improving the Quality of Instruction in Higher Education Settings by Daren Olson. Page 96
- ↑ Motivated Student: Unlocking the Enthusiasm for Learning by Bob Sullo. Page 62
- ↑ Barkley, S., & Bianco, T. (2006). The Wonder of Wows. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 42(4), 148-151.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Patrick, B.C., Hisley, J. & Kempler, T. (2000) "What's Everybody so Excited about?": The Effects of Teacher Enthusiasm on Student Intrinsic Motivation and Vitality", The Journal of Experimental Education, Vol. 68, No. 3, pp. 217–236
- ↑ Brooks, Douglas M. (1985). "The Teacher's Communicative Competence: The First Day of School". Theory into Practice 24 (1): 63. doi:10.1080/00405848509543148.
- ↑ Motz, B. A.; de Leeuw, J. R.; Carvalho, P. F.; Liang, K. L.; Goldstone, R. L. (2017). "A dissociation between engagement and learning: Enthusiastic instructions fail to reliably improve performance on a memory task". PLOS ONE 12 (7): e0181775. Bibcode 2017PLoSO..1281775M. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0181775. PMC 5521834. PMID 28732087.
- ↑ All Of Us Should Be Teachers, Even If Just For One Day October 2016/https://web.archive.org/web/20161009112708/http://www.huffingtonpost.in/dr-anil-k-rajvanshi/all-of-us-should-be-teachers-even-if-just-for-one-day/ Archived October 9, 2016, at the Wayback Machine., Huffington Post, 27 September 2016
- ↑ Amatora, M. (1950). Teacher Personality: Its Influence on Pupils. Education, 71(3), 154-158
- ↑ Baker, J. A., Terry, T., Bridger, R., & Winsor, A. (1997). Schools as caring communities: A relational approach to school reform. School Psychology Review, 26, 576-588.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Bryant, Jennings . 1980. Relationship between college teachers' use of humor in the classroom and students' evaluations of their teachers. Journal of educational psychology. 72, 4.
- ↑ Fraser, B. J., & Fisher, D. L. (1982). Predicting students' outcomes from their perceptions of classroom psychosocial environment. American Educational Research Journal, 19, 498- 518.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Hartmut, J. (1978). Supportive dimensions of teacher behavior in relationship to pupil emotional cognitive processes. Psychologie in Erziehung und Unterricht, 25, 69-74.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Osborne, E.;. Salzberger, I.; Wittenberg, G. W. 1999. The Emotional Experience of Learning and Teaching. Karnac Books, London.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Baker, J. A.Teacher-Student Interaction in Urban At-Risk Classrooms: Differential Behavior, Relationship Quality, and Student Satisfaction with School. The Elementary School Journal Volume 100, Number 1, 1999 by The University of Chicago.
- ↑ Moos, R. H. (1979). Evaluating Educational Environments: Measures, procedures, findings, and policy implications. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Further reading
- Elsbree, Willard S. The American Teacher: Evolution of a Profession in a Democracy (1939) online
- Parkerson, Donald Hugh. Transitions in American education : a social history of teaching (2001) online
- Parkerson, Donald H., and Jo Ann Parkerson. The American Teacher : Foundations of Education (2008)
