The Role of a Teacher

In every profession, there are roles that are set in order to divide the responsibilities
of each professional.

The Role of a Teacher in an educational setup is important because ultimately

Teachers are the backbones our society, country and the educational system. A
teacher represents the whole of a society and has the mission of forging the citizens
of tomorrow who will in turn determine the future of your country.

In this paper I will analyze the teachers core roles to determine qualities that set
exceptional teachers apart from all others. Starting by focusing on different
activities a teacher performs within hes role as well as the professional boundaries
he should respect in order to not possibly upset students, legal guardians or
members or the teaching establishment. This is why it is also important to discuss
the significance of where the teachers role stops. Once I have explored and
analyzed these different factors, I will come up with a conclusion.

The Role of a teacher can be put to a single word, an Assessor. As a teacher I am

constantly assessing and adapting to different roles. I must be a Friend, Counsellor,
Judge, Mentor and many other roles depending on the class or student. Most
students each have their own individual learning needs and for me to do my job at
best I must first assess the students needs/skills to encourage equality, diversity
and inclusion. The best way for me to achieve this to start by carrying out initial
assessments to help me identify varied learner needs such as average reading
skills, poor pronunciation or possible handicaps. By doing so it will be much easier
for me and the student to learn and deliver learning respectively. I will be able to
identify the students needs based on the assessment results. This said I must
already have an understanding of how to apply the information I have gathered
from the assessment to give both myself and the student a better lesson.
Conducting initial assessments will help me identify the students knowledge, skills
and needs. After identifying these needs, I will be in a position where I can give the
student advice and guidance to where they should be referred.

The initial assessment will also give me important information on how I will proceed
with the planning on my lessons. Knowing what needs to be revised throughout the
sessions and identifying students progress is essential to both student and teacher.
Knowing how the students likes to learn is also important as it is an indication of
other difficulties the student may have such as writing/reading trouble. Doing so will
help me promote equality and diversity when delivering the lesson. At this stage, if
any students need extra support I will also be in the position to provide them with
information on where to seek support so as to meet the school standards.

Ill do a follow up assessment to identify specific student needs helping me create a

personal profile for each student with an Individual Learning Plan.

A Teacher is an Assessor.

Having the role of an Assessor I must respect the limits of my job. If some of the
findings from the initial assessments require support that is beyond my competence
I should proceed by referring the student appropriately. If, for example a student is
having trouble within his household, I should refer this student the appropriate
school department or other individual whose role matches the students problem.
This is where it is also important to know the limits of my role. It would be extremely
unprofessional for a teacher to help a student in financial difficulty by giving him/her
money.

A Teacher is a Planner.

Being a teacher means I am also a planner. My role requires me to plan lessons in

an effective and appropriate way. Giving student a Fair Play environment promoting
equality at the same time as engaging with diverse activities. This requires me to
use different teaching methods specific to the class. For example, using the Total
Physical Response method combined with the Direct Method can create a very
dynamic class for my younger students.

Planning and laying out different possible scenarios of what could happen or go
wrong is essential to delivering a successful session as it will guide me in the
delivery of this session. My planning will vary based on the individual needs
gathered from the initial assessments. Without planning, I might not meet my
students needs resulting in a delay in the delivery of the curriculum which is
dissatisfying for both the students and teacher. Students then in turn feel like they
have not been catered for and start to feel demotivated. As a teacher I would feel
like I have not successfully played my role as a planner.

I am also responsible for planning ongoing assessments in a way that meets the
individual students needs. Doing so promotes diversity, equality and inclusion
within the class. Depending on the individuals in questions, it is important to use
different methods of assessments combining simple observation, professional
discussion or even oral questioning.

Adding to the list of planning, I also have the responsibility to ensure my students
are involved in my class planning. Students should always be given the opportunity
to prepare for an assessment as it increases their confidence and sense of
ownership. Speaking from experience, some of the most destabilizing moments at
school where when the teacher decided to come in one day with a surprise
assessment or test. Putting students in such situations makes them feel
overwhelmed.

The planning of class sessions should be involve students and meet their individual
needs by using a mix of the different teaching methods to promote a fair and
effective assessment. For example a student might prefer to do an assessment in
the morning because he/she has other exams in the afternoon. This gives them a
sense of ease and fulfilment because they feel involved in the planning process
therefore meeting his/her personal needs.

A teacher an Information Provider (Lecturer).

Referencing the teaching methods provided by teflonline.com, the roles requires me

to deliver teaching as a planned information provider promoting equality and
diversity. While doing so its important that a teacher also takes note of the impact
different cultures have on learning, especially when teaching abroad. When
planning a teaching session, the teacher should develop the lesson material to suit
different cultural and social contexts. I must therefore be prepared to offer a broad
selection of material to ensure I can meet the needs of an individual class of
students. It is my duty to be able to produce teaching materials appropriate to the
learning group for a variety of purposes and target audiences.

A class is composed of students who each have different ways of learning as well as
being at different levels and if I am to satisfy their needs I will have to use all
teaching tools at my disposal. In my case as an ESL English teacher I will be
essentially using tefllonline.coms flashcards, lesson plans, and library combined
with in class demonstrations. When used, these teaching tools will encourage a
diverse language lesson making it easy for my students to understand the lesson I
am teaching them. It will also cater to the different students learning needs. For
example a student who has ease learning with visual content will learn just as well
as the student who has aural facility as the class is taught with a variety of
methods.

A teacher also needs to be a counsellor to his students.

When necessary, I need to be able to use my learnt teaching strategies to help

individual students in their personal needs. I must make sure I show an
understanding of the responsibilities but also the boundaries of my Role. For
example, referring them to specialist services when the matter is outside my role,
being there for moral support when necessary. I must be able to provide my
students with information on where they can find further information, advice or
guidance about their problem. I need to make sure my students understand the
context of the course.

To encourage diversity in my delivery, I should promote the involvement of all the

students in activities instead of ignoring them for any particular reason. My job is to
create learning environments which encourage both culture and ethnic diversity.
Enabling learners from different groups to be able to express their cultural
differences through content will in turn improve the learning process.

Assessments will be put in place upon completion of the class giving relevant
feedback, qualification and/or a finished Individual Learning Plan. This is an
excellent way to give a formal summing up of each students learning achievement. I
am therefore responsible of making the final call on each students progress. This is
also a record of the knowledge of each student at that particular date and time.

A teacher is an evaluator.

Being a teacher, its also my role to evaluate not only how the students have
performed but also judge how I have delivered the course. Doing this evaluation on
a regular basis will dramatically help me improve my performance by looking back
on what I could of done differently or how I could improve on my delivery. My
students should also be given the chance to evaluate my work as a teacher. Giving
them the chance to give feedback on whether they achieved something and what
they thought about my various teaching methods is essential to developing a better
understanding of the role as a teacher not to mention the improvements I can then
bring to my delivery in the future.

In my role I may be also subject to observational classes where the school observes
me assessing & giving feedback to then give me feedback on my performance and
how I could improve. If no such methods are in place I could also receive
constructive feedback by asking an experienced colleague to observe me and
reflect on where there is room for improvement. Combining these evaluation
methods on a regular basis will enhance my practicing skills and perfect what I do
as a teacher. This is really about making changes based on the feedback I am given
as I am responsible to adapt & and improve my own teaching methods to meet my
students needs.

A Teacher is a Researcher.

I have to play the role of a Researcher I need to constantly research updated

information in books, journals, over the internet and attend training session to
ensure I know the current teaching standards, new methods and to be on the same
page as my students when in class. This is a role I must take upon myself to
explore, learn, discover and stay focused to grant myself a better knowledge and
understanding.

Finally, Teachers are Students.

Although we, as teachers are in this role on a daily basis we must never stop
learning from what our students can teach us. This is important as it factors in all of
the Roles as a teacher. Students can give us new information/news helping us as
researchers, they can easily and instantly evaluate us and suggest news teaching
ideas (evaluator/planner), they can morally support each other and provide their
classmates with personal advice or guidance (counsellor). They can also be their
own lecturer, teaching all of the class new things when it comes to giving
presentations or sharing social/cultural ideas. Students are also assessors. They
assess and adapt to our teaching techniques when it comes to the delivery of the
session.

The different roles of a teacher are important because they encourage our
accountability among other teachers. Using the different roles to their best will help
meet the personal, organizational goals and individual student needs. We have all
experienced difficult classes where teachers lacked in one of these roles resulting in
chaotic sessions. When these roles are applied they advantage both the teacher
and the students.

By delivering classes which include multiple teaching methods, promoting equality

and diversity while respecting the boundaries a teacher has to work within will
guarantee a fun, purposeful and successful teacher.