Technology cannot replace a teacher
At a time of wi-fi campuses and technology-enabled classrooms, the role of a teacher is still crucial, and will continue to be
NO amount of good infrastructure or technology-enabling can make a child learn without a teacher in a classroom. In other words, a teacher's role cannot be undermined, no matter how techsavvy the classroom may be. In fact, today, the role of a teacher has become more of a facilitator, a role model, a counsellor and most importantly, a friend who students can relate to, instead of merely being a talking head in a classroom.
The role of a teacher today is more of a co-learner in a classroom, agrees Simmi Kher, director, The Indian Heights School, Dwarka. She adds: “It is while teaching that a teacher learns, unlearns and re-learns. Teaching is a continuous process where a teacher ends up being much more than a facilitator and a guide.”
The role of a teacher is always crucial in a classroom, feels Udai Lauria, a senior educationist. He says: “A teacher is one person who can help children to assess their full potential. Therefore, teachers constantly need to update themselves about concepts, patterns and fast changing technology in order to calibrate and assess views of students.” He adds, “Teachers should not rate a child. Rather, they should assess their learning, and this can be achieved only when students and teachers have a healthy relationship and support each other.”
Similarly, Sujatha Ramadorai, member, National Knowledge Commission, says: “The curriculum may be bookish and textbooks outdated, but teaching methodologies and ideas are not. Therefore, it depends on a teacher how s/he deals with a subject and makes it interesting for students by adding own experiences, real life examples and research among others.”
She adds: “Teachers also play an important role in conveying the reality behind abstracts. Subjects like mathematics rely heavily on cumulative knowledge and early years are critical. Therefore, students need inspired teachers who instil a sense of confidence in them and they also feel equally motivated to study.”
GROWING CONCERNS
It is increasingly being found that the motivation levels of teachers is going down due to high student-teacher ratio, poor infrastructure, remuneration not at par with other professions and social acceptance.
Shares Sasmita Mohanty, principal, Presidency School, Bangalore: “I have found that teachers show great enthusiasm at the time of recruitment but gradually, their commitment and motivation level goes down.” The reason being, she adds: “The teaching profession has become more of an industrial sector now with its own set of problems like deadlines and work pressure and thus, teachers lose patience easily.”
Teachers, on the other hand, strongly feel that remuneration is an issue as they are not paid at par with other professions. As a result, the profession fails to attract quality teachers.
Says Mohammad Akhtar Siddiqui, chairperson, National Council for Teacher Education: “There is a lack of commitment on the part of teachers also, which is leading to the crunch. As the IT boom has led to lucrative alternate careers, the profession is losing on quality staff.”
Sita Laxmi Vishwanath, principal, Amrita Vidyalam, Chennai also harbours a similar notion. She says: “The IT boom today is not only attracting the fresh talent with lucrative opportunities, but also the existing one, hence it is a challenge to both attract and retain quality staff.”
POSSIBLE SOLUTION
Granting more academic autonomy is the need of the hour, says Monika Chopra, a PGT in chemistry, N C Jindal School, Punjabi Bagh. She adds: “Teachers should be provided with avenues to discuss new pedagogical developments, instead of making them work within such restraints that there is no scope for experimentation or innovation. So if they are given a responsibility, they should also be given some academic autonomy.”
Says Siddiqui: “The teacher-student ratio should also be maintained to ensure quality. Ideally, it should be 1:25 but mostly, it is 1:40, which is affordable.” Likewise, Lauria says: “The teaching process is evolving and classroom teaching will be more interesting if teachers use their creativity to make lessons easy to understand for students. This can be achieved with greater autonomy.”
Sunil Sharma
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