The circumstances for all the teachers all over the world are not same. Mostly in developing countries, they are facing a lot of problems such as low salaries, less resources, non-cooperative and unprofessional management and low social status. Keeping in mind these problems, a teacher needs to carry out following roles at least.
Updated Knowledge
Minimum requirement for a teacher is to keep his knowledge up to date. It is compulsory as every day there is a new research and changes in the existing knowledge. So, if a teacher does not keep himself in touch with new and updated knowledge, then he is not doing justice with his profession. Student who is a product based on such type of teaching will not be able to compete the international market. Already, it is obvious that poor countries are not only poor economically but also have poor education system which is the main reason of their decline. So, it is very important for a teacher to keep his knowledge up to date.
Activity Based Teaching
I have a point of view that it is very unrealistic to demand a daily, systematic lesson plan from a teacher who is facing above mentioned problems. But I am strongly in favor of presenting content through at least one or two well integrated activities. So, a teacher should not compromise on activity based teaching. According to me, this is the crux of teaching.
Learner Centered and Communicative Approach
If as a teacher, you want your learners to be confident, creative, productive and independent, there is no alternative to this approach. They should be given chances to explore themselves because every individual is born with different abilities and potentials, so we should confine them to only according to our own single way of thinking.
Variation in Methodology
Teacher should keep on varying the teaching methodology according to the topic and the subject because each topic and subject has its own unique nature and requirement. Same method each time will not serve the purpose and students will become demotivated. For example, you cannot teach science just through book reading. Instead you use methods like demonstration, heuristic or projects etc.
Reflective Teaching
Being reflective is key to success for a teacher. Without it teaching will be stagnant and consequently will have results accordingly. A reflective teacher carries out reflection of his work through proven and systematic reflective techniques and methods and he modify his activities and work in the light of authentic and valuable reflection. He knows about more than one ways of reflection.
Keeping Level with Students
Sometimes unknowingly, teacher does not keep in mind the level of students such as age or grade, and consequently, it leads to an understanding gap between student and teacher. Students will lose their interest and there will be no learning. So, a teacher should keep in mind the level of the students while teaching.
In a nutshell, above given are the minimum roles which are compulsory for a teacher to perform to justify his teaching.
