I believe the role of an educator is to facilitate learning and growth by providing information in a variety of ways that create interest in each individual student and in the class as a whole. Information that is presented in ways that are interesting and relevant to students is more meaningful and has a greater likelihood of being absorbed and retained. The teacher should provide the spark to get the fire for learning going in the students and fan the flames to keep it burning.
Teachers can do this by exploring what motivates and interests students and tailoring their lessons to those answers as much as possible. The following questions can help guide this process: What do the students already know about the subject? What do they want to know? What have they learned about the presentation of the material? Students who are asked to play a part in planning are more motivated and inspired to take an interest in the joy of learning (and not just taking in enough to get by).
I personally have a joy of learning and part of my role as an educator is to show my students what that looks like, how I benefit from it and inspire them to seek the same for themselves. I expect students to be accountable for their own efforts. Students will find that if devote time and effort into the learning process, they will be pleased with their results. Students who are unwilling to put in the time and effort will receive appropriate results for that as well. The teacher’s job is to facilitate the process, but is up to the students to make the process happen. However, the teacher should make herself available to the students to guide, mentor and motivate her students through this process. Since students have different learning styles, information and learning exercises should be presented in ways that encourage each of these styles to shine. Students should be given clear expectations of what is expected of them. Feedback should be constructive and timely. Time should be given during each class session for student’s to share personal stories and experiences relative to the subject matter, ask questions and exchange information.
Education has become largely drive my test scores, even at the preschool level. There is so much more to learning than the results of a developmental screening, assessment or standardized test. My personal goal as an educator is to help students develop a love for learning that they can pass on to others. At the same time, I know that measurable outcomes are a way of life in the world of education and a balancing act must occur. I believe finding the balance to be quite achievable by maintaining knowledge of benchmark requirements, organized planning and motivating the students to be part of the learning process.