A simple definition of the role of a teacher is “one who teaches.”  In an educational setting, it is a person who has achieved a particular degree from an accredited university which gives them the knowledge to teach others.  In the traditional classroom setting, it is the person who is hired to insure that students are taught by the guidelines of a given subject area (for Kentucky, it is the Program of Studies and Core Content 4.1).  But how does any of this define the role of a teacher?

I believe that a teacher defines their own role in the classroom, based on their own experiences.  There are many outside influences that make a teacher who they are.  What courses have they taken; did they go the traditional route of teaching (student teaching experience) or take the alternative certification?; what kinds of things did their mentor teacher show them?; how many years of experience do they have in the classroom?; have they engaged in professional development?; what kind of support did they receive from administration, from other teachers, from parents?; and do they have a strong work ethic?

This last question is a quality that good teachers have.  Teachers with a good work ethic will take the time to find activities that make the classroom interesting to students.  They will see out advice from colleagues when something doesn’t go well with a lesson.  They will spend endless hours searching the Internet for any information to help them do a better job.  To answer the question of “Is teaching imposed on you?” or “Does it rise from within?”, I say that good teachers possess a certain quality that rises from within; it is like they are naturals at their jobs.  I have seen a first year teacher exhibit the good qualities of a veteran teacher–how did she do it?  I wonder the same thing myself.  She did come from a family of teachers, her mom, her sister.

Then there are teachers who have teaching imposed on them.  They have outside influences that lead them down the path of teaching, and they do what they need to do in order to do a good job.

The role of the learner is a hard one to define.  In many ways, we are all learners.  We are still acquiring knowledge from events and social interactions around us.  In the educational setting, it is a structured relationship between the teacher and the student.  We hope that with whatever method we choose as a teacher, that students will gain that knowledge, thereby making them learners.  Learners are those who are being educated, and it isn’t always by teachers.  Kids are good at teaching each other things, family members are good teachers,  strangers can be good teachers, television can teach.  I think learning is when someone knows something in the moment that they did not know before a given experience, a social interaction, a given circumstance.

The role of a teacher in the classroom is to be a facilitator to guide students towards learning.  It should be more than just lecture, it needs to have student involvement, whether it be discussions or projects or group work.  It needs to build on prior knowledge.  Sometimes, the role of a teacher is to review, to bring back the student’s remembrance of that prior knowledge, in order to lead them forward into learning new material.  A teacher is supportive, giving extra assistance where needed, showing students where they are going astray and bringing them back on the right track.  Teachers are motivators, encouraging students to want to learn, and giving them sound reasons behind what they are learning.

The online classroom has taken away the face to face element of teaching, but it offers innovative ways of learning that can be incorporated into the regular classroom.  Expectations are clearly posted at the beginning of the course, readings are posted that enhance learning in the course, online learners are required to communicate with each other via emails, discussion boards, blogs, chats, etc. , assignments are communicated with specific deadlines, and because they are accessible to everyone, there is no need for coming up with makeup work.  Online students are responsible for researching topics as needed.  The intimidation factor is removed because communication takes place via written word, which is very precise, versus spoken word, which is subject to interpretation.