Impression of Teaching as a Profession - Essay Example

? Teaching Profession Impression of Teaching as a Profession with the Reality of the room and School Experience Teachers work in an environment characterized by uncertainty and change. Teaching profession requires a positive attitude, purposed frame of mind and distinct aura necessary for acquiring the willingness fundamental for a motivated teacher. Teachers are expected to nurture attributes, skills and capacities in the young people that will enable them succeed and prosper in the knowledge society. The profession is bloated with many responsibilities stemming from imparting knowledge to students to modifying their personalities. Thus, the profession requires effective socialization, providing the necessary foundations for a responsible citizen, and providing emotional support. The first impression of teaching is formed in the student life when a teacher conducts their role responsibly. This creates a notion that teaching is a noble profession that caters for the academic, emotional or spiritual needs of the learners. Effective and efficient childhood interaction between teachers and young learners creates a positive image of teaching as an industrious job. Students do not come into contact with the practical details and challenges associated with teaching; thus, the worth of teaching in a classroom context should not be weighed upon professional hassles and practical work. The current first time teachers fail to realize that professional knowledge is no longer viewed as a constituent of explicit and fixed knowledge base. Sharpe (2004) posits that knowledge exists in use, and any advancements or modification is caused by experience. Therefore, when teachers use their knowledge, the mode of its delivery changes the impact of its use among students. Discussion The reality between the impression of teaching and reality can be explained by the nature of having unfavorable returns or when the experience conforms to the initial impression. The transformation from student life to teacher status may lead into a different feeling that may make a first time teacher uncomfortable. This can be viewed as a negative stroke considering the earlier positive impression and willingness to indulge in the profession. Most students view the teaching profession as an uncomplicated and easy knowledge delivery task full of excitement and fun. However, this notion is blown away once they become teachers and encounter the responsibilities required of them such as effectiveness, high-end communication skills, hard work, creativity and determination. Dalmau and Gudjonsdottir (2002) affirm this when they state the roles and obligations associated with teaching. They include acting as pedagogues and experts in teaching, reflective and critical problem solvers, knowledge creators and theory builders as well as acting as research and change agents. Those who are not prepared for such commitments get disappointed once they get involved in the profession. Superiority and aggression was normally viewed as the effective measures necessary to instill discipline in students. This notion made most aspiring and first time teachers view this as a privilege associated with the profession. However, the current education systems do not support dictatorial authority but prefer popularly-based authority. The school atmosphere is characterized by negotiation and persuasion rather than confrontation. Most school rules are made by the community as a whole; hence, they are student friendly with the teacher’s input being reduced to that of nurturing and persuading. This requires commitment and dedication of a decided mind. Proponents of democratic school system argue that a school which follows fairly the democratically enacted laws is the one in which community discipline prevails and supports the development of the concept of law and order (Sharpe, 2004). Most learners may regard teaching with a high esteem. Such notion makes them expect recognition and uplifting of their status in the community once they adopt the teaching profession. However, in the modern world, this is not applicable in every culture and region. The emergence of numerous educational channels and disciplines has curtailed dependence on teachers by students. Based on education diversity, the student influence on education affairs has improved leaving the teachers in a vulnerable position. In some situations, teachers have been left at the mercy of the school administration or the student opinion instead of their dedication or qualification. Day (2004) alludes that teachers are the potentially eminent assets towards achievement of a democratically learning society. He also confirms that teachers are expected to develop and sustain a sense of self worth within pupils and create an understanding of the current and future education culture. However, the reality of the teaching profession may conform to the initial impression of the person interested in the profession. This may be the case to those people who have a close association with the career, for instance, if their relatives or close friends are teachers. They are well equipped with the hassles and the in-depth practical work required of a teacher as well as the current issues facing education around their vicinity. Prior knowledge on the reality of teaching enables them to avoid disillusionment during their first teaching experience. The enthusiasm that these people possess enables them to endure all the challenges associated with teaching as they do not consider it as a burden, but a role assumed by choice. Conformity towards initial impression is dependent upon the attitude towards the profession and expectations from the profession. Variation is normal between the prior impression of the profession and the real administrative, accountability and deadline issues. This proves that many people indulge in teaching for various reasons. These reasons may be conflicting with teaching as a profession leading to deterioration in learning and teaching activity. Passionate impression towards teaching enables teachers to be enthusiastic professionals, which when translated to the teaching materials and students it impacts a positive learning disposition. The positive attitude towards knowledge transfer enhances receptivity among students making learning an industrious experience. These teachers often struggle to invigorate the necessary course work materials to capture the students’ interest consistently. Repeated covering of the curriculum may cause boredom among learners leading to disinterest and poor performance (Glenn, Moss and Schwab, 2005). Most aspiring teachers may view enthusiasm in teachers as a normal trait that can be acquired easily, but it requires dedication and commitment. Students highly rate enthusiastic teachers as compared to those who exhibit less enthusiasm. This implies that successful teaching profession is dependent upon the teachers’ efforts and input; laziness in administration of teaching services is not an option. The teacher’s initial view of the profession may be changed by the administration’s imposition of rules and regulations, for instance, the weekly checking of notebooks and formulation of lesson plans. However, this is unavoidable as it is stipulated in the job description of the profession. Those aspiring teachers who expect the profession to be mere knowledge providing activity may be faced by extra burden if provided with extra responsibilities, for instance, preparation of result slips and lesson plans. In many situations, the poor performance of most students is a teacher’s responsibility. Although other factors like genetic and economic factors may affect the student conduct in proficient handling of books, the student-teacher relationship is the most eminent factor. Most first time teachers tend to ignore this fact to minimize their responsibilities and workloads. However, this becomes unavoidable as they indulge more in the profession. Research has showed that positive attitude and motivation towards school by students are closely linked to the student-teacher association (Hargreaves, 2003). Teachers have an obligation to create an effective learning environment for all students to foster the students’ performance. Aligning the student’s personal goals to rhyme with academic goals is an uphill task that is unavoidable to the profession. The personal opinion of the teachers towards students does not matter; they should be friendly and supportive to all students fairly. On the other hand, the opinion of the student towards teacher affects the overall performance. Therefore, teachers are obligated to overlook their personal opinion and focus on changing the students’ opinion through such approaches as advocating students’ participation and decision making, demonstrate their submissive willingness and allow humor during lessons; all meant to make the student receptive. However, the close association and interaction with students has led to increased cases of misconduct, especially sexual misconduct. This has led to reconsideration of the earlier learning strategies with the current views discrediting any form of close association between teachers and students. This barrier has led to deterioration of the performance as well as complicating the entire profession. Students may also take advantage of the leniency portrayed by teachers to divert their attention from academic activities leading to poor performance. Therefore, teaching requires in-depth analysis of the student intentions, in addition to the establishment of a mutual academic-oriented bond. Recommendations Teachers should be satisfactorily trained and familiarized with teaching environment before being provided with an opportunity to make a personal choice on the profession they wish to pursue. Training should include work management skills and practical exercises to boost their effectiveness and efficiency when serving in the profession. In a classroom context, teachers need to personalize learning experiences to ensure fair success of all students. They should also formulate strategies and plans aimed at coping with the increased cultural diversity in classrooms as well as learning norms. Familiarity with the current innovations in curricula and the current digital learning is crucial for learning experiences in schools. Conclusion The current challenge facing teachers is the high performance expectations from the community and educational practitioners. They are required to equip students with necessary skills and competencies necessary for survival in the 21st century; knowledge society. The effects of the first impression on the teaching profession are crucial to the success of teaching activity. Positive impression favors the teachers and makes learning productive. Unfavorable impression leads to disinterest in the activity causing deterioration of the educational process. References Dalmau, M. C., & Gudjonsdottir, H. (2002). Framing professional discourse with teachers. In Loughran, J., & Russell, T. (Eds) Improving teacher education practice through self study. London: Routledge. Day, C. (2004). A passion for teaching. London: Routledge. Glenn, W. J., Moss, D. M., & Schwab, R. L. (2005). Portrait of a profession: Teaching and teachers in the 21st century. Westport, Conn.: Praeger. Hargreaves, A. (2003) Teaching in the Knowledge Society. England: McGraw-Hill Open University Press. Sharpe, R. (2004). How do professionals learn and develop? Implications for staff and education developers. In: Baume, D., & Kahn, P. (Eds) Enhancing staff and educational development. London: Routledge. Read More