Education serves the needs of two main groups: society and the students. Society needs education for its proliferation. To continue to exist and thrive, Pakistani society needs universities to educate students who can reason and make enlightened decisions regarding commerce and government. Moreover, society needs institutions to assimilate its young citizens into its values and ideologies. This ensures “a more peaceable and uniform government. The students need institutions to teach them the knowledge and skills necessary to survive and thrive in Pakistani society. Their education needs to help them reach their potential. Students also need the school to provide them with a feeling of inclusion. In other words, students need to see that they can attain their “Dream” regardless of their present status in life.
The role of teachers is fundamental in blending the needs of society and the needs of the student. In many ways, teachers are society ambassadors who are sent to prepare new citizens for their role in society. Teachers need to be a welcoming force that encourages students to “buy-in” to the learning process and value school’s importance in for the future of the individual. Teachers need to be interpreters who help students understand the world and what society expects of this citizen. Teachers become change agents who plant the ideology of prosperous“dreams” deep within the soul of the students, and then encourage their students to achieve goals and objectives in pursuit of the dream, much like the “intuitional agents”. Teachers are also advocates for the students. They need to understand the student, identify their learning styles, empower them to build their strengths, and work with them to overcome their deficiencies.
Because teachers service both the society and the students, they are often challenged by conflicting needs. For teachers the most challenging question becomes “Who will I serve?” This question becomes even more difficult when we go beyond the ideal concepts of students and society and look at the actual conditions. As we have discussed throughout our class, Pakistan is somewhat ethnically diverse. Within a single classroom there can be multiple first languages, diverse cultures and religions, multiple economic conditions, and a vast continuum of knowledge and abilities. “No life is the same.” Hence no student is the same, which means you can’t exactly treat every student the same. To say you can fails to acknowledge individual needs. Correspondingly, society is very ambiguous. Our political structure, our invasive popular culture, and our corporate-media strongholds send us very conflicting messages. How does a teacher prepare a student for a society that is difficult to understand?
Realistically, no teacher will ever meet the needs of everyone all the time. I personally advocate that teachers work within the system to teach in a way that they believe will best serve the “public good.” In other words, teaching should be a decision making process. Teachers must rely on their reason, their experience, and their morals to best meet the needs of society and students. They need to be in tune with how their students are learning and adjusting, while being aware of what the current political-economy wants from its students even if that means dealing with “No Student Left Behind”. They must also be reflective of their effectiveness as a teacher. They should be the “life learners” and study their profession, subject matter, and their students as best they can. To best serve their students and the society, teachers must be as effective as they can be.
I believe that one of the foundations of becoming an effective teacher is by building relationships. In my own experience I begin this process by building rapport with my students. When I meet them, I make them feel welcome, I treat them with kindness, and I try to get to know them on a personal level. I have found that rapport opens the lines of communication so that when learning occurs, I have the attention of the student. A teacher who focuses on the relationship with the student, gains a means to motivate the student. If the student believes that the teacher values the student’s ability and individuality, they will be more likely to perform. When I was a student, I always put more effort into the classes of the teachers I liked and respected. I often liked them because they talked to me, or gave me positive feedback. In the same regard, if a teacher focuses on their relationship with a student, the teacher can better judge a student’s ability, commitment, and interest. Sometimes this means reading into body language. I was teaching a group of BBA students, and one of them was extremely reserved about volunteering to take parts in skits or answering questions. When I started paying more attention to her physical queues I realized that she was disappointed when she did not participate. I realized I needed to invite her to volunteer. By the end of the class she was one of the first to volunteer and chime in. By listening to your student with ears and eyes, you can better understand and reach the student.
Because relationships are so vital to the success of the student and the teacher, the teacher must be an approachable figure. The student needs to feel safe going to the teacher to ask questions, reflect ideas, or just talk. The student needs to see the teacher as a friendly and nurturing figure. “The moment a students’ mind is affected by fear, it flies instinctively away and hides itself in the deepest recesses it can find.” It is therefore advocated for teachers to be nurturers and not stringent disciplinarians. An approachable teacher is one who is diligent in remembering to “maintain or enhance the self esteem” throughout interactions with the student. In other words, even when we are giving feedback for improvement, we need to also give credit to what they did right. If we do not, we run the risk of demoralizing and alienating our student. We also run the risk of losing respect.
Respect is an important concept for the teacher and the student. Most educators would agree that when students respect their teachers and their peers, things run smoother and more time is spent on intellectual pursuits. Some would also suggest that the teacher should be respected based on position. Perhaps this notion of respecting authority worked forty years ago, but our culture doesn’t tend to show respect like it once did. If society’s leaders can’t appear respectful to their peers, how can we expect our students to be respectful? If we want respectful students, we need to teach them to respect, show them how to respect. "Be the change you want to see in the world." If teachers want respect, they need to model respect. Hence, they need to become teachers of morals by being moral teachers.
Due to conflicting religious and cultural views many will argue that institutions cannot indoctrinate students with a strict moral code. Teachers can, however, teach morality by example. Our society has embraced the idea of work ethic. If a teacher exemplifies this work ethic and relays how hard work has brought good things to them, students will better conceptualize what a work ethic is, see its value, and perhaps imitate the teacher. If a student sees a teacher use multiple methods to teach concepts, students will begin to value resourcefulness. If a teacher shows empathy toward someone with special needs or encourages the student to think about how somebody different feels, students will begin to show empathy in their interactions.
Perhaps some of the strongest moral instruction is through studying of the actual content. Teaching is a special practice because “no other practices place both intellectual and moral development at their center in the formal and public way that teaching does. I believe that even through the pursuit of knowledge students can develop morally. Science confronts moral dilemmas such topics as cloning and stem cell research. The history of Pakistan brings other moral dilemmas such as poverty, nepotism and oppression. Through studying these moral dilemmas, students becomes more aware of the moral the decisions that they will confront in society. They will also learn critical thinking skills which become a powerful tool in their life in society.
The powers of the person are what education wishes to perfect. I believe we need to teach our students how to use their knowledge, their power. We certainly need citizens who are empowered to think critically and make moral decisions. We also need citizens to gain power by their employment. I believe that all pursuits of knowledge are important to the growth of the individual, but I also believe that we need to show students how to apply their knowledge to enhance their employable skills. Students need employable skills, society needs skilled workers.
Educators need to listen to the needs of society and ready their students to fill necessary roles. For example, there is a growing shortage of medical workers. When the baby boomers begin to need more assisted living, this shortage will increase and pose definite health risks. Teachers have the ability and influence to encourage and prepare students to pursue business or other needed professions.
Teachers are therefore society’s instrument in preparing its new citizens for the future. They also play a key role in helping the student find their way in to that society. I believe that my effectiveness in meeting the needs my students and society stems on my ability to build relationships and the self esteem of the students. It is through my relationship that I will be able to engage them into a learning process, influence them by the quality of my character, help them to think critically and make moral and informed decisions, and prepare them for a society that needs their skills and knowledge.
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