It goes without saying that teachers are responsible for the change that takes place in learners. Their words and actions trigger positive behavioural and attitudinal changes in learners. But teachers’ role as change agents is not limited to the school setting and their learners. In the communities where literacy rate is low and people are not aware of their rights and responsibilities, lack ideas on good health habits, development perspectives, local teachers can act as change agents. Because teachers are conscious and educated, they can cause change to take place in the community settings.
In Nepal, mainly in rural setting teachers are looked up to by local people for their education. The respect gets better when the children go to schools and tell their parents all good things about their teachers. For kids, anything teachers tell is 100% true; they tend to defend their arguments saying: My teacher says so. So, many teachers in Nepal try to send messages to illiterate parents through these kids. Most messages are about health habits, girl’s education, early marriage, use of modern tools, improved farming etc. Students learn pre-vocational subjects in Grades six and seven. They work with wooden materials, knitting, weaving, cookery, sewing etc. for which teachers ask children to try to get help from their parents so that some parents may indirectly learn these skills. When there are celebrations in the family, teachers from the local school are always invited. The conversations between the teachers and the parents are about moral things. Majority of Nepalese schools teachers in rural areas are non-smokers as they think they are role models in the community. No wonder that cigarettes have a very poor market in the villages. As English teachers have of the luxury of knowing non-local language and culture, they bring in more change elements in to the communities.
Are the teachers in your community seen as change agents as I mention above? If yes, what social changes do they facilitate? Are you also doing something?
Please share your thoughts and experiences. We can always imitate these good things.
Laxman
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Hello everybody,
I agree with you, you are completely right and I have a good memory about this issue from my childhood. It was the second month of the first year of school that my teacher took me out of the class towards the school yard and showed me some sparrows. He added that those sparrows had sent him a message that I had eaten some candy the previous night without my mom's permission. I became very surprised but believed the whole story and promised him not to do that again. This event shows the teacher's role as a model since he had proved it with his good character that a teacher can't be a liar. However, those days, teachers were different in character than today. They had no monitory problems as they do today; they had less anxiety and were more patient. They were friendlier with children, had better behavior, smoked less, and were more responsible because they were not worried about a shelter to live in or struggling with the high inflation.
I believe that if we employ healthy teachers with good standard moral behavior and pay them enough money so as to enable them to survive in this price inflated society they can play a good role in changing the society. I mean that a teacher must have been changed himself according to accepted standard morals then he might be able to change the others and finally the society.
Our teachers can give us the lesson of friendship and forgiveness,
To respect our parents, teachers and the older,
To take care of weak people and our environment,
To tolerate what is beyond our control,
To be content with what Allah has given us, no jealousy,
Never trespassing other land s or countries
Peace against enmity, to live in a safe society,
To believe that we are not better or higher than others
Best wishes
Ali asghar Mazinanian
Shahrood, Iran
Dear Ali,
Thank you for your comment which shows that teachers can change the total psychological perspective of young children. They can shape how children think and behave.
I think most of us had similar experiences when we were young. So, I invite you all to share your experiences that you had when you were young particularly when your teacher did or said something that changed you or others you knew. Also please share what you have seen done by teachers to raise awareness in your community.
As Francis Bacon said: Sharing happiness with friends redoubles your own happiness.
Laxman from Nepal
Dear Laxman
It is great to see that more and more teachers are becoming aware of our role as educators, and therefore, agents of change. We have been working with these ideas of global citizenship education in English language teacher development programmes in Latin America for three years now and more and more teachers are engaging in an educational process that takes global and local issues into the classroom.
I totally agree that what teachers say cause many times a profound influence on learners, but I would like to point out the vice-versa is also true. Students also influence teachers a lot because they are the ones who actually teach us what works and what doesn't work in the classroom. It is observing our students that we are able to test our teaching theories and see their validity.
Besides that, the way we see it, both teachers and learners have different knowledges of the world and it is the process of sharing and discussing their realities and possible changes that will make knowledge been constructed in the clasroom. At the end of the day we can only be agents of change if this change is constructed bottom-up and different knowledges are taken into consideration. We are all teachers and learners in a truely educational process.
Looking forward to hearing your comments.
Cheers
Chris Lima
Best Nik Peachey | Learning Technology Consultant, Writer, Trainer
http://nikpeachey.blogspot.com/ http://quickshout.blogspot.com/
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Mercedes
Dear Nik,
I agree with you that when we have power, we should use it wisely. We definitely have some power as teachers: power to decide, power to pass or fail the young ones, power to convince those who came to us because they were convinced that we know what we are supposed to know. If we utter an wrong idea or display a wrong behaviour, we may become role models for such things. Hope we are not such role models.
Best regards
Laxman from Nepal
Dear all,as educators of this new millenium and as teachers of English, a global language, we have the "power" to invoice our students and help them express what they feel or think in English. This incredible possibility enables our students to gain a tool for mutual understanding in this 21st century. As a teacher from Argentina, I do understand what Laxman and Cris meant; in contexts of this sort, educating people to become active participants of this global village is a must. While teaching so, we surely become agents of change...Best regards
Jorgelina Carlassare
Mar del Plata, Argentina
Dear all, Of course the teachers are the agents of social change so I agree with Laxman sir and others commenting over here. Specially English teachers in the remote socio-cultural settings of Nepal are given high prestige and they are the people for introducing advanced civilization in the society. They are the core models of the society, the sample for other teachers too. At the time I was learning in a school during my school age, I together with other friends used to imitate almost every thing of the our English teacher. May be due to that reason, I am an English teacher now. This type of matter may be common to many in the societies. Similarly the teachers are the sole source of every political, economic, cultural and educational knowledge in the society, mostly in the places where there is no access to the internet, print and electronic media.
hope we will have this type of sharing in the days to come too.
Regards,
prem
hi all ,
Nobody can deny deny the crucial role that teachers can play in promoting change in learners .However ,some teachers use this power negatively .they indoctrinate their students with the wrong ideas In fact they lack this sense of responsibility and give themselves the right to impress their students by tellingmythical stories about their personal life .they become fake heroes in the eyes of their students As a teacher of English in highschool here in morocco ,i believe in committment ,responsibilty and hard work .Therefore change comes in creeping into the classroom .It comes as a fascinating effect of a good and responsible teaching .So students just breathe a fresh air of change.They not only speak well about their teacher ,but also try to implement his ideas.In short ,sharing and caring just leads to a very effective learning atmosphere .Thus ,social change takes place .
Houcine Tourchli
Beni Mellal ,Morocco .
Dear Laxman
I'm grateful 2 u 4inspiring me by ur writing .I agree with u that we , teachers, r the tool of change n our societies bec.we have the power of change !( education).Believe me i feel this especially n my area n Upper Egypt as we still have alot of uneducated parents who deprive girls of completing their study, here comes my role to increase selfe esteem n my students then have lomg talkes with their parents trying to convince them of the advantages of education 4 their daughters .I believe it's a hard task but i'm sure i was created 4 this change .
I stringly believe that if we ,teachers don't shake the boat of our society and get rid of our traditional ways of teaching , will never c our countries as we hope .
thnx again dear Laxman and thnx 2 all teachers who replied i really appreciets every comment i read
Violet
Teacher Of English
High school
Egypt