On his work from "Journal of Invitational Theory and Practice", Prof. Jhon Ivers posed the following question: Is the Great American Teacher Dead?
I'm sure that many high school students like to think so while struggling in math classes all over the USA, but Prof. Ivers makes the case for hope in the quest for excellence in teaching, and how to achieve it.
Using a historical event involving a very discouraged Demosthenes, trying to find the cure for his lack of skills as a public speaker, he explained that is not only about what you say but rather how to present your ideas what really matters.
He later compares American teachers (But could be teachers anywhere really) to Demosthenes's pursuit of excellence and contemplates the thought that many might not even be aware of their shortcomings. Teachers, because of their role in education, are a the battlefront of education and the need to be on our best game was never more evident.
Before we embark on a dissection of what a teacher should be or do, lets pause for a moment to mention important facts about learning.
Most of us, as he described, are conditioned by our cultural and preconceived notions at the time to make sense of our reality, and that needs to change. If we are to understand with more clarity, reality must be understood from the outsider's point of view.
Prof. Ivers mention, to make this point, the visit of an anthropologist from Italy to an American university. She surprised the faculty there with her findings. Her conclusion was that American students were not very deep intellectually.
Who's to blame? The teachers, the students lack of interest, the ill-conceived educational polities?
While some might like to dwell on these questions and find the culprits, the approach in how to fix this academic dilemma was given in the article.
In a quote from William W. Purkey, a former professor, you can read: "the most important aspect of a teacher is to be romantic"
The idea behind this notion is that teachers should embrace the goal of making a difference. Topics of relevance must be included in the curricula, such as hunger, war, poverty, so students could make sense of the world they live in while acquiring the skills needed to improve it.
Classes with this content are set to be interesting or at least create constructive discussions.
Another great point in this article is the notion that environmental factors can influence human achievement.
By creating such conditions in the classroom, we might set the stage for learning acquisition. Encouragement, positive feedback, and engaging material must be introduced form the very beginning.
Is even stated that every 10 minutes the student's attention must be reboot by inserting the like of material we previously mentioned.
While I simply mentioned a few of the points made by Prof. Ivers, my opinion on this matter is that we should always keep that drive that got us into to teaching fresh, and open our minds to the idea that students are not abstract objects in a classroom, but rather agents for change in a world in despair need for improvement.
