It is not possible to deny the essential role that rests with the teacher today for the success of the educational process. This role multiplies dozens of times in third-world countries for several reasons, the most important of which is the existence of a large gap between the educational systems and the reality of the students, and this requires the teacher to make every effort to bridge this gap and fix it. What can be reformed to achieve educational goals?
Added to this is an additional burden that is evident in today’s generation being radically different from previous generations in many aspects, the most important of which is the method of perception, interests, goals, motives, and even the view of the educational process itself. Based on the great importance of the educational process, and the great role played by the teacher in its success, especially with the great developments that the world is witnessing in all fields and sectors, and our belief in the great capabilities of our children; These abilities just need someone to support, understand and direct them to the right path.
The teacher faces the challenges of the new era:
The primary function that was assigned to the teacher in the past is education. That is, the transfer of knowledge and experiences to the students, and with the great development witnessed by the educational systems throughout the ages, new jobs appeared for the teacher, jobs that are no less important than the basic job, even if they revolve in the same orbit.
Contrary to expectations, the great technological development that the world is witnessing today did not have a supposed positive impact on the education sector, so the so-called crisis of contemporary education appeared, especially in developing countries. The incapacity and negligence that prevented it from catching up with this increasing and accelerating development day after day, and is due to a large number of reasons that we are not currently about to mention.
But in short, we can attribute the primary responsibility for this deficit to officials in the educational sector who did not provide the appropriate tools and were unable to devise appropriate methods, methods, and curricula that help keep pace with this civilizational caravan.
Returning to the teacher, whom we find today besieged by his social conditions, psychological and material pressures, and even by the lack of qualification and training he received before entering the field of education, and despite that, he is required to raise the level of education and achieve what can be achieved of educational goals, and this is one of the great challenges he faces on his way. To become a successful teacher.
Therefore, before starting to talk about the students themselves and the characteristics they possess today that are completely different from the past, which impose on the teacher radical changes in his methods and tools, we will present some of the basics that every teacher must have to ensure his success:
- The ability to re-process the information that he has to convey to the students and adapt it in a way that is compatible with the level of understanding of the students and their abilities and individual differences and this requires the teacher to have a great understanding of the nature of the material that he provides.
- Rousseau says, addressing his words to the teacher: “Begin to know your children.” You will never succeed as a teacher if you cannot delve into the characteristics and nature of each stage of children’s development, and this necessarily requires relying on the teacher’s readings in psychology in general and educational psychology in particular. Because you will be able to face any difficulties or obstacles that you may encounter during your teaching.
- As a teacher, it is your responsibility to make the material attractive and interesting to the students with love and passion, and this requires you to research a lot in teaching methods to choose the most appropriate for your educational material, otherwise, you will present a material that is repulsive, dry and incomprehensible.
- Your primary goal should be for students to understand your material; This is because understanding is the best way to make students self-confident and more able to recall information in the future.
- Knowing everything related to the subject you teach, and not entering the class before excellently preparing the lesson in all aspects.
2. What are the characteristics of today’s students?
The students of the current era differ from the students of previous generations, and this is a fact that is not just talk. The experiences and studies of psychologists and educators have proven that the standards and methods that were used in the past to measure mental abilities and to evaluate the levels of thinking among students are no longer applicable today. As mental abilities have become much more complex and richer than they were.
In contrast to the talk that is circulated in social circles first and then in education about the difficulty of dealing with this generation in terms of the decline in their mental abilities; The studies were clear in this regard, and the emerging problems in dealing with today’s students are not related to the student’s mental abilities and cognitive levels. It is based on the difference in their nature, interests, and the things that arouse their attention, and the failure of the school, the curricula, and the teachers to keep pace with the developments that occurred in this generation, and the constant attempt to cram them with the qualities and characteristics of the generations that preceded them, and this is the crux of the problem.
This is the system of contemporary life today and the huge amount of information it contains flows to our children from all sides. Any movement, no matter how simple, opens the door to learning that is no longer confined to the school and what the teacher teaches to the students. Even this method has become completely rejected.
In short, then, it can be said that today’s students are different from the cognitive point of view from the students of past years, and they are more urgent in seeking explanations and asking about everything that surrounds them, and not accepting and believing everything that is said to them, and the school today in general and the teacher, in particular, must take this change into account.
The student is the focus and foundation of the educational process, and the role of the prompter that the teacher used to play in the past is no longer useful. The teacher is now only a guide and has to provide appropriate explanations for educational problems to develop students’ logical judgments and sound thinking methods that are far from parrot memorization without conveying the meaning.
The right way for the teacher to deal with students in the era of technology:
Many factors today must be taken into account by the teacher, and many of the qualities that he must enjoy, and many experiences and capabilities that he must develop and develop to be able to succeed as a teacher in light of the contemporary conditions that led to a clear decline in terms of desire and motivation for learning on the part of the students.
In the following, we will present a set of methods to help you, as a teacher, to deal correctly with your students in a way that motivates and encourages them to learn:
- Academic failure is not only a cognitive issue, and every teacher should fully realize this, as psychological crises are among the reasons that stand in the way of student success, the nature of contemporary life today, and the large number of psychological pressures that students are exposed to due to the great openness to the world that always pushes them to compare their lives. The lives of others affect their ability to understand and assimilate, and thus their achievement declines. We have two brains working together, Goleman says. What is meant by that is mental performance and emotional intelligence, and without this partnership, things will not go as they should. Therefore, taking care of the mental health of students by teachers has become a priority today, and of course, this role of the teacher is nothing but the completion of the role of the parents.
- The teacher’s enjoyment of a high degree of psychological health is one of the very important things whose importance should never be ignored. As a teacher, you must have a great ability to separate your private life from your problems and never bring them into the classroom with you. This would directly reflect on the students’ psychology and how they receive information.
- We can never talk about a successful teacher without talking about his ability to establish an excellent relationship with his students. It is never enough to approach the minds of the students without approaching their hearts first, and the aforementioned can be measured in ourselves. How many times have we said that the teacher of this subject was a reason for our love for her without others? This aspect, although it was not given its due by many teachers, was one of the main reasons for the teacher’s failure to reach his educational goal and the students’ aversion to his subject.
- Continuing to learn and not being satisfied with the information that you obtained during your university studies. Also, you must keep abreast of the technological developments that dominate the world today, especially for children and adolescents. If you do not understand the world to which your students belong, you will never be able to understand them, and then you will not be able to use the tools And the appropriate means to attract them to the scientific material that you provide. Linking education with technology is a must, and this is what happened in developed countries, while third world countries are still unable to keep pace with this development in terms of their educational system, curricula, and tools, and this has placed a heavy burden on the teacher who has become forced to develop his tools.
- The teacher must also have the ability to link the educational material to the student’s environment and life, and this makes it easier for him to understand and assimilate it.
- Taking into account individual differences is also an important aspect that makes you a successful teacher. Students certainly do not have the same abilities, but there is certainly a distinctive aspect in each of them that you have to discover.
in conclusion:
The responsibility that lies with the teacher is never easy, as dealing with children is a very delicate and difficult matter, and it requires him to be in a state of complete vigilance for every detail that occurs, so sometimes one word can destroy years of fatigue and negatively affect the student’s psyche and make him hate the subject; So always be keen – as a teacher – to create balance in the classroom and rely on flexibility as a basis.
It doesn’t work to be strict all the time and it’s not easy either; Rather, you must deal with each situation in a different way according to its privacy and circumstances, and you must always remember that education is one of the most sacred professions, so do everything you have to preserve this holiness.
