Teaching has been recognized as a noble profession ever since the ancient ages. Teachers were considered to be the ultimate source of knowledge. The ultimate light-bearers and individuals who show a beacon light to their students. They scaffold the students by giving them their back. A teacher is expected to transform the life of his or her students.

But is every teacher actually performing a role that is consistent with the status they occupy? Here are 10 unpopular inputs from my end which I personally feel that should be incorporated with the role of a teacher.

1) Beyond Academic Expertise:

Every teacher that is recruited for the purpose of a teaching has a certain command on some disciplines which he or she claims to be proficient about and is ready to deliver and structure concepts accordingly. But with the rise of IT sector and EdTech Industry, the content for any popular discipline is almost available free of cost on platforms like YouTube. In that case, I mean...that the child can possibly learn those concepts from anywhere and they are probably coming to the school to just get the final certificate which is as per rules only awarded by a formal educational setup for further reference.

So, a teacher must realize that academic knowledge is important and is utmost required but what has become more significant these days...is that the teacher should able to help apply the concepts read from text in practical life. Connecting the bookish world with the world of reality to excite them more.

Teachers in this age where mental health issues are grinding many students should emphasize to provide emotional and psychological support understanding their background, choices and preferences. This shall help in giving a personalized instruction catering to the individual support extended to almost every student.

2) Teaching and Administration:

It has been often complained that the teachers get overburdened with work. Because they are asked to do the role of teaching as well as managing paper works and registers etc. But we must not forget that any particular job which is knit in a larger social structure needs coordination and mapping. It's true though that too much of rules and procedures causes red tapeism. But can we imagine a School without a Principal? Answer is No! It's actually because teaching comes along itself with a lot of tasks which can only be better coordinated by a management staff or planning agent for better implementation of tasks etc. Attending to tasks without planning can lead you go astray. It's like that the tasks maybe fulfilled to some extent but the actual potential maybe failed to realize. Some teachers keep on complaining about administration work. I ask them a simple question, 'Why did they choose to do such a demanding job when they knew that its going to ask a lot from you.'? An answer to this question shall actually remind you of the purpose of your profession or shall help you in re-directing your path.

3) Ruling Out Negative Motivation:

Motivation that is transferred to students by the teacher is of course the external motivation. Some teachers do understand the meaning and impact of every word they mouth to their students using their statements wisely in such a manner that it doesn't disregard the potential behaviors and personal respect of the student. Every student here and there is good at some things while bad at another. But that doesn't mean the good should eclipse the bad. Teachers should work to shine not on the scars but on the stars of the students. Giving out a challenge to students and asking them to defeat them through a self-defeating prophecy. Sometimes, teachers think they have the absolute right to say anything to the child and hence end up performing casually. Some students might take it as a stepping stone for their success but some might get loaded with the grief and just sit back and do nothing about it practically because they feel that they are good for nothing. Hence, as a prudential assertion, it's required that the teachers must realize that scolding, reproachment and reprimands are not a part of negative motivation instead they work to bring the student down in the cultural ladder. Hence, teachers should be highly careful of the words they use while interacting with students.

4) Applying concepts first to yourself:

Nobody can actually appreciate anything unless they have understood it well. Teaching a discipline is not enough but making the students respect the subject, makes them understand understand the significance of the subject by correlating with daily life. Taking examples from the discipline and discuss how it has impacted your life. Students see the teachers as a role models and he or she adopting the lessons from learning in daily life shall lead them to get inspired to learn things in such a way that it stays longer with us. For example, if a teacher teaches about what is Secularism? Before going into the technical details of the concept, the teacher shall attempt to put the concept to students in such a manner that they feel that they have known it for before and the only thing they didn't know was how to apply that. Taking examples from students on topics like these shall help them to understand that the knowledge that's written in textbooks is all coming from within us and we just need to brush up on these to get a hold on such things. Accepting how the discipline that the teachers teach has transformed your life shall inspire students to expect the similar kind of transformation. They shall work hard only to see that change coming which when established shall excite them more and boost their confidence.

5) Organization and Punctuality in First Place:

Teachers demand from their students an organized behavior, a set of tasks to be performed one after the another. They should be very diligent when it comes to spending time on the multifarious things that is expected of a teacher. This behavior is essential in oneself first and it is by reflecting it in the first place can we expect students to follow the same track path. Students seeing their teachers being particular about their routines drives them from any sort of procrastination and keep them on time. Some students really appreciate this fact and try to encapsulate in themselves this very character trait. Since, as a teacher you know how to teach the concepts to students and in such a manner that they are able to grasp it easily and that's what is most expected of a teacher. Sometimes, the teachers get monotonous following a set curriculum they have been forwarded and here it should be encouraged that there are always some ways to know if there can be made any possible changes that might help to strike any interest. So, a teacher should be dynamic to help students go through a dynamic text to wade through a dynamic world.

6) Understanding before Utterance:

People think that those teachers are the best in the world which allow their students to ask any doubts. But I ask first that isn't it come under the scope of varied roles of a teacher that he or she shall be able to some extent understand the student's problems and needs without the latter needing to mouth every word. I consider that the teachers should be able to assess the incorrect answers, pauses and no answers to a question instead of asking the student himself that why did he or she respond in a particular way. When this level of understanding develops, the class atmosphere becomes lively actually. The teachers don't have to ask students for doubts each time as by the students ask the teachers themselves. So, there is no need of pushing. Intrinsic motivation starts regulating the whole class scenario and the class performance comes automatically instead of nagging the students for performing better each time. A time comes when the student himself is able to navigate his path in learning various concepts and doesn't always need the assistance of a teacher for completion of his or her subjects or targets. Even the students come to enjoy their extended family, and their school life, as humans tend to feel contended where they feel that they are being heard.

7) Developing Trust and Support:

Teachers feel that the students must learn the concepts the way they teach. Instead, they should understand that a dictatorial method of instruction can survive only for a smaller point. Many education psychologists stress on being democratic and welcoming everybody's opinions. No opinion or thought should be rejected outrightly. With time, when students will feel that no matter how much their thoughts are baseless or ridiculous still they enjoy the freedom of expression and this structural change shall generate support for itself. We must not forget that as much as a student needs a teacher similarly a teacher also needs a student as much. There are students without teachers sometimes but a teacher without a student is totally out of question. Hence, the teachers possibly need to change their stance with regard to their mode of instruction. They should serve each other as complementary and non-antagonistic groups. Immense trust is required at the foundation of any relationship now be it of a teacher with his or her students in the class and the students should always respect the methodology of teaching respectfully and if they feel any changes are required, they may possibly contact the teacher with due respect and express your case. If that's also not available, contact the senior authorities of the school by keeping your personality anonymous. Hence, an unwavering trust and support is what essential in maintaining the whole system of balance in academia.

8) Concept Analytics over Rote Memory:

Such has become the present era that especially in the case of CBSE Boards, teachers exactly say that learn NCERT by heart and you will sail through. I raise a doubt here. Is sailing through only possible through rote memory of NCERT? Can't it happen that the comprehension a student has achieved can help him in explaining the concepts with here and there the use of terminologies? Helping them develop an ability to analyze concepts through a neutral perspective and then reflexing those learned concepts with the other dimensions of the discipline. Mere learning of NCERTs is not going to anyway help the students either way and it's high time that teachers should understand this and keep in mind that they suggest some effective recommendations in different expert-level committees to bring about a change. NEP has attempted to make learning versatile and effective for students but some teachers complain that NEP is going to complicate things more and they really don't get to understand that its seemingly complicated for them as they are doing nothing but simply running from being true to their jobs. It may take some decades to bring about this change but this reform shall help in breaking the juggernaut of academic pressure on students and keep on memorizing to fetch better.

9) Dumping Narcissistic Trend to Adopt Inclusiveness and Plurality:

Sometimes it has been seen that students do pose their questions and doubts their teachers but some teachers get so adamant on their ego of possessing experience that they tend to divert the question to highlight the flaws and weaknesses of the student doing nothing but bringing down the morale and confidence of students. Some also have the tendency to divert the questions to themselves and they start explaining their own lives instead of answering answering the questions. Some students who become favorites of teachers are in some way or the other encouraged and those who don't (generally the backbenchers) are always looked down upon in the class. LGBTQ+ students or students facing disability are never actually encouraged and have to some degree of prejudice leading to disguised discrimination. Democratic teaching involves including everybody no matter what are the ascribed markers of belonging and hence exclusive attention to anybody should not become the norm. It should attempt to recognize and celebrate the differences instead of perpetuating inequalities.

10) Teaching ≠ End of Learning; Teaching = Continuous Learning:

It has been observed these days...that teachers go unprepared on a topic which they have to teach in class largely because they have been teaching the same concept over years. But some of the most experienced teachers hold a different opinion and they say no matter how much old you have been in that teaching experience it is still your responsibility to brush up on those very things again. As the human brain has the tendency to forget concepts that that learnt over time and the forgetting curve only increases with time. Hence, in order to make students feel satisfied and give them a higher level order understanding, the need is to start working on themselves first. Preparing topics beforehand brings those concepts into active memory and thus using them in the delivery of lectures and passages, the process gets simplified rather. Hence, people feel that after becoming a teacher, it's misunderstood that learning stops but I say it is an actual and lifelong commitment to learning. It's that cycle that's never-ending. It has also been found that when you teach some concepts to somebody..they get etched in your memory for entirety and while in the process of teaching, we still learn many things realizing that learning had actually never stopped. It is just our vision that has broadened actually to include more.

Teaching is indeed a job that drills a lot of potential out of you but if you enjoy the job...it's the most heavenly experience that you can be attached with. Above mentioned are only a few unpopular things that lie within the Tech Industry and there are always many possibilities which can be kept on a scale of continuous realization.

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