Do teachers need to learn to teach?

Guru bhakthi was centred round accepting facts without question. The world has now shrunk. We all live in the same village when it comes to sharing of knowledge. Thanks to the growth of commun-ication, the gates that locked learning within the walls of nations have now been broken down. The result - commandments came to be questioned. It has become difficult to get through without substance.

It must be understood in this context that the capacity of teachers to teach is not in doubt. The fact that a teacher is also a learner is important and must be understood in its right perspective. “When one teaches, two learn.” This is the spirit behind learning to teach.

There are schools everywhere promising excellent working conditions and growth prospects for teachers. The work load of the teacher on joining an institution is constantly on the rise. This does not provide them the necessary impetus to think of personal development. They get disgruntled. The disgruntled teacher is unable to produce the best output. In the bargain, the loser is the student.

This can produce disastrous consequences for the institution, the teacher and the student. This is where teacher training could play a key role. Teaching methods, practices, content delivery mechanisms, effective and creative teaching techniques, effective classroom management, right and expert content, are the few areas teachers have to be equipped with.

Teachers must feel teaching and information sourcing and sharing the information with students are their main concerns. Any information is just one click away. Today's teachers’ profession is not just restricted to pass on information, but to develop interest and confidence in children.

Today’s children are very sensitive. They have a lot of information and exposure to many areas. It is therefore necessary and expected that the teacher should know more than the student. Teachers have many challenges to face in today's classrooms, and if they are found wanting in their depth of knowledge and teaching techniques, they will end up as losers.

Today’s teacher has to be equipped with proper tools to face the challenges effectively. So, here comes the need for teacher training. Teachers have to get themselves trained regularly to be effective. Teaching practices are developing and changing every day. Unless and until teachers are up-to-date, it will become difficult to prepare our children for future.

Venkata Subba Rao
(The writer is a senior consultant at Learning Innovations India, an enterprise of BASE.)