October 5 is World Teachers’ Day. Its aim is “to mobilise support for teachers and to ensure that the needs of future generations will continue to be met by teachers”. The theme for 2014 is Invest in the future, invest in teachers.
If we are to invest in teachers in T&T so that they can promote the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of students, we must reflect on whether we have created conditions to nurture effective teachers who strive for excellence in all that they do.
Catholics know that teaching is a vocation – not a job. There should be a synthesis between your faith and your vocation as a teacher.
As Pope Paul VI said in Evangelio Anunciantis, people today look not so much to teachers as they look to witnesses. Like all of us, Catholic educators are called to be true witnesses to our faith. And what better role model have we than Jesus – the perfect teacher!
It is Jesus, the source of all truth, who teaches us the truth about the human person.
Catholic teachers must help students to develop an awareness of their inherent dignity, as children of God, made in His image and likeness (Gen 1:27). They are called to deepen the faith of their students and instill in them values and virtues that are consistent with the teachings of the Church. Character formation is a central aspect of the role of a teacher.
Having been a teacher myself, I recognise the challenge that teachers have to give students life-skills, to offer them a sound foundation that, hopefully, will stand them in good stead as they are buffeted by the winds of materialism, individualism, selfishness, moral relativism and so on.
Recently, the CCSJ, CREDI and CEBM partnered to organise a seminar on the theme School Leadership: An English Perspective. My friend Winnie Greer, Deputy Head Teacher at St Thomas More Secondary School, Haringey, London, was our feature speaker.
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It is to be noted, as she pointed out, that the school is located in a low socio-economic area. As I said in my opening remarks at the seminar, research demonstrates that schools can make a difference in the lives of students and to society as a whole and a substantial portion of that difference is attributable to teachers and to the quality of leadership in the school.
In our present crisis, teachers have a greater responsibility to serve, to build community, to build our nation, and they can do this by promoting integral human development, and by developing the knowledge, skills and ability of their students to enable them to make the right choices in life – to recognise the difference between right and wrong, to act responsibly and to choose to do what is morally right.
To manage diversity in the classroom, teachers are called to have high expectations of students and positive attitudes towards them. If you love them, you will teach from the heart.
While we may have a shortage of teachers in certain subject areas in T&T, spare a thought for those countries in which there are chronic shortages of teachers. As the UNESCO Institute for Statistics stated in October 2013, “the world will need an extra 3.3 million primary teachers and 5.1 million lower secondary teachers in classrooms by 2030 to provide all children with basic education.” (www.uis.unesco.org) Participation in ongoing professional development is an essential characteristic of a good teacher.
A concern raised with me recently by an educator is poor literacy among some of our teachers. Action must be taken at the level of initial teacher training and among teachers in the system to strengthen higher learning skills.
One educator suggests that a compulsory English Proficiency course should be introduced in Year 1 of the Bachelor of Education programme.
Our Government plans to develop a knowledge-based, innovative, competitive society. This plan must be linked to our philosophy about the kind of citizen we wish to nurture in our educational institutions/ society. And if we value our teachers and students, we would ensure that the infrastructure/ plant in which they operate is conducive to teaching and learning.
Too many of our existing school buildings are not fit for purpose. For some reason we are not good at maintenance/ repairs. As I wish all teachers Happy World Teachers’ Day, I pray that our teachers will provide quality education at all levels.
