He role of the teacher is to help and guide students in the learning process. This is one of the basic roles that teachers play in the classroom and there are others.
Today, being a teacher goes beyond planning informational lessons. In fact, teachers become one more parent for students because of the amount of time students spend in school. This is another of the roles of teachers.
The role of the teacher changes continuously and there are several factors involved in it. For example, the age of students: When students are younger, the role of the teacher should be much more familiar than when the students are teenagers or adults.
Other roles that teachers play are: mentor, regulator, pointer, organizer, role model, source of information, advisor, tutor and participant.
Main roles of the teacher in the classroom
Within the classroom, a teacher can interpret different roles. Each of these represent functions of the teacher, which take into account the needs, the age of their students and the requirements of the chair that is taught.
1- Mentor
Mentoring is one of the main roles teachers assume. This role involves promoting the students' desire to learn and making them give their best.
2- Father or mother
Teachers spend a lot of time with their students. For this reason, they often become a father or a mother for their students.
This role includes guiding young people beyond the academic level, listening to their problems and advising them.
3- Regulator
The teacher is the person in charge in the classroom. Therefore, you should regulate what students do, what they say and how they say it.
This role is assumed by teachers on a number of occasions, including the following:
- At the beginning of classes, when the contents will be discussed in the lesson.
- Before beginning any activity, when the guidelines of the same are exposed.
- When it is necessary to discipline students.
4- Pointer
In this case, the teacher acts as a teleprompter or a pointer, giving key information to the students only when he deems it necessary.
Usually, the teacher uses this role during oral presentations, when a student forgets the right word, loses the thread of thought, or can not continue with the presentation.
In these cases, the teacher suggests to the student some word or idea that allows him to continue with the activity.
5- Organizer
The role of organizer is one of the most important that the teacher must fulfill since this involves planning the lessons to be taught.
The organization will vary according to the chair being taught. For example, if it is a scientific subject (such as chemistry or biology) the teacher will organize the lessons in two phases: a theoretical phase (to be carried out in the classroom) and a practical phase (to be carried out in a lab).
The organizer is also responsible for giving precise instructions, so that the students can carry out the activities efficiently.
In this sense, part of their tasks as organizer are mixed with the tasks of the regulator.
6- Model to follow
Teachers do not often think of themselves as role models. However, they are.
Students spend a lot of time surrounded by teachers, so that indirectly they become important figures for the student's life.
For this reason, it is the duty of teachers to present faultless behavior, so that students have a good example.
7- Source of information
Another role of the teacher is to be a source of information for students. While it is true that students have academic texts and other sources, the teacher also provides new information while corroborating the information in the books.
It also helps enrich the students' vocabulary by providing them with key words to support the communicative activities in the classroom.
However, the teacher as a source of information should not intervene in the student's research-learning process.
That is to say, it is not a matter of providing them with all the information or of restricting the spaces for investigation, but of acting as a guide in this process.
8- Advisor
The role of counselor is given when the teacher checks the progress of their students. For this, the teacher creates environments in which he can evaluate the students: doing exams, expositions, oral evaluations, workshops, among others.
As an adviser, the teacher must verify that the parameters required by the chair and the school curriculum are being followed.
Likewise, it is the teacher's job to provide students with the qualification for their performance and the corrections and recommendations that will serve them for future activities.
9- Tutor
The role of tutor is based on providing guidance and support to students. Usually, the teacher plays this role when the students have to carry out a project at home.
What the teacher does in this case is to monitor the progress of students' work, clarify any doubts that may arise, make recommendations, among others.
This role is ideal for studying individual cases. On the other hand, it may entail certain inconveniences if students are accustomed to depending on the teacher's help.
10- Participant
The role of participant occurs when the teacher engages with their students in the activities they have planned for the class.
This role allows the teacher to interact in the classroom, so that students do not feel like a distant figure.
The advantage of this role is that it transforms the teacher into an example. Thus, the students will be able to know how to act in the activity that is carried out.
The disadvantage is that if you are not careful, you run the risk that the teacher will dominate or curb the students, which would be counterproductive.
References
- Cox, Jeanelle (2017). What is the Role of a Teacher? Retrieved on September 11, 2017, from thoughtco.com
- The 7 Roles of a Teacher in the 21st Century. Retrieved on September 11, 2017, from etoninstitute.com
- Roles of a Teacher in the Classroom. Retrieved on September 11, 2017, from education.gov.gy
- What is the Role of Teachers in Education? Retrieved on September 11, 2017, from work.chron.com
- What is the role of a teacher? Retrieved on September 11, 2017, from theconversation.com
- The role of the teacher. Retrieved on September 11, 2017, from faculty.londondeanery.ac.uk
- Roles of the teacher inside the classroom. Retrieved on September 11, 2017, from slideshare.net
- Redefining the Role of the Teacher. Retrieved on September 11, 2017, from edutopia.org.