NEP 2020 and desired attributes of teachers

Education is the process of learning or acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, morals, beliefs for full human potential.
NEP 2020 and desired attributes of teachers

Biren Das

(Tezpur University. Can be reached at biren@tezu.ernet.in)

Education is the process of learning or acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, morals, beliefs for full human potential. It is considered to be the single greatest tool for social and individual development, which leads towards achieving social justice and equity in society. Though we learn many things in our everyday life, formal education, which is the preferred tool for human resource development, refers to the academic institution where defined curriculums are taught or demonstrated by teachers. This formal education is conceptualized as a tri-polar process with aims, curriculum and evaluation, leading to bringing of a child to a human resource. This formal education has four verticals, namely infrastructure, students, teachers and curricula, where this third vertical i.e. teachers play a vital role in making the objectives of education successful.

John Adam, the great American statesman and diplomat described teachers as the maker of man. National Policy on Education of 1986 of India also described that no system of education can rise higher than its teachers. There is n-number of sayings about the role of a teacher in the transformation of society.

Keeping in mind the importance of teachers in the education system, the NEP-2020 has underlined the role of teachers along with the desired attributes of teachers for nation-building. In this policy, the teachers have been put at the centre of the most needed fundamental reforms in the education system. The policy has also emphasized re-establishing teachers, at all levels, as the most respected and essential members of our society, as they shape the future generation of the country. As a step forward, the NEP-2020 has also elaborated on the recruitment of good teachers in a transparent method, to give autonomy while also instilling a sense of responsibility and accountability in every teacher.

We must appreciate that the role of a teacher is not confined to teaching in a classroom of four walls, but also in developing course curriculum, producing quality books and study materials, innovation in teaching-learning methods, assessing students, mentoring students etc. The NEP 2020 hence, has reiterated the restoration of high respect and status for teachers in the society with empowerment. Accordingly, an action plan for capacity building has been outlined so that man making becomes flawless.

At the same time, the NEP has elaborated on the required attributes for teachers to make them good teachers to achieve the objectives of NEP and make it fruitful. Now the question arises, who is a good or ideal teacher? What are the desired attributes that an ideal teacher should possess? Who will judge or assess a teacher's acquiring attributes to consider him/her as an ideal teacher? Can we identify some attributes that every teacher is to imbibe? There may be several such questions on attributes of a good or ideal teacher but may be difficult to answer or to zero down.

Do we also face questions are great teachers born or made? The answer may be either/or. To ponder the attributes of an ideal teacher, we may have the following traits in mind out of which a teacher may acquire at least some of these, if not all, to get the tag of a good teacher in the system and context.

Punctuality is an attribute that may be considered as an essential requirement for every individual irrespective of his/her profession; more so far a teacher as it is linked with the career of future citizens. Once one accepts the teaching profession, he/she must maintain a timeline for all activities in an academic institution as well as in the system so that the system runs without hindrance.

Adherence to professional ethics is an attribute required by every professional. Ethics are the essence of every life. Teachers are role models for the pupils and they imitate teachers to a great extent in their lives. So, every teacher must maintain some decorum which is expected of a teacher, even in their everyday life. It is a fact that professional ethics are not being attained by many individuals in their professional life, which may be one of the causes behind many social problems and crises.

With time, knowledge is expanding, especially with new inventions and thoughts. Passion for knowledge & lifelong learning is another attribute that is needed for a teacher to be successful in their career. As we observe, learning is a continuous process and does not come to an end with studentship as knowledge does not have boundaries. If a teacher develops a feeling that on completion of his/her acquiring the required qualification (degree/diploma), his/her learning is complete, he/she can't be a good teacher in life; rather he will simply do a teaching job to earn his livelihood.

Students come to academic institutions to acquire knowledge that may be available in books or other resources, but may be difficult for a student to acquire without the help of a teacher. A teacher should be a good communicator to deliver as well as to receive. Many a time, students can't properly put their queries/questions in the classroom, where a teacher is to take a role in bringing the queries/shortcomings of an individual student and help him in his understanding the matter in easy language. A teacher should be a strong communicator with his/ her words and other communication skill.

Listening to students well is another important attribute for an ideal teacher. A teacher must enjoy his/her relationship with students so that they are not afraid of asking questions or stating their problems or shortcomings. This listening develops confidence in students, which ultimately culminate in successful learning.

The capacity of engaging students with empathy is also considered to be a required attribute for a good teacher. On many occasions, students become bore in the classroom or in attending teacher's deliberations feeling monotonous. Engaging students with humour and creative lectures is an act of good teaching. For better engagement, a teacher may treat each student as an individual, being empathetic by understanding what may be going on in their lives. It connects a teacher with students in a more effective manner. For better engagement, a teacher must let the students say what they are interested in, keeping in mind the saying of Benjamin Franklin "Tell me and I forget; Teach me and I remember; Involve me and I learn." Learning should therefore be perceived as an interactional activity in the teaching-learning system involving the learners. The old theory of subscribing to the view that teachers know everything and learners are empty bags ready to be filled with assorted pieces of irrelevant information has no takers today. Rather, a teacher must be capable of creating a gargantuan appetite in students for knowledge that will make them eligible for at least the next 40 years' requirement of the society.

Education is a mission, and its success depends on the involvement of all stakeholders. An ideal teacher focuses on collaboration as a teacher does not work alone. It is collaborative work from para-professional to another teacher to work in a group indeed. In such a situation, a teacher may have to play different roles for effective collaborations within the group for gainful teaching-learning, but should not be devoid of job satisfaction.

A multi-disciplinarian teacher becomes a successful teacher. NEP has mandated for holistic education which calls for the holistic outlook of a teacher for his/her subject without breaking the knowledge into discrete components such as Mathematics, Economics, Physics etc. A teacher may have specialization in a particular subject or area, but he/she must be able to integrate different subjects and has a comprehensive outlook to inspire students to think beyond his/ her subject.

Resources and Requirements of society are changing with time. Accordingly, curricula practices are also changed. For example, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, physical classroom teaching has been changed to the virtual classroom; on-room examinations have been changed to online examinations. New online examinations have become an essential part of the teaching-learning evaluation system. An ideal teacher must be responsive and adaptive to such changes and responsive to the changing needs of society with time. Bringing any innovative practice may be an important attribute of an ideal teacher.

To value real-world learning is an essence for a good teacher. As described in NEP-2020, emphasis has been put on experiential or real-world learning. For this, it has been advised to reduce curriculum content to enhance experiential learning and critical thinking. Hands-on learning, arts-integrated and sports-integrated teaching may be more effective and adoption of these teaching methods by a teacher may lead to more enrollments in our education programmes.

When we were children, senior members in our family, like a grandfather, grandmother, uncles and others played an important role in bringing us up with all mental support. But, in today's world, families have become very small where most of the parents are busy with their works and have very little time for their children. As a result, children miss their parents or companions of other people at their home. Many students come to the institution with emotional baggage and it becomes a cumbersome responsibility for a teacher with such distraught students in the classroom. A teacher is to play an important role as a caring mentor for such students, which may be beyond academics.

With RTE Act, the nation is trying to get all children up to 14 years of age in the school. The NEP 2020 has emphasized curtailing dropouts and ensuring universal access to education at all levels making provisions for education for all anywhere, anytime at any level. To fulfil this objective of universal accessibility, our teachers must be community builders so that the basic mandate of NEP 2020 is not defeated, but promoted. For this, every teacher, especially at the school level, should work as an ambassador.

It is worth mentioning that while proposing various provisions for holistic, multidisciplinary and universally accessible education, the NEP 2020 has also recommended process for recruitment of quality teachers with transparency, teachers' training, promotional avenues, incentives for good works, good salary with social security so that the nation builders can devote themselves for the purpose they are appointed. However, in addition to teaching, nowadays, every teacher has multiple roles to be played in an institution where some responsibilities are administrative, including organizing various events, handling students' and employees' matters etc. As such, a teacher may have to acquire some attributes to deal with these activities in the greater interest of an institution in general and as an ideal teacher in particular.

Let us take a pledge to be a good teacher to make our education successful with mandates envisaged in NEP 2020. Keeping in mind that "Teachers affect eternity; no one can tell where their influence stops" (Henry Brooks Adams).

References:

1. A Joseph Dorairaj, Attributes of an Ideal Teacher, University News, Vol-58722, June 01-07-2020.National Education Policy 2020, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt of India published in the Gazette of India, 29 July 2020

2. Southern New Hampshire University (December 2017), 10 qualities of a Good Teacher, www.snhu.edu

3. Association of Indian Universities, University Administration and Management, December 1994

4. Sulabha Natraj, Some Universal Qualities of Great Teachers, University News, Vol. 57 No. 35, Sept. 02-08, 2019.

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