1.1 Two PRIMARY ROLES of a professional educator
Teachers must assume a variety of roles within their professional practice. Some of these roles, specific to the classroom, include the following:
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To help maker the best decisions possible regarding the identification and implementation of technology that might improve professional practice overall, two of these roles are arguably much more important than the others (in order of importance):
I assert that all the other roles listed are subordinate to these two important aspects of instructional design. For example, keeping students safe and even loving and nurturing them are very admirable roles...but why would a teacher do such things? Children are kept safe in schools so they can learn important things. Children are loved and/or nurtured by teachers so they can be receptive to experiences designed to help them learn worthwhile outcomes. This type of thinking is analogous to the primary role of health care professionals. Yes, doctors and nurses must do what they can to manage offices and practices, comply with regulations and interact with insurance companies. But Why? The Declaration of Geneva, as currently published by the World Medical Association (2014), reads:
- Decide what you think is important for students to learn.
- Arrange the students’ environment to maximize the probability that they will learn what you think is important for them to learn.
I assert that all the other roles listed are subordinate to these two important aspects of instructional design. For example, keeping students safe and even loving and nurturing them are very admirable roles...but why would a teacher do such things? Children are kept safe in schools so they can learn important things. Children are loved and/or nurtured by teachers so they can be receptive to experiences designed to help them learn worthwhile outcomes. This type of thinking is analogous to the primary role of health care professionals. Yes, doctors and nurses must do what they can to manage offices and practices, comply with regulations and interact with insurance companies. But Why? The Declaration of Geneva, as currently published by the World Medical Association (2014), reads:
I SOLEMNLY PLEDGE to consecrate my life to the service of humanity; |
The health of my patients will be my first consideration. Likewise, ensuring my students learn worthwhile skills, knowledge and attitudes should be every teachers first consideration. And this begins with deciding WHAT is important to be learned.
Teachers practicing within today's high-stakes testing culture might feel that their primary role is to make sure students learn what other people (national, state, and/or district educational professionals; parents) think is important for them to learn. Deciding that this is their most important role is, in fact, a decision each teacher chooses to make. The problem with this decision is that many collections of standards include skills that are really not worth learning, and choosing to facilitate such skills in lieu of more worthwhile outcomes can result in educational experiences that frankly may result in adequate test scores while wasting time without helping students learn things that will benefit them in their real lives outside school. As you will see in the next strategy, there are many resources teachers can use to help them make good decisions about what they should really be helping their students learn. One of my favorite resources is the Partnership for 21st Century Skills framework:
Teachers practicing within today's high-stakes testing culture might feel that their primary role is to make sure students learn what other people (national, state, and/or district educational professionals; parents) think is important for them to learn. Deciding that this is their most important role is, in fact, a decision each teacher chooses to make. The problem with this decision is that many collections of standards include skills that are really not worth learning, and choosing to facilitate such skills in lieu of more worthwhile outcomes can result in educational experiences that frankly may result in adequate test scores while wasting time without helping students learn things that will benefit them in their real lives outside school. As you will see in the next strategy, there are many resources teachers can use to help them make good decisions about what they should really be helping their students learn. One of my favorite resources is the Partnership for 21st Century Skills framework: