Md. Osman Farhan Al Harun

The role models are usually handsome or rich having striking personality. The people like them because they attract others by certain characteristics. But what about the role model of the society whom the nation respects?
Poor pay, but more responsibility, passion for profession but less recognition in the capitalist world, least time for personal and social life- this is mostly what we observe in the lifestyle of a person who is, to some extent, the spokesman of the nation. People respect this community for morality is their strength, not bank balance. The sincere teachers still do not compromise with their quality service i.e. teaching from heart regardless whatever the adversity they face for survival.
However, because of commercial mentality in certain cases, some of them hampered the image of the educators, well-known as ‘Sir’ or ‘Master’.
Anisa’s mother gets puzzled getting the complaint from school teachers quite often- ‘your daughter is an under-performing student; she gets poor grades, so should be careful about her studies’. All these accusations against Anisa by her teachers make her upset whereas everyone knows how sharp she is in her real-life stages by different other activities. Later on, it was discovered that the students who are visiting the teachers’ residence for private tuition are getting better grades. The moral degradation of the educators is again related to their poor living standard in comparison to professions of other discipline. Consequently, teaching profession is getting less attractive to the brilliant graduates who are unfortunately changing this profession within short period of time after joining. It isan alarming issue considering the future of a nation.
The professional development in the teaching career both in public and private sector is essential to face the challenges of the 21st century. The term ‘teacher’ has changed as ‘facilitator’ in the modern concept for the changing role. The person involved in teaching mainly assists the students in a friendly manner rather than lecturing in the whole class. Teaching and learning by involving as well as engaging the learners facilitate the entire process, so, proficient teachers creates opportunities for the students to express their ideas, share their views and make the class interactive by active participation of both teachers and students. We need to believe that it is now an age of collaborative learning where it is also necessary to access teachers’ performance by self-evaluation or ‘reflection’. In this process, the concerned subject teacher can ask the students of the class to write few sentences about the class they’ve attended and check their perception about the lesson, the teachers’ teaching style and related issues. Most importantly, it has become a learner-centered education system where learners mostly participate in the class activities and the teacher facilitates the entire process.
Therefore, the traditional authoritative role of a teacher is not applicable for techno-friendly generation; rather friendly behavior in the class can make the lesson more interesting, motivating and fruitful for students. As far as teaching resources are concerned, merely fixed textbooks can’t be only source for motivating students in the class while teaching topics that are related to science, language, literature, history and likewise subjects. Teachers can bring relevant pictures, souvenirs or objects in the class considering the interest of their pupils before starting their lessons and connecting the subject matter with those things. Other reference books related to subject matter creates scopes for learners to develop ideas conveniently. ‘Teaching techniques’ of modern age is required to be updated by ‘innovative ideas’ that mainly come from consistent teaching practices and experiences from the classroom. It is important to be an ‘effective teacher’ rather than getting acknowledged as a so-called ‘popular teacher’. Smart teachers of the current tradition encourage learners to explore more in the realm of knowledge suggesting more sources and links for further study like useful apps available in the internet.
Teaching is a noble profession, so professionals in this field should not sacrifice morality for the sake of only handsome incomebeyond the teaching hours in educational institutions. We expect our children to be well-educated and properly cared in the educational institutions. It is actually a question of honesty and responsibility. Since, the children follow their parents and teachers mostly, it is also necessary for 21st century educators to be smart and properly groom up, speak and behave as a role model, esp. while handling students in practical life. Sometimes students should be encouraged and recognized by their mentors by proper appreciation, positive remarks, motivating signs like three stars for excellent performance. Winning the hearts of the pupils by doing something different acts like a magic, even while teaching the hardest lesson in the class. Competent educators or mentors can even arrange some games to teach a complex theory following modern teaching methodology available in various sources, social medias and YouTube channels.
Due to constant pressure for executing administrative job and teaching related tasks, a teacher hardly gets sufficient time to think about self-development. However, a perfect teacher loves his/her profession and constantly perseveres for the better performance of pupils and self- development. Real educators need to consider the shortcomings of the learners seriously without blaming their failures and weaknesses. If teachers neglect and avoid their holy duties, can we really create ideal role models for the next generation?
We need to remember that teachers are not only role models, they are great assets of the society if their strength can be properly utilized. If the educators of schools, colleges and universities have the habit ofregularstudying and writing, for example, sharing experiences from real life, the whole community can be benefitted out of this practice. The research culture in Bangladesh is limited to university level only whereas the government can create an opportunity to create this research practices at every sector in education with proper remuneration. With this initiative, the teachers can be more productive and innovative for the development of the education sector and financially solvent. A substantial fund for education sector allotted by the government can be spent for qualified researchers in this field. It can start from the research on ‘how to check question leak problem’, ‘creating congenial atmosphere for large class’ etc. Last, not the least, those who are involved in teaching profession should not be blind to races, regional biasness, religion and political issues at any cost. Teachers are actually the real leaders of the society and only good leaders can show the right path to the future leaders for developing prosperous nation.