With the constant technological development and globalization of our world, many professions have to keep up with these changes.
Teachers are ones of them. They take responsibility not only for themselves but also for their pupils as their main task is to prepare their students for an independent life. Consequently, teachers are to keep up with all the novelties including innovative methods of teaching and development of new skills.
Let us look through the main skills that are a necessity for modern educators.
Important skills for a modern teacher
Each teacher has to possess many vital skills to be a professional. Many of them have been known to people for many years already, the others have been formulated quite recently because of changes in our society. In any case, each contemporary teacher should:
1. Be committed to his work
The teacher is one of the most difficult professions as their representatives can’t lose interest as without constant engagement it is impossible to perform your work efficiently. If a teacher is committed, it means that he has fallen in love with his life choice and is dedicated to teaching.
2. Have education and training
Several centuries ago only those people could become teachers, who could prove a deep knowledge of the certain subject. Now it is not enough to be fluent in your field, as without special academic training you will not be hired by any educational establishment. Moreover, without some additional knowledge of psychology or methodology, for example, you will not be able to cope with teaching at all.
3. Be organized
Modern educational institutions require a detailed teaching plan from each staff member for the following academic year. It means that a quality course planning is much more productive, especially if it is combined with a premium organization of each lesson.
4. Be tolerant
Patience and tolerance differ a professional teacher from the amateurs. Only an experienced and dignified person can bring up such important for a teacher skills and treat all the students equally without any prejudices. Moreover, such teacher will entrust students to make their own decisions instead of imposing his own viewpoint on them.
5. Be open to questions
Young learners are rather inquisitive and the number of questions they ask may be enormous. The teacher must be ready not only to listen to this questions but also find time to answer them. It will not only show his or her competence but also be a good encouragement for students as they value honesty and desire to be helpful.
6. Be innovative
Each new generation that comes to school brings a variety of novelties with them. Apart from the numerous devices, these are also different relations with each other, new habits and attitudes to the customary things. Such children think in a completely different way, so the process of study should also be changed. Teachers not only have to follow all the innovations appearing in the society but also should have a desire to adopt them personally. That also includes the use of the abundance of new technologies at the lessons and for home assignment. Students will be more responsive to the contemporary teacher than one, who got stuck in the last millennium.
7. Be social and sociable
Communication of a teacher and student should not be restricted only by the wall of a classroom. Modern children would preferably choose to ask some personal questions through the social networks than do that face-to-face. Another way to become closer to students is to organize a group, where you can discuss interesting topics, or make your studying more interactive issuing them online tasks or some extraordinary assignments. It is a perfect way to make education more appealing to the modern youth.
8. Be curious and develop
It is impossible to call a teacher experienced if he stands in one place, uses the same teaching methods and conspectus for many years and does not wish to make any changes. This description suits better for a tree, but not a teacher. Curiosity is an engine that makes a person develop. If one is not interested in anything that happens around him, it means that this person lives in his own world and he will never be interesting to other people including pupils. Even the tiniest details from the surrounding world can draw students’ attention and then it is much easier to hold it during the lesson if you accompany rules with funny life examples, isn’t it?
New methods of teaching
Pedagogy as a science has existed in ancient Greece yet, so teachers have been refining teaching methods for not one century already. With the development of society, teaching methods have been also changing. Modern methods mostly reflect an improved understanding of the psychology of children as well as acceptance of the technological leap forward. Modern teachers prefer such new methods as:
1. Contextual learning
Only a dozen years ago most of the schools were committed to factual learning. The main evidence of good knowledge was the ability to repeat learned information by command. Everything has changed since that time, as now pupils have to analyze, find pros and cons, make conclusions and find evidence but not only memorize. This method has made schooling more productive and appealing.
2. Various approaches
The modern school has little in common with traditional lectures that were considered the main kind of lesson in the past. Modern lessons differ much as the variety of approaches used impresses even adults, who finished school not so long ago. Apart from lecturing, teachers use storytelling, group work, individual assignments, games, presentations and numerous other activities within one lesson. Constantly changing the activities on the lessons they manage to promote a working atmosphere in the class and lessons do not seem to last so long.
3. New technological devices
Of course, there are numerous arguments about advantages and disadvantages of various devices in education, but still, their benefit makes them useful for the lessons. They enhance the learning system making it developed and contemporary. Children have acquired various new tasks that are available on the Web, can learn through video conferences or live chats, receive notifications from teachers etc. Parents have also appreciated the contribution of the innovative devices into the schooling as now they can control their children’s grades online and visit school less often. Teachers also use modern aids as they simplify the preparation process and add color and diversity to simple lessons. Any device like a speaker, online streaming video, interactive whiteboard, visualizer, projector, educational software, CD player can be useful for teaching and is used by tutors at the lessons making them more appealing to modern pupils. For example, there is a powerful software tool called Hiver. This software is a service application that helps collaborating from email inboxes. It helps to organize the work process and makes it easier and more productive. Isn’t it great?
For example, there is a powerful software tool called Hiver. This software is a service application that helps to collaborate from email inboxes. It helps to organize the work process and makes it easier and more productive. Isn’t it great?
4. Active learning
Some high school educators try to avoid active learning projects as they lose a sense of silence and students’ obedience when those ones start their discussions. At the same time, active learning makes the student think, talk and share information. This way of learning involves peer instruction, discussion groups and collaborative solution of the problem. Using this innovative method, students get the most of schooling and inspiration for further development.
5. A desire method
A typical teacher uses a standard procedure to start the lesson. He welcomes pupils and tells what they are going to learn today. But these statements can’t grab students’ attention from the very beginning, so scientists offer to use headlines, some kids of promise. Formulating the statement in a completely different way teacher shows his students how they can benefit from the content of the lesson and as a result students’ desire to listen to the teacher increases.
6. VAK teaching
Learners are divided into three main types: visual, audio and kinesthetic. Of course, it is impossible to gather learners of the same type in one class, but a teacher can take this fact into account presenting information. Some students need to see new data, the second ones – to hear and the third ones – to feel. That means that the same material should be presented in different ways. Each student will percept his amount of new information, while the others will have a chance to repeat what they have already learned.
These are only some of the innovative methods used by modern teachers. Many of them are unique for each field of study. Nowadays, teaching has gained many new features and continues to develop. Characteristic of natural sciences methods are used in humanitarian sciences, while many approaches to learning languages can also be applied to maths or physics.
The only key personality that manages all these processes remains the same – it is a teacher. And a great part of students’ success is in teacher’s hands. That is why apart from the modern approaches each person, who dares to call himself a teacher, should possess a number of skills that will contribute to the effectiveness of education. Development of these skills and use of the best innovative methods are the key components of the successful and efficient education and only a teacher is responsible for both of these two constituents.
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