The role of educators extends much beyond books to creating well-rounded human beings, says Pankaj Kumar Singh

A teacher is the building block of society, who not only teaches what is written in the books but beyond that. He is the creator of personality and person you are along with your parents, who teach the basics of life. The relationship between teachers and students has changed with time and today they are more like friends, who care and share.

This makes their relationships stronger and makes each other easy to approach. Today, they not only connect in the classrooms but beyond that as well, where a bond is created and cherished for life. This change in relationship has given the scope to teachers to be more than just being a teacher. Today, they are a negotiator and moral guide too. 

According to scholars and experts, it’s the duty of a teacher to develop certain characteristics and moral values in the students that are briefed below.

Integrity and Morality

From the classroom to home, this is something that plays a key role in shaping your personality. It’s the moral responsibility of a teacher to make students understand the meaning through real-life examples like being honest, truthful, discouraging cheating and plagiarism, avoid using slangs, avoid disrespecting others and so on. While performing this duty, he/she should always be honest and justify his work.

Passion for Learning

This quality can be developed only when a teacher creates a perfect environment, where students are involved and get stimulated to learn. In generating enthusiasm or avidity for learning, a teacher must be a good motivator. It is advisable to do the same by going beyond the books and involving practical assignments and creative sessions that are basically an extension of the book world. This will help students understand and learn the practical approach of lessons and will also give them the scope to get involved in it.

Asking Questions

When the passion for learning is executed well, it results in creating an inquisitive mind that asks question. So, this role of the teacher can be successful only when he/she succeeds in generating the energies of students in the right direction towards learning the lesson.

Code of Behaviour

This involves teaching the basic mannerism and behaviour patterns that are expected in society. From respecting others to helping the needy, all this comes from the teacher who works as the chalk on the blank board of students mind. He/she should make the students understand the values of Indian culture and how important is the code of conduct/behaviour in the society. This learning will automatically help them implement the expected behaviour patterns.

Being kind and Helpful

This lesson also requires the teacher to be little practical in approach and make students understand the meaning of being helpful and kind to others. For this, the teacher can create hypothetical situations and involve a practical approach to make the students learn the basic lessons of life.

(The author is the managing director of a Cambridge montessori pre-school.)