Home is the first school and teacher is the second parent, whose role has always been instrumental in building an individual personality, the highly acclaimed changing who impact generations, said management Guru Tejwant Singh Grewal from Melbourne University (Australia).
Grewal was addressing the teachers, in a workshop— ‘Teachers as Counsellors’, organised by Ratna Sagar, a publishing house. Over 140 teachers participated in the workshop at DPS premises on Thursday.
Grewal advocated that the role of teachers in the contemporary period is very important for the inclusive growth of a child. He said, counselling is a learning-oriented process which usually occurs in an interactive relationship where the counsellor expresses care and concern towards the person with a problem while “the counsellor’s role is that of a guide who helps facilitate that child’s personal growth and positive change through self-understanding,” he added.
The knowledge of counselling skills is essential for teachers to promote student’s learning and well-being. Teachers can play a key role in resolving students’ issues and concerns. The classroom teacher spends more time with students than any other professional in the school and is thus most likely to influence students, he said.
I think one of the most important aspects of a teacher as a counsellor is the ability to be self-aware and empathetic. Self-awareness reflects in our actions which make changes to improve ourselves to become better people and better teachers while empathy is standing in the shoes of our students and seeing our class through their eyes, he said.
Speaking on the occasion AS Gangwar Principal, DPS stressed “Complexities in society and ambition for higher achievements have made the children vulnerable to various problems like addiction, peer pressure, family acceptance.”
In such a scenario the role of teachers become very challenging and their role as a counselor is a priority, he said.