Teacher Orientation [Teacher Ethics]-2

 Teacher Orientation [Teacher Ethics]-2

Stature Vs Status:

Success is not what one believes or claims; rather, it is how others perceive ‘our efforts’ as of value/ relevance /utility. Irrespective of the official cadre [status] one can develop a social esteem [stature] by the way [s]he contributes as a worker. Stature is what we ‘make’ of ourselves. Shaping our ‘image’ –the Professional dimension in our places of work is a step towards genuine growth. Stature is more a personal attainment while status is just a label. Of necessity, most harsh realities look repulsive until we recognize the value of ‘truth’; it involves building image, stature and profile of utility to our system. These elements are not discrete in the sense that all of them form the ‘cause and effect’ type of assembly.  Care needs to be bestowed on to the components of ‘personal image’ in one’s career.

Career – a complex issue to resolve

Career:

Career is a process of expanding one’s functional value to totality. It should be a continual endeavour of augmenting the right skills, strategies and strength so as to make a comprehensive growth in profession. So, the right assemblage of ideals and ideas helps the ‘image-building’ process. Image is the social perception about the individual. Those with ‘healthy images’ readily appeal as ‘acceptable’ teachers and are ‘looked forward to’ as resources by students. Such teachers do not struggle to get across in academic transactions, as they wield the power of influence drawn from the image of acceptability.

Image-building:

The foremost determinant of ‘image’ is the consistency of approach by the teacher.  Consistent performance- good or otherwise derives the social label and esteem for the teacher. Image is a product of finer components of day-to-day activity in our ambience. Inadvertently, every individual lends self for public scrutiny. The scrutiny is an item of student interest, carried out with zeal, as they assess the relevance of the individual. Curiously, every facet of every teacher stands review for the nth time no matter if the teacher is good or not. It is thus an item for teachers’ concern as none escapes the process of review. If so, a review of the mildest dose is what a teacher should look for as [s]he presents the whole panorama of his /her personality for review by students.

Facets of significance:

Quite a few items are involved in ‘formulating’ the image of the teacher.

In broad terms, these are: Seriousness of approach, Utility at all levels, Willingness to troubleshoot, Efficacy- oriented disposition and Amenability to reason.  Each one of them suggests positive disposition to the process of T/L as these items influence interpersonal skills in T/L. Interpersonal skills offer the right strategy of unearthing talent and hurdles to the process of T / L. A dispassionate study of the features indicated reveals that all these are ‘learner-centered teacher orientation’.  The underlying spirit of the suggestion is, teachers must recognize learner difficulties and try to mend their approaches to make T/L - an exercise of pleasure. From the student point of view, these issues matter the most in helping learning.

Seriousness of approach:

All successful teachers have sustained seriousness as a part of their working. So long as a teacher stays serious [s]he draws attention by implication. Further it forms a climate conducive for T/L. But, seriousness is not a matter of appearances. It is one of operative rigidities with which daily routines are attended to. One of the elements suggesting seriousness is Punctuality. Punctuality is an excellent conditioner.  What goes with punctuality? It relates to work culture and training of young minds. A lot happens with this mindset.

Punctuality:

Punctuality is a silent tool of enormous power. None can raise objections to it. Also, it is a moral stand with which none can take liberties. Those unable to adhere to punctuality have to cut a sorry figure even if holding high offices. Also, it creates a sense of guilt for those who arrive behind schedule. Staying punctual is just a matter of training; Schools and Colleges are the best places to inculcate this simple virtue. Punctuality always throws the best signal of seriousness that “I mean business”. As a corollary, punctuality enforces greater participative approaches. Arriving ‘on time’ creates a situation to go further. i.e., with more time at our disposal, we are obliged to make a better use of it. If a person is punctual but frittering the time away, then students would resort to ‘late arrival’: teacher cannot insist punctuality as it does not extend to the realm of transaction. Such an ‘incomplete’ attitude to punctuality is sure to spoil the teacher’s image. Any component of ethics must serve to improve T/L efforts.  

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