Teachers as Lifelong Learners
By Khush Funer
We exist in an ever-changing world. Every new moment brings new opportunities and challenges to consider. The things that are new and learned today might not work tomorrow due to the uncertain nature of knowledge, development, and growth. Our upcoming generation, particularly school-going children, are more vulnerable in the current situation because they are in the early stages of their lives and are immature in understanding the complicated, technology-oriented future world. Appropriate guidance on the role of stakeholders, particularly teachers, is essential. Hence, it is the major responsibility of teachers to renew their knowledge and skills through reflection, lifelong learning, and attaining a certain level of abilities to impart knowledge and lead learners in a better way.
The most significant feature of teaching and learning is to bring about a positive change in students’ personality, attitude, and other life skills. This is possible if teachers bring about positive changes in their own day-to-day teaching practices and social skills, i.e., how to connect with others. Teachers can change themselves positively to a large degree if they reflect upon their daily accomplishments. For instance, to measure the quality and nature of their efforts, teachers could ask themselves the following questions: Who am I? What are my major job responsibilities? Am I a beneficial and dedicated teacher? How can I make a difference in the lives of learners? How can I enhance my social skills so that I can transfer constructive meanings to pupils and other colleagues? How can I become a more humble, caring, and supportive teacher, and a better human being? Change, surely, is a difficult task and requires continuous effort, commitment, and enthusiasm for such transformation.
Without optimistic thinking, positive change is not possible. Our mind is like a computer, but its function is much quicker and more complex than any of the most advanced computers in the world. If we input something into a normal computer, we can get the desired results within a few seconds. For instance, if we write the word ‘lion’ on the computer, we can find many fantasy images and narratives about lions. Similarly, if we click on ‘flowers,’ we can find thousands of lovely images of flowers on the screen. Our natural software (the brain) resembles a computer in many ways. If we think positively about the progress and improvement of other people, we will discover many delightful plans to make a difference in their lives, especially in our learners. Fortunately, our brain has a unique potential to think, analyze, and investigate every situation, and it can come up with different solutions and alternatives. Therefore, it is essential for teachers to effectively utilize the phenomenal capabilities of their brain through critical thinking, lifelong learning, and reflection, to develop themselves as efficient teachers and beneficial human beings.
Teachers can refresh themselves with contemporary research-based knowledge and teaching/learning strategies to perform their role more effectively in schools and other educational institutions. Fresh information and skills can be gained if a teacher becomes a continuous learner through reflection and reasoning as an educational leader and designs new tactics to improve the individual, societal, and educational life of learners. The rapid advancement of information and communication technology might make the teaching and learning process more complex in the future. Hence, educational leaders and teachers need to meaningfully expand their pedagogical content knowledge about their subjects as lifelong learners.
The writer works as a faculty member in the Aga Khan University’s Professional Development Centre North (AKU-PDCN).
