Publikacje

The role of the teacher

The purpose of this project  is to explore the ways in which the teacher's roles influence the teaching and learning process. Many different and complex factors influence the roles that teachers adopt in the classroom. According to Breen and Candlin (1980: 93-94) the teacher has three main roles. One of them is to alleviate the process of communication between all students in the classroom, and between these students and the wide variety of tasks and texts. The other role is to operate as an autonomous participant in the learning-teaching process.  The third role is to act as an observer and learner. These roles imply  a set of secondary roles which are described below.

1.1. Controller

            The teachers as controllers always stand at the front of the classroom controlling everything. They are in charge of the class and control not only what the pupils do, but also when they communicate and what language they use. Each  stage of the lesson lends the teacher to this role very well. As Harmer (1991: 236) claims the introduction of a new language, where it makes use of accurate reproduction and drilling techniques, needs to be carefully organised. All attention is focused on the front of the class, and the pupils are all working to the same pace.

            1.2. Assessor

            A meaningful part of the teacher's job is to assess the pupils' work, to see how well they are performing or how well they performed. According to Harmer (1991:237) there are two types of assessment: correction and organising feedback. In the first type of assessment the teacher's function is to show where errors and mistakes occur and help pupils to see what has gone wrong so that it can be put right. Organising feedback occurs when pupils have performed some kind of task. The intention of this kind of assessment is for them to see the extent of their success or failure and to be given ideas as to how their language problems might be solved.

            1.3. Organiser

            The most difficult role the teacher has to play is that of organiser. The success of many activities depends on good organisation and on the students knowing exactly what they are to do. As Harmer (1991: 239) noticed  the main aim of the teacher when organising an activity is to tell the pupils what they are going to tell about, or write, or read about. The teacher should give clear instructions about what their task is, get the activity going, and then organise feedback when it is over.   

            1.4. Prompter

            One of the teacher's important roles is the role of prompter when the teacher needs to encourage pupils to participate in the lesson. He or she also should prompt the pupils with information they have forgotten. According to Harmer (1991:241)   the teacher always needs to take suggestions about how pupils may proceed in an activity when there is a silence or when they do not know what to do next.

            1.5. Participant

           Another role the teacher performs in the classroom management is participation. The teacher participates in an activity especially where activities like stimulations are taking place. Harmer (1991:241) warns that there is the danger if the teacher tends to dominate, and the pupils both allow and expect this to happen. Teacher should not be afraid to participate if it improve the atmosphere in the class. The teacher's participation can also give the pupils a chance to practise English with someone who speaks it better than they do.

            1.6. Resource

            The teacher should always be ready to offer help if it is need. As Harmer  (1991: 242) claims English is the language that the pupils may be missing, and this is true if the pupils are involved in some kind of writing activities. Thus, the teachers make themselves available so that pupils can consult them when they wish.

            1.7. Tutor

            The teacher sometimes acts as a coach and as a resource when pupils are involved in their own work. As Argyle (1969) claims pupils can ask  the teacher mainly for advice and guidance. This is the role the teacher adopts when pupils are involved in self-study or when they are doing project work of their own choosing. The teacher will be able to help them clarify ideas and limit the task.

            1.8. Investigator

            Teachers want to develop their own skills by themselves or with colleagues. The best way to do this, according to Harmer (1991:242-3), is by investigating what is going on, observing what works well in class and what does not, trying out new techniques and activities and evaluating their appropriacy.

                       Apart different roles the teachers adopt in the class management there are, according to Nunan (1981:19), two additional roles that teachers should be involved in: teachers as researchers and planners their own professional practices in the classroom.   

           1.2.1. Researching teachers

            All teachers of English are involved in developing and understanding of the ways how different practices influence the English classroom. For many teachers research is becoming embedded as an undeniable part of their lives. Lawrence Stenhouse (1975:31) claims that teacher research can provide fruitful insight into classroom-based teaching and learning that offer teachers a sound basis for making professional decisions. In our project we would like to focus on classroom research which helps teachers to explore and examine aspects of teaching and learning and to take actions to improve their own skills. 

                       According to Nunan (1989: 9-10), there are three main types of research: 'pure' research, policy-oriented research and 'action' research. The first type enables better understanding what it is that makes certain procedures appear effective in the classroom. The second research enables future planning to be more effective. The 'action' research is the most important for teachers because it is aimed at a particular situation. Nunan (1989) claims that the action research is nearly bound to the specific interests and requirements of individual teachers. On the other hand, Nunan (1989) emphasises on areas   nominated by teachers as worth investigating: methodology, classroom management and interaction, professional development and self-evaluation, applying skills, affective factors, assessment and evaluation and acquisition. All of them are important because they enable teachers to become more confident, raise teachers' consciousness, have led them to not only confront and deal with all the practical issues facing teaching and researching, but have also led them on to improve their own work as teachers and researchers.

            1.2.2. Teachers as planners 

            Good teachers think carefully about what they want to do in the classroom and plan how they want to organise the teaching and learning. Harmer (1991:259) claims that variety of different learning activities is the teachers' main target. They must give the pupils a purpose and tell them what the purpose is. As Harmer (1991:259) claims: 'Students need to know why they are doing something and what it is supposed they will achieve ..... teachers must have a purpose for all the activities they organise in a class and they should communicate that purpose to the students'.    

            An ideal balance is created for the class if teachers use mix techniques, activities and materials. Pupils should be treated as individuals and the more teachers know about their needs the more they can achieve in teaching-learning process. According to Harmer (1991) before teachers start planning their lessons they should be accustomed with three main areas: the job of teaching, the institution and the students. In my diploma paper I would like to focus on the students. Harmer (1991) claims that teachers should take into consideration many factors such as: who the students are, what the students bring to the class and what the students need. Delving into these factors more scrupulously they should know age of the students, their sex, and social background. Thinking about what the students bring to the class teachers should know how the students feel about learning English and should be familiar with four major areas such as: motivation and attitude, educational background, students' knowledge, and their interests. Knowing the students and their needs helps the teacher to provide   a programme of balanced activities that will be most beneficial and motivating to the students.

                       In this project I have pointed at different roles the teachers take in the classroom which influence the teaching and learning process. According to the researchers (Breen and Candlin (1980), Harmer (1991), Argyle (1969), Stenhouse (1975), Nunan (19810), the teachers' major role in the classroom is to create the conditions under which learning can take place and to impart, by a variety of means, knowledge to their learners. 

                                                                                                                 Anna Dorabiała