Lessons for teachers: ‘Go beyond textbooks’

“No number of books can explain the actual roles of a teacher...the society or a nation is shaped in the classroom”

[caption id="attachment_237800" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Dr. Zavise Rume with some participants of the teachers’ orientation programme at Woodland Christian School Rukizu, Pfutsero on March 8.[/caption] Dimapur, March 9 (EMN): In what could help the teachers impart knowledge to the students more effectively, the All Nagaland Private Schools Association (ANPSA) Pfutsero division organised teachers’ orientation programme at Woodland Christian School Rukizu, Pfutsero on March 8. Attended by more than 180 teachers from 16 schools under Pfutsero division, the programme was conducted in two sessions -- Innovative Teaching Methods in the first session and Teacher’s Motivational Strategies in the second – with Dr. Zavise Rume, SCERT, government of Nagaland, as the resource person, informed an update from president of ANPSA, Pfutsero division. First session: Innovative Teaching Methods Rume shared his experience as a teacher and stressed on the importance of having “faith” in teaching profession in the first session of the programme. He encouraged the teachers to form a strong foundation, principle and philosophy for teaching and to go beyond the textbooks and concretise the process of teaching. He described “teaching as a process of enlightenment” and that “it is much more than a set of roles and responsibilities.” Stating that “no number of books can explain the actual roles of a teacher,” he motivated the teachers by saying that “great teachers assess their success by observing if their students are successful in their performance, constructive members of the society and good human beings.” “The society or a nation is shaped in the classroom,” he said while urging the teacher to recognise the unique individuality of each child. “Every child has a unique personality born with talents, abilities, and strong urge to achieve and has the potentialities to do so,” he said. He went on to say that a teacher must have a thorough preparation on his/her mental and emotional state; that one should be “the Master of his subject” to teach with authority; and the need to have humanity towards teaching profession. Second session: Teacher’s Motivational Strategies In the second session, Rume stressed on the importance of motivation and propounded that “motivation is the only way of learning.” He said that it is equivalent to learning because “learning is the process of change and modification of behaviour.” He said that a teacher is a promoter of “achievement motivation” where a child is motivated by his/her own achievement, which is why giving recognition to each student on their achievement is very important. He concluded by saying that “teacher should be a source of hope and aspiration even in success and failure” and “the best teachers are those who are able to convince their students to say that they are the best.” The update from ANPSA also informed that Thepuhu Thira (president), Mathew Rabha (gen. secy), Vetsokholu Curhah (asst. gen. secy), Kivi Venuh (treasurer) and Father James (advisor) were elected as the new office bearers to lead the association.