Just in case someone tells you “I’m a teacher.” What are your first lmpressions about that person?
Are you of the opinion most parents are teachers, now that many of us have had to face the reality of homeschooling under lockdown, that teachers are heroes?
Those endlessly patient fellows who help you raise and prepare your child for life’s challenges, many of us adore these life specialists and think to ourselves that teachers are second parents.
Perhaps you are of the opinion that teachers get too many holidays or teachers have it easy.
At this particular point I would kindly ask our education specialists to hold that eye-roll and accept this as a learning opportunity for those misguided individuals.
What does a primary or secondary or any category of a teacher do?
For the benefit of readers who may never have encountered education in the Kenya the following is a breakdown of “what a teacher does”.
Basically, a teacher is a professional who sets out to teach others, typically young people, how to engage in new tasks, behave in general, acquire knowledge, socialise, think for themselves and work as a well-rounded member of their community.
“One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world.” these are words of the scholar by the name Malala Yousafzai.
It is indeed true that we have given our teachers more and more specialised roles under a set of guidelines we have determined are the most beneficial principles for young minds to acquire.
These set of guidelines has come to be known as a curriculum. Each curriculum is made up of a number of subjects.
- Primary education: Which is seen as the basics of education which every member of our community should have and benefit from. This includes a good foundation in mathematics, geography, history, natural sciences and much more.
- Secondary education: which is also seen as the stage of education where we can fine-tune further knowledge and prepare for careers or further, Tertiary education.
The secondary level builds on the primary level education and branches out into many more subjects and opportunities.
It’s not all fun in the classroom as it may be taken, apart from delivering classes, teachers must also plan them and a significant portion of their own free time can be dedicated to doing so.
A part from this, there is grading and work correction to do. All of that work takes place before additional administrative roles.
It is hard and demanding work to be a teacher at any level. The rewards of teaching are unlike any other career though. It must be understood that teaching isn’t just a career choice, but is a way of life.
