Reflection on Teaching… Many people think that teaching is a noble and preeminent occupation, but others suppose that this opinion has become out-of-date. The labour market is overfilled with lawyers, economists, managers, etc. and a teacher is not a treasure house for inquiring minds anymore. Earlier a master was a respectable person and his word was law. It was out of the question not to obey to an instructor, because he was a luminary who passed the torch. One must admit that nowadays the situation has changed root and brunch– we live in the epoch of “other times, other manners”. Students have an access to the Internet where they can obtain any information they need. Let us consider whether we need a teacher or pupils can do without him. As far as I am concerned, I’ve always wanted to be an educationalist. In my childhood it seemed to me that those decent and remarkable people were without reproach. Their intelligence, calm disposition and generosity caught my fancy and I dreamt of resembling the teachers. When I left school, it wasn’t a formidable task for me to decide what job to choose. I made up my mind to become a teacher of foreign languages, because I was good at English and had a great to desire to impart knowledge. Frankly speaking, I have never felt sorry for my choice. I endeavored to be an exemplary student and since graduating from the university and becoming an assistant of the Department of Romano-Germanic Languages I have been teaching students the same. The first thing that needs to be said is that each profession has its pros and cons; being a teacher is not an exception. Teachers should be oblivious of their tiredness and never impose their bad emotional luggage on students. They are at a loss what to do when they need to take a sick day, but it is evident that their work will be loaded on colleagues. Schoolmasters are pressed for time because even their days-off are devoted to pupils, reading for lessons and checking tests. Many other weak points may be mentioned if a person is not interested in this profession. I strongly believe that not every person may be an admirable and remarkable mentor. W. A. Ward once said: “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher
explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires”. As my mentees aren’t pupils, but first and second-year students, I feel great responsibility for my goal. Although I have been teaching only for three years and don’t have enormous experience, I make it a point to do my best. I am persuaded that one of a teacher’s primary purposes is to establish rapport with students. It is of great importance to treat a student as an equal and this case he or she will rely on you and perceive as a trustworthy person whom he can confide in the case of a trouble. What is more, a teacher should have a command of a language that is why I never miss an opportunity to broaden my outlook and to be an interesting personality for students. I try to make lessons various and gripping, keeping in mind the Gail Godwin’s wise dictum that “good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three- fourths theater”. Life does not stand still and I can’t understand lecturers who never tear off their worn lectures until their retirement. I prefer interactive lessons with preparations, students’ reports, role-plays, debates. The only way to appeal to a pupil is to spark him with your own passion for the subject. I am a teacher as well as a postgraduate student and I attempt to involve them into writing scientific articles, participating in conferences and expanding their scope. One cannot deny that it is significant what qualities a teacher possesses. It is valuable for an instructor to be responsible, compassionate, competent, intelligent, willing to communicate. He should be serious or revealing a sense of humor, strict or easy-going – in regards to the circumstances. I presume that if a teacher reveals such a quality as empathy, it will enable him to avoid estrangement with pupils even if there is a gap in their age. I never give up on students because I know that most of them sit up late, brushing on their grammar and vocabulary and learning by heart in order to be estimated as A level students. It is surprising, but even “grown-up” 18-19 year-old “children” are waiting for praise. According to the Pygmalion effect which states that we shouldn’t lose heart if children upset us and get poor marks, for the most part a teacher is to be blamed. I love seeing the results of my job, derive great pleasure when students receive excellent grades and steer clear of “it’s out of my
hands approach”. One of the disadvantages of a teacher’s profession is that you can hardly predict what the long-term results will be. I assume that this problem is possible to keep away from with the help of regular assessment. Fortunately, I haven’t come across the problem of students’ flagrant offences, misbehavior and rude demeanor. All students surrounding me are dignified, earnest, approachable people. I hope they will become my colleagues, teachers and will look back with appreciation to their mentors. I feel like getting on with students, because I always learn something new. I’m twenty-four years old and I regard my relative “youth” as an advantage. We are on the same wavelength and easily understand each other. At the same time students don’t go beyond the mark and I haven’t faced the problem of hob-a-nob relationships. I hope I have found the golden middle between the authoritarian and democratic style. I consider each student as a personality worthy of respect. Taking into account their preferences gives me a helpful hand teaching them. I see eye to eye with Mark Van Doren’s words that “the art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery”. I cannot but underline the fact that many years after leaving school or graduating from the university a student may forget how to translate the word “consequences” or what the complex object is, but he or she won’t forget the teacher, who has aroused his sympathy and curiosity, penetrated into the subtlest windings of his heart and left an indelible imprint there.