an ideal teacher

Assalamualaikum and a very good day I bid to my lecturer. Today my group will deliver a speech titled ‘An Ideal Teacher’.

As we know, teaching is a noble profession, and teachers have a great role in the school to ensure their teaching objectives are met. Students are the mirror for teachers, and if students succeed, it means the lesson objectives are successfully met. Besides that, there are three more goals to be achieved, that is in terms of Physical, emotion and spiritual. In this speech, we have selected the criteria for an ideal teacher.

Let me tell you a story. The last time when I went for a teaching interview, I was asked about the first and foremost criteria in order to become a teacher. My answers came from my lessons I have during the practicum years, but on the other hand, the answer was not what I had expected. Then I realized that the teaching in IPT does not mention about liking the children. Based on experience, interest cannot be nurtured and taught in colleges though it can be improved. An ideal teacher is he can like the students if they are behaving or naughty, brilliant or slow learner. He can like every student and ask them about the students’ life in the school. With this an ideal teacher is a human, a person, a male or a female, regardless of age and background, is able to like children. This is very true indeed, as a teacher must like the students he is handling. A teacher who is always get himself involved with students’ activities will know that students have their way of looking at the world. The lens that they are using is different from the lens the adults, namely the teachers are using to see the environment. The first thing that a teacher must have is the factor that comes from his heart, that he likes children. If the children make mistakes, he will still like them. He does not have the pure anger that is anger without any good reason, to punish the children. Using the cane is intended to educate, and not to let out anger. Pure anger will be shown when a child does not follow a teacher’s instructions. The teacher can still accept and have the intention to educate the children about the bad effects of not following instructions carefully. Most of the times a teacher does not tell the whole story to the children, and the children do not know the bad consequences if they do not follow the instructions given by the teacher. When a bad thing happens then the children will learn the hard way. The problem is the teacher does not want the children to learn in that way. That is why the teacher scolds the students when the bad consequence arrives.  For this matter, the teacher must allocate time and energy to inform the students carefully of the things that they should do and the bad consequences they will face if they do not obey the instructions. The teacher must like the students when he wants to say anything to the students. If the teacher cannot find any kind of love to the students, then the teacher will not have the heart to share any information with the students.  This sense in a teacher will make the students to trust the teacher and the students will feel calm and comfortable when being with the teacher. This will create the situation where the student to master the knowledge that the teacher imparts to the students.

An ideal language teacher is the one who can teach based on the students’ speed. There are teachers who know they have to rush to finish the syllabus, but the students cannot understand because the lesson is too fast. I would like to stress that a language teacher is different from Math teacher in terms of facts that are taught. The content in a language class is fictional and based on a human’s minds, they do not teach facts, and the language class tries to run away from facts and try to make students to imagine and create new ideas. Facts come the second part.

Let me talk about an ideal language teacher. Still, when it comes to learning grammar, an ideal teacher will not confuse their pupils with the knowledge they get from their university years. An ideal teacher do not show off what they have learnt in the university, as that is not relevant, or if it is too detail, then it is going to waste the students’ time. What is important the language teacher is able to choose which information is needed and which are not.

An ideal teacher is the teacher who can make a language to be living, it can be part of a students’ lives. In a language class, the students only have one thing to grasp that is the language, whereas language is something every subject has. The students cannot recognize the things to memorize. It is something that cannot be seen, it can only live when it is spoken or heard. The contents are created, and it is not part of a human’s history. The language teacher’s task is to make language a living creature, that they can see and it’s visible, and that is done through performances. I prefer on stage performances. I am safe to say that only language subject is fictional, and subjects such as Math. Science, History and other subjects are factual based. When we teach History, we have a stance that by the end of the lesson, there are few facts we must remember and memorize and those facts cannot be changed.

Next, an ideal teacher is the one who can make students think of new ideas, and not depend on the textbook only. That is why science school teachers do not use the reference books, and forbid their students to refer to reference books, they just use the original text and they give questions for the students to answer and get their own ideas. Teachers like this always show and lead their students to the answer, but they do not tell the answers. The ideal situation is the teacher always shows the students on how to arrive at the answers or solutions.

.

A student will always look up for his teacher. For them a teacher is a good example of a good behavior, and that the knowledge he has is very important. A teacher can have a big influence in shaping a student’s behavior. The Prophet himself can influence the Arabs by just his characters. It was no surprise that there were many Arabs who converted to Islam.  The teacher is healthy and the BMI is good, so it is suitable to teach Phys. Ed. And can become an example to the students. There are teachers who teach PJ, but it’s not their option, teachers with PJ option but do not exercise regularly so their BMI is not that good. With this, I would like to state that a teacher must have the practice what you preach attitude. I have seen many teachers smoke but at the same time the schools tells every living student that smoking is prohibited in school and youngsters caught with a packet of cigarette in his possession will be fined not more than RM 1,000. For this matter, the teacher also must practice the law. Although he is an adult, he must carry the rule, where he should not smoke at all. The bad odor that clings to the teacher will give a bad impression to his students. With this, there are also teachers who do not speak the language that he is teaching. An ideal language teacher is the one who will speak the language that he is teaching so as to give example to their students. For this matter, the language must be simple enough for the students to understand. There are students who speak English at home, and it is a letdown when they try to get some support from the teacher, but the teacher do not speak the language taught.

I want a teacher that has a family, the bigger the family is the more responsible and understanding he will be. He sees the pupils like his own children, and he knows how to speak to them. A teacher that is not married yet, I hope he has many siblings and he can understand his siblings and is able to talk to the pupils comfortably. There is a difference in the way of working compared from a male teacher who are married and have children, with a male bachelor teacher. The first type of teacher knows and realizes all the time that he is the breadwinner, and it is his responsibility to work and take home some food to the family members. Even though the wife works, it is still the male teacher’s job to make a living and give a comfortable life to his family. With that, he will always remember to work as what is required and expected him to act. With effect to the students, the male teacher will teach until he sees the results he wants in his class. It is a sin if he does not enter the class to teach, if he deliberately comes late to class without any good reason as he knows that the salary will not be that clean for his family. Also, I have heard a lot of cases where a male teacher has misconduct, something that is against the rules of the school and the rules of religion. I am talking about immoral acts done between a teacher and a female student that will jeopardize the future of the teacher, the family and the students. Make teachers are prone to the risk. The ideal teacher for this matter is a male teacher who is married and has a family. With that, he can know the boundaries, when are the time when he stops himself from caning female students, when he gets very mad, he will stop himself from doing anything harmful to the students and to settle his business with the students during school hours only. This can protect him from getting accused or get trapped in a bad situation which he cannot defend himself from. He also knows the boundaries he is lining between himself and female colleagues and that will make everybody feel comfortable working with him, as he does not go overboard.

The same goes with female teachers. An ideal teacher is a female teacher who is a wife to somebody and a mother to some children. I would like to say that it is not the responsibility for a woman to support her family, she is just helping out the husband. For this matter, the deeds of a female teacher are bigger and nobler. This is because she is doing something that is not her responsibility; it is out of her good heart to help people. With the good intention, she carries the same responsibility as a teacher, a wife and a mother, and she works her heart out to get the salary that is clean and honorable. With that, she will be an ideal teacher, because she teaches the best she can.

An ideal teacher is a person who does not ask for salary for the knowledge that he is giving to the students. The ideal teacher must follow the prophet, when he is teaching, he is nearing himself to Allah. Also, a teacher does not ask for sympathy from his students, but he must be thankful to the students and must reward the students when  his teaching objectives are met. The pupils have given him the chance to get near to Allah.

An ideal teacher must be the leader and an honest guide in front of his students. He cannot allow the students to study a subject that they cannot understand or higher than what they are supposed to study. They must go step by step. The teacher also must tell the students that learning will make us get nearer to Allah and not to get money, status or influence.

An ideal teacher must admit that every student has their own potential that must be harnessed. The teacher must know the difference and teach them according to the level of difference each child has. The ideal teacher must teach the students based on their level and not to teach knowledge that they cannot grasp. Never make them confused as that will harm their minds.

As a conclusion, the criteria of an ideal teacher that we have selected leave so much to be desired. The first thing that the teacher must have, as I have stated earlier is they must like children. The rest of the criteria can be nurtured and taught and developed when they enter teaching college. Being a teacher is not like working in a private office, not only you get the job done and go home. It involves the above criteria that use one’s heart, minds and attitude.

.