Jodana Jeni Blogging

Second to parents or guardians, there is perhaps no greater of a formative presence in a child’s life than a teacher. The influence of an educator can be life lasting, for better or worse. Such a serious role demands that teacher professional development be considered part of an instructor’s career arc. Educators change as their years of experience add up, though oftentimes it’s in a less-than-ideal way. It’s alarmingly common to see young, aspiring educators go into the profession with all the passion in the world only to end up embittered, tired and mechanic years later.

Part of the problem for many instructors is finding the best way to engage students with material that doesn’t interest them. It’s not easy teaching long division or photosynthesis to a room of 10 year olds. Instead of finding creative solutions to this dilemma, however, many teachers just settle with the traditional approach of lecturing and testing and letting the students land where they may. This isn’t entirely the fault of the teacher, though. We’ve all been subjected to horrifically boring lectures and managed to pass a test on the material. It has worked. But the point is it can work better.

Helping teachers to develop beyond their college training not only benefits them as more rounded educators, but the students and education system as a whole. When a child genuinely wants to learn something, they should have an instructor that’s best equipped to make it the learning process a passion instead of a chore.

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