The noble profession of teaching is one example of responding to such a call. There must be consistency and common purpose among those who are involved in education.
The role of the teacher in broader society is that of providing leadership and guidance to learners. Like the honourable teacher of yesteryear, teachers today should be engaged in their career with a high sense of calling, passion and professionalism.
It has become evident that the teaching profession across our country has developed negative connotations over the years. Teachers themselves have been painted negatively, largely because they do not display the joy and earnest devotion one would expect to see in the profession.
As a society, we have failed to demobilise the profile of a teacher from the 1980s, the teacher who was forever entangled in politics of resistance, to the teacher in the current climate, where the country and citizens are now freed from all sorts of prejudice and oppression. The majority of the teaching generation today were trained at a time when training and education was embroiled in the politics and struggle for liberation. We now need to re-direct and re-focus our minds to accept the new challenges of reconstruction of society today and ensure it is a part of how we conduct ourselves, teachers alike must become leaders in this environment.
In my belief, it is the teachers themselves who can ultimately change the negative perception portrayed about them. Of great significance will be the return of discipline back in schools. Firstly, teachers need to begin to develop a sense of self-confidence, assertiveness and a high level of professionalism. This is what is currently missing in this noble occupation. Accountability ranks high in this profession, driven through ethical conduct and a prominent sense of responsibility, teachers themselves must love and appreciate their profession more as a calling than just a job.
There are significant role players and members of society who have the power and influence to assist in changing the stereotype around teachers and the profession. The religious sector as part of a collaborative efforts spearheaded by the National Education Trust (NECT) should be allowed to lead campaigns on morality and ethics of learning in schools. The purpose of those efforts is to build professional unity and a common identity amongst teachers.
Religious practice is able to instil in teachers and students alike, a sense of moral responsibility and an attitude that says "every child is my child". Once teachers appreciate learners as their own children, they will show only love and treat children as they treat their own biological children.
I believe teachers and learners must pray together so that their relationship is not in itself an end but a continuing union. Teachers need to adapt a collective understanding to revere that which is outside their authority.
It is critically important for all teachers to be acquainted with the demands of the National Development Plan (NDP) through a special training programme. I believe a compulsory formal study of the NDP by teachers should be carried out via the NECT, outlining and instilling all the NDP dictates.
Teachers, as a group need to adapt a level of patriotism. To understand their calling within the broader perspective of society, defending and promoting that which is South Africa before the eyes of other world's nations. They must also master the art of 'discipline' in and outside of the classroom.
I am involved in various programmes through the Foundation for Leadership Excellence. Discipline as an ethical value in schools for professional learning and teaching is my area of research and training. Through the Foundation, our aim is to contribute towards the development of a teacher who is led by conscience and a sense of patriotism, all driven through a disciplined mind.
The programme has incentives adjudicated by independent auditors and professional experts; this is a public process and encourages stakeholder participation, especially parents' involvement.
Celebrations and events such as World's Teachers' Day (WTD) will motivate teachers through their interaction with other world colleagues. WTD enables teachers to be exposed to the educational world beyond South African borders, resulting in teachers' appreciating their calling and enabling them to see how society appreciates and values them.
Schools must be both physically and spiritually turned into centres of excellence. These two factors must be balanced to produce effective teaching and in turn, active students in society. Ultimately, society must take primary responsibility for the rearing of children. Teachers can only mould what the home environment provides them with. At the end of the day, it is the responsibility of parents to see that their children succeed in the education system.
