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The Roles of Teachers (drawing on Maxine Greene and William Ayers)




            The Role of teachers in the American school system is best described by William Ayers who wrote in his memoir, “The challenge of teaching is to decide who you want to be as a teacher, what you care about and what you value, and how you will conduct yourself in classroom with students. It is to name yourself as a teacher, knowing that institutional realities will only enable that goal in part (if at all) and that the rest is up to you. It is to move beyond the world as we find it with its conventional patterns and its received wisdom in pursuit of a world and a reality that could be, but is not yet.” (p.65). Ayers speaks about the role a teacher must take when they enter the role of an educator is to ‘embrace’ their students as human beings much like themselves. When an educator was in school learning to be a teacher they had their own set of struggles to face and overcome. Like their teacher’s taught them they have to take it upon themselves to see the same fallacies that were once brought upon them as teachers. Ayers also suggest that “To teach is to choose a life of challenge” (p.66). Teachers face more challenges in their work environment than those who choose to lead a life in a management position. Not only are they entrusted to teach adolescents but they must also learn to learn policies and deal with the harsh realities that not all schools will have the capacity to have the supplies needed to fully enrich the lives of the students who attend the school.


            Another role of teachers is to teach a curriculum that will have the student focus on test taking skills rather than actual learning of any kind. Students are taught early that every single class leads to a series of test they must take and if they don’t pass these test than they have failed. For an educator who would spend countless hours teaching subjects that will only benefit an exam and not the students’ ability to learn they must find ways for the students to better understand what they are learning. Maxine Greene says “Warned that traditional liberal education no longer guarantees future status, fulfillment or prestige, they set their sights “pragmatically” in the hope that they will gain, at the very least, some kind of security.” (p. 33) This statement suggest what most would fear that teachers are no longer those who would help students achieve what they may dream of for their future but to become someone who settles for what would bring security to their futures.
When I was growing up those who taught me every year from grade school through high school all suggested the same scenario and that was that no matter the hard ships I may face throughout my life I should follow my dreams and what would make me happy in the future. It seems that teachers have forgotten that their students could eventually change the world and it is up to them as educators to help these children flourish and become what they truly want to be. What Greene says about educator’s role when it comes to the responsibility of teaching young minds, “suggests the need for a serious effort on the part of educators to achieve some mastery of subject matter as well as familiarity with methods and techniques.” (p. 33) Greene also suggest teachers have to be involved in the process and be engaged with the curriculum and be understanding of the different experiences from all areas they would face.
The role of a teacher is in the end best summed up as someone who helps, teaches and helps nurture a young mind in the learning of subjects that should and would benefit them throughout their lives. Teachers must embrace the differences of all of their students as well as help them overcome the problems they may face while learning. A teacher should teach in a way that helps the students realize their true potential not only in their own lives no matter how big or small they maybe but also the potential of how big and wide they may become in the future. Teachers shouldn’t discriminate against their students but they should help bring them all together.
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