The Role of a Teacher
by Aoife Kissane
1. Teachers have an essential duty of care which requires a high level of professionalism to not only recognise situations which have the potential to harm students under their care, but also take the needed action to prevent or resolve these harmful situations (Millane, 2014, p. 3).
2. Teachers are expected to act under a professional code of ethics, using the principles of 'integrity, dignity, responsibility, respect, justice, and care' (Queensland College of Teachers, n.d., p. 1) to guide their professional conduct and behaviour.
3. Whilst engagement with students is essential to helping impart knowledge and ensure their growth as individual learners, professional distance must be established and maintained. (APST 7.1, 7.2)
4. Teachers must maintain professional responsibility and recognise the high standards of ethical behaviours they must restrict themselves to, as 'the adult teacher is responsible for taking care to ensure that the students in their care are protected while their development is promoted' (Churchill, 2019, p. 548). (APST 7.1)
5. Teachers must complete their practice under defined policies and legislations, and therefore the teacher must act with professional integrity to continuously meet the expectations of their authorities and subject curriculums. (APST 2.3, 7.1, 7.2, 7.4)
6. A practicing teacher has autonomy over their own vocation, and so must demonstrate professionalism through organisation skills and self-management to create lesson plans, distribute assessment, provide feedback, and interpret each of their students learning outcomes and requirements. (APST 1.5, 2.2, 2.3, 3.2, 3.5, 4.2, 5.1, 5.2, 5.4, 5.5)
7. Being a teacher requires a high degree of specialised knowledge, with intense and in-depth training being an essential requirement to ensure a professional level of understanding and ability to know how to teach students. (APST 1.2, 2.1, 6.2, 6.4, 7.1, 7.2)
8. As teaching is a career which requires interaction with many levels of authorities, colleagues, non-teaching staff, parents/carers, and students, a teacher must uphold a level of professionalism to effectively and responsibly fulfil the requirements of their job. (APST 6.3, 7.1, 7.3, 7.4)
9. Teachers must keep up with new technologies and learn how to use them for educational purposes, as well as learn to implement them into learning environments with ensured safe and ethical use. (APST 2.6, 3.4, 4.5)
10. Teachers must be learners to be able to adapt their own styles and practices to new teaching methods and philosophies that are constantly being researched and developed. (APST 1.2, 2.1, 3.3, 3.6, 6.2)
11. 'Teaching can be defined as engagement with learners to enable their understanding and application of knowledge' (Sentrum vir Onderrig & Leer Centre for Teaching & Learning, n.d., para. 1), and as knowledge is constantly evolving it is essential for teachers to continuing learning in their subject area and staying up to date with new knowledge to ensure they are doing justice to their career requirements of providing correct knowledge to others. (APST 2.1)
12. 'Even when they work at the same school or within the same year levels, teachers do not simply share identical subjective experiences' (Churchill et al., 2019, p. 549), and so those in the teaching profession are always in a work environment where they are learning from colleagues of individually differing backgrounds, experiences, methods, and philosophies.
13. 'Seek and apply constructive feedback from supervisors and teachers to improve teaching practices' (APST 6.3).
14. 'Teacher's are independent artisans, applying, adapting, and modifying available tools and resources in response to constantly changing circumstances' (Churchill et al., 2019, p. 550), and such teacher's are always in the process of learning from their experiences to grow their strategies and practice. (APST 1.5, 3.3, 3.6, 5.4)
15. Teachers consistently critically reflect on their own practice and refine strategies their strategies to improve student learning. (APST 3.6)
16. 'An enthusiasm for learning...[is] among the qualities of people drawn to a career in teaching' (Churchill et al., 2019, p. 4)
17. Teacher as Learner
18. Teacher as Professional
19. Learning from Self
20. Learning from Students
21. Learning from Colleagues
22. Learning from Change/Career Requirements
23. Teachers must be attentive to their students responses to particular teaching strategies so they can evaluate the effectiveness of different strategies and learn how, when, who for which students to use each one. (APST 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 3.3, 3.6, 5.4)
24. Teachers consistently engage in professional learning and development with their colleagues and superiors to learn new teaching strategies and update their practice. (APST 3.6, 6.2, 6.4,7.4)
25. Teachers who are change agents develop new teaching methods to implement into their personal practice, as they use their professional knowledge to evaluate the learning needs of their students and take initiative to experiment with resources and teaching strategies. (APST 1.1, 3.3, 3.4, 3.6, 6.4)
26. Teachers who strive to improve as professionals by implementing tangible change develop personal characteristics which influence their practice as well as their daily life, including 'being eager to learn and reflect, giving guidance, being accessible, positive, innovative, and committed' (Heijden et al., 2015, p. 681).
27. As teaching is a profession which requires engagement with how and why the world is evolving and changing, teachers are change agents as they continuously stay up to date with these changes and seek out or facilitate professional learning to adapt teaching strategies and learning environments to best suit modern students. (APST 1.2, 2.1, 3.6, 6.1, 6.2)
28. Teachers as change agents are actively involved in influencing educational practice by demonstrating professional agency and innovative approaches to influence their students, colleagues, parents/carers, and the wider community. (APST 3.6, 3.7, 6.3, 7.3)
29. Teachers are often perceived by their students as mentors, and 'educators can help their pupils pursue higher education, explore career opportunities and compete in events they might otherwise have not thought themselves able to' (2U, n.d., para. 8).
30. Teachers encourage investigation and inquiry skills, as well as participation in class activities and collaboration with peers, giving students opportunities to grow as people and providing guidance to lead their life in a good direction. (APST 4.1, 4.2)
31. 'Whatever the situation, the influence teachers have on their students is long lasting and can be profound.' (Churchill et al., 2019, p. 4), and therefore teachers play an essential role as change agents in students development, not only as learners in school, but as continually growing people.
32. Teachers regularly practice their profession and must have this practical experience in educational environments to know how to manage classroom activities and a variety of students behaviours. (APST 1.2, 2.1, 3.3, 3.5, 4.3, 4.3, 6.2, 6.4)
33. Teachers must have advanced knowledge and understanding of both their subject area, and teaching as an area itself, to be skilled enough as practitioners able to implement their lesson plans and achieve their learning goals in many educational contexts and to students of varying needs and levels. (APST 1.3, 1.5, 2.1, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 6.4)
34. 'Our ever-changing world is by far the biggest challenge [for] educators' (Russell, 2019, para. 1) and teachers are constantly immersed in unpredictable environments, therefore it is essential for a teacher to have the qualities as a practitioner to be able to adapt to a wide variety of circumstances and changes, continuing to successfully impart knowledge and ensure student growth. (APST 3.3, 3.6, 6.4)
35. There is a necessity for teachers to have undertaken training in their vocation to have the theory behind their practice, giving them the ability to use a variety of teaching strategies and adapt to different learning environments and student responses. (APST 1.2, 1.5, 2.1, 3.3, 6.2, 6.4)
36. Teachers are practitioners in that they have responsibilities to adhere to as experts in the field, such as knowing and teaching the Australian curriculum, planning and preparing learning programs, adapting these programs to varied student needs, assessing and reporting student progress, and liaising with colleagues, non-teaching staff, and parents. (APST 1.2, 1.3, 1.5, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.2, 3.7, 4.2, 5.1, 5.5, 6.3, 7.3, 7.4)
37. Teachers act as change agents in student lives by actively listening and hearing student perspectives, appreciating them as valuable members of the community, and empowering them to pursue their goals. (APST 1.2, 3.5)
38. Teacher as Practitioner
39. Teacher as Change Agent
40. Change Agent in Student Lives
41. Change Agent in Own Life
42. Change Agent in Teaching Profession/Greater Community
