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Home / Teachers Exercise: Revive the subject in your heart
Teachers Exercise: Revive the subject in your heart
2018-06-06Staff Report 2 One of the main factors contributing to the poor standard of education in Namibia is the lack of certain natural skills in our teachers’ tool-kit. The skills that I am referring to are not taught in any institutions, which offers teacher training. However, a teacher who walks his teaching journey with an open eye, ear and heart, will intuitively pick up these skills, because life is the highest university, there is. This is not a theory. This is a feedback borne out of real class- and lecture-room experience. For those who are new to my writing, it is wise to Google my previous articles. It will help you to see the picture that these articles hope to paint. There is one common challenge all teachers face daily. It is the battle to achieve and maintain discipline in the classroom. Prior to my teaching career, I was a soldier in the National Defence Force (NDF). As a soldier, discipline is the Alpha and Omega. That chapter of my life allowed me to study discipline for seven years. During my previous life as a teacher, I learned to transform discipline into something that happens in a very subtle way. The previous exercise suggested that we create the habit of being the first in the classroom. That gives us time to mentally prepare for the lesson. When we shake each learner’s hand and great her/him by name, it will have, a magical effect on her/him and the right atmosphere for learning will be set. However, that is just the beginning. The next tool is to present the lesson in such a way that the learner has no choice but to listen, pay attention and actively engage in the learning process (Teachers’ Bible). How can this be achieved? Every subject has something that can grab the learners’ attention. How do I find that “something” in my subject? It would take up too much space to elaborate, but I do give teachers lectures where I go into details. Exercise Prepare yourself in such a way that you find something amazing about your subject. This can be a great challenge to those teachers who have been teaching the same subjects for the past 28 years, but a teaspoon of humbleness and open mindedness will help you to escape that trap called “I know it all”. Looking at your subject with virgin-eyes will help you to discover interesting things in it. It will revive (make alive again) the subject in your heart and your students will naturally be interested. Boredom is the root of indiscipline. There are no boring subjects, only boring teachers! Shapumba ya Shapumba is the founder of Natural Learning Education Consultancy. He teaches how to obtain A+ in any subject (students) and the Secret to Extraordinary teaching (teachers). For booking: shapumbashapumba@yahoo.com or 0812786925 2018-06-06Staff Report 2
