It’s the end of the year 2018 and schools are all pushing towards compliance to 21st-century practices. No one wants to be left behind, nor does any school want to be the one who still in the doldrums, offering anachronistic, dated, irrelevant education to its students. Parents and indeed the society at large, is relying heavily on our schools, to deliver a curriculum that is relevant to this present day, and even more importantly, one that equips students with the skills they will require to tackle the perceived issues of the near future.
So we ask;
How does a Teacher equip himself or herself to deal with such a humongous plight?
Having looked at several appraisal documents, we have managed to draw up for the purpose of teachers’ self-appraisal, a list of skills to be armed with, in order to excel in 21st-century teaching and learning.
Remember, we have put into consideration certain characteristics of our times, that cannot be ignored.
Take for instance the work SMART goal of today, rather than the work ‘hard’.
S- Specific
M- Measurable
A- Attainable
R- Reliable/Relevant living
T- Time-bound
What this means is that teachers must be poised to work SMART in the face of each goal. Ask themselves each time, “Is this plan of mine S M A R T”? This being the only way to achieve the most possible, within a specific amount of time. This is Efficiency redefined, necessitated by the fast-paced computer age where everything can be gotten instantly at the click of a button, from payments, to home deliveries, etc. So many activities are being crammed into a very little amount of time, take for instance a robust curriculum. It’s obvious that this generation has zero tolerance for inefficiency and the ‘slow’. We look around, and we find that there’s always a better and faster way to drive our objectives.
Teachers and schools are gearing themselves up, to face these times headlong.
Now to have a look at some of those indices a self appraising teacher should be looking at, towards self-development……… to be continued