Inspiring teachers a vision of the future

Inspiring teachers a vision of the future

The role of teachers will need to radically change so the profession meets the needs of secondary students in 20 years time, an education report released earlier this month says.

The report, Inspiring Teachers, creates a vision for what teaching might look like in 2027 and spells out four critical roles teachers need to play to make the vision a reality.

Inspiring Teachers was prepared by Secondary Futures, an independent government-funded project that promotes debate about the future of secondary education.

Secondary Futures guardian Prof. Mason Durie said teachers’ roles would change as secondary education was reshaped to ensure all students successfully meet the challenges of the future.

“Secondary education will become more personalised with students’ learning based on their needs rather than what their schools are set up to teach. This has implications for the role of teachers and how they will be working,” Prof. Durie said.

“All teachers, whatever their role in the system, will be characterised by a passion for learning, an ability to engage students, and a rich and replenished knowledge of the things they teach. All these attributes are necessary for learning to happen successfully,” Prof. Durie said.

Inspiring Teachers identifies four critical roles for the teacher of 2027:

• Catalysts of knowledge: working with students to create customised learning programmes, teaching will go beyond imparting subject knowledge to helping students access, evaluate and apply knowledge – a prerequisite for success in the 21st century.

• Heralds of the future: helping students to respond successfully to changes in technology, demography and employment. Teachers will be at the cutting edge of knowledge and innovation, embrace continuous learning and pass on skills for life-long learning to students.

• Champions for Aotearoa: helping students prepare for global endeavours while having the stability of having a strong understanding of who they are as NZers. Students will appreciate and value what is unique to NZ, and absorb, and be proud of, this heritage.

• Scaffolders of self worth: demonstrating in their teaching respect for individuals and groups, and how difference can be valued, and collaborative partnerships formed. Teachers will allow students to express their own values, explore the values of others, understand differences and negotiate solutions when values conflict. These skills will be important living and working in a multi-cultural country, a globalised economy, and in workplaces that demand emotional intelligence and the ability to work collaboratively.

Prof. Durie said that making a difference to individual student’s learning is what brings most teachers in to the profession.

“However, teachers have increasingly taken on an expanding range of roles. Clarity is now needed around the fundamental role of teachers in a flexible and adaptable learning system that meets the diverse needs of tomorrow’s students,” Prof. Durie said.

In researching Inspiring Teachers it was clear that the vision of the role of teachers in causing student success was already being implemented in some schools, Prof. Durie said.

“Too often though, the vision is glimpsed only in isolated pockets or at the margins, propelled by the energy of isolated individuals or institutions.

“With Inspiring Teachers we want to shed more light on the debate that will lead to more people taking leadership of this vision and to acting on it now,” Prof. Durie said.