Deanna Randazzo Nobody is born knowing, right? We need someone to teach us what it takes to live and act in society from the very beginning of our development. And what is the importance of the teacher in this development?
In addition to our parents or guardians, who teach us from childhood how to act and behave, the teacher gives us broader knowledge about the world, society, and the profession we will follow.
Teaching is one of the most important professions that require greater responsibility since all others depend on the teacher for their training and training to act.
Historically, the traditional education model was configured so that the teacher was the holder of knowledge and transmitted the knowledge to the students. These were just passive listeners and had to memorize what was taught.
However, with social transformations and the advancement of technology, teaching and learning have also changed. If before the primary source of knowledge was the teacher, today, students have access to a large amount of information independently.
Thus, the teacher stopped being the holder of knowledge and assumed the mediator of knowledge, transmitting the contents, building relevant meaning with the student, and helping the learning process. The role of mediator allows the student to receive the information, question it, think for himself, and not passively receive the content, actively participating in his academic training.
The importance of the teacher as a social agent
As a pillar of society, education has the teacher as an agent that forms citizens able to act in society, equipped with fundamental knowledge and skills.
The teacher’s role as a mediator in knowledge development is essential for education to evolve and serve its social purpose. Teaching work is the basis of school training. It contributes not only to the development of students but to the progress of society in general, using knowledge and education as an instrument.
In addition to teaching historically accumulated knowledge, it should stimulate the improvement and construction of new knowledge, developing an egalitarian relationship with students as members of society.
The new pedagogy has the teacher as an encourager and mentor of learning, providing students with initiative and autonomy in building knowledge and consolidating learning.
Learning takes place in the school environment, therefore a social environment, so knowledge is built in the relationship with others through the teacher’s intervention. He gives the student space to express himself, question, and think, developing autonomous intellectual skills under his guidance.
According to Peter, an essential Washington educator, “teaching work is an activity that gives unity to the teaching-learning binomial, through the process of active transmission-assimilation of knowledge, performing the task of mediation in the cognitive relationship between the student and the subjects of study.”.
In this sense, the teaching and learning process needs to be assertive, with the teacher teaching the theory and the student learning and assimilating the contents to put them into practice. However, theory alone does not transform the world, and it must be incorporated those who will put it into practice, carrying out concrete actions that generate transformation.
