International Teacher Education Conference 2014 1

International Teacher Education Conference 2014
element of ethics of the teachers. Giving everyone an equal opportunity to succeed in the society starts in the
character building years of the children. Essentially, teachers should lead by example for children and show
them how fairness works. Fairness is not merely treating everybody alike, it goes much deeper. Fairness rather
means giving everybody the right tools to advance and grow which could be associated with social equality.
Teacher’s Behavior in Organizational Success. With the exception of the basic education teachers and
teacher educators, all the rest of the respondents indicated disagreement on the idea that the 21 st century teacher
regards organizational success as the sole responsibility of leaders or officials in an organization. Obviously, the
majority of the respondents subscribed to the opposite idea, that is, they believe that the 21 st century teacher
should view that the success of an organization depends on the collective efforts of the individual members. This
is consistent with their view of personal success as product not only of one’s own making but also of the other
people around him/her.
Teacher’s Behavior to Environmental Disasters. All of the respondents agreed that the 21 st century teacher
views environmental disasters as a social concern rather than as a normal phenomenon. This suggests that the
respondents perceive the 21 st century teacher as a person and a professional who has a profound and broad
understanding of the environment and of the critical environmental issues and problems.
Teacher’s Behavior to Bold Expressions of Thoughts. Although the majority of the groups of respondents
signified disagreement to the idea that the 21 st century teacher views bold expression of thoughts, opinions and
sentiments as a manifestation of defiance, the basic education teachers and the teacher educators indicated
opposite response. This difference may be explained by the latter group of respondents’ careful attention to the
word “bold” in the statement that if one is careful or meticulous enough, the statement could mean strong
defiance or violent or undiplomatic way of expressing sentiments or airing grievances to authorities, and it
should not be practiced by the 21 st century teacher.
Teacher’s Behavior to Societal Concerns. All of the respondents viewed the 21 st century teacher as one who
believes that each citizen has his/her own responsibilities and accountabilities as a member of society. This is
strongly supported by the respondents’ unanimous agreement to the statement that the 21 st century teacher views
societal problems or issues as concerns of every individual. The respondents also thought of the 21 st century
teacher as a person who recognizes that social responsiveness starts with the social consciousness because social
awareness is a key to informed and active involvement to social affairs. Finally, all of the respondents were in
strong agreement to the statement that the 21 st century teacher regards social awareness as everybody’s
responsibility. This means that the respondents perceive the 21 st century teacher as a professional who asserts
social awareness as the prime or vital responsibility of every individual in a society.
Professional Attributes
In this section, the 12 perceived roles of a professional teacher in the 21 st century are presented and discussed.
Teacher as a Planner and Organizer. The respondents at all levels agreed that 21 st century teachers should
be thoughtful of the diversity of learners in his/her classroom. Also, the teachers must be able to set appropriate
learning goals for all types of learners. In implementing so, they must pace the lessons with consideration of the
needs and difficulties of the learners, giving equal importance to their cultural background when providing
learning opportunities. Their teaching methods, learning activities and instructional materials and resources
must be aligned with the lesson objectives and appropriate to learners, as well. According to Brown, Earlam, and
Race (1995), an effective teacher also trains the students to be organized in everything including the
management of their time and learning resources.
Teacher as an Effective Communicator. The respondent stakeholders at all levels recognized the importance
of effective communication in the teaching and learning processes. All of them strongly agreed that teachers
must use the language appropriate to the learners’ level and background and to the subject area being taught.
They likewise approved the use of mother tongue in the classroom. On the other hand, startlingly, all the basic
education student respondents opposed the use of the students’ lingo in classroom discourse when pre- and inservice
teachers and teacher educators actually supported its use. The contradictions were probably due to either
a misconception or lack of understanding of the term “lingo” by both parties. At one end, “student lingo” may
have been construed by the teacher groups as language used by the students when they speak with their peers,
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