The Role of the Teacher

Kuma's Chapter 1: Conceptualizing Teaching Acts really grabbed my attention in the section The Role of the Teacher.  I've wanted to become a teacher for everything noted under this section, "The teacher has been variously referred to as an artist and an architect; a scientist and a psychologist; a manager and a mentor; a controller and a counselor; a sage on the stage; a guide on the side; and more... Each of them captures the teacher's role partially but non of them fully" (Kuma 6).  As I read through how teachers are as passive technicians, reflective practitioners, and transformative intellectuals, I found myself critiquing each role as well as considering how I want to be as a teacher.  When I first began reading teachers as passive technicians, it didn't seem so ineffective as it actually is.  I liked the description how teachers are to act "like a conduit, channeling the flow of information from one end of the educational spectrum (i.e., the expert) to the other (i.e., the learner)..." (Kuma 8).  However, the flaws in this role are that the teacher is "prescribed" information.  I continued to read the next role of teachers as reflective practitioners and wrote down a few books that were referenced by John Dewey and Don Schon because I was agreeing so much with these views.  "Reflective teaching, then, is a holistic approach that emphasizes creativity, artistry, and context sensitivity" (Kuma 10).  This was very defining to me as a teacher in training.  However, the flaws of course were pointed out and I then agreed with the role of teachers as transformative intellectuals.  This role intimidated me because, just as it's described in the chapter, it's "such a radical role assigned to teachers" (Kuma 13).  I found myself unsure of which role I identified with most but was reassured at the end of this section with the statement, "It is useful to treat the three perspectives not as absolute opposites but as relative tendencies, with teachers leaning toward one or the other at different moments" (Kuma 17).