In the process teaching and learning, there are so
many useful activities that we can take it from it. Everyone there has the
different roles. The teacher has roles as the teacher, and the learner has
roles as the learners. But, how we can know their roles? To understand more
about the learners and teachers’ roles, I recently have five questions that
related to it.
Actually, what are the teacher’s roles in the
classroom? From Harmer’s studies about his interested to know what people
responses in the topic of how to be a good teacher. These all answers can
representative generally what are the teacher’s roles from their best deed in
the classroom. Harmer in his book How to Teach English (2007, p 1) said
that the teachers role in the classroom not only have an affinity from the teacher
and the students. But, the teacher also has many roles others. In one side from
his study about this topic, said that the teacher also has role as an
entertainer in positive sense, not in negative sense. In other words, the
teacher can make the students enjoy being entertained and amused (p.2). Still
in his book, the teacher also should become parent and friend for their leraner.
Here, the teacher is demanded to be a person who love their students like as
the parent to their children. But, in the other side, the teacher are also
demanded to be a nice friend to their student who can be empathy to their
friend’s problem.
In Indonesia, no all teachers use these roles. In
other words, there are not many teachers that aware about their roles as a
teacher. Many from them act as the teacher that knows that their job is to
deliver the knowledge to the students. It was relevant with my experience when
I was in Senior High School. When I was a student there, so many teachers were
not aware about their role. I met many teacher that attend to the class,
checking the attendance list, gave us the lesson, explained it, and when the
bell rung, so the teaching and learning activity was finished and very seldom
there were activities outside of classroom to talking about other thing. I
felt, many of my teacher was full their work as a teacher only, not to be a
friend from us, even the parent. But, not all of my teachers be like that. Among
them, at least two of my teacher that could hold their role well.
After the teacher roles in the classroom, we need to
know about the learner roles there. What are the learner roles in the
classroom?
In How to Teach English (p.8), Harmer said that
the learner roles in the classroom can be seen from their activity in the
class. This is related to the teacher’s role. The learners in the classroom
have to be good learners. They have to be motivated by teacher to learn well.
It can be integrative and instrumental motivation. The learner also has
positive attitude towards their subject. And in other part, Harmer said that
the learner can be aware about the competition in learning with other students
(p.10).
In our case, there is not little from us as the learner
that aware our role. But, it is also can be based on from the teachers’ deed.
It is mean that between the learners and teacher roles here is related. So many
leaner (especially lower achiever) can not follow the lesson as well as other
learners. Here, the one of the teacher roles act. The learners should be
motivated by teacher and they must be encouraged to learn harder. Even, the
teacher can help their problem personally. Like as my experience, my Chemistry
teacher helped me when I felt behind from others. She encouraged me and tried
to guide me to have same level with my friend in that course. Actually, I am
not well in Chemistry and Statistics.
Other matter that will be a question is about how to
be a good teacher? In his book, Harmer (2007, p.1-3) said that how to be a good
teacher it can be seen from these criteria; the teacher must love their job.
The learner can see that the teacher look unhappy or fed up with what they are
going. The teacher should be talkative, entertain in positive sense, wide
knowledge not only in their subject, and the teacher also must be approachable.
Actually, the teachers are not only demanded has an
affinity, but also can conduct their selves to be nice teacher with many skill.
My experience when I was a student in SMA, there is a teacher that could be a
nice teacher, sometimes she could be a friend for us and in many times she gave
us many thing useful beside lesson.
From those many roles of teacher, so what is the most
important role that must be played by English teacher? The teacher has to
measure what is appropriate for a particular student in a particular situation
(Harmer, 2007, p.2).
The teacher only can suit their role with the
situation exist. When the lower achiever needs to be helped, the teacher can
motivate them. When the students have problem, the teacher can be a friend for
their learners. They must be trusted one for their learner.
So, in what situation, teacher can play as controller?
The teacher should not spend talking in the class. Harmer (2007, p.4) said in
his book that Trainee’s classes are sometimes criticized because there is too
much TTT (Teacher Talking Time) and not enough STT (Student Talking Time).
In many situations, teacher must arrange their time to
give their student to be talkative and they can be a controller. In my school,
few of teachers has so many energies to spending time with explained the lesson
in whole of time.
