ROLE OF TEACHER
A teacher is the cream and torch-bearer of any society. The future of a country depends on its ability to teach. A teacher has moulded every important personality in the society. Today's medical doctors, engineers, journalists, preachers, administrators, political leaders in one way or another is a product of some teachers. However, a mother is the first teacher of her child; equally the teacher should be the mother or father of the pupil. Parents are the first teachers of a child in the sense that the very first knowledge about the world of a child is facilitated by them particularly the mother. The don'ts and dos are instilled first in one's life at the family level. Just as biological parents have interest in their child, parents and teachers are co-creators of learners and so there is need to develop parent-teacher partnership.
Education is not merely imparting knowledge and information; it is the development of the child's natural powers and abilities from within. Different definitions have been given to the term teacher. Conventionally it is believed that a teacher is one who provides knowledge to others. Yet other educationists consider a teacher to be 'one who guides, takes care of and provides knowledge to others'. The most appropriate definition of the term teacher to be 'one who is professionally trained to impart knowledge to her/his learners and others in the society'. Such a teacher is expected to be competent and to have a holistic outlook, that is, she/he must have thorough pedagogical intervention skills in the subject matter and need to be knowledgeable in educational subjects such as psychology, philosophy, special education, educational management, developmental studies, guidance and counselling, inter alia.
ROLES OF A TEACHER IN THE CLASSROOM
The role of a classroom teacher is profound and multi-faceted. She/he is an academician, a specialist, a methodologist, character trainer, caregiver, role model, ethical mentor, democrat, leader, effective member of the school staff among many others. School is a miniature society and a very complex community where concern and accountability for learners' socialization are the responsibility of all. A classroom teacher is integral component of this complex community and has many roles. Some of the roles a teacher plays in the classroom or school situation include:
Teacher as a source of knowledge
The first and foremost role of a teacher is to teach her/his learners. She/he should be in a position to inspire and guide her/his learners in experiences that will result in effective learning. Teachers are expected to help their students to learn certain traditional school subjects such as mathematics, languages, sciences, history geography etc. Much of what is gained from school should help learners to solve problems in life besides enabling them to compete fairly with others in class. For these reasons, the subject matter taught in schools should be meaningful, relevant, and learnable and learner centered. Thus (Wool folk, 1990) pointed out that meaningfulness or relevance of materials being taught to elementary children is important because children are
more ready for skill learning, spelling, reading and writing which they seem to enjoy. In addition, their interest too gets aroused, consequently, they become ready to respond to materials which meet their needs, and which fit their already established interests and mental framework. Nevertheless, at a higher level, secondary school students prefer to discover, read adventurous stories and fiction texts. For them, a taste of good reading and acquisition of knowledge can be achieved through strategies that interest them. The teacher should involve children and parents in the process of learning without neglecting other components of development. Issues that affect
life need to be discussed with an aim of
finding lasting solutions.
TRAITS OF 25TH CENTURY TEACHER
1.
Driven to Learn 
2. A Media Creation Expert
3. A Digital Navigator
4. An Empathetic Mentor
5. A Technology Harmonizer
