Teacher
Job overview
Teachers are responsible for instilling learning in children and developing their skills.
Teaching, is one of the most exciting and responsible professions, setting very high standards as a challenge to all prospective teachers.
What do people do in this occupation?
Apart from instilling learning, another important goal of teachers is the development of a child's character and sense of responsibility.
Teachers?' ?specific work will depend on the age of the children they teach and the nature of the training they themselves received.
One possible career for teachers is in pre-primary, primary or secondary education at specialist academically-orientated schools.
Specialist education includes schools such as those for epileptics and for children with hearing, visual, mental or physical disabilities.
Schools can specialise in certain subjects including home economics, domestic science, technical subjects or commercial, agricultural and art subjects.
The school curriculum at academically-orientated schools generally includes three basic courses, viz. natural sciences, human sciences and languages.
It is the task of pre-primary teachers to lay the foundation for later education and training.
They present a balanced educational programme in which special attention is drawn to developing communicative skills and interpersonal relationships.
Besides the formal education given in the classroom, the teacher is also expected to plan and organise extracurricular activities - sporting events, cultural activities, tours, weekend camps and outings to places of interest.
Through involvement with children on this level the teacher gets to know them better and values such as a sense of responsibility, punctuality, respect, friendship and trust are nurtured.
Teachers also have administrative work to do, including setting examination papers, marking answer sheets, marking homework, completing registers, drawing up schedules and writing reports.
The teachers in special education work with children with speech and hearing disabilities, learning disabilities, blindness, deafness, hardness of hearing, weak-sightedness, epilepsy and mental and physical handicaps.
These children require specialised attention and are taught through specially developed apparatus and techniques.
The teachers work as part of a multi-professional team consisting of physiotherapists, occupational therapists, occupational counsellors, psychologists and medical personnel.
Teachers?' ?working hours may be irregular and depend on factors such as the amount of special classes they arrange, administrative work and the number of extramural activities they are involved in.
What kinds of people are suitable for this career?
Teachers need to understand children and enjoy working with them.
Children can quickly sense when someone is not really interested in them and such a teacher will surely fail.
Good communication skills, fairness, maturity, a sincere caring attitude, tactfulness, a strong sense of responsibility, discipline and tolerance are important qualities for a teacher.
What qualifications are needed?
After leaving school prospective teachers either attend a teacher training college or, after taking a university degree, take a part-time or full-time graduate certificate in education course.
