YEAR in, year out – society tends to ask how have educators' roles in the community evolved and how advanced have they become?
Sadly, we tend to take educators for granted. What we fail to see is that they are the building blocks of one’s future.
Educators bring out the curiosity in all of us – regardless of age – to learn many things in life – ranging from entertainment, sports, politics, religion, and everything in between.
However, being an educator is never easy – and certainly not in this day and age.
In conjunction with celebrating Teachers' Day, The Vibes speaks to Iza Sharina Sallehuddin, a lecturer from the Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman. She discusses how advanced the education structure and challenges are today.
At today's pace, educators must be innovative in bringing similarities between themselves and students, according to Iza Sharina.
This is especially so as in the past decade, new technology has taken the world by storm.
“Lately, for the past five to six years, a handful of students would not (write) take notes whenever I have my slides on, instead they would use their mobiles to take pictures of the slides," said the lecturer in the Department of Media for broadcasting, communications, and new media.
“When it first occurred, I seriously could not believe my eyes and initially, I found it rude as my first impression was 'these students were just lazy… how could they have the audacity to do such a thing'.
"However, after a few months, I came to the conclusion that in this era, students are just taking advantage of the convenience of technology and being practical.
“No more pens and papers!” she exclaimed.
Nevertheless, Iza Sharina, who is affectionately called 'Cikgu Iza’ by her students, advised that keeping up to date with new media and transmedia, which is rapidly evolving plays a vital role in influencing the younger generation.
As everything is easily accessible, she believes that it is the educator’s responsibility to take the liberty to educate students with positive influences.
“For instance, what comes to mind is that when rallies or wars take place, it is bound to be viral within seconds.
“It would be impossible to shut everything down and expect our younger generation to avoid looking for it online.
“So, when that happens, it’s our responsibility to find a positive aspect to it and educate them further on the issue – such as why it (the incident) happened and what could be the best way to resolve it,” she asserted.
Having said that, Iza Sharina is of opinion that students should be given a chance to have a say in today’s issues, provided they do not go overboard.
If we do not give them an opportunity to express their ideas and feelings, we are only pushing them further away. This is unwise, as they are the leaders of tomorrow. It is imperative that we prep them for national and international levels, she emphasised.
It’s more than teaching
The primary role of educators is traditionally to provide classroom instruction. For Iza Sharina, another crucial aspect is to ensure the welfare of the students.
"Helping students with their project papers and assignments and attending to their stress and social-emotional needs are equally as important as teaching them... "But there is a limit to how much you can overcompensate and baby them," she explained.
Providing guidance to students of all types, being able to reveal students’ best talents and teaching valuable life skills such as interaction, empathy, performance, and more do not come overnight, she reiterated.
“Educators must have interest and traits to motivate students to work harder in keeping their grades on track and to do well in life.
“We (educators) can act as a support system that is lacking elsewhere in their lives.”
What’s like being an educator
Iza Sharina believed that being an educator is the ultimate role model for younger generations.
Whether a student is in tertiary education or primary education, there will be a teacher who speaks to them.
We can shape them into becoming a better person with the way we approach them at that moment - in that split second, she believes.
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On whether educators are regarded as highly stressed out, Iza Sharina said:
“Yes, it is sometimes. But it is worth it as I know that I am contributing… investing in a beneficial cause.
"Now that I'm an educator myself, I can truly appreciate all the sacrifices and passion my former educators made that helped me become who I am today. I am just ‘paying it forward’.
“To all my educators from kindy to uni, thank you for having faith in me!”. – The Vibes, May 16, 2022
