Teacher of all Teachers Jan Amos Komensky: The role of a teacher in the school

Today in the world there are many diverse systems and teaching methods. Different specialists and adherents of different educational methods support different views. But, despite the difference in methodologies and didactic principles, all specialists are inclined to a single opinion. The key to successful education is the portrait of the teacher.

How and exactly will you choose a teacher for your child? Will you ask your neighbors? Or use the LinkedIn search? Surely you can find the best teachers there, because professional linkedin profile writers created ideal profiles for the most experienced teachers to boost their careers on Linkedin.

What should be the ideal teacher? The answer to this question was given by the greatest Czech teacher and educator of all time, Jan Amos Komensky. The largest university in Prague is named after him, the official website and  an example of the amazing LD profile makeover of this university you can see here: https://resumesbot.com/linkedin-makeover/

Profession of a Teacher – Curse or Calling

In the pedagogy of Komensky, a prominent place is given to the role of a teacher. Indeed, education itself does not make any sense without a training subject. But at that time the authority of the teacher was very small. Komensky, however, demanded that, on the one hand, the students should respect the teacher, and on the other, the teacher himself should understand what important function he performs in society, and be full of his own dignity. The teacher, he wrote, should be an honest, active, persistent, living example of the virtues that he should instill in students, be an educated and hardworking person. He must love his job forever, treat his students paternally, and awaken students’ interest in knowledge.

Teacher of all Teachers Jan Amos Komensky

The teacher’s place in the school is clearly stated in several books of Komensky.

In particular, the treatise “Laws of a well-organized school” sets out in detail the procedure and methods for recording student knowledge:

  • Decurions (a student who is on duty) daily check the knowledge of all students
  • the teacher in each lesson checks the knowledge, he asks several students
  • the school principal once a month checks student performance through tests
  • at the end of each quarter, tests are also arranged
  • and at the end of the school year there are exams for transferring from class to class.

The teacher, according to Komensky, is constantly improving in his knowledge and skills.

“A good teacher does not miss a single opportunity to learn something useful.”

Portrait of a teacher in the pedagogy of Komensky

At the same time, the teacher should be a preacher, a person who introduces the students to the Revelation of the Lord. And in this regard, it is easier for a Komensky teacher to be an authority for his students than for a simple hired employee. But at the same time, this requirement is a departure from Komensky’s own principles – teaching children regardless of their religion.

 Nevertheless, the words Komensky addressed to teachers still sound fresh and relevant:

 “It is in vain to strive to improve methods if it is not possible to expel rigidity from schools …”

 “… Teachers should take care that for students in food and clothing a model of simplicity, in activity – an example of vivacity and industriousness, in behavior – modesty and well-being, in speeches – the art of conversation and silence, an outcast, be a model of prudence in private and public life. “

From the point of view, Komensky teaching is not so much a profession as a vocation. A person should come to the idea that he will educate the younger generation in the course of life experiences. He must have a solid theoretical background before embarking on this work. In addition, the teacher should not be worried about his own well-being, it is provided by the host community. The community, allocating money for hiring a teacher, will return it beauty in the form of knowledge of their own children.

The teacher should be a “pampedic mentor” for the student, that is, to teach everyone everything and comprehensively “for the sake of delivering complete perfection to a person”.

 As a final instruction to teachers, Komensky says that they should never forget the purpose and task of their class, always clearly understanding what should be achieved during the training. And along with the goal of direct training in one or another subject, Komensky sets the task of moral education, as one of the most important in human life.

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