A FEW days ago, the largest batch of trained teachers — a total of 843 individuals — graduated from the Cyril Potter of Education (CPCE), Guyana’s teachers’ training college. And I see this as a crucial step in ensuring that Guyana’s human capital is adequately developed, particularly in the context of our future developmental needs.

What got me thinking about the value of trained teachers is a conversation I had with a few of the male teachers who recently graduated. I was particularly interested in their experiences at the CPCE and even their perceptions of teaching in what is characterised as a female-dominated profession.

It could have just been a pure coincidence, but all three of the male teachers with whom I spoke shared a deep conviction that once they go into classrooms, they are tasked with more than just teaching what is detailed in the schools curricula. They each spoke about being positive role models for the learners.

According to them, teachers have the responsibility of doing more than just teaching a subject simply because they spend enormous amounts of time with learners. That means that they interact with children coming with all sorts of concerns, thoughts, and feelings. Teachers then have the responsibility of caring for a child’s overall well-being as part of their efforts at guaranteeing that a child can learn effectively.

For me, trained teachers are important because I know the tremendous impact a good teacher can have on learners. Some of my teachers have been very instrumental in my academic, professional and personal development. And, I realised a long time ago that when my teachers themselves displayed certain good characteristics, I performed better in the subject areas they taught. I do not believe that was simply coincidental.

For example, I had three English teachers who, in their own ways, went above and beyond to guarantee that my classmates and I were competent in the subject area. That meant staying back after school and giving up extra lessons (not the ones you pay for) or giving us additional feedback on work done. When I saw my teachers put in that extra effort, it made me want to put in the extra effort too.

This lends itself to Albert Bandura’s social learning theory (1977) which, essentially, posited that people learn from one another through observing, imitating and/or modelling behaviours. Using this theory, it can be reasoned that learners are likely to adopt some of the behaviours of teachers.

In another scenario, I recall my English teachers encouraging me on my writing journey. They would do simple things such as tell me whenever I wrote a good article (which meant that they were reading my articles) and provide constructive feedback on articles I wrote. That made me want to write better at work and in their classes. They did not have to provide me with that feedback, yet they did, because they seemed interested in more than just teaching me about tenses and subject and verb agreements. And this lends itself to numerous theories of motivation.

Certainly, though, there have been hundreds — even thousands — of untrained teachers doing a fantastic job at educating learners over the years. Those teachers may have been fuelled by sheer passion or love for the job and their skills would have been refined and improved in the years gone by.

Still, I believe that if all teachers are trained, their impact in the classroom could increase tenfold.

Based on reports, for about the last 16 years, only about 70 per cent of the teachers across the country have been trained. And already, it has been announced that the Ministry of Education is seeking to have all teachers across the country trained.

And with the CPCE now poised to take in more and more teachers each year because of the shift to online education (perhaps one of the few silver linings in this COVID-19 pandemic), the local education system may very well revolutionise itself in the coming years with the entrance and occupation of all of these trained teachers.

I’m hopeful that this will translate into more children learning better and being excited about immersing themselves in educational content and the study areas that relate to their dream professions. Our country will be better off with that.

If you would like to discuss this column or any of my previous writings, please feel free to contact me via email: vish14ragobeer@gmail.com