A teacher may posses all the requisite qualifications, conventional pedagogic skills and perfect accreditation to teach, but in reality, may not be one whose credentials make a difference to students’ learning. In other words, a highly qualified teacher may or may not be highly effective in the classroom. That is why the emphasis has been gradually shifting from “highly-qualified” teachers to “highly-effective” teachers.
We believe that teaching is an art that can be improved. And all teachers can improve even very good ones. Teachers can take advantage of smart strategies to enhance their effectiveness quotient provided they are willing and ready to review their mental processes from time to time. Focusing on this simple idea is a sure path to perpetually enrich the teaching-learning process and a winning way to overcome the monotony of the teaching profession.
In the 21st century, teachers have to anticipate, innovate and excel in their careers to effectively deal with career plateauing. The digital revolution, particularly the internet has indelibly changed the face of academia and all its stakeholders. The future belongs to those who recognize the realities of the 21st century academia and learn to exploit the change, and capitalize on the opportunities that accompany it.
This book is meant for educators who want to effectively deal with their career dilemmas. And it is also intended to help all educators to enhance their pedagogic effectiveness. However, this is not a book on teaching in the classic textbook sense. The genesis of the book lies in the repeated requests I got from my educator friends insisting me to bring out a concise, hands-on book based on the work ‘Vision Revision’ so as to succinctly reacquaint teachers with simple ideas to enrich their teaching.
This book has a simple purpose— to set you thinking about your duty to yourself and the society. It seeks to realize this purpose by helping you to take charge of your teaching career. It is based on the premise that thinking about your teaching is the key to contented success. It will provide you enough inputs to supplement your teaching in a holistic way, so that you can smartly keep tabs on the future to facilitate your professional and personal progress. I hope this book will serve its intended purpose by making you aware of your duty to yourself and the humanity.
Notwithstanding your age or career stage, it lets you take responsibility for your future. It guides you to create a success-consciousness within you, which empowers you to control your career rather than letting your career control you. It is intended to inspire you to exploit your latent talents in the teaching-learning process, which is definitely a worthy goal. It helps you explore some practical strategies that will help you release the negative, stay positive, and enrich your teaching in the process.
This book is divided into eight parts. The mandate I have followed is to keep this book simple, practical and just relevant to your professional issues even at the expense of making it a little uninteresting as well as consciously reiterating a few known points to draw on the power of your sub-conscious with the intention of realizing the context-relevant objectives. The objective is not to aim at an interesting read, but to take care of your career interests. The objective is to ensure that it empowers you to manage your teaching career successfully, and you are amply motivated to enjoy your teaching job. The credit for many features aimed at enhancing the psychological impact of the material, many times even at the expense of syntax, goes to many kind pedagogues who have tested this material and offered invaluable feedback and suggestions to make this work more practical and inspiring. Constructive suggestions to further improve the book are most welcome.
Here is a chance for transformation! Rediscover your true potential. And very soon, there will be a new you.
Success awaits you.