Role of Teachers in Socialization

 Role of Teachers in Socialization

Socialization, is a term used by Sociologists, Social Psychologists, Anthropologists, Political Scientists and Educationalists to refer to the life long process of inheriting and disseminating norms, Customs, Values and Ideologies, providing an individual with the skills and habits necessary for participating within their own Society. Socialization is thus “the means by which social and cultural continuity are attained.” An act of adapting behaviour to the norms of a culture or society is called Socialization.

Though there are various agents which have great influence upon the social development of child. But the teacher and school have an effective role to be played in order to develop the balanced personality of a child.

Role of teacher in socialization: Teacher helps a student in

· character building

· set aim in life

· reducing fear

· developing positive approach

· personality development

·  development of emotions

Role of teacher in character building:

· Teachers have to activate the mind of the student as well as the body of the student.

·  Teachers should not restrict students to the text book or syllabus alone, also engage them in issues related to the society through the syllabus.

·  Teachers have to teach the student to respect  others irrespective of their status because it returns you respect .

·  Teachers have to prepare the student for the life of purity and sincerity.

· Teachers have to aim on the balanced growth of the student personality through the training of his feelings and bodily senses, spirit, rational self and intellect.

·  Teacher can not only cater the spiritual development of the student but also be responsible for the development of body, mind and soul.

· Teachers provide a guide to the students to lead to the righteous path.

Role of teacher in setting aim in students’ life:

· Teachers have to motivate the students for what he/ she desire to become in future.

· Teachers help their students for choosing the right path for their future life.

·  Teacher makes the mind of student so that he/ she can get their aim.

· Teacher chooses ways in academics to come to know about the student's inner interest or their mental level.

· Teacher opens the mind of their students about their future life.

· Teacher gives the difference of right and wrong through which students can easily choose their aim.

 Role of teacher in reducing fear: 

· Teachers have to give his/ her best efforts for those kids who has fear in going to school. Teacher should try to make such type of environment in which students feel comfortable.

· Teachers help them in not telling a lie. (it is also a type of fear while student feel fear of telling the truth).

· Teachers used to encourage their students in front of the whole class to make him/ her relax and build up his/ her confidence.

Role of teacher in developing positive approach: 

· Teachers provide a guide line to be positive in life to their students.

·  Teachers can judge their students mind to know about their self approaches.

·  Teachers have the power to divert their student from negative approaches by own self display as role model.

· Teachers can set  examples in front of their students through which they come to realize that what make their life well settled.  

· When dealing with students teachers should be unbiased towards any particular culture and language.

· Good behaviour of teacher with student would promote the positive approach of student.

Role of teacher in personality development: 

· Teachers can model as good personality before the students.

·  Teachers can train students in grooming their personality with confidence and not with hesitation.

·  Teachers can give awareness of different aspects of life according to their personality.

Role of teacher in developing emotions: 

·  Teachers have to encourage the students so that they naturally develop their emotions.

· Teachers have to develop the feelings of love, care, help, brotherhood, respect etc which create a special bond of affections.

· Teachers have to socialize the students for every aspect of life through which students overcome his/ her shynes (reducing shyness).

· Teachers have to engage the students in different activities to overcome the confusions and inner dissatisfaction (reducing anxiety).

Social Development of Child:

The followings are some suggestions which a teacher must keep in mind in relation to the process of social development of child in educational context.

§ Teachers and parents should encourage their students and children to mix up with other cultural students and children in order to learn the social ethics and values of their culture. That will have a better ground for children to have social awareness, adjustment and will develop positive attitude towards other cultures and communities.

§ When dealing with students teachers should be unbiased towards any particular culture and language. That will influence the students positive manner or future social development.

§ Social interaction should be encouraged in the context of school that could be done through organizing debates, games, and other co-curricular activities.

§ In order to develop social development students should be exposed to outdoor social events. Like cultural and social exhibitions, study tours to some famous cities in order to know the cultural pattern and life style of the different people

§ Historical stories should be taught to the students in order to develop some basic social qualities like sacrifice, loyalty, courage etc.

§ There should be close cooperation between teachers and parents about the social activities of a child. In this regard parents- teacher meetings can play effective role.

§ Important and famous personalities should be invited to school assembly in order to motivate the students for social service and role.

§ Teachers should educate the students and inform the students about various social festivals and celebrations in order to highlight the importance of social events.

§ Teachers should also be informed about the social events, evils, crimes which are creating social disturbance and how to eradicate the social evils.

§ It is also the responsibility of the teachers to inform the students about all the social developments, with critical evaluation in order to evaluate the negative and positive impacts of these developments.

In order to have effective process of social development in children educators must keep an eye upon the social activities happenings in social and cultural context. In other words educators should be sociologist in order to perform his duties effectively.

Strategies for Enhancing Students' Socialization

Success in teaching problem students often requires extra time, energy, and patience. Teachers can take direct actions toward minimizing classroom conflicts by socializing students into a classroom environment conducive to learning.

Strategies for successful student socialization include modeling and instruction of prosocial behaviour; communicating positive expectations, attributes, and social labels; and reinforcing desired behavior, teacher's ability to adopt an authoritative teaching style for classroom management, and to employ effective counseling skills when seeking to develop positive relationships with individual students.

Modeling: Modeling prosocial behavior is the most basic element for enhancing student socialization, because teachers are unlikely to be successful socializers unless they practice what they preach. Modeling, accompanied by verbalization of the self-talk that guides prosocial behavior, can become a very influential method of student socialization because it conveys the thinking and decision making involved in acting for the common good. In situations in which prosocial behavior is difficult for students to learn, modeling may have to be supplemented with instruction (including practice exercises) in desirable social skills and coping strategies. Such instruction should convey not only PROPOSITIONAL KNOWLEDGE (description of the skill and an explanation of why it is desirable), but also PROCEDURAL KNOWLEDGE (how to implement the skill) and CONDITIONAL KNOWLEDGE (when and why to implement it).

Projecting positive expectations: Consistent projection of positive expectations, attributes, and social labels to students may have a significant impact on fostering self-esteem and increasing motivation toward exhibiting prosocial behaviors. Students who are consistently treated as if they are well-intentioned individuals who respect themselves and others and who desire to act responsibly, morally, and prosocially are more likely to develop these qualities than students who are treated as if they had the opposite inclinations especially if their positive qualities and behaviors are reinforced through expressions of appreciation. When delivered effectively, such reinforcement is likely to increase students' tendencies to attribute their desirable behavior to their own personal traits and to reinforce themselves for possessing and acting on the basis of those traits.

Authoritative teaching: Teachers, as the authority figure in the classroom, need to be authoritative rather than either authoritarian or laissez-faire. Teachers have the right and the responsibility to exert leadership and to exercise control, but they increase their chances of success if they are understanding and supportive of students and if they make students understand the reasons behind their demands. Focusing on desired behaviour (stressing what to do rather than what not to do) and following up with cues and reminders is also effective. Teachers should be prepared to supply objectively good reasons for their behaviour demands.

When situations calling for disciplinary interventions arise, it is important for teachers to handle them effectively. General principles for doing so can be identified: minimize power struggles and face-saving gestures by discussing the incident with the student in private rather than in front of the class; question the student to determine his or her awareness of the behaviour and explanation for it; make sure that the student understands why the behaviour is inappropriate and cannot be tolerated; seek to get the student to accept responsibility for the behaviour and to make a commitment to change; provide any needed modeling or instruction in better ways of coping; work with the student to develop a mutually agreeable plan for solving the problem; concentrate on developing self-regulation capacities through positive socialization and instruction rather than on controlling behaviour through the assertion of power. Teachers who employ effective student socialization strategies can develop genuine solutions to students' personal and behavioural problems.

Counseling skills: Basic socialization and counseling skills may be needed for working with individual students, especially those who display chronic problems in personal development or adjustment. These basic skills include developing personal relationships with problem students and reassuring them of your continued concern about their welfare despite their provocative behavior; monitoring them closely and, if necessary, intervening frequently but briefly and nondisruptively to keep them engaged in academic activities during class; dealing with their problems in more sustained ways outside of class time; handling conflicts calmly without becoming engaged in power struggles; questioning them in ways that are likely to motivate them to talk freely and supply the needed information; using active listening, reflection, interpretation, and related techniques for drawing them out and helping them to develop better insights into themselves and their behavior; insisting that the students accept responsibility for controlling their own behavior while at the same time supportively helping them to do so; and developing productive  relationships with their parents.

Attributes of successful teachers: Good and Brophy (1995) have identified some general attributes of teachers that contribute to their success in socializing students. These attributes include:

*SOCIAL ATTRACTIVENESS, based on a cheerful disposition, friendliness, emotional maturity, sincerity, and other qualities that indicate good mental health and personal adjustment;

*EGO STRENGTH, exhibited in self-confidence that allows teachers to be calm in a crisis, listen actively without being defensive, avoid win-lose conflicts, and maintain a problem-solving orientation;

*REALISTIC PERCEPTIONS OF SELF AND STUDENTS, without letting perceptions become clouded by romanticism, guilt, hostility, or anxiety;

*ENJOYMENT OF STUDENTS, while maintaining their identity as an adult, a teacher, and an authority figure; being friendly but not overly familiar; and being comfortable with the group without becoming a group member;

*CLARITY ABOUT TEACHER ROLES and comfort in playing them, which enables teachers to explain coherently to students what they expect;

*PATIENCE AND DETERMINATION in working with students

*ACCEPTANCE OF THE INDIVIDUAL, though not necessarily of all of his or her behaviour, and making this attitude clear to students; and

*THE ABILITY TO STATE AND ACT ON FIRM BUT FLEXIBLE LIMITS based on clear expectations, keeping rules to a minimum and liberalizing them as students become more independent and responsible over time.

Developing these personal qualities and using research-based principles for managing the classroom will set the stage for student socialization and will go a long way toward minimizing the need for disciplinary interventions.

Teachers are asked to take responsibility for an increasingly diverse population of students in situations where individual differences are to be expected and accepted. An attitude of caring and an orientation to students is crucial to success in socializing students into a classroom culture that fosters learning. Interacting with students for several hours each day in various situations puts teachers in a position to take direct action in helping students cope with their problems.

Teachers who believe that they possess good management and student socialization skills will be able to remain patient and focused on seeking solutions when confronted with difficult problems. In contrast, teachers who feel they lack management and socialization skills as talents may tend to become frustrated and give up easily. Through developing their role as facilitators of students' socialization into the learning environment, teachers can create the potential for having a significant impact on the lives of problem students.