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What is the role of teacher in nation building?

AbstractEducation is the key to successful or unsuccessful development of any nation. Rao (2008) noted that education gives the unity and solidarity of all existence, works for the happiness and welfare of all beings, and frees from disputations and contradictions, upholding the vision of harmony and tolerance. Based on this, there is need for quality teachers through which educational standards can be raised for effective manpower development and building of the nation.Teachers constitute not only a vital input to education, but also a major drive in the production process and in the determination of the output (Oyewole, 2008). The report of the Baguada Seminar (NERC, 1980) stated that, teachers are the main determinant of quality in education. If they are apathetic, uncommitted, uninspired, lazy, unmotivated, immoral, antisocial, the whole nation is doomed.IntroductionEvery profession is important and prestigious but permits me to say that the most important and most prestigious is teaching profession because teaching profession can be seen as the mother of all profession. This is because every profession is born out of teaching. Also, the future of every individual and nation lies in the hands of the teacher. Ukeji (1986) in Ihua-Maduenyi (2002) confirmed this when he observed that if a doctor makes a mistake, perhaps one person might die, if a lawyer makes a mistake, perhaps, one person might go to jail, if an engineer makes a mistake, may be a bridge might collapse, but if a teacher makes a mistake, generations yet unborn will come to suffer the effect of that mistake. This explains the importance of a teacher in the society and in nation building. No wonder Nnubia (2001) quoted, Iroegbu(1993) as saying that no person ever argues that education and teacher are the life wire and mainstay of the nation. And in the National Policy on Education it is stated that, since no education system may rise above the quality of its teacher, teacher education shall continue to be given major emphasis in all educational planning and development. This is to say that the present quality of Nigerian education is the quality of Nigerian teacher.Hence it must be noted that it is of great importance to examine some of the major concepts that will be relevant in discussing the role of a teacher in nation building.CONCEPT OF A TEACHERA teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils (children) and students (adults). The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional qualifications or credentials from a university or college. These professional qualifications may include the study of pedagogy, the science of teaching. Teachers, like other professionals, may have to continue their education after they qualify, a process known as continuing professional development. Teachers may use a lesson plan to facilitate student learning, providing a course of study which is called the curriculum. Ateacher's role may vary among cultures. Teachers may provide instruction in literacy and numeracy, craftsmanship or vocational training, the arts, religion, civics, community roles, or life skills. A teacher who facilitates education for an individual may also be described as a personal tutor or, largely historically, a governess etc. "Teacher is a maker of man. He is foundation of all Education, and thus of the whole civilization of mankind, present and future. No nation reconstruction is possible without the active cooperation of the teacher." - John AdamsNATION BUILDING"Nation building is the conscious and focused application of our people's collective resources, energies, and knowledge to the task of liberating and developing the psychic and physical space that we identify as ours. It involves the development of behaviors, values, languages, institutions, and physical structures that elucidate our history and culture, concretize and protect the present, and insure the future identity and independence of the nation. Nation building is the deliberate, keenly directed and focused, and energetic projection of national culture, and the collective identity."- Mzee Kwame Agyei AkotoTherefore nation building refers to the process of constructing or structuring a national identity using the power of the state. This process aims at the unification of the people within the state so that it remains politically stable and viable in the long run. Nation-building can involve the use of propaganda or major infrastructure development to foster social harmony and economic growth.ROLES OF A TEACHER IN NATION BUILDINGThe role of the teacher in nation building cannot be over- emphasised.National development hinges inextricably on the contributions of the teacher. This fact has been recognized by the Federal Government of Nigeria in its National Policy on Education (Revised 2004), that no education system can rise above the quality of its teachers. The policy further noted the need for a "highly motivated, conscientious and effective" teaching staff at all levels of education.Teaching is a humble profession; in a classroom situation the teacher imparts the knowledge to his pupils each child being guided to develop their peculiar potentialities. Among these pupils are those who are undergoing the training to become lawyers, teachers, doctors, engineers, farmers, pharmacists and a host of other professions. Human resources development is the work of the teacher, and it is a truism that no nation can develop above her human resources, the different professionals trained by the teacher all have their contributions to make to national development. Teaching is a mother profession giving birth to all other pro- fessions. Various governments of the world should therefore fashion out ways of making teaching very attractive. Incentives should be given to teachers all over the world to enhance their productivity. These incentives are in unquestioned appreciation of their contributions to national development. In the Nigerian context, the role of the teacher is not always appreciated by parents and even the governments. The various education programmes like the 1955 free and compulsory education programme of the Western Region, was ably utilised by teachers to realise the objectives of reducing illiteracy, superstitious beliefs and ignorance, which were prevalent in the post independence era. The Universal Basic Education (UBE), the 6-3-3-4 and the Basic Education Programme were successful because of the unparalleled commitments of teachers - in spite of daunting challenges of poor funding, inadequate teaching facilities and acute shortage of teaching personnel. A teacher determines the quality of the citizens of a nation; childhood shows manhood. It is the teacher that inculcates the habits of honesty, hard work and the fear of God in a child.Again, at school, the child is taught to be obedient to rules and regulations, respect for elders and the laws of the nation. He is also taught to appreciate the value of unity, culture and traditions of his nation. In the early years, he acquires the habit of reading, which becomes useful throughout life. The adolescent stage of a child's life is a crisis-ridden stage of development. It is the duty of the teacher and the school counselor to mould, nurture and control this tendency along useful and orderly line. It is the work of the teacher that produces the type of politicians, accountants, businessmen and bankers a nation ultimately gets. Childhood is the father of manhood and bad habits cultivated t home are corrected at school.Moreover, teachers in the seminaries and other theological institutions also make incalculable contributions to nation building. Apart from corporate contributions of teachers to nation building, there were also some teachers who made their own personal and selfless contributions to the nation's social, economic and political growth. These teachers are not professional politicians, but did so purely on invitation to use their professional and intellectual investments to serve the nation - not for personal enrichment. Teachers in such category are Dr. Tai Solarin a radical educationist and founder of May Flower, Ikenne . He helped to wipe out corruption from the Federal Road Safety Corps at its early stage; Prof. Tekena Tamano - successful university administrator and member of senate; Prof. Jubril Aminu - member of senate and exponent of Nomadic Education. He criticised external borrowing on the floor of the House; Alhaji Bolomope - member of the Oyo State House of Assembly and an astute defender of Workers' Rights; Ven. S.A. Banjo(former Principal of St. Luke's College and the first deputy speaker of the Western House of Assembly; Alhaji (Dr) Ibrahim Shakarau, immediate two-term past governor of Kano State, and who ran an Executive Council, made up of the three major tribes in Nigeria - Ibo, Hausa, Yoruba - for unity and peace; Prof. Nwabueze, Federal Minister of Education - free from tribalism.Hence, the importance of the teacher in national life cannot be over-emphasized. It is he who influences the immature minds of the youth. He treats and tries to mould the living stuff into various forms. The future of the nation is fashioned by him through the process of education. A nation trying to march ahead on the roads to progress can leave the education of her sons and daughter in the hands of incompetent teachers only at its own risk. "The world of tomorrow will be born from the schools of today" says M.L Jacks. In this way, teachers, indeed, is the true builder of the nation.Teachers are an extremely important facet of any society for a multitude of reasons. Teachers are the people who educate the youth of society who in turn become the leaders of the next generation of people. Teachers are the people who are teaching children and imparting knowledge upon them in their most impressionable years, what these kids learn from their teachers at a young age will most likely stay with them in some facet for the rest of their lives. So, teachers certainly have a significant mark on the development of young children and even older children alike, as they are teaching them and helping them develop their knowledge so that they can go on in life and be responsible and productive members of society.One of the most important aspects of any society is the youngest generation, they represent the future and the direction that society will take. Teachers can enrich a young generation of children so that the future is a safe, secure and great place to live in for every person in the society. The role of teachers in the building of a nation cannot be ignored. It is they who influence the immature minds of the youth and tries to mould the living stuff into various forms. It is they on who depends the future of the nation. Hence, they are the most important part of the society.In the past, teachers were considered respectable figures even by the kings and the emperors, because only teachers were there to guide and advice them in hours of crisis. They were the true benefactors of the society. With the change of time they lost their dignity to some extent. Still, they are considered the backbone of a nation, and a society. Teachers are the real guide of the students. With their deep knowledge of the subject and teaching technique they can impart valuable information to the students. They can guide them towards noble deeds, studies, health, and cleanliness and above ail the moral values of life. All these qualities enable a child to grow into an ideal citizen of his/her nation. Teachers are considered the noblest section of the society. This increases their responsibility towards nation and the students to a great extent; they must be dedicated to the service of the students. Their own actions and high ideas about life can easily shape the young minds into good personalities and responsible citizens of tomorrow. They are a guiding light for students throughout their lives. The importance of the role of the teachers as an agent of change, promoting understanding and tolerance has become more obvious today. This places enormous responsibilities on teachers who participate in the moulding of the character and minds of the new generation.Nevertheless, Education is one of the greatest services provided by teachers. It is vital for anything. The role played by teachers becomes a very important component and in fact it can be said that they are in way our nation builders. Teachers work in close co-ordination with students to help them in building up their future. They mould the students to bring out their skills or improvise them, teaching good habits/attitudes and helping them to become good citizens of the nation. There are many students who feel shy or have some personality problems. It becomes quite important for teachers to attend to these students personally and encourage them to overcome this shyness or personality disorders. A good teacher in fact becomes a role model for students. Students tend to follow their teacher in almost every way like manners, style etc. Students tend to get affected by the teacher's affection as well as love for them. So the teacher should have the professional competence as well as good moral background in order to impart these values to students. Teachers form religious leaders, world super powers, and everyone else in between. Due to the success of teachings we have increased the knowledge base of our doctors to create safer and more efficient ways to operate while under pressure by exposing new strategies and equipment to better prepare them for whatever they come across. Everything starts with teachers and the mentality they possess to drive students to new levels. Teachers make the lifeboat because they are the first to interrupt the field of unknown and transform thoughts into reality by learning and passing it on to the body.Education is the ultimate realm of the Homosapiens. It is a process aimed at socialized and humanizing individual citizen through their life from birth till death. It is institutionalized and formal for a specific period but lifelong and suited to ones environment, ability, interest, aspiration, aptitude etc. and carried on preferably outside the institutional premises through life nonformally and informally and more significant and rewarding. Education is a process of enlightenment and empowerment of the individual for achievement of better and high quality of life. The Education Commission (1964-66) has emphatically opined that "The quality and competence and character of teachers to be the most significant factor influencing the quality of education and its contribution to National development."A nation is built by its citizens, citizens are moulded by teachers and teachers are made by teacher-educators. Chanakya has rightly stated, "Teacher is the maker of nation" So for the development of the country, it is very important to have good teachers and good teachers can be produced only if we have a good system of teacher education and dedicated and efficient teacher-educators. The teacher can be rightly called a nation builder. Teachers through their perseverance love and sacrifices have shown us the right path in which great men have built our nation. It is our dear teachers who mould our character, our personality and show us the right direction which leads us to our final destination.The role of the teacher is a multi-faceted one comprising academic, pedagogical and social roles. Academic roles comprise teaching, counseling and supervisory roles while pedagogical roles include instructional, evaluation and facilitating roles. As a facilitator of learning, the teacher is involved in motivating pupils to learn, maintaining control in the classroom and the school in general, and creating a conducive environment for learning to take place. Social roles of the teacher includes among others socializing roles which is preparing pupils to participate in the way of life of the society; others include reference roles, detective roles, parent surrogate (or substitute parent), confidants and affectionate roles.No other personality can have an influence more profound than that of a teacher. Students are deeply affected by the teacher's love and affection, his character, his competence, and his moral commitment. A popular teacher becomes a model for his students. The students try to follow their teacher in his manners, customs, etiquette, style of conversation and his get up. He is their ideal. He can lead them anywhere. During their early education, the students tend to determine their aims in life and their future plans, in consultation with their teachers.Therefore, a corrupt and decadent class of teachers can harm a nation more seriously than a class of corrupt and perverted judiciary, army, police, bureaucracy, politicians or technocrats. A corrupt and incompetent teacher is not only a bad individual, but also the harbinger of a corrupt and incompetent generation. A nation with corrupt teachers is a nation at risk; every coming day announces the advent of its approaching destruction.Teachers therefore, have to play a cardinal role in the building up of the character of the next generation. It is a fact that a civilization cannot rise out of a skeleton of mere ideas and abstract concepts. Civilization finds a concrete shape in the practical behaviour of a nation, based on these principles and concepts. Once the practical aspect is gone, the civilization also disappears and can only be studied through its remnants preserved in museums and chronicles. This necessitates the provision of a learning atmosphere throbbing with life in our educational institutions through the presence of the teacher, with a view to infuse confidence in our students and to enable them to be proud of their culture, to respect their national character and national emblems, and to ornament themselves with societal conduct and morals. They should stand firm on the centuries old foundations of their cultural tradition and at the same time should establish standards of excellence in their academic performance. The essence of the teacher as a nation builder cannot be over-stressed. Good teachers need to be themselves constantly seeking knowledge, be of good character, have high motivation and be creative, innovative and effective in the teaching strategies. The good deeds of teachers are great; because of them, we will grow to become knowledgeable people who will be of use to society, religion and our nation and country.CHALLENGES TEACHERS FACE IN NATION BUILDINGHowever, it must be noted that to be an effective teacher one must be happy, contented and secure. A teacher who is distraught, worried, anxious, restless, discontented cannot have the poise, the serenity or the self-possession necessary for good teaching. The importance of a [teacher] as an [architect] of our future generations demands that only the best and the most [intelligent] and competent members of our intelligentsia be allowed to qualify for this noble profession. It is unfortunate to find that generally the worst and the most incapable people of the society find their way into this profession. Anyone who fails to find an opening in any other walk of life gets into this profession and recklessly plays with the destiny of the nation. An important reason for this is understood to be the poor salaries of our primary and secondary teachers which are no better than that of clerks. A large number of our teachers are, therefore, frustrated and disinterested.Hence the following below are some of the problems faced by teachers1. Corruption In Our Educational Sector: Corruption is the root of the problems facing education in Nigeria. Nigeria is seen as a head with a totally worn out cap. Our leaders are very corrupt and unjust. Corruption affects education in Nigeria in two ways. The first is that owing to the corruption of our leaders, revenue allocated to the education sector and other sectors of the economy are embezzled. As a result of this, there is no quality teaching and good educational facilities in public and government schools where the less privilege and poor citizens enroll their children which make them lack valuable education, thereby making most of them become hoodlums, street urchins, drop-outs and what have you. Another way corruption affects the education sector in Nigeria is that when students are asked to take external examinations such as WAEC, NECO, JAMB, GCE, etc, we see that most of the children from rich and famous backgrounds who are not capable of passing the exams on their own are assisted by unjust examiners at places where most of these students call "Special Centres". There are even extreme cases where we see that results of the poor students who have worked hard to pass are exchanged with results of the rich dullards due to corruption in order to promote them to higher institutions for further education thereby making teachers to suffer it at the end of the day2. Lack Of Good Educational Facilities: Equipment and facilities are either lacking, inadequate or not enough for effective teaching in schools. Ikenga, Afolabi and Oru (2009) observed that even when some of these essential equipment or tools areAvailable, they are not functioning or are obsolete.In developed countries like U. S. A; Japan, etc. where education is greatly valued, students offering science related courses do more practical's than theory and the reason is that they have very good, standard and modern educational facilities unlike Nigeria, where these same class of students do more of theory than practical's. In such a situation, we see that Nigerian Science students rarely stand chances against the students of the developed countries. Also, in most of the public schools in Nigeria, there are very poor educational facilities. For example, in a school where there are no chairs, tables and even a chalkboard, the only thing teachers would do is to lecture and dictate notes to over a hundred students in a class. The classroom would be too congested thereby making the environment not conducive for learning and also putting the education of the children at jeopardy.3. Teachers Welfare:Teachers' welfare has never been taken as a priority by any government in Nigeria. The teachers are worst hit in welfare packages of public servants in this country. Enene (1999) noted that most staffers in colleges of education do not have decent accommodation neither do they have good office space to themselves. Ihua-Maduenyi (2002) observed that in 1999, teachers were owned over five months salary and schools closed down also for over months in Rivers State and several other states in the federation. Leave bonus and other legitimate claims due teachers were not paid for two years. Awanbor [2001] observed that teachers from primary level to tertiary, all work in largely similar conditions-poorly motivated, poorly paid and circumscribed socially and economically. A teacher who is not motivated to work cannot put in his best. And a student teacher, seeing the condition under which his teacher works will not be interested in teaching. He will rather prefer seeking for a job elsewhere in a related area to his area of specialization where condition of service is better.In Nigeria, teachers always complain of poor wages and salary given to them by the government, which is true. In such a situation, we see teachers going on strike, which is not meant to be heard of. There are even cases whereby some teachers would just stay in a class without teaching anything and if they are queried, they would say "Nigeria education is bad, we are not paid good salaries". Such actions of theirs put the education of the students in such school at risk.RECOMMENDATIONSThe quality of teachers largely determines the quality of education in the society (Oni, 2001). This means that the present poor quality of education in Nigeria is a reflection of poor quality teachers. Therefore, for teachers to be effective and contribute to nation building, quality of teachers must be improved. The following are suggested:1. Federal and state governments should endeavor to supply adequate and enough equipment, tools and facilities for effective training of teachers with the libraries equipped with current books2. Adequate funds should be made available for smooth running and management of teacher training programmes3. Teachers' salaries and claims should be paid promptly. New teachers' salary scheme should be implemented as soon as possible.4. Adequate and descent accommodation should be provided for teachers, irrespective of level.5. Entry requirements into teacher training programmes should be reviewed upward. There should be a special diagnostic assessment test properly conducted as a screening measure before admitting students into pre-NCE programme.6. Teacher Registration Council (TRC) should take up the responsibility for admission of students into NCE programme.7. A Board called Teachers Registration Examination Board (TREB) should be set up whose responsibility should be the conduction of examination called Teachers Selection Examination (TSE) to check and harmonize standard in admission policy of colleges of education.8. Effort should be made to control students' population to avoid overcrowded classrooms. There should be teacher-student ratio peculiar to teacher training programmes and which should be strictly be adhered to.9. Adequate supervision of the teachers' activities and conducts should be made always at all levels.CONCLUSION:Education is a vital instrument for national development. The importance of teachers in making process of education possible and successful is inevitable. They are nation builders; hence, any national development hinges on the abilities of the teachers to meet the challenges. The teaching profession needs to be repositioned to possess all the attributes/characteristics of a profession. Repositioning the teaching profession to meet developmental challenges in Nigeria should be paramount in the mind of all stakeholders. The drive towards making Nigeria one of the top 20 developed economies in the world by year 2020 could only be realized if teaching profession is highly recognized by the government, thereby putting education in a strategic position towards the realization of the lofty goals of the government. Teachers are indeed the pillar to the development and building of any nation.REFERENCESAdesina, S. Fagbongbe, E.O. & Talabi, J.K (1985) Foundation Studies in Education. Ibadan: University Press Limited.Federal Republic of Nigeria (2004). National Policy on Education (Revised). Lagos: Federal Government Press.Nigerian Educational Research Council (1980). Report of the Baguada Seminar on 'Quantities and Qualities in Nigerian Education: Lagos: NERC.Oyewole, B.K. & Oke, J.O. (2011). Teacher Education and ICT: Prospect and Challenges of E-teaching profession in Nigeria. A paper presented at 2nd International Conference on Teacher Education, University of Lagos, 17th - 21st October.Smith, Anthony. 1986. "State-Making and Nation-Building," in John Hall (ed.), States in History. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 228-263.Moos, R. H. (1979). Evaluating Educational Environments: Measures, procedures, findings, and policy implications. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Hornby, S.A. (1998). Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, Special Price Edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Oni, A.A. (2001). Evolving a Paradigm for Teacher Education in the 21st Century, Nigerian Journal of Education PhilosophyVIII (1), 47- 53for more on this topic contact peter osharive or you can send an email to peterosharive@yahoo.comOkejim, E.M. (2008). Resource for Education: Sharing the burden of Funding Basic Education in Nigeria, Studies in Technical TeacherEducation, 8(1), 28-36.Ihua-Maduanyi, R. (2002). Prospects for Teacher Education in the 21st Century, Omoku Journal of Women in Colleges of Education, Maiden Edition, 242, 243.Ikenga, G.U, Afolabi, S.O. and Oru, P.O (2009). Technical Vocational Education: Challenges and Way Forward in the Present Day NigeriaSearch Engines (google.com, edusearch.com, answer.com, wikipedia.com)

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