ROLE PERCEPTION OF TRIBAL TEACHERS OF

THE PRIMARY SCHOOLS OF VIJAYNAGAR TALUK

Manoj Shastri

INTRODUCTION

Many Psychologists believe that the way in which an individual perceives himself/herself is the most important factor in his personality structure. One important dimension of self –concept is self-esteem; the degree to which one perceives himself/herself as being worthy or unworthy. The degree of self-esteem that he/she possesses goes far in determining how he/she will behave under various kinds of circumstances, what his/her level of aspiration will be, what happiness and contentment he/she will enjoy in the course of his life. The way in which an individual conceives of himself/herself is a highly complicated matter. One’s self-concept is a function of one’s total experience, not just that of one’s experience in school, and beyond the limits of the school setting. A teacher with a strong self-concept may influence others, so that they tend to rate him/her as he/she rates himself/herself but develops his/her self-concept in terms of some objective criteria and also with a realistic bias about whether his/her perception of himself/herself is realistic or not. Role perception is deemed as an important factor in analysing the whole personality of an individual. What is the role of a teacher in society? Does he/she consider his/her work “worthy enough”? What is his/her attitude towards his/her life? The social framework where the role is to be played is also equally important. The tribal society with a distinct folk culture influences the teacher in a different manner. The unique feature of the tribal society taken in this study is a matrilineal one where the role perception of teachers may be somewhat different from others. After all, to know teachers’ views regarding their profession is the main purpose of the present study.

Objectives

To know the importance of training for the primary schools.

To analyse the status of teaching as a profession at the primary schools level.

To understand the teacher - student relationship and the teaching methods of primary school teachers.

Hypotheses

Teacher education has an impact on the attitudes of teachers.

Teacher education helps teachers in their professional growth.

Teacher education improves the extent of relationship between the teacher and the students.

Methodology of Study

The techniques adopted to carry out the study were: (i) Questionnaire, (ii) Interview, and (iii) Field study. Questionnaire was related to attributes of the role perception of primary school teachers.

The research area of the study is Vijaynagar Taluka situated in the northern part of the Sabarkantha district. It is famous for forest, ancient fort, temples and polo nagaries. Fifteen primary schools and 62 tribal teachers were sample of the study. There are altogether 15 schools. Among them 5 are government, 5 are government aided and 5 private. Again, against 25 trained teachers there are 5 untrained teachers and their respective percentages are 83.33% and 16.67%. In the government-aided schools, the percentages are 33.33% and 66.67% respectively. But it is strange to note that 100 per cent teachers are untrained in the private schools of the Taluka.

ANALYSIS OF THE FINDINGS

The investigator used percentage and descriptive statistics for analysing the data. The performances of the primary school students are not up to the mark and hence there are high dropout rates and stagnation in the primary schools. The reason may be that, trained teachers did not get the required equipment to draw the attention of the students, or it may be due to the techniques which they learn in the training institutes that remain only in theory or only in black and white. And naturally, there cannot be hope for universalisation of free and compulsory education even after 56 years of Indian independence. From the responses made by the primary school teachers regarding the importance of teacher education (training), it has been noticed that out of 62 teachers, 38 (61.29 per cent) teachers have said that teacher training is important for better teaching or to improve the teaching methods. Four teachers under training have said that the training has no importance because there are some untrained teachers who can teach better than the trained ones. Again, 20 (32.25 per cent) teachers did not give any response to this question. As a large number of teachers considered that teacher training is necessary and helpful, we may conclude by saying that to be an effective and ideal teacher, training is necessary. Again, most of the teachers 61 (98.38 per cent) considered students as their own children, so it may be said that they are concerned about an ideal society. In case of the teaching method, out of 62 teachers 60 (96.77 per cent) responded positively. Moreover, they said that they adopted the question - answer methods. They said that the students like questioning in the primary stage and due to their inquisitiveness they even ask their teachers irrelevant questions. 96.77 per cent (60) of teachers said that they used blackboards in the classrooms; the most frequently used teaching aid in class. So it may be said that through the teaching aids such as, blackboard, map, models, pictures, drawings, textbooks, etc., the students of primary schools can be better taught. The inquisitiveness of the students are met with, through interaction. 91.93 % (57)agreed that teaching is a respected profession, and 96.77 % (60) supported statement that it is an ideal job. Hence, it may be said that teachers are partly or wholly involved in the upliftment of society and they are socially more recognised and respected.

MAJOR FINDINGS

Majority of teachers use the blackboard and are of the opinion that teaching is an ideal job. Majority of thems pay attention to the students’ problems and s are of the opinion that students like questioning. Majority of the tribal teachers at the primary school level can read and write two languages, are of the opinion that they are in this profession as teachers because of the respect accorded to teachers in society; They do not feel irritated if the students ask them any illogical questions. A little more than 50% of the teachers take account of current affairs by reading newspapers. A minority of them do so by watching TV, by listening to the radio and by communicating with others. All teachers are of the opinion that there is a difference between trained and untrained teachers. Majority of the taechers said that they are interested in training as it helps them teach in a better way. Less than 50% of the teachers said that they will leave the profession if they get any other job with a higher salary.

CONCLUSION

The role perception of tribal teachers at the primary level plays a vital role in the career of a teacher which makes him/her aware of his/her aptitude, techniques and his/her position in the arena of a school as well as in society. This has to be stimulated by pedagogical research and has to be made intellectually richer and more challenging through further education. Further, it needs to be extended far beyond professional renewal and career development, keeping in mind that education is the basis of economic upliftment of society. Only then will the uniformity of the world and the dream of a global village can take shape, as one enjoys the new millennium.