Although we have seen the efficacy of such an approach to values and moral education, there are problems that may be encountered, both on a practical level for the teachers who have this responsibility as role models, as well as on a theoretical level.
As has been stated, children can be most perceptive, sometimes far more than adults, and will see through the lack of integrity of any educator. This places a tremendous pressure on an educator to live up to the values and ethos of their school, subject, or educational message. If a particular educator does not live up to this, their power as a role model is largely diminished. Rejection of the entire message and package is also risked, if children see even the slightest inconstancies in the role model. This may also have the effect of discouraging prospective educators from entering the profession. Educators must also be vigilant in their personal lives to some extent, to ensure it is not publicly at variance with their educational message. Is this after-hours pressure that few other jobs involve, fair on the educator?
Further to this question, is a more difficult one. Does a school or educational organization have the right not to employ a teacher because their personal life does not coincide with the ethos of the institution? For example, the tension an institution such as a denominational school experiences when considering the employment of either a teacher from a different faith, or from the same faith but with lesser degree of religious practice in their personal life.
The very practical issue of informality is a problematic one when considering role model education within formal schooling. For a student to link in to the personality and way of life of the teacher, the teacher must to some extent lower some barriers in order to let the child catch a glimpse of what he or she is about. This may lead to obvious dangers such as feelings and emotions towards the teacher and compromise the teacher’s desire for distance to forestall problems of over-familiarity. Role model education thrives on informality – and this is not always possible or appropriate in a classroom context – although with the right balance, can and will be effective even with this formal teacher-student relationship. However, as mentioned earlier, this is one of the very strengths of informal education, with role-model education central to its efficacy.
It can be challenged that role model education will stand in the way of true impartiality. It is arguably the goal of every teacher or educator to explore an impartial curriculum, presenting divergent opinions, providing students with the skills to make decisions for themselves, even if within the boundaries of specific ideologies and belief systems. This is especially the case for concepts as subjective as values and morals, which often find themselves the focus of informal education. The participants may have difficulty forming their own opinions and acknowledging the impartiality of the curriculum if the teacher has become a strong role model for them. The educators own lifestyle and value system may become front runner in competing for the attention of the students. (This of course becomes less of a problem for denominational schools, where the lifestyle and outlook of the teacher is the same as that of the ethos and message of the school. However, this can also be seen as an oversimplification, for there can be many different approaches and outlooks within one denomination.)
On a grand and theoretical plain, worries about role models and the power of influence that they wield, and potential for evil misuse as seen by totalitarian systems such as National Socialism. He also refers to thinkers who fear there is a “lack of compatibility between models and education on behalf of children’s self-realization. They believe that models would prevent the development of an autonomous moral identity.”
All educators, whether formal or informal, bear the burden of role-model education equally. However, to see it as a burden, misses the powerful potential and exciting educational opportunities that it can provide. Role-model education allows those values and ideas that are central to our curriculum to become an experiential educational experience, merely through “hanging out with the educator”. This is arguably the essence of informal education, and in fact all effective education.
This paper therefore recommends added exposure to the educator in all educational contexts. Informal education will do this more naturally than formal, but there is no reason to suggest that it is inappropriate in either context. Let us try to facilitate natural “encounters” between students and educators, both within and without of the educational context.
We discussed briefly the concept of mentoring. Let me suggest some further examples of allowing the role-model to be a powerful educational tool through these “encounters”. This will take place in any opportunity where the educator can play a more natural informal role, such as weekend retreats, educational trips and visits, extra-curricular programmes such as sports and recreational events.
Obviously, informal education lends itself better and more naturally to this mode of education, and it is harder to think of contexts from the school where it can be equally utilized. However, a perfect forum for the increased informality necessary for role-model education within the formality of the teacher/student relationship would be on an educational visit/school trip.
On a school trip, whether a one-day trip to a museum, or a month in a foreign country, everything about the student/teacher relationship has the potential to become less formal, while still being professional and controlled. From hiking to kayaking, walking through ancient archaeological remains to travelling for hours on buses, interaction is far easier and more natural. Conversations involve all sorts of topics, and students are afforded the opportunity to gain an inkling as to whom the teacher actually is, rather than merely what he or she tries to convey. This allows them to see that the values espoused in the classroom do not stay in the classroom, but are inherent in the life and lifestyle of the teacher.
It is just these types of encounters that we should be providing for our charges in order to maximize ourselves and our colleagues as role-models to these youth, in order to develop them as people and further our educational goals.
By: Mrs. Jonalyn J. Belleza | Teacher I | Culis Elementary School | Culis, Hermosa, Bataan
