The Evolving Role of the 21st Century Teacher

According to which futurist you ask, we stand to lose between 38%-50% of today’s jobs to
automation over the next 20 years. The jobs predicted to fall to automation include those which
are repetitive, predictable, and routine. The jobs predicted to continue to be relevant and to
multiply are those which require genuine creativity, focus on building complex relationships, and
respond to the unpredictable. With today’s students heading into such a highly unpredictable job
market, we need to immediately shift the focus from teaching content in traditional subjects to all
students to teaching 21st Century skills of agency, collaboration, creativity, communication, and
problem-solving in a personalized manner. In other words, the time for personalized learning is
now and the need is imminent!

But personalized learning is not about the automation of teaching through technology. I want to
state that a different way for emphasis and clarity as the phrase “personalized learning” has
been vastly misunderstood, misrepresented, and subsequently maligned. Personalized learning
is not about what technology is being used in the class, and it is certainly not about technology
replacing teachers. Anyone who has had the experience of feeling inspired by and connected
with a teacher (which hopefully is everyone) can attest to the truth that software alone can do
neither. The best use of technology brings teachers and students closer together and provides
tools through which students can build agency and creative problem solving skills. In other
words, personalized learning is about each person. Any effort to bypass the valuable human-to-
human connection in learning will inevitably fail.

Having said this, it is essential to note that we as educators must evolve in our roles. We must
recognize those practices which are routine, repetitive, and predictable. These components of
teaching can be relegated in part to video instruction and adaptive technologies. To remain
relevant, and more importantly, to truly maximize our impact on student learning, we must
transform the core focus of our efforts to creativity, connectivity, and responsiveness to student
needs within our classes. So what does this focus look like in a 21C classroom empowered by
technology?

C.

 1. Immerse your audience in a story.

A well-told story is something that will stick in your audience’s mind

for years to come. a golden rule of presentation-giving which is to use
visuals that supplement your story rather than repeat what has already
been said. Another way to immerse the audience in your story is to
provide sensory details that will allow them to actually see, hear, feel,
and smell the different stimuli in your storyworld.
2 . Create suspense.

Those who love to watch movies or read books know that a good story
always has to have a conflict and a plot. These two elements are what
make a good presentation into a roller coaster ride that keeps
listeners/viewers at the edge of their seats, asking themselves, “What
will happen next?”

There are several devices that can increase the level of suspense of
your story. One way is to tell a story chronologically and build up to a
climactic conclusion, as is done here in this story about a woman who
was born without fibula bones and grew up to be an accomplished
athlete, actress and model.

Another way is to plop the viewer/listener right in the middle of action

and then go backwards in time to reveal how all of this occurred.

3. Bring characters to life.

Characters are at the heart of any story. Their fortunes and misfortunes
are what make people want to laugh, cry or rejoice.

The most successful stories, I found, were those that created three-
dimensional characters who were easy to identify and, at the same time,
had an uncommon characteristic.

In order to do this, you must provide enough detail to bring the character
to life in the minds of those in the audience.

4. Show. Don’t tell.

Instead of telling your audience about a certain event in a story,

try showing them by transporting them to a scene. So, whenever you
deliver a story, try scene-by-scene construction of events and use
dialogue instead of narration.
For example, in the introduction to this article, I could have simply told
you that I had an introverted classmate who one day wowed the whole
class with an awesome presentation. This, however, would not have had
the same effect as using descriptions of setting and conversations to
take you to the middle of a scene.

5. Build up to a S.T.A.R. moment.

Similar to a climax, a S.T.A.R. moment is a “Something They’ll Always

Remember” event that is so dramatic that your audience will be talking
about it weeks later.

According to presentation expert Nancy Duarte in her book Resonate,

this can come in the form of a dramatization, provocative images, or
shocking statistics.

Bill Gates resorted to this technique in a 2009 TED talk when he made

the case for increasing investment in eradicating malaria. He gave
statistics to prove how serious the problem was and then shocked the
room by opening a jar full of mosquitos, saying “There’s no reason only
poor people should have the experience.”

Reference:

https://www.academia.edu/7313532/ROLE_OF_TEACHER_FOR_PEACE_EDUCATION_Mr.
_Rajendrakumar_Muljibhai_Parmar

https://visme.co/blog/7-storytelling-techniques-used-by-the-most-inspiring-ted-presenters/