INTRODUCTION

Ahmad Zainuri bin Loap Ahmad in his article discusses several important roles of a

reflective classroom teacher. Ahmad Zainuri (2005) clarifies that the article is written to

look for reasons why the teachers should reflect on their teaching for an effective

teaching and learning in classroom. The article focuses on the main five roles a teacher

should perform as a reflective teacher and naming the roles as a communicator, a

counselor, an ethicist, a political and a researcher. Ahmad Zainuri (2005) states that

teachers are advised to select, organize and modify roles to be an effective teacher.

The article is published in English Language Journal volume 1, 2005 by

Penerbitan Universiti Sultan Idris and informing the reader about the importance of a

teacher to build certain roles in an attempt to meet the criteria as an effective teacher.

After I read the article, I found that Ahmad Zainuri has discussed on the crucial side of

becoming a teacher which is not just a teacher.

I appreciate Ahmad Zainuri’s article as I also believe, a teacher should always

open his heart to accept and ready for a good change or improvement in enhancing their

important roles as a role model to the students they encounter everyday. As a teacher who

is still gaining new experiences in my work, I see this article as a sincere discussion

describing roles of which a teacher sometimes unaware of and sometimes putting it as a

second thought. The article however, is not meant to be rigid but rather exposing the

sides that we as teachers should put into consideration. As Ahmad Zainuri clearly

mentions in the beginning of his article that I put another way as teachers should adopt

and adapt to the roles of becoming an effective teacher.

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REVIEW ON THE ARTICLE

Reasons to be a Reflective Teacher

It is true to a certain extent that teachers should somehow start thinking miles ahead in

order to engage in the profession and becoming someone that most of us plainly point as

‘an expert’. Ahmad Zainuri (2005) concerns on teachers making reflections as he

believes it could be the answer for those who are embroiled in emotional unrest. He

points out that there would non others better to instill the awareness of the importance of

reflecting thinking if not the teachers themselves. It is true to me as well because as

teachers, we learn as we teach and learning through mistakes is surely not erroneous.

That is how teachers gain their experiences to become better teachers and carry greater

responsibilities along the way they serve the needs of the students.

It is crucial for me to unfold the real focus in Ahmad Zainuri’s article that is, the

answer to his question “Why do teachers need to reflect on their teaching?”. In the article,

Ahmad Zainuri focuses on three fine reasons. He points out the first one as the

uniqueness of each classroom situation. Even though all of us might want to agree that

teaching and learning in schools shares the similarities, it is however not exactly the

same. Citing Ahmad Zainuri’s idea mentioning the students, the school settings and

curricula including the background and the personality of the teachers themselves have

the differences. All of the characteristics are unique to their own. In simpler

understanding, teachers know the school, the setting and the students where they serve

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completely better than any other people in the outside. Hence the point; it is crucial for

the teachers to reflect what is best for those characteristics that only they who know.

Ahmad Zainuri (2005) as well emphasizes on the importance of a teacher to do

the reflecting on the evaluation and choosing the strategies in teaching. I agree with the

emphasis as we know that it would help the teachers to improve themselves and establish

the power they have as a ‘decision maker’. It is interesting to ponder Ahmad Zainuri’s

statement saying that teachers do not become well established professionals by depending

on textbook for instance or following others to tell them how to teach and choose

teaching methods for them. Teachers are reflective and in that case, they have to take into

account all the roles which have been suggested and mentioned above by themselves

first. I believe Ahmad Zainuri does not mean teachers should go clueless without

guidance but all he means must be the innovative side of a teacher as professionals

should lead them to be effective teachers. Freeman (2003) stresses the same idea that

teachers with understanding would be able to find alternatives in the methods of teaching

and becoming effective teachers.

The third reason that Ahmad Zainuri points out as he emphasize on the

importance of teachers doing the reflection is that, teaching and learning as well as the

circle of education involves the field with so many excellent ideas. He believes that it is

how the teachers can be effective and competent in their responsibilities. He adds further

that serious reflection helps teachers gain competence, mastery and understanding. As I

intend to unfold this point, I come to an agreement with Freeman (2003) mentioning that

knowledge of the teaching helps to expand a teacher’s repertoire which presumably helps

them deal more effectively with the unique qualities and idiosyncrasies of their students.

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 As Ahmad Zainuri discusses on the reasons for teachers to do the reflections, I am

fascinated with the idea that teachers play many roles and their roles are often described

in metaphors, which is quite true to me as well. Along my experience, I have heard

people who engaged with the teachers as well as the teachers among themselves agreeing

that we are somehow ‘versatile’. We use whatever skills and creativity that we have to

create an effective teaching and learning environment and I strongly believe that we

could work and willing enough to seek for an extra strength just to ensure the students are

given the best effort by the teachers.

The Roles a Teacher Plays

Ahmad Zainuri in his article describes to us the roles that teachers could play just like we

see actors carrying various characters on stage. They are the one who wears hats and play

different roles and faces all the audiences who are waiting to be entertained and enjoy the

show. The actors are credited as outstanding actors when they succeeded to touch the

feelings of the audiences and at least make them cry over poignant actions they play.

Ahmad Zainuri (2005) describes teachers who could be good communicators as

those who exercise ‘open communication style’. It is believed that the effective teachers

are the teachers who practice on the openness in their communication. At this point of

discussion, Ahmad Zainuri implies to us that the most important reason why teachers

should practice on this role is because it exhibits flexibility in giving and receiving

advice, well liked, promotes productivity, accepts criticism, listens well and acts wisely.

The main understanding that I could relate to this role is that teachers who know how to

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communicate well generate the process of individuals sharing ideas, beliefs, thoughts and

feelings with each other in common, understandable ways.

As I intend to understand exactly on what Ahmad Zainuri has explained, I come

across Nesamalar et. al. (1997) explain that it is a challenging task for teachers to attend

students with low motivation. Therefore it is crucial for the teachers to make the students

aware of the purpose of teaching and learning especially while carrying out the activities

prepared for them. Since communication regards a two-way interaction with input and

output, hence the role of the teachers as communicators to a certain extent is crucial in

promoting motivation to the students. The teachers and students who communicate well

with each other will loosen out the barriers that might limit the level of the students’

motivation.

Ahmad Zainuri (2005) states further in his article that the role of a teacher as a

counselor should not be a misunderstanding with an advisor. Both roles are actually has

the difference. According to J.S Farrant (1998) as cited in Ahmad Zainuri (2005) defines

counseling as an act of assisting an individual with advice, comfort or guidance in order

to relieve or overcome troubles that bring nuisance to him or her. It is however has a

slight different to an advisor since becoming an advisor is like assuming that they are the

decision maker for the students which is they are actually not supposed to do that.

Ahmad Zainuri (2005) stresses on the importance of a teacher in getting the

students cooperation in order to counsel them with whatever problems that affect their

performance as students. Ahmad Zainuri (2005) has illustrate clearly to us by pointing

out that children learn their best when they are free from worries and hassle that distract

their attention in developing their personality. As a teacher who always exposed to the

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situation whereby my students fall in deep and complex problems, I believe that in

preparing ourselves as counselor, we should display genuine concern for the welfare and

well-being of our students in every aspects. Nesamalar et. al. (1997) as well state literally

that we as teachers must cater for the students’ need especially their needs for success.

As Ahmad Zainuri (2005) introduces the role of teachers as the ethicist, I find it as

a new matter to me as a teacher. The term is rarely promoted and truly not visualized in

my thought, what role is it actually. Even Ahmad Zainuri (2005) himself clearly states

that this role is rather controversial than to be accepted plainly. He explains that the duty

of a teacher is not only to impart knowledge to the students but also to bring moral values

into the classroom.

In simpler understanding as according to Ahmad Zainuri in his article, an ethical

teacher should treat all the students equally and not be biased about them in any

circumstances. It is true to me as well since teachers are always portrayed by others as the

one who embrace a system of moral values that exerts positive influence on students.

Besides, teachers who practice on the ethicist role should give the students opportunity to

learn through their mistakes, as doing it will promote a healthy teacher-students

relationship. In this sense, Ahmad Zainuri (2005) also points out that teachers should

believe that students can draw valid and meaningful conclusions from their own

experience too. Adding my view on this role, I would say that the role is not supposed to

be presumably easy to be practiced as it is a complex situation for a teacher to balance

and maintain the level of closeness between teachers, students, respect and trust. It is

however not impossible for teachers to practice the role since teachers surely know the

situation and the students better.

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 It is interesting too to look at Ahmad Zainuri discussion on the teachers’ political

role. In the article, Ahmad Zainuri (2005) describes three competencies involve in

political role namely defining and recognizing the political behaviour that exist in school,

understanding the classroom political strategies and lastly understanding the classroom

political classroom situation.

In order to know and master all the competencies, the teachers should prepare

themselves with the strategies beforehand. In political strategy of supporting and

controlling, teachers are suggested to use praises and giving awards to appreciate

students’ work or performance. In terms of controlling, teachers are suggested to show

the regulation by giving warning or threats for the positive purpose and could somehow

just ignoring students or promoting peer pressure on them.

I can actually relate this to a real situation in my school whereby the teachers are

all agreeing that the students need to be ‘tamed’ first then they could be nurtured to learn

better. It is a challenging task for the teachers including myself too in an attempt to make

sure the students could behave properly in class when they are in one group and started to

have certain perceptions and beliefs towards themselves and the friends they mix around.

They tend to solve any of their problems; as they always say it to the teachers, using

physical actions which could lead them to other messy problems. Here is where the

teachers should actively play their role as political figures to the students so that they can

be consulted and lead to behave properly.

Ahmad Zainuri (2005) in his article points out the final role as teachers becoming

researchers. Seeing teachers as tool to carry out studies on teaching and learning and dig

out findings is not unusual situation. I would say that even though the teachers might not

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write their research in proper academic papers like writing theses or journals, they are

constantly doing all the research via their observations and methods in teaching. It is

ahmad Zainuri’s intention to illustrate to us, that it is time for teachers to start their first

step in researching and finding answers to whatever problems or curiosity regarding

teaching and learning in more systematic way to achieve the effectiveness in practicing

the role. As I believe the same, it is the planning and systematic research that could give

help for the teachers to see any matters they might want to see in clear view.

CONCLUSION

Quoting Ahmad Zainuri (2005) saying that it is the teachers’ immediate actions that

could bring effectiveness in their teaching, I believe the same that teachers should start

thinking on the roles they need to play. Considering Ahmad Zainuri’s discussion, it is

crucial to consider the moral, ethical and social complexities of teaching, reflection

allows teacher to think rigorously, critically and systematically about educational

practices and problems of importance in order to foster growth in self, students and the

system.

Ahmad Zainuri constantly illustrates to us that to work as an effective teacher

requires shifting among many roles above and beyond ‘teacher’. As I believe too, it is up

to the teachers’ professional judgment that which roles among hundreds of roles to

choose and to put into practice in a mission to become effective teachers in helping out

the effective learning.

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REFERENCE:

Ahmad Zainuri bin Loap Ahmad. (2005). The Roles of The Reflective Classroom
Teacher( English Language Journal. Vol.5, 2005). Tanjung Malim: Penerbitan
Universiti Sultan Idris.

Freeman, D.L. (2003). Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.

Chitravelu N.(et. al.). (1997). ELT Methodology Principle and Practice. Shah Alam:
Penerbitan Fajar bakti.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Fromkin, V. (et. al.). (2003). An Introduction to Language. United States: Thomson &
Heinle.

Yule, G. (1997). A Study of Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.