34 The changing role of the teacher
The teacher is a key factor in the education of tomorrow’s doctors
This book is about the teacher and the essential role the teacher plays in the education of tomorrow’s doctors. The achievement of the learning outcomes by the student and the sort of doctor they become can to a large measure be attributed to the teachers who have served as their role models and who have been responsible for their undergraduate and postgraduate training. The teachers, as we have discussed in the Preface and in Chapter 1, are a medical school’s most important asset.
The good teacher embodies a range of abilities
Teaching is a complex activity that requires a range of abilities of the teacher as described in Chapter 2. This includes not only the teacher’s mastery of the content area but also the technical competencies necessary to serve as an information provider, a role model, a facilitator of learning, a curriculum planner, an assessor and a resource developer. As a professional, the teacher requires a basic understanding of the underpinning educational principles and an appropriate attitude and passion for teaching. The teacher should be an enquirer into his or her own competence and keep themselves up-to-date with developments in the field. This is summarised in the equation:
where I is information provider, R is role model. F is facilitator, A is assessor, C is curriculum planner, L is learning resource developer, e is extent, q is quality, S is scientific principles, E is ethics and attitudes, D is decision making, T is team working and P is personal development.
