child miseducated is a child lost.
John F. Kennedy

The teacher can be rightly called a nation builder. Teachers through their perseverance love and sacrifices have shown the right path through which great men have built the nation, have achieved unimaginable heights, have transformed human life and above all, have turned out to be good human beings. It is the dear teachers who mould the character, personality and show the right direction which leads to the final destination.

Flourishing national development and a society truly prosperous with knowledge all begins from its teachers. While the role of knowledge and a skilled society with visions and aspirations in the success of a nation cannot be stressed enough, it should also be remembered that knowledge cannot be acquired if it is not sought and received through the help of the teacher. This is why everyone should put efforts into seeking as much knowledge as possible, and appreciate the teacher's importance in guiding us and the generations to come, to become knowledgeable and morally upright people.

Knowledge received without a teacher's guidance can be compared to a blind man walking without his stick. Because of this, teachers need to have a high level of commitment towards their duties and responsibilities which have been entrusted to them. The teacher is a judge who gives marks and ratings. He differentiates children on the basis of their intellectual, and often social skills in preparation for the social and occupational roles which they eventually play. He does this by recommending promotions and demotions within the school, nominating children to take certain examinations and counseling children and their parents with regard to appropriate school courses, and employment possibilities.

The teacher is a representative of the society who inculcates moral precepts. In the development of a country, great attention has to be paid to education and learning, as well as good morals, and nobody is more suited to assist in this process than the humble teacher. Without teachers, both knowledge and morals would suffer.

The role of the teacher is a multi-faceted one comprising academic, pedagogical and social roles. Academic roles comprise teaching, counseling and supervisory roles while pedagogical roles include instructional, evaluation and facilitating roles. As a facilitator of learning, the teacher is involved in motivating pupils to learn, maintaining control in the classroom and the school in general, and creating a conducive environment for learning to take place. Social roles of the teacher includes among others socializing roles which is preparing pupils to participate in the way of life of the society; others include reference roles, detective roles, parent surrogate (or substitute parent), confidants and affectionate roles.

No other personality can have an influence more profound than that of a teacher. Students are deeply affected by the teacher's love and affection, his character, his competence, and his moral commitment. A popular teacher becomes a model for his students. The students try to follow their teacher in his manners, customs, etiquette, style of conversation and his get up. He is their ideal. He can lead them anywhere. During their early education, the students tend to determine their aims in life and their future plans, in consultation with their teachers. Therefore, a corrupt and decadent class of teachers can harm a nation more seriously than a class of corrupt and perverted judiciary, army, police, bureaucracy, politicians or technocrats. A corrupt and incompetent teacher is not only a bad individual, but also the harbinger of a corrupt and incompetent generation. A nation with corrupt teachers is a nation at risk; every coming day announces the advent of its approaching destruction.

Teachers therefore , have to play a cardinal role in the building up of the character of the next generation. It is a fact that a civilization cannot rise out of a skeleton of mere ideas and abstract concepts. Civilization finds a concrete shape in the practical behaviour of a nation, based on these principles and concepts. Once the practical aspect is gone, the civilization also disappears and can only be studied through its remnants preserved in museums and chronicles. This necessitates the provision of a learning atmosphere throbbing with life in our educational institutions through the presence of the teacher, with a view to infuse confidence in our students and to enable them to be proud of their culture, to respect their national character and national emblems, and to ornament themselves with societal conduct and morals. They should stand firm on the centuries old foundations of their cultural tradition and at the same time should establish standards of excellence in their academic performance.

The essence of the teacher as a nation builder cannot be over-emphasized. Good teachers need to be themselves constantly seeking knowledge, be of good character, have high motivation and be creative, innovative and effective in their teaching strategies. The good deeds of teachers are great; because of them, we will grow to become knowledgeable people who will be of use to society, religion and our nation and country.
According to Professor Sirajuddin Ahmad for promotion of learning, teachers have to display a sense of responsibility and must be in possession of qualities of leadership that are essential for motivation of students. It falls upon the teachers to create a friendly environment in the institution free of coercion. They must teach through cooperation, facilitation, love and caring attitude and not by exercising authority, domination and giving punishments. They must try to raise the self-esteem of students. Good teachers create trust, confidence, interest, enthusiasm and hope and not fear, frustration and disappointment. They be kind and forgiving instead of being revengeful.
******* Teachers must encourage and entertain questions as well as ask questions to stimulate minds and promote formal and informal* discussions for enhancing critical thinking and achievement of in-depth understanding. They need to frequently evaluate student’s performance both formally and informally and give them prompt feedback in the form of encouragement, praise, appreciation and reward for correct performance and guidance for rectifying mistakes both meant for improvement of their performance and creation of a desire for learning. They should teach by interaction with students rather than depending on lectures alone. In this process they should identify the variety of talents that different students may possess for different desirable functions and should give them support for whatever potential they have. They should reinforce creativity and originality in students. Teachers should encourage students to help, teach and test themselves and each other as well as the weaker and the junior students. They should organize group-learning projects, contests, competitions, debates, cultural activities, entertainment and field visits to create interest in learning.
***** Teachers must remain humble and ready to say “I don’t know” and be prepared to admit their mistakes and take a lesson from them and from the mistakes of others. They must not laugh, ridicule, humiliate, embarrass or insult any student over commission of mistakes. If promptly and politely corrected mistakes teach memorable lessons for better performance. Apart from accepting blame they should make a habit to say “we” and not “I”. They should be prepared to speak less and listen more.* They should be magnanimous enough to share their credit with others and accept alone the blame for failings of students. They must share with students before making all decisions that affect students and must make an effort to share their joys and sorrows. Equally teachers should share their interests with students that will promote friendship.
****** Teachers should have a sense of humor and be capable of creating humor. They should use different methods to break monotony and boredom i.e. by use of variety of learning resources and teaching methods, relevant jokes, quizzes, questioning and involving the inattentive, creating surprises, mysteries and suspense, referring to relevant events in day-to-day life etc. They should teach by example and act as role models instead of giving sermons. What they do has far greater power to teach than what they say. They must be able to do themselves what they expect from the students to do and be able not to do what they expect from students to abstain from. In fact teachers should put themselves in the shoes of students before asking them to do or not to do anything. They should be sensitive to the needs and feelings of students. They should speak the language of the students when needed and should relate to their level of mental and physical abilities.
******* According to William Glasser’s Choice Theory, teachers must promote the basic needs of students to convince them that they are the well wishers of students and in return students will listen to them. These basic needs are the requirements of survival, love and affection, freedom, leisure, entertainment and empowerment. This means that in addition to academic issues teachers must take keen interest and help students in their social and economic matters and participate in their extracurricular activities. Teachers should delegate more and more to students and refrain from doing every thing themselves. In this way, apart from empowering students, they also give them a chance to learn by doing. Instead of passing knowledge to students they should be made to create knowledge to give them a sense of ownership of what they learn.
******* Good teachers must resolve disputes through the policy of give and take and make all the effort to defuse tension and ensure cohesion and friendship among students. They should set a side time for listening to problems of students. They should honor their pledges, be consistent in their responses, dependable and reliable. They should be flexible and not rigid to meet the changing circumstances and diversity of situations. They should always be ready for the unexpected and must exercise utmost patience and tolerance in dealing with students. Great teachers never lose temper and refrain from acting when upset. In difficult situations they should happily get the input of colleagues, parents and all the well-wishers of students. Teachers must treat all students equal, serve them selflessly with devotion and expect no returns from students. Teachers are regarded as spiritual fathers and mothers to students who are expected to act as guides and mentors. They must show courtesy, love, compassion and respect to their students that is bound to generate a similar response.
****** Teachers must take part in continuing education to update their own knowledge, skills and attitudes, come prepared to classes and should strive to develop learning resources for students. Lastly they must ensure their integrity, punctuality and physical and mental cleanliness at all costs. Teachers possessing these qualities will be highly respected and loved by the students and will create an ideal environment for learning in educational institutions. The developing nations must be ready to pay any price for such teachers who will groom their children into knowledgeable, skillful, productive and enlightened personalities of character.*
*** Every society has an established set of virtues and vices and it takes conscious and unconscious measures at various levels to promote the virtues and eliminate the vices. Sometimes a society may face a crisis of values in which the values are at odds with one another or the values suffer from double standards. In that eventuality, the people reflect* contradictions in their actions and in the morality they profess. The people are seen violating the values they hold sacred in their sermons and lectures. Such an atmosphere is hazardous for the immature and sensitive young people who react and suffer from mental confusion and are led to believe that there are certain values to be paid lip service only, whereas the practical needs of life demand an altogether different set of values.*

*** In the past, parents and teachers used to make the best of their efforts to provide an atmosphere to their children which is congenial to the development of higher virtues and morals. But the gross social change over the last fifty years, large scale urbanization, ruthless competition for financial gains, and heavy preoccupation in everyday* life deplete all time and energy from the parents, leaving behind little time or energy for their children. Whatever time they have at their disposal is consumed by newspapers, television and other recreations. As a result, the younger generation hardly gets any opportunity to share ideas with their elders or to enter into a meaningful discussion. On the other hand, this idea is gaining ground among us that education is not meant to build up better human beings, but only to get better jobs.
Consequently, the students' minds are obsessed with better jobs and dreams for higher social status. Obviously, the moral and religious training of the child has gradually been ousted from the preview of education. The system of private tuition among the students and teachers is also endemic. Now the students tend to consider their teacher as their servant, rather than their mentor or reformer. The net result of all this deterioration is that the value system of our society has fallen into oblivion, which we had to transfer to the next generation for the preservation of our religious and national identity
In Muslim history, teachers have not only distinguished themselves by their profundity in knowledge and research, but also because of their character, piety and abstinence from immoral acts. Throughout their history, Muslims have refused to except the authority of any pervert or debauch as a religious scholar and teacher. We have always attached importance to the character, nobility and conformity of belief and action. In the Islamic view of education, instruction of sciences cannot be divorced from moral and ethical training. It is again a contribution of the modern age that character building has been totally dissociated from education. That is why our system is producing an educated but characterless generation. Maulana Maudoodi observed in Talemaat:* 'Devoid of any divine element and Islamic morality, our education system even fails to inculcate those basic human morals in our students, without which a nation cannot hope for an honourable survival, what to speak of any possibility of its development. The generations being produced by it are unfortunately equipped with all the decadence of the West but do not have even an inkling of Western virtues. They are neither dutiful, hardworking and devoted, punctual, nor do they have any claim on perseverance, determination, discipline or self-control. They do not have any ideals beyond their self-interest. They are just like wild bushes, and do not demonstrate any national character. They would not desist from indulging in the meanest dishonesty, even when they are placed at a very noble position in life. They comprise the worst and the meanest nepotists, smugglers, transgressors on others rights and unwilling workers. We can find thousands of people in our society who can stoop very low to receive bribes and illegal gratification, would go out exerting all kinds of immoral influences to get unwarranted favours, whose lawlessness has no bounds and who would overlook the larger good of the society and the nation for a paltry personal gain. The product of these schools took over the leadership and administration of the country after we won freedom from the colonial rule (WOGS, Macaulay minutes on Indian education), and since then, the way our country has been mishandled and routed, by these characterless managers, is indeed tragic. And if you want to assess the character of the generation which is presently at the mercy of these schools and colleges, you can do so by studying them in their institutions, hostels, recreation spots, on national days and on the streets.
*** It is a fact that a civilization cannot rise out of a skeleton of mere ideas and abstract concepts. Civilization finds a concrete shape in the practical behaviour of a nation, based on these principles and concepts. Once the practical aspect is gone, the civilization also disappears and can only be studied through its remnants preserved in museums and chronicles. This necessitates the providing of an Islamic atmosphere throbbing with life in our education institutions, with a view to infuse confidence in our students and to enable them to be proud of their culture, to respect their national character and national emblems, and to ornament themselves with Islamic conduct and morals. They should stand firm on the centuries old foundations of their cultural tradition and at the same time should establish standards of excellence in their academic performance.
*
**A nation should try to build up a strong character in students right from the beginning and they should learn to act in accordance with what they profess, to follow what they consider the appropriate path, to carry out their due role in the society, to adopt what they find good and to avoid what they think is morally wrong. It is imperative for us to cultivate human virtues in our students from the primary level of their education and training. For instance the promotion of punctuality, truth, hard work, honesty, simplicity, hygiene, etiquette, patriotism, mutual love and sincerity, social and civic sense, obedience to law, tolerance and other desirable virtues should be the hall mark of an Islamic education system.*

Parents and teachers have to play a cardinal role in the building up of the character of the next generation. The teacher's role is particularly important and has been compared with that of the prophets. Every prophet is essentially a teacher. On more than one occasion, Providence has changed the fate of nations through effective and well directed teaching. This profession is so important and so sacrosanct that the Holy Prophet (sws) proudly declared it to be a prominent part of his personality and prophethood. If a teacher realizes the significance of his job, the tremendous responsibility he is shouldering, the share he has in the future development of the nation, and consequently the accountability he will have to face in the Hereafter, he will at once shudder with the idea of facing the grave consequences of any dereliction on his part.*

*** No other personality can have an influence more profound than that of a teacher. Students are deeply affected by the teacher's love and affection, his character, his competence, and his moral commitment. A popular teacher becomes a model for his students. The students try to follow their teacher in his manners, costumes, etiquette, style of conversation and his get up. He is their ideal. He can lead them anywhere. During their early education, the students tend to determine their aims in life and their future plans, in consultation with their teachers. Therefore, a corrupt and decadent class of teachers can harm a nation much more seriously than a class of corrupt and perverted judiciary, army, police, bureaucracy, politicians or technocrats. A corrupt and incompetent teacher in not only a bad individual, but is also the harbinger of a corrupt and incompetent generation. A nation with corrupt teachers is a national risk; every coming day announces the advent of its approaching destruction.*

*** Therefore, while selecting teachers, it must be borne in mind that, in addition to their professional competence, they must bear a good moral character and must be observing Muslims. No Islamic education system worth the name can afford to have teachers who are neither good human beings nor good Muslims. The teachers must be models of faith and piety and should have a fairly good knowledge about Islam and their conduct should conform to their faith. A teacher should consider it his duty to educate and train his students and should feel responsible for it. He should feel that his students have been entrusted to him and he should avoid any breach of the trust the society has reposed in him. He should be a sociable person with his roots in the society. People should take him as their well-wisher and a sincere friend who cares for their children. He should actively participate in the social activities in a positive way. He should know the art of teaching with a deep insight into child psychology. He should always deal with the students in a just manner. He should not lose his self-control on mistakes his students may commit, and instead he should respect their feelings and ego, and should try to understand and resolve their difficulties with grace while keeping his cool. He should be able to smile in the face of bitter criticism on his opinions, and should not feel ashamed or humiliated to accept his mistakes wholeheartedly. He should be proud of his culture, his national dress and his national language and should respect the societal mores and detest the immoralities of his times. He should be a missionary, a mentor, a reformer and a guide besides being a tutor. In other words, he should be a perfect teacher and a perfect educationist.*

*** Indeed it is an ideal teacher at the climax of his performance that brings about a positive change in the overall behaviour of his students by leading them to a lofty character and to exemplary morals. While commenting on the role of the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) as a teacher, an orientalist, Robert L. Gulick, writes in Muhammad: The Educator,:* ‘Only the most provincial concept of education would gainsay the legitimacy of placing Mohammed among the great educators of all times for, from the pragmatic standpoint, he who elevates human behaviour is a prince among educators.
*** This importance of a teacher demands application of rigorous standards for his selection and a constant grooming after that. It is indispensable to accord equal or more weightage to the character and religious commitment of a teacher as compared to his professional competence. A teacher suffering from decadent beliefs and morals is not capable of imparting mental and moral training to students that can go well with an Islamic education system. After all, unlike other fields, if the education system falls into the hands of spoilt people, society is left with no prospects of improvement.
*
*** The importance of a teacher as an architect of future generations also demands that only the best and the most intelligent and competent members of our intelligentsia be allowed to qualify for this profession. It is unfortunate to find that generally the worst and the most incapable people of the society find their way to this profession. Anyone who fails to find an opening in any other walk of life gets into this profession and recklessly plays with the destiny of the nation. An important reason for this is understood to be the poor salaries of our primary and secondary teachers which are no better than that of clerks. A large number of our teachers are therefore frustrated and disinterested. They have to go for part-time jobs to meet their basic needs. The teachers in rural areas are forced to work in fields, to keep livestock, go for small business and perform services in a mosque or the like. The teachers in urban areas opt for student coaching or part-time clerical assignments. Secondly, the teaching profession also does not enjoy due respect in the society. The primary and secondary teachers are particularly at a disadvantage. Their status is lower than that of doctors, engineers, advocates, civil servants; even lower than that of semi literate and illiterate traders. It would therefore require great commitment for an intelligent individual, however fond of education and training he may be, to forsake the career of a doctor or engineer in favour of teaching. Thirdly, at the government level, the syllabuses have been finalized and the chapter for revision closed, as if they are divine scriptures. The Aristotles of our bureaucracy have left no room for any alteration or revision in the light of new discoveries, research and progress. Even the students striving for Bachelor and Masters degrees have a set of limited books prescribed by the authorities. The teachers only solve the difficulties and then transmit a rehash of these books to the students, enabling them to memorize and copy the notes in their examinations. It is quite beyond the sphere of the assigned responsibility of a teacher to critically analyze the text books.* Consequently, the scholars with the ability to critically evaluate and analyze the given material and to add something by incisive research, just do not think of joining the teaching profession.*

*** These are a few reasons that are effectively keeping our intelligentsia away from the field of education. Obviously, we cannot expect an educational arrangement to deliver the goods unless it has a cadre of competent teachers. We need to address these and other associated problems of teachers. The teachers should be entitled to better salaries and better facilities when compared with other professions. It should be ascertained at all cost that a candidate for this profession has a natural acumen and aptitude for teaching. Simultaneously, all efforts should be launched at the government level to restore the financial and social status of teachers. We do have a practice of awarding actors, artists, and players but the outstanding achievements of a good teacher go unnoticed and are not welcome. The notable achievements of teachers should also be appreciated at the state level and while evaluating them, their academic and research output should also be considered. This is an important issue demanding immediate and prioritized attention of the government on emergent basis. The electronic and print media can also play a very positive role in this regard. These measures can go a long way towards a better future of the country.
Instrumental value of education is recognized throughout the world. With the passage of time change is involving every sphere of life. The future peace, progress and prosperity can be ensured at local, national and global level through new education and information technology. The changed role of teacher is very crucial in the socio- psychological dimension of the society. Teacher being the human architect can bring positive social change in localism, nationalism and globalism. Instruction is an effective tool in the hands of a teacher. Children are very sensitive and receptive. If a teacher is knowledgeable competent and skilled in imparting instruction; he or she can change the social values and cultural fiber of the society.
A teacher affects eternity:
he can never tell where his influence stops.
Henry Adams

Teaching is not a lost art,
but the regard for it is a lost tradition.
Jacques Barzun