Teachers in the digital age...

As society develops, the role and position of teachers will change according to trends. The key is that they must always know how to change themselves - change to improve, to suit and adapt to the times.

The digital age requires teachers to constantly update their knowledge. (Photo: Pham Thi Thanh Thuy)

At the 40th anniversary of Vietnam Teachers' Day, Ministerof Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son shared: The world changes every second, the amount of human knowledge is exploding, the model of a master who knows 10 and teaches 1 is no longer suitable. Instead, teachers must grasp basic knowledge, be good at methods to guide and guide students to seek and develop knowledge, equip themselves and accumulate unlimited knowledge. Accountability, multi-dimensional interaction with students, parents and society also requires teachers to have higher and more complex cultural and social behavioral skills. In the demands of the new situation and tasks, teachers' self-innovation is decisive for the success of educational innovation...

It can be said that education is a field that is greatly affected by the 4.0 Industrial Revolution, artificial intelligence, social networks... Therefore, education in the digital age also needs to "transform" and create innovation. Teachers must help students have the opportunity to develop their abilities in a free direction.

To do so, it is necessary to redefine the relationship between teachers and students. Unlike traditional classes, where teachers play the role of imparting knowledge from basic to advanced levels, this sequence has now been changed. Students can search for knowledge through the Internet. In class, there will be hours of presentation, debate and problem solving, and the teacher's role is to guide.

That is, in the digital age, the role of teachers has changed from teaching to designing appropriate learning programs and creating a vibrant, quality learning environment. Teachers must be open-minded, helping students adjust to new sources of information and knowledge. In other words, students in the digital world have full capacity and means to receive information, can self-study, research and refer to many different sources. A good teacher must be willing to change and renew himself in each lesson in class.

Currently, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) is implementing the 2018 general education program with many new things and many requirements that must be changed compared to before. Therefore, if teachers do not change and do not renew themselves, they will fall behind. In other words, as society develops, the role and position of teachers will change according to the trend. The core is that they must always know how to change themselves - change to improve, to suit and adapt to the times.

Teachers in the digital age must change themselves. (Photo: Kim Ngan)

Education in the 4.0 era creates conditions for teachers and students to work in an in-depth training environment. Professor Tony Wagner (Harvard University) once said: "Today's world does not care about what students know, but what students can do with that knowledge." Therefore, the role of teachers in the 4.0 era is not simply to impart knowledge, but also to help students equip themselves with skills to integrate globally. Learners need to have the ability to learn throughout their lives, constantly updating their knowledge and new knowledge to keep up with the demands of the job that are constantly changing.

Nowadays, with modern education, learners are forced to increase their initiative, self-directed knowledge and build their own learning path. Thanks to the Internet, classes can take place anywhere, anytime. Online schools are developing, learners become 4.0 learners.

The digital age requires teachers to have, in addition to experience, many methods and ways to approach knowledge appropriately and selectively. In particular, they must be good at technology and regularly approach new things to help enrich their lectures and create excitement for students.

In the past, when the Internet was not yet developed, knowledge from books and teachers' knowledge were considered the standard in teaching, at that time the teacher was the center of educational activities in the classroom. However, education today has changed a lot when taking the learner as the center to promote the qualities of the learner, the teacher has changed his role to guide and orient his students.

In a letter to the education sector on the occasion of the opening of the 2023-2024 school year, President Vo Van Thuong wrote: "Our Party and State always identify education as the top national policy. Educating and training children is a common task of schools, families and society. A country that wants to develop must have high-quality education and investing in education is investing in sustainable development. I hope that teachers will always maintain their passion and dedication to their profession, have the courage to overcome all obstacles and difficulties, and contribute more to the noble cause of educating people."

At the Ceremony to honor outstanding teachers and managers in 2023, Minister Nguyen Kim Son also identified that the teaching staff is an important factor, a sustainable foundation, deciding all successes of education and training. Therefore, the leaders of the Ministry of Education and Training will try to do everything and take every measure to improve the position and develop the teaching staff in both quantity and quality. Innovation is both an opportunity and a challenge for teachers. To the extent that teachers' innovation is achieved, the innovation of the education sector will also be achieved.

It must also be said that the expectations of the whole society have unintentionally created challenges for teachers themselves. Education is one of the most important foundations for shaping and developing a nation and a people. Because of its special position and role, education always faces the expectations of the whole society. In a digital society, education faces a great challenge in innovating teaching and learning methods. Therefore, teachers must also change to adapt to the speed of modernization. If teachers do not renew themselves, it will be difficult to keep up with the development of society.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 12th ASEAN Education Ministers Meeting (2022), Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son affirmed that education always plays an important and central role in the development of every country and every nation in every era. Vietnam considers education a national policy. Education development is identified as one of the three breakthroughs to implement Vietnam's socio-economic development strategy for the 2021-2030 period.

“Each year, the budget for education accounts for 20% of the national budget. Vietnam is very interested in ensuring fairness and improving the quality of education; currently, Vietnam is implementing fundamental and comprehensive education reform, strongly restructuring the education sector. In recent years, the quality of education in Vietnam has changed positively. The quality of general education in Vietnam is highly appreciated through the results of international student assessments such as PISA, PASEC and SEA-PLM”, Minister Nguyen Kim Son emphasized.

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