The Role of the Teacher in the Informal Classroom

The role of the teacher in the open classroom, which depends on human intelligence and feeling more than on anything else, is viewed as especially important at a time when powerful attempts are being made to reduce teachers to insignificance by providing them with foolproof packaged teaching materials. In order to function in an open classroom, teachers must recognize their own worth and refuse to accept the stereotype of the incompetency of public school teachers. Of prime importance in the open classroom is the capacity of the teacher for using judgment in making and retracting decisions and in assessing what the teacher and children are in need of learning. The teacher does not hesitate to show her feelings, within socially acceptable bounds, and accepts the feelings of children as well. In the open classroom, the teacher organizes the room for productive interaction of people with each other and with materials and ideas. The teacher herself must be a learner in order to stimulate learning. Evaluation begins and continues with the teacher's perceptions, and the process as well as the end product of a child's learning is evaluated. Finally, the role of the teacher involves interaction with colleagues in establishing a school climate of which her classroom is a part. (MS)