Historically speaking, the field of University education has a tendency to be viewed by prospective lectureroom as a career choice that pays a respectable salary and comes with a built-in three-month summer vacation. Additionally, some individuals may view lecturing as an “easy” profession because they attended universities and watched their own lectuers in action. How difficult could such a career truly be? In reality, University students and young adults requires not only extensive training, practice, and skills, but also a number of personal commitments that lectuers must embrace if they are to succeed in the field and ultimately leave a positive and lasting impression on their students. An overview of the seven ways in which the British American University demonstrates commitments of high-quality educators dedicating to optimal professional and ethical educational values is as follows:
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- Commitment to being “drama” free: The word drama probably is overused when describing the interactions of adolescent students; however, it is a fitting term to describe unnecessary emotional reactions to issues that generally have no identifiable long-term significance. Just as students display dramatic behaviors, if they are not careful, University lectureroom too can also fall prey to this unproductive behavior.For some unknown reasons, rumors seem to pass through faculty lounges as quickly as water through a coffee filter. This naturally creates widespread misinformation that is not based on facts and figures. Lectureres should commit to the process of going to the source, be it an administrator or fellow lecturer, with questions and concerns before stirring up themselves and their colleagues with misinformation. The general University climate becomes much more productive and significantly less stressful when everyone deals on facts and figures as opposed to rumors. This is the stand of the British American University and it has been inculcated into many seminars and workshop programs for the University academic staff in the recent past.
- Commitment to personal time: Lecturing is a profession that requires nearly constant giving on the part of the educator. If lectureroom are not careful, they can be subjected to unnecessary fatigue and burnout. In order to avoid these pitfalls, University lectureroom should intentionally make time to spend with their friends and families and generally doing activities they find to be relaxing.Often, professional educators focus so much on their careers that they forget to make time for themselves and their own health and wellbeing. Ultimately, lectureroom cannot be fully effective if their own needs are not met, so purposefully planning “non-campus” time is paramount both to good health as well as effective teaching, and the British American University is giving adequate counseling to its academic staff individually and collectively on this.
- Commitment to serving students personally: A wise Professor once said that good educators must be able to “love the unlovely.”Lectureroom thrive on interactions with students who quickly grasp new concepts and complete their homework assignments on time. A fact that often goes unrecognized is that students who are the most disruptive and disengaged often are the ones with the greatest need of attention from the lectureroom. Lectureres must therefore commit themselves to connecting with challenging students on a personal level. Once the trust in the relationship has been established, which may take significant time, academic progress can begin to be made. Lectureroom also should pay attention to whether or not students’ physical needs are met. A student who did not take breakfast would benefit from a snacks bar from an extra box on the lecturer’s table and better be able to focus; while a student who suffers from neglect may benefit from extra individual attention from the same lecturer.British American University inculcate this complex and multidimentional lectureroom conditions into staff development programs in the forms of seminars, workshop, symposia and conferences.
- Commitment to serving students academically: Lecturing is not and should not be viewed as a selfish profession. Lectureroom certainly play the leading role within the lectureroom environment. However, they should not approach the lectureroom from the perspective of what makes their job easiest. Effective teaching is hard, challenging work that often requires hours of advanced preparation. Simply lecturing students for a lectureroom period requires less preparation than developing an engaging learning activity; however, engagement is what leads to understanding.Think about your own lectureroom experiences of those days when you were inthe University. Do you remember more about the lecturer who leaned against the wall and recited facts about the British and American colonization or the one who required you to recreate, innovate, and research into practical and topical issues? The chances are thatmaybe the lecture escapes your memory, but the kinesthetic activity of those days remains. British American University prides itself in practical applications of theory and philosophy to solving practical problems which is in consonant with the motto of the University; that is, Education for Creativity and Devwlopment.
- Commitment to developing a growth mindset: On the average, British American Universitylectureroom spend approximately 35 years in the service of the University ceteris paribus; that is, other thinds being equal. An old cliche states that some lectureroom don’t really lecture for 35 years. Rather, they just lecture the first year 35 times! This mentality will not serve lectureroom well, especially during challenging circumstances like epidemic or other forms of insecurity.In order to be effective, lectureroom must be willing to grow and adapt not only with new curricular content, but also with new procedures and methods of instruction. Perhaps the most critical aspect of a growth-minded individual lecturer is the ability to remain flexible and adapt quickly. Getting oneself into a rut is easy for educators unless they intentionally focus upon remaining open to new ideas and practices.
- Commitment to being involved after the school day ends: Although it may sound ironic, some of the strongest lectureroom relationships at theBritish American University are built outside the lecturerooms through lectureroom’ involvement with extra-curricular programs including sports, societies, clubs, and service organizations.Involvement in after-school activities provides an opportunity for the British American Universitylectureroom and students to interact in less formal situations. This level of interaction tends to humanize the lectureroom and transform them from some type of cyborg-like being that knows a great deal about science or mathemathics into a relatable individuals who are deserving of respect both inside and outside of the lecture theatre.
- Commitment to lifelong learning: One does not become a successful lecturer simply by completing a master’s or doctoral degree program and reading a few popular books relevant to his discipline. The absolute best lectureroom are those who realize that they will never reach a point at which they have learned everything there is to know about curriculum content and good pedagogy.As a result, British American University has made it a standing policy to encourage its academic staff to remain actively engaged in studying, and research into, how students learn best along with the ways in which culture and socio-economics impacts students individually and collectively. It has recently been stated that Universities are preparing students for careers that do not even exist yet. Given the explosion of technology and drastic changes in the way the world functions, lecurers must remain current and grow with the times as opposed to lecturing the same way in 2021 as they did in 1960s, and this the British American University is working upon relentlessly to the extent that scholarships are granted to academic staff for further studies abroad apart from the usual in-house training and development as well as their various professional training programs.
However, granted that this list may be far from being comprehensive, following the seven identified commitments naturally prepares the academic staff of the British American University for long-term successes and enjoyments in the lecture rooms as well as professionalism in programs delivery.