In addition to teaching, which is the primary duty of a commerce teacher, he has to carry out many other duties in the school. Some of these are as follows:
(i) To maintain discipline in the class.
(ii) To keep in touch with the business community.
(iii) To act as a guide to students and help them in the choice of their subjects.
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(iv) To evaluate the students.
(v) To maintain a proper record of the progress of each student.
(vi) To prepare the lesson-plan.
(vii) To provide guidance and counseling services.
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(viii) To prepare written reports.
(ix) To prepare requisition for supplies.
(x) To organise co curricular activities,
(xii) To take care of the equipment.
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For carrying out these duties efficiently it is desirable that working teachers improve upon their knowledge, skill etc. and keep it upto date. It is in this perspective that teachers try their best to enhance their professional abilities. There are many a ways for professional growth, by which they can enrich and enhance their experiences. Some of these are described here:
Mastery on the Subject
Without mastery on his subject a teacher is not likely to command a good respect among students.
Teachers Training
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It is quite desirable that only trained teachers be appointed in schools. A course in teachers training makes him a perfect teacher. In a school the teacher has to deal with adolescents and he is expected to apply the psychology of learning It is desirable that he be well versed in the learning process. Moreover a trained teacher will be able to look after the sociological and philosophical concepts that he is required to deal while dealing with students.
Professional Attitude
A teacher should be sincere to his duties and profession and should possess a professional attitude towards his job. In India we find that most of the teachers including commerce teachers adopt a negative attitude and on most of occasions, they state,
“Whatever we had to become, we have become. Now we are not going to become district magistrates. We should work to the extent that entitles us to get the pay.”
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Such an attitude is quite derogatory and is not in consonance with the professional ethics. Such an attitude is likely to degenerate the standard of teaching. The products of such teachers will be debarred from right type of education. It is thus quite logical for teachers to have a sense of realisation as long as they work as teachers.
Keeping abreast of changes
A teacher occupies an important position in the educational set up. He is a nation builder and to carry out his job in right earnest the teacher has to have an over-view of the present and peep into the future. He has to make modifications in the patterns of education. For all these it is essential for a teacher to keep himself abrest of the changes.
Dynamic in thought and action
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The best teacher is one who tries to equip himself with the latest, know-how and information required in his area of specialisation. A teacher should therefore keep himself engaged in learning new things continuously. In this way he can serve better and do more justice to his profession.
Store of knowledge
The teacher should try to become the library of vast stores of knowledge. He should collect various types of books. For promising teaching this is quite important.
Attending Seminar and Conferences
A good teacher is always on the lookout of an opportunity to participate in a seminar or a conference. By participating in such seminars and conferences the teacher broadens his out-look and expands his knowledge.
Contribution in Paper and Journals
A good teacher contributes his mite by communicating his ideas in black and white. This is possible if he publishes his papers in journals of repute. In this way he will be helping other to benefit from his ideas.
Organisation of Exhibitions and Fairs
It is only in exhibitions and fairs that a teacher contributes his best ideas. In this way students community gets the maximum benefit. By participating in these exhibitions and fairs the students get practical experience of most of the things they have understood. Organisation of such exhibitions and Mrs helps in enhancing the knowledge and skill of the teacher as also of the students. It is thus desirable to organise such an activity once a year.
Setting up of Association
Teachers generally set up such associations to make their bargaining capacity stronger. But the teacher can discuss and solve their difficult problems during meetings of such associations. Such an association can, therefore, easily become a forum for discussions and publications of professional articles. Through this association teachers are likely to enrich their experiences.
Practice Oriented
No improvement in education is possible until it becomes practice oriented. Both for teachers and students it is essential to maintain a profile of business, trade and industry and school. The syllabus be modified to cater to the business needs and emphasis be laid on such courses in commerce for which ready market exists in different sectors of economy.
Research hobbies of commerce teachers
In the sphere of commerce education only a limited research work has been done. There is enough scope and so every innovative idea of teacher should be tried out. However, before any idea may be put to trial the teacher is expected to prepare a design of the idea. Let us illustrate with an example.
If a teacher is interested to standardise an achievement test in elements of commerce, he should adopt the following procedure.
(i) Weight age to Objectives
The teacher should write down various objectives and assign marks to each objective. The marks be assigned to an objective keeping in mind the importance of the objective.
For a test of 75 marks, the marks are allotted as under:
(a) Acquisition of knowledge 40
(b) Development of understanding 30
(c) Application of skills 5
Total 75
(ii) Weight age on Content Areas
For allotment of marks, the syllabus be analysed and the scope of each topic be delimited and then the marks be allotted on the basis of the scope of the area.
(iii) Weight age to Forms of Questions
The weight age for various type of question be given, suggested allotment is as under :
(a) Objective type questions 20
(b) Very short answer questions 5
(c) Short answer questions 20
(d) Essay type questions 30
Total 75
(iv) Scheme of Options
The questions should be put in increasing order of difficulty.
The Blue-print should include the different types of questions in regard to:
(a) Objective to be tested,
(b) Area to be covered, and
(c) Form of questions to be set.
(vi) Administering the Test on a Sample Population
Various test items finalised may be printed and the test be admimstered to a sample population.
(vii) Statistical Analysis
The score of the sample test be statistically analysed and on the basis of this analysis some poor items may be eliminated and best items retained. In this way most of the items retained will be those whose score is between 31-70% in sample test.
Another sample test will then be conducted on the basis on these items and the test will be analysed.
Adopting this procedure the teacher will finally be able to standardise the test.
There is an acute necessity in this field and so the teachers should make a hobby to carry out researches in the field of commerce education.
All the above mentioned points are essential for the professional growth of a commerce teacher.