How to Develop the Skills You’ll Need to Work in Education
What is a skill? It is an ability of a person to do something good. Skills do not come from anywhere. One needs time to develop them to become experienced. Sometimes, a person masters skills subconsciously due to temperament and appropriate environment. For example, a girl can be patient because she is phlegmatic, and her parents give her tasks to develop this skill like beading, gathering puzzles, and collecting things.
Other skills need practice and experience. A person must possess hard and soft skills to work in education. The Balance Careers identified 7 basic skills for those who want to work as a teacher.
Communication
This is the basis for such a sphere. Educators communicate with students, their parents, and colleagues. They need to use both written and oral communication. Besides, educators deal with formal and informal situations. Consequently, they must spend much effort to master this skill.
Critical thinking
Teachers often face problems that demand smart solutions. A person has to think critically to act quickly and prevent serious conflicts in the team and among students. Moreover, each lesson plan must have proper structuring and thoroughly selected assignments to promise the best outcome.
Organization
Each educational institute works according to a schedule. There are lessons, after-class activities, and breaks. Besides, a teacher must go on self-education to match the requirements of the changing world. Consequently, one should be flexible, multitasking, and know how to manage time to be productive.
Enthusiasm and creativity
It is not a simple task to make a student understand some topic. A teacher must use an individual approach because children differ. Only a passionate and creative teacher can cope with that.
Patience
Educators must not scream and be always calm when speaking with students and colleagues. So, a person should be patient to self-educate and plan lessons.
Technical skills
Generation Alpha is a digital generation. They want to get information via smartphones and laptops. A modern teacher needs to be media literate to use digital devices.
Teaching skills
Professionals divide all skills into two types – soft and hard. Hard skills include educational degree, digital awareness, and knowledge of professional peculiarities. Soft skills consist of communication, empathy, team building, conflict solving, respectfulness, confidence, rich imagination, thirst for knowledge, and self-development. Many students will agree that a sense of humor is also essential.
How to develop these skills and become a good educator? There are five methods one might use to master the required skills.
Do you drive a car? If yes, you will understand the importance of daily practice. Nobody starts driving without learning basic rules and sitting in the car. The same happens to skill mastering. A person has to practice it daily to learn it.
Sometimes, the best option is to attend seminars and courses to learn new skills. Many colleges and universities offer them to help their students become experts. For example, a teacher can attend IT classes to master media literacy.
YouTube and Social Platforms
YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social platforms offer information one can use for self-education and skill learning.
Online Learning
Today online learning is popular among those who have no time to visit courses. E-learning requires only access to the Internet and a laptop or a smartphone. A person can learn new skills without the need to adapt to someone’s working hours. Dr. J. Flemming said, “Teaching in the Internet age means we must teach tomorrow’s skills today.”
Influencers and Books
One can search for books and blogs that explain how to master some skills. It is essential to find an influencer who you understand and like. Books should have simple explanations and visual support to guarantee better results.
You might ask, how should I develop those seven above-mentioned skills to work in education? Let’s provide some samples.
Communication is the first required skill. To master it, you should join a drama club, a debating society, a college newspaper, or volunteers. Patience demands tasks that are impossible to accomplish without it. For instance, listen carefully to your students and think a little before answering. Critical thinking is a more complicated notion. One has to read more to master it.
Organization skills are vitally important for a teacher. Successful time management prevents exhaustion and burnout. Organization skills demand prioritizing and dropping things. Stephen Covey has created a matrix that consists of four blocks. A person sets things according to their urgency and importance. Moreover, a teacher needs to use apps that help to create to-do lists and manage time properly.
Enthusiasm and creativity are impossible in case a person does not like teaching. If you do something boring, try to turn it into something intriguing and interesting. Today, one can find many classes to develop creativity. These might be painting, writing, or singing clubs.
What about technical skills? Teachers had to change their habits and routines because of the pandemic. Distance learning made them search for software, apps, and essay service. First, it was hard to adjust to new realities. Nevertheless, distance learning became our routine because we had acquired new skills.
It is impossible to work without media literacy in the XXI century. The best option is, first, to study examples of others and, second, to use digital devices and online platforms. Kathy Alameda at eLearning Industry named the 10 best platforms to use in education with all their pros and cons.
If none of the mentioned methods work to the full, you should hire a mentor. Group courses are great, but people are often afraid to ask questions not to look foolish. A personal tutor will pay all his/her attention to you. He or she will create tasks based on the individual approach and your preferences.
To conclude, a person must be curious and adaptive to develop the skills needed to work in education. What’s more, an educator must be ready to learn all the time to become a professional. Children and their interests change rapidly, and an educator should be in the epicenter to be always in sync.