Nade is a history professor from Skopje. She is currently the principal of Primary School “Goce Dečev”. She is a motivational speaker, leader, lecturer, advisor and trainer for the promotion of leadership skills, and an expert from EUROCLIO. She was trained by European experts of the Council of Europe at international conferences, seminars and workshops for the application of the most modern methods, techniques, historical sources in history teaching. She is the author of the program for the development and learning of the content of emotional intelligence and social skills in students, and as a product of that work, the Children’s Club “Leaders” was established. She is a columnist on Macedonian internet portals and media with the aim of acting on the public general awareness of the importance of the process of lifelong learning, personal and professional development.
Scientists, professional educational experts or international experts are consulted for all educational reforms in our country, the Republic of Northern Macedonia. However, the opinions, answers and expectations of the students from the state education were never important to any of the creators of the educational policies. How do they feel every day in the classroom? What would they change in the process of learning, socializing, growing up and staying in school? Have we asked them what they expect from us adults and teachers? Do we listen to them at all? Have we asked them the real, essential questions whose answers can reveal a lot about them, about us, about the education system, about society and about a world that is changing with incredible speed? As a primary school principal, we regularly held talks, workshops and debates with the pedagogue with students who are members of the student body. Our goal was to awaken their awareness of personal value, uniqueness and uniqueness. We pointed out the unlimited possibilities they have as talents, gifts and interests. These are the essential questions about their expectations:
Does the teacher know about my affinities, interests and talents?
Are the contents, learning and activities in line with my interests, passion and life goals?
Do I have the opportunity to research, guess and discover? What if I make a mistake?
Will they encourage me?
Do I have to study by heart?
What if I do not understand, will the teacher want to explain to me?
Do I, when I do not understand something, be under pressure to learn something new immediately?
Can I choose when, what, and how to learn?
Am I motivated enough?
Will I be understood if I progress slowly and with difficulty?
Will my progress be realistically assessed and valued?
First, students expect to learn and understand something new and useful from each lesson. They do not expect that teachers should know everything, but that they should offer them knowledge and skills relevant to their daily lives. Students expect the teacher to tell them what it is that they will acquire as knowledge and skill after each completed teaching content. What is important, less important and the most important? Clear and precise! Why do they-students learn what they learn? Students are looking for an answer to that question.
Second, they want and expect teachers to draw and emphasize the best in each of them, to be able to express it out loud in words that instil self-confidence and respect for their personality. They want to awaken in them the desire to complete the set task and to inform them how much they have achieved from the set goal. The teacher should recognize their abilities and motivate them to give their best in the learning process.
Third, they expect respect and understanding for their difficulty in mastering the learning objectives, for the complexities they may have, for the fear of speaking in public, for the discomfort in front of other children who often know how to make fun of what is said. They do not want to feel humiliated if they do not give the right answer to the questions. They do not want to be reprimanded with an insulting voice: “Do not text on the phone”, “Do not talk”, “Don’t be so lazy”, “You cannot do anything good”, “You do not know again”, “You are wrong, how can you not be ashamed’ Students want righteous teachers who will not allow the strongest students to dominate and will not label those who progress less. The students admire the teachers who show enthusiasm and motivation every day in their lectures. They expect teachers to accept everyday challenges with a smile, they expect words with which they can show respect and patience for their achievements.
They expect teachers who understand why they failed to complete their homework on time and hear the reason for not completing it. They expect to be encouraged to have their own dreams, to believe in themselves and to learn new things every day that will help them reach their goal. Students expect teachers who will develop positive values such as curiosity, perseverance, discipline. Students expect teachers to advise them not to seek excuses for their own failures and mistakes, but to understand them as lessons from which one should learn how to do something and how not to act and behave. Students expect to be mentored what and how they learn and to always be reminded, to reconsider what it is that every day they managed to learn something new. Students expect us to demonstrate kindness and tolerance, and understanding of the diversity of others around us. Students expect us not to discriminate for banal reasons only because of the prejudices that we fail to overcome.
To show them how nice it is to have care and empathy for the other and philanthropy as value lost somewhere and forgotten. They want us to help them set their own goals to come up with a plan to achieve them. All this is a process, and we are obliged to encourage and direct them on the right path to seek and recognize themselves in their uniqueness and uniqueness as individuals who possess many talents and gifts that need to discover and develop why only then will they be happy, realized and successful. Do we meet their expectations? What did we learn? Could we have done better? Do we want better?
A digital revolution is underway. If we teach children the same way we taught them before Corona time, we are only stealing their tomorrow. The new paradigm of education is not to educate children because of the need of society, but to educate them to believe that they can achieve everything in life.
