I think that the main problem is to maintain the interest of the students. Of course, their interest in changing due to technological devices, then we need to use them in reaching more action to the educational activity. The other point is that they no longer study for the problems in the future, they really want to know about the useful applications of what they study. The reason of that is while the students remain with the same age, year after year, we become older step by step. Take care.

i strongly agree with Juan Ricaño. students are forced to cramp the things, no one knows why and what they are studying.....

so creating dedicated interest in the student as well as course structures will help teachers...

This is an extremely interesting and relevant question in modern times . It will require quite some discussions to get useful perspectives and there may not be one single solution.it is expected that education will see a massive change in the coming decade.

mainly due to technology. I would put forth the following for consideration.'

1." patience, rudeness short tamper " are to be addressed in formative years and

actually is a reflection of the values of a society so it goes beyond classrooms

into family , upbringing and culture . The root cause is selfishness , somewhere along the line we missed the Beatles "Imagine" song .

2. With the advent of MOOC ( massive Online Open course) the teacher cannot

be expected to be a figure of Knowledge Authority as in the old days.

3. The importance of Arts , viz Music, Drama, Literature Dance ,Sociology, Phlosophy ,is not recognized.. and even here ..it is more a battle ground promoted by Media

than a means of enjoining fellowship. among the young.

4 The role of the teacher is now more challenging and veers towards Facilitator

for learning is now student centric in many universities..Faculty also needs to

distinguish between "questioning" and "respect".

5. Quite often " fear" which is corroding is instilled in children instead of universal

" love" especially of Knowledge.

6 The consumerist type of economy where Organizations sees

university students as products and stokes vulgar display of wealth as

achievement at any cost has a lot to do with the . behaviour.

7 . I suppose there are imbalances in evolution of technological progress and

value systems of society . maybe unexpected mutations in this evolution process

could change the scene.

provide

In the above .."tamper" is intended as temper I presume...

One of the critical challenges of the  twenty first century is to address issues of value-based education in curriculum as well as recognizing  the role of teachers/lecturers as facilitators of   changes in  education curriculum. There should be collaboration between the policy makers and the  teaching  force to ensure efficient and effective implementation of the policy prescriptions. Any policies that ignore the teachers is likely to fail. The teacher exposed to continuous professional development and encouraged to be a researcher (Action Researcher) in a more flexible, cooperative adaptable, and participatory manner.

The other  educational challenge is that the teacher is not well trained in the action research process in order to generate knowledge for effective policy making.  Let me make some comments about the  purpose  of action research and how power of knowledge can change the world positively. The main highlights are:

1. As a reflective practitioner, individual teachers make personal commitments to contributing to education development and embark on a process that will foster continuous growth and development.

2.Teachers at any level (pre-primary, primary, secondary, TVET, college or university)  make progress on school wide priorities.  In fact, schools are increasingly focusing on strengthening themselves and their programs through teamwork and common strategies . The challenges facing Africa in general and the East African Community can be solved by first Africans themselves at the grass-root level and bench mark with best practices from developed countries. The teacher needs to be well prepared for this critical task.

3. Educational challenges can be resolved by building professional  . In this regard,an entire schoo, sub-county or county (district) will share commitment to student development,yet the group finds itself unable to adopt a common focus for action research. 

4. Professionalizing teaching   and positive teacher-self efficacy , especially in African countries, ensures the profession is accorded high regard  . The low premium attached to education notwithstanding,  teachers   should  work as a team of professionals to ensure multifarious and intertwined problems facing education are addressed by professionals themselves.

5.Enhanced teacher motivation and efficacy makes teachers work more hours, generate dependable solutions through action research and positively contribute to solutions of multiple challenges facing the continent  .

6. Ensure teachers form professional bodies and focus on problem solving for the good of society.

by

PROF. JOHN ALUKO ORODHO  PhD

Associate Professor of Research  and Statistics

School of Education, Department of Educational Management

, Policy and Curriculum Studies;

Kenyatta University, Kenya..

[email protected]

tel. +254 721 239 165

t

There is a reluctance to conduct frequent curriculum mapping and inc-operation of ICT into teaching and learning process, especially here in Africa. The learning process is more rot than ever which only gets worse during assessment where learners are tested on what they recall more than than what they understood. Having said that, the teachers know they will be valued and rated basing on class perfomance and have to ensure learners get better grades. So the biggest challenge is lack of the goodwill to use other indicators of teacher output and perfomance other than students perfomance.

Curriculum overload and Lack of teamwork, empathy, and support between students. ...

The students have access to multiple sources of knowledge in the urban environment and the children in rural areas are not so fortunate. The students in urban areas have more diversions due to social media and internet with positive and negative influence which is purely circumstantial.

The educational strategies in rural and urban areas may not be same if different circumstances and resource base available to students, parents and the teachers.

Important issue is - how to keep students interested,engaged and focused in the desirable learning as per the Country specific policy in the changing environment - this needs to be resolved collectively by the teachers, planners , administrators and the parents besides the Government agencies and school owners in private sector.

well said

This is indeed a challenge for teachers. Holistic teachings, keeping updated with ICT and frequent curriculum review could be some ways to address this.

Balancing the different learning needs of students is challengeable for teachers.

Not getting enough time to plan for your lessons and other class activities

Lack of resources. Especially in rural areas. Things are not easy on both learners and teachers. Technologyis limited.

In addition to my observations given above, I feel that the teachers need to be emotionally matured and also be able to have high Adversity Coefficient. The teachers need to connect emotionally with students and the parents that will ensure their meeting 21st century challenges.

The existence of mutual confidence is key to jointly search for acceptable solutions.

From my point of view,

1. Sometimes teachers are unable to read the nonverbal behavior of students during the teaching-learning process.

2. to adopt 21st century skills

Among the challenges faced by teachers in the current educational context are: a) overcrowding in schools; b) disintegration of family nuclei; c) loss of prestige of the teaching profession in the eyes of parents and within the educational system. In my opinion, public policies in education in many countries of the world must change in order to improve the quality of education in general, for a good quality of life.

The disintegration of family nuclei and related influences are important in the changing times. The teaching is treated like a commodity which can be purchased in the form of tuition or service from coaching institutions. The success in examinations is taking priority over teaching and learning and this is the challenge for future that teachers have to face. When teaching is treated like commodity- teachers are insignificant entities in the shops offering the service.