Secrets to being a successful professional Kenyan teacher

PROFESSIONALISM

Professionalism is defined as the behavior you exhibit while at work.
As a professional, there are certain traits people expect to see in you regularly. These are the few ways on how to remain professional at at the work place.

• Be punctual

One of the personality traits of a good professional is the ability to arrive at the work station on time. The sage said : punctuality is the soul of business. It is the politeness of kings and queens.

• Practice etiquette

Etiquette is politeness or courtesy. We also call it civility or decorum. It is the beauty of good manners. Be courteous to all but intimate to few.

• Maintain a positive mental attitude

Every staff member must come to work with a positive mental attitude. Be cheerful and look very bright. Wear a mile-wide smile. Don’t transfer your insuperable house problems to the work place. Zig Ziglar put it this way : It is your attitude, not aptitude, that determines your altitude.

• Dress decently at all times

Dressing is such an integral part of being a professional. Every staff member must learn to dress properly at all times. Put on well-ironed clothes. Take care of your hair. Dressing professionally tells a lot about your personality and disposition. It will determine how people perceive you. Therefore, don’t dress like a large scale farmer of bhang.

You dress the way you want to be addressed. People address you the way you dress. So, stop ranting and chanting ‘My dress, My Choice’.

Keep yourself well-groomed and always pay attention to your personal hygiene.

• Tame the sting of your tongue

It is extremely important that we watch what we say, where we work, even what we tell students. Words are like bullets. Words are like arrows. Once released, it is impossible to retrieve them.

There is power in the spoken word. The good book says : Life and death are in the power of the tongue. As a professional, don’t use obscene/vulgar language. Don’t curse people. Shun vile verbal duels, gossips and godless chatters. Avoid unnecessary fights and feuds fueled by wanton war of words. Don’t engage in petty politics and polemics.

• Share knowledge

A true professional is always willing to lend a helping hand to his or her colleagues. Share the specialised knowledge, and assist your fellow colleagues in case you have the wherewithal. Somewhere I read : Sharing is caring. When you share information, you may reap some immense benefits. The world does not reward you for what you know, but it rewards you for what you do with what you know.

• Respect yourself and others

Every person must respect himself or herself in the place of work. It is also important to respect your colleagues at work. Be polite at all times to fellow colleagues, even when provoked. Respect is two-way traffic. So, for you to be respected, respect others too.

• Control your anger

The work space is an area where you must learn to regulate your anger. Have some emotional intelligence. Even if you heat your anger to what magnitude, it cannot boil yummy yams. Robin Sharna puts it this way : an excellent way to control your temper is simply to count from 1 to 100 before you respond to someone who has irritated you.

• Don’t peddle cheap lies

Do not lie. Don’t be petty and pedantic. Don’t be childish, foolish and doltish. Stop conjuring scarulous stories that don’t exist. Avoid being a big fat liar. Be straight-forward.

Don’t doctor things. It is not good to be dubious. Dishonesty and lack of integrity never make anyone look good. Be honest and calm at all times.

Never expose your dirty linen in public. Professionals must ensure they do not expose their dirty linen in public.

• Learn to keep secrets

Avoid giving out too much information. Keep confidential information confidential. Keep the secrets of the institution. Don’t tear your colleagues like a piece of paper. Be wise, not otherwise.

• Follow company policies

Every true professional must obey all company policies. This depicts that you are disciplined and respectful. Obeying work policies will position you at the acme of your career.

• Get your job done

Ensure on a daily basis, you have prepared your TO DO LIST for the day and lesson plan for the week and strive to achieve them. At the end of every day and week, it’s important to go through your TO DO LIST for the week and see how much you have achieved. Every professional must be RESULT-ORIENTED.

• Look forward to each new-born day A true professional looks forward to the opportunities that each new-born day brings. You shouldn’t dread going to work, instead savour the opportunity to learn, grow and glow on a daily basis.

LIFE SUCCESS TIPS ACT PROFESSIONALLY AS A TEACHER

1. Avoid familiarity with parents. It has ru.ined many
2. Avoid being too playful with students. If they see you as being too playful they’ll never take you serious and it would cause you problems.
3. You must have some level of firmness to be able to manage your classroom. It is a sign of incompetence if other teachers comes to ask the students to stop making noise when you are in the class.
4. Mind your words when you address your students.
5. Carry yourself with pride. Dress well and smell nice. Make good hairs. This will give you an edge.
6. Even if you are poor, do not let your students think so, they will look down on you.
7. Never ask your students to lend you money, it is a step to downfall.
8. Do not join parents to speak bad of your school.
9. Do not gossip with your students.
10. Don’t give assignments you can’t mark.
11. Never eat your students food.
12. Prepare yourself before going for a class. It is a sha.meful thing for your students to keep correcting you in your own subject.
13. When a student ask you a question you don’t remember it’s answer, quickly throw it back to the class and afterwards tell them how important it is that they should know it. Make them take it home as an assignment. This will give you the chance to make research.
14. Quit that act of stopping over at parents house to charge your gadgets. In most cases it exposes you to redicule.
15. Be professional about your home lessons; teach and get out of there it is not your home. Don’t relax and watch television or even eat there, you are inviting disrespect.
16. Never let your students think you practice favouristism.
17. When any of your students is absent call his or her parents to enquire why?
    Say: “Mommy Brian, why was ‘my child’ absent in school today?” Referring to your student as your child is a professional way to earn respect from parents, not all those shameful familiarity attitude some of you put up.
18. Learn to be a time keeper.