Reflection Paper #10

“The teacher is the Gatekeeper”. Discuss the meaning and impact of this statement.
A Gatekeeper is a person or organization who manages a flow of knowledge or controls the rate at which students’ progress to more advance levels of study.
That is exactly what a teacher does on a daily basis. The teacher controls the amount of knowledge that a child receives on a daily basis. They control who will speak, when and how long they will do it. They keep order in the classroom as well so they don’t lose control of the classroom.
When the students are younger the teacher is the one that does the most talking. The teacher is the one that keeps the communication going on in the classroom by asking question one after the other whether she receives an answer from the kids. The teacher is the on that does the most talking kids are not giving much time to talk. They need to keep it going in order to keep the kids attention and curiosity level high.
As the kids get older there is less interaction with the teachers. At this point the teacher gives instruction and the students do their work on their own.
Teachers have such a crucial role in the everyday lives of their students. The knowledge that the students take with them is a gift from their gatekeepers.