Iaplications / 17О
!■plications of the Study
6.1 The teacher as protagonist
Teachers are seen as the keystone of the educational process in many
underdeveloped countries, and quite rightly so: human resources are more
abundant than high technology ones, and perhaps the only chance to turn
domination by the latter into joint development is to exploit the full
potential of the former. Child-centred pedagogy may seem adequate in
countries that have to rely mainly on human resources than in high-
technology affluent countries, but in fact it is not, because that child-
centredness requires a wealth of materials, and a conception and organi-
zation of learning in the classroom structured along a supermarket model;
poor countries cannot afford either, while being at the same time
confronted with educational problems on a scale not experienced in the
Vest.
Pedagogical reasons for giving teachers such a central role may be shared
worldwide, as they are Inherent to the education process: teachers are the
major influence on what happens in the classrooα whatever philosophy of
education and methodology are officially recommended, and they are likely
to use those they find logically consistent with their own principles and
suitable to what they perceive be the constraints of the classroom
situation. In this sense they act as a filter for suggestions or prescri-
ptions from curriculum planners, syllabi and educational researchers.
Planners and researchers may well mistake the filter for a barrier