ABSTRACT
THE KEY ROLE OF TEACHERS If you were asked “What is the most important resource of a country?” what would you answer? It’s not uranium or oil. It’s not water or timber. It’s not diamonds, or coal, or natural gas. The most critical resource of a country is its people, particularly its youth. The way the next generation behaves will determine a country’s future more than any other resource within its borders. In the United States, the responsibility for producing the academic and social skills of the next generation of workers and leaders rests on its educational system. Even at a local level, it is an awesome responsibility. Teachers can
rescue a child from a life of misery, help students learn to handle confl ict, and inspire them to accomplish things they never dreamed possible. On the other hand, a careless action by a teacher can make a student hate a subject or dislike education in general. Whatever teachers do affects student lives, often in signifi cant ways.
