The knowledge required for teaching can be divided into three groups: knowledge needed for practice,
knowledge used in practice, and knowledge about practice. Knowledge needed for practice is
acquired during academic education. As soon as this process is completed and a person acquires
desired knowledge, he/she proceeds to the next step. The stage titled ‘knowledge used in practice’
promotes professional development of teachers. This process is an integral part of the teacher’s profession.
During this process, it is crucial to constantly acquire subject-specific knowledge, master
skills, develop personal competences, and take part in research activities.
Modern technologies lead to rapid changes in the world in every field. New trends in the development
of the world require schools to follow them. Education requires reorganization and adaptation
to new changes. Consequently, the role of teachers in the education system is changing. The teacher
remains a role model, setting an example for all pupils.
The social role of teachers is crucial when it comes to the development of the pupil’s individually and
the development of the society as a whole. Parents are the most important role models in the earliest
period of childhood development but teachers and peers are becoming increasingly important in the
later stages of children’s lives.
Pupils’ imitation of the teacher's behaviour is one of the most important forms of learning according
to the opinion of American psychologist Alberto Bandura. The pupil imitates behavior patterns,
social values, attitudes, skills or modifies traditional ways of behavior. Imitative learning has a
great potential, greater than other ways of learning. The emotional connection between a pupil and
teacher is very important in imitative learning.
There are three variations of imitative learning: identification, imitation, and role learning. Identification
is an unconscious mimicking of other people’s behavior patterns. Children usually mimic
parents, teachers, cartoon characters, accept their attitudes and moral norms, and change their behavioral
patterns. Identification implies the adoption of internal characteristics, system of moral
values, personality traits.
The teacher as a role model influences the formation of social identity and personality of children. It
is well known that pupils are eager to learn only when they like a teacher.
According to G. Tarde, the process of imitation presupposes that certain images are created in the
mind of the imitator on the basis of observation.
In order to examine the role of teachers in shaping pupils’ behavior, we conducted a survey among
elementary school teachers and pupils in Belgrade.