TEACHER!

Some days back I recieved a message, a joke it was.

" A: who is great? mother or teacher?

B: A teacher!

A: why?

B: because a mother can only put her child to sleep,a teacher can put an entire class to sleep!"

While it did bring a smile,it simultaneously struck to me that it was a poke more than a joke to the profession so nobel as teaching!

Though am new to this field, it is the passion to teach which has drawn me to this line and not a mere stop gap arrangement to skip to another field of fat pay cheks and greater designations, as many do it.

What I have observed is that many people are willing to take up teaching as a profession merely because there are no sales targets and no sales gimmicks to be played and more importantly,no nightmarish calls from the GodFather bosses who haunt at every odd hour they can think of, to enquire about the sales done!

A big question that pops up in my still in process academic brain is : Why is it taken so lightly?

Lets talk about the different aspects of teaching as a profession and a challenge than a mere money spinner or much worst to think- source of income!

Profession and challenges:

Teaching generations ago was sacred and was recognised as a stage in the life of a person. In simple terms it was the second stage of growing up after childhood and before entering Grihasta jivan (married life). Guru was considered the most learned and revered who preached to the Sishya's the vedas and all the gyan(including the warfare) that one should posses to manage the affairs in a kingdom or other wise.

As decades passed,the teaching methodology changed and so did the approach.

I remember reading a short essay some time in my school days perhaps by Sri Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan who said that it is not enough for the institutions to roll out batches and make them eligible for jobs what is equally important is that they should be human and humble in their approach!

A new millenium started and a decade is near completion!

What is astonishing is that there are many institutions proping up like mushrooms in rainy season and there are hardly some which have a quality infused in them. What most of them aim at is to strike iron when it is hot and this created a shortage of quality faculty thus creating a gap in demand and supply there at.

The impact is not on the institutions which would shut down a stream if not worth a venture like a factory shutting down a unit if found undesirable,but the ultimate impact is on the students and the faculty who are the face of the insti.

The message is clear. Any one with good bank balance and influence can get a insti started with glossy pictures and promises which even politicians fail to promise!

The reason why I am scribbling this stuff is to bring home the point that teaching and academics is not every one's cup of tea. Forget about the human approach to teaching,there is hardly any space for the insti's to instill in the students a creative thought!

Its more of a monotonous blabbering of the chapters and a rush to complete the courses than an approach that would compell them to think and do something.

While there are many teachers in insti's and colleges and even in school levels who are just a teacher,sans any creativity and ability to teach, it should be understood that at every level,it becomes the responsibility of the educational insti's to provide adequate training progams for the teachers so that they too hone their skills and become qualitative.

Merely having a teacher with qualification essential to be one is not enough. There should be other parameters like students feedback which should be free from bias and manipulations.

Its believed by many that teachers are boring!

the reason they think them to be as boring is due to the fact that the teacher fails to make the session interactive,how ever dragging that subject be! For example a subject which is completely theoretical like Ethics,can be made interesting by quoting examples from corporate world and asking the students to discuss it rather than merely listen! one way traffic always createse congetion and blocks the flow of thoughts thus,resulting in a yawn. So thats it.

Teachers need to equip themselves with something new everytime they enter a class room for a session of 45 minutes or 90 minutes. It means that they should be consistently be updating themselves about anything and everything happening around them so that the concept of a boring faculty is wiped out!

The interactions how ever ,need to be simple and least complex so that the students who are poor in english donot stay open mouth throughout the session. this means that the faculty should be understanding each students requirement like a successful marketer!

Being a faculty does not mean,according to me,a stern face and a grim look which would make the class go silent and shudder when one enters the class room.

Rather a faculty should be transparent as a glass where in a student can look for so(u)lutions -personal/career related!

well....thats for the day..

be a teacher,be some one different!