I remember a recent conversation with my son. As soon as he came home from school, he took his tablet and started searching for something. In a few minutes, I saw him making a sigh along with a "yes, so I was right". Perplexed, I asked what was the matter. He said, "Aah, my dumb teacher! " . I was shocked and reprimanded him for saying such words against his teacher. He apologized and said, "Amma, but she is wrong" . I then asked the details and found that the teacher had given a wrong answer for one of his query in physics. Well, my son is a little ahead of his classmates in terms of his knowledge in electronics and physics. Probably that's why he got upset on the fact that he got wrong information from his teacher. Am sure, he will then start to distrust his teacher the next time onwards. And in some cases, students like him will end up as casual listeners because they know that their teacher is not knowledgeable.
Another instance was when my daughter mentioned casually that she was doing an assignment for the sake of showing it to her teacher who will otherwise crib.
I know, most of you will have many such instances of student's perspectives of a teacher. As I grew up , I also did have several such teachers whom I hated . And ironically we start to hate a subject when we don't like the teacher who teaches the subject. I still remember , one reason why I failed in Maths during my pre-degree(plus two) was because I didn't like the teacher who taught it. I found all her classes boring to the core that I stopped learning and finally flunked in the exam. Later I took help of my own classmates who taught me the principles and then passed the exam.
Today being Teacher's day, I pondered over who is a great teacher? Or what is the future of teaching? Ten years back this question would yield a different answer and today it leads to different one.
Oh, well at a philosophical level, every human being or circumstances or experience is a teacher . And a greater teacher is someone who identifies and facilitates the teacher in every student he/she encounters. To put it simpler , a great teacher instills the passion in a student and helps him/her become a greater teacher than before.
But coming to the practical aspects, a person who has taken up teaching as a career is expected to provide certain levels of experiences to the student . And that experience includes Love . Love that must be expressed by understanding the needs of the student and trying genuinely to help.
With Google being the teacher of the new generation, I think , there is only one subject every human teacher needs to teach - Humanity. Whichever is the subject a teacher teaches, include the ingredients of love and humanity , I am sure , the student will be transformed.
Yes, become "The Love Teacher" than the mere "The Maths Teacher" or "Science Teacher"
Cheers
CeeVee
Pic : Our Prayaana Fellows who took the role of teachers at an orphanage & a Govt school recently
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