M K Bhan
A Child pleads for our help, he wants us to be with him like the charioteer- “Krishna”. He aspires for liberty and wants to follow his own footsteps. In this newly created path of the child, one has to be patient and never cast any doubt about the eternal relationship of ‘Guru-Shishya’. Children are born to stumble and we, to help and heal them. Teacher is always at the back in this race of children, watching every year a new generation competing and excelling on different tracks of educational field. Only a true teacher understands that teaching right attributes and thinking to the children stays with them always no matter wherever he goes. A true Guru never wants to take credit of child’s success, he truly understands that a child is potentially strong enough to learn all by himself and without any assistance, but what all we as educators have to do is to just ignite the curiosity, confidence and sense of wonder in them.
In a small country like Finland, teachers are the most satisfied professionals in the whole Country and becoming a primary school teacher is the first dream of those leaving the upper secondary general education. It speaks a lot about the profession, and in India, choosing teaching as a profession is the last resort for those who fail to achieve their other dream jobs. Majority of the people join this noble field and frame their own policies to commercialize it… thus, transforming teaching into a luring business…? A paradox here is that people in this field have degraded themselves too low that they can’t understand the sensitivity of the issues related to it, the well-being of those who are being victimized….How we talk to change the world without renewing ourselves in this life-long and most respectable professional career? Teaching is not merely a luring job.. it is a challenging profession, the fire of soul, the joyful passion and a committed sacrifice.
Teaching is not a job, it is the crown of all the professions of the world and a noble deed one should cherish for. Teaching is a spiritual journey and in this journey you meet and interact the most innocent and beautiful souls of this world-the children..the students..the pupils or whatever the name you can give them.
A teacher creates a difference in the world by enabling each of his/her student to fully maximize their imagination, character, talents and overall skills. Teachers are given a future in their hands, a great responsibility to guide this world. Have some introspection and understand the purpose of consciously entering this profession. Those who have taken teaching merely as a job have stumbled, fallen and never able to direct and fix their steps in the ladder of educational success. Such teachers’ feel uneasy, keep grudges with them and never gets incredible joy.
How it is possible for the teachers working as tycoons of educational industry to make a clear impact and tangible difference in the lives of students. As a true teacher, we are never excited to the see the fruits of efforts put in by us in teaching-learning process. Due to short-sightedness, narrowest and restricted thinking, we are bombarding all invisible concepts just in 40 minutes of period, competing the annual syllabus in the name of short term crash course and remain engaged in preparing the balance-sheets of our speculations. Where are the teachers who can enlighten the students under their care, to get themselves consumed like a candle to illuminate the lives of the children waiting in the dingy monotonous classrooms?
Teachers no longer feel the old community spirit and never see themselves as a substitute parents for children in their care. We have failed to teach them to paste their umbrellas before the rain and making them conscious to handle intelligently their emotional and physical changes. The main reason for these lapses is just seeing teaching merely as a job and not a dedicated profession. There is a dire need for a constructive approach to the realities of the human conditions and providing our children intellectual and emotional stability. Yes, we need the teachers who can inspire and show the path of righteousness to the younger generation. It is not aptitudes, but also the attitude that determines the altitude of teachers.
Teaching offers a great deal of variety and every year teachers get to work with new group of students with unique personalities, experiences and ideas, but the sad part of the story is ignoring the ‘service’ aspect in this profession. We cringe at the idea of doing teaching as a job that involves repetition of a specific task and finally resulting in failure to design the new and exciting things for the new generation. We tramp on the floor of classrooms but fail to dig deeper in our subjects, even when prompted by the curious and interesting questions put up by the students. What a contradiction has emerged between the aspiration and inspiration!
Teachers are showing ignorance to concentrate on the human outcomes, we are of course, striving for great strides in the educational system and are mistaken to have reinvented anything new in education system. We don’t want humanity to get disconnected and lose touch with the traditional ways in this digitally connected world of education. From the times immemorial, people of this continent have been experiencing the vitality of its magnificent, grand, wonderful cultural heritage and accordingly understanding and experiencing the purpose of their existence. We can rarely find now an example where a teacher is holding the tender hand of the child with warmth of love, unfolding his mind in beauty of nature and touching their heart and soul.
Teacher has lost this divine power called ‘passion’ under the glare of materialism and is drifted away from the reality that ‘teaching is a selfless service, not a luring and luxurious job’. This job is not assigned by any external authority; it is to be taken consciously by one and oneself alone under the patronage of God. True teachers never wait for any appointment letters or invitations; their passion is the real certificate for them to enter this noble profession from anywhere they like to. They never pass into nothingness, instead- keep a bower for us even in the gloomy days of their lives. Such is the beauty of teaching profession-a concern of heart and soul for all of us.
The author is (Director/Principal) SGGJ Model School, Sunderbani)
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