Teacher must be the most celebrated of celebrities because a teacher is the bed rock of the grand edifice of human achievement in various fields. Is not it the teacher’s galvanizing force that enabled the handful of dust to ride it’s soul to defy the distance of stars and planets and the depth of oceans and unravel the mysteries of nature? Since the dawn of civilization teacher has been playing an important role in the dynamism of culture and that is why we call him the change agent of a society. It is the teacher who brought up the hunter gatherer to the light beam rider.
In India the teachers day is observed on 5th of September every year to mark the birth anniversary of her second president Radhakrishan who was a distinguished teacher, educationist and academician. It is on this day teachers are honored and encouraged for their performance, of course a recognition of his role and dedication.
A teacher is not a mere tutor but a talent hunter. He studies person’s traits, suppresses the unwanted ones and brings out the best ones. It is an effort to make a complete human being. Of course a breath taking exercise. But a teacher should be professional not personal. If a teacher becomes personal that is a treachery with the profession. I mean to say that when the teacher tries to dominate the learning faculty of the learner the latter may get lost in the confusion. Is it me (student) or him (teacher) or the book?
Sincerity and sympathy are the characteristics of a teacher and only then he can be a third parent. A teacher who teaches a lesson of his own choice without caring for pupils’ interest or annoyance is tethering the innocent lot to a peg they don’t want. Such students, according to Lawrence become ‘unruly hounds.’ The teacher who teaches with love is a successful teacher because he enjoys the full involvement of class. Some teachers measure their classroom performance with the rod of time .They are passing time, nay, time is passing them because time is a great teacher but unfortunately it kills all its pupils. So why to kill the pupil’s pleasant present for the unforeseen future.
Teaching is not a job but it is a mission. Teaching is tasteless when we take it as a job. The teacher’s ascetic zeal is lost because his meditation is dissipated by chink of money.
The main function of a teacher is the transmission of knowledge and inculcation of the values that differentiates the humans from the myriad of other species. In fact a teacher is well versed in knowledge and information but not omniscient and modern internet is posing a threat to that image. It is not necessary that a good scholar can be a good teacher. What makes a good teacher is effective dissemination and deliverance of knowledge and experience. That is the difference between a living teacher and a mechanical teacher.
Teachers are not generally recognised in their lifetime because they are engaged with a community that is not matured enough to appreciate things critically and when they reach that stage teachers are not on the scene.
The teacher is at loss because he is away from his peer group, viz, the adults of his society with whom he could share his feelings and undergo the rectification of his behavior as an adult.
The teacher is the voice of knowledge and the songbird of wisdom that he has gained from books and experience of life. Teaching is an experimentation with the mental aptitude of myriad of individuals beyond the bias of subjectivity. When a teacher instructs the pupil under the pressure of a political or social system, for instance, imparting the do’s and don’ts laid down in a particular social set up, which may or may not be absolute, the education loses its natural character. We eat and drink and breathe to grow biologically. So, why not intake the instructions in a free atmosphere to grow intellectually? Here the teacher’s role becomes impartial and natural.
A class room is a universe in itself where education is prevailing in atmosphere. It must flow like a brook of crystal clear water without the turbidity of national, social, regional or sectarian bias. That is how the teaching activity becomes original. Hence the teacher who is supposed to broadcast knowledge should not be imprisoned in the cage of socialization lest s/he should lose its natural melody and zeal becomes his compulsion and the mission the job. In such a scenario, the teacher becomes the bonded labour of a system which is pinioning her/him to the obsoleteness.
Some people are of the opinion that the teachers should be bureaucratised. I Think that will stiffen her/his neck so much that it will not bow low to the level of a child’s small intellectual stature and thus can’t share her/his emotions. S/he will cease to be a seer blessed ‘friend, philosopher and guide.’
A teacher need to know that there are four types of learners. Some are to be shun; some are to be taught; some are to be awakened: whileas some are to be followed. Let me illustrate with an old saying:
‘One who knows not but knows not that he knows not. Shun him.
‘One who knows not but knows that he knows not. He is simple. Teach him.
‘One who knows but knows not that he knows. He is asleep. Wake him.
‘One who knows and knows that he knows. He is wise. Follow him.’
So a teacher is not always a leader but sometimes a follower. He teaches and he learns simultaneously. I have come across many students who despite being in salad days have shown signs of wisdom. That implies that some are born ahead of the time and show signs of maturity beforehand. History stands testimony that there were men who had never seen the door of a school but have proved great leaders. Man is a thinking being and every thinking being is a philosopher because everyone has a philosophy of life.
– The author is a lecturer in Education Department.
