SUPER STAR TEACHER

Busy schedule for teachers and students during exams, but a bit relaxed princi!! Reflecting over my professional journey, I remember a fascinating story that I read sometime back from a book by Debashis  Chatterjee. 

A Guru had two students, Govind and Gopal( don’t remember which names Mr.Chaterjee used in the story! So I am using my own, anyway it won’t matter as long as the moral is drawn!! ). The Guru knew that Govind was a promising teacher. He advised him to teach a few students. Govind did a great job and got better ratings than his Guru from his students. He didn’t realise that the Guru had given him quick learners. The guru praised the accomplishment of Govind but added that Gopal was a gifted teacher and better than him. Disappointed Govind asked the Guru, what made him to say that Gopal was better. The Guru was thoughtful for a moment, then gave a tough task to Govind and Gopal. Both were asked to teach  three illiterates in the city- a cobbler, a potter and a carpenter. Three months time was given to both.

Govind thought it was rather an easy task. When he can teach brilliant minds what was a big deal in teaching ordinary illiterates. His enthusiasm slowly started vanishing when he failed to convince any of them. He got the reply from all the three that they have got enough education and literacy they needed to run their business!! After a month he returned to the Guru. The Guru consoled him saying even Gopal could not convince them and teach a single word .Govind raised a question, “ if Gopal also could not do it, as you yourself accept now, how do you say he is better than me?”

The Guru smiled and said, “ when Gopal realised that he could not teach them, he didn’t return like you did. He stayed there for full three months. When he came back he was an excellent carpenter, potter and cobbler. He utilised the time to learn new things. He has that exceptional quality to learn from even illiterates. His passion for learning makes him better than you.”

What an inspirational story!! Still lingering in my mind. This extent of curiosity to learn from every corner without hesitation makes a gifted teacher, SUPER STAR TEACHER

Alone - Lonely

Walking along the sea shore on a beautiful evening, varied thoughts flooded my mind. There was silence except the sound of sea waves and cool breeze. The horizon was turning pinkish red as the Sun was ready to say good night. The Sun was alone, as me!! But he is not lonely. He has the entire universe with him.I watched the sea waves rolling in and rolling out. We roll in to this world and roll out of the world. We are born as one and go back as one. But we too are not lonely!! We are one with the solitude of the sea, the hills, the waves, the birds, the Sun, the entire universe. I gazed at the fisherman’s boat returning after a tiresome day. I could imagine the happy faces of the fishermen. The setting Sun, reflecting his redness on water said, ‘you are one with me, alone but not lonely, you merge with the magnitude of all life forms.’ This is the greatness of life! I am in the company of my own greatness.

The thought of greatness raised questions in my mind. Can anyone become great in spite of not having any fame, power or money? Is greatness not born out of inspired heart?? Should the world approve one’s greatness? Can we all become great even if we don’t win a Nobel prize??? 

Can Morals –Ethics be Taught within Four Walls of classroom??…

A positive childhood in love and care is the most influential factor for the development of a strong human being. With busy working parents, broken families, schools are hopelessly over-strained with this responsibility. Most of our fairytale culture is based on the idea to teach moral concepts to children through some literature and assessments, which do not give any guarantee that they have been learnt and imbibed in behaviour. 

  I am stunned to see advertisements on ‘Value Education Products’. Recently, I met a self proclaimed value educator in one of the Education Fairs. Last week I met her in my office, who showed me on her laptop how she is going to conduct Value Education classes. There were some animations and an online test. Higher the test points, higher the value imbibed by the student. I was amused when she said, ’you can assess your students on the basis of the score they get in MCQ test!!!! No wonder increase in crime rate is directly proportionate to this kind of value education!!!!
PHOTO COURTESY: Ravi Hegde  biologisthegde@facebook.com   biologisthegde@gmail.com                                                                          

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Enjoyment vs Discipline

When I reflect on my classroom experiences, I remember one interesting episode. The father of my student of class 7 came to meet me. I was teaching English. I was a bit surprised to see him, as he hardly came to school. He had a note book in his hand. He appeared angry. I, with my usual smile, asked what can I do for him. He sarcastically said ‘Don’t do anything for me, do for my daughter!!!’. He opened the note book and showed a English essay which I had marked in his daughter’s note book. He pointed towards my remark ‘excellent’, and asked, ‘Madam, did you go through the essay or just remarked? Her language is not up to the mark. She has made many grammatical errors. But still you call it excellent? You have not even underlined the errors.’ 

 I was unmoved by his confrontation. Again with a cool smile I explained to him. ‘Your daughter’s favourite subject is English. She loves to write, is the 1^st person to finish any creative writing task. I want to nourish this passion of hers. Your daughter needs encouragement more than the exact rules of grammar or high standard language. If I highlight her mistakes and rob her love for the subject, she will never try to write independently. She may gradually pick up the rules, but will never regain her love for writing once she loses it.’ As I was speaking, the frowning eyebrows of the father slowly eased out.

I had realised that the real delight and encouragement are as much essential for enjoying learning as discipline was.