In ancient India, we are told that kings came to teachers (gurus) for advice. This was so because the teacher (guru) was seen as being an embodiment of rich values. Teachers need to recover this lost trust
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5th September “ Teachers’ Day: On a day like today, irrespective what students, ex-students and children’s parents think or say of their teachers, a certain feeling of affection is generated. At least it is a day reserved to show one’s appreciation and joy for the services teachers render.
The scene in the classroom is changing and so there is a need for the teacher to change as well. With the National Education Policy (NEP) coming into force, this is all the more true.
One needs to only look at the salient features of the NEP to see the challenges that are being placed before teachers and managements. Teachers in today’s digital world cannot depend only on completing portions and assessing assignments and test papers. The question arises: “Do we need teachers in such a fast changing world?” With online teaching taking precedence during this pandemic as schools are closed and students are at home, has made this a debatable question.
Consider the fact that so much knowledge and material is available online, at the press of a button or by the touch of the screen wherever and whenever needed. It is said that the internet and social media have entered into our private spaces and study-rooms. To be relevant teachers need to change direction; they need to reinvent their roles. They now need to look at themselves more as being mentors or animators. In such a scenario students are no longer roll numbers but human persons with an identity and possessing dignity, aptitudes, capabilities that differ one from the other; each a unique human being with a unique fingerprint. In this way teachers will be able to leave an impression not just on the minds of students but also more importantly on their hearts. This is where change takes place; not in the cognitive domain but in the affective domain.
Many teachers are remembered not for what they may have taught but more so for what they taught outside the classroom; by touching the lives of their students beyond academic matters and venturing into matters that pertain to life; teaching their students coping skills and life skills.
As mentor the teacher will have numerous roles all rolled into one to perform; similar to multi-tasking. She/he has to be a friend, a compassionate listener, counsellor, guide, role model, etc. The teacher as mentor will have to open the world for the young student to realize his/her potential. Discovering or unearthing hidden talents, help the student to come to terms with him/herself, with others, and with society at large. The teacher will have to engage the student with the ‘dialogue of life’. If such an eventuality is to take place, then the teacher will have to invest quality time; time that may go beyond the stipulated working hours.
In this regard the teacher should be able to train the mind of the student to think, to reason, to discern, to make life-enhancing decisions, so as to have the ability to cope with life. All in all, the student should be one who leaves the classroom, the school campus, a changed individual; changed for the better, changed to face life’s ups and downs. This idea is also envisioned in the recent document of the NEP (National Education Policy).
A teacher once said, “Give me a student, a child for seven years. I will teach him and then no god or devil can change him.” What will the teacher teach him that no god or devil can change? Surely, it has to be a set of values to help form his/her character. This is where the teacher as Mentor surfaces. Laws and rules do not change a person; it is his/her inner disposition that brings about a change . . . it means touching the heart of the student. In Jesuit circles we call this ‘cura personalis’ ie care of the person. There is a need to focus on value formation and inculcating spiritual values, which of late is becoming more and more side-lined due to the demands made on achieving high marks and grades so as to be competitive enough to gain admission into professional centres or coaching classes to embark on a career that brings in rich dividends. The NEP lays great stress on Character Formation, it being a part and parcel of the holistic development of an individual.
It is said that to educate a person in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society. We have very educated terrorists, clever deceivers in the world (and India is no exception) and so can conclude that when education does not touch the heart, trouble is not far away. Teachers have a tough task but a responsible one to inculcate human values so as to counter the values that try to grab students’ attention “ the attraction of money, materialism, consumerism, intolerance leading to violence, mono-culturalism, fundamentalism, etc. Look around and you will see that there is a decline in respect for women, irrespective of age; a lack of compassion to the underprivileged, the physically or mentally challenged; compromising the truth by what is termed as fake news; exploitation of weaker sections of society and the illiterate; abuse of those who think differently; etc.
No one can deny that an erosion of values has set in and it is the teachers who can stem the tide. It is teachers who can guide their students towards becoming ‘reflective individuals’. It is a call to make students reflect on their experiences before action or acting. Jesuit Education has foreseen the importance of Reflection in their document ‘Integral Pedagogical Paradigm’ (IPP) that was promulgated way back in 1993. This paradigm has 5 principles: Context, Experience, Reflection, Action, Evaluation. ‘Reflection’ enabled a student to look back on his ‘Experience’ which then conditioned his ‘Action’ or response to the
Experience.
Teachers should be able to engage their students and teach them how to dialogue and debate on issues and not get carried away with what one hears. Teachers should initiate students into forming their own personal opinions through a critical analysis of situations and logical decision making. In this way teachers will be able to create future leaders with open minds, having a broad vision and a human heart. In other words it is to form or nurture global citizens “ an idea that is mooted by the NEP. In this way the teacher will not only touch
lives but will also change lives.
In ancient India, we are told that kings came to teachers (gurus) for advice. This was so because the teacher (guru) was seen as being an embodiment of rich values. Teachers need to recover this lost trust. It may not make you popular but it will give you a restful conscience that will bring you peace during your retirement years.
So important is the role of teachers to touch the lives of the students that I like to quote two verses from ‘The Student’s prayer’, written by Umberto Maturana, a Chilean, to his teachers:
“Show me so that I can stand on your shoulders;
Reveal yourself so that I can be something different.
You will not know who I am by listening to yourself;
Don’t instruct me; let me be,
Your failure is that I be identical to you.”
Surely, Umberto’s words will light a flame in the heart of every teacher who reads these verses and make her/him realize what a great task the teacher has; he/she can make a difference in the life of a student. The NEP reiterates this when it calls on teachers to be at the heart of the learning process. Today on Teachers’ Day, it is the right time to make such a commitment. It is the right time to reinvent yourself.
