So, when I was around seven years old there was somebody who had come for school inspection and asked all the kids who they aspired to be when they grow up? Well, can you guess what was the most common answer?
How about I give you a hint ____pet, come on now, you don’t have to put your brain cells through a treadmill of thought. Yes! There you go! You guessed it right the most common answer was ‘Teacher.’
Now when I look back, I try to think what could be the reason behind this popular answer and I have come across many and I am glad to share them with you because you know that blogs are all about sharing views.
The first reason that instantly lit up in my mind was that we were young and when your young teachers are nice and caring, they don’t’ scold and play all day long and don’t even get me started on homework you get pages to colour, rhymes to learn and songs to dance to, how easy was life back then. So, since the teacher was so cool and playful, we thought as kids that what a life it would be to just play around and get paid for it.
But I didn’t’ quit here, just when I fused the bulb of my earlier thought my brain sprouted another bean. The second reason and the more mature one is that when your young you are surrounded by your mom, your dad right, those who have a relation with you but a teacher is the first profession that a child is introduced to, a first-person whom you encounter outside your family and how steadily he or she becomes a significant part of your life. A teacher fascinates a student every step of the way. It is under his or her shadow that your blossom and grow into a wonderful individual. I remember that in my 11th grade I had this English teacher Mrs. Shefali Walter, what intrigued me about her was that she had answers to every question. In a blink of a second she would tell me the end of anything that I might be reading and all because of her I read all kinds of genres just to surprise her but the table always turned on me. And we wished t becomes someone who knows it all right?
But where does the term Teacher come from? Well according to my trusted source Google the noun teacher derives from the verb to teach which comes from old English and has been in use since the 9th century meanwhile the word teacher has been In use since the 13th century.
But what about the great nation of ours? How old is our teaching tradition? Can you guess? And you know I expect and accept all kinds of answers, keep it bizarre and no limits on imagination in fact I will give extra points for it.
How about I help you a bit to reach the answer, lets involve a God you know my love for mythology. So we know (If you have read my earlier post) that we have Lord Brahma the creator and we have Goddess Saraswathi the Goddess of Knowledge. Let’s widen our horizons more. I know most of you have watched Mahabharat during the lockdown let me check if you paid attention or not? Who was the dedicated student of Guru Dronacharya who gave his thumb as Gurudakshina? Can you guess the name of the warrior who bared the pain of a scorpion biting him as his Guru fell asleep?
The answer is Eklavya and Suryaputra Karna. Now, these Indian epics are thousand years old right so we have clarity that teaching is thousand years old or maybe older than that.
How about I throw some light on Guru-Shishya Paramapara- involves a Guru who’s a teacher and Shishya who is a learner. This tradition rose during the Vedic period where various schools of thought or Sampradaya were established. The coming of Upanishads’ which translated to sitting down near was all about a dialogue exchange between the Guru and Shishya this can be compared to the Socratic dialogue that Socrates developed while exchanging ideas with his pupils.
The Student is sent to a boarding school known as Gurukul where he is taught warfare, Vedic literature, and politics. In Buddhism, the Guru is an image of the Buddha. In Christianity, we see Jesus had 12 disciples who followed and spread the word of God around. We have an entire religion that is devoted to guru-Shishya tradition so much so that the great preachers are referred to as Gurus. Well, you must know what I am talking about, it is indeed Sikhism which translates to a disciple seeker knowledge originated in 15 century CE and was founded by Guru Nanak Dev.
Such is the diversity of teaching. Now let’s come back to the present day what is the condition of teaching these days?
Today teachers are not holding high of their glory. They have become tired and careless. Students these days are either scared or inconsiderate towards them. There is no dialogue in the classroom. A teacher is made to explain a certain topic, write on the board, and students are supposed to copy. A lack of interest in explaining concepts and having a dictatorship influence where mistakes are forbidden which lowers the confidence and the learner becomes hesitant. How can we progress like this?
Let deal with it this way, I will keep it short and sweet. The teacher is the head of the pride. The classroom is his or her domain. The only she can make her territory grow is let the young lion hunt for answers unknown by posing questions, prompting them for introspections, leaving the floor open for interpretation.
And with this, I sign off, happy learning.
.jpg)
.jpg)
