Who is a teacher? A teacher is the one who passes on the knowledge to someone. Who can be a teacher? Anyone who is willing to learn and impart the right knowledge to the listener can be a teacher. Who can be the best teacher? It is the who can sow the seeds of knowledge in the best possible way. What does a teacher earn? A true teacher earns true respect. Here I try to bring in some of my thoughts about teachers.
I believe that teaching is the most noble profession of all and a teacher is the greatest sculptor of humankind. A teacher plays a very important role in a person's life. It can be positive or negative. A good teacher moulds a child and bring the best out of him. A passionate teacher works towards it tirelessly. To the Teachers Day wish of one of my students, I responded this way: "A teacher becomes great when the student becomes great, in terms of knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is about subject, wisdom is about righteousness, justice and love."
The first thought about a teacher that comes to my mind is my granny. Throughout my half a mile walk to market with her during holidays, I have seen many wish her with a lot of respect and say how their lives were transformed by her. When I look back, I realise how great it is to be a teacher.
How far can a teacher influence a student? Well, it depends on various factors like the age of the student, acceptance and trust the student has in the teacher etc. Knowledge, wisdom and the ability of the teacher to communicate plays a crucial role in it.
Why age plays an important role? The way adults think is different from a child, and so is a grown up. One should be moulded at a younger age. Tender age is like soft clay. Once it gets harder, it's difficult to shape, though possible up to certain extent. Once they grow older, the learnings and experiences they came across make them rigid in their thinking. So a teacher's responsibility at younger ages is the most important one. A student can love or hate a subject based on the teacher.
Another aspect I pointed out was acceptance and trust towards the teacher. Once a student can accept the teacher and the trust is built, the teacher can guide the student without a hitch. There are many things associated with it, like knowledge about the subject, wisdom, communication skills, appearance, cleanliness etc. Without a sound subject knowledge how can the knowledge sharing happen? But, that doesn't mean that only the one who knows everything can be a teacher. As I once said: "The day one believes he knows everything, that is the day he becomes a fool." So, a teacher's life is about learning one or the other thing every now and then.
Wisdom is equally important, because it is wisdom that helps one to gain trust, without which there will be no acceptance. Wisdom stands by truth, justice and truthfulness. Most of the students whom I deal with, in the initial days itself I let them know that no matter how close they try to be with me, wether they love me or hate me, everyone is equal to me and no one get any special consideration, or less, no matter what. I am faithful to my job and hence I expect the same from them too.
Communication is another aspect that one cannot neglect. No matter how much knowledge one has, without proper communication it cannot be imparted efficiently. The student will end up having half knowledge or even worst understanding of subject.
Most importantly, it is the passion that drives a teacher. If one gets into the profession for the sake of remuneration, then it will be the greatest injustice one can do to the profession. Respect needs to be earned by what one do. If one looks at gaining respect, without being driven by passion, it will be lost.
Should the teacher teach the subject alone? No. Along with subject, the teacher should be able to teach the student to think, reason, analyse and experiment. Not only that, even emotions, interests and many other aspects need to be touched upon. Every student and his/her thoughts should be respected. Not every one is equal and the same cannot be expected from all. Every individual has his own interest, talent and passion. Tap the right potential rather than diverting it or stopping it.
Of late, I have seen a degradation of respect towards teachers. Though one of the reasons is their upbringing, their experience with teachers plays a crucial role. Since people are lured into teaching profession with good remuneration, many of them, like any other profession, get into it without even a bit of passion. For some it might be time pass or just another job, but for another it's a dream of their life.
Maybe not being studious, I never had a good rapport with any of my teachers. So I don't have any good memories with any of them during my childhood. But in college days I did come across few of them whom I look up at. They had good thinking ability, subject knowledge, reasoning ability and above all humility. They indeed earned my respect.
If I were asked whom I consider to be the greatest teacher, I would say my parents. But above all it's Jesus who taught the greatest art of life - love.
