Challenges of teaching and status of teachers in the changing world
‘Guru Brahma Guru Vishnu
Guru Devo Maheshwaraha
Guru Saakshaat Param Brahma
Tasmai Shree Guruve Namaha.’
This Shlok aptly says that a Guru or teacher is the representative of the three powerful Creators of the Universe according to Hinduism-Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. It is a Guru who creates, sustains knowledge and destroys the weeds of ignorance. We salute such a Guru.
In ancient India parents sent their beloved children to Ashrams to avail the opportunity of leading a life amongst teachers where in, one day, they would come out as learned beings. History has inscribed that the desire for acquiring the skills from a teacher was such that one could pay any price for the same and words of guidance could help to change the direction of a historic war. Today once we have plunged into the 21st century, the meaning of all such values has changed. All relationships and systems be it economic, geopolitical, sociological have undergone a tremendous modification. And although it has braved the ravages of time, the status of teachers too, stand at a threshold of uncertainty.
With education becoming a wider market, the demand for educators have increased manifold. To cater to the growing demand, in place of ten, a thousand more has to be recruited to fill the vacuum. But the question of quality and accomplishment being given a side line stand as a big threat to the education scenario of the present day world. With unskilled teachers at the position of instruction, it will automatically undermine the picture of a good teacher. The kind of education and preparedness for work on part of a teacher is a crucial point of what kind of education quality can be can be sought because teachers have a very essential role in preparing students to face the future with confidence, patience and imaginative solutions. Not only skills but the power of delivery, positive attitude and body language are the attributes which when not showcased by a teacher will certainly draw criticism.
A part of the factors contributing to defaming the teaching profession is the commercialization of education and privatization of institutes. Teaching today is no longer the Guru-Shishya bond. It is today somewhat a bridge constructed of sleek notes which only a fortunate few can traverse. Educational institutes sprouting in every nook and corner of a region with low salaried teachers make learning a profitable trade for few while for the students it appears to be only a loss. As good education and good educators come with a hefty price tag, a section of the learners remain completely neglected and ignorant.
Advancement has brought prosperity but with it has also introduced a world of cut –throat competition. This highly testing environment has forced parents to be apprehensive about the career prospects of their children leading to a growing conflict between parents and teachers which in some way or the other hamper the full growth of a student. Examples of many guardians resorting to gab fights with teachers on issues relating to question paper, marks and evaluation has become a common scene. This interference restricts the teachers from making honest evaluations in order to avoid future fury or agitation of any kind. Moreover the liberty to choose suitable assessment methods is unavailable and always mandatory to gauge a student within the predefined limits of a rigid academic Performa. Here the relationship of a teacher and the authority at the helm of affairs also need a special mention. Teachers are not provided with such working conditions which will promote effective learning and enable them to concentrate on their professional tasks. And so it is usually noticed that in countries like India, in addition to teaching, educators are engage on a large scale for many other activities which in the long run can mar their productivity and directional growth.
It is a well known fact that attitude is one ingredient which when missing in a venture might prevent success. The same is with the society’s attitude or outlook towards teachers and in some amount the teacher’s outlook towards the profession. It is a very common that from an early stage of life, most of the young minds are encouraged to join the brigade which forms the so called elite class of doctors, engineers, scientists etc and most parents abstain from inspiring them about being noble educators. The possible reason of this partiality may be the low remuneration compared to other professions believed to be associated with this career profile. What everyone forgets is that to be part of those lucrative professions one has to go through a stage of education and training religiously. And that can be achieved under the guidance of able-learned teachers only. But how many people of the entire population of a country are willing to join the educator class; a profession so pious and noble yet unable to receive as much credit and distinct, is a question that shall always crop up. But for children to rise to a level in order to fit the global conditions, it is high time for the society to realize that they ought to give due respect and importance to the profession of teaching and teachers at large. At the same time , a teacher should be fuelled by the motive of not only giving systematic subject oriented knowledge but should take his profession as a challenge to mould a real prepared individual for tomorrow. Strangely enough, some of the teachers vacillate on this aspect for better income.
Whatever may be the individualistic reasons, in the big picture there is one factor that plays the pivotal role in demining the status of teachers and it is none other than corruption in education. The selection of teachers or educators in large scale does not adopt the rigorous methodology like that used for some high profile professions. The government fails to recognize that neglecting this fact can only lead to recruiting people with fake educational certificates. And very recently such an incident came to light in Bihar where hundreds of teachers chose to resign instead of being put behind the bars on cases of forgery. This is just one instance whereas similar might still be there in the dark putting a question mark to the whole education system of our country itself. The corruption in education has also gone to the extent of accepting bribes and illegal fees in the name of admission, withholding educational schemes and salaries for monetary gains, trading service and lessons for a huge tutorial benefits and preferential promotions to handful teachers only. It is not only the government that would take the share of this allegations but a teacher too have to share its burden.
Today in this century, when the status of teachers is dwindling at such a rapid rate, the challenges associated with this profession do not alleviate but rises to another level. It has become quite a risky and gruelling job. To tackle a student community who is so sensitive to even lighter issues takes techniques and patience. The sensitive student might be struggling morally and psychologically and to deal with such a student would take calm and a very mature and understanding nature on part of the teacher. Today mistakes do not have punishments because it will be scars for the tender hearts; mistakes have consequences which will enable them to analyze and rectify their faults by themselves. Leave aside corporal punishment, teachers have to be cautious not to hurt the sentiments of the student with brutal words based on performance, creed, caste, sex or background.
The world has shrunk into a global village with technology being an aid to every individual. The efficiency of technology is such that it places information in front of us in nanoseconds and everything can be accessed in the click of a finger. This has revolutionized the educational trend and thus, learning today is not confined to the four walls of a classroom; learning today has no boundaries. And this has in some amount become a problem for educators. With a student population so diverse and hi-tech in nature and modernization creeping in everywhere, teachers ought to develop an extra edge in order to be accepted and prove their stand. This calls for preparedness in the form of knowledge, skill and management. Hence there will be certain keywords which will be associated with a good teacher of this century. These are- strategic planner, innate presence of mind, resourceful –in terms of books and the internet, deep seated knowledge both in the subject and on life so that the teacher can be the torch bearer of a vision that guides students to stand as original and unique individuals in the crowd tomorrow.
The challenge ahead is and will be to shun the age old traditional method of teaching and adapt to the changing trends of the education system to be accepted by the overly knowledgeable and inquisitive student community. The challenge will be not to be googled-out, not be short of knowledge, facts and figures. The presentation skills of a teacher has to be such that each class turns out to be new and informative so that students are drawn to the class without any compulsion and no monotony exists in the four walled seat of learning. The challenge will be to utilize and teach the students the appropriate manner to avail the World Wide Web for maximum knowledge amassment. This will not only reduce the technological barrier between the student and the teacher but also spare the educator form being the butt of technology.
Further, the teachers have a challenge of excelling in spite of hard working conditions, overload, a rigid curriculum and assessment procedures. It will always be a struggle to keep their productivity intact in the light of hectic schedules of today’s small classroom where the main agenda is one-to-one interaction. Teaching must not only be sowing seeds of random nature and unexpected yield. It has to be a systematic procedure to prepare the dignified soldiers that would be a part of life’s battle tomorrow.
Another tough stage of this profession is dealing with slow learners who will test the tricks of this trade. In such cases, teachers have to adopt and practice strategies to bring slow learners at par with other learners of average attitude and behaviors. A good teacher will never hesitate and fall short of transmitting one’s culture and education for a better future. It will take a great deal of labour to understand the capabilities of the young mind to guide them by not standing as a leader but by trying to bring out the leader in them.
Having surveyed the status and challenges of teachers and educators, we see that the road ahead is not a smooth sail but not an impossible one either. It will require grit, determination and dedication on the part of the teachers to build harmony in the teacher-student relationship and the teaching profession to unfurl the flag of a strong educated society.
And in spite of all odds a teacher will somehow manage to leave an impact in one’s life - be it the teacher who held the first pencil for us as toddlers, the teacher who taught us the alphabet, the teacher of Nobel laureate Albert Camus, who inspired him at a tender age or the teacher who gifted India the Missile Man.
A teacher unfolds that unknown world of possibilities which might go unnoticed to the common eyes and true to the words of the 15th century poet Kabir Das who quoted-
‘Guru Govind dou khade,
Kaake lagoon paye,
Balihari Guru aapki,
Govind diyo milaye.’- stands as a paradigm to the fact that if Guru i.e. a teacher and God both appeared before us leaving us baffled as to whom do we bow first; the answer would be to our Guru, for he is the one who introduced us to God.
Happy trying!
