Great Teachers Live through us, Beyond Us and we live because of them/ Great teachers live through us, beyond us…. Honestly, whatever I am today it is because of my teachers. The way I speak, read, dress, and walk is deeply influenced by my teachers. Many of them may not even know about this secret. In all, the skills they taught helped me navigate through peaks and valleys of my life. I have been taught by about hundred teachers since the day I joined formal schooling, but very few I stay in touch with even today, because they stood for their core values. It is worthy to use this space to some of my great teachers like Hampaiah, Narsimha Reddy, and Padmavathi.
When I was in government high school in Alampur in Gadwal district, Mr. Hampaiah taught us English. He not only dramatised every lesson, but also used to pay personal attention to how each student learns the language. His home was always open to every student whoever wanted remedial teaching after school hours. Honestly, we used to feel like bunking classes when Hampaiah sir goes on leave. While there is raging debate about student-friendly teaching now, Hampaiah mastered this art in 70s itself. Although very tough on discipline, he spared no effort in laying solid foundations for our English language. While teachers like him made my childhood memorable, Prof MN Reddy and Prof Padmavathi shaped my post teenage life and placed me in a different orbit altogether.
Prof MNR, as he was popularly known in Agricultural University was a synonym of brilliance. The way he handled the course, Diffusion of Innovations was no less than the discourse of famous Harvard Law professor, Michel Sandel. It was indeed magical to see the way he researched for the topic to unimaginable depths, contextualise and simplify the content to drill them into our hungry brains. He had a rare knack of helping the students accomplish the impossible. I attribute my attraction to civil services to Prof MNR who always used to inspire us with the stories of his classmates who joined the prestigious civil services. Fortunately, he was not alone.
Drifted by different ideologies, away from ignorant, but aspirational parents, facing the uncertainty every day, teachers like Dr P Padmavathi (My Parasitology Professor) provided us the much needed emotional comfort, cover, and anchor in the turbulent campus life in those days. They were our world and surprisingly they never let us know their struggle in their personal world. Mercifully, I have discovered clones of Padmavathi again.
As the Secretary heading Social and Tribal Welfare Residential Schools, I came across quite a few committed teachers like my own teachers who are breathing life into our system everyday despite numerous personal challenges. I pleasantly discovered that quite a few youngsters admit their children in the schools they teach! But they are a minority now. While such teachers should be urgently recognised and protected, as a progressive society we should be more worried about the rot spread by the ‘other category’ of teachers.
This ‘other category’ of teachers are just the opposites of the ones whose memories I love to cherish. Without mentioning names, I can share from my personal experience. This category pursued everything except teaching. They smoked and gambled in the campus, bunked the classes at will, talked about politics endlessly, ran chit funds and real estate businesses, and tuitions outside the schools, outsourced their job to a few bright students, and punished those who raised voice. Teacher job was only a status and source of security for them. Some of them were powerful union leaders whom no head of the institution would dare to tame. Come exams, they would make students cram a few answers and ensure that students pass the exam ‘some how’. These teachers were always a dominant force in the institutions, they maintained their own factions among the students by extending petty academic favours. In retrospect, I feel pained that I wasted my valuable life in their classrooms. How are we going to realise the dreams of millions of children in the country if our classrooms are infested by teachers like this? May be we have to look elsewhere for answers.
Firstly, recruiting the people with right aptitude and knowledge is a must to save teaching community from extinction. Fortunately Telangana government has taken a solid step in this direction under KG-PG Mission. Hopefully things would change by TSPSC recruiting thousands of teachers with nerve.
Secondly, we need to train them thoroughly like we train cardiac surgeons and commercial jet pilots. Why do cardio thoracic surgeons and the commercial pilots do their job with clinical precision? Perhaps it is because they not only undergo rigorous testing but also made to face so many tricky situations and develop good habits. It goes with out saying that since their professions deal with life directly and any slackness will have disastrous consequences for many lives. Is teaching profession any different? Certainly not. Like the commercial jet pilot, teacher is not only responsible for the lives of students in the classroom but also for the progress of the civilisation as a whole. Any slackness in the classroom will produce an unproductive generation. Any reckless act will deprive the country of an innovator, leader, and an intellectual. I have come across many such anomalous products of irresponsible teaching in the educational institutions in my service. They pollute all the domains of our everyday life like politics, civil service, industry, and community life. Lastly, it is again too unfair to blame teachers alone for the educational mess we are in today.
Research says impact of teacher on the development of a student is only 25%. Then who constitutes the rest? It is the parents, peer groups, media and the larger community. How many of us take parenting seriously and augment the impact of teachers? Remember when was the last time we invited teachers of our children to our homes for a cup of tea? Like we felicitate celebrities every day, do we care to felicitate good teachers as well? So far I haven’t seen single statue of an impactful teacher in the villages. How many lanes are named after teachers in this country? We still think teachers are already heavily paid and they are not doing their job of making our children IITians and doctors. Perhaps, this very indifferent attitude of society is making our good teachers as an endangered species and pushing the fence-sitters into perpetual despondency. This must change.
Teachers help us push the frontiers of our civilisation. Imagine the world without Savithri Bai Phule and Sarvepalli. Where our women would have been but for her courageous pursuit of women and widow education in 19th century?
Great teachers live through us, beyond us, and we live because of them. They are immortal.
Source: TelanganaToday
When I was in government high school in Alampur in Gadwal district, Mr. Hampaiah taught us English. He not only dramatised every lesson, but also used to pay personal attention to how each student learns the language. His home was always open to every student whoever wanted remedial teaching after school hours. Honestly, we used to feel like bunking classes when Hampaiah sir goes on leave. While there is raging debate about student-friendly teaching now, Hampaiah mastered this art in 70s itself. Although very tough on discipline, he spared no effort in laying solid foundations for our English language. While teachers like him made my childhood memorable, Prof MN Reddy and Prof Padmavathi shaped my post teenage life and placed me in a different orbit altogether.
Prof MNR, as he was popularly known in Agricultural University was a synonym of brilliance. The way he handled the course, Diffusion of Innovations was no less than the discourse of famous Harvard Law professor, Michel Sandel. It was indeed magical to see the way he researched for the topic to unimaginable depths, contextualise and simplify the content to drill them into our hungry brains. He had a rare knack of helping the students accomplish the impossible. I attribute my attraction to civil services to Prof MNR who always used to inspire us with the stories of his classmates who joined the prestigious civil services. Fortunately, he was not alone.
Drifted by different ideologies, away from ignorant, but aspirational parents, facing the uncertainty every day, teachers like Dr P Padmavathi (My Parasitology Professor) provided us the much needed emotional comfort, cover, and anchor in the turbulent campus life in those days. They were our world and surprisingly they never let us know their struggle in their personal world. Mercifully, I have discovered clones of Padmavathi again.
As the Secretary heading Social and Tribal Welfare Residential Schools, I came across quite a few committed teachers like my own teachers who are breathing life into our system everyday despite numerous personal challenges. I pleasantly discovered that quite a few youngsters admit their children in the schools they teach! But they are a minority now. While such teachers should be urgently recognised and protected, as a progressive society we should be more worried about the rot spread by the ‘other category’ of teachers.
This ‘other category’ of teachers are just the opposites of the ones whose memories I love to cherish. Without mentioning names, I can share from my personal experience. This category pursued everything except teaching. They smoked and gambled in the campus, bunked the classes at will, talked about politics endlessly, ran chit funds and real estate businesses, and tuitions outside the schools, outsourced their job to a few bright students, and punished those who raised voice. Teacher job was only a status and source of security for them. Some of them were powerful union leaders whom no head of the institution would dare to tame. Come exams, they would make students cram a few answers and ensure that students pass the exam ‘some how’. These teachers were always a dominant force in the institutions, they maintained their own factions among the students by extending petty academic favours. In retrospect, I feel pained that I wasted my valuable life in their classrooms. How are we going to realise the dreams of millions of children in the country if our classrooms are infested by teachers like this? May be we have to look elsewhere for answers.
Firstly, recruiting the people with right aptitude and knowledge is a must to save teaching community from extinction. Fortunately Telangana government has taken a solid step in this direction under KG-PG Mission. Hopefully things would change by TSPSC recruiting thousands of teachers with nerve.
Secondly, we need to train them thoroughly like we train cardiac surgeons and commercial jet pilots. Why do cardio thoracic surgeons and the commercial pilots do their job with clinical precision? Perhaps it is because they not only undergo rigorous testing but also made to face so many tricky situations and develop good habits. It goes with out saying that since their professions deal with life directly and any slackness will have disastrous consequences for many lives. Is teaching profession any different? Certainly not. Like the commercial jet pilot, teacher is not only responsible for the lives of students in the classroom but also for the progress of the civilisation as a whole. Any slackness in the classroom will produce an unproductive generation. Any reckless act will deprive the country of an innovator, leader, and an intellectual. I have come across many such anomalous products of irresponsible teaching in the educational institutions in my service. They pollute all the domains of our everyday life like politics, civil service, industry, and community life. Lastly, it is again too unfair to blame teachers alone for the educational mess we are in today.
Research says impact of teacher on the development of a student is only 25%. Then who constitutes the rest? It is the parents, peer groups, media and the larger community. How many of us take parenting seriously and augment the impact of teachers? Remember when was the last time we invited teachers of our children to our homes for a cup of tea? Like we felicitate celebrities every day, do we care to felicitate good teachers as well? So far I haven’t seen single statue of an impactful teacher in the villages. How many lanes are named after teachers in this country? We still think teachers are already heavily paid and they are not doing their job of making our children IITians and doctors. Perhaps, this very indifferent attitude of society is making our good teachers as an endangered species and pushing the fence-sitters into perpetual despondency. This must change.
Teachers help us push the frontiers of our civilisation. Imagine the world without Savithri Bai Phule and Sarvepalli. Where our women would have been but for her courageous pursuit of women and widow education in 19th century?
Great teachers live through us, beyond us, and we live because of them. They are immortal.
Source: TelanganaToday
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