Creating inspired teachers

S.C. Arora

The great majority of contemporary teachers have forgotten their essential positions of eminence like "…princes who have forgotten their princely heritage and go begging in the streets". This has to change. It is true that society must also change so that the community accords the respect, standing and livelihood that is every teacher’s due, but society will not change unless we redeem our position by our purity and selfless action. We must take stock, and recognise that we have much more than a job; we have a vocation, a calling, a mission.

If one works for money, then one wants more money all the time; if one toils only for recognition, one’s ego will expand. If one is motivated to work by a fear of authority, then after a while she would require to be shown a progressively bigger stick to perform. Therefore my advice to teachers is: let us work for satisfaction, self-realisation and be driven by the welfare of our students. Happiness does not come to those who regard their job as drudgery or a painful duty. Those who chase happiness are similar to those who seek the end of a rainbow, only to learn that it recedes as they travel towards it.

Society has hypnotised us; it has conditioned our reflexes by doling out extrinsic incentives in the shape of money, awards and rewards. Of course, money, recognition and power are necessary but one who chases them single mindedly is a mercenary. As teachers it is necessary that we are self-driven to achieve our goals of teaching and student development.

The depressing corollary to this is that some teachers have descended below the level of mercenaries, stooping to the point where he/ she receives money without doing the job — in the most shameless cases, not even turning up in their classrooms — a far cry from the attitude of the dedicated teacher. Once we were colonial ‘subjects’ of the British empire, trained to obey and satisfy the requirements of a distant kingdom and governed by the viceroy of an even remoter sovereign. But now we are citizens of an independent nation and hence our responsibilities are much greater. As free citizens we enjoy a higher status in society and there is no room for mercenary teachers.

What then, should be the commitments of a true teacher? Essentially, there are five:

First to the pupil, for we should understand the psyche of each student. This can be done by invoking Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences (MI) theory. This may be familiar to many, but for convenience sake, this theory challenges the traditional beliefs of education and cognitive sciences which in essence state that each of us is born with a certain, equal, measurable capacity of knowledge-storing ability that we use to different extents. Gardner’s MI theory was a radical departure from established thought, proposing that all human beings possess nine different intelligences (naturalist/ exploratory, visual/ spatial, verbal/ linguistic, mathematical/ logical, bodily/ kinesthetic, intrapersonal/ intuitive, interpersonal/ social, musical/ rhythmic, existentialist/ philosophical) located in different areas of the brain, but merged uniquely in each individual. We can encourage ‘fast-track’ learning by being aware and addressing the needs of our pupils’ intelligences.

Secondly, the true teacher must be committed to the subject she teaches. If she is to impart knowledge, she must appreciate the acquisition and retention of knowledge. She must read, explore and always be a learner. The desire to grow, improve and accomplish is the hallmark of a good teacher.

Thirdly, she must be committed to society and the greater good of all. Nowhere is this expressed better than in the words of the great metaphysical poet John Donne: "…No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main… any man’s death diminishes mine, because I am involved in Mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee".

A fourth commitment is necessary, and that is to the noble profession of teaching. We must be exemplars and beacons in an often unlovely world. Not too long ago (at the end of January 1999, to be precise), The Times of India published a comprehensive survey on various professions in an attempt to produce some form of consensus on which is the best regarded. The results speak volumes, for it was the opinion of the public that the teaching profession ranked fourth in the ‘worthiest’ category, second in the ‘most honest’ and that which ‘contributes most to society’, ranked third in ‘deserving of better recognition’, and was voted among the least paid and yet least corrupt. All in all, a very good report card for the teaching profession!

The fifth commitment of the teacher is to herself. Inspired teaching can only be delivered by inspired people, for ultimately, we teach who we are. We can say that we teach science, or that we teach students, but the truest statement is that we teach exactly who we are. Our ‘inner core’ inevitably impinges on the personality of the child. Teaching, like any other human activity, emerges from one’s ‘inwardness’; as we teach we project the condition of our souls onto our students.

What would you like your principal, a colleague, head boy or head girl to say about you on your retirement day? I would wish to be remembered as a teacher who injected his students with indomitable spirit and impeccable character, instilled in them a desire of learning to learn, a love of justice and fair play, and a principle-centred life. Above all, as a person who created inspired souls in the endeavour to create ‘soul-superpowers’!

(S.C. Arora is the vice-chairman of the Lotus Valley International School, Noida)