BRICK  IN , BREAK THE WALL- Teacher -Student relationship

Last  friday  , after  school , my  daughter stormed  into the  house(  it was very hot ,she was sweating and did not  secure good grades in English) . Instead of being greeted by me or by my father , she was questioned about her performance in English. That infuriated her further and my daughter skipped the customary evening  snack and locked herself in her room  only to appear for tuitions later in the evening.

How did I forget my childhood? Why did I not recall , Pink Floyd’s classic ,” Brick in the Wall”. And how did I not recollect  our very own school  production  with Barry John called KIDSTUF , staged years ago  which highlighted the  travails of children  at school and at home.

President Kalam opined that to be a unique human being , an individual needs to possess four qualities , namely  a great aim, continuously acquiring knowledge by reading great books and keeping great company , hard work and great perseverance.

Are   parents , schools , administrators and  teachers  nourishing this dream of  creating   unique children fired with passion , imagination and talent  or producing marionettes from factories ? This needs to be deliberated by all stakeholders including children.

In this age of SMAC( Software , Mobiles, Apps and Cloud) and not SMACK , teachers and parents  need  to navigate the field of technology  adroitly  so that they keep  pace  with the latest information to challenge  the mind of the child and not confront them.

Today  education is imparted in three ways. Face to Face, Correspondence Courses and On- Line. A  student/child/learner expects the  teacher/educationist is respectful( to the demands of the learner),responsive,knowledgeable,approachable,communicative,organised , engaging , professional and humorous  in disposition .

Teachers, need to look at this inventory  list and  do some soul searching . Without, any doubt , a child expects  moments of wonder in the classroom . Students crave for that  AHA! moment to break the monotony of non-stop classes . The educator today  needs to navigate pop culture and understand the lingo of being”cool”, and understand the mind of the child. Mutual trust between students and teachers is absolutely paramount . There should be no politicking, favouritism etc . Studies in Organisation behaviour ,  clearly  indicate that many a times teachers pay attention to certain children or certain columns  in the classroom,  neglecting others at their own peril. This results in resentment and poor grades of the lot  ignored . A bit of humour, being witty , that lighter moment immediately attracts  a child towards the teacher . As Gail Goodwin says,” Teaching is one-fourth preparation and three fourths theatre.”.

Teachers need to  master two secrets to be successful  in their careers . The Law Of Attraction and The Law Of Acceptance . Law  one  makes  a teacher radiate energy, liveliness ,inspire students, invoke positive vibes and thoughts in the classroom .  The second law encourages a teacher  to accept  the learner  in all respects .  The student  is taken seriously, feels  recognised and challenged, develops  special skills  and their  creativity gets harnessed   . Besides the teacher needs to  understand the difficulties, complexes, sexuality and  hesitations of the child . A student is to be embraced not humiliated.

Today  the teacher today is harassed , has odd timings, plenty of corrections to undertake , rear children at home ,  manage  two fronts(home and school), invariably carries school to house and home to school, does not have time to exercise , yearns for that  Sunday or holiday to relax and unwind .  In such a scenario teachers  have  certain expectations   from children, administration, fellow  teachers  and their  spouses and families .

From  Students- Teachers expect  children are prepared , committed to learn, motivated , respectful , understand their strengths and weaknesses , respect each other and  do not become bullies .

From Parents- It is expected that  the parents do not become super teachers . The common goal is the interest of the child . Parents need to be participative and not coercive . They need to inculcate habits which  need not be moral policing but  to encourage their children to blossom.

From Administration- Not to play petty politics  amongst teachers . Inculcate discipline among the fraternity , provide good packages , encourage  them and support them during crisis . Invariably the  home front  impinges upon the circumference of the school , but the school is so tied up with the TRPs of SRPs- Scholastic Report Performance Schemes)  that they lack the ability  to hear out the teacher, forget even listening to them.

From Co- Teachers- Need to be collaborative, professional, supportive , respect differences among them and also accept unity  among some groups  gracefully.

From Family- To be  warm and proud of the profession and provide that extra space  in their lives .

All this may appear to be altruistic , but  is perhaps essential for the teacher to sport a SMILE to the child  and GREET and be GREETED everyday by  the children. And most essentially to increase the SPAN OF ATTENTION of the child  in the classroom.

This  piece covers  the spectrum of public schools  which have reasonable resources . There  are millions of children who are illiterate  and several schools in  India which do not have  necessary infrastructure , including TOILETS ,which  leads to large drop outs especially among  the girl child.

In the final analysis as Kofi Anan put it  “ Knowledge is power , information is liberating , education is the prism of progress in every society , in every family.”