FIVE IMPORTANT LESSONS I LEARNED AS A TEACHER

Lesson 1

Down the memory lane, I recall my entering the teaching profession in 1971 as a teacher of a newly started DAV School at Chennai. I was blessed to have a great leader as my principal, Kulapathi Sri Balakrishna Joshi, a role model for the teaching profession, an inspiration to the teaching community. On the first day, as I entered his chamber, I found several teachers waiting to touch his feet and take his blessings. As my turn came, he smiled at me and asked:” What do you think a teacher is?”

I stood in silence. He continued “A Teacher is a harbinger of Positive energy. He carries positive energy to his classrooms. If you radiate positive energy it comes back to you a million times. If you radiate negative energy it comes back to you a million times. A classroom is nothing but an energy management system, whatever be the subject you teach, whichever class you teach.”

The power of these words influenced me throughout my career.

Lesson 2

A couple of months later I walked into his room with a box of sweets. As he was with a visitor, I walked into the room of the Vice-principal and offered him. “What is the news Mr.Bala?” He quipped. “Are you getting married?”

“NO sir, I had written my MA in Hindi and I have passed the exam”

“Hindi?” he raised his eyebrows. “You are a science teacher. Why did you Hindi? 

You could have pursued M Phil or some other science course. Isn’t going to help you anyway in your career?”  With a punch, he took the sweet “Anyhow sweets are always welcome.”

As I stepped into the Principal’s room and informed the occasion, he replied 

“Great. A science teacher doing literature. But don’t stop with this. You should now pursue an MA in English. The day may not be too far when you might have to sit in a similar seat. Remember – “Deserve and Desire. A teacher must be a continuous learner”

The lesson: “The day you stop learning, remember that it is the day you disqualify yourself for teaching.”

Lesson 3:

On one of the days when my lab assistant had erred, I got upset and was shouting at him in the laboratory when the students of senior classes were doing some experiment. He passed by and observed. Later, calling me aside, he said “Remember, never hurt a person in the presence of others. That sends a bad message to the students. The basic objective of education is respect human being. We are educators and not executors”

“A good teacher never hits at the stomach or the heart of the people with whom he deals with”

Lesson 4

As a teacher in a Kendriya Vidyalaya, I walked into class 9. I found one of the girl students in the front bench was working on her Mathematics not book. I asked her “Are you aware Chemistry class has started?” She apologized and closed her notebook. I observed a beautiful geometry box she had on her table. I was impressed and asked her “Where did you get from?”

She stood up and said, “My father gifted this to me on my birthday three years before.” I passed on to the next girl student and asked in a casual manner “What did your father gift you for your birthday?”

She stood silent. The former one who had the geometry box stood up and said, 

“Like me, she also doesn’t have a father sir.” I crumbled. I felt so apologetic about the question I had asked, least knowing the emotional impact on the child.

The lesson: A teacher needs apart from his/her academic intelligence, emotional and pedagogical intelligence.

Lesson: 5

A few years back, a few students who were a part of the school alumni visited me to invite for the Silver Jubilee of their group. Chatting over a cup of coffee, one of them remarked “Sir, you were a great chemistry teacher”. I felt so elated and pat my back, but in a few seconds, I was thrown from Heaven to Hell. “But sir, one thing, you taught us everything except Chemistry. You taught us self-esteem, courage, lesson on accepting defeat, broad perspectives of life and we remember all of them, but not your Chemistry. honestly speaking none of us are in the field of Chemistry, but we loved your classes for those words of motivation and inspiration.”

And I learnt “the success of the teacher lies in their ability to move beyond textbooks, being a great facilitator, counsellor and a mentor.”

HAPPY TEACHERS DAY!