Ahead of Teachers Day, here’s exploring what it takes to be a great teacher in India today, and how only some can achieve greatness in the present scenario
They lead us to formulae that help us in solving complex mathematical problems. But there is no formula that can create a good teacher. They share with us the delight of reading evocative poetry or appreciating art. But there is no poem or any art that can help make one a good teacher. They transport us into the magical world of sciences where the mix of chemicals can produce the most exotic of elements. But is there any mix of chemicals that can produce a great teacherIJ They map the world for us and chart the courses that history has taken. But can we map out a great teacherIJ Teachers and teaching cannot be conceived and delivered. It requires both art and craft to be a good teacher and teach well.
We live in a world of listings. If we survey some of the most inspiring teachers of India, we notice some names that appear repeatedly. First and foremost is, of course, the man whose name is inseparable from Teachers Day as it was named after him, Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the first Vice-President and the second President of the country. Here was a teacher who avoided the fancy title of Earl of Willingdon that had been bestowed upon him, choosing instead to use ‘Doc’ as the title that he had achieved through his own hard work. It is his pride in the teaching profession that led him to request his birthday be celebrated as Teachers Day. And so September 5 has come to be just that.
Rabindranath Tagore is as memorable an educator as he was a poet, philosopher and artist. Gurudev left for us not just his wonderful writing, the pride of the nation, but a whole new way of learning outside the classroom and under the trees, becoming one with nature and a higher intellect. For Tagore, teaching was not to explain things but to “knock at the doors of the mind”. He called the school he raised Santiniketan or abode of peace, and today it has become Vishwa Bharati University, a name only too fitting for the vision of a man who believed in universal brotherhood.
Very few today can recall Savitribai Phule, the first female teacher of India’s first women school. This was a woman whose courage is the stuff mythical tales are made of. Undaunted by the rotten eggs, tomatoes and cow dung hurled at her as she walked the streets of Pune, a city dominated by Brahmins, she accomplished her mission of starting schools for girls. This, at a time when such ideas were considered sacrilege. Issues affecting marginalised communities, such as widow remarriage and untouchability, were among those that she and her social reformer husband Jyotirao Phule engaged with tirelessly. Not only was she a teacher but she also wrote remarkable poetry and many see her as one of the leading lights of Marathi literature.
Another educationist of note was Nissim Ezekiel, regarded as the foundational figure of post-colonial India’s literary history. Ezekiel is credited with creating a new dynamics of Indian English poetry and liberating poetry in India, written in English, from a colonial hangover. He was a passionate teacher for over four decades, teaching in Bombay and having strived towards bringing simplicity of thought and language to the Indian-English poetry.
And again, Rambhau Kundgolkar (Sawai Gandharva) and Ustaad Alla Rakha Khan appear to be much loved and revered as great teachers. The former is known for his Hindustani classical music and the guru of luminaries like Pt Bhimsen Joshi and Gangubai Hangal, and the other is known to be an all-time great exponent of tabla, and it was his expert training that made his son Zakir Hussain take tabla playing to a new dimension.
So what do these half a dozen people have in common that make them reveredIJ Perhaps their most outstanding aspect is the ability to think out of the box. To be able to think along new directions, what is necessary, of course, is to have a vision and to believe in the viability or realisation of that vision. To sustain such faith, one must have a spine of stainless steel. Only then can one forge ahead to achieve the goals set by one’s vision regardless of all the negativity and criticism that one faces.
It’s almost as if one must find within oneself a perennial spring of positive energy so that the steely determination required in the worst of times remains intact. Besides, to move beyond conventional ideas, one would need to be progressive and not mired in fossilised ways of thinking. It’s also clear that creative energy is powerful among those considered great teachers; maybe creativity can energise like nothing else can. It can also enable innovativeness. Humility too is responsible for constant growth, for with humility there is the desire to evolve further.
However, the most significant attribute that one observes in these teachers is their sense of citizenship, their desire to contribute to the nation in visible ways, to recognise and fill the gaps existing in society through education and especially of those less privileged.
Not only does one need to understand the rights of humans but one must also stand up for these rights. True recognition of all people as equals can only take place if we believe in this principle ourselves and strive to educate others through example.
Which brings me to the next aspect I consider very important: A teacher must be a leader, in every way. Those we have come across as great teachers have been leaders in their field, and also in the way in which they have led their lives.
The question is: All this is irrefutable but do teachers and teaching continue to command respect in societyIJ Are teachers changing the course of historyIJ Are they contributing to national growthIJ Is education in India today one that we can be proud of and is the education system a meaningful oneIJ
If we hark back to our ancient texts where the tradition of the guru shishya parampara has been inscribed, the words that instantly come to the fore are: “Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru Devo, Maheshwarah, Guru Saakshat Parabrahma, Tasmay Shree Guruve Namah.”
In Vedic times, a teacher was considered to be privy to sacred knowledge; he enlightened his students through his discourses and oratory on a wide arena of subjects and whose knowledge was considered profound as well as complete. Undoubtedly the teacher was a veritable God. Students were expected to revere their teachers and in turn, teachers were expected to lead the students towards attaining their aspired goals. There was a deep bond as well that was forged due to the proximity of the teacher with the students for they lived together and followed a disciplined life and students did a whole lot of daily chores, performing even the most menial tasks. It seemed to work well.
look back at a few legendary stories and you will see how powerful teachers were in those days. They had only to ask for something and it could not be denied. So Guru Drona could ask for Eklavya’s thumb as guru dakshina and he was well within his rights. Again, Parshuram could dismiss Karna and forbid him from using his archery skills, and then too the teacher was not challenged. What was the end resultIJ Arjuna remained the undefeated master of the art of archery.
The gurus literally wrote history for who knows what would have been the historical outcome if Eklavya and Karna were allowed to use their archery skills. Society was literally structured the way the gurus wanted, and class hierarchies were scrupulously maintained due to their perpetuation by the gurus. Good or bad, the undoubted fact is that the guru ruled.
Cut to present times. Today a teacher is expected to be quite a superhuman whose skills are tested in multitudinous ways. Changing times have made curriculum interdisciplinary; advancing technology has opened entirely new options and access to resources across the world; moreover students are not expected to blindly accept what the teacher says, they are expected instead to challenge the teacher.
Teaching is not about indoctrination or initiation anymore; it is about interactiveness and learning is participatory. Pedagogical tools have thus to be sharpened such that every student in the classroom can respond to what is being taught with a certain critical reflectiveness. Importantly, a teacher has to be an honest interpreter between cohesion and pluralism, tradition and modernity, radicalism and liberalism. Above all, the teacher has to be a livewire as a communicator.
However, is the teacher powerfulIJ Are teachers allowed to frame laws and does society function according to those lawsIJ The questions draw a bitter laugh.
let’s look at what happens at the college level. After you complete graduation (and if you want to get into a college in Delhi, you may be in for a rude shock or some major changes in your choice of discipline as gaining admission into the hallowed portals of a DU college may be barred); you get into the race to complete post-graduation and further studies.
You are expected to clear the NET (National Eligibility Test for lectureship), which seems to have been designed with the express purpose of getting you down. Once you clear this, you generally join in an ad hoc capacity (how much this teaching experience counts especially if you are also doing a PhD alongside teaching is now highly ambiguous). Then begins the interminable wait for a permanent position and every year there are cuts in vacancies. This is attributed to the constantly changing syllabi, which does little else except reducing workload.
let’s presume you are the lucky one who after 10 years of ad hoc teaching gets into a college as a permanent faculty. You are then expected to teach a full workload, and contribute to the corporate life of the college. You are also expected, outside of your teaching duties (lecturing, tutoring, assessing, setting papers, evaluating university papers, invigilating etc), to publish books and articles, preferably refereed ones and present papers at conferences, preferably, international ones.
And aside from the study leave for PhD, you don’t get sabbaticals to do this, contrary to popular myth. Having done all of this, you are also subjected to the demands of a constantly changing (some would call it ‘evolving’) curriculum, which leaves little or no time to pursue research in areas of your interest.
Also, the ‘refresher and orientation’ courses, which you are expected to do and which is what passes in the name of teacher training, have nothing whatsoever to do with preparing you to teach. As for promotions, well, rarely are the interviews timely (and besides, if you are teaching in say a college, you don’t even get to be a Professor).
Not a very happy state of affairs and not one that reflects either the ‘power’ of teachers or the respect of society towards them. The plight of many teachers today undergoing the trauma of job uncertainty leads to job dissatisfaction, depression, and lack of interest, which the Government has also largely failed to address.
Resultantly, there is lack of mental satisfaction and happiness at the workplace. If there is no joy in teaching then what else is leftIJ There is criticism today about teachers who are not skilled enough and about those who are shirkers. Of course there are all kinds of teachers just as there are teachers who are principled, proficient and hardworking. There are no excuses for cheating or laziness in any profession and teachers too cannot be exempt from these charges. But do the powers that be ever bother to address the reasons that are responsible for making some teachers errant or unprincipledIJ Is it only because they lack morals or have poor ethical standardsIJ Or are there some deeper reasons which have been habitually ignoredIJ
With apologies to the Bard, only ‘some’ can achieve greatness in such a scenario. An obstacle race seems a better option than seeking employment as a teacher in a college! And having cleared all these hurdles, one is then expected to fit into the prototype of the ideal teacher with the qualities that were described earlier: Fortitude, courage, innovativeness, creativity and so on. Perhaps time has come to create a robot that fits the bill of the ideal teacher.
The fact of the matter is that now, more than ever before, in an increasingly globalised world you need good, indeed great, teachers, who can lead people in the right track, towards development and progress. You need teachers who will build glocal citizens; teachers who will lead you to the light at the end of the tunnel, be it towards self-development or national progress. You need teachers to foster balance in life and society. And for this, you need to give them more space.
More significantly, you need to get to the root of the problem and analyse what ails teaching and teachers today. You need to give them their due as gurus. Test them; don’t make it child’s play for them to take up this profession. But when they do, don’t quote platitudes about teachers or sing paeans in praise of great teachers. Help make their lives better too. You say you love and respect your teachers, show it more constructively.
The writer teaches English at Janki Devi Memorial College, Delhi University. The views expressed are personal