What makes a good teacher

I feel the need to pen my thoughts particularly in the times when every single transgression of the teachers makes headlines and there are not many people who praise those selfless lots who actually form the majority.

My first child changed 10 schools and my second nine before they successfully completed their school education. They studied in many places across India and abroad. Except for a small minority of the teachers who appeared to be caught in the wrong job, I feel that they did a remarkable job as far as my children’s schooling was concerned.

I remember my daughter coming home in tears when she was in first standard stating that her teacher was ignoring her.  We had moved in from Mumbai to Bangalore. I visited the school and I am ever grateful for not taking a confrontational stance. I learnt that the good lady was trying to break my daughter’s habit of insisting on conversing in Hindi.

She told me that the language was alienating her from the rest of her class. I was thankful that my child had a teacher who was genuinely concerned about the psyche of the young child. The teacher was right! My daughter picked up English in no time.

Exclusivity

Teachers are also human. This aspect is conveniently forgotten by the parents who are so much in love with their child and their skill in psycho parenting that they forget that their child is not the only one in the class. I know of so many parents who are waiting with bated breath to hear if their child has been spanked so that they can take up the issues with the school.

Not a single academic year passed by without me being ‘sent for’ by my son’s teachers!  Invariably, I found that my son was, to a large extent, at fault for being hyperactive. I also found that the teachers never held that against my son and continued being supportive, nor did they stop acknowledging me! The need to make a difference was present in most teachers. They genuinely cared for my son’s progress.

I do not subscribe to corporal punishment but there is definitely no harm in a spank or two when the going gets tough.  A few parents conveniently forget that they too get impatient with their children and I don’t think there are many out there who can honestly say that they haven’t spanked their kids.  Then what makes them feel that teachers have no right to do so?

Most teachers know from experience what makes a child tick. They may be sarcastic, tender, harsh or loving to suit the situation. It is humanly impossible to keep smiling or only using encouraging words at all times like in advertisements and also it does not necessarily work every time.

A good teacher is one who alternates between being tender and strict. The teacher’s approach may fail, but that does not necessarily mean that the teacher is not a good professional.

Teachers also must take care to develop their sense of humour if they need respect from their wards. They also should exercise sufficient caution in dealing with those children to whom they have softer spot than others. Any kind of partiality should be consciously avoided by them if they are to be respected by the students.

Teachers like mothers are rarely appreciated. The most depressing aspect is the fact that teaching is hardly in the list of career choices amongst youngsters! I am afraid that with so much hostility shown against this profession, the need for home schooling will not be a farfetched option. It is not only parents and media but also the non-teaching management that does not appreciate what goes into the making of a teacher.

Many people look at teaching professionals as someone who chose that particular career as a last resort, or worse still to pass away their time! Surprisingly, all the good teachers would vouch by the job satisfaction they get. No other job deals so much with such young mind and keeps professionals on toes.