Suppose, you ask a student to do a job quickly within a time
frame which demands ingenuity; shower him with praise unhesitatingly when he
completes it. On the other hand, if he fails, guide him in a manner as if he
feels that the accomplishment is his. The spirit of love and to excel is
imbibed in students only in this way. This also nourishes his quest for
knowledge, the genesis of love start on one hand with the urge to know; the
root cause on the other hand, call it love, respect or even worship for the
subject, is also the same quest for knowledge. For nurturing this urge,
students are to be kept in the realm of applied and pragmatic world. Do not
make them prisoners of books only. Again, say, you ask a student to get
information on a particular thing. When he is back with the information, ask
repeatedly every conceivable, consequential and relevant detail concerning the
subject especially on the points he had not enquired. Request him to get these
once more and then elicit essential details to see that nothing else on these
is required to be known. Ensure that he appreciate the necessity and meaning of
your repeated questioning and their practical relevance to the subject. Take up
topics one by one and expose him to these in similar fashion so that his
thoughts, knowledge and deeds crystallize only after perceiving whatever is to
be known, thought of or done regarding these subjects. Engross him in work to
fashion his responses to inspire and instill confidence in his ability so as to
modulate his performance without any blemish and with total endeavor and
comprehensions. By and by a habit forming knack would be forms in shape and
broaden horizons of his behavioral pattern of perception.
If the teacher thinks and acts in a half baked manner without
the urge or clarity of thought, sharpness of feelings, without an eye on
overall perspectives, without making any distinction between any good and bad,
merits and demerits, without grasping topical relevance with other related and
allied matters and if such a teacher is happy to be and to create a book worm,
then it is certain that nurturing of urge and creativity which are so much
necessary and vital for students, would be a far cry. The more practical
oriented you are, the more would you feel the necessity for the creative urge.
By educated persons, I mean persons who are doers. They are
indomitable wherever they happen to be even under critical and adverse
circumstances. Prime requisites for this are intelligence, quest for knowledge
and exercise of will power. Deploy men according to their characteristic
qualities, aptitude and expertise. Arouse in them a frenzied determination to
succeed even in never environments and with greater responsibilities.
A teacher must have at his fingertips all the knowledge and
repertoire of experiences to be able to delve in it when required. He ahs to be
given tasks where he has to apply his experience to face unknown situations
with the help of common sense. Unknown transformed and brought into the world
of known in this way. This is the basic tenet of education. Manipulative
adjustments and control is its key. Human relations are its greatest concern.
But, are we imparting education in a sense that brings into being a better
perception and control of human relations to help develop the being and becoming?
Education is totally futile and sterile if it does not lead to flowering of
these qualities.
Suppose, one of your boys
is in a very bitter and sulky mood and you enthuse another boy with the task of
putting him back to his happy self with words of encouragement like “Oh, surely
you can do it by your charming personality. He would hardly be able to resist
you beyond five minutes. “Hurry and go this instant please”. Such gentle and
elating approach would elevate the spirit of goodness, will to excel and
strength of character to a new high. Because to achieve the desired end, the
boy has to plan how to initiate the dialogue to derive maximum mileage, how to
soften his voice, how to control exterior expression, and above all how to find
a way to reach his heart by sweet and charming countenance? These are easier
said than done and would never be a mean achievement. This way, you would open
a door for him to acquire and develop expertise in a wide variety of
activities. Use different techniques for different persons. You would notice
then that it is not necessary to cry hoarse to bring about this awareness and
urge for excellence. It would come spontaneously as a natural sequel with a
loving affection for the job.
Necessity is the mother of invention and so keeps the boys as
also you always in need of these necessities with spontaneous, clear,
Ista-fulfilling and intoxicating divine urge. This would ease matters
immensely. Do not make education a lifeless bore within the confine of pen,
paper and books. Education extends to entire gamut of our existence from
beginning to end transcending class room to world room. A teacher should have
an overview of everything and should keep himself in constant endeavor and
stage of preparedness. Then only his teachings would have a meaningful impact
on students in their preparation to face challenges of life. Education then
becomes lively and acquires a dynamic vitality. Sometimes you have to put
questions in a very general way to help develop student’s quest for the subject.
On the other hand, whenever problems and questions are posed by the students,
their answers should invariably be clear and within their grasp and
understanding.
I asked in a mathematics class. “How can one and another one
make them two? Rather there can be two ones. Two exactly similar and identical
objects are not seen in this world. All have characteristics of their own and
distinct entities”. May be I could not put it across to the teacher clearly as
I put it to you now. Any how I did as I could then in a way known to me. But
the teacher on hearing this beat me cruelly and mercilessly almost flattening
me to the ground. I could not fathom what was my fault nor why did I deserve
such terrible beating. This caused a fear psychosis for mathematics in me and I
gave up learning mathematics since then. I cite this to emphasis that a teacher
should not have ill-feeling towards students. Love generates urge whereas wrath
completely negates it. A teacher should be research-oriented and then only he
would appreciate the significance of knowledge seeking questions posed by the
students. He should never show his wrath even if he cannot answers questions
straightway. A teacher is completely unsuitable if at heart he is not a student
and thinks and acts like one.
Affection for the teachers brings success that much quicker.
Conduct of the teacher should at the same time match it to generate such love.
A teacher should love but should always maintain honorable distance from the
students. Students should perceive him as the embodiment of simplicity,
dynamism and vitality as also one with a loving affection for ista. The teacher
should be able to appreciate what the boys want, what gives them the fillip to
do a job, how much eager the students are or even their competency and then
only he would be in a position to involve students in tasks. Such hallmark of
character would invariably attract students and they would be mad to please the
teacher. A hue as brilliant as this in the character of the teacher would also
generate a tendency in students to attempt completion of jobs entrusted to them
quickly in order to please and attract attention of the teacher. A sharper mind
with ability to take spot decisions would then be born. -Sri Sri Thakur
(Translation by=Shri
A.K.Maitra)
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