Recently, I have seen a picture doing its rounds on face book- The one that features Amir Khan and Darsheel Safary. Ram and Ishan: the ideal teacher and his student from Taare Zameen Par. The photograph is circulated with a caption “We want more teachers like him” I do not want to douse any revolutionary spirit but it pretty much sounds like someone uploading Thomas More’s Utopia and saying that we need more countries like this.
Inspired by Michelle Pfeiffer in Dangerous minds, I too, once visualized myself as the next blessing to the youth. As an effective teacher, I should have my objectives in place: long term and short term goals. My lesson plans should draw up a clear pattern of methods, aids and strategies to be used for reaching those goals. I should outline my methods of differentiation as to increase the efficiency of the learning process. I should be vibrant in class and should realize the psychological and physiological growth and needs of the students. I should be a motivator, a leader and a facilitator. A teacher, a counsellor, a parent and a friend. Now this works well, as long as it remains in theory.
But we all know, irrespective of our type of trade that the theories we have learnt as a part of our professional course do not work well once we step into the arena. The class rooms were nothing like I imagined it to be. They were over crowded with a minimum of 35 children that sometimes went to a shocking number of 50. In this classroom, where students fight for their fair share of oxygen, the teacher needs to teach, accomplish the academic goal and of course mentor, motivate and encourage the learners as well within a limited time weighed down by a heavy curriculum. What a teacher faces are not just physical barriers like space, class strength or other hurdles but physiological and psychological barriers of 35 different students or more. It can still work if the group presented to me is homogeneous – a group of equal mental, physical and psychological capabilities. But this is never the case as each child is unique and the capabilities vary in a scale from 0 to 100. A child who does well in academics might not perform well when it comes to a real life situation and vice versa. Here comes the need for differentiation that every qualified teacher is aware of. Differentiation demands varying the curriculum, the methods of teaching and the ways of testing according to the level of a student. This will be possible in a class with a much lower strength which will allow the teachers to evaluate the multiple intelligence of a child and work accordingly. But when the strength goes above 30, she is forced to adopt a way of transaction that suits the majority.
Of course extra help is given to those who need it. But what about those children crippled by learning disabilities? What about the ADD, ADHD, Autism and various other problems? It is easy to hold up the image of Ram and say that teachers need to work like him.We all want to make a change but for this the attitude of the general public and parents need to change as well.
Now, in our country, education is one of the least respected degrees and the low pay forces the good teachers to go abroad or even migrate to other jobs that pay better. It is a sad and true fact that mediocre and sometimes unqualified teachers are chosen to teach in private schools without any kind of discretion. This leads to a lower level of professionalism and most of the time these teachers do not even understand the various psychological problems, cannot handle them and end up harassing the children in class. There are no psychological counsellors or sections to handle children with special needs. The special needs sections even if they exist, employs regular teachers and not those who are qualified as educators for special needs.
In our school, when we identify children with special needs, we try to get in touch with the parents and advise them on moving the child to a special need school. Many of the parents find this offensive and do not want to do it. The result is that the child stays in a classroom that drains out his confidence. When a child with major disability(I am not talking about slow learners who can benefit from extra help at a regular school) stays in a regular group, it is not always easy for him. Even the below average will perform far better than him. The mood shifts, the break downs and various other psychological problems will drag him into the wrong spotlight. There is very less a teacher can do for him especially with the overpowering strength of a class. The group he is in will make him feel insignificant and this can lead to an inferiority complex. If he is in a special school, the students will be much less, the teachers qualified to take care of such children and they will not feel diffident. He will make progress here and learn much more and develop his faculties. His talents will be developed with respect to that specific intelligence he is good in while a regular school will make him rot.
If you want teachers like Ram, then you need to react and respond against the commercialisation of education that sees the scene in terms of profit.
We need qualified teachers, not just fillers. There should be regulations on class strength Periodical review of curriculum should ensure that the curriculum is life oriented and not just exam oriented. An education that focuses on practical knowledge than theoretical knowledge is what we should aim for. The salaries at private schools are horrible that talented teachers leave the profession. Revise it. Every school, even regular schools should have special education teachers for children with special needs. Shadow teachers have to be introduced to the Indian scenario. Psychological counsellors should be present in every school. Laws against corporal punishments and harassments should be strong. Inspections should be regular and strict actions should be taken for those schools who do not meet the requirements.
But don’t blame the Government either. In our country, teaching is not a real or respected career. This forces most of the toppers to avoid this field. We; Indians only know two jobs – Engineering and Medicine. But we do not leave our children all through their formative years with a doctor or an engineer but a teacher. Remember that the child spends a good part of his life in school. This is where he learns his life from; this is where he discovers himself and is moulded. He is damp clay in a teacher’s hands. What he becomes depends on how they mould him. Now tell me, isn’t it scary that you leave your child with an unqualified person who judges your child by the numbers on the paper and not by the factors of his multiple intelligence?
