Teachers should have a Passion for Teaching!

The teaching profession has always been labelled as a noble profession, and why not, it is a good teacher who is behind a successful engineer or a successful doctor! But then of late it has been observed that parents especially, and the society at large demand and expect more from teachers! In this age of advancement in science and technology, there has been a marked shift towards out-sourcing! Parents want their children to be in school all the time, it is as if they have lost patience with their children! The child’s first teachers are his parents, and if they don’t have patience for their children then how can one blame a teacher who has to look after many more students?

It goes without saying that the teaching profession is full of responsibilities and challenges! A good teacher has a Passion for teaching, he or she has a magnetism, an aura, a confidence which helps him tackle challenges and responsibilities without batting an eye-lid! He is a teacher with an immense reservoir of patience, and the grace to accept that he might have made a mistake! While a few decades earlier, you had young people opting for the teaching profession, today however, the opposite is true! I was surprised to see, while working in a school in Delhi, that the pupil-teachers who had been sent by their college for practice teaching were well above thirty years of age!It became clear on inquiring from them that teaching had become a last option after having failed to get across in various competitive exams. They had not been able to crack the Civil Services Exams, so they had decided to become teachers! Unfortunately, teaching had become a last resort profession for them! The frustration of having wasted so many years of life in competitions, and the knowledge that they had opted into a profession of teaching as a last resort would have undoubtedly robbed them of their passion for teaching!

When I went in for a screening for admission to the B.Ed.course from Delhi University in 1993, I had to face  very tough screening written tests and an even tougher interview. I remember that there was one test which attempted to test my aptitude for teaching, and a general awareness about the demands of the profession.Out of 15000 candidates, only 250 candidates got through! Today, things have changed. With the increasing demand for teachers, the number of Colleges of Teacher Education has increased and now even those without an aptitude for teaching are able to acquire a B.Ed. Degree! Today, even those without a passion for teaching are becoming teachers! As a last resort profession, teaching has become popular! I remember that everyday that I went to my Institute was exciting,we learned new things, dabbled in the Philosophy of teaching, went through the intricacies of Psychology, and tried to unravel the mysteries of Sociology! The first year I spent as a B.Ed. student, and the second year I spent as and M.Ed.students were perhaps the best years of my student life!

The training and nurturing of a future teacher in a good professional college help to bring out or stoke a passion for teaching! The M.Ed. programme included a thesis or a paper on one’s field of interest in Education. It was an exercise which tested one’s research and analytical skills to the limit! Throughout the B.Ed. programme, the candidates were taught analytical techniques, and the importance of action research! The collection of data, analysis of data, and the arrival at a conclusion were part of both the B.Ed. and M.Ed. programmes! Almost everyone of the 250 candidates selected for the B.Ed. programme had a passion for teaching! Today, it seems as if the passion for teaching is lacking in teachers because, they don’t have an aptitude for teaching and yet they are selected for the B.Ed.programme, they enter the programme at a later stage in life, and the programme pays lip service to the subjects in the programme!

It might be rightly argued that one is born into a profession, and that heredity plays an important role in crafting a teacher, but then can we overlook the role of environment or the role of nurture in creating a teacher with a passion for teaching? It is exactly in the area of providing a proper environment for nurturing a teacher that we are lacking today! The society too is to blame for valuing a profession according to the income earned. Thus a teaching profession is frowned upon because it is less paying, a teacher is anyways a, “Masterji”. Thus, it is that few teachers today have a passion for teaching, it is because they took up this profession out of necessity, and not out of popular choice, and of course, it is a less paying profession!

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Hyper-shopping and Mall-hopping in the NCR-Delhi

Mall mania came up in Gurgaon with a bang! The maximum number of Malls came up on M.G. Road Gurgaon. I remember Big Bazaar being touted as a mall which provided everything from clothes to electronics. Like all things which start with a bang and end up in a fizzle, the footfall in many malls began to peter away! Initially, the malls were thronged with people who were just curious about the whole concept. The ambiance of the Malls, the Glitz, the fashion parade, the packaged goods, the neon lights, the offers, and the air-conditioning might not have been a lasting attraction! One of the first malls to go was Arcus. Arcus sold hardware, kitchen items and electronics. I bought my whirpool Microwave from Arcus and got a hand-blender free! Arcus shifted to M.G.Road, but soon had to down shutters because they were not able to break even! A large number of malls cater to the discerning people who have the money to spend.These malls have outlets which sell imported watches, perfumes, clothes, and other accessories which few can afford.

When Gurgaon turned into the Millennium City of India, it was denuded of its green cover, lakes, forests, marshes, and ponds were quickly swallowed up by land-developers. Gone are the days when families went to Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary, or Damdama Lake. Today families go to the Malls on weekends. The advantage is that they can shop and then have food in the food courts.Added to all this is the fact that they don’t have to face power-cuts, the Air-Conditioning is always on, and they can do lots of window shopping gloat over the latest gadgets, jewellery, and clothes. The Malls become an even greater magnet during festivals. You get “discounts,” offers and what not! The concept of Hyper Markets or Hyper-Marketing means that  means that you get all things under the same roof and you get discounts on every item (forget the parking fees). Families prefer going to the Malls on weekends so that they can have an outing and then buy provisions for the whole week. When you buy things in bulk, then it means you would be saving on expenses! Some retail outlets offer loyalty bonus programmes so each time you shop you win loyalty bonus points! Becoming a loyal member means that you also get special offers and you get to know about new products on phone or E-mail.

One can’t blame the Mall-Goer for being an obsessive-compulsive window shopper because, finally, there is no where else to go on a week-end! Added to this you have activities for everyone in the family! The Reliance Times Out outlet in Ambiance Mall has special reading activities for young readers, famous writers visit the Bookstore for launching their books, and then, there are competitions for writers and poets! Some Malls have come op with ingenuous ideas like bungee jumping, bowling, and batting! Would it be wrong to state that a visit to the Mall offers you a complete package of entertainment! Those who are interested can go to watch a movie at a PVR, or they can go to the food court to have Thai- Khao-Phad Nam Prik Pao or the more humble South Indian Sambhar Vada!

Recently when I visited Gurgaon, I accompanied my family to another new Mall on M.G.Road which had a newly opened Hyper-Market store which offered everything from LCD/LED T.Vs. to Laptops, FMCGs.,food stuff, and most surprising of all, they had Turkey, Rabbit and what not in the Meat section! The Fish was tastefully arranged and I couldn’t resist taking a snap!

While moving around in the lobby of yet another Mall, I couldn’t resist taking a snap of a display of a Diwali Scene. I took one snap from a great height and the other from Eye-Level:

As I said earlier, today’s Malls have everything on sale, be it clothes, jewellery, electronics, food, or even cars!

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Education - A Paradox !

The introduction of the Right to Education was a landmark decision passed by the Government of India  It is an affirmation that Education is an important tool for empowerment, and, if we want to empower the weaker sections of the society, the underprivileged, and the downtrodden, then we must provide them Education. To Educate, means to enlighten. To educate means to dispel the darkness of ignorance! Education, thus means spreading the light of knowledge and an understanding of the meaning of existence!

In today’s context Education has however become a paradox, an antithesis, a study in contrasts! On the one hand we have a surfeit of information, and on the other hand, you have a dearth of information. In a developing country like India, we have a great divide between the rural areas and the urban areas. Thus students in interiors and rural areas may be deprived of information while their cousins in the urban cities have access to all kinds of information. Now what concerns most Educationists is if this surfeit of information might not be after all white noise, something which is useless and not better than no information at all!

The moot question is, what happens when you are bombarded by excess  information you can’t use? Does it further Education? Information is of use only as long as you can use it! The advent of the Electronic Media,and the availability of  the internet has meant that everyone is bombarded with information such that there is a paradigm shift from no information to excess information! The usage of “lol” in chat sessions is popular, but few know its meaning!

As a contrast, children in rural areas lack proper  text-books, reference books, and face frequent power cuts. The challenge before the ideal educationist is to strike a proper balance between no information and excess information. When a child has to spend hours walking or traveling to school, he has no time for studies, or perhaps even time to surf the net! Amazingly students from rural areas are known to do very well in competitions and, some even top the Civil Service Exams later on!

While the  the right to education re-affirms the right to primary Education, the student-teacher ratio set by the bill is unrealistic. The ratio of one teacher to every 30 students is difficult to maintain. While you have overcrowding of class rooms in urban areas, you have empty class rooms in rural schools. In fact, ghost attendances of students are maintained because the teacher doesn’t want to become surplus and be transferred to another village!

According to W.E.Du Bois, “Education is that whole system of human training within and without the school house walls, which molds and develops men”. Thus it is clear that  Education is human training and it starts within the four walls of the school and goes beyond it. In the words of Marva Collins  "Once children learn how to learn, nothing is going to narrow their mind. The essence of teaching is to make learning contagious, to have one idea spark another." It is that quantum leap in understanding, the ability to ignite a flame, a contagion that leads to the education of young minds, and this is possible when you have a teacher who is able to balance between no information and excess information and able to further proceed to ignite young minds. The words, spark, and ignite sum up the meaning of Education as a process which enlightens, or lights up the darkness of ignorance. 

In the age of Information Technology, we have what is called as an information overload. Students resort to cramming and rote memorization of information, data, facts and figures which they remember till the exam and then soon forget! In the words of William Feather,"In education it isn't how much you have committed to memory or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you do know and what you don't. It's knowing where to go to find out what you need to know and it's knowing how to use the information you get." Education therefore is not about cramming or committing to memory, rather it is the ability to discern between what you know and what you do not know! It is about knowing where to find relevant information, Education is about research, it is about curiosity, curiosity which has been ignited by an enlightened educationist! Education is about letting the child be, giving him or her the chance to do something instead of spoon-feeding him or her! Unfortunately, in the words of John Gardner, "Much education today is monumentally ineffective. All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants." Today instead of learning by doing, we have learning by cramming. Thus you have all sorts of help books, guides, and refreshers from which our students cram before exams! Today, Education is not based on learning of principles, understanding of problems, it is not based on the problem-solving approach, it is not based on inspiration, and it is not based on divergent thinking! We don’t like students who think differently. It is a human tendency to conform to the run of the mill, to conform to popular opinions, and beliefs. Conversely, we discourage different thinkers and force them to conform to what we think! In the words of Linda Conway, "It is not what is poured into a student that counts but what is planted " that matters. The Educationist plants the seeds of inspiration and curiosity in  the minds of his students.

Perhaps the greatest role of Education is to make children learn to fend for themselves, to be self dependent, confident and work as if the teacher was not around! According to Maria Montessori, "The greatest sign of a success for a teacher...is to be able to say, "The children are now working as if I did not exist." Thus Education means leading the learner to the threshold of enlightenment, but not carrying him or her into enlightenment. It takes place when the teacher puts aside his ego, and lets the child be, learn for himself. It is about the self-effacement of the teacher! "Ideal teachers are those who use themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross, then having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create bridges of their own." -- Nikos Kazantzakis

 

 

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Celebration of Patronal Day in The C.N.I. Church, (City) Ambala

Today, on the 2nd. of October, 2011, The C.N.I.  Church, (City) Ambala celebrated its Patronal Day. Ten boys and girls were also confirmed by The Rt.Revd.Sunil Singh, Bishop of the Diocese of Delhi. There was lunch after the programme. The Presbyter In Charge, Revd.Sudhir Rumal Shah also told me that it was the 145th. birthday of the church, and that the Foundation stone of the Church was laid in 1856, and the Consecration took place in 1866. The Mass was conducted by the Rt. Revd.Sunil Singh, The Bishop of The Diocese of Delhi, and he was assisted by the Presbyter In Charge, Revd.Sudhir and Deacon Amit Singh.

The Church was nicely decked up for the occasion, and there was a festive atmosphere throughout. The Rt. Revd. Bishop Sunil Singh, addressed the gathering in a thought provoking sermon which was interspersed with some rather interesting anecdotes! He spoke about how Ambala has always been dear to him since he started his ministry from Haryana. He delivered Greetings on behalf of the Diocese of Delhi and spoke about some of the future plans of the Diocese. He reminded the congregation that The Church of North India is such a large organisation which has under it  no less than 27 Dioceses, and that we should be proud of being part of it! The Rt. Revd. Bishop of Delhi spoke about the forthcoming Synod Programme, the selection and welcome of the  of the new Moderator. He further spoke about the forthcoming Ekta Utsav which will be held in Delhi in December, the Missionary work being conducted by the Diocese of Delhi under the Mission and Evangelism programme.

In his sermon, The Rt.Revd.Bishop Sunil Singh, reminded all those who had come for the Confirmation and the rest of the Congregation about the meaning of Confirmation, the need to grow in Faith, and how this is possible only when you look at yourself and use the word of The Lord as a Mirror. He spoke about the need to carry the Bible at all times since it provides food for the soul! He reminded all those present that Faith comes from listening  and hearing the message given by The Bible.

The performance by the Youth Choir was absolutely amazing. They had the congregation tapping in tune to the lively numbers being played by them!

And the snaps given below are of finer, and lighter moments of the occasion:

 

                            

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Unique shapes in Coins

Coins generally come in round shapes, but then there are coins which come in all geometrical shapes. Square coins with rounded corners have a unique feel to them. Coins with serrated edges have a very strong tactile feel, coins in the shape of hexagons, octagons are distinct from the rounded cousins! One will also come across coins which have a missing centre! There are various justifications for having coins which have different shapes. One important reason is that the designers wanted the coins to have a unique feel so that a person could easily identify the coin and its denomination. Differently abled people would also be able to identify the coin easily. Aesthetics also plays an important role in the designing of a coin. During times of shortage, the centre  of the coin was removed. Perhaps this would explain why some coins belonging to  the early forties had a hole in the centre! Perhaps this drastic step was taken due to a shortage of copper during the second world war! I have pasted below some photographs of coins with unique shapes:

                       

This Ethiopian 25 cents coin has a unique serrated edge which makes it easier to identify through touch, even in the dark! Moreover it has a unique aesthetic appearance!

                          

This Indian coin coming at the end of the Second World War doesn’t have a centre! This could have been the result of shortage of Copper. It has a unique beauty to it and lots of tactile feel, but then who would like to have coin without a centre, I guess a doughnut would be o.k.!

                        

This Indian coin has eight corners. This was  a design that was to be the accepted pattern of the ten paisa coin for years to come! It has a great tactile feel, and aesthetic beauty!

                                     

This Five cents Canadian coin has no less than twelve corners…or did I count them wrong? The corners are so many, the coin so small that the coin feels round. Could it be a design flaw? The badger on the coin covers up for everything I guess!

                                  
This three paisa coin is in the shape of a hexagon! It has a unique feel to it, and aesthetic beauty.

It is clear that there is however more to the shape of the coin than just aesthetics. Coins are made unique so that they have a tactile feel to them so that you don’t end up giving more than you wanted. The shape of the coin also points out to the economic condition of the country at the time of minting!

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