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TULSI PRAJNA
teachers who have affected us the most, who have inspired us, we would find that each one of them had some particularly human qualities, not necessarily assets like warmth and humour, but small indications of human frailty; each of these had a love of learning and immense love for his/her pupils, each one of them seemed human enough to be trusted, emulated or followed.
According to Highet, teaching is essentially an affair of the heart because
"Teaching is not like including a chemical reaction: is much more like painting a picture or making a piece of music, or on a lower level like planting a garden or writing a friendly letter. You must throw your heart into it - you must realize that is cannot all be done by formulas. or you will spoil your work, and your pupils and yourself."
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Most teachers feel that on the one hand. Gilbert Highet holds up the ideal of eating grass and growing far to which teachers are expected to conform and on the other hand it is forgotten that teachers are just as human as everybody else; they have a family to maintain, children to be educated and a minimum standard of living to attain life. Teachers expect to receive a salary not less than that received by persons of equivalent intelligence and qualifications engaged in other professions or occupations. It is a truism that our society does not value teachers in positions of great responsibility-financially or in terms of social prestige. The Principal of a senior secondary school with upto 3000 students on rolls is paid much less than what a moderately successful businesssman earns. This Principal guides a team of 30-70 teachers. postgraduates as well as graduates. He functions as the leader of the team. If we compare his salary with that of other team leaders, e.g., a company director, a high ranking civil servant, a medical specialist or a successful lawyer. the teacher is in a vastly inferior position. Besides, the teaching profession is not associated with the 'extras' that sweeten the salaries of other profession. So far as the social status is concerned, most middle class families, if given a chance. do not want their sons to become teachers, even when they want their daughters to become teachers, it is because of the myth that it is a relatively soft job with lots of free time to attend to the family. These are the ground realities and how one wishes these were otherwise. To the question "Are we as a nation investing enough on our teachers"? the answer is an emphatic 'No'. And yet the importance of a good teacher remains undisputed. I am reminded of the comment of a British headmaster:
"I must insist that one good teacher (that rare thing!) is worth ten good syllabuses. And if thousand of pages have been devoted to this subject for every ten on syllabuses so much the better for this way lies salvation".
But then teaching has more than material side to it. And it must be January-March 1993
Jain Education International
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| SR No. | 524573 |
| Book Title | Tulsi Prajna 1993 01 |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Parmeshwar Solanki |
| Publisher | Jain Vishva Bharati |
| Publication Year | 1993 |
| Total Pages | 156 |
| Language | Hindi |
| Classification | Magazine, India_Tulsi Prajna, & India |
| File Size | 9 MB |