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Mrs. Olga Ghosh
THE ROLE OF THE
EDUCATOR IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY
future! The great Alexander of Macedonia has himself acknowledged, "I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well."
All educators should cater to the need of society. They are the arbiters of social change and in today's complex world the role of the educator is a multifarious one. In a world of shifting loyality he must strive to instil a sense of values in the children. As the best way of inculcating values and morals in young minds is by practising them oneself. The educator has to be very disciplined, and like Caesar's wife, be above reproach ! He or she must play an active role in moderating the syllabus of study so that it helps and does not hinder the growth and development of the child. Neither should this growth be one dimensional nor geared only towards material benefits. No one could have expressed the role of the educator better than the apostle of scientific knowledge in the 20th Century; Albert Einstein says, "It is essential that the student acquires an understanding of and a lively feeling for values. He must acquire a vivid sense of the beautiful and of the morally good. Otherwise he with his specialized knowledge-more closely resembles a welltrained dog than a harmoniously developed person."
The efforts of the educator therefore should be towards producing intelligent, aware, creative, enthusiastic, tolerant, well-informed and well-behaved students with a sense of culture and of values. Only then can be laid the foundations of a free, rational, democratic and secular world order. The educator's role in the task of nation building is of paramount importance. The health and welfare of a nation is determined by the health of its people and to develop a healthy attitude in people is the role of the educator, for the child is the father of man. In order to fulfil his role of guiding, directing and educating, the teacher-educator must be imaginative, encouraging, of sound moral character, free from superstitions and biases, honest, inspiring, articulate, caring, original and impartial. He must be aware of the social changes that are taking place all over the world, must open himself to correction and be able to motivate his pupils to work towards the betterment of both the underprivileged sections of society and of the environment. This apparently is a tall order but one that can be realized if one takes the task of educating to be a vocation and not a profession and if one approaches one's duties and responsibilities in a spirit of humanism.
(Guru Brahmah, Guru Vishnuh, Gurudeva Maheshwarah, Guru Hi Sakshat Parabrahmah, tasmay Shri Guruvay namah.)
This ancient Sanskrit shloka very beautifully expresses the position of the teacher or the Guru in our society. He is placed above all the gods in the Hindu Trinity for it is he who enables the child to perceive the divine. And hidden in this shloka is an eternal truth, that the Guru or the teacher, or, if one wishes to use a more grandiloquent term, the educator is the guide and the pathfinder, who helps the child in his or her quest for beauty and truth.
Modern society is a complex one, one that seems to be constantly in a state of flux; and if the adult with his wisdom and maturity often finds himself floundering in the choppy seas of life, one can well imagine the condition of the child! He is confused, frightened, insecure and yet the future of mankind rests on his tiny, frail shoulder! What an onerous responsibility for one so young and what a mammoth task it is for the modern educator to rid the pupil of his fears and complexes and prepare him for the
हीरक जयन्ती स्मारिका
विद्यालय खण्ड / १४
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