“Education is not about filling a vessel, but kindling a flame”, urged the great Philosopher Socrates.
This has been my belief since as long as I can remember.
It is important for a teacher to encourage children in widening their imagination, thinking and creativity rather than focusing on turning them into a knowledgeable adult through learning of facts. The sole aim of a teacher is not to focus on curriculum completion for their students. A teacher’s role is much more than just following the curriculum, completing the syllabus and being a curriculum specialist. Teachers are leaders who are catalyst for change in each individual child’s life in the classroom. This brings to mind a popular book Divasvapna by Gijubhai Badeka. The author Gijubhai Badeka was strongly against the kind of school whose sole aim was to teach and guide students with the final objective to overcome a test at the end of the year called the “examination”. The book stresses on the importance of establishing rapport with students before beginning any teaching. The tools used by the teacher for teaching – Storytelling, Games, Library building and Model readings made children don’t run away from him. They love and respect him unlike the students of teachers of other classes. Building a healthy rapport with students can effectively influence all important areas of teaching like classroom management, handling difficult behavior in students, academic progress, and freedom to express and so on. When you form a bond with your students and believe in them by inculcating “I CAN” in their belief system, the students will automatically feel connected to you.
Written by Namrita Singh, Parwarish Institute of Parenting
