TEACHER –SOME MISCONCEPTIONS

 

TEACHER –SOME MISCONCEPTIONS

Quite a few notions pervade among people about teachers. Despite so much exposure to the process of education, still the name ‘TEACHER‘, is swiftly associated with feminine gender. If a male member tells the people that he is a teacher only 30% understand and the rest have mixed feelings about his gender. This is just a peripheral issue; there are far more important items to consider.

NOTION -2

The general faith is that ‘teacher knows everything’; [S]he need not learn anything now, having already mastered everything. How I wish it is true! Sadly, teachers are also caught in the labyrinth of personal problems including the items of health, children recalcitrant in learning and yet teachers  keep obeying several bosses at the same time. One clan of the bosses is the bunch of students in every class. Unlike what [s] he appears to be, a teacher is more a servant than a boss most of the time. 

NOTION-3

A teacher in public perception is the incarnation of Goddess Saraswathy so, parents believe that [s]he can readily correct the deficiencies in the mental skills of their children. Often they would say “if you help, this boy will be alright in just three days on all frontiers English, Algebra, Trigonometry and world history. [The parent does not know the child’s score in other subjects].

NOTION- 4

All is well with my child. Something is wrong in his/ her class. The teacher clearly knows that the very source of indiscipline is that boy in that class. By their very nature and training teachers do not demoralize students or their parents unless it is absolutely essential to alert the Principal or the parent. Several parents right away throw up a defending claim in a deafening voice “my child is next only to the most ideal; the school ambience is not helpful and I cannot believe of what is being said of him”. With none to rescue the teacher from the rut of ignominy from uneducated and unwilling to learn parents, teachers simply keep off. They stick to the norms of teaching and cannot stand harassment by learners and their parents who believe that their political connections would help them to tide over administrative restrictions. Pampered persons can NEVER PROSPER IN LIFE.

NOTION-5

Teacher is omnipotent so far as awarding of marks is concerned. As and when a student fails to score well, the common conclusion is “the teacher has not duly weighed the answers and has unilaterally stifled the prospect of good score. [I do not deny the occurrence of discriminate awarding of marks by some teachers; often some of them resort to awarding hefty scores to buy peace with students and to hide their inadequacy as a teacher].Such aberrant teachers render the system weak and the institution is prone to achieve the dubious distinction of partisan attitudes. No honest teacher deems it fit to settle scores with students by denying the marks ‘due’ for any answer. ALSO, I CHOOSE TO INFORM GENERAL PUBLIC that there are enough checks and balances in the evaluation methodology. If complaints are lodged, a thorough probe will be conducted. Please be informed that the system would not come to the rescue of the teachers and hush up things. You know from your life that honest people have more enemies than the dishonest ones and so the honest teacher would be always under the vigil of all others who are keen to destroy the person as they cannot compete with his/ her competence.

It is with the plethora of such wrong notions that honest teachers manage to survive not because they know nothing else but because they cherish teaching.   

Prof. K. Raman