“TEACHING”- A NOBLE [?] PROFESSION

“TEACHING”- A NOBLE [?] PROFESSION

A well known saying accords the status of ‘Nobility’ to the teaching profession. People take delight at the thought of their being ‘teachers’ and that they are in pursuit of a noble profession.  I am at a loss to know how often teachers abide by the label of ‘nobility’ attached to this profession. Rarely does one come across a sample population of teachers who can be right away ‘claimants’ of nobility by sticking to norms and ethical criteria integral to a noble profession. It is fashionable to carry the label of discharging a noble profession, though it stands to both reason and scrutiny to ‘assess’ if there is anything noble about the profession per se? From this stand point, I wish to precisely make it clear of the gap between the profession’s functional ‘actual’ and the theoretical “ideal”. 

 Possibly the coinage “a noble profession” had its logical beginning when every other comparable domain of activity was far more lucrative, rewarding and free of the strings attached to the then ‘teaching profession’. A major string attached to teaching was the accountability of teachers to the success or otherwise of the wards left in their care. The then teachers took upon themselves the onus of ‘shaping’ the candidates’ ability as a learner; honestly, any wage provided to those teachers was a mere token recognition of employment than of any potential for that wage to satisfy the essential needs of the teacher and his dependents back home. Also, there were not many to stake claims for teaching assignments -both by virtue of essential qualification and by a ‘burning desire’ to be a teacher.

Knowing too well that they could very well fit into any other job description/ requirement, only personnel with insatiable desire to teach ‘opted’ to be teachers. In all,  it was a case of ‘settling for less’ for an  endeavour that has no end ever; for there is no true end to the game of teaching. So, teaching does not fit into the fetters of a frame to say “the job is done”. Only with all those restrictive strings, the then teachers willingly shouldered the responsibility to teach, driven more by their ‘passion to teach’ than for acquiring a fashionable title of ‘carrying out a noble profession’.  

Well, many may raise the argument “Is not teaching a ‘noble profession’?  In all fairness, it should be understood that the profession is not noble by its mere job description-“teaching”. Having lost several of the defining determinants of nobility, a slender opportunity exists to sustain the value of a ‘noble profession’.  The slender opportunity that I refer to for the present-day teachers relates to the observance of the following criteria while discharging, day-to-day functions as a teacher. 

These include                   1. Total dedication in discharging  of work           

2 Not to postpone offering any explanation relevant to promote learners’ comprehension.            

3 Ensuring that the matter transacted has truly percolated to every learner.             

4 Absolute neutrality in safe-guarding learner-interests [zero bias to caste, creed, gender, parental-wealth, language and interpersonal relationship]               

5.Sympathy to learners while ‘teaching’ a topic’.                                                     

 6 Avoidance of sympathy during evaluation of answer scripts.                                 

 7. Identical treatment of students of either gender.                                                   

8. OBSERVANCE of uniform code of conduct for teacher and students on items of punctuality / discipline on and off ‘class room’. 

These 8 cardinal principles if strictly adopted in work, Teaching would duly acquire the status of   A NOBLE PROFESSION, and not by the historic belief.   Any work that doesn’t seek any personal ‘return’ from any beneficiary is noble by itself -is my reckoning. If I am wrong, please pardon me.                                            Prof. K. Raman