The modern notion of making ‘teaching – learning’ competitive has brought more hazards than benefits. Both as a student and as a teacher, I have always felt and observed that so –called ‘competitive edge’ has changed the outlook of teachers / students and academic institutes on education. We tend to forget that the ultimate goal of education is not ‘information’ but ‘wisdom’. In my short career as a lecturer in a commerce college and two semesters in an engineering college, I have observed that students have forgotten the importance of creativity, innovativeness and originality and teachers also harp on the same notes. Competency of a student is more often than not determined by the performance in the exams. Competency of a teacher is also judged by the research output and the publication.
There is no denying that the industry and people want capable human beings in order to gain handsome profit. But can ‘performance’ be the only / main benchmark? A country, for instance, comes up with a record breaking production of goods and earns lot of profit, but when the goods are tested by standard quality tests, they are proved to be hazardous to health. The country may be gaining revenue, but is losing credibility and respect.
In the same way, an academic institute of repute may produce students with knowledge and information in abundance but if ‘honesty’ and ‘wisdom’ are not involved in the process of teaching – learning, ultimately that knowledge would be hollow and without conviction. I feel strongly that the concept of distance –education or intranet lacks vital characteristic of true education i.e. ‘making all stakeholders true human beings.’
I as a teacher, and as a human being feel that ‘honesty’ or ‘wisdom’ are nurtured if only ‘creativity’ and ‘originality’ are given more emphasis in teaching – learning process. I know that being a literature / language teacher I can shout this at the top of my voice to which other teachers belonging to other disciplines may frown saying that there is little / no scope for creativity in their subjects. A teacher of grammar may say, for an instance that rules are rules. Can a teacher or a student change / modify rules on the veiled pretext of ‘originality’? My answer would be –An absolute idea should lead to relative quest of truth. Language is only an instrument; ‘wisdom’ is the ultimate goal. Famous poet Walt Whitman addressed this to scientists:
I accept Reality and dare not question it,
Materialism first and last imbuing.
Hurrah for positive science! long live exact demonstration!
Fetch stonecrop mixt with cedar and branches of lilac,
This is the lexicographer, this the chemist, this made a grammar of
the old cartouches,
These mariners put the ship through dangerous unknown seas.
This is the geologist, this works with the scalper, and this is a
mathematician.
Gentlemen, to you the first honors always!
Your facts are useful, and yet they are not my dwelling,
I but enter by them to an area of my dwelling.
The ultimate goal of education is to make students good human beings. A doctor may be a skilled person, but if the same doctor is not an amiable person and may stop an urgent surgery for the sake of money – the medical college which produced that doctor fails; a geologist or a petroleum engineer may have come out of an academic institute scoring 10 out of 10 GPAs, but if that same geologist or a petroleum engineer considers the earth as only the means of possessing natural resources – the system fails. The reason why the ecological danger is threatening the world is only the reason of this greed. Information may be passed on to an individual but wisdom springs from within. All academic institutes and all teachers should encourage creative ideas and should evaluate students on the principles they possess.
I have heard students talking about placement prospects and their financial expectations are understandable. After rigorous study and costly education they justifiably expect a good reward. They talk of monthly income in six digits. All around me, I listen words like ‘entrepreneurship’, ‘bucks’, ‘global opportunities’ etc. I have also heard faculty speculating on the sixth pay commission features and comparing packages of different educational institutes. I get disappointed when I don’t listen to words like ‘responsibility’, ‘civic sense’, ‘tolerance’, ‘national duty’. Who will instill all these ideas in the minds of young people? Parents are eager to see their children at the top. They watch ‘Tare Jameen Par’ and long for ideal teachers for their children, faculty would blow trumpet on stale age old proverb ‘one can take the horse to the water, but one can not compel it to drink the water’, in between the real purpose of education is lost.
I believe that the first job of a teacher in an age of internet flooding is to explain to students the importance of having ‘creative ideas’. Borrowed ideas can increase knowledge – not wisdom. Plagiarism must be explained to students elaborately and they must be persuaded to stop it even if their grades suffer. Students when they know that the teacher loves them irrespective of their grades will try to stand true in the eyes of the teacher and that is why I believe, education suffers when institutes are flooded with students. Creativity can be encouraged only if the students are in limited numbers.
Knowing the abilities of the students and putting them to constructive use is the duty of each teacher. I try to understand the personality of my students which is crucial for establishing good rapport in the class. Even when taking attendance, names create healthier atmosphere than roll numbers. The only place on this earth where people are impersonalized into numbers should be jails – not colleges. A mechanic of a car knows about each part of the car and its mechanism. Does a teacher know the hidden talent of each student? A student may not get good marks in exam but that same student may have a strong zeal for a social cause, a student may not speak well in acceptable pronunciation, but that same student may have a talent of creative writing. Why not bring out the best from a student instead of demanding our own ideas back from them? An age old wisdom says, “Students do not care as to how much their teacher knows, as long as they know how much that teacher cares.”
I try to know and learn from my students. They have made me what I am. I love them in spite of their imperfections because even I am not perfect. I evaluate them as per the system of which I am a part but I convey it in clear terms to my students that ‘Grades are not life. There are people who love you and accept you the way you are.’ I begin my each presentation with ‘Works Cited’ to set an example among my students that plagiarism can not be tolerated in academics. I always make room for questions that test the originality of my students, instead of guiding them to recommended reading / required reading. Students should themselves decide what to read and how to use it. I accept and respect the opinions of students but I also let them know my own stand firmly and politely. I always try to remain conscious about the use of gender in and out of the class because I know that students will follow my example. A healthy human society is made of men and women both.
I attach more importance to ‘humanity’ than to ‘scholarship’. A computer can work efficiently and incessantly but a computer can never be a social animal. Academic institutes are not factories they are gardens where trees can grow in the direction they decide.
_________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment