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My class teacher is so much like us, he shares our problems and given the fact that he is so young, he understands our problems perfectly,” says Akshay Kumar, a student of Class VIII, Loyola School, Jamshedpur.
Most enthusiastically, he continues listing as to what’s it that makes his class teacher such an important figure in his life. Leniency, ability to make the subject interesting, and the fact that his teacher even chats online with the students, help his teacher soar so high in the favourites list.
Chatting online is definitely a new add-on to the criteria teachers have to meet to be popular! As is being bindaas in their attitude, as Rashi Tiwari, a student of Sacred Heart Convent, Jamshedpur, says. “Our physics teacher is cool,” Rashi says.
She does not overload them with homework, has a firm grasp over her subject, and her best quality is that she bonds so well with the Generation-X, Rashi elaborates.
A student-teacher relationship has always been special through the ages, though the rules that bind it may have somewhat changed over the years. “Students today share a wonderful rapport with teachers, but this changing system where students get to interact so much with their teachers has somewhere brought down the respect level previously given to teachers,” feels Lalita Sareen, principal of Jamshedpur Public School.
Sareen herself names her two English professors, Anita Gupta and Perin Mehta, as her favourites, whom she admired for the way they boosted her during her student years.
Lessons which she has tried to pass on to her students as well. “Ladies are heard, not seen,” is a lesson that Sareen distinctly remembers having learnt from her Sacred Heart Convent sisters, and: “This is something I have tried to pass on to my students in turn,” she says.
That’s something Jayant Chakarborty, lecturer in the commerce department at St Xavier’s College, Ranchi, too, tries to do.
He admits many of the ways he uses to deal with his own students now, he had picked up as a student from his ex-HOD, S. Mishra.
“I owe him a lot as he was very motivating, friendly, honest, disciplined, clear and, of course, loving. Now, I am a teacher, and try to implement some of the same qualities,” he says.
The verdict is simple. Personal rapport counts. Teachers who just walk in and out also do not remain long in the memories of students lives. “Our teacher, V. Fernandes, was so loving and affectionate, she took a personal interest in our all-round development, and that is what made her different from the rest,” said G.M. D’Souza, principal of St. Mary’s English School, Jamshedpur.
A little chat now and then, a little encouragement and patience, go a long way in making the student feel special and wanted.
“My economics teacher explains everything with such precision. If I approach her with portions of the chapter where I have missed out, she is willing to explain it to me over and over again. That surely sets her apart,” says Kashyapi Karan, a Class IX student of Narbheram Hansraj English School, Jamshedpur, adding that she is the one who has always encouraged her to maintain a fine balance between her academics and the co-curricular activities that keeps this little champ occupied at all times.
“Whenever I win in an event, I make it a point to share it with her. She always feels so happy for me,” she says.
For Madhu Singh, an alumnus of Cambrian School, Dehra Dun, it was her favourite teacher, Butler White, an anglo Indian, who made her school a home for her. “He always took the initiative of helping us out, in studies as well as booting us up for inter-school tournaments,” said Madhu, principal of the two English medium Jusco schools in the city. She has very fond memories of him, and misses him now that he is no more.
As for Puneeta B. Chouhan, principal of Telco School Shiksha Niketan, Jamshedpur, tell her that she enjoys the tag of a “favourite” teacher with most of her students, and she laughs.
“It gives me immense pleasure when my students make it a point to see me even when they are in the city for just one single day,” she admits, adding that her personal favourites are English teacher Meera Krishnan and mathematics teacher Meenakshi Datar, teachers of Gulmohur High School, of which she is an alumnus, and where she taught English for 16 years.
“The essential qualities that a good teacher should have is the ability to touch the lives of students, to help them take decisions and guide them to be achievers,” she says, summing up the formula perfectly.
For the principal of Guru Nanak Higher Secondary School, Ranchi, Cyril Terence, teachers were no less than “heroes” in their times.
“When we were students, there were only male teachers. How kindly a teacher would behave in class was more important to us, the subject came later! I particularly remember my English teacher, who used to teach me from Class VI to IX. His pronunciation was so good that we would try to imitate him. I also remember the school principal of Mussourie Model School, Douglas Vigas, from whom I learnt a lot. It was from him I learned that enough freedom should be given to encourage progress. As a principal, I try to follow it, too,” he said.
As does Indrani Chatterjee, a physics teacher at St Xavier’s School, Ranchi, who says:“I cannot name any one favourite teacher. There were many who influenced my thoughts and what my version of what education meant. It is because of them I am what I am today. They are role models. I, too, try to impart the same values to my students, and hope they will carry it forward.”
And to leave this lasting impression on young minds, to be able to bond and gel with them as they list high on priority list, it’s in no way important that they be sugar sweet, and not raise a voice if needed.
As Pargiti Verma, a Class XI student of DAV Jawahar Vidya Mandir, Shyamali, says of her Hindi teacher, U. Tigga. “Our Hindi teacher, U. Tigga, is the best human being I have met. As a teacher she is very strict, but she is also very soft-hearted,” she says.
Strictness is not really a big no-no for students, as long as there is genuine concern behind it. Kavita, a Class IX student of St Anthony’s School, Ranchi, feels it’s perfectly fine for teachers to be strict, though at the same time they should also be caring. “If teachers are friendly, we feel more motivated, too,” she admits.
That a favourite teacher can inspire one to give ones best is what Amrita Sharma, Intermediate II-year student of St Xavier’s College, Ranchi, too, points out, when she speaks of her English teacher, A. Kumar, whom she admired as a student at St Anthony’s School. “She taught us so well, I scored 94 per cent, which no one expected,” she says.
Except the teacher herself, perhaps. For a good teacher really knows what to tap and often opens up doors which a student often doesn’t know, existed.
Funny bones!
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Teacher: Sumit, you know you can’t sleep in my class.
Sumit: I know. But maybe if you were a little
quieter, I could.
Teacher: Give me three reasons why the world is round?Suchi: Well, my dad says so, my mom says so, and you say so!
Father: I am worried about your being at the bottom of the class.Ram: They teach the same stuff at both ends!
Teacher: I despair, Deepali, how do you manage to get so many things wrong in one day? Deepali: Because I always get up early, sir!
Teacher: This essay on your dog is, word for word, the same as your brother’s!
Paro: Yes sir, it’s the same dog.
Supratim Pal lists a few teachers who went on to shine in other fields, too...
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan: In 1909, he started his career in philosophy at Madras Presidency College. Nine years later, at 30, he was appointed professor of philosophy in University of Mysore. Before joining Manchester College in Oxford in 1929, he was the King George V Chair of Mental and Moral Science, University of Calcutta. Later,became vice-chancellor ofBenaras Hindu University and chancellor of Delhi University
Rabindranath Tagore: First Asian to be awarded the Nobel in literature in 1913, he never attended a formal school. By setting up the Brahmacharyavidyalaya in Santiniketan in 1901, he revolutionised the way of teaching, incorporating the ashrama education with a modern outlook.
Mother Teresa:She came to India in 1930s, and took up teaching at St Mary’s High School in Calcutta in 1931, where the suffering in slums prompted her to take to the vocation of service. In 1997, she breathed her last on Teachers’ Day.
Amartya Sen:First Master of Asian origin at Trinity College, Cambridge, he also taught at Delhi University, London School of Economics, Oxford University and Harvard University, and on a visiting basis at MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, andCornell universities.
Manmohan Singh:Started as a reader of economics at 25 and two years later was promoted as professor in Punjab University, Chandigarh. He also taught at Delhi School of Economics.
