Introduction
Recently, the incident of a teacher, in a private school in Muzaffarnagar district in Uttar Pradesh, behaving with a student in a most untoward manner nearly shook the conscience of the sensitive citizens all over the country. The matter was displayed through video clips on many news channels. In the said incident, the teacher ordered all the students of the class to beat one student who had not completed his homework. The factor of his being a Muslim by religion is also alleged by many. But the main focus on this issue is regarding the means and methods of Pedagogy. Are these the same or have undergone a sea change?
The Training Component
The current system of Pedagogy is based on the western concept of teaching. There are teacher's training institutes in various districts of nearly all the States and the Union Territories. Here, teachers learn about the methods of teaching including preparation of a teaching plan for everyday and for each subject. The overall emphasis is on presenting the subject-matter in a simple and interesting manner. This is a challenging job for every teacher for which these institutes prepare the appropriate courses for the trainee teachers. The duration of such courses vary from two years to six months in different States. However, there is a dearth of teachers in large numbers throughout the country. It is also to be noted in this context that the right to education is now a fundamental right. Hence, it is imperative on the part of the State Governments to open new schools and also equip them with basic infrastructure facilities along with the teaching staff in sufficient numbers. Keeping in view of these objectives, many governments have appointed ad-hoc teachers and provided them crash courses in the name of teacher's training. In a big State like Uttar Pradesh, the provision of Shiksha Mitra has been made which envisages appointments of teachers from the qualified youths available in the villages. They are primarily part-time teachers, untrained in Pedagogy skills. In a nutshell, many such kinds of experiments are being conducted by the governments in various States. In private schools, the situation is worse. Anybody can become a teacher if he is ready to work on a low salary for full hours. Also, he should be ready to teach any subject beyond his specialized subjects. Thus, in our country, the system of Pedagogy has different contours, and the emphasis on teacher's training is not so important these days. Coaching institutes have proliferated like mushrooms in the present times. There, the subject-experts take up classes for the needy students, which is increasing day by day. Not everyone of these teachers has gone through a regular training in pedagogical skills. The crux of the matter is that teaching in schools, primarily, is in the hands of unqualified teachers who are neither adept in the art of teaching nor are finely tuned in behavioural aspects.
The Societal Impact
At this juncture, we can't overlook the fact that the teacher, like other professionals, comes from the society in which he spends the rest of the time beyond his school hours. He is ultimately a product of society. He is mostly guided by societal norms which in turn, many times archaic. Society does not move often, with the changing times. So, a person not so aware about the outside changes, falls prey to old and worn-out social values. Danger also lies ahead when a person gets carried away by the seasonal winds of fake and false news, disinformation, misinformation, hate-mongering etc., if he is not socially aware and mentally alert. Equipping oneself with a scientific temper is still a far cry in our country. People generally care more about the spoken word than on the words in print. They tend to take everything on their face value rather than analyzing the news or the alleged facts themselves. Gradually, a mindset is evolved about anything which can go either way. This is the basic problem of the teachers in the present times. They often fail to maintain a balance between their official duties and responsibilities and their core thinking or inherent value system. Teaching is undoubtedly a pious job, and a good teacher is expected to deliver a balanced lecture presenting pros and cons of the topic in an impartial manner. But this does not happen generally. Most often, his predilections, personal preferences, cherished value system and preferred dogmas come into play making his lectures tinted with different colours which is not beneficial for the students who are at the learning stage.
The Grey Areas
- First and foremost area of concern is that there is no psychological input in the training curriculum. They need to learn about reading the minds of the students and deal with them accordingly. Their behaviour in the class as a teacher holds the key. Scolding the students every time doesn't serve the purpose. The teachers have to be more sensitive and responsive to the needs of the students.
- Teachers themselves sometimes need counseling by trained psychologists to resolve their typical issues. Unfortunately, these types of services are not available either at school level or district headquarters level. Though this arrangement is made by the private institutions at their own level for helping the students. One shouldn't forget that we are living in very complex times. There are new sets of problems to solve for which we are not yet mentally trained. Old moral values are being discarded and the new normal are appearing on the horizon of society. In such a situation, a teacher like any other human being can't be expected to wage this fight of living alone. Therefore, free consultation services from a clinical psychologist or a trained counselor is a must.
- A uniform system of appointment of teachers should be evolved throughout the country, and the minimum training period should be adhered to in the case of all teachers before they get posted as regular teachers.
- The respective school management of both the government and the private institutions should not shy away from any incident of teacher's misdemeanour at any cost. Rather, they should take appropriate action to ameliorate the situation without fearing the loss of prestige of the institution or otherwise.
- Any such incident, either minor or major, must be discussed threadbare with the parents and guardians in the parents-teachers meetings and their cooperation must be sought.
Conclusion
The incidents of misbehaving with the students by the teachers is not uncommon, but generally, the apparent tendency is to brush the matter aside under the carpet. This gives rise to more incidents in the future. The art of teaching is difficult to imbibe, and it always poses challenges of different kinds. But the teachers are not expected to succumb to the pressures of these challenges. For this, they are required to be mentally strong and agile. Their mental blocks and problems need to be resolved frequently without wasting time. In this context, the appointment of clinical psychological experts or other psychological help should be ensured at the earliest. Only then the creation of a healthy classroom atmosphere will be possible. After all, children are the future citizens of our country, and we owe them a decent way of learning.