The Lost Art of "Teaching"

Teach (v): 1. Impart knowledge to or instruct (someone) in how to do something, especially in a school or as a part of a recognized programme, give instruction in (a subject or skill), cause to learn by example or experience. 2. Advocate as a practice or principle. Teaching (n)

Teacher: someone who teaches in a school.

The above is what oxford dictionary defines teach and teacher; teaching is a noun originating from teach. Quite fashionably the word teaching has been changed over time. Earlier teaching was something that the people used to practice to pass on their learning and experiences of life to generations to come, it still finds a place in the definition but is it realm of today, are the teachers practicing the art of teaching the way it used to be earlier, if not then what made the shift to take place? May be the new learning methods made the shift or the advancement in the technological era made the difference? It is hard to tell. Let’s just draw some basic differences and try finding out whether or not the shift has really helped people over time or it has simply made mockery of the word teaching.

Earlier i.e. in the era when the writing was not yet developed and people used to learn under the guidance of the gurus and used to dedicate their lives for the sole purpose of learning (both the students and the gurus) it was very easy to demarcate the learned and the unlearned the latter could not enjoy the same status as the former did. It all started to make way for learning for all, and then after a long time the system came into existence where everyone got a right to get himself enrolled for basic education, it was a great change that could have ever taken place in the history but as always it came along with some tragedies of its own. The art of teaching was lost and moreover it became the art of war where it was entitled as a ‘business’. This business made way for outburst of educational institutions, there was teachers available for anything and everything on earth, the worst was the mushrooming of the tuition classes & it showed the impotency of both the students as well as the system which was hit badly below the belt. There were times when we used to hear about the premier institutes who believed in teaching as there essence and the alumni from these could be sworn upon the authenticity of knowledge and intelligence but it is really hard to imagine that these great institutes also fell in the trap of modernization and started the act of competition in terms of number of applications received and their alumnus network and it all paled the effect of the education and teaching they had thrived to provide for several years. The teachers were not only merely teachers they were people of the industry who taught as their hobby initially and when they find out that this ‘profession’ is less time consuming and pays better they became full timers, no issues with this attitude but are we not taught by the professionals who themselves are not sure what they wanted to do. Personally I have encountered many such teachers who started their careers as bankers, production engineers, marketers and even business men and currently teaching the subjects that have nothing to do with their work experience like physics and maths are taught by a banker, human behaviour is taught by a production engineer & list goes on. How many have we felt that person who is teaching us is not at all interested in what he is doing? The answers will surely tell you that the teachers have lost the main agenda of teaching, many are found teaching to support their other functions of life and they use teaching as a filler of their career e.g., a person who is doing his Ph. D will take up a teachers job anywhere possible and also work side by side on his thesis, there will be many authors who are teachers, I can understand if they are writing something related to the subject they are teaching but if they write fiction and teach Anthropology that is unpardonable, take example of my favourite writer Chetan Bhagat, it took him 10 years of banking career to realise that he wanted to be a writer, he mentions in three of his four books that he wanted to be a writer since his college days, the only question to ask here is, that a alumni from IIT and IIM takes time to fulfil his dream job and he does not have the confidence to pursue his dream then who should have the courage to take up their work seriously? It’s not just the multitalented teachers I am against with it’s the whole thinking they bring along with them. You will hardly see a true teacher escaping any kind of discussion with their students, no matter how stupid is their disciples’ doubt they would clear it in no matter how much time it takes but the ‘teachers of today’ find it really time consuming when a ward ask a minor doubt and you can feel that he is completely annoyed by the time it’s going to take to make that fellow understand the intricacies of that subject. They expect you to know whatever is there in the books and they want you to do what they say as they say, you must have encountered the schools’ students forced to have different types of notebooks different faculties demand, what difference does it makes if someone writes English in a single line notebook. Some people say that it is the sophisticated way of teaching. My request to those people, please give it one more thought and think with the bias of what is the value addition, you will have a changed mindset. Now there is one more thing that has always bothered me and recently got provoked by a Hindi Movie; what is that we call success?  Just a good job in hand, a nice sedan in your courtyard, an apartment in the highly rated location of the city and high profile parties!! Is that success all about? Then i would like to share an advertisement of Intel which featured an average man and he was portrayed as there superstar, what was his success, nothing; he was just best in what he did and that was innovation. He could never had been successful if he had not chased excellence and I happen to track his records he was an average student in his school days and when he got into his field of interest he came out with flying colours. Knowingly or unknowingly we all are forcing the current students to chase the path of success without even telling them to be excellent in what they do, and the major responsibility of this job lies with the teachers but they fail miserably because they themselves are running for success that is driven by numbers.

Personally I would be more than glad to learn under a person who has chosen to teach rather than a person who has opted to teach. The fellows who believe this is not possible please just put your thinking caps on and take a look at the Gym which you go to, the trainer there has a passion himself for the things he is asking you to do, and the learning that you are gaining now from your ‘teacher’ will teach you not to differentiate and inevitably would have their own favourites, they will teach you not to take a decision with a pre-decided mind and then will have a notion about you.

Who is responsible for all this? We all are but the main villains are the teachers of present times not all but majority. We need to ask what we want in life and what really matters to us because till the time we don’t know, we can’t ask for it. It will be similar to dying on the shore of a lake just because you didn’t knew you were thirsty.