SURVIVING BEING A TEACHER

Achievement seems to be connected with action. Successful men and women keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit.

-Conrad Hilton

 

We are products of the 'traditional' Education. Teachers for us were people beyond reproach, perched on the pedestal from where they could do no wrong.If we scored badly, it was our fault.With hardly any means of distraction in the form of  TV, Computer, FB or cellphones, we didn't know what 'getting bored' meant.

So much has changed since then.Gone is the 'halo' of teachers. The role of teachers is no longer limited to teaching inside the classroom but involves mentoring, counselling, organising activities, attending PTMs, escorting the kids for camps, involvement in cultural programmes and the list goes on. Nothing short of super-human abilities.

Our Education Course did not prepare us for the real classroom situation. We were ready with our child psychology and pedagogy tools but had no idea how to keep our self respect intact after a disastrous start to the teaching.When you are a novice and enthusiastic teacher  faced with a handful of irrepressible teenagers trying to assert their dominance, all theories fly out of the window. You barely survive the experience and self-esteem takes a dive.You are ashamed of sharing your experiences with other teachers/ people lest they take it as a sign of weakness in you.Not many schools provide mentors for new teachers.They are left to fend for themselves and evolve their own methods of handling kids and unpleasant classroom situations.
I find it amazing that teachers have evolved so much over a few years and are still doing so. Teaching methods have undergone a revolutionary change.Teachers have become learners and are finding new ways to keep the class interesting, interactive ways of delivering lessons and keeping the students occupied.The teenagers of today are more demanding and cynical.It is an achievement to get them to pay attention to you for 40 minutes at a stretch.And we earn their grudging admiration also along the way.
Then there will always be some kid who will idolise you,and hang on to every word you utter. There will be a parent telling you how they admire the way you handled and mentored their kid.And that will be a reward- of knowing that you made a difference.