Their science teacher, Ms Karuni Subramanium, was also awarded a certificate of appreciation for her guidance.

Jharokha

Kids of nursery and preparatory classes of Ahlcon International School presenting a cultural programme.

Is it someone who can produce good results? Or is it someone who can raise children to positions of authority? Or is it someone who can keep them happy doing whatever they want to do - be it good, bad or indifferent? Someone who can turn a blind eye to everything that a child says or does, with a happy thought, ‘Oh, when they grow up they will learn themselves’.

My mind goes back to the first principal under whom I really learnt a lot, and his statement, “A good mother is a good teacher”. For that is what the teacher has to be - A good mother. Now, this is a difficult situation, for, it is even more difficult to define a ‘Good Mother’.

Every mother loves her child and would do the best possible for her child, and, so, one day I confronted him with my doubts, and I feel what he said is worth sharing.

In the first place, a teacher must love her children and her class. This love is her strength, for, like a loving mother, she will look upon every child impartially.

She will not hesitate to correct a wrong doing for the simple reason; she wants good children, not the so-called smart ones. Her love will make her tolerant and give enough space for the child to grow.

A good mother will also know that her sons and daughters are not her own - they belong to tomorrow and so will learn to let them go and grow instead of clinging to them. They are not her possessions, but she is their custodian, a gentle gardener who has to tend to the plants. Another important aspect of being a teacher is to remember that we are teaching an individual not a subject.

In fact, most of us remember that the first thing we are told in educational psychology is that each human being is an individual and is different. Even when we are teaching a subject, each child is assimilating according to his or her capacity and that is how a teacher teaches, not the subject but an individual. Looking at it from another angle, this also explains the wide variations in the examination results.

Remember it is the same teacher, teaching the same thing to a class of thirty or forty children and yet, the marks scored at the end of an examination are so different! The teacher is a river - each one partakes of her knowledge according to his or her needs.

We must also remember that when a teacher teaches a subject, she imparts certain information and in a very subtle manner, encourages, motivates her students to take an interest in the subject and learn it. Only this is in the teacher’s hands.

As Kahlil Gibran says, “No man can reveal to you which individual already lies half asleep in dawning of your knowledge. The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of His wisdom but rather of his faith and his Lovingness.”

The bond between a teacher and a student is one of love, care and complete trust.