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| EDUCATION TRIBUNE |
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A
teacher’s tribute Some
lessons from what really happens in schools Campus
Notes
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A teacher’s tribute TEACHER’S Day is usually just another day in the life of a teacher. Often, it comes and goes (unnoticed!). But this time, I’m determined not to let it become a tepid affair. This time, I’d like to celebrate this day by remembering one of my former teachers, who belongs to a rare tribe, now fast vanishing in our country. A teacher gets all kinds of students and often doesn’t know where they might land up, either because of or in spite of his/her training. But over the years, I have come to realise that (while all others may acknowledge this) no student understands the contribution of his/her teacher better than the one who chooses to follow in his/her footsteps. Until I came into MA English, and developed life-long association with this ‘remarkably awesome teacher,’ I had no idea how and in what invisible ways a good teacher could possibly impact his student’s life. Today, after 30 years, when I sometimes catch myself in the act of using language with the kind of ‘sensitivity’ he taught us, or using gestures in the way in which he sometimes used or act as an interlocutor, trying to teach a lesson or two in peaceful co-existence to a group of agitated students, my thoughts invariably return to Dr Paul L. Love. Yes, that is his name. True to his name, he continues to be a fountainhead of ‘love’, a quality, I discovered much later, must be a sine qua non for any teacher, regardless of the grade or the age-group s/he teaches. Paul Love had chosen to teach thousands of miles away from home. (Otherwise a citizen of the US, he chose to teach in the backwaters of Punjab, at Baring Union Christian College, Batala). He could have easily opted for a much better location or an institution, only if he so desired. He was a ‘missionary’, and continues to be one. His missionary zeal was not necessarily born out of his affiliation with the Presbyterian Church to which he belonged, but was an abiding quality of his mind and being, something so rare among the teachers today. The first piece of information we received, on entering the college, was that our department had acquired new furniture. Later, we learnt that it was all courtesy Paul Love. Paul Love’s munificence for his students was simply limitless. Every year, before the start of the new session, he would make a special trip to Amritsar (as Batala had no decent bookstore, then) and bring back 40 sets of textbooks for MA I and II. Every year, BUC would admit 20 students to its MA programme and so, on an average, it meant buying 40 sets, all in Penguin editions. Even in those days of socialism, each Penguin edition cost no less than Rs 70 and given that 20 to 25 textbooks were prescribed each year, Paul Love spent almost one lakh on our textbooks alone, again from his pocket. On joining, he passed these to each one of us, as a gift of his love, at a heavily subsidised rate of Rs 150. This may sound like a fairy tale, too distant and too unreal, but Paul gave us no lectures on why to read textbooks and why not to read ‘guides’, only spoke through his inimitable, magnanimous gestures. Let us accept that our system breeds a pathetic ‘dependency-syndrome’ in most of us, making regular ‘crammers’ out of us. It was Paul Love who awakened in most of us the need and desire to question, to know and interrogate. You just couldn’t go to his class without having read the allotted portion of the text, and if you did, he could spot you from a hundred miles. And when you agonised over his question, trying to dodge, speculate or approximate, breaking into his characteristic smile, he’d say, “Well, my dear, I think, you are quite close to it. Just try hard enough, and you’ll almost be there.” None of his students ever heard him say, “You don’t even know this”, the regular snub some of the best teachers also deliver, sometimes. With him, learning was always an adventure, an exploration of new worlds, new horizons. In fact, while he taught, we never felt we were in a classroom; it was as though we were either cracking a riddle or puzzling over the mysteries of life. He led us through the intricate labyrinths of life and literature, with the ease of a gentle guide. He used to teach us Chaucer. Before the first term exam, he had repeatedly warned us not to use such worn-out, clichéd expressions as “Chaucer was the father of English poetry.” But incorrigible as we were, practically everyone in the class started his/ her answer with, what else, but that very expression. When our scripts were returned, on the top of each script, in red-pen, there was the same remark, “It seems you know the entire genealogy of English poetry. Please tell me, who was the ‘grand’ and the ‘great-grandfather’ of English poetry.” There couldn’t have been a more painstaking and a gentler way of driving a point home. Paul was so gentle that he couldn’t even hurt a fly. But we left nothing to chance to test his nerves or patience. Our ‘nasty’ group really knew the knack of breaking rules, both inside the class, and outside. In my two-year long stay at Baring, not even once did I or any of my batch-mates ever see Paul lose his temper. All of us have a memory of a red-faced Paul, sitting in his room, hacking away at the keys of his Remington typewriter, all in an effort to burn out his bottled up rage. Open display of emotions was almost anathema to him. An arch of his eyebrow, or a puckered forehead, or a refusal to speak to the one he was angry with was enough to send us all into tizzy, speculating, “Paul ko gussa kyon aya hai?” Such was the force of his quiet authority! Yes, Paul did rule over the minds and hearts of his students, but with ‘gentle authority of love’. He gave himself so generously that we often wondered: was it right on his part to do so? Thirty years later, each time, I enter my class, Paul walks in with me. Thirty years later, each time, I meet my friends or batch-mates, all our conversations begin and end with Paul, as also are punctuated with references to him. Paul, your slowly receding figure, as you pedalled away to your adopted home daily, not very far from the department, is still fresh in my mind. Your sincerity haunts me; your simplicity gnaws at my heart; and your generosity of spirit overawes me. Sometimes, I think, Paul, only if we had more such teachers as you, would this world be as bereft of love as it often appears, today? The writer is Chairperson, Department of English & Cultural Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh
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Some lessons from what really happens in schools While
the number of students has increased and school infrastructure improved, the number of teachers in the Union Territory has declined. I taught for over 20 years and worked with 10 principals. Three of these principals were my colleagues in early years of my job. None of them has shown any signs of being an educationalist and a genuine concern about healthy classroom environment. After becoming principal, they became hypocrites and developed a different attitude. They stopped behaving as staff members they once were and tried to demonstrate their superiority over the staff. Many of the UT teachers are much senior in age and experience to the principals from the neighbouring states, but they are not given due respect. Instead of leading by example, the principals avoid their own teaching periods, thus setting a bad example. The teachers are often involved in fee collection. In order to reduce the non-teaching burden of teachers, in the centralised admission process of the 10+1 class, the fee can be collected by fee clerks, while practical and vocational funds can be deposited in respective schools as per the choice of subjects within two months. This will reduce the fee transfer formalities and details of migrating students to other schools after different counselling sessions In contrast to the picture of the principal’s office, those of the staffroom, nursery classrooms and dining rooms for mid-day meals portray a dismal state of affairs of school management. The mid-day meal time can be best utilised to incorporate the basics of human dignity and table manners among the students. However, even proper arrangements are not made for seating the students and serving food hygienically. The principals never sit among students to taste the food; they get it in their offices behind drawn curtains. How do we expect them to sit with students when they do not like to park their cars in the common parking lot? At every step, they show feudalistic tendencies. Much drama is enacted about dividing the students into various Houses; in fact, they exist only for teachers. In most of the schools, Houses are not even allotted to students and the question of arranging inter-House competitions does not arise. But when it comes to NSS activities and camps, these are arranged on working days to hamper routine school teaching, though these are to be arranged after school and during vacations. The school timetable is the most important tool of running a routine school schedule but even this is not made transparent in most of the schools. Principals do not take the trouble of checking notebooks of different classes and subjects. Even classes till 10th are run on a six-period timetable which is against the norm of eight-period timetable. It is high time some concrete steps are taken to restore the dignity of teachers who are nation builders and whose role has been much applauded in our tradition.
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Campus Notes CONGRATULATING the principals of various colleges affiliated to the university, members of the university sports department, coaches, lecturers, and director, physical education, for winning the prestigious "Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy" for the year 2009-10 for the 21st time, Vice-Chancellor Ajaib Singh Brar assured better facilities for sportspersons. Brar said the university needed to rise from its overall 20th position among the universities in India at present to higher position with commitment and dedication. "I assure that no body will find me wanting in my support and help in this regard," he said. Dr Kanwaljit Singh, Director, Sports, Guru Nanak Dev University, while expressing his gratitude to all those connected with this rare achievement of the university said this reflected the keen interest and the importance attached to sports activities by the university authorities for achieving excellence in sports.
Youth leadership camp concludes Chaitanya Mahajan from Guru Nanak Dev University was adjudged the "Best Camper" while the team from Panjab University, Chandigarh, was declared as "Best Disciplined Team" in the five-day North Zone Inter-University Youth Leadership Camp organised by Guru Nanak Dev University concluded at its Holiday Home at Dalhousie (Himachal Pradesh). The Association of Indian Universities (AIU), New Delhi, sponsored the camp, which was attended by nearly 60 students drawn from various universities from the north zone. Dr Inderjit Singh, Registrar, Guru Nanak Dev University, while presiding over the valedictory function gave away prizes to the winners. He appreciated the efforts of Youth Welfare Department of the University for organising this camp in an efficient manner. Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal
Sciences University, Ludhiana In order to increase fish production in Punjab, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University has submitted a proposal to the state government and the ICAR to fund the same with a sum of Rs 14 crore. This investment would result in an additional income of Rs 190 crore to the farmers and additional production of 40,000 tonnes fish. This would also generate additional employment of 5 lakh mandays, said Dr V. K. Taneja, Vice-Chancellor of the university. Dr Taneja emphasised that there was need to strengthen the extension network to promote fish farming in Punjab. He also proposed establishment of five laboratories, including three mobile vans well equipped with facilities for water testing and fish disease testing. The Vice-Chancellor has urged the government to set up three large retail fish markets with 20 outlets, 20 medium retail fish markets and 100 small units in the private sector under the Rural Development Scheme for women and weaker sections. 20 cold storages should also be set up. — Contributed by P. K. Jaiswar and K. S. Chawla
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