I have always been one of those students who had this reverence for teachers. Perhaps it has something to with half my family being involved in that profession, or maybe I am just afraid. Let’s say at this point in time I don’t want to find out. My decision to explore and devote the rest of my life to academia perhaps didn’t come as quite a shock to me, which is more than I can say for my friends at the more ambitious business school fraternity. From within this newly forayed into domain of academia, I however feel this incredulous and disdainful array of questions directed from the outside- “ the real world” as it may be called. Of course, once the Pandora’s box of scepticism has been opened, it is difficult to let the spate of questions pass by without rationalising to some extent. So began the quest to express sentiment over the issue which validates all things real and marginalises activities associated with teaching as something for those avoiding reality.
My argument is constructed firstly on an attempt to clarify the role of teaching in a society that is undergoing cataclysmic change with the advent of the Internet, allowing easy access to knowledge. As I dwell back on the first memories of interacting with teachers, I am reminded of the countless hours we spent with out first grade teacher trying to learn alphabets that construct a coherent word in our myriad languages, the endless series of numbers written to put a value to this abstract world of ours, to the stories we heard which made us realise that stealing Tara’s lunch is wrong. But then, don’t we already know this? Pardon my temerity, but I believe we tend to forget these invaluable lessons that were indeed taught to us. It is perhaps easy for those of us being empowered with education to underrate the role of teachers in our lives. The very fact that many of us are able to comprehend what is being written here, is very testament to the fact that we were taught how to read at some point in our distant or not so distant past ( as the case may be). Maybe the value of a teacher is more to those who are never forced to learn and never pushed down the path of learning. There are countless children in the world who never go to schools, have never had a teacher, who will probably never be taught how to write their own names. Secondly, on a more abstract level, I question the construct of reality. Our unabashed claims marginalising teaching as a form of escapism from the real world, are based on our own interpretation of reality. Moreover, since many of us have created this collective sense of “reality” anything that does not adhere to it tends to lie outside this construct.
As I write this, I am reminded of a quote that I have heard often, particularly right after I have declared my intent as to the Ph.D I am undertaking- “Those who can – do, Those who can’t- teach”. A perfunctory attempt online to dwell to the source of this quote, surprised me. This quote was used by a famous author in a completely different context, however it is cited today to a great extent to the point of having degraded itself to a cliché. However noble the intent of the quote might have been at the time, at present it just fuels the determination of those who still question the profession of teaching.
Can you imagine a world where there weren’t any teachers? I sure can’t. Perhaps, I like to be told once in a while what is required, perhaps I am just a sucker for authority. But that’s just me. While learning by doing is perhaps the best way of acquiring valuable life lessons, rest assured, we do not want to explore the answer to 587683 divided by 365 using a trial and error approach.
On second thought too much control and authority makes us rebel, and makes us sing along to Pink Floyd “ Teachers leave those kids alone”. But then teachers aren’t here to take the blame for the way we think, and what we don’t make of our lives. We need to look at the profession for what it is intended, not more not less.
My parting words on this theme would have to be these:
“Those who can - do,
Those who can’t – teach”
And those who aren’t taught,
Shall soon beseech
