When students make their teachers
Cynthia D’costa
‘What makes a good teacher?’ This is a question I often ask my students in the B.Ed class. Varied responses flow. Some think it is the teacher’s content that matters, others give priority to pedagogic practices. Some others believe it is the student-teacher connect that matters most. I turn to myself for an answer and before my inward eye unfolds a journey of 32 years, 9 as a school teacher and 23 as a teacher-educator. Faces of students glide before me, their words echo in my ears. Some faces last a little longer and I reminisce the ways in which these students have touched my life and helped me grow. Yes, I have grown as a teacher and I owe it to my students. I share a few memories.
I remember David*, an extremely mischievous student. If anything went wrong in the class, it had to be attributed to David. Once there was a lot of noise in class and a teacher shouted “David, be quiet!” Much to the chagrin of the teacher, the class responded, “But teacher, today David is absent!” So that was David. Most teachers, including myself, thought no good could ever come of this boy. As his class teacher in class 9, I had the opportunity to observe him closely. David had inherent leadership skills albeit at this stage they were often used in a disruptive manner. When it came to organizing a class programme, he would be the first to volunteer to help. He would be the last to leave the venue after ensuring that everything was in place. Team building was his forte. However, his mischief, incessant chatter and his urge to play pranks were impediments in his academic progress. After David finished his school, he joined the hospitality industry, learned on the job and got a job on a cruise liner. A few years later he quit and set up his own catering business. Today David has a well-established business and is doing extremely well in life. I often meet him and his entrepreneurial skills never fail to amaze me. David’s success is the culmination of his repertoire of life skills. Team building, leadership, risk taking, problem solving, decision-making and the readiness to walk an extra mile played an important role in David’s success. The biggest lesson I learned from David’s story is that life skills are more important than academic performance.
The next set of students I recall with respect are students who were challenged. During my very first year of teaching I had two physically challenged students in my class. It was very tough for them to move from the classroom to the science laboratory or the art room. During the games period, they would sit on a bench and watch their peers frolic around. Those were days when school campuses were not adapted to accommodate those with special needs. These two boys however channelized their energies in other fields. Today one of them works in a bank, the other is a software engineer. The latter drives a specially modified car and moves all over the country motivating many others. When I feel intimidated by small impediments and ailments, memories of these students make me resilient once again. Here I make special mention of a student who was diagnosed with cancer and showed utmost courage as she underwent surgery and chemotherapy. Her little inspirational messages shared on social media never fail to uplift me when my spirits droop.
After teaching in a high school for nine years, I moved on to a teacher education institute. Here I had the opportunity to interact with many students from rural Maharashtra who would come to Mumbai for their B.Ed. Often they would share their stories with me. One such student was Shankar. He came from a nondescript village in the interior of Maharashtra. His parents were illiterate farmers. Shankar shared, “Once a week, my parents would go to the weekly market that was held in the town. My mother would come back with little supplies of pulses and condiments, all tied in newspaper packets. This made my day. When the contents of the packets were transferred to storage bins, I would voraciously devour all that was written on those newspaper packets. That was my only access to news and events. Sometimes a news event would be incomplete as the paper was torn or only part of the newspaper was used to pack the items. In such a case I would try to complete the news event by filling in from my own imagination. I would read all the bits of paper in a couple of days and then wait eagerly for the next market day!” Shankar’s experience gave me a glimpse of the real Bharat. For me, who had no practical experience of rural India, this was an eye-opener. It helped me understand my rural students better. It is so heartening to note that Shankar today is an effective teacher changing for better the lives of many students. During my 23-year-journey as a teacher-educator, I have been enriched by my students. Their ingenuity, creative ways of teaching, unique styles of organizing activities have helped me grow and enhance my own skills.
It is amazing that while we teach our students, we in turn learn so much from them. My students have helped me hear unspoken words, sense unexpressed feelings, reached out for my hand and touched my heart. My educational philosophy and pedagogic practices have been shaped by my experiences with my students. Coming back to the question posed at the start of this article “What makes a good teacher?” The answer is crystal clear “Students make their teachers!”
*Names of students have been changed to protect their identity.
The author is an Associate Professor in Education at Pushpanjali College of Education. She can be reached at c.dcosta@rediffmail.com.