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- Herausgeber: Gita Publishing House
- Kategorie: Ratgeber
- Sprache: Englisch
Who is a true teacher? The enlightened author of the book— by precept and example of his own life— achievement, tells you that a true teacher is not one who has made teaching his profession but one who regards teaching as a vocation. A teacher is one who, not by his lips, but his life, impresses on the minds of his students that the purpose of human life is right living not merely lavish lifestyle. He shows them that merely getting degrees to earn money is not the ultimate goal of life.
The author in this book refers to Teachers as Sculptors as they play a major role in shaping their students lives.
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Seitenzahl: 112
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020
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Published byGita Publishing HouseSadhu Vaswani Mission,10, Sadhu Vaswani Path, Pune - 411 001, (India)[email protected]
© J.P. VaswaniFirst Published - 3000 copies - January, 20082nd Reprint - 3000 copies - November, 20093rd Reprint - 5000 copies - 2017eBook edition – September, 2018
TEACHERS ARE SCULPTORSISBN 978-93-86004-18-5
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Author.
Printed byThomson Press (India) LimitedB-315, Okhla Industrial Area Phase 1,New Delhi
TeachersareSculptors
J. P. VASWANI
Gita Publishing House,Pune, (India)www.dadavaswanisbooks.org
DEDICATED TO SADHU VASWANI
The Teacher (Guru) who taught this ignoramus, through precept and practice, the supreme lesson that the root of knowledge is reverence and its fruit, the service of all life.
J. P. VSWANI
Contents
A GREAT SCULPTOR
Michaelangelo, hailed as the greatest sculptor of the Renaissance, believed that all great works of art originated from inner inspiration. While lesser artists fussed over the quality and size of the marble made available to them, Michaelangelo saw potential for great sculpture in every piece if marble. It is said, that his magnificent statue of David was sculpted from an old, abandoned piece of marble, which had been discarded as unfit for sculpture by a minor artist, forty years earlier. Michelangelo believed that every piece of stone had a sculpture within it; and that the sculptor’s job was merely to free the form that was already in the stone
Author’s Preface
Dear friends and fellow-students…
I hope you won’t take it amiss that I am writing a book specially for teachers, and choose to address you as fellow- students!
My beloved Master, Sadhu Vaswani, once said to me: “Always remain a student.” I have kept this teaching close to my heart; and the day on which I have not learnt something new, I regard as a lost day indeed!
Like all of you, I have passed through the hands of many teachers, from the kindergarten class to postgraduation. In the lower classes we had just one teacher - our class teacher - who taught us all the subjects. As we grow up, subject experts take over, and we have Science Teachers, Maths Teachers, History Teachers and English Teachers. In college, there are Professors, Lecturers, Tutors and Demonstrators.
Everyone has to have several teachers - but we remember only a few, while others are forgotten. Even their names are forgotten. Have you ever wondered why this is so?
If you have studied under a teacher whom you still remember with love, affection and reverence, you are truly blessed!
And if you are a teacher who has had such an impact on a student that he/she remembers you for years after his/her education is completed, then you are truly blessed!
I recall a moving incident in the life of the great American author, James Michener. He was once invited to be a guest at a banquet hosted by President Dwight Eisenhower at the White House - a great privilege for any American.
James Michener declined the invitation with regret. In his letter to the President, he explained, “A wonderful teacher who taught me how to write is being honoured on the same day, at the same time…you will not miss me at your banquet, Mr. President but she might, at hers.”
“Ike” (as Eisenhower was popularly known) was so moved, that he wrote back:
Dear Mr Michener
In his lifetime a man lives under 15 or 16 presidents, but a truly fine teacher comes in his lifetime far too rarely…
Mark these words: in his lifetime, a man may live under several presidents and prime ministers: but he rarely comes across a truly fine teacher!
They tell me that the age of the ‘teacher-less classroom’ is here! There is talk of e-learning in a virtual classroom. An interactive computer, they say, can give you all that the teacher can - and without a teacher’s strict discipline and eccentricities.
With the greatest respect to technological advances, may I offer my humble opinion that this can never be ‘education’ in the true sense! Instruction may be offered through the virtual classroom; information may be made available through the computer. But teaching is much more than this: teaching in its truest sense is communicating - a process in which the personality of the teacher interacts with the personality of the students. You can go to a library and read hundreds of books; you can collect data from the Internet; you can listen to recorded lessons on CDs; but can any of these compensate for the living, moving presence of a good teacher?
Let me share with you the words of Swami Vivekananda:
He alone teaches, who has something to give, for teaching is not talking, teaching is not imparting doctrines, it is communicating… All teaching implies giving and taking, the teacher gives and the taught receives, but the one must have something to give, and the other must be open to receive.
An average teacher instructs; a good teacher guides; a great teacher inspires.
I am sure each one of you can be a great teacher - a source of inspiration and enlightenment to your students!
Let me end this prefatory note - and begin this book, dedicated to you, the ideal teacher, with the Shanti-path which occurs in the Upanishads:
Sahanavavatu Sahanou bhunaktu
Sahaveeryam karavavahai tejaswina vaditamastu
Mavidvisha vahai -
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti!
May He protect us both (the teacher and the taught) together (by revealing the light of Knowledge). May He nourish us both (by offering to us the fruits of knowledge). May we both acquire energy (through this education): May we both become illumined (through this education); may we not quarrel with each other. Om Peace Peace Peace!
— J. P. Vaswani
Sensitive Jewels
A tourist was looking at the display in a famous Delhi jewellery store. Exquisite emeralds, rubies and diamonds dazzled the eye. But his attention was drawn to a dull stone, completely lacking in lustre.
“That’s certainly not as beautiful as the rest,” he exclaimed.
“Just a moment,” said the jeweller, taking the stone from the tray and closing his palms around it. Moments later, he opened his palm and the stone glowed with beauty. “This is an opal,” the jeweller explained. “It’s what we call a sensitive jewel. It needs only to be held with a human hand to bring out its radiance and lustrous beauty.”
THE LAMP LIGHTERS OF HUMANITY
Let us begin with a little introspection: who, according to you, is a good teacher?
May be, you would like to complete the following statement by writing down the words or points which you would use to describe a good teacher.
A good teacher is one who…
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Now, can I ask you something? When you were writing down the qualities that ‘good’ teachers possess, were you thinking of your own teachers, whom you admired and respected? Or, were you thinking of abstract, ideal qualities?
The CIEFL, Hyderabad, carried out a survey among fresh graduates, B.Ed. students and others on this subject. Given below are some of the responses they elicited:
A good teacher is one who -
• Has a thorough grasp/understanding of his/her subject
• Takes pride in his/her profession
• Is a good classroom manager
• Is a role model for students
• Understands and respects students and learns from them
• Has a patient, understanding approach and encourages students
• Prepares students well to face the exams
• Prepares students for real life — over and above the exams
• Relates learning to the real life-needs of the students
• Is hard working, sincere and dedicated
• Is humane, sensitive and sympathetic
• Makes learning fun
• Is innovative and experiments with new strategies
• Pays more attention to weak students
• Evaluates his/her performance regularly
Obviously, each person has his/her own values, beliefs and ideas on what makes a good teacher.
These include
• Personality traits
• Attitudes
• Values
• Knowledge
• Professional experience/skills
Of course, these ‘criteria’ listed by the respondents are subjective and impressionistic. But the question remains: how can personal traits and attitudes be translated into effective classroom techniques?
And then, there is the question: can good teaching be learnt or taught? Does this involve only a set of skills/techniques? Can everyone become a teacher?
I am no expert on education; I am not here to teach you skills or techniques. But I do believe that teachers evolve, grow with experience, and learn constantly in their ministrations. And this book is not just about good teachers, but ideal teachers.
I believe each one of you can and must become an ideal teacher!
REFLECT… AND ACT
Congratulations!
…For being one from the fraternity of teachers!
…For belonging to the community of our unsung heroes and heroines!
Your profession is a challenging one! You not only face the difficulty of teaching the subject to many unwilling learners, but also undertake to tune in with a hundred different, diverse personalities all at once!
As you took up the vocation of being a teacher, you were probably faced with tremendous challenges:
• teaching the subject
• maintaining discipline
• preparing teaching aids
• coping with overwork
• attending staff meetings
• participating in the cocurricular activities of your institution
• dealing with tough and demanding principals and relentless parents
• very little credit or appreciation
• burn-outs on the personal front
• working into the nights at home
• constant hassles with corrections, mark sheets, report cards
…the list can go on. For all the colossal commissions you have undetaken, you can stand tall and pride yourself for choosing this profession.
Why?
You know this deep within…this is the most rewarding and enriching of all human experiences, which is to impart knowledge to another! Teaching moulds your personality strengthens your convictions, teaches you patience, love and acceptance.
I Am Not Educated!
Dr. Albert Schweitzer, the distinguished humanitarian and Nobel Laureate, had just started his relief work in the backwoods of Africa. Toiling all by himself, he would fell trees and carry the logs of timber on his strong shoulders. Log by log, he singlehandedly endeavoured to raise the walls of his hospital building.
One day, struggling with a particularly heavy load, he spotted a black man nearby.
He hailed him, “Brother, can you give me a helping hand?”
“Hey Mister,” came the haughty reply, “don’t you know, I am educated?”
Dr. Schweitzer smiled and said, “I am happy I am not educated”
SOLDIERS OF THE IDEAL
I am not going to try and define education for you - you probably have your own favourite definition, and you may even have your own strong views on what education is all about. But I do wish to share with you the views of my Master, Sadhu Vaswani.
As some of you may know, Sadhu Vaswani had a brilliant academic career, standing first in his college and winning prestigious awards and scholarships. He began his teaching career in the Metropolitan College, Calcutta, from where he moved to the D.J.Sind College, Karachi. Soon, he became Principal of the Dyal Singh College, Lahore. Later, he took over as Principal of the Victoria College, Cooch Behar, and finally became the Principal of Mahendra College, Patiala.
Much later, in 1933, he founded the MIRA Movement in Education, based on his well thought out ideology, aimed at cultivation of character through the ideals of simplicity, service, purity and prayer. Education should be for life, not livelihood, he felt; and to this end, he conceptualised a system of education which would integrate the head, hand and heart.
May I tell you, I often think that modern education has sharpened the brain, the mind of our youth - but in the process of making youngsters smarter, more efficient, more intelligent, more competitive, it has somehow hardened their hearts!
Let me share with you an incident narrated by a leading educationist and thinker. He was travelling from Mumbai to Delhi, and his co-passenger was a smart, handsome engineer, who was travelling to Delhi on his first job- interview with a multinational. The two of them struck an easy companionship and had an interesting conversation on several issues.
What are your plans?” the older man asked his young friend. “A smart young lad like you can achieve anything you set your mind on!”
“Well, Sir, I am quite ambitious,” the young man admitted. “I am very keen to get into a multinational and work abroad for sometime.”
“What next?” asked the senior man.
