Last week end, the renowned Malayalam poet Mr. Madhusoodanan Nair inaugurated the College Union and Arts Club. During his inaugural address, the poet dropped an ‘opinion bomb’! He stated that the most essential quality for a teacher, is ‘creativity’!
Well... some of us in the auditorium, felt that only a poet would make such a far fetched statement. But then, the fact remains that Mr. Madhusoodanan Nair was once a teacher of a local college and he made this statement based on his own experience of having been taught by the living legend of Malayalam poetry,
Mr. O.N.V. Kurup.
While the audience was pondering over the statement, Mr. Madhusoodanan Nair made one simple request to the trainees before concluding his speech : Never pay donation for securing a teaching job. Doing so, is both self-defeating and degrading.
Back home, I recalled a question I had posed to some of my BEd classmates in the same auditorium in 1993. Most of my class mates had distinctions for their BA / MA and a couple of them were University rank holders! I had asked them what they planned to do after the BEd course. Without any second thoughts they blurted out that they would pay donation and get a teaching job in a college! And that was exactly what the rank holders too did, the year after taking the BEd examination!
Why does the present generation fail to live up to the high ideals of the older generation? Is it a failure of our educational system ?
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Saturday, June 06, 2009
16. Whither simple etiquette?
The other day, a former Vice Chancellor of a South Indian University was narrating to me an incident that led her to question the very purpose of education.
The lady Vice Chancellor in question was awaiting her domestic flight in the lounge of an airport. Sitting behind her sofa was an ‘Indian blonde’ donning a thigh grabbing jeans and a navel exposing T-shirt.
Though the room was air-conditioned, people were beginning to fidget. To distract oneself from the imposed boredom, they were pouring over the magazines and newspapers sprawled over the teapoy.
The former Vice Chancellor accustomed to such wait, secretly engaged in her hobby of observing travelling folks. Then from the back she heard the voice of the jeans attired blonde: “Hey, get me that magazine” (referring to the one on the teapoy in front of the former Vice Chancellor). For a second she was dumbfounded at the arrogant way in which the blonde asked for the magazine. She kept asking herself why the blonde forgot to add a simple ‘please’ to her demand for the magazine.
Later, when I met her she asked me …are we educating our youngsters properly?
Note : The reference to the attire and the journey by plane is to remind non-Indian readers that the ‘blonde’ in every possibility is a progeny of the ‘odious rich’ of India.
The lady Vice Chancellor in question was awaiting her domestic flight in the lounge of an airport. Sitting behind her sofa was an ‘Indian blonde’ donning a thigh grabbing jeans and a navel exposing T-shirt.
Though the room was air-conditioned, people were beginning to fidget. To distract oneself from the imposed boredom, they were pouring over the magazines and newspapers sprawled over the teapoy.
The former Vice Chancellor accustomed to such wait, secretly engaged in her hobby of observing travelling folks. Then from the back she heard the voice of the jeans attired blonde: “Hey, get me that magazine” (referring to the one on the teapoy in front of the former Vice Chancellor). For a second she was dumbfounded at the arrogant way in which the blonde asked for the magazine. She kept asking herself why the blonde forgot to add a simple ‘please’ to her demand for the magazine.
Later, when I met her she asked me …are we educating our youngsters properly?
Note : The reference to the attire and the journey by plane is to remind non-Indian readers that the ‘blonde’ in every possibility is a progeny of the ‘odious rich’ of India.
15. One Step Forward…Three Steps Backwards
The strides, the people of ‘God’s Own Country’ made in terms of literacy is something non-Malayalees deeply envy in India. Setting up of Techno Parks, the Smart City and the IT@school Project speak volumes about the pulsating vision of the enterprising Malayalee!
As a teacher of English, I have been exploring the possibility of making use of knowledge acquisition through the Internet an opportunity for learning English -a language that has a vibrancy in a Postmodern world. It was then that I came across a news item in a local daily in May 2009 which published the decision of the Education Department to prepare all the software for the IT@school Project in Malayalam to reduce the excessive and unwarranted use of English by school children at the expense of their own mother tongue!
Looking at the decision from a global perspective for the children in God’s Own Country, I am afraid, it appears to be an attempt to take three steps backwards after the one step taken forward for setting up Technoparks and the Smart city!
I hope dear readers, you too agree with me.
As a teacher of English, I have been exploring the possibility of making use of knowledge acquisition through the Internet an opportunity for learning English -a language that has a vibrancy in a Postmodern world. It was then that I came across a news item in a local daily in May 2009 which published the decision of the Education Department to prepare all the software for the IT@school Project in Malayalam to reduce the excessive and unwarranted use of English by school children at the expense of their own mother tongue!
Looking at the decision from a global perspective for the children in God’s Own Country, I am afraid, it appears to be an attempt to take three steps backwards after the one step taken forward for setting up Technoparks and the Smart city!
I hope dear readers, you too agree with me.
14. Thus we ’nurture’ them!
When ‘Models of Teaching’ was introduced in the BEd Curriculum of Calicut University Teacher Educators were on the look out for illustrative examples, particularly for explaining ‘Nurturant’ effect.
One of the best examples I came across was given by a Clinical Psychologist- cum- Teacher Educator. He narrated the following ‘very short’ story that appeared in a Malayalam daily:
The car screeched to a halt near the gate. The glass lowered and the mistress of the house spoke to the servant:
‘Has sonny woken up?...Give him the medicine kept on the table .. Put him to sleep…’
Years later… from the US, a telegram arrives:
“Let Mum’s funeral ceremony be as grand as grand can be . Don’t forget to send me the video”!
The son’s success in getting a job in the US and his conduct on the occasion of the funeral is an example of ‘Nurturant effect’!
Don’t you think this is a typical example….?
One of the best examples I came across was given by a Clinical Psychologist- cum- Teacher Educator. He narrated the following ‘very short’ story that appeared in a Malayalam daily:
The car screeched to a halt near the gate. The glass lowered and the mistress of the house spoke to the servant:
‘Has sonny woken up?...Give him the medicine kept on the table .. Put him to sleep…’
Years later… from the US, a telegram arrives:
“Let Mum’s funeral ceremony be as grand as grand can be . Don’t forget to send me the video”!
The son’s success in getting a job in the US and his conduct on the occasion of the funeral is an example of ‘Nurturant effect’!
Don’t you think this is a typical example….?
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