tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2102451431033041663.post5829211110096248573..comments2024-03-28T17:51:29.340+05:30Comments on Tomichan Matheikal's blog: Wanted TeachersTomichan Matheikalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037872309096060126noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2102451431033041663.post-55656891330080991152013-10-26T09:45:31.741+05:302013-10-26T09:45:31.741+05:30I've started re-reading the book, 'Deschoo...I've started re-reading the book, 'Deschooling Society,' by Ivan Illich. Just to console me with a hope that some of his suggestions may yet come true. I hope to write a blog on this soon. Tomichan Matheikalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05037872309096060126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2102451431033041663.post-19757919729179847872013-10-25T20:21:11.805+05:302013-10-25T20:21:11.805+05:30Now days, every youth is willing to earn a 5 to 6 ...Now days, every youth is willing to earn a 5 to 6 digit salary by working on a desk or on PC and It is unfortunate that the passionate teachers too are attracted by this lucrative salary digit. Also the correct and main reason is that the teachers profession has lost its value right now. Pravinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09205405560539014666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2102451431033041663.post-56292825771138362362013-03-21T12:13:04.240+05:302013-03-21T12:13:04.240+05:30The other day a student threatened to get a teache...The other day a student threatened to get a teacher of his imprisoned unless the latter tended an apology for slapping him. In fact, the student had acted very foolishly and even malevolently. But he knows his rights! So the teacher bowed his head to the student!Tomichan Matheikalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05037872309096060126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2102451431033041663.post-69284187999463111532013-03-21T11:39:26.737+05:302013-03-21T11:39:26.737+05:30Very unfortunate teacher's profession is not v...Very unfortunate teacher's profession is not valued any more, particularly a school teacher's. I myself dread to take this up thinking how to handle 30 to 40 kids at a time.Indranihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13097788106899971708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2102451431033041663.post-12118278896983729762013-03-20T16:06:43.454+05:302013-03-20T16:06:43.454+05:30This comment has been removed by the author.Tomichan Matheikalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05037872309096060126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2102451431033041663.post-72292008691312399842013-03-20T11:13:32.862+05:302013-03-20T11:13:32.862+05:30This comment has been removed by the author.wingshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12629140307669198833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2102451431033041663.post-89229251073553913472013-03-20T07:29:53.833+05:302013-03-20T07:29:53.833+05:30Yes, Aditi, that's the most practical view of ...Yes, Aditi, that's the most practical view of the problem and a very correct one too. But a time is coming when few will be there to take up this job and the scales will turn.Tomichan Matheikalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05037872309096060126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2102451431033041663.post-40275199424634710792013-03-19T22:08:39.628+05:302013-03-19T22:08:39.628+05:30Whether in Government or in private schools, teach...Whether in Government or in private schools, teachers are viewed by the management as skilled labour. Government school teachers are drafted for census work, election duty and relief work during natural calamities...even the RTE categorically sanction these extra duty. The opportunity cost of a school teacher in India is low, there are so many with the prescribed educational 'degree' who are available and agreeable to work at a lower pay, though they might not be good. Because of this perception problem and low opportunity cost, teaching profession suffers. Aditihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13693023913017962248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2102451431033041663.post-50170360766300512572013-03-19T18:24:25.414+05:302013-03-19T18:24:25.414+05:30Raghuram, let me give you a very pertinent persona...Raghuram, let me give you a very pertinent personal example. Last year when our Social Science teacher resigned in March I volunteered to take the history classes in class 9 until a new teacher was appointed. The first chapter was French Revolution. I started with the story of Dickens' 'A Tale of Two Cities', assuming that the story would initiate interest and curiosity among students. But the students were yawning by the time I reached the climax of the story. The yawns multiplied in geometric progression as I entered the text they were supposed to study. It took me nearly a year to find out that they only wanted some questions and answers which would fetch them numbers in the exam. How would you blame me as a teacher if I had to change my strategy accordingly? It's so easy to blame the teacher when you are in a different profession never in touch with the real classroom situation and its challenges.Tomichan Matheikalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05037872309096060126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2102451431033041663.post-48105770900120964112013-03-19T16:45:16.574+05:302013-03-19T16:45:16.574+05:30Unfortunately I have experienced more than what I ...Unfortunately I have experienced more than what I know! Some 9th standard student came to me for help (her mother did). I told her that I will not be teaching for exams and I was blunt about it. But, I guaranteed, yes, I guaranteed that the student will understand math and consequently do better, if not in the unit test just two days later. The mother and the student accepted. But, I just could not get the student to engage herself beyond her book and the exercise problems at the back of the book. I taught her new ways of understanding the problems, but she insisted that she had to understand only in the way taught in the class. That is, I had to teach her the way she had been taught at school, quite so Ineffectively at that! If that is not a ,cruel joke, tell me what is and what it is!<br /><br />I am not downgrading school teachers but they do spoil the students by sticking to the exam requirements and the parents play the part of the assistants of assassins!<br /><br />RE<br /><br />mandakolathurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03774568024246167410noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2102451431033041663.post-49925383201675603442013-03-19T07:13:59.808+05:302013-03-19T07:13:59.808+05:30Thanks for adding this dimension of the remunerati...Thanks for adding this dimension of the remuneration. It's a major problem. Most private schools pay very little to teachers. As a result the quality of the people who take up the job is pathetic. Tuitions necessarily become an added and better source of income. Such teachers won't obviously be committed to the profession, let alone have the right attitudes or values.Tomichan Matheikalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05037872309096060126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2102451431033041663.post-10840650818108672712013-03-19T07:08:04.376+05:302013-03-19T07:08:04.376+05:30I agree with you in every point you've raised....I agree with you in every point you've raised. I'm aware that the problem is not a simple one where some teachers perform their duties sincerely while others don't. The problem is a reflection of the overall erosion of values in the society. Tomichan Matheikalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05037872309096060126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2102451431033041663.post-11932987728598047922013-03-19T06:53:16.724+05:302013-03-19T06:53:16.724+05:30Food for thought post! Some very valid questions. ...Food for thought post! Some very valid questions. Teaching is akin to the girl child or the woman today. We call it a revered profession. Noble. And yet no one wants it. (or wants to be step into it. Passionate people are few and far between. Like in every other profession, teachers are humans too - often sole bread earners. However, unlike other professions this one also has the potential to positively impact lives. Like a doctor's. Yet, the doctor is considered God but the teacher lives like a servant. It could be a fallout of the meagre salaries that they are dished out but being a teacher doesn't command a lot of respect today - especially if it's a man. How many fathers would agree to get their daughters married off to a teacher earning 20,000 per month. Add to it, issues like being "temporary" for 2 years at an abysmal salary of ~5000 per month. Even my househelp gets paid more than that in a month (if she puts together all the houses she works for). The fact that private coaching centers offer attractive packages to teachers is adding to this mess, because teachers are no longer interested in giving their best to the schools/colleges where their day job is. Add to it the engineer/doctor fight - because of which only the folks who do not have other options go into this field (unless they're extremely passionate). A friend I know is "temporary" and earns 4000 a month. Only her first year so far, but she goes because she needs the money. It's probably this weakness that the management looks to exploit - that either you're too passionate and won't quit or you need the money (however meagre it might be) and that you probably won't get a job elsewhere - and they keep getting loaded with more and more work. Teachers have become more administrators today because hey, why pay extra people for administrative duties if we can get these folks to do the job? What's that? Who'll teach? Children go to private tuitions anyway, so it's OK even if the teachers skip a few topics at school, doesn't matter. This is exactly what two of my friends told me - both teachers - when I had wanted to join the teaching line. It's a deterrent if I want to go in wanting to help children and that's the attitude being taught. <a href="https://fictionpies.com">Deepa from FictionPies</a>https://www.blogger.com/profile/08190726711949079567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2102451431033041663.post-68381609671217460752013-03-19T06:32:37.968+05:302013-03-19T06:32:37.968+05:30This comment has been removed by the author.<a href="https://fictionpies.com">Deepa from FictionPies</a>https://www.blogger.com/profile/08190726711949079567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2102451431033041663.post-14116857775185235042013-03-18T22:00:09.427+05:302013-03-18T22:00:09.427+05:30My dad retired as a professor. During my childhood...My dad retired as a professor. During my childhood days people used to tell us that the college vacation and teachers having off during that time is great as in private service one doesn't get vacation etc etc. I had seen people respecting dad a lot. When he retired, he refused to be a director in one of the coaching institutes as he believed that education is not a commodity to sell. <br /><br />During the Mandal commission agitations he was very annoyed about reservations as he felt that one cannot promote people on the basis of caste/creed/religion. One shouldn't promote intellectual sterility. <br /><br />The overall values of the society has gone down. So today nothing is sacrosanct. We don't respect teachers anymore. During engineering, we had some really lousy teachers. During MBA days some of the teachers were simply not good enough. The conduct of one who was a father, was not above board. Naturally we didn't respect them. <br /><br />Some of my classmates wanted to be teachers and bribed their way through and became lecturer in private college. They never had the aptitude to become a teacher but they wanted to just have a job. Today the UGC scales are good, so money is not the barrier for good people to become teachers. We need to bring back respectability to the profession. <br />Cheers,<br />SabyasachiArjunaUbachahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14353186902659651125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2102451431033041663.post-61865582825254875982013-03-18T21:25:12.045+05:302013-03-18T21:25:12.045+05:30Aargh, now I completely understand... Pathetic tha...Aargh, now I completely understand... Pathetic that teachers become administrators and forget how they felt as teachers. Also, they forget how they felt as students themselves in class... I wish we can do something about the ways of this management...Deepesh Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12287555068831234180noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2102451431033041663.post-59447473308977083802013-03-18T20:33:21.904+05:302013-03-18T20:33:21.904+05:30I am like nodding to what you mentioned :)I am like nodding to what you mentioned :)Hemanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01650140034471289700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2102451431033041663.post-21864555453432205632013-03-18T19:35:05.782+05:302013-03-18T19:35:05.782+05:30Perhaps, people in general are unable to give the ...Perhaps, people in general are unable to give the kind of guidance that you mention. People tend to go by the economic benefits derived from a profession rather than the sense of gratification. A job today is not meant to take a person towards the fulfilment of her personality but help bring in a fat pay packet.Tomichan Matheikalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05037872309096060126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2102451431033041663.post-12527830265399529742013-03-18T19:32:24.830+05:302013-03-18T19:32:24.830+05:30Mismanagement, exactly. And yet we have so many i...Mismanagement, exactly. And yet we have so many institutions that teach management! MBAs are the most sought after people to run institutions today! And the result? Well, you mentioned it in another area.Tomichan Matheikalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05037872309096060126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2102451431033041663.post-24896050398064449942013-03-18T19:30:33.939+05:302013-03-18T19:30:33.939+05:30Strict action should be taken against such teacher...Strict action should be taken against such teachers. What is the administration for otherwise?Tomichan Matheikalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05037872309096060126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2102451431033041663.post-71903248939173724792013-03-18T19:29:47.632+05:302013-03-18T19:29:47.632+05:30Thanks for the comment, Panchali. I must add that...Thanks for the comment, Panchali. I must add that I'm not merely making some complaints. I'm most willing to put in more work provided my work is meaningful. <br /><br />Yes, commercialisation has done most of the damage. But there are a lot of other factors too which arise from the present social, economic and political system which has killed off humanity and created automatons in the place of people.Tomichan Matheikalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05037872309096060126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2102451431033041663.post-22978730006655835622013-03-18T19:27:19.505+05:302013-03-18T19:27:19.505+05:30A simple change that should be made: Discard meani...A simple change that should be made: Discard meaningless jobs which are thrust upon teachers. E.g., CCE records which achieve absolutely nothing. Umpteen projects, activities, and practical assignments which produce copied, plagiarised, adapted, stolen works. Make a teacher's job meaningful and creative. Of course, that calls for a genuine effort from the teachers too.Tomichan Matheikalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05037872309096060126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2102451431033041663.post-59178726737463529512013-03-18T19:23:59.104+05:302013-03-18T19:23:59.104+05:30Thanks for adding much to my post. I think our ed...Thanks for adding much to my post. I think our education system is going through a period of transition. A lot of experimentation is on. Perhaps we can look forward to some good results eventually. My optimism is mixed with cynicism because books like 'Deschooling Society' appeared long ago and made a lot of noise. But there has been no significant change in the system!Tomichan Matheikalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05037872309096060126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2102451431033041663.post-23588015364041962862013-03-18T19:20:36.547+05:302013-03-18T19:20:36.547+05:30Thanks for that suggestion which I think should be...Thanks for that suggestion which I think should be taken seriously. There are few genuine students now, as you say. There are only customers or clients who look for the commodity called "number" (scores in exams).Tomichan Matheikalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05037872309096060126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2102451431033041663.post-46347921845045975682013-03-18T17:09:45.053+05:302013-03-18T17:09:45.053+05:30A right topic picked up at the right time.....I so...A right topic picked up at the right time.....I so much wanted to be a teacher but landed at another profession during the course of my life. Whatever is written and spoken here, I still hold a lot of respect for my teachers during my days of study and guess what...most of them are facing a true financial crisis currently....<br />is that what makes us not going for this profession? I don't think so.<br /><br />Actually, a lack of guidance during childhood and adulthood makes us think that being doctor/engineer/CA is the best thing to do. It's the combination of all the inputs (from parents to relatives) make a child/person think about the FAB of a profession. Even teachers don't recommend 'Teacher' as a prospect profession in my time. Something like Indian Teaching Services (like IAS) may be able to help to uplift the image of teaching as a profession but I know I am sounding over-ambitious.Hemanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01650140034471289700noreply@blogger.com