teacher as a role model

8/3/2019 Teacher as a Role Model

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Teacher As a Role ModelTeacher As a Role Model

There was a time when the teacher was known as epitome of all

virtues. The rules, kings and queens, and their progeny would

listen in rapt attention when the teacher spoke. To them, the

teacher was their guide, their counselor and their truest friend. The

teacher's word was regarded as the word of God.

Where are those teachers of yesteryears? Where arethose epitomes of truth and knowledge? Where havedisappeared those ethereal beings to whom in themythological tales, even gods are depicted payingtheir respects?

If at all, a few teachers today satisfy these criteria. In

general, teachers have fallen in disgrace. To someextent because of their own doings, and to somebecause of the norms of a decadent society in whichwe all exist. Such is the state of affairs that it isconsidered a stigma these days to be called ateacher.

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A child, as we know, needs models and not critics. These models a

child finds, first in his parents, and second in his teachers. It is very

correctly said that the influence of the teacher is immense and no

one knows when the influence becomes visible and where it sops.

Since the teacher is one of the child's ideal, it is very important for a teacher to have qualities which impress the child and the qualities

which he can imitate and thus become good.

A role model is, therefore, one who has some sterling qualities of

head and heart, which the child gets impressed by. So now, when

we look for the essential qualities in a teacher we have to be clear

in what we want the children in her charge to become, for the

influence of a teacher is very deep, far reaching and of course permanent.

We want our children, for instance, to develop the quality of

honesty. The teacher must then be very honest in all her behavior

with the children she is handling. In this regard, partiality and

favoritism are the two most obnoxious qualities that a teacher

should not have. This attitude of a teacher is noticed by the

children and they do not like her for it, and they also feel that she is

not very honest in her dealings with them. In the process they also

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learn to be dishonest in their dealings with her, and with their

classmates. Thus, an ideal teacher must be very honest and

transparent in all her dealings with the children and with her

colleagues. This folly of favouritism plays a double havoc with the

children for, on the one hand, a child who is favoured, becomesunnecessarily pampered and the child who is unduly differentiated

against, either gets into his shell, and feels unwanted or, if he is

bold by nature, he becomes a revolutionary. In either case this

favouritism of the teacher plays hell with both, the favoured and

the not-so-favoured. This attitude of the child, shown at this stage

of his life becomes a permanent feature of the child's character, and

he starts feeling rightly or wrongly that he is punished for the

wrongs that he has not done, and as an adult he becomes aconfirmed revolutionary. Thus, in a nutshell we can derive that, in

her partiality the teacher damages both the child who is favoured

and the child who is not.

The next quality that we would like to find in an ideal teacher is

that, he should be very affectionate to all the children in his care.

The love they get at this stage of life is what makes them lovable

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and affectionate adults. Love has got to be inculcated in the

children as, it is love only that makes life worth living. So it is very

necessary for an ideal teacher to be loving and caring, then only he

in turn infuses the finer quality of begetting love in the children in

his charge.

A loving teacher is forever remembered and loved by students,

who just admire him for his fountain of love, and they start

believing that there could be no one more affectionate than their

teacher of the past days.

The students believe that their teacher is a fountain-head of all

knowledge. This belief of the children must be kept alive by the

teacher which is possible, only if he continues to learn together

with his teaching assignments. A good teacher is the one who is

also a good learner. Besides, if a teacher does not happen to know

a particular thing, he should never pose as if he knows it. This is

because, if, at any stage, the children come to know that their

teacher does not know, he only shows that he knows, they lose all

respect for him. The teacher must know that, the children do not

take much time to assess the stuff or the capacity of a teacher. It is

not that the teacher must know everything on the face of this earth but, the moot point is that, he should not bluff the children into

believing that his knowledge is absolutely complete. For an ideal

teacher it is advisable to tell the children that he will find out the

answer to their query, instead of giving them any wrong

information. If he does this, the children will admire him for his

honesty, and will not be disappointed in his lack of knowledge, for,

they also, know that a teacher is also, besides being a teacher for

them, a human being with limitations. This will unwittinglyinculcate in the children a habit of accepting their own drawbacks

and not nearly justifying whatever they do or say.

Another very important quality for an ideal teacher is to be very

understanding in respect of the behaviour of the children. Though

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the teacher and the children are a generation apart, it would be

great quality in a teacher if he could understand the woes of the

children, and to help them out of their seemingly little problems,

and also feel for them. With this attitude of friendship with the

children, the teacher will win the confidence and they will alwaysdiscuss their problems with him and they will also take him as their

confidante. For this, the teacher has to put himself in the shoes of

the children, understand their feelings, and he will be loved for

this. In turn, his wards will also learn the art of helping their

youWith all the above mentioned qualities in a teacher, the teacher

will be an ideal teacher, he will be one who will leave an indelible

mark on the minds of the young children in his charge. They will

turn out to be exact replicas of their teacher. Thus, it is veryimportant for the teacher to be a picture of what he would like the

children to be. The impact of a teacher can be easily felt when we

see the present deterioration in the younger generation. This is

because our teachers are lacking in almost all the qualities required

for an ideal teacher, and so, their wards are also lacking in all good

qualities of head heart. A good teacher helps the students to

develop all the great qualities of civilized human beings. An ideal

teacher is thus one who leaves a permanent impact on the childrenhe grooms, and they remember him for his great qualities at

different times of their lives. A student is a mirror which reflects

the learning and knowledge of a teacher, this must be kept in mind

by a teacher.

At all such moments, I have realized that the dutiesand responsibilities of a teacher extend muchbeyond the confines of the text books, the prescribed

syllabus and even the class room. His mission is notto merely teach a subject for a paltry financialconsideration, but to form human character. Theworld today has many professionals and technocrats.What it lacks is the good human beings. The teacher

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is the moulder of human destinies and his almamatter is the human offsprings!

In order to so motivate his students, the teacher

must himself possess a goodly character. He must bea true exemplar of his teachings in front of hisstudents. Even in his life time, if a teacher can thusinfluence a few, nay even a single life, he would haveachieved his mission.

Muhammad Yousuf Khilji

SESM ID#0017

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teacher as a role model

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