Teaching versus Inspiring

“I don’t teach my people. I just try to inspire them”- Albert Einstein

 “If you listen, you will forget,

 If you see, you will remember,

 If you do, you will understand.” – Confucius

“If a teacher exercises, the teacher will be   stronger, not the students”- Anonymous

“Gyaan Hoina Dhyaan”- Sushil Awale

Every educational institution is searching for qualified teachers examining teachers’ degrees, grades, percentages, academics rewards, gold medals, and titles. But, still, most teachers fail in the classrooms to deliver the results, and many a time teachers tend to give up their profession. Yes, expression skills are more important than other forms of knowledge. Teaching is a ‘service business’ where students are customers, and they have to play their role fairly to create a good service in the classroom, but I am trying to talk about a different aspect.

Are teachers who work hard and deliver good lectures in the class more important than teachers who motivate and inspire students to work out themselves making the classroom enjoyable and thus creating students' interest toward the subject? This is the very debate I am trying to host.

Teachers singing or cracking jokes using humor inside the classroom have been criticized as being light and non-serious by many colleges, but some other colleges are training their teachers to do the same. Some college managements are prescribing teachers to adjourn their academic lecture at least once a month to give a motivational speech to their students. Some colleges want teachers to be interesting so students attend the class regularly. “Science is fun”, “Learning is fun”, “Learning with fun”, “Learning by doing” are some of the popular slogans of the day. Are these new practices better than the stereotypical ones?

A teacher, who prepares very well, and delivers his lectures with much details and clarity, might not be effective, if students do not listen to him. If students are not motivated, if the teacher fails to present his lecture interestingly, and does not make his lesson enjoyable, students do not pay much attention to the teacher; therefore, the lecture is wasted. Let's look at the opposite side: a teacher might not have complete information (it is normal because it is difficult to be perfect), but if he can make his talks interesting and enjoyable, then students will grow interested and curious on the topic as well as the subject matter. The students get motivated and encouraged to peruse relevant books and resources to find more on the subject. Also, they are eager to discuss more on the topic with the teacher.

Students can be motivated for research, project works, and presentations. Here, students start getting involved in the subject matter voluntarily. This activity resembles the modern concept of ‘Learning by doing’. “If you listen, you forget; if you see, you remember; if you do, you understand”. This is what famous philosopher Confucius had preached hundreds of years ago. I have found a teacher (Ph.D.) who was rejected by the students just because his voice was very loud. I have seen many gold medalists who have failed at teaching; I have seen many students disappointed with legendary professors.

Students must be disciplined. They must respect the teachers. They must keep quiet in the classroom. They must do their assignments. However, modern management is more concerned with not what should happen but what happens, and how you tackle it. People know what ought to be done, but they are unable to do so. They are unable to control their actions, hands, tongue, emotion, and senses. People know drinking alcohol and smoking are injurious to health. Moreover, the warning statement is printed on every packet of cigarette and every bottle of wine, but people don't quit drinking and smoking. In order to have control over your senses, you need to concentrate and meditate. Therefore, I wrote the article “Gyaan Hoina Dhyaan”. Meditation and concentration are more important than mere knowledge.

In the past, education used to be for the brilliants, the aspirants, and the selected people. There used to be very few educational institutes then. Students used to adore teachers as parents and God. In Maha-Bharat, Eklavya severed both of his thumbs and offered them to his teacher, Dronacharya. Today, students claim that they pay a huge sum to the college for their education. They request for donations from their teachers for their entertainment programs. Time has changed. Today, education is not a choice, but a must. Everyone goes to one or the other educational institutes. Many students are not studying with self-will, but they are compelled to study in order to fulfill parental expectation. Today educational institutes have mushroomed, and supply is seemingly more than demand. “Sellers’ Market” has changed into “Buyers’ Market”. Competition is on the rise every minute. Therefore, a good teaching is not enough; class must be interesting and enjoyable so that every student is inspired to learn on his own, which is more effective than just listening.

Therefore, one of the outstanding geniuses, Albert Einstein may have said, “I don’t teach my people. I just try to inspire them”.

References

Awale, S. (2011) Services Marketing. Kathmandu: Buddha Publication.

Awale, S. (2009) “Educational Counselling”. Dhimay Pau. 4, 15-19.

Awale, S. (2009) “Teaching Pedagogy”. Management Vision. 1, 16-21.

Awale, S. (2009) “Gyaan Hoina Dhayaan”.DhimayPau. 5, 19-21.

Berry, L. (1999) Discovering the Soul of Service. New York: The Free Press.

Blyth, J. (2003) Marketing Communication. New Delhi: Pearson Education Asia.

Awale, S. (2015) “Teaching versus Inspiring”. Spark. 10, 1-3.

Koirala, K. D., &Awale, S. (2014) Elementary Marketing: Praramvic Bazaar Shastra. Kathmandu: Buddha Publication

Author: Sushil Awale

Note: This article originally appeared in the print magazine, Management Vision-an opinion based magazine of business and entrepreneurship prepared by the BBA students of People’s Campus.