Being a Teacher

Well, I’ve been a student for the past seventeen years; still, I don’t have a favorite teacher. But just one of the teachers I’ve met, and been blessed enough to be a student of, has had an everlasting impact on my life and her name was Parvathy Ammal. She used to teach me Accountancy in 11^th and 12^th Grades. She was one of those teachers who would literally give up their lives to make sure that their students got the best results that they can have and every time we would get a problem solved or a balance sheet tallied, she would burst with pride and joy. She loved us and we loved her, I just cannot say who loved who more.

When I asked her about how she got into teaching field, she smiled widely and said it was an unexpected miracle. While she was young, doing her B.Com, she had had this fantasy of being an Accountancy teacher. “I’ve always loved teaching, it is one rare job in the world where you can get both genuine respect and hatred! But trust me, the hatred never stays once your students leave your classes, then they just love you more, they will remember you as a part of their lives, and that’s worth it! Besides, Accountancy is the perfect toughest subject to put you on your students’ black/best list!” But she never wanted to teach at a college, she said. She wanted to teach higher secondary students; or in her own words “school kids who are not kids anymore”. So, she pursued to go for M.Com after her marriage and having a daughter. Meanwhile, although her husband was very supportive about her career plans but they needed better financial aid; so she joined as a librarian at St Ann’s Higher Secondary School (which is also my school). As she was working there, the commerce students had not been able to get a teacher for Accountancy. The one who was in the post had just resigned and the school couldn’t find a replacement, as the academic year had already started, so when they learned that there’s an M.Com student in their library who would like to take the post, they were more than happy to give her a chance. “So, that’s how”, she smiled, “dreams come true; look for it in the unlikely places.” And as I recall, she was the best Accountancy teacher we’d ever had.

“What is the best part of being a teacher?” I’d asked her and she replied, “oh, everything!” The love and also the mount of knowledge that you are lucky enough to give and receive; as she reminded me that teachers’ responsibility doesn’t end with teaching the students some facts or theories, she said, “a teacher should always look for something to learn from her students too, that’s how it works, you give you take, it’s a two-way thing. And besides, I am a student too, you see. I believe anyone of my students can be brainier and smarter than me, and I’m always ready to accept that. I can’t just sit there and say that I teach this is this so you should repeat after me the same. Anyone can think a little better and prove you wrong and when it happens, you can’t let your ego rule you, in fact, which is the best part I love about teaching. Each time I go to take a class, I return with something new up my sleeve, something new that my students have just given me, they teach me loads of stuff”

She was very enthusiastic and positive about the new generation waning to follow the teaching field. “Yes, a lot of students, especially Commerce and Arts students are taking teaching as their career, which is very assuring, as long as it’s not just about the money you can earn.” She mentioned that a lot of students are going for this career because of their parents’ pressure, which includes getting a government job, discouraging young candidates to accept jobs from private institutions. Well, the situation is a bit compromising but it would be nice if there are some teachers out there who really did this for the passion of teaching and generating knowledge. This happens because the government jobs would pay you more and the job is more secured too. 

 

When I asked her about the mount of natural ability in the field, or the talent of teaching, which most of the new candidates in the field seem to lack, she shrugged, “that’s right, everyone cannot teach, you need the skill to go out there and really make a difference, but of course I think you can improve from the point where you started and keep getting better in this. You cannot go up and tell them to stop doing that, to stop being a teacher. But maybe, if the case gets worse, the children might take care of it!” She laughed. “But there are always ways to get you better, like attending a seminar, training program, a workshop or so. Try to fake it till you make it, it’s true in every field.”