"Teaching is a profession on which all other profession depend. Indeed, everybody who is anybody was enabled to become somebody by a teacher"
-Prof. Linda Darling - Hammond
Understanding the importance of instilling and kindling various skills and capacities within us, Mar Theophilus Training College (MTTC) organised a capacity Building Programme on 31st October 2022 in the college auditorium from 1:30 pm to 3:30 PM. The programme aimed to cater good values and to shook away the inhibitions within us. The talk was organized under the guidance of Ancy ma'm and Maya ma'm. We got an exceptional and highly talented resource person Dr. G V Hari sir, who pushed us to greater heights of motivation and made us see what we were really capable of.
As the class began, Hari Sir shared with us the happy news of celebrating his silver jubilee (25 years) year of teaching this year. This news raised our expectations but the class was astounding and much beyond our expectations. With an informal Hai /Hello, he created a good rapport and tried to capture our attention wonderfully well.
According to Hari sir, Interaction was an important key to teaching-learning process. Quoting from Page Number 79 of A P J Abdul Kalam's autobiography "Wings of Fire", the resource person asserted the importance of having an interaction with students so that it creates an Alertness within them. A small activity followed this as to imagine taste we were asked to imagine a laddu in our hand and to savor its taste. As we concentrated and thought about the laddu and its taste for a long time , we could really experience the sweetness. The teacher could provide this kind of sweetness in the class even without exquisite ICT's on technology by just being innovative, creative and smart.
The Crux of teaching was its uniqueness. Teachers are the real heroes of the class; They actors /actresses who enact a huge variety of roles each and everyday of their class (much better than Mohanlal or Shobhana). The stage is the class itself and the various tools are the props used in the acting (teaching) process. The learners become the audience not sitting mere passively, but actively involving and engaging in the learning process.
Allegory and the art of story telling is one of the oldest technology used in the class which we follow effectively in our classrooms in these days too. The songs and the stories are the energizers which boosts students and captures their attention.
Hari sir apprised that "Reading in Learning should not be mechanical. Teaching and Learning should be fun." Bridging the gap between theory and practice, is what real teaching means is what Hari asserted. Hari Sir introduced a simple aid (a tamporine) to a imbibe in us the fundamental aspect of simple learning Process. He sang Kunjunnimash's poem and we actively sang, clapped and rejoiced with him.
കുട്ടിയെ അറിയിക്കൽ മാത്രമല്ല, കുട്ടിയെ അറിയൽ കൂടിയാണ് അധ്യാപനം
The teacher can enhance his/her teaching learning process through his/her Experience. Building an interesting rapport substantiates the fact that "well begun is half-done."A student need to be an empty cup free from all speculations and always ready to absorb what the teacher is about to give. The student should be capable of developing to his / her thoughts from the thread provided by the teacher. An anecdote recollecting the story of Japanese zen master Nan-in of Meji era was shared with the students to substantiate the empty cup statement. Teaching and Learning are the two flip sides of the same coin. Hari sir narrated the story from the Kurukshetra yuddha inciting two important questions were asked by Arjuna to Krishna
Why I'am fighting? Against whom I'am fighting?
Arjuna was answered by Krishna as " we are fighting against fear and it is to overcome fear. As teachers, we are bound to overcome our fears and this can be done by knowing things. First step to learning is to know. Teachers are facilitators, supporting and helping learners to achieve their goals. Listening not only helps to learn new things but helps in unleashing what's inside.
Practice what you know and what you preach was yet another striking mantra of the class. Learning is a purposeful activity as it involves understanding. If we find quality in someone, its not accidental, but its an intelligent effort. Teaching learning process is a never ending, cyclical and continuous process.The most striking element of the class was when Hari Sir gave us a definition for the acronym A SMILE
A - Appreciation
S - Support, Scaffolding
M - Monitoring
I - Involve
L - Love
E- Empathy
This short acronym contained multitude of meaning and inspired us in many ways. We could actually talk about these ideas even after the sessions and it was indeed fruitful and thought provoking. Some of us gave feed backs and the session ended with us taking life lessons and pondering about even after the class. Time flied and it was not at all boring. Interesting it was indeed!!!
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