ideal teacher (amp)
The real teacher
“I cannot teach anybody anything, I can make them think”, said Socrates, the great Greek philosopher. Teaching is not an ordinary profession. Teachers are the architects of the society; they are the force that shapes our destiny for today and for tomorrow. Teachers are the agents of social change. They don’t just teach, they lead by example. A teacher is not simply an instructor whose job is to transmit mundane information from one source to another. An ideal teacher is, on the one hand, a great harbinger of new and progressive ideas and, on the other, a conservator of rich cultural heritage and moral compass of a given society. A teacher can’t be reduced to just another service provider who imparts dull skills in the Homo-sapiens and prepares them for the material success in a society. In nutshell, an ideal teacher possesses all qualities that enrich intellectual horizons of the students, prepare them for social roles, inculcates spiritual discipline among them and harnesses leadership qualities in them. The fate of a society is but determined by the quality of teachers at its service.
Prof. Tasawoor Ahmad Kanth who retired from his active government service this month was not an ordinary teacher. After serving in the Department of Geography and Regional Development, University of Kashmir, for over 36 years, Prof Kanth shaped the future of thousands of postgraduates and hundreds of research scholars. A highly resourceful teacher with diverse knowledge of various fields has the distinction of being remembered by his students and colleagues alike with awe-inspiring gratitude and affection. The indelible effect of his formal lectures and informal conversations were summed up by his first batch of PG students (1981 batch) last week at a National Seminar which clearly reflected that the impression of an effective teacher can withstand challenges of time and space. On his part, the way he recollected his students’ demeanors thirty years down the memory lane vividly reflect his deep involvement in his pupils.
In the seminar, Prof. Kanth shocked the august gathering of academia and civil servants, who were either his former colleagues or students, when he returned PG research projects of his 1981 batch students after having preserved them with utmost care and bound neatly for 36 years. It is no ordinary thing that a university teacher meticulously preserved the assignments of his students for more three decades. In the contemporary corporate consumerism-driven educational scenario, teacher-student relationships have been reduced to market relations in which course content is transacted for certain amount and rapport between the teacher and pupil remains purely impersonal and shallow. In these circumstances, Prof. Kanth’s display of sheer dedication, love and attachment with students’ is a silver lining in the otherwise gloomy situation.
An ideal teacher doesn’t affect any positive change with his sincerity alone. To be a chain-breaker in a moribund society, afflicted with political uncertainty and economic deprivations, a teacher needs to be intellectually resourceful, culturally refined, socially inspiring, and spiritually upright. Prof. Kanth was the perfect combination of all. He taught us the preciousness of time by unfailingly taking his classes at 10:00 am sharp regularly. He would not reach university later than 8:00 in the morning. He would not take his classes without a lesson plan and formal preparation, despite lengthy expertise in the field and rich knowledge of the subject matter. The standards that he set for his students are too high and daunting but absolutely necessary in a society replete with the tradition of mediocrity at all levels.
Prof. T. A. Kanth was a teacher by will, conscience, and faith. His uncompromising dedication to teaching made him refuse powerful positions in the administration of the university. His community-consciousness and concern for the local Kashmir’s stopped him from migrating towards the greener pastures of the academic world outside the state. He preferred to stay low profile and less known within Kashmir University rather than joining the league of his equals in better and reputed institutions of the world. There is obviously no dearth of intelligent and dedicated teachers like Prof. Kanth but there are indeed few who sacrifice personal glory and individual prosperity for the sake of his people.
Prof. Kanth was a disciplined teacher. In our local lexicon, being disciplined, fair and principled is sometimes pejoratively passed off as ‘strict’. He was notorious for being ‘strict’ with his students. He believed that education is training for life and if students are not taught to be fair and principled within the closed walls of classrooms then how can these postgraduates become fair and disciplined members of society performing various responsible roles. He won’t prefer one code of ethics upon himself and a different one for students. He would push himself beyond limits to stay honest, dedicated and sincere and would, therefore, enjoin students to follow suit.
Instead of stuffing students with monologues and sermons, Prof. Kanth has the tendency to force students into active and participant learning processes. His pedagogy was dialogical and bipolar. He would strongly frustrate students’ desires to stay mediocre by consulting poor reading material. He would prompt students to ask questions and debate the subject matter rather than rote learning. To raise the levels of excellence to the national level, if not global, was his objective.
One of the biggest tragedies in our part of the planet is the absence of empathetic and open-minded teachers. A teacher who would acknowledge his inability to answer a student’s question and after appreciating the student would promise to return with the answer at a later date is a rarity in our society. Prof. Tasawoor A. Kanth, would not shy away for admitting that he didn’t know correct explanation to a certain question. This approach not only cultivates honesty among the students but also makes them brave and ready to confess weaknesses. This approach helps to assure that growth and refinement of knowledge don't become a casualty of irrational arrogance and intellectual highhandedness of a teacher. A single trait of a teacher like this has enormous socio-psychological implications upon the society.
Prof. Kanth was not an amoral instructor who would disregard with disdain the economic and personal problems of disadvantaged students. A former student of Prof. Kanth, now a KAS officer, admitted recently at the seminar that Prof. Kanth not only empathized with him when the latter's father died but also enabled him to earn Gold Medal in M.Sc despite all odds. For the father of two daughters, Prof. Kanth would deeply respect the sensibilities of the female students. He would reflect gender-sensitivity in his dealings.
An embodiment of professionalism, Prof. Kanth could not miss his lecture even on the last day of his service. In the last lecture, he urged the students to introspect and discover reasons for existence, to value time and be develop an upright character.
The retirement of a teacher like Prof. Kanth should not deprive our society of the benefits of his knowledge and skills. In the West, teachers like him never retire from contributing towards the enrichment of knowledge. And that is precisely our need as well.
The author is a student of Kashmir University.
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