Academic and Creative Writing Journal Vikram Karve: TEACHERS DAY - Lecture 2

Today, the 5th of September, is Teachers Day.

Let me delve into my creative writing archives and re-post for you some of my earlier blog posts I had written and posted on my blog a few years ago on the occasion of Teachers Day.

I wrote this article long back, around 20 years ago, and posted in on my blog on the request of some students sometime in 2008, I think.

Here is the article, once more, on the occasion of Teachers Day

Please do not plagiarize or copy without permission

HAPPY TEACHERS DAY - Part 2

TEACHING IS A SOFT SKILL

VIKRAM KARVE

Well, once upon a time, I used to be a Teacher. So, on Teachers Day, here are some thoughts I would like to share with you.

TEACHING IS A SOFT SKILL

A teacher is a trustee.

It is just like looking after birds. You take a flock of young students under your wings, nurture them, teach them to “fly”, and when they are ready, you release them into the world, set them free, watch them with pride as they fly into the sky, soar high above you, knowing that they will never come back, wishing that they reach great heights which you could never reach, for nothing gives a teacher more happiness than when his student excels and surpasses the teacher himself.

I have learned from experience that teaching has got less to do with knowledge and more to do with communication.

Teaching is about relationships as well as pedagogy.

Teaching is more about feeling than facts.

It is all a question of vibes. Yes, effective teaching and learning depends on vibes.

Once you establish positive vibes with your students, you can feel the delightful chemistry being generated between you and your students.

In the parlance of Electrical Engineering, it is like perfect impedance matching, the maximum power transfer theorem, and you can experience the classroom rocking with resonance, when all the resistance to the flow of knowledge disappears, the intellectual friction vanishes, the barriers to communication melt away and seamless effortless learning is achieved.

It is not important how much a teacher knows

What is important is how much the student learns

Like I said, communication skills are far more important than qualifications.

Teaching is about relationships as well as pedagogy – it is more about feeling than facts.

Soft Skills outweigh Hard Skills as far as the art of teaching is concerned.

A highly qualified Ph.D. who does not know the art of teaching and fails to establish good vibes with his students cannot make his lectures engrossing.

This may result in students losing interest in the subject and in some cases an insensitive teacher who lacks the soft interpersonal and communication skills may even end up making his students hate and despise that subject.

It is easy to make simple things difficult but difficult to make complicated things easy.

It requires good teaching style, effective communication skills and appropriate soft skills to make difficult things easy and enjoyable to learn.

Yes, learning must be enjoyable, not dry, didactic, boring and painful.

It is important for a teacher to remember that learning comprises two pedagogic processes:

1. Getting knowledge that is inside to move out

2. Getting knowledge that is outside to move in

The second part of imparting knowledge from outside into the student is comparatively easier, once you’ve got the students interested, eager to learn, and if the teacher is proficient in teaching skills and knowledgeable in the subject and domain specialization.

It is the first aspect, getting knowledge that is inside the student to move out, facilitating inward discovery on one’s self, help unlock the treasure within the student that is more challenging and is the true test and indeed the hallmark of a good teacher.

I trust I have succeeded in achieving this.

Today I feel a sense of pride tinged with nostalgic sadness as my protégés “fly” off to conquer great heights of success in their careers. It was a delightful experience to mentor young bright minds, to see them flower, blossom, bloom and flourish before your own eyes, observe them metamorphose from students into professionals.

I love being in the company of young talented people, full of zeal and enthusiasm, with a zest for living and a passion for learning.

It makes me feel good and youthful, and as always, I “learn” more than I “teach”.

I feel sad, wanting to hold them back, not wanting to part, but I know I have to let them go to their destinies.

My dear students, as I watch you with pride in my heart, swiftly fly away, soaring high above me in the sky, vanish into the distance, to all my dear students, I sincerely wish you from the bottom of my heart: GODSPEED.

Godspeed – a wish for a prosperous journey and good fortune, my dear young friends, as you embark upon your first career, a new phase of your life.

Disclaimer:

All stories in this blog are a work of fiction. The characters do not exist and are purely imaginary. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

No part of this Blog may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Blog Author Vikram Karve who holds the copyright.

Did you like this story?

I am sure you will like the 27 short stories from my recently published anthology of Short Fiction COCKTAIL
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About Vikram Karve

A creative person with a zest for life, Vikram Karve is a retired Naval Officer turned full time writer and blogger. Educated at IIT Delhi, IIT (BHU) Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale and Bishops School Pune, Vikram has published two books: COCKTAIL a collection of fiction short stories about relationships (2011) and APPETITE FOR A STROLL a book of Foodie Adventures (2008) and is currently working on his novel and a book of vignettes and an anthology of short fiction. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories and creative non-fiction articles on a variety of topics including food, travel, philosophy, academics, technology, management, health, pet parenting, teaching stories and self help in magazines and published a large number of professional and academic research papers in journals and edited in-house journals and magazines for many years, before the advent of blogging. Vikram has taught at a University as a Professor for 15 years and now teaches as a visiting faculty and devotes most of his time to creative writing and blogging. Vikram Karve lives in Pune India with his family and muse - his pet dog Sherry with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.

Vikram Karve Academic and Creative Writing Journal: http://karvediat.blogspot.com
Professional Profile Vikram Karve: http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
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Email: vikramkarve@hotmail.com and vikramwamankarve@gmail.com

Twitter: @vikramkarve

Academic and Creative Writing Journal Vikram Karve

Thursday, September 5, 2013

TEACHERS DAY - Lecture 2 - TEACHING IS A SOFT SKILL

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