children – Dr. Vidya Hattangadi

A Big Salute all our teachers!!!

Dr Vidya Hattangadi — Sat, 05 Sep 2020 00:01:00 +0000

When you remember your school and college days, what do you recall the most? I am sure you must be remembering some of those great teachers for their delightful classes, some for their sense of humor, and some for their craft, for their methodology of teaching and for their compassion and many more virtues of theirs.

Can we forget names of our teachers, can we forget their personalities? No, we cannot for a simple fact that they are an element of our life like our parents and siblings are. I think we all literally characterize the subjects with some good teachers we had; Maths, Language, History, Geography, Science, Civics, Drawing, Craft, Physical Training – all of these and many more in later years. A competent teacher has the enchantment – he/she can make the class fall in love with a subject. What students take away from a school/college usually centers on teachers who can instill passion and inspiration for the subjects! It’s difficult to measure success, and in the world of academia, educators are magicians who continually find new methods, new techniques, of re-evaluating how to quantify learning.

Teaching as a process is so interwoven and complex, that it is difficult to be explained. It has three important sources. First and foremost, each subject taught is as large and complex as life, therefore the familiarity of the subject is always flawed and partial. No matter how a teacher devotes himself/herself to reading and research, teaching requires a command of content that always evades some student’s grasp. Second, the students themselves are larger than life and even more complex. To understand them, their capacity as learners and their queries and respond to them wisely in the moment, requires a fusion of Einstein, Freud and Edison! A teacher achieves this with lots of hard work. Let’s not undermine their commitment and their craft; like we mature as students they also mature as teachers. They need time. It takes few years for them to grasp the teaching-learning process and techniques.

Third, if students and subjects account for all the complexities of teaching, the teachers have to literally be on their toes to keep up with the class which often consists of some bright, extraordinary, some average and some laggards. Isn’t it challenging for a teacher to keep pace with variety of students? Some are mischievous, some are feeble, some are fighters, and some are sensitive – the teacher knows it all. He/she learns enough techniques to stay ahead of the student psyche. But there is another reason for these complexities – friends they teach us the way they are. After all, they are not robots, they are human like us. Like all of us even they have their whims and fancies.

Teaching is a truly human activity. Everybody cannot teach; it emerges from one’s inwardness, for better or worse. In my opinion a teacher projects his/her inner personality, their soul onto their students. In their interaction with the class which is usually very short in schools (a class is conducted for 30-45 minutes) they mold the young and supple hearts. They try to correct the thinking of the children, their character, their spirit and their disposition as citizen of a nation. The teachers give the world entrepreneurs, doctors, lawyers, and chartered accountants, CEOs, Prime Ministers and Presidents! They grow with their students.

Successful teachers have clear objectives. They have a sense of purpose; they see a big picture because they have a full class before them. Every child is unique, the teacher looks at the topic from every child’s point of view. A teacher who doesn’t listen to students fails and one who always listens to students will ultimately fail. It is no simple endeavor to know when to listen and when not to listen. Unconstructive energy zaps creativity and it makes a nice breeding ground for fear of failure. Good teachers have an upbeat mood, a sense of vitality and energy; they see past passing setbacks to the end goal. Positivity breeds creativity. Remember, they always want their students to succeed.

Humor and wit enlightens the class; it reduces stress and frustration, and gives students a chance to look at their circumstances from another point of view. All of us remember humorous teachers don’t we?

In order to avoid becoming the stuck and stubborn teacher, good educators take time to reflect on their methods, their delivery, and the way they connect with their students. Reflection is necessary to resolve some awkward issues in class rooms. Good teachers always give emotional support to their students. They understand that learning does not happen in a vacuum. Depression, anxiety, and mental stress have a severe impact on the educational process. A good teacher takes the whole person into account. When a child is suffering trauma in his life, the teacher reaches out with all might. And that’s a true teacher.

Friends, teacher’s job are not an easy job. Most often their roles are undermined by cruel world. Their vacations, their pay scales are always discussed without understanding their responsibility –all of these ignorant and annoying comments just go to show that people who aren’t in education simply can’t understand all of the work that goes into being a classroom teacher. Teaching is simultaneously instilling in a child the belief that he can accomplish anything he wants while reprimanding him for producing shoddy work.

I can’t resist giving example of an ever beautifully made movie on teachers “To Sir with Love” in 1967 which stars Sidney Poitier as Mark Thackeray, an engineer who takes a temporary teaching job. The kids are rough, arrogant and uninterested in school, and ignorant to the possibility that they could become more than they are. The gentlemanly Mr. Thackeray, called “Sir” by his students, is as much a culture shock to them as they are to him.

To Sir, with Love is like a time capsule of the late 1960s: Sentimental optimism contrasts with the grittiness of poverty, illiteracy, teenage rebellion, and rapid social change. There is a sense that Mr. Thackeray’s class is staggering wildly toward dead-end or delinquent adulthood, and he has a few short weeks to reach at least some of his students before they are lost. His greatest asset as a teacher, though, has nothing to do with cutting-edge curriculum or teaching “best practices.”

It is culture. “Sir” is a living example of another world which his students could choose to enter, if only they could see themselves in it. Through him they experience, for the first time, what it is to have dignity. As the teenagers begin to awaken to their own self-worth, they start to grasp why people have manners, respect others, and behave in ways that draw respect in turn. They take interest in the written word and the process of intellectual inquiry. This movie shows how education is more than transmission of facts; it’s an invitation to explore the world of the soul, of human creative capacity, and of the physical universe. It shows when the right adult (teacher) comes in a misguided teenager’s life at the right time how things fall in the right place. Please do watch this movie to understand a teacher.

Today I salute my all teachers from the core of my heart; for they made me what I am today. I am indebted to all of them. They truly have transformed my life.

What is Parenting – An art or science

Dr Vidya Hattangadi — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 02:53:47 +0000

There is no right way or wrong way to raise your children. There is no sure short answer to your questions on taming and molding your children. There is no hard and fast rule about what will work for you and what might not in regards to your children. Your family environment, your personality, your spouse’s personality and finally your child’s personality might not have anything in common. No two parents can be same. Every parent and every child is unique. Your parenting style varies as per your circumstance; your mood, your challenges and your luck that comes your way. Please remember this; even if you have loads of money, lots of assistance, lot of time and energy you might not be in a position to fix a serious problem of your child.

Contrastingly, somebody who has materially very little, might raise an excellent human being if all else falls into place. Time and again teaching values, correcting your child with his/her behavior, most importantly how you behave in difficult times will usually result in your children having the same values. Let’s not forget that our children are not tailor-made; beyond everything else, they come to us with inborn qualities that we cannot exclusively order, request, or even refuse to accept as detrimental. What best we can do is, with lots of love and attention and words of wisdom make our children understand what is right and what is wrong.

One thing those who aren’t parents fail to understand about being a parent is: the deep, touching and incredible love that changes you forever when your child is born! The tiny creature makes you a parent. You are born as mother/father and that makes it a complex, overwhelming, yet fantastic experience.

Does reading books on parenting help

Can reading some books on parenting help you become a better parent? Can you copy someone else’s (successful) strategy for bringing up your children? Do often visits to counselors help you become better parent? Nope, the idea of seeking parenting advice from others and not listening to your heart is futile. Parenting is a reality and not an imagination. Any parent will tell you that it is very different than they thought it would be. Every child throws variety of challenges at its parents; and each challenge are different. Every experience is different. Children go through distinct periods of development as they move from infants to young adults and from young adults to adults. During each of these stages multiple changes in the development of the brain and body take place. What occurs and approximately when these developments take place are genetically determined. However, environmental circumstances and the child’s experience with key individuals within that environment have significant influence on how each child benefits from each developmental event. So, there are no hard and fast rules and regulations that one can follow.

There is no doubt that for most families, the teen years present a challenge for both parents and children. During adolescence, kids need their parents more than ever. Research shows that a positive family environment including fun and frolic, creative family activities, open parent-child communication and the encouragement to participate in positive extracurricular and community activities help teens ably to navigate these years with relative ease.

What exactly is parenting? An art or science

I think parenting is both an art as well as science. I call it an art because it depends a lot on a parent’s creative response to the each challenge. The challenge of disciplining, the challenge of bonding which fits the child’s personality, the challenge of making your children eat proper food, challenge of educating your child on sexual matter, keeping an eye on child’s friends, the right values so on and forth. I think parenting is an art because it is finding new ways of weaving values into your child’s life.

Parenting is also science because your child and you are biological entities. And the biology is ruled mostly by black and white writing. It involves psychology, sociology, anthropology, nutrition, genetics etc, etc and all these are science therefore parenting is science also.

But the art is what takes more effort. This requires a parent to trust on his/her instincts, to observe, to listen, to guide, to speak, to talk with changed tones, to act, and to learn from each experience. And, all these actions involve a lot of trial and error. Therefore, parenting is both science and art. There is no first thing or last thing. You cannot do everything correct the first time. You will commit mistakes, reflect upon them, share them with others, figure out reasons and solutions, search the Internet and do what you feel is best ……that’s about it.

Parenting is about knowing your child is always watching you

Your children are always watching you. So be honest. Don’t go out of your way to hide your shortcomings. We are not Gods, we are mortal human. We can fail, we can be wrong, we can err sometimes – the best thing to do is be honest about our shortcomings. Don’t ill-treat yourself.

It’s better to be upfront without going too much into details when it comes to correcting your child. Sometimes, when you see your own bad habits in your children start working together to get rid of those bad habits. It can be fun.

I want to make another very important point here, that is your child and you are two separate people. Your child’s habits and traits are his/her alone. Your child’s success, failure, temperament, illness, way of walking, manners are going to be far different than your imagination. Don’t get too attached to what other say or comment on your child. Accept your child wholeheartedly.

And last but not the least; don’t lose your sense of humor. Learn to laugh at those silly mistakes made by you, your spouse and your child. You need not always be serious about life. One of the best parts of being a parent is spending time playing with your kids and seeing them grow. It’s a great opportunity to feel like a child, a teenager, an adult again and that is precious. Spending time with your kids enjoying their company through their each millstone is precious. Be your child’s best friend. Pass on the legacy to children of appreciating goodness in others and a love for the basics in life. Children are incredibly wise and tend to see the world more simply than we do. Sometimes they think far better than we do; perhaps it’s time we start taking their advice.