Being Teachers – by Somabandu Kodikara

Two applicants who were being interviewed for a position of teacher in a prestigious school, asked the same question from the interview panel. Both applicants, who were highly experienced in their previous schools, asked ‘How are the students in this school?’

The wise old Principal who was heading the panel asked a counter question from each.

‘How were the students in your previous school?’

The first one said ‘They were horrible. No respect for teachers. No love for education. Just a set of good for nothings and that is why I left the school’.

The Principal said, ‘O! The students here are the same’.

The second applicant said ‘The students were adorable. They were cultured, disciplined and eager to learn. It is only due to circumstances beyond my control that I had to leave the school’.

The Principal said ‘Ah! The students here are the same’.

WHAT YOU LOOK FOR IS WHAT YOU FIND

Yudhisthira and Duryodhana were students of Krishna. Yudhisthira was the personification of righteousness. Later in life he was called Dharma Raja. Duryodhana was otherwise.

Krishna wanted to test the two students. He called Yudisthira aside and told him ‘I have a very difficult task to be accomplished and I want to find a suitable person to do that. Only a person without an iota of goodness in him can perform the task. Can you find such a person for me?. Yudhisthira replied ‘of course I will’ and immediately set forth to find such a person.

Krishna also called Durudhana aside and gave him a task too. He said ‘I want you to find me a person who can accomplish a very difficult task for me. But the person should not have an iota of evil in him’. Duryodhana too promised to find the best person for the job and immediately went in search.

Yudisthira went to every nook and corner where evil men gathered. He looked among the murderers, criminals, perverts and all types of social misfits to see whether there is any trait in them that would disqualify them from being selected.

Duryodhana went to every abode of saints and holy men. He looked deep in to each saintly person to see if there was even a trace of evil left in him.

Yudisthira returned to Krishna and apologized to him. ‘O! Krishna, I checked out every evil person in this country but I could not find anyone who was absolutely evil. There is at least a trace of goodness in every person’.

Duryodhana too returned to Krishna and said ‘O! Krishna, I checked out every saint in this country but could not find the person you want. Every person has even a semblance of evil’.

There are two messages that this story contains. Outward or exoteric message that is easy to understand is: No one is perfect. The most evil person has some good in him and the most saintly person has, his own faults too’.

The deeper esoteric message which is more difficult to understand is: What you look for is what you see.

Yudhisthira went among the most evil men and looked for any little semblance of good in them and he found just that.

Duryodhana went among the holiest of men and looked for the tiniest weakness in them and found that.

YOUR STUDENTS WILL PROVE THAT YOU ARE RIGHT

A research done by a set of educationists is as follows: They divided the new intake to an institution in to two groups purely at random. The two groups were similar in all respects but a subtle message was passed that Group A consists of brilliant kids while Group B is dull. The students, parents and even teachers had no way of knowing that this assumption was false.

The academic achievements of the two groups at the end of the first semester were alarming. Group A proved that they were head and shoulders above Group B.

The above applies to any school situation too. If you believe that your students are well mannered, respectful, good natured, eager to learn and would achieve high standards, and treat them as such, they will prove to you that you are right.

Similarly, if you believe that your set of students are ill mannered, disrespectful, undisciplined good for nothings, and treat them as such, they will prove that you are right.

THE HIGHEST COMPLIMENT

A parent of Sudanese nationality in a multi-national school that I was once heading, came to me and said ‘Your school makes it very difficult for us to manage our children at home’.

His children were in the Foundation Stage and I naturally thought that a teacher might have offended him.

He continued to say ‘Your teachers treat our children like Royalty. We do not know how to do that at home’.

Our teachers do treat the children as royalty irrespective of the station of the parents. Our students in turn, respect their teachers and treat them as dispellers of darkness – the true definition of the word Guru.

MOULDING CHILDREN

Dorothy Law Nolte puts it very succinctly when she says:

If a child lives with criticism, she learns to condemn

If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight

If a child lives with fear, he learns to be apprehensive

If a child lives with pity, he learns to feel sorry for himself

If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy

If a child lives with jealousy, he learns what envy is

If a child lives with shame, he learns to feel guilty

If a child lives with encouragement, he learns to be confident

If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient

If a child lives with praise, he learns to be appreciative

If a child lives with acceptance he learns to love

If a child lives with approval, he learns to like himself

If a child lives with recognition, he learns that it is good to have a goal

If a child lives with sharing, he learns about generosity

If a child lives with honesty and fairness, he learns what truth and justice are

If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith in himself and in those around him

If a child lives with friendliness, he learns that the world is a nice place in which to live

THE GRATIFICATION IN TEACHING IS ITSELF

Alexander the Great gave the highest possible compliment to the teaching profession when he placed the teacher above the parent by saying:

I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well.

Somabandhu Kodikara

Principal (Primary)

Vidura College Colombo