When I decided that I should join Viswajyothi to work as a lecturer, I was quite relaxed. For, I’ve been teaching and training kids for quite some time, and I thought that the “teaching thing”, came to me naturally. My Appa, on the other hand, had a completely different point of view. He tried to make me understand, and that has made all the difference in my Life.

“Any lecturer”, he started.

Any lecturer you may come across, has the authority vested upon him, to declare that the whole class is full of idiots. Please note, I intend to stress on the “authority vested up on him” part a bit more than the others. I stress on it, for nobody can, and nobody will question the statement made by the tutor, that the whole class is full of dumb-asses. If such a comment is made in the staff room, everyone will take it for granted, and will start commenting on their experiences with stupid people. Its a downward spiral, a quicksand, where every teacher in the staff room will come to a prejudiced conclusion that the class is stupid. That’s the last nail on the coffin.

Any bloody idiot who have donned the mantle of a lecturer can blame the kids. The good teachers, the bad teachers, anybody. But we need to understand that there is no such thing as a bad student, there is only bad teachers. You’re a bad teacher, if you can’t ignite that flair in the kids’ mind which will attract them to your topic like Sunflowers to the sun. Lecture, experiment, show, make them experience, do whatever need to be done. But ignite that fire in them. Give them the confidence to explore. And you’ll receive a great community, who is brave, daring, truthful and eternally curious. A group of people who will love you, and sometimes, even worship you.

Blame them not. Appreciate in public, criticize in private. Whenever a reprimand need be done, call him/her in private and talk to him in slow voice. A loud voice will never penetrate a defiant mind. Accept what they’ve done, understand the cause and discuss on it. For them to understand your point, you first need to understand their point. For all the small small good stuff they’ve done, call to the staff room, and in LOUD voice, appreciate them. For all the people who got 46+/50, write in BIG BOLD LETTERS, Well done. If possible, write with that red pen on top, “get this signed by your parents and group tutor”.

I’m eternally thankful to my dad. For he taught me, not how to lecture, not how to teach. But how to be a mentor.