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STUDENT TEACHER RELATIONSHIP Long years ago a System of Education called the Gurukul was evolved. In this system a sishya (pupil) left his own house and entered the house of his Guru, the teacher who takes on the role of the father and his wife a mother to the pupil and all the other pupils became the Guru brothers to each other. They lived together and learnt together at the feet of their guru the lessons of art, philosophy, religion, literature, culture, medicine, even art of warfare and also the art of living. Even though gurus were strict disciplinarians, there was far greater interaction between the teacher and the taught. Even when the students completed their years at the Gurukul they held their Guru in the highest esteem and revered him till the end of their life even though they might, in their turn, have become Great Gurus themselves. In the later medieval period this System degenerated from its lofty heights into something very mediocre. The dividing line between the teacher and his charge widened and the love, respect and dignity for the Gurus dwindled. This gap has widened even further and even though I will not say that it has deteriorated, it has certainly evolved into something of a 9 to 5 relationship. This means that education which was a continuous process of learning and living is no more.
A boy or a girl comes to school as and is a pupil with a different mindset for a few hours. Once the final bell of the day rings, his attitude changes and feels that he is free from the shackles of discipline and learning till the next day.
The need of the day in present times is for teachers and students to have greater interaction with each other. This is indeed difficult nowadays with classrooms filled to capacity with 50 or even more students. At Yashodham High School we try to bridge the gap of difference between the home and the school. The school thinks of itself as a family (and this word family is very emphatically used in our day to day work) and teachers try to understand their charges as a Mother would, emotionally and yet with reason. The pupils have freedom to approach any teacher with his or her problem and even the Principal's doors are always open to any student wishing to confide in her. It is surprising how many problems which children are prone to have, have been solved thus. At Yashodham High School a teacher is not that stern unapproachable person to be held in awe and a proper distance maintained. Here a teacher is a Mother figure who will consider a problem as a mother would and solve it. |
