(job-hunting is equivalent to hunting a tiger....:D, no time for posting. but recently for a job application I had to write an essay,...here it is)
Before concluding directly, whether teachers are still role models to their students or not, I’d like to describe the importance of 2 words in this topic “teachers” & “role models”.
A teacher can be anyone (it can even be the Nature), from any background, from any social status & can be of any age. The person is not superior to the students rather she/he is a friend or a guide. Knowledge was never the point, which is more irrelevant in today’s hi-tech world; there are enough sources like the internet, e-book, TV &, of course, books. Then what’s the need of the existence of a teacher? A teacher is one who helps a student to open-up, know what’s her/his strength or weaknesses are & most importantly, a person who can make the students receptive. The critical job is to make the subject so interesting that the students take the initiative & it becomes effortless for the students to study the subject as they become interested in it. Just make the students think & make them interested, that’ll be all, and they will automatically refer books & the internet.
By role models, in this case, I don’t mean a successful person in the profession; otherwise Sachin Tendulkar & Celine Dion has to be the teachers. I remember what Gandhi or Vivekananda said about a role model; a person will always do a great thing in life as every dog will have his day but, a great person will do the smallest things with great care; i.e. if you have to judge a person then, see his day to day activity; how he talks, how he behaves with his subordinates etc.
Now, how teachers can be role models? Before that I would like to state that every word we speak or gestures we make is a transaction; thus, to be role models we should check whether the students really, want us to be role models or at least they are receptive or not. As we all know the basic grains of behavior are sowed in a person’s life when she/he is small (within 5 to 6 years of age) & thus, called the formative years. Thus, small children can be easily molded as their bag of experiences & preconceived notions is less heavy, but still with older boys or girls a teacher can of course make a difference by questioning & logic.
Teacher can be & should be role model because it’s not the knowledge but, the attitude, personality, behavior & view towards life that make all the differences, for example in an economics class all the students are studying economics & if we see the curriculum then we’ll find that all are capable of doing it & that’s the reason all are in the same class! Then, why some get 90% & some get 40%? Why this huge gap? The reason I don’t know but, certainly, it is not all about knowledge or intelligence. One more thing we may consider that the person who is getting 50 may become more successful in life than the person who is getting 90, later in life. There are thousands of examples like Richard Branson, who was a school drop-out, but what he is today? For knowledge gathering there are better sources like the internet but, for the life force or attitude we need a teacher, a role model.
We “still” need a teacher because only the shell has changed not the core. We used to travel by train but, now we travel by flight. Yesterday there was no internet, no e-book but, today we have them. But, as stated earlier they can only provide knowledge & not attitude & there’s the point we still need teachers to role models as knowledge is not the point but, attitude is. In today’s competitive world how to use & where to use the knowledge is more important than the knowledge itself as knowledge sharing has become cheap, easy & abundant. To know how to & where to use the knowledge one has to live the subject, for which one has to be interested & that can only be done by a teacher.
I can give you a life example, I was no student of economics earlier, I graduated as an engineer in electronics & communication; but, in my economics paper during MBA I got 21, & 23 was highest scored by an economics graduate; so, it’s crystal clear it’s not the book but, the teacher, it’s not the degree but, the teacher.
Why a book can’t be a role model? Because it’s lifeless it misses the personality & that’s why now, when we read a paragraph of Hitler’s speech it seems bogus but, when the man stood on the podium & delivered the same, however insane it is, it moved crowds. When Vivekananda said “My dear American brothers & sisters…” at the parliament of religions, he couldn’t speak for 3 minutes due to the claps & praises, but now you read the same it doesn’t have that essence. The reason is simple the personality (the Role) is missing now. So, we come to the same point; personality is the key. A teacher can be knowledgeable but, she/he has to come down to the student’s level, she/he has to see the subject from their eyes & angles. It’s a two-way process, it may happen the way a student is thinking the teacher has never thought that way; it may also happen that nobody has ever thought that way in this way knowledge can flow & can be fresh rather than being stale & stagnant.
A role model shows the attitude, personality & gives immense strength & teachers are at the most advantageous position to mix with the young minds & impregnate the ideas of glory. It’s still important, as still the day is of 24 hours & still a child complains why he can’t tell a lie!
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