I Never Teach My Pupils 3r6yy

“I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn” These lines by Albert Einstein succinctly capture my views on the process of learning and the role of pedagogues in education. Albert Einstein himself went to school only briefly and thereafter was home schooled and is renowned the world over as a genius par excellence. Another exemplary leader who never went to school was Abraham Lincoln who is widely believed to be the greatest American president in history. Both these men are testimonies to the fact that learning is inherently an innate quality that blossoms with the right stimulus. Education is not an end in itself; the purpose of education is to prepare students for the life long process of learning so that they can contribute to the development of self, societies and nations. However, the prevailing view of learning in educational institutes worldwide is that students are disinclined to learn which necessitates the fact that they need to be coerced into learning. Alternate views of education are represented in schools like Sudbury schools where students are free to determine their own methodologies of how to learn and the environment is made conducive to aid them in this process – interaction with teachers, students both younger and older and their communities, make their education more holistic and sparks in them a desire to accumulate knowledge. As research shows, students from these schools are more inclined to further their education and enroll in higher institutes of learning as compared to their peers from traditional teacher oriented schools. It is imperative to be conversant with the fact that teachers do not reserve the exclusive right as the “possessors” of knowledge. Learning arises from interaction with various elements – from the students’ experience and beliefs, from their interaction with fellow students, from extra curricular activities they undertake and from their associations with their community. It is in fact a continuum and for this process to be systemized it is crucial that students are able to amalgamate these experiences and the school acts as a social entity. This enriching and diverse process cannot be encapsulated within any curriculum nor can it be restricted as the prerogative or responsibility of a few. Students themselves need to see the value of learning and their potential as learners, it must impel them form within. Institutions of learning have the same responsibility and role to play as Anne Sullivan played in the development of Helen Keller. Instructors must act as facilitators and explorers in the process, both imparting knowledge and be willing to

learn themselves. The must foster the art of questioning and inquiry and actuate their pupils to seek answers independently. All too often questioning by students is browbeaten and restricted within the confines of the curriculum. This attitude impedes and discourages the students to seek solutions and assay problems from different perspectives. However the purpose of schooling is not to create uniform molds out of students, the pedagogues have the responsibility to bring out an enhance the ability of each student, to encourage those who already have an inquisitive mind and to those who are getting immured in any manner. To sum up, teaching is not the exclusive domain of the teacher or learning the sole responsibility of the student. Learning and teaching is a continuous journey that the teacher and the student embark upon together and where each experience is viewed as a means to enrich themselves and the other.