Changing Role of Parents & Teachers with Technology

Parents and teachers are the two closest and best factors in a child’s ultimate growth, who are mutually bound by a purely unselfish common thread of an earnest desire to see the young child/pupil go ahead of them in life, to prosper and flourish better than they have done.

Such thinking, it goes without saying, is only natural for the parents, because it is based on their shared love with the child due to emotional, traditional and biological  reasons. In the case of a teacher, the same intense concern for the child is based on profession as a mission, which establishes that teaching, by its very nature, is a process of enabling and empowering a child into a fine human being and better citizen of tomorrow. In this sense, teaching is purely a service, a missionary act, rather than an occupation which is always mercenary. That is why a teacher is called a gardener who nurtures his saplings with all the loving care he can afford.

It needs, however, to be borne in mind, that the analogy of parents and teachers on an identical attitude towards their wards cannot be stretched too far. It’s a fact that for parents, their ward is the best and, therefore, he must claim all the 100% of his teacher. But, for the teacher, it is always a set of students being treated as wards and which changes every year, who have to be taken care of and, therefore, every child of a particular year simply takes 100% attention of his. He has to treat every student in analytical and comparative terms in relation to his classmates, since all of them are born with different talents and interests and capacities, and they have to be attended to and served as per their needs, resulting in their assessment on a scale of comparative ratings.

Parents need to understand and realize such practical problems being faced by teachers and refrain themselves from blaming teachers for not giving their best to their ward. Parents and teachers need to develop strong mutual faith and trust in each other for the best monitoring of the children. Constant interaction between the two is the only best method to develop such trust as it used to be some 50 years ago.  What has happened to the age-old valuable bond of mutual respect and trust between parents and teachers after all? It can be put down to two major changes in today’s society  (a) impact of computer based rapidly growing technology and (b) ever increasing need of parents to go out to work. Both these factors have widened the generation gap between parents and children on the one hand, between the children and their teachers on the other, thereby progressively thinning down of interaction between parents and teachers.

Technology has so powerfully impacted the raw young generation that they love to spend their time more and more with cell phones and internet which provides them all sorts of information on all subjects, that they do not feel the need to consult their parents regarding their problems and prefer to listen to their like-minded peer groups instead of their teachers/parents. They also take advantage of the fact that parents and teachers belong to an old world and are not well-versed in today’s technology as they are. Naturally, the image of the parents and teachers and their regard for them, have gone down in the eyes of the young generation,  leading to a blame-game among all three stake-holders of education of children, viz, students, parents and teachers. Dissatisfaction is writ large on everybody’s face that children are not learning well or are not being taught well.

The only panacea available to us to bridge the generation gap and bring about an equilibrium in school sphere lies in adoption of the latest technology by parents and teachers who should use it habitually like the young ones do. In other words both must change with change of time. It will restore elders’ image in their eyes and elders will be able to monitor students better and faster. On the parallel lines, parents will be able to frequently interact with teachers through mail, Facebook and other channels to update themselves about the progress of their wards at convenience. After all, parents and teachers owe a great responsibility to enrich the society by contributing exemplary citizens to it.

Commander VK Banga

Chairman IPSC &

Principal

The Mann School, Delhi -110082

NEED OF GOOD COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Communication skills are crucial for the successful career of a student or an individual. Today in the competitive world, an educated person without good communication skill is considered uncivilized.

• For want of good communication no one is able to explain his ideas or the subjects though he may have good knowledge.

• Good communication always helps in overcoming the problems at all level in the life.

• Communication skills are not possible without doing good practice in reading, listening and speaking. The best endeavour in this area is CAMBRIDGE CLASSES in The Mann School for enhancing communication skills.

• Students here are motivated to develop reading habits through books, newspapers and magazines to improve knowledge and communication effectively.

• Effective communication not only leaves a good impression on others, it also enhances one’s success, understanding, trust, respect and teamwork.

• Communication skills enhance confidence in decision making and professional relationships.

• Students improve themselves through role play, group discussions and other group activities. Good conversation among students helps to develop respect for each other.

• Man craves to create a good impression upon others and one’s art of skilful communication that can greatly help to convey his ideas, feelings and intentions to people.  

           Mrs Sarita Mishra

           The Mann School

       

The role and responsibility of students towards society.

A student today will be a citizen tomorrow and hence will have to shoulder a heavy responsibility to lead his or her nation in the right direction. Therefore the schools train the students with a holistic approach, to get better citizens in future; and thus it is the responsibility of students to make full use of education imparted to them. Students must respond to what they are prepared and trained for, i.e., they must demonstrate academic integrity and honesty. A sensible student will become a responsible citizen one day, he or she will need to shoulder the responsibility to handle his or her family, society and nation as a whole. They are expected to end the menaces like child labour, dowry system, pollution, global warming etc., through an integral approach and a cool head on their shoulders. The new generation is expected to be more diligent in all respects. They must know how to make the best use of available resources and how to go for sustainable development without risking the environment and the ecosystem. To conclude, we can say that today’s students are going to be responsible for the betterment of life in the offing since they are a smarter community with a huge and positive generation gap than ever before.


Mr. Dheeraj Kumar
The Mann School

HELPING STUDENTS TO MOTIVATE THEMSELVES

Motivation is a driving force which leads one to success. It is often easier to get the students to do what we, as teachers, want them to do by rewarding them for their good performance or by telling of a negative consequence. But, it generally works for a shorter term. So, we must create such conditions by which students get motivated themselves, i.e., and develop intrinsic motivation. One way of achieving this is by praising the efforts put in by the students to solve a problem or to do an activity. This will not only energise the student, but also make him feel knowledgeable. We, the teachers, must take a genuine interest in our students. We must learn about their interests, dreams, problems etc. and also tell them about our own. Let the students feel related to us. Strictness cannot build a good rapport with the students. Sometimes smile, a joke or a pat on the student’s shoulder is sufficient enough to instill in him positive energy.

It is really what the teacher is doing or allowing to be done in the classrooms ( behaviour, teaching style, humanity ) which motivates the students.

Mrs Bela Shanker

The Mann School

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TEACHER AND THE TAUGHT

It has often been observed that students tend to score high in their favorite teacher’s subject. Although there is a funny proverbial note, “The best teacher is that, who doesn’t teach”, I am not, at all, indicating to be that one. The ultimate recognition, by the students, is achieved through dedication, reaching the child’s mind, sincere care and selfless teaching. Teacher’s main motive should be to understand the peculiarity of students and act accordingly.

My friends often tell me that I, being a teacher, might be enjoying my work more than others as they are always slogging their heads in the heaps of files kept on their tables and keep on arranging them back from one cabinet to another. I simply say to them that no doubt I do enjoy but imagine what would happen to you all when you don’t find your files at the place you had kept or find all the texts of your file changing on its own from time to time. Here lies the difference that you all deal with files and I deal with LIVING FILES. The students are my files who are never found where left them last time. Their responses are unexpected. They may smile at scolding and frown at your polite suggestions. Above all I, being a teacher, cannot afford to carry my irritation for long, because of one student, as the other students are waiting to be taught. I have observed that after revealing this fact my friends look at their files with great affection and relief.

Students spend 5-6 hours with their teachers and we ought to make it qualitative and fruitful. This task will be just next to impossible if the relationship between the teachers and the taught is not congenial. Working as a boarding teacher makes the task even more challenging when the duration spent with the students goes to 15-16 hours and our responsibilities get multi-fold. Here I would like to add that the day schools, where the teacher is interacting with the students only in class rooms, under ideal conditions, have less idea of what all challenges boarding teachers face in grooming the students on different occasions. A boarding teacher’s job starts from lining up the students for PT/Yoga early in the morning at 6 am, inspecting their turnout, at 7.20 am, before breakfast, monitoring their meal intakes and table manners during all the meals, supervising their study hours and ensuring their timely sleep. Now maintaining a congenial and friendly relationship with the students become a pre-requisite to make them participate and learn all these throughout the day. Here keen observation plays a key role in understanding child’s psychology, his confusions, fears and attitude so that his problems can be combated properly. We, teachers, need to build strong bond and faith with the students so that they may approach us for the solution of any kind of complications or problems.

It has been often seen that yelling at the students is the most convenient way that teachers find to drag students’ attention towards studies but the fact is that even the students need to be handled and molded towards studies with lot of care and that should be acted upon only after understanding their psyche. Students come from different cultures and family backgrounds and they deserve to be respected as an individual. Their needs have to be understood and such a relation should be developed with them that they may confide in you all their problems and confusions, not only academic but related to the life skills as well, so that they may get a mature and sensible guidance. A congenial relationship between teacher and students has a positive impact on not only students’ academic results but throughout their life as well. It enhances their personality and prepares them not only to achieve the goals but help them in reaching the acme of success and maintain that position for a longer period of time. I have many students who address me as “Papa “and “Big Bro”. The girl students often get scolding from me for not keeping and tying their hair properly and it was so amusing to see my class 12^th girl students tying their hair in two plaits on the examination days of geography to make me feel good. 

They consider me as their guide and mentor which gives me a strange feeling of responsibility towards them. It has been experienced by me that the students whom you have pampered for one or the other reasons during his or her school tenure may not remember you much but the students who have got maximum scolding would always remember you on various occasions and keep you updated about their whereabouts through social networking or phone calls. It is rightly said that people never forget how you have made them feel so the scolding should never cross the limits to make the students feel dejected and remorseful. Even a slap can be respected if it is done for a right cause and in a right way.

Almost everyone has a favorite teacher and one who is liked less but the thread of respect remains common in both the cases. To build a positive relation between a teacher and students is not an easy task and is a little complex too, which can be forged by developing a pleasant learning environment where the students learn lessons from the teacher and the teacher also learns and enhances his teaching ability. The present exposure to media has equipped our students with intelligent queries which should neither be shrugged off nor taken as a blow. Rather, that particular student should be appreciated for asking such question which had made you to re brush and explore your knowledge. Its, actually the qualities of students which keep us updated so we should never discourage their queries. 

We, being teachers, should create an open environment where each student is respected and not ridiculed, either by the teacher or by the peer group. Students should always feel free to ask any question and they should be assured that they will neither be taunted nor ridiculed on their queries. We all know that taunting and being ridiculed hurt more than scoldings.

Finally, teachers may not get a strong bank balance at the end of their careers but they do treasure their students who remember you and acknowledge your sacrifice and dedication.

Mr Madhukar Priya

The Mann School

Effective communication skills

ECS are fundamental to success in many aspects of life. Many jobs require strong communication skills and people with good communication skills usually enjoy better relationships with friends and family.

Effective communication is not merely about exchanging information between you and the other person. It is about making what the person interprets consistent.

Improving your communication skills can make a world of  difference in your relationship with others and help you to achieve your personal goals in life.We are, of course, social beings and improving the way we relate to others can only benefit us.

The goal of effective communication is to create a common perception that is received in a positive manner, so that you can together agree on a further action or decision.

Effective communication skills also increase your self –esteem. It feels great when you are able to deliver your message confidently. Now the question is where can you use effective communication?

Don’t limit your thinking to workplace or school presentation only. Any type of social interaction will benefit from using better communication skills.

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PARCTICE, with your friends and family and other people you   meet. This will help you improve your communication because, like any other skill, you will get better the more you learn about it and like more you use it!

Mrs. Anuradha Malik

The Mann School

Cordial relationship of teachers and parents

In our busy day of juggling papers, lesson planning and managing sometimes more than a hundred students, we can easily forget the group that could lend significant support to our various work as teachers -- parents and families of students. Parents and teachers play an integral role in the life of a student. A teacher grooms the student by developing logical and conceptual knowledge and parents help to implement that knowledge by constant check at home. A student’s problem can be well understood and solved, if parents and teachers are working in cooperative atmosphere. Teachers and parents both are equally responsible for dealing with psychological and academic issues. Any abnormal behaviour of the student should be noticed and shared between the two in time so that necessary actions can be taken for the betterment of a student. The Mann school understands the importance of nurturing a student in such a friendly atmosphere where a student feels free to discuss with teachers any problem whether related to academics or behavioural ones.

Recognition of a problem solves half of the problem itself. Once the problem get identified, it can easily be resolved by proper attention and care paid by teachers and parents. It not only motivates the students to share their problems, but also brings a satisfactory and easy solution for them. Being teachers we should not forget that the responsibility to change young ones into responsible citizens is ours only and it can be easily managed if we are supportive to the parents and parents have trust on teachers.

Ms. Nidhi Dewan

The Mann School