Can you imagine a world without professionals?
Without doctors and nurses? No treatment for COVID. Scientists? No vaccine. Without actors? No entertainment to keep ourselves sane.
Needless to say, all professions including the ones not mentioned above are essential for the world to operate, for us to live. No matter which profession you belong to, there’s something common amongst all of them, people are not born as professionals, they are taught and molded into ones and the very people responsible for shaping each and every individual into their vocation are the ones we are celebrating today.
There is one profession that is even more important than these ones, but, often does not get the same recognition; That profession is teaching. We have professionals because someone chose to teach them how to become a professional. What we receive as service from our caregivers is a direct result of them being cared for, being educated, and being taught how to do what by their teachers.
So, before you express pride towards our occupation, we must thank the occupation that made this happen, those who educated us.
As we all know, Teachers’ Day in India is celebrated on 5th September to commemorate the birth anniversary of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. We celebrate Teachers Day in honor of Dr. Radhakrishnan’s birthday, and his belief that “teachers should be the best minds in the country”. I would like to take the liberty of modifying this great quote by adding that teachers are, in fact, the greatest minds a country can have. So, this Teachers Day, how can we express that we are thankful to our teachers? How can we honor them? Writing cards, letters, poems on Teacher’s Day and then moving on with our lives on 5th September?
Well, there is something simpler and more helpful that you and I, as students, might be able to offer: empathy and cooperation. Imagine learning trigonometry for the first time and simultaneously teaching it to fifty other students as well. It is difficult to learn a new skill, something that you have not done ever in your life before, and simultaneously presenting that to a group of people; just like learning how to operate laptops, scheduling online classes, and getting accustomed to Zoom/Meet. This is how our teachers feel while operating new technology. Moreover, this just might be while they are going through their own personal struggle with the challenges posed by the pandemic. Hence, the least we should offer them is empathy- putting ourselves in their shoes, and understanding their struggles.
During this pandemic, our teachers have relentlessly worked and adapted so that we can get the maximum benefit of education even during these uncertain times. So, this Teacher’s Day, let us be grateful to our teachers for those contributions.
Here are some things we can do (or can guide our children to do) to help our teachers.
- Helping them surf through technology, new websites, new software, or anything technical they might struggle with
- Joining our online classes on time, and paying attention to what they are teaching
Doing our homework in time so that they don’t have to keep asking o Encouraging ourselves, or our friends to become future teachers - Respecting the profession, as it is a full-time job, and requires just as much effort
- Thanking our teachers with a smile after every session
So, let’s take this “unconventional” advice (along with cards, flowers, and letters) to wish all our teachers a very happy Teacher’s Day, not just today, but of their efforts every day.
