ഇനി എത്ര ദൂരം

 The Power of Fresh Beginnings in Education

Yet another academic year opens before us. As Robert Lynd mentions in his essay "On Good Resolutions", it is the new decisions we take at the beginning of a new year that keep us moving forward. Even though we may not be able to fulfil all the promises and resolutions we make, every new year inspires us to pursue fresh goals. So it is with a new academic year.

Being a part of the teaching community, I strongly feel that, unlike in the past, teachers today need to remain updated and ready to welcome learning and growth at every moment, as long as they are connected to the teaching ecosystem. Society still tends to believe that teaching is an easy job because teachers receive holidays and vacations alongside students. However, a real teacher dedicates oneself wholeheartedly to nurturing every generation.

We carry a mixed bag of responsibilities: completing the syllabus while integrating skills, mentoring the new generation, being empathetic while addressing their concerns, organising arts, sports, and other co-curricular activities, and at the same time being involved in the conduct of examinations and evaluation. I have heard people comment on why teachers should be paid well. I have also heard wise people say that the best teachers should come from the best part of society, for it is through them that a generation is moulded.

Does that alone come under a teacher’s to-do list?

Being in the higher education sector, there are both personal and academic goals to fulfil. Completing research and achieving a PhD does not bring an end to academic growth. In fact, it is where the real academic pursuit begins. Looking at publication milestones often puts pressure on teachers to publish in Scopus, Web of Science, and other reputed journals, which requires immense dedication and hard work. Amidst duties and responsibilities at the college, along with personal and family commitments, one has to spare, rather, make, time for serious academic writing and publication.

Apart from this, a huge responsibility rests on a teacher’s shoulders. Teachers are expected to be completely aware and attentive at all times. A class of sixty students may hold more than a hundred emotions. There will be advanced learners, slow learners, average learners, and a group of latecomers who may fit into all these categories. Handling each category of students requires tremendous patience from a teacher.

Another major change that teachers face today is the growth of technology and Artificial Intelligence. Students can now find information easily, and AI can help them get answers within seconds. It can even help in writing, learning, and completing tasks. However, AI can never take the place of a teacher. It may provide information, but it cannot understand the feelings of a student. It cannot identify the pain behind a smile or the reason behind a student's poor performance. A teacher can motivate, encourage, and guide a learner during difficult times. A teacher can listen, care, and make a student feel valued. While technology and AI can support education, they can never replace the love, compassion, patience, and human connection that a teacher brings into the classroom. That is why the role of a teacher will always remain special and irreplaceable.

Students today need privacy, yet they also need care and attention to help them move forward in life. Here, a teacher’s role shifts from being merely an instructor to becoming a psychologist, counsellor, and sometimes even a parent. A little empathy, compassion, and a sense of ownership can help teachers build a better generation. At times, a teacher becomes a parent to even the most playful student in the class. Whenever a student appears lazy, drowsy, isolated, or disconnected from the group, a teacher should immediately realise that the problem may not lie with the student but with the circumstances from which he or she comes.

Instead of blaming a learner for poor performance, a teacher can place a reassuring hand on the shoulder, listen patiently, and make the student feel that there is someone who can be relied upon. Such an approach can help even the most difficult learners find their place within the harmony of the classroom.

Every academic year also gives teachers an opportunity to begin again. We enter the classroom with new hopes, new plans, and a renewed commitment to our students. There may have been challenges, disappointments, and unfinished goals in the previous year, but a new academic year allows us to look forward with optimism. Every new batch of students brings new energy, new perspectives, and new possibilities. As teachers, we too continue to learn, unlearn, and grow through our interactions with students. In many ways, education is not just about shaping learners; it is also about shaping ourselves into better educators and better human beings.

As a teacher, I have always felt proud and blessed, for we are entrusted with the responsibility of guiding a struggling yet reformable generation, a generation that will one day create a beautiful world for the future.

A teacher affects eternity; they can never tell where their influence stops.— Henry Adams

Saritha. K

Assistant Professor of English and Vice Principal

Al Shifa College of Arts and Science