Teaching a noble profession

Teaching is held to be a noble profession. It is needed to be a noble profession. What can be nobler then molding young people into good men and women?

And rightly considered, the main function of a teacher is to do his bit in his sphere. It is very wrong of us to think that he/she only teaches a subject. In addition to teaching, a teacher exercises a great influence on the life and character of his pupils in many other ways. In order that this influence is good he should have some qualities. A teacher who has these qualities may be called an ideal teacher. Let us see what those qualities are.

First of all he/she should be the master of the subject he teaches. If he teaches in school, he should have a good command over more than one subject. If he/she teaches in a collage, he/she should be a specialist in his own subject. This means that he/she hopes to master it at same time. He/she must put in his best efforts to study and grasp the subject, he/she has chosen. Many teachers do not realize this. Once they have entered the profession, they rest content. They make no efforts to improve their knowledge of the subject. They do their work mechanically. They get out of touch with latest developments in their field of study. They do not inspire their students. They cannot do so unless they are themselves inspired. An ideal teacher is a tireless student. Unless he/she is that he/she cannot be a good teacher.

It is very unfortunate that most of the teachers take their work so non-seriously. Many of them are even unsuitable for this work. They have no living interest in study and scholarship. They never progress beyond their student days. Our system of education is such that the teacher can go on teaching for years without feeling the necessity of reading himself. Such a teacher is no teacher.

We can emphasize the requirement of an ideal teacher, that he/she should be a sound scholar, that he/she should have a zest for learning that he/she should keep himself in touch with the latest developments in his subject. So in this way he/she can be a good teacher and a good scholar and can make this profession dignified and noble for others.