“No matter what age we are, all of us, at one time or the other have seen a young girl draped in a dupatta teaching her dolls or a young boy writing instructions on a board or wooden door with a piece of chalk. Such is the influence of a teacher on our society. It is a profession for some and a dream for many,” says Anamika Gaur, a principal of Kapil Public School, Delhi. Her preferred ways of teaching are through group activities and NCERT textbooks.
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From running a charitable school to managing online classes, Anamika’s story has so much to offer. Let’s get to know her a little more. |
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What motivated you to become a teacher?
My school is a charitable school, it is completely free of cost. We are not taking any kind of fees from students. They only have to pay for their uniform and books. So, it is kind of a social work. I am not just a teacher, I am also a social worker for society. We believe in donating something through education to the society.
| My humble school in Burari is a home to several students. We watch them grow and we learn to grow along with them. We watch them play and we play with them. We teach them to understand and we learn in return. Under the roof of this school, we carry out the bilateral process of education. |
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The school was established with an idea and a vision. The idea was to instill the dream of education within the grey cells of the young minds and the vision was to fulfill the dream once instilled with this idea that we continue to grow unhindered, uninterrupted and fearless.
What is your story as a teacher?
I am interested in every curricular activity and my favorite subjects are Science and Mathematics. I have done M.Sc. in Mathematics. The last full working day of my school was in March 2020. All of us headed towards our respective homes, little did we know then that the world of education is going to change forever. As the months passed by, the number of children in online classes decreased. I was back in my childhood when I would drape a dupatta and teach my dolls, getting no reply in return for my questions. Online classes are similar to this. I have always known charity cannot be done from smartphones because those who need it do not have one, same is the case with teaching.
A teacher looks through the eyes into the minds of her students, which is now impossible with their cameras switched off. The comfort of my home never felt so uncomfortable. Everyday I wake up to the call of a parent informing me that her daughter/son is dropping out. Everyday I received a call from a child who couldn't afford to get her/his books. Everyday I persuade a father to let his son/daughter study and with every passing day my ability to persuade reduces and a child drops off. Not every teacher can relate with the situation but the teachers who taught my students will.
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I will wake up again tomorrow with a new lesson for my students. I will ask them questions, waiting for their reply. I will scold them for being absent and question them for not completing the task given to them. I will inspire them to attend the online classes, but deep down I am always yearning to see my students back on their wooden desks. |
How has Gurushala helped you in your journey as a teacher?
I was introduced to Gurushala as a programme, Learning with Vodafone. I, along with my fellow teachers, joined the programme. Since then, Gurushala has helped us in multiple ways. They make it easy to communicate with the teachers throughout India. I also like the webinars they take where we get to know about new ways of learning from other teachers, so it is a learning platform for us too. One teacher learns from another teacher how they can make learning easy for their students.
What according to you is a 21st Century Teacher?
Well educated, well mannered, and a logical teacher I believe is a 21st Century teacher. One who does not believe only in the bookish language, who believes to teach students in a different and easy way with logic. The 21st century is a century of social media and technology, so 21st century teachers are also the same who know how to teach in their own ways using technology.
If I compare teachers then and now, the last memories of my school are from the 1970s; mine being a missionary school, I clearly remember the Moral Science lectures, the prayers, the church days and above all, the teachers or sisters as we would call them. It was a time when the blackboards were actually black and the dusters were a bulky mass of cotton that hardly erased anything. But the teachers of that era took unusual efforts to get things into the minds of their students. I remember my history teachers showing us old stamps from across nations and our Math teacher using legos to explain Geometry. Videos were a thing of distant future but our gurus were ready to traverse any lengths so that we could visualize the aspects that were written across the pages of the books.
The era changed and soon I was sending my daughter to school. Somehow, teaching here seemed to be easier than our times. Maybe the credit goes to the extremely colorful books and the videos that came with the course behind the books. It was when my daughter was in class eigth that I joined the school as a teacher, Kapil Public School, and if you ever happen to meet my students you will see how they motivate us to perform better every day. Now, I don't have to collect stamps to show them to my students, because the world wide internet has got this covered, visualization of concepts is just a click away. The videos that are available sometimes take me by surprise as keeping the students hooked to the classroom is now 10 times easier. But to be honest, the difference between the two was just a difference of technological advancements because, in my opinion, the adjectives for teachers remain constant. Teachers - then and now have always tried their best to open the minds of their students and pave the way for the accumulation of knowledge. The teacher then was a motivator, the teacher now is inspiring and the future teacher will be a torchbearer.
Anamika’s story is a story full of challenges and endless possibilities. Her motto as a teacher is to teach more and more students like, "Padhega India tabhi to badhega India". For more such inspiring stories, stay tuned to Gurushala’s Stories from Indian classroom in the Express Yourself section.
