Education has become a much-needed tool these days through which an individual goes through the process of spiritual awakening to comprehend the journey within. It primarily involves the two illuminating components –the coveted Guru and his relationship with the receptive Shishya. The path I traversed as a Language teacher is reflective and recalls numerous successes as well as the corresponding failure stories. I was fortunate enough to adopt this challenging medium of imparting, evolving and growing, way back in 1997. I had taken up a job in a Private school in Delhi, Tilak Nagar and that was where I realised that the deprivation of the necessitated resources often becomes a hindrance and creates an impediment in the entire education system. English, alike any other language, is best learnt through exposure, interaction and communication. The learning can never be, and shouldn’t be restricted within the four walls of the throttling classrooms.
Children have to be let loose, given the unbound freedom to observe Life and Nature at every stage of their lives. Apeejay gave me an insight that more the number of children in a class leads to my failure to identify the individual needs of each curious soul. Teaching at Oakridge gave me a sense of ownership with the technology aided and funded kids. I realised too much of everything, at times, may sound detrimental but the inquiry-based learning did give my students enough time to explore, implore and question the happenings in and around the world. They never realised that in the whole process of research they were learning the language to identify and expose the reality, the truth of subjective existence. CHIREC gave me an opportunity to mould the middle and the secondary school ABILITIES! Talent was a dormant factor here which just needed a recharge, a boost and an ignition. English became a language of exposure when I taught Philosophy through poetry, History through stories, biographies and autobiographies. Grammar was a much-feared concept as the rules put down on pen and paper perplexed their tender minds. However, with time, they grasped it well through regular usage and connectivity or through fun activities. I always felt the need to express and vouchsafed rewards if learners shared their own expressions. Language is imparted and comprehended well when those learning, respect their inner freedom, respect the skilful instructions, love to identify and resolve emotional conflicts, trust their inner teacher which teaches them to dream and realise the self-worth.
Teaching English to my Genesis students gave me a retrospection, a challenge that in order to understand the learners’ abilities and difficulties it is important to empathise. Children struggled to understand the medium of communication. I had to switch over to their jargon to make them appreciate Shakespeare, Frost or Tennyson. Education is transformation and the teacher acts as a catalyst in the whole process. It is crucial to disregard any ego or barrier which may surface during the course of the interaction and hinder possible improvement. This spiritual journey allows one to appreciate Life in all its varied colours, forms and myriad complex relationships. Not essentially focused on English alone, it is the communication to celebrate Life and Nature through any vernacular language. Many illumined beings from the Hindu, Sufi, Zen and the Tibetan Buddhist lineages have maintained that Education is essential for the alchemy of transformation and as long as we have inspiring propagators, the next generation is in safe hands.
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