ACTIONS AND RESULTS

Our society is full of people who are well aware of the learnings they are expected to undertake in their professions. What is equally interesting is that most people even equip themselves with such knowledge. However, have you ever wondered where all the sense of purpose is borrowed from? These are the kinds of questions that Ramesh discusses in his classroom.

As a pass out of the Government-run schools, he goes out of his way to mentor students who need that extra help. He coaches them separately or in groups, as the occasion demands. “Each day, this idea motivates me to work,” he says calmly.

As a practice, when he walks into the classroom, he asks the students about their day. He, then, proceeds to mix the conversation with the content at hand. “Very early  in my life, I realised that bookish knowledge is not good enough. Hence, I would always try to relate what I learnt at school with what was happening in my life. You would not believe the number of places where the theory of relativity can help make sense in life events!”

He specifically requests that he be allowed to attend the sessions on the teaching of sciences and mathematics at ITEI-EDMC. He feels that activity-based instruction makes the process of learning very life-like. Such learning is also effortless to replicate in classrooms with little or no equipment and large numbers, both of which are the realities facing Ramesh’s classes.

He recounts one of his successful homework tasks where he encouraged his students to go grocery shopping with their parents. They had to ensure that they were the ones counting money for each transaction! It was a simple exercise but gave his students enormous confidence. Some of the parents even came back to thank him for “encouraging responsibility” in them.

While it is indeed easy to talk about change, teachers such as Ramesh show that it is equally possible to bring it about!