As we prepare to go for summer vacation a series of workshops, group discussions, sharing of practices and experiences are occupying me and my colleagues. Amid this, two very significant things have happened. They are both very important from the point of building a relationship between teacher and students, teachers’ openness to learning from their own students and listening to their inner voice. Sachin Sharma, a student of class 8, a brilliant speaker and a confident young boy recently attended a workshop on book publication. He shared his experiences with his teachers through a presentation, which took all of us by surprise. Not only that he has grasped the entire process of publishing but he could also effectively communicate it to his teachers. At the end of his presentation, he took questions and responded to them with ease and expertise.
In the other presentation Sharang Verma, a Class 12 student shared the inner voice of learners with his teachers. His hour-long discussion covered areas such as:
Students’ expectations.
How to make classrooms enjoyable.
How the school campuses could be better, safe and enjoyable.
His own experiences in the school.
This session ended with a standing ovation by the teachers. Both these examples suggest to me the following:
Students could be our most important teachers
Teachers are learners first and there is a great value in learning from our own students.
It is important that we interact with our students to find out what their expectations are and what is going on in their lives which we are not noticing.
Cases such as depression, learning difficulties, school refusal, bullying
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