‘It’s not about teaching lessons, it’s about grooming human-beings.’

Anusuya, is a veteran teacher with 14 years of experience behind her. This Science teacher from Delhi School of Excellence shares a thing or two about dealing with students and the responsibilities that come with the profession.

What do you think of digitally-aided education in classrooms?

Some of the digitally-aided teaching tools are user-friendly and handy. It engages even those students who otherwise tend to be inattentive in class.

Tell us about your career graph.

I was a micro-biologist at Medinova Labs which is a diagnostic center for three years and worked with another healthcare center for two years. Then, I had an urge to teach and groom young minds so I joined the teaching profession. I have been teaching for 14 years now and it’s very fulfilling.

In your daily sessions in the classroom, how do you find out a student’s aptitude?

I ask them higher order thinking questions every now and then. I ask them questions about how a concept they have learnt can possibly be used in daily life. I make them understand applicability of concepts taught. Each student comprehends it at a different level.

What do you think of CCE methods by CBSE?

I think it gives 100% opportunity for every student to excel at what he or she is naturally good at. We evaluate students in a number of methods. There are group discussions, record work (which require students to be good with diagrams), and analytical tests. This way, we address all aspects of learning and each student gets to excel in what he or she is naturally talented in.

Apart from this, students develop and learn through other activities too. Recently, our students performed a street play close to a dirty naala and gave a social message to clean it up. They also did a rally from the spot to Raj Bhavan main road.

How have students in general changed through the past decade?

I don’t see much of a change in the mindset of students. However, for instance, if we compare students now to my school-going days then there is a sea-change. The relationship between a teacher and student has become a lot more informal. We don’t mind that as long as students don’t take advantage of our friendliness.

How do you update yourself as science teacher? There many inventions happening every year.

Whenever I get time I catch up with Science channels on TV. Science Today is a very useful journal. I also attend science workshops and teachers’ workshops regularly. Our school encourages many such activities.

What qualities must a teacher have?

Lots of patience. Knowledge is something most teachers today have but then teaching is not merely about teaching lessons and reading out content from a textbook. It is about grooming good students and human beings. They need to grow up into people who respect themselves and each other.