Today is Teacher’s Day in India. Here are two stories of memorable teachers — one universally known, the other personal.
One of the most inspiring student-teacher relationships must surely be that of Helen Keller, who was born deaf and blind, and her teacher Anne Sullivan Macy who herself was nearly blind. Their story can be read, or watched in the amazing 1962 film The Miracle Worker on which the Hindi film Black is partly based. It defies the imagination, the challenge faced by this handicapped teacher to teach a deaf-blind child. How could one teach such a child the concept that every object had a word identifying it? The breakthrough came when Helen recognised the motions Anne was making on the palm of her hand, while running cool water over her other hand, as the symbol of “water”. Theirs was a companionship that lasted 49 years, till Anne Sullivan’s death. Anne Sullivan will always figure in the top ten on any list of Best Teachers of all time.
Here’s my memorable teachers tory: In 1974, when I was in standard 8, the subject for our weekly period of World History was the events leading to the Second World War. To our surprise an unknown young Englishman walked in and introduced himself as a substitute teacher. He carried an enormous roll of paper which, without any further words, he unrolled and taped to the blackboard. It was a large reproduction of a painting none of us had ever seen. It was a work of modern art: a bull, a horse pierced by a spear, a dead warrior, a screaming woman, a burning house… baffling and disturbing, but also stimulating. He asked each of us what we thought of it. None of us had been asked for our opinions before. A lively discussion followed, at the end of which the young teacher revealed what we were seeing. It was Picasso’s Guernica about the 1936 bombing of the Basque village of Guernica by German and Italian warplanes during the Spanish Civil War.
Thirty seven years later, I still remember that class as the most memorable one I have attended. We never discovered the teacher’s name and we never saw him again, but he will always be remembered. To paraphrase Khalil Gibran, he was a teacher who did not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather led you to the threshold of your mind.
Here’s wishing all our teachers a Happy Teacher’s Day. And now for the questions…
1. When India became independent in 1947 this person represented India at UNESCO, then as Ambassador to the Soviet Union. When he became President of India, some of his students and friends wanted to celebrate his birthday. Who was this eminent figure and how did he request his well wishers to celebrate his birthday?
2. Born in 1870, she qualified as one of the first women doctors of Italy. Her experience with teaching disabled children led her to formulate a system of teaching children to develop skills at their own pace - a principle she called “spontaneous self-development”. She was brought to India by Dr Rukmini Devi Arundale and her system of education spread throughout our country. Who was this remarkable teacher?
3. This 19th century German teacher recognised that children have unique needs and capabilities. He introduced a concept using a German term meaning ‘children’s garden’ that is familiar all over the world. Who was this educationist and what term did he create to name the Play and Activity Institute he founded in Thuringia, Germany in 1837?
4. Rabindranath Tagore was responsible for starting the experimental school at Shantiniketan where he tried out his Upanishadic ideals of education. It was Tagore who first described Gandhi as ‘Mahatma’ or ‘great soul’. In turn, what title meaning ‘great teacher’ did Mahatma Gandhi confer on Tagore?
5. In Homer’s epic, Odyssey, Odysseus places his son Telemachus under the care of an elderly teacher. Athena, the goddess of wisdom, also takes the form of this teacher to guide the young boy. This teacher’s name has been adopted in English as a term meaning someone who imparts wisdom to and shares knowledge with a less experienced colleague. What was the teacher’s name?
6. This British novelist and Nobel laureate of 1983 served the Royal Navy from 1940. He returned to civilian life teaching at the Bishop Wordsworth School. His method of allowing boys free rein in the classroom during debate sessions, provided him with inspiration for the novel that allowed him the financial freedom to leave the teaching profession! The novel dealt with a group of British boys stuck on a deserted island who try to govern themselves, with disastrous results. Name the writer and the novel.
7. This Greek was a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings on diverse subjects from physics to poetry were the first to create a comprehensive system of western philosophy. His views on the physical sciences influenced western thinking well into the Renaissance, until they were replaced by Newtonian physics. Who was this polymath who has a lunar crater named after him?
8. Which subject is taught by the following teachers in sequence and who is the last of the teachers: Quirinus Quirrell, Gilderoy Lockhart, Remus Lupin, Bartemius Crouch Jr impersonating Alastor “Mad-eye” Moody, Dolores Umbridge, Severus Snape, _____?
9. What term refers to the study of being a teacher or the process of teaching and is derived from Greek meaning “to lead a child”?
10. This guru is believed to have acted unfairly when he demanded Eklavya’s right thumb as guru dakshina after Ekalavya taught himself with the guru as his ‘manaseega guru’ (guru in mind). His awesome reputation as a teacher was recognised by the Government of India which named the annual award for excellence in sports tutelage after him. Who is this figure from the Mahabharata?
Answers
1. Dr. Radhakrishnan. He said, “Instead of celebrating my birthday, it would be my proud privilege if 5 September is observed as Teachers’ Day.” His birthday has since been celebrated as Teachers’ Day.
2. Maria Montessorie. Her image was the last to be featured on the 1000 Italian Lira banknote before the lira itself was phased out of circulation and replaced by the Euro.
3. Dr Friedrich Frobel, who coined the word Kindergarten (German for “Children’s Garden”). Frobel also started the first institute of preschool education on June 28, 1840 to mark the 400th anniversary of Gutenberg’s invention of movable type. His success led to the universal name “Kindergarten” for this kind of institution
4. Gurudev
5. Mentor
6. Sir William Golding, who wrote Lord of the Flies
7. Aristotle
8. Defence Against the Dark Arts in the Harry Potter series. The final teacher is Amycus Carrow.
9. Pedagogy, from the Greek word “paidos” meaning “child” (as in paediatrics), and “ago” meaning “lead”.
10. Drona. The Dronacharya Award for best sports teachers and coaches is named after him as also the village of Gurgaon in Haryana (from “Guru gaon”)