CHENNAI: A uniform silence, propelled by the ongoing classes, engulfs the atmosphere at the government school in Tenkasi’s Veerakeralampudur. Just as one might assume this blanket trait across schools as an environment conducive to allowing students to focus and learn better, Malathi S breaks out in a song where the pursuer is one of Newton’s Laws of Motion and the ones to be wooed, the starry-eyed kids.
Villupattu is one of the methods this science teacher employs to take her students – mostly children of wage labourers – on a daily rollercoaster of lessons; the result is a joyride of learning. Malathi’s modus operandi of teaching has evolved in the last 15 years that she has forayed into this field. A quality that, she says, every teacher must possess is to remain a student for life. And it is because of this craving to learn new ways oriented towards bridging the gap between the textbook and the children, that won Malathi the national award on Teacher’s Day this year.
But glamour is only the silver-foiled wrapper on the outside. Hard work and dedication are the ingredients that balance salt and sugar in a dish. When the world retires to dreams, Malathi’s grind begins. Every night, after 10 pm, when she is done with her household chores, Malathi sits with lessons that are to be taught the next day and prepares materials for the next two hours. “I use villupattu songs to teach advantages and disadvantages in Science lessons. Experiments for Physics-related portions, and puppetry when I think it will be better if the subject talks to the students directly,” she says.
“I often give them small projects to work on, like making objects from discarded household items - a kaleidoscope from broken mirrors, for instance. They learn the mechanism as they make these objects,” she adds.
Born in Sengottai and an alumnus of a government school herself, Malathi says it was her mother’s wish for her to become a teacher and serve society. Her Chemistry teacher from Class 12 further concretised her resolve and she entered the field in 2008. During her initial years, Malathi recollects, she used to employ mnemonics and storytelling to help students remember lessons.
In her enthusiasm to teach better, she broadened her horizons by pursuing online courses in robotics, coding, toy-making, puppetry, and even learning languages. “I learnt puppetry and villupattu through YouTube,” she says and adds that she has also introduced her students to Java script.
Even before the world could grasp the concept of online teaching, Malathi had mastered the technique. Having used online tools for teaching since 2014, she was well-prepared for the digital shift brought on by Covid-19. During the pandemic, she conducted marathon online teaching sessions and held classes for 26 hours straight.
What more? Malathi is pursuing an MSc in Psychology to keep herself updated on the subject that she last studied as a paper during her graduation, and learn ways to handle students better. “After training teachers, I started focusing on students,” she says. “Every day, from 7 pm to 8 pm, I hold online classes which not only my own students attend, but also those from across the state.”
Winning the national award pales in comparison to realising how many lives she has touched. On the day the award was announced, Malathi found a group of 60 parents waiting to receive her with shawls and garlands. “The parents of most of my students are daily wagers. I was touched by their gesture, and by the fact that my students told their parents about me and my work. I haven’t stopped thinking about it even now,” says Malathi.
If you ask her, however, about her most significant accomplishment, she would say it was when she helped disabled students read and write. But her efforts go beyond helping students barely scrape through examinations; stimulating their imagination is what she aims for, and not just hand over manufactured dreams.