Students of a lesser class

Sunday October 25, 2009
TEACHER TALK
By MALLIKA VASUGI

The basis of a good education lies not in an individual’s job or qualifications but in the values, mentality and manner in which she conducts herself.
A TEACHER whom Jill had known for some years had been lamenting that her daughter had not been accepted into any local university to pursue her degree. Knowing that the girl had always been a less-than-average academic achiever and had fared rather poorly in her last public examination, Jill tried to be of some comfort by mentioning that there were many other options available for her friend’s daughter.
“Surely she will be able to find something most suited to her,” said Jill. “What with the number of tertiary institutions, private colleges, universities…”
“Oh, no,” replied her friend. “I am determined to put my daughter through medical college. After all, I have the means.”
“Will she be able to cope?” asked Jill a little concerned, and fully aware that the daughter in question was definitely not inclined towards the sciences and had little interest in studies related to medicine.
“Why not?” came the curt reply. “If the children of mere shopkeepers and barbers and those of a lower class can be sent to study medicine, why shouldn’t I who come from a high-born family do the same for my daughter?
“Just imagine,” she went on — oblivious of the growing feeling of disgust and incredulity among her listeners - “how can they even allow students with family backgrounds like that into college?”
I was as shocked as Jill had first been when I heard the story. The fact that the person in question had been a school teacher for many years made the whole thing seem even more appalling.
And although random remarks made in conversations I have heard sometimes betray the inner hostilities or prejudices of one group of people towards the other, this was the first time I had heard someone in the teaching profession show open contempt on another on the basis of his profession or “class”.
“I thought things like that were only found in history books,” mused Jill. “ The pre-enlightened mindset which labels people according to colour, caste, creed… but honestly it’s the first time I’ve heard a teacher say that. And believe me I’ve heard teachers say a lot of things. It’s a little disturbing isn’t it?”
Bigoted viewpoint
It was more than disturbing; it was downright revolting. It was a remark that reflected a mean, narrow-minded and bigoted viewpoint. It exposed the rank mentality of the speaker.
What made it doubly horrifying was that it came from a person who was bound by the ethics of a profession to help educate all who were under her responsibility regardless of socio-economic or cultural background.
If the principles guiding her life deemed men inferior or superior by reason of birth, then surely elements of her belief would have seeped through her teaching through either the formal or hidden curriculum. Surely at some point or another this perception of superior-inferior human being would have carried across into her classroom, her teaching or her interactions with her students.
The idea that a higher education belonged to only a select few. That it is birth and socio-economic class that entitles one to pursue an education leading to a career in a chosen field. And that the other “students of a lesser class” had to be content with lesser pursuits.
We cannot teach beyond what we know. We cannot impart to our students what we do not already have. And we cannot be any more effective as a teacher than we are as a human being. It is what we have in the core of our beings that will determine the kind of teacher we are.
In a world that boasts about its technological and scientific advancements, in an educational arena where we are spewing out graduates by the thousands, where we take great pains to incorporate moral values into the curriculum, in a system where Moral Education is actually taught as a subject with formal assessment, in the words of Jill it is indeed disturbing to realise that we may have amongst us teachers who feel that education is not really for all.
And yet, as troubling as it was, I cannot but be relieved that that incident could be just a drop in the ocean, an isolated case and not representative of the whole of the teaching population. In fact, everywhere I turn I am surrounded by evidence of teachers’ commitment and dedication to their job of educating, regardless of a student’s “class”.
I know for a fact that for most of us, when we are in the classroom face-to-face with our students, all differences based on background or culture drop off and it is just a student-teacher relationship. I am confronted with stories I have witnessed myself and accounts from other teachers about those who go the extra mile by being more attentive and giving extra classes to children of families from the lower socio-economic groups just to ensure that they too have the opportunities that their wealthier classmates have.
In a society where tuition has become a lucrative source of extra income for the school teacher, I know teachers who conduct free tuition classes for those who cannot afford the fees.
In villages and estates where parents have too often been deprived an education of their own, I know teachers who provide students with lunch and pay their fees out of their pockets.
Teachers who beyond anything else allow these kids to believe that they really can achieve their goals despite the circumstances of their living.
No special teaching awards are allocated for the contributions of the heart.
There are no special columns in the annual appraisal forms to indicate the percentage contribution of all these extra things they have done.
But indeed for these teachers it does not matter.
They know that there is nothing to be ashamed about working at an honest job and that the child of a “shopkeeper” or “barber”, is in no way less than the child of a high-ranking professional.
They also know that the true distinction between an inferior and superior person does not lie in the work he does for a living, but in his mentality, values and attitude.
They have embraced the true meaning of education in their hearts, and for them, this is enough.