500+ Words Essay on Teaching Profession
The profession of teaching is one of the oldest in the world, and it is certainly one of the noblest. In ancient India, the teacher was called a guru. However, the teacher or the preceptor in the ancient world always enjoyed the honour of society and sometimes the patronage of the king or state. Teachers like Shankaracharya or Socrates exercised a powerful influence in building up the minds and morals of their disciples. But in those far-off days, the profession was not organised. It was an affair of an individual. The learned man would invite and attract pupils, and he would impart to them as the inheritor of his wisdom. He was poor in the worldly sense, but his intellectual life was rich beyond measure. His lifestyle was plain living and high thinking.
The medieval pedagogues were a type of severe taskmasters. They would continually thunder instructions over the heads of their pupils and sometimes enforce them by a free use of the cane. Where printed books were scarce, memory played an important role.
The art of teaching in modern times has undergone a thorough change. It has now become an organization. Most teachers in schools, colleges, and universities are paid by the state. And teaching has become formal, though there are some informal setups too.
The ideal method of teaching is not to put information into the mind of the pupil but to draw out the learner’s mind. The teacher should try to come down to the level of the students, and the learners should try to catch up with the teacher. Moreover, teaching is now based on the psychology of the learner. Therefore, teaching nowadays is both a science to be acquired and an art to be practised. The teacher today guides, explains, and demonstrates. His approach must be humane and sympathetic. His highest function consists not so much in imparting knowledge as in stimulating the pupil’s mind. He will not instil his own opinions into the receptive mind of the pupil, but he must teach him, rather inspire him to think originally and form independent opinions.
List of 500+ Essay Writing Topics and Ideas
However, the great teacher seems to be a rare phenomenon in all times. He is, so to say, born and not made. He is divinely gifted to be a creator of character in men. The disciples of Socrates have left an indelible stamp on the human mind, which proclaims the greatness of their master. In 19th-century Bengal, young Derozio was such a teacher who followed the ideal of Socrates. He revolutionized the outlook of Young Bengal. Rabindranath Tagore aimed at making the teacher the friend and guide of the students in his scheme of education at Santiniketan.
Now the Teachers’ Training Colleges have been set up. But that too has become more formal than was expected. However, the status of teachers has now been improved with their reasonable remuneration. The duty of the state is now to maintain an ideal student-teacher ratio, as even an ideal teacher cannot impart his lessons to all students in an overcrowded class.
In conclusion, we must say that teachers today in our country do not enjoy the same honour as in the past, though there are still some exceptions. It is forgotten that teachers are the architects of nations.