Some time ago, a friend of mine had an opportunity to be invited to a school on the occasion of a national day. He is an educationist himself with an innovative approach to school education. He made a request to the correspondent of the school - some time be given to him to speak to the teachers, which was more than readily agreed to.
At the school, after the brief function was over, he asked for the teachers to gather around the table. Shedding all formal tones, he asked how many of them were parents and how many had their children enrolled in the same school. As expected, there was a mixed-bag response. Then he went on to ask them as to why they did not put their children in the same school. When hundreds of parents could entrust their children to their care, could they not trust their abilities to care for their own children? There was a stunned silence. A teacher said that the school where her child went had excellent IT environment. One another teacher said, her child was a sports star and that school had all the facilities. Couple of other teachers also mentioned things like extra-curricular activities, library, etc.
All the while, the correspondent of the school, who was familiar with my friend and who was a man of much means, sat quietly watching. My friend smiled at him and then told the teachers that indeed their explanations were interesting. But there was just one last question - who do they think was making the other schools better - the money that the management was investing or the people who worked in the school?
The answer was very obvious to them. There was hushed exchange of looks and comments. One of the senior teachers then spoke up.
'We wish to thank you, sir, for throwing such an embarrassing question at us. We feel that our correspondent actually did us a favor by inviting you here. Most of us were actually looking at our job as a means of remuneration. We forgot that the parents who sent their kids to us have the same expectations as we have of the schools where our children go. Well, thank you for putting us in a spot by your question, but we wish to assure that things will change here. On behalf of all of us, we request our correspondent to call you again to our school next year on the same day'.
The correspondent nowadays tells my friend that his school has become one of the most sought after in the locality. In the PTA meetings, the teachers get abiding praise for their involvement.
There is this interesting thing about life - everyone wants the same things out of it, though we may appear to be working on a variety of subjects. Perhaps the shocker that my friend posed had the effect of changing the way the teachers approached their job. I suppose we all need such 'shockers' once in a while to help us stay focused!!!
The answer was very obvious to them. There was hushed exchange of looks and comments. One of the senior teachers then spoke up.
'We wish to thank you, sir, for throwing such an embarrassing question at us. We feel that our correspondent actually did us a favor by inviting you here. Most of us were actually looking at our job as a means of remuneration. We forgot that the parents who sent their kids to us have the same expectations as we have of the schools where our children go. Well, thank you for putting us in a spot by your question, but we wish to assure that things will change here. On behalf of all of us, we request our correspondent to call you again to our school next year on the same day'.
The correspondent nowadays tells my friend that his school has become one of the most sought after in the locality. In the PTA meetings, the teachers get abiding praise for their involvement.
There is this interesting thing about life - everyone wants the same things out of it, though we may appear to be working on a variety of subjects. Perhaps the shocker that my friend posed had the effect of changing the way the teachers approached their job. I suppose we all need such 'shockers' once in a while to help us stay focused!!!
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