Cinder and Kinder

Posted by: Tanveer Rauf on: September 21, 2011

• In: Children and Education | My,myself and I
• 26 Comments

Though cinder means coal or ashes but I being an educationist regard cinder as diamond, for coal being the foundation of diamond.  It is commonly known that diamond is very precious and as a result costly too. It dignifies and enhances the owner’s personality. The more it is translucently and vigilantly cut in shape the more pricey it is.

Children are like cinders. They need special care and kinder to grow and glow like diamonds skillfully.  Just like a plant needs air, water and sunlight to grow lustrously, so does a child needs lots of love, care and faultless training for their character building.

Having vast and rich experience in this field, I have always enjoyed working on them, for them and with them. They are the undiscovered world of valuable treasure. Each child is a world in itself. Children and flowers are true reflection of the Creator. The closer you get to them the more you cherish and relish.

When we moved to Karachi from Faisalabad I took my son Bilal to many schools for admission; but I got disheartened when I saw the books and talked to teachers. The reason was simple. Books were costly and of higher standard compared to the standard of class. The tuition fee with other charges was too expensive.

Above all, the teachers did not have adequate knowledge as expected. Bigger the building and locality, the higher was the fees. So I decided to open a school of my own where I could educate my children besides. Though I had no previous experience but love for education and children both motivated me.

My aim was to impart and instill the values and virtues in the fresh minds what we learnt from our teachers. I remember the Irish nuns, in Convent School never asked us to speak truth or be honest. They projected characteristics of a good human being practically. We followed our teachers’ footsteps religiously. I am genuinely grateful to all my teachers.

My school got name and fame in discipline, quality education and co curricular activities alike. Our students won many laurels while competing with other schools. It was smoothly running but a fatal tragedy in the family made me close down the school with a heavy heart.

After the demise of my husband I joined Mama Parsi Girls School. It was an enriching experience to teach in a renowned school. I learnt immensely from the system and also from the students. The strict discipline and amiable teaching stimulated me more. The rapport between my students and myself earned me deep regard and gratitude. Every day without fail I was presented with flowers and warm promising smiles which lessened my tensions.

I gave them nothing in return except kinder, attention and education. To make them feel grateful to Allah for giving them health from head to toe I took my class to a leprosy centre. Children gave gifts packs to the patients and charity to the management. It was a memorable experience for all.

The drive to do and pass on more instigated me to move on. I served in many learning institutions. What I found out was that every child is individually different.Thus a teacher should handle the situations according to a child’s needs and moods using psychological tactics.

There was a girl who played with flies rather than doing her test. On asking she said she wants to play. Agreeing with her she was made to sit in the patio to play with flies. After few minutes she got fed up as expected.  After that she did well in the test. Another chubby boy refused to do his test. He did not want to write because his friends were not there. When assured that his friends will also join, he did his best.

Very interesting case was of Zainab of class 1. It was final examination. She sat depressed. When asked she whispered that she didn’t know. She also requested to solve her paper for if she fails her father will beat her. Using psychosomatic tactic, teacher took her to a vacant room. The questions were read out to her and asked if she knew the answer. Surprised that the teacher did not know either she wrote the correct answers herself. When done she was very happy that her teacher did the paper for her 😀

The conclusion to this entire write up is that, a teacher has to play many roles.  At times she has to be a friend, a mother, or a strict teacher.In fact a real teacher is like a craftsman who skillfully  discovers the latent ability of a child.  Ironing out the short comings and illumining the spark prepares cinders to diamonds to serve humanity with dignity and undaunted endeavor.

Tags: academics, acadmia, children, educating children, education, schools, teachers, teaching