Value education and teaching. Nice submission for the GOAN SENIORS E-book. George
**************************************************************************** GIVING BACK TO GOA AND GOANS By Mrs. Electra M. Karandikar Way back in my childhood the role model I looked upon was my mother. She had started an English school during Portuguese times extending help to those parents who wanted their wards to learn English. I could see the outpouring of gratitude of these people who wanted an English education. I learnt that progress meant intellectual prosperity and success the outcome of ones role in society. The role one plays for the betterment in each others lives. So the opportunity to contribute towards this end resulted in my becoming a teacher too. When I joined the teaching profession, I looked at it as a vocation and not as a job. Teaching for me seemed like a noble service rendered to the young who adore you with unblinking love and never question your judgement. Considering this, I felt that I had to learn more to share with my students and therefore, I did my B.Ed and M. Ed after marriage. The teaching profession made me realize that I was dealing with live clay where I could mould the young into personalities of acumen, diligence and reservoirs of knowledge. I taught in a rural school, Geography being my favourite subject I took my students through journeys of varied lands, helping them build mental maps and wherever possible using all media and materials to help them comprehend different cultures, people and their heritage. At every juncture I tried to imbibe in them values of tolerance, sensitiveness to the physically challenged, the very young and the very old and raising awareness of their precious surroundings. All this was done not only in the classroom but outdoors too when such a method was not used by schools in days gone by. Building a rapport with my students was my primary aim so that I could gain their confidence to build up their strengths, so in order to this I visited their homes after school hours to get acquainted with their parents and their background. This exercise helped me to know the loopholes so that I could plug them with understanding, attention and love. This also threw light on the human conflict, their woes, misery, difficulties and ignorance in these peoples lives. I tried to reach out in whatever way I could, but most of all today I see the products of that period, enriched, doing well and happy. The culmination of all this was the Teachers Award I received in 1996 from the Goa government. Having retired after thirty-four years of service as a teacher, and 25 years as a Resource Person I am still actively involved eight years later as a Key Resource person, lecturer, Counsellor at IGNOU and as an advisor to teacher-trainees fulfilling my motto of giving back to Goa and Goans. This is what I always dreamt of and that was, to make our younger generation the pillars of an International society. I have been on the Advisory Committee of the State Institute of Education and The Nirmala Institute of Education. I have also been a Paper Setter and Chief Moderator at the Goa Board. Having authored eighteen books on education during the span of my teaching career it has given me an opportunity for what more I could do. On behalf of the Government of Goa I have co-authored text books in English from standards IV to VII and Geography from V to VII some of which are currently being used. On behalf of the Ministry of Environment & Forests, New Delhi I have contributed to writing the Teachers Manual on Environmental Education for DIET, Goa. I am invited to train teachers right from school to College level in the various Training Colleges of Goa, besides other bodies like the School Super Complexes, the Goa Chamber of Commerce & Industry, The Navodaya Training Institute, etc. I lecture on Value education, Environmental education, Leadership Development, Evaluation Techniques, Methodology in education, etc. These encounters have taken me through the entire state of Goa. The interaction with in-service and pre-service teachers has definitely enriched the teacher cycle from teacher to taught. This enrichment re-vibrates when in turn I see teachers whom I have trained as Resource persons delivering their goods for the betterment of the community. The satisfaction at the end of a workshop, the beautiful smiles, the acknowledgement and my deep feeling of having shared my knowledge, thoughts, ideas, ideals with the next generation teachers is what I call GIVING BACK! _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list [email protected] http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org
