Two, more importantly, I would like to acknowledge the immense contribution of the early audience of my performances as a teacher - my classmates at school (KV BEML), who sat (or seemed to) with delight and encouraged me to perform . They suggested without saying it, that I would do well as a teacher and I joined RIE, Mysore, for a teaching degree.
When I did 'practice teaching' at Basel Mission school at Dharwad, the students sat with admiration... This too egged me on to surely take up teaching as a profession.
When I joined Sawan Public School, my first full-time teaching job, my dear colleagues were good role models for me, and my very dear students showed me the power of being a caring and loving teacher. The respect they still shower on me is without parallels in my life. I am most grateful to them for that.
When I joined DPS-Doha after that, my amazing students, apart from enjoying the informality I shared with them, showed me how rewarding it was to respect students as thinking individuals themselves, in a very Paulo Freirean way. The ideas of knowledge co-construction (Vygotskian perspectives) took seed in my mind here... Thanks to all of the amazing students I had there, some of who still remain active in discussions with me on diverse matters...
I carry the cumulative sum of all these micro-learning experiences in my heart and mind as a teacher at SSNCE now, and I still continue to learn from my students. A big collective thank you to all my students for the growth they showed, making me a proud teacher in reflected glory, and more importantly, for helping me grow as a teaching professional. Much love to all of u... I am a lucky teacher.
Disclaimer: By no means am I suggesting that I have reached the pinnacle of learning, as a teaching professional. Hardly... If I'm better today than in 1999, when I set out teaching, I owe a large part of this to my students. That's what I imply here. Cheers...!
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