Below is a photograph of a gift I received at the end of the semester a few years ago.
This was one of the early instances when a student said or did something at the end of the semester that made me feel that maybe I'm on to something. Formal teaching awards are fulfilling too (and I've won my share of them), but these heartfelt intimate moments of appreciation move you very deeply. I remember just falling silent for the whole evening the day I received this. Look at the simplicity, the innocence! A simple handwritten note framed neatly so that I can keep it for years to come. And I'm doing just that!
I know I'm in a severe severe minority today in my emphasis on the need to give quality of teaching primary importance in educational institutions (just consider the irony in what I've just said!). But the truth stays the truth: The very quality of society we are creating and living in depends more than anything else on this one thing - Quality of Teaching.
What about research then, you might ask. To that, I say this:
The way to maintain a teaching - research balance is to simply keep teaching loads reasonable so that faculty members get the time to do their research; and then demand that both be of the highest quality. That's it.
I don't know what good deeds I did to deserve this blessing of living a life immersed in knowledge. But I'll take it 😊! I'll lap it up 😊!
No comments:
Post a Comment