Beauty of Teaching

If you have a strong respect for our sublime religion and benevolent kings, what could be better way of serving the country than becoming a teacher? Apart from taking up one of the noblest professions anywhere in the world, one can help ease the teacher shortage in the country. If you join the world of teaching with utmost enthusiasm and commitment, you can make a great difference to our struggling education system.

Often, people misunderstand teaching as a profession that requires one to harshly dominate over children, which leads to erosion of one’s basic human goodness. Some people think that teaching something that contradicts one’s religion is a sin. But from the Buddhist point of view, teaching anything with good intention is considered a virtuous act. Imparting knowledge is considered the greatest form of alms-giving.

Working with young children is always linked to some sort of conflict, which ultimately leads to stress. But we need to be patient.

Our compassionate kings and the government are always concerned about today’s youth. For instance, our fourth Druk Gyalpo has said, over and over again, that the future of Bhutan lies in the hands of our youth. The future of our youth lies in the hands of our teachers. Such is the importance of the teacher’s responsibility.

The teaching profession makes an immense contribution to the country’s progress. The teacher has a unique opportunity to serve the tsawasum. I may sound overtly philosophical, but teaching gives one the greatest chance of accumulating spiritual virtues.

The stereotypical mindset of our people is that teaching is a lowly job. This mindset not only discourages our youth to take up the teaching profession, but also diminishes the self-esteem of our teachers across the country.

On the contrary, teaching is considered the most important profession all around the world. This is apparent because more than 100 countries around the world observe the World Teachers’ Day on September 5. Here in Bhutan, the day is fortunately observed on the birth anniversary of the third Druk Gyalpo Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, the father of modern Bhutan.

Furthermore, everything related to teaching is considered important in Bhutan. Teachers are important – we observe Teachers’ Day. Teachers’ primary responsibility is important – we observe National Education Day. Teachers’ primary focus is important – we observe Children’s Day.

However, unmindful of all the sublime attributes teachers are associated with, some of our teachers keep demanding more incentives, rewards and respect. I think teachers have enough incentives and rewards in the significance of the profession itself. The name lopen should inspire us to discharge our duties without rewards in mind. If teaching is measured in monetary terms, teachers deserve all the riches of the world. But where do we put an end to our demands and begin to do our job whole-heartedly?

Teachers often have extra responsibilities like lesson planning and preparing for predictable queries from students. They demand hard work and sacrifice of leisure time. But that’s part of the demanding and responsible profession called teaching.

Today, qualifications, aptitude and experience are driving forces in anyone’s career. And the teaching profession offers them all in abundance. Someone has rightly said that teaching once is equal to learning twice. The more one teaches others, the more one learns. For a teacher, everyday is a learning opportunity. This is one of the biggest benefits of being a teacher.

The introduction of BCSE-BEd Graduate Examination has become a fear factor for our youth who want to take up teaching. But this is going to help the quality of education in the country in the long run. The quality of education should begin from our teachers. Lack of competent and enthusiastic teachers could be the main reason for the perceived decline in the quality of education in Bhutan. Examinations and the screening process will prepare trainees to be good teachers.

The beauty of teaching today seems to be hidden in the half-hearted performance. One has to work hard to feel the real fun and excitement of it. Only a teacher who teaches with commitment and enthusiasm will experience its real flavour. Welcome to the world of teaching!