284ste Spiritmail

By Karmayogi

The teacher who understands the subject and teaches
it well so that the interest of the class is awakened is the best of teachers. In
the training colleges where psychology is taught, it is said that to understand
the student is more important than understanding the subject. The student has
two sides to his personality.

One is the human side that needs attention and affection. The other is the
mental capacity to relate to the subject taught and absorb it with interest. Teachers'
colleges deal with the latter.

The former is out of reach for the teacher. For, what is he to do with the knowledge
of the student's affectionate home or broken home? In a higher sense of
education, that matters, that alone matters.

The parent is result-oriented. He needs to know whether his child's
career will be shaped by the school. The parent will not understand the
psychological makeup of his son or daughter, but will expect extraordinary
results. If the teacher understands the parent, it will help him deal with the
student.

The child or the boy needs affection. Maybe that is the only thing he is
looking for. At least, attention, a poor version of affection, is what he is
looking for. Half the children get that affectionate attention at home.

For them, it is easy to learn. The other half do not get that affection.
Knowing that, the teacher can offer him some attention. The boy or girl will
read, not so much for the sake of the subject as for the attention that appears
to him as affection. There are certain hard cases where the children are
severely beaten at home, either by the father or the mother. It is too much for
the teacher to expect that child to read.

That teacher who endeavors to know this fact of the home treatment is in a
fortunate position with the child. The child may not want the teacher to know
his condition at home. Knowing that, if the teacher extends an attitude of
solicitude to the student, whatever her age, it will be heavenly balm to the
student.

That student will fully respond to the teacher, whether it is in the lesson or
outside. People who plan for the future of education of this country can go
further in their knowledge. The hardness of the parent issues from human evil.
But a higher philosophic knowledge of evil can set his sights straight.

The social atmosphere in the country is shot through and through with the ideas
of karma, fate, horoscope, evil, etc. No religion in any country has a positive
pronouncement about evil. To Sri Aurobindo, evil does not exist except for the
ego.

A curriculum that aims at mitigating the ego, the source of evil, will go a
long way in counteracting the stifling, deeply entrenched social beliefs. Ego,
evil, and a syllabus that touches upon them with insight are precious subjects
for the educationist.