Know Your Teacher: ‘My students and I work together to build our confidence as learners’

He calls himself a Georgian since he is a product of Rashtriya Military School, Ajmer, a residential school for only boys managed by the Indian Army. It is one of the five military schools in India which were established as King George’s Royal Indian Military schools to take care of the education of the sons of Defense personnel.

“After completing my schooling, I did my Bachelor’s degree in Geography, Geology and Chemistry from the Maharaja College, Jaipur. Post that I did my master’s in Geography from University of Rajasthan, Jaipur,” Sukhpal Singh said, who has been at Apeejay School, Mahavir Marg, Jalandhar since 1996 and teaches classes VII to X.

Excerpts from the interview.

How has your journey been?

It has been a glorious 27 years of teaching. For me, teaching is a part of learning, as I am teaching I am also learning from my learners as they are diverse. Together, my students and I work to build our confidence as learners. As we worked on our skills, my students made me feel that I was actually helping them.

My confidence began to grow and I started believing in my abilities as a teacher. Over the last three decades, I have had the utter privilege of learning alongside my extremely resilient and intelligent students. I just hope that I have been able to give them close to the experience that they have given me. Nothing amazes me more than developing potential in others.

What inspired you to become a teacher?

First, the impact of teachers on the lives of students inspired me. The best reason to be a teacher was that I wanted to have a positive, inspiring impact on children’s lives. I achieved this by being kind, caring, empathic, passionate and funny. These are great qualities that I learnt in relation to my inspiration.

I grew up considering teaching as the only profession which can change the world, the profession which can change lives and societies. I have developed my love for teaching from the love I received from my former teachers, who showed me compassion, care and empathy.

How to make a class more interactive?

Active involvement in class discussions and incorporating technology are the techniques that can be used when trying to engage a student’s interests. Interactive based learning provides an opportunity to become actively involved in the discussion instead of just listening to an instructor throw huge amounts of information their way.

Using technology is a way for students to become active in their learning. Tools such as interactive whiteboards enable children to engage in classroom games, view websites and review problems step by step.

As technology is advancing students rely on teachers integrating technology into their lessons more frequently.

How do you connect with the students?

There are a lot of different ways to teach your students, but if you really want them to connect with the lesson and not just memorise facts or numbers, one of the best ways to teach them is with interactive classroom activities.

How do you stay motivated?

Motivation differs for everyone. For most teachers, being able to shape a youngster’s life is a great motivator. Even so, as a teacher, it becomes very important to be motivated as you might be teaching the same subject year after year. The content remains constant, the only variation is the students and the teacher’s interaction with them.

One of the critical parametres to remain motivated is the objective of choosing to teach. If you are the happiest while teaching, you are naturally motivated.

Geography can be a bit dry as a subject. How to make it interesting?

To make my subject more interesting, I have prepared PowerPoint presentations of all the topics for all the classes. The PPT has photographs, related data, graphs, political and physical maps, thematic maps and a lot of animation. They can see winds moving from one direction to another in the form of arrows.

Students enjoy learning in my class as they find real life situations related to their topics. The best way to get students engaged in geography is to make it feel relevant to their own lives and give them a sense of ownership.

Why is there so much emphasis on holistic development today?

Holistic development helps in enlightening minds, Encouraging creativity and fostering responsibility. They promote the students to excel in a world of constant change, and try to create an environment that helps a child think out of box ideas and enhance the learning power.

Holistic education promotes social awareness and a sense of responsibility with self-confidence among students. It helps the students to develop strong critical thinking abilities and makes them exceptional at problem solving.

A message for the students.

When you replace “Why is this happening to me?” with “What is this trying to teach me? Everything shifts. So never give up. Failure is a necessary component of success. Consider failure as an opportunity to perform better than before.