Know Your Teacher: Swami Vivekananda inspired me to become a teacher’

With great luck in her stars, she secured the position of PRT Social Studies, teaching classes III to IX at Apeejay School, Kharghar. Within a year, in almost record-breaking time, she was promoted from PRT to TGT. Through her 20 years, having taught varied students, she has grown as an experienced and tenured teacher here with the added guidance of the principals, coordinators, and colleagues. Meet Purnima Sailani, a Social Studies teacher, who conducted one of the first-ever workshops in Navi Mumbai on the topic of ‘Good-touch, bad-touch’.

“I not only became a permanent immediately but also was conferred the duty of the Head of the Department, a post I have headed for the last 10 years. I relish the reverence, love, and affection from my students, the respect and praise from their parents, and the appreciation of my superiors. The experience at Apeejay has enabled me to conduct various workshops throughout Navi Mumbai,” Sailani said.

In a candid interview, Sailani, who not only has been considered a very competent teacher by her superiors at Apeejay but was also nominated for the ‘Best Teachers Award’ by CIDCO Navi Mumbai, talks about why she chose to teach.

Why and how did you choose Apeejay School?

Upon marriage, I shifted from town to Navi Mumbai, Kharghar. Having discovered that Apeejay was an Ivy League school, I gathered my resources to attain a job in this esteemed institute. I chose Apeejay as it was the most prestigious school among all the schools in my vicinity.

What are some of the things you do to remain motivated?

My greatest motivation comes from the love, appreciation, and growth of my students, their parents, and my superiors. Nonetheless, the continuous workshops and trainings, along with the evolving teaching methods implemented by the CBSE, not only keep me motivated but also kindle a relentless in me which leaves me rejuvenated with enthusiasm and joy to impart knowledge to get another batch of wonderful students, the daily ritual of keeping myself abreast with the current affairs, allows me to plan my lessons in a manner that the news can be correlated to the subject matter. This heightens the interest of the students and takes the textbook chapters to a new level for them… As well as for me!

How do you deal with the varied learning pace of your pupils?

Through the years, I had the great fortune of interacting with a wide range of students coming from myriad walks of life. Surely enough they have variations in not only their backgrounds, and perceptions but also their learning capacities.

A good teacher has to be able to cater to all, keep all of them motivated and interested, and above all be able to perform in examinations to secure good scores.

To ensure that the learning is concrete for every student in the class, the methods of recapitulation, revision, anecdotes, and encouraging students to frame answers in their own words are adopted very effectively. I believe this has ensured cent percent scores for many of my students. Thus, encouraging them to evolve for life and be able to perform in other subjects as well.

Students think that they know everything due to the Internet, what message would you like to give?

The new age has brought with it a lot of facilities and ease due to technological advancements in all areas of life. But with the boon comes along the bane. Students with their timid, immature minds are exposed to a wide arena on the Internet. They sometimes do not know when to stop. And worse is that some start believing that now, ‘they know it all’. This is a very dangerous state of mind to be in.

Teachers with their expertise know what, when, how, and how much the syllabus has to be tackled, with an eye for score ability from the exam point of view. My message to the students across the country would be that they should use the Internet to their advantage to do all the R&D required, but at the same time should have full faith in their teachers, and follow their guidelines to achieve success not only in the subject, but also life!

What and who inspired you to become a teacher?

It happens so that, as a young primary student, I stumbled upon a speech by Swami Vivekananda, where he spoke about how teachers can reform the future of a country by imparting values to the upcoming generation. This stirred me and aroused in me the inspiration to become a teacher, so that I may be able to do proud to my country.

As a Social Science teacher, it is my daily endeavour to nurture and groom the future politicians, government officials, and responsible citizens of the future generations currently attending my class. So that my country Bharat may be able to shine once again like the golden bird, it once used to be.

Social studies can be boring, how to make it interesting?

It is true that Social Science as a subject can get dry and abstract for students, but it has a lot of space and scope to be transformed into a topic of interest and curiosity for the students. Through the anecdotes and current affairs, the students can be kept involved in the textbook learning and made to ponder about the Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary of not only India but of the world.

How do you ensure that parents are in sync with your methodology?

The teachers and parents must work in sync with the methodologies adopted to improve the student’s performance. This can be very easily ensured through continuous communication with parents so that the most effective schedule can be suggested by the teacher for the parents to follow with their kids, ensuring a less chaotic and more systematic programme where the child does not feel pulled and pushed by his guides.