Pedagogy

Family and schools in general, and parents and teachers in particular play a key role in shaping the future of not just their children or students, but generations that are to follow. At the same time, the former are also the agents of passing on of learnings from their forefathers. Perhaps, that’s how oral traditions helped keep alive many legendry stories from mythology. But what if one, as a parent or a teacher, fails to learn from the previous generation or fails to teach to the next generation certain pearls of wisdom? The string of learning and teaching breaks even if one generation fails to follow it. For example, if “respect towards one and all” defines the value of a family, it may collapse for its future generation if just one family member fails to pass on that value to his or her child. Similarly, if a teacher fails to disseminate the correct facts, knowledge, value or information to his/her pupil, the implications could be that the child may dwell in that misinformation throughout.

Therefore, correct learning and teaching is integral to preserving traditions and culture. Parents and teachers have a high stake in shaping a human life. They act as a repository of knowledge, through the lens of which they mould an entire human being into what he or she becomes. Therefore, for any human being, learning should be a constant process, for this is what he/she will teach others later. However, an idea or ideology should never be imposed. Knowledge should be shared in a manner that triggers a thought process rather than being blindly accepted.

One should, therefore, take it as a human responsibility to learn things the correct way and impart them in the correct manner.

Author:
Rashmi Chouhan, Assistant Professor, Unitedworld School of Liberal Arts and Mass Communication (USLM)

Disclaimer: The opinions / views expressed in this article are solely of the author in his / her individual capacity. They do not purport to reflect the opinions and/or views of the College and/or University or its members.