Remember your school teachers?

Remember them? The guys who taught you English, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, History, Geography, Computer Science, and what not? And remember, most of them sucked at teaching? But then there were some really good teachers who were loved by the entire class! I am sure that like me, you remember a lot about those days. Those days, when we had to dress up in uniforms; when we were not allowed to grow our hairs long; when we used to sing a million songs in the morning before the classes began, standing in the assembly lines; when we used to share tiffins and discuss about which mam was hot, and which sir was despo for that mam. Oh, school days; I wonder why I am getting nostalgic all of a sudden.

This post could have been about the memories of those past days. It isn’t. What I wonder after so many years is what made those teachers teach at school? I mean, what fun can someone have by teaching Maths to a sixth standard kid, or even a tenth standard kid? How much money do these school teachers get? I am sure much less than what you can earn by doing so many other jobs. And if Mathematics is what interests you, you should go ahead and become a Professor of Mathematics.

But I guess that the answer to this is simple. There are so many schools and not so many colleges. So not every person who likes mathematics can become a professor. He/she will have to be slightly better at the subject than the average guy or he/she will at least have to get certain higher degrees to make sure he/she can crack some college instead of being stuck up in a school. And I guess this explains why most of the teachers back in school sucked. Had they been good enough, they would have moved on! The fact that they were still teaching science and maths and history and geography to small kids proved that they were not good enough.

But ever wonder, what made those special teachers who actually taught extremely well, so special? What was it about them? Were they really good enough? If yes, then what were they doing at school? Why didn’t they move on? I can try to explain this as well. Your knowledge and your teaching style have no correlation. You could be a PhD in Maths, but you still could be a teacher who sucks. Sucks big time. On the other hand, you could just be B.Sc in Chemistry, but you might have the ability to teach sixth standard students the concepts of acids bases and salt in a way they can remember all their lives.

Some people are good at doing certain things, and they are lucky to get into a profession where they end up doing what they are good at. And people love them for what they do.