Gone are the days of Gurukul, when students maintained a feared relationship with their gurus. Today, most students consider teachers as their friends, guides, counsellors and mentors.
“The teacher-student relationship has become very casual unlike before,” says Shantha Solomon, the senior-most English lecturer at Bishop Cottons Women’s Christian College. “Students are more clever and we should respect their innovative ideas.” She also feels, “The best way to understand the students is to befriend them and lend an ear to them. Be strict but be humane at the same time.”
Shantha’s student Sphoorti, a final year BA student is of the same opinion. “Teachers treat us like adults and we don’t have to lie anymore,” says she. “Though they criticise us, it is for our own good so we should take it with a pinch of salt. Nowadays, students keep in touch with their teachers for years after they pass out,” opines she.
Asha Indi, a kindergarten teacher at National Public School, defines the relationship as “beautiful”. Asha, who taught in the UK for three years before coming to India, said that she learnt a lot from the teachers there. “Small children are so confident these days. They are not scared of the teachers at all,” says she. “I keep telling my two children that I have the love of 40 children,” laughs she.
A teacher of Kengeri High School, Charlotte Kasthuri Bai has a different story to tell. Dealing with students from small towns, Charlotte feels that students look for the easy way out. “Some of my students work after school so they are pressurised and always in a hurry,” says she.
Tanvi Gupta, a BBM student of Sheshadripuram College says, “If students are well-behaved, the teachers are good to them in turn.” She also points that teachers need not be strict at the college level. Dheeraj, an eleven-year-old from St Joseph’s Indian High School wants his teachers to strike the right balance between strictness and friendliness.
Etienne Rassendren, who has been teaching English in St Joseph’s College of Arts and Science for 25 years, sees a definite change in the relationship. “Earlier, students were treated as the beneficiaries of exclusive knowledge.
However, the 80s saw a shift from the mechanical learning to an open relationship between the teachers and students. The term ‘mentor’ was coined in the 90s.”
