Going beyond boundaries

 



The world famous tabla Maestro Zakir Hussain left for heaven a few days back.

He was known for bringing global audience to appreciate Indian classical music. Tabla was often played as an accompaniment instrument and did not earn much fame for the artist. It was Zakir bhai who showed the world that tabla has its own identity and it was this instrument which also has the capacity to hold the audience spell bound for hours together just like any other vocalist. 

Definitely it was not a cake walk for him to establish himself as ustad though born to a musical family. Breaking stereotypes and crossing boundaries to explore new horizons is what he sets as an example for all of us. 

Nevertheless, his compositions did involve relevance to the common man who hardly knew technicalities in music. A simple dialogue between Radha and Krishna played on tabla, clattering of railway on the track, shakhanaad and many more. 

All these brought the common man to appreciate music in their own way. 

I feel this relevance and the act of crossing boundaries also can create magic in the life of a teacher. Just connect dots of knowledge to the real world. Yes it is achievable. 

Try these simple seven ladders to create wonders in classroom. 

  1. Open your textbook to just see the name of your next lesson. 

  2. Now drop your textbook. They are not the only resource to gain or impart knowledge. 

  3. Visit a library to see if you can track reference books with wonderful pictures on the same topic.

  4. Did you try checking on documentaries for the same? 

  5. Go network with people who are working in the same domain or on similar content  as professionals.

  6. You will now know how relevant the gained knowledge is in your day to day life.

  7. Go back to class and make it a memorable learning experience without textbooks but highly enriching and engaging. 

Cross boundaries my dear educators, set new standards of who you are and what you want to give back to the students. 

I am sure your class with end on a note ' Wah Ustad! ' and this time it would be for you. 

Prajakta Sachin Bhide 
Principal
PGKM school, Pune 
22 Dec 2024

#vikasitshikshak #vikasitbharat 



Comments

  1. Very insightful writeup teacher. Will definitely help in some of the courses I am helping in, in college!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dr Manjiri valsangkar ValsangkarDecember 22, 2024 at 5:29 AM

    Out of the box thinking is what is required from extraordinary teachers to create an entire generation of brilliant students, who have better lifeskills and social intelligent

    ReplyDelete
  3. Connecting day to day life experiences in classroom teaching is a technique which students could relate and gives them the ability to revert it back swiftly. Techniques which are discussed here are really helpful while teaching alpha generation.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Point 6
    Becoming "jagadguru" - one who makes the whole world his guru

    Point 3-4
    Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics (STEAM), one may find a lot in the history which repeats itself. From mahabharat to peshwai period.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Very nicely captured.
    To be authentic , teaching should be sharing experiences, and to share experiences, one needs to explore, experiment and experience. I relish the memories of the teachers who never opened text books in classrooms…and forgotten many others who used to read from textbooks

    ReplyDelete
  6. Very well put. These are such simple but so important things a teacher can do to leave a
    greater impact on students.
    ".I love how you tied together seven ladders with "Wah ustaad "throughout the post.It really made me think.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow factor is necessary for greater impact. Well expressed.

    ReplyDelete
  8. These points can really work as magic for us and yes that's true an educator's content must be so much strong that a student waits to attend his class and a vast knowledge with interesting facts can add value to your lecture .

    ReplyDelete
  9. Perfecty stated... With perfect example. As also the 'USTAD' said "no one teaches, one has to learn" so if the educators learn students can learn.
    The learning has to be from LIFE TO LESSON because life cannot fit into a lesson.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Outside the textbook is essential for guiding today's generation. With everything available on the internet just a click away, it's important to incorporate thinking methodologies, the idea of different perspectives.
    As a student, there's something known as the knowledge paradox, where more you read, lesser you seem to know. And the best teachers are those who feed into this paradox.
    Finding such teachers are literally god's blessings
    And I am lucky to have ma'am as my teacher and guide.
    Exploration, innovation, knowledge, experimentation.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Impressive article and helpful for the young generation. Keep it up.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Great thought! Learning is definitely better when supplemented by resources outside the textbook, and concepts become so much easier to grasp and retain.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Such an inspiring thought! Breaking away from textbooks is so important to explore and understand real life concepts.

    ReplyDelete

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