This article is dedicated to my teachers who have been teaching me with great dedication. Thanks.

Teachers are the architects of future. They are the people behind the world’s development. From ages, teachers have been igniting the talents of young minds. The people behind world’s greatest personalities are teachers. To develop our society, we need new generation of talented & honest youths. These youths are trained by teachers. Thus, they’re the architects of tomorrow. A nation needs talented teachers for its development. Teachers are architects of a nation as a nation’s overall structure is dependent upon young people who are trained by teachers.

From the ages, teachers have been contributing to the formation of   society. They’re passing the chain of education from a generation to generation. Earlier, there were no professional teachers. Philosophers, saints, learned men taught people about many aspects of nature – its laws. Gradually, this process developed & eventually changed to the field of professional teaching. The art of teaching is not new; rather it’s a very old art. Teachers play a key role in the formation of educated society. To encourage this field, every year various countries celebrate teacher’s day where the world thanks those educators who have been serving as the source of knowledge & inspiration for many. Teachers spread the light of knowledge everywhere.

It’s a bit easy to get a job as a teacher, but it’s quite difficult to be a true teacher. They’re the holders of knowledge & truth. To be a true or ideal teacher, you’ve to become a good person first. “Ideal teachers are those who use themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross, then having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create bridges of their own“ said famous Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis. Teachers should be such that the students can always believe upon. Simply teaching a lesson is not the work of a true teacher. An ideal teacher should always inspire young minds. He/she should not only support students in academics, but also in every possible aspect of their lives. Teachers should encourage their students to work creatively. In many educational centers it’s sometimes seen that there is no good relationship between students & teachers. Teachers come to class teach a lesson & if someone does some mischief they punish, assign some homework & then go away from the class. By this, there exist no communication between teachers & students. Sometimes, students afraid of teachers too. Such relationship is not the true relationship between teachers & students. Teachers & students should always be friends. Teachers should be so close to students that students can share their feelings & thoughts with their teachers as they do with their friends. Unfortunately, such bonds of love & friendship between teachers & students are quite rare. If students do guilty they should understand the students in such a way that students never do the guilty by themselves. Punishment never teaches anyone anything. It only gives pain for a while & disappear after sometime. Teachers should not only teach the lessons of the books, but should also teach the moral virtues. Often, teachers teach the students as per the syllabus. But they should educate the students from every possible side so that students could be able to face every obstacle in their future. The responsibilities of an ideal teacher are much greater than a president. It’s much greater than any professions on earth. Because teachers design the citizens of future. Almost every aspect of a student is solely dependent upon his/her teachers. From the kindergarten to higher education, the overall development within a child is dependent upon the teachings of teachers. Once US 16th president – Abraham Lincoln wrote a letter to his son’s teacher:

 

“Respected Teacher,
My son will have to learn I know that all men are not just, all men are not true. But teach him also that for ever scoundrel there is a hero; that for every selfish politician, there is a dedicated leader. Teach him that for every enemy there is a friend.
It will take time, I know; but teach him, if you can, that a dollar earned is far more valuable than five found.
Teach him to learn to lose and also to enjoy winning.
Steer him away from envy, if you can.
Teach him the secret of quite laughter. Let him learn early that the bullies are the easiest to tick.
Teach him, if you can the wonder of books. But also give him quiet time to ponder over the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun, and flowers on a green hill –side.
In school teach him it is far more honorable to fail than to cheat.
Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if every one tells him they are wrong.
Teach him to be gentle with gentle people and tough with the tough.
Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when every one is getting on the bandwagon.

    Teach him to listen to all men but teach him also to filter all he hears on a screen of truth and take only the good that comes through.
Teach him, if you can how to laugh when he is sad. Teach him there is no shame in tears. Teach him to scoff at cynics and to beware of too much sweetness.
Teach him to sell his brawn and brain to the highest bidders; but never to put a price tag on his heart and soul.

    Teach him to close his ears to a howling mob… and to stand and fight if he thinks he’s right.
Treat him gently; but do not cuddle him because only the test of fire makes fine steel.
Let him have the courage to be impatient, let him have the patience to be brave. Teach him always to have sublime faith in himself because then he will always have sublime faith in mankind.
This is a big order; but see what you can do. He is such a fine little fellow, my son.
– Abraham Lincoln.”

In this letter, Abraham Lincoln asked his son’s teacher to teach his son every aspect of life. This letter of Lincoln should be a hallmark of every teacher. Every teacher should develop very close & strong relationship with students & should always teach them inspirational facts. From smallest facts of life to the greatest, teachers should teach their students. Only teaching the school lessons & assigning homework is not enough. An ideal teacher should always teach his/her students every fact regarding life. Teachers should always be like shadow to students. These are the qualities of a true teacher.

Today, in some parts of world, some teachers, though not all, are not behaving as they should. They think that simply teaching a lesson is the work of an ideal teacher. They don’t understand their responsibilities that they’re training the future citizens. Today, unfortunately, there’re very rare dedicated teachers. In very rare parts of world, there exist few dedicated teachers whose aim in life is to train the coming generation from every possible side. Teachers are the jewels to nation without which country’s development will hamper. No matter, how much a person achieve, he/she is always smaller than teachers. In some cases, we see that students don’t respect their teachers. Such things happen because today ideal teachers rarely exist. Students will be respectful toward their teachers when their teachers will engrave impression of love & inspiration in the hearts & minds of students. It’s true that some students are also getting spoilt & that’s why they don’t respect their elders. In one’s education & feeding, both teachers & parents play a key role. Both should be responsible towards their duties. But overall, teachers play the greatest role in one’s development. No profession can compare to that of teaching because every profession comes into existence by the efforts of teaching.

Today, in 5th September 2011, in this teacher’s day, let’s thank the teachers of the world for their contributions to the society & let’s encourage this precious profession without which no profession can ever be existed. In this discussion, I would like to request every teacher in the world to be an ideal & true teacher who always inspires his/her students to do good for the nation. In the meantime, I would like to thank my each & every teacher who had been teaching me & helping me from my beginning. With these all, hats off to teachers & happy teacher’s day to all.

Copyright©2011 Sandeep Deba Misra