“It can’t be denied that teachers remain Special Architects of human destiny”.

From the Gurukul system to today’s Digital system, education has evolved and so has the teacher metamorphosed from sage to stage. The Gurukul system is in certain measures coming back in the form of multi-disciplinary education as spelled out by the National Education Policy. Just hoping that the respect, love, and care for the teachers in the Gurukul system replays though the new form of education, laying emphasis on developing impeccable discipline, attitude and moral values in students. The purpose of Gurukul system was to bring education close to reality and we are back with the same philosophy in education 5.0. We return to experiential learning and the teacher is drawn towards setting experimental live student centric learning environment. 

5th September is celebrated as “Teachers’ Day”, a day when we pay special obeisance to all our teachers. Every individual is sure to have a teacher or many teachers who inspired his course of life journey. Not surprisingly this day was gifted to teachers by a very dedicated, eminent teacher himself, none other than Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. After his academic career, in 1962, Dr Radhakrishnan became the President of India. His students and followers wanted to celebrate his birthday on 5th September, but he asked them to commemorate the day as “Teachers’ Day” and dedicate the day to cherish and celebrate the nation builders. 

Dr Radhakrishnan was a researcher, writer, mentor, and a passionate teacher. According to him Innovation and Industrialisation are key components of education and encouraged teachers to drive this to make our students competent to face modern challenges, some of which are:

Build innovative mindset: Teachers must drive innovation through their teaching and academic engagement. In the earlier days students were made to byheart while learning, but times have changed, and teachers must encourage self- discovery and innovative attitude in students. This will enable students to think out of the box.

Industry Collaboration: One of the purposes of education is to make the students employable. This requires understanding of the business environment. Gone are the days when a teacher was required to teach a chapter and move to the next one. In today’s times a teacher with 20th century knowledge will not match requirements of the 21st century students. Industry too is forthcoming towards adding value to education. This could lead to inviting industry professionals to class, promote industrial visits and help students gain industry perspectives.

Impetus to Research: A well-researched teacher can share her expertise with the students and can make the class interesting. While it is essential for teachers to research, it is equally important for them to instil research mind in every student. Research will propel students to deep dive into learning.

Practical approach: While a teacher plans to cover the syllabus, the greater intention should be for the overall development of the student. Building right attitude and values is an ongoing process for a student and such learnings can subtly be introduced by the teachers in the regular course of teaching -learning process. It is pertinent for a teacher to transform teaching- learning to the current needs. Picking up problems of society or business and encouraging students to find solutions can be a novel way to push students to connect with the society.

Align with Tech transformation: Technology is an enabler and teachers can use technology as a teaching tool and for teaching or assessment process. Students are familiar with AR(Augmented 

Reality), VR(Virtual Reality) and AI( Artificial Intelligence) which makes it important for teachers to be well aware of the speed of technological progress and use it to the best possible way.

Pedagogical Practices: Teachers must design learning environments. They need to understand the depleting attention span of students and plan accordingly. University collaborations can bring variety for the students. Closely working with stakeholders can bring new flavours to the classroom. Pedagogical tools can be used to convert monotony into interactive and energised learning platforms.

Echoing our Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s words” Teaching is not a profession; it is a way of life”. Teachers are fortunate to be endowed with the divine responsibility of enlightening young minds. Teachers shape the destiny of the nation, they are the architects who lay strong foundations of the society, we are proud of them!