Down the list of my expectations of you, the eighth is you must ask questions to enhance your understanding of the topic under discussion. I know you sometimes ask questions to test my knowledge. Though I answer such questions, my utmost desire is you ask creative questions, which can be beneficial to all. A good teacher isn’t a waterfall of knowledge, but rather a well wherefrom a student draws buckets of knowledge as per his thirst.
Ninth, you should never bully your classmates or school fellows. During the breaktime, when emotions are high and you are unsupervised like the boys in Lord of the Flies, chances are you bully your juniors. It’s not a sign of a good character. Rather, you are expected to stand by the truth and with the weak. It will develop in you the leadership qualities. You need just change your perspective because agility of perspective nurtures empathy – a hallmark of an educated person.
To eat gutka, paan, betel nut, bubble gum and the ilk within or outside the school premises doesn’t behove you, as you are a role model for those who don’t prioritise schooling and education. Your life is not yours alone. It is a collective investment of your parents, teachers and the country. Hence, you owe them. Remember what the Quaid said to you, which is my tenth expectation: “Develop a sound sense of discipline, character, initiative and a solid academic background. You must devote yourself wholeheartedly to your studies, for that is your first obligation to yourselves, your parents and to the State. You must learn to obey, for only then you can learn to command.”
Instead of gaining attention by being a miscreant in the class, you had far better earn my respect by working diligently and improving your learning. That’s the eleventh expectation. Your behaviour turns anticommunal when you create hurdles in the smooth dissemination of instruction to your classmates. Have you ever exerted yourself to understand a subject?
My twelfth expectation of you is that you become an epitome of respectfulness. You will never walk ahead of me unless I appreciate your trailing and allow you to overtake. You will not force your way between the two teachers. You will not speak to me while remaining seated in your place: It sounds disrespectful, my dear. Likewise, never yawn or stretch yourself before me. Never wear shades in the school perimeter or a sports cap in the classroom.
My thirteenth expectation, which is actually advice to you, is your apologies for any misconduct must not be manipulative apologies, i.e., apologising without change, regret or sincerity. ‘Zombie apologies’ bespeak your flippant behaviour towards me and your studies. To respect apologies will teach you to remain steadfast in your commitments – a characteristic that’s missing starkly in your generation.
My fourteenth expectation of you, dear student, is that you should read books, magazines or newspapers. You must reduce your screen time, which has made your reading faster, shorter and shallower. Because of your reduced attention span precipitated by the blue glow of digital screen, you find it hard to stay focused for the forty minutes of our mutualism. Strolling with nature, which bestows upon you the moments of stillness, meditation and metacognition, has been replaced by scrolling in the digital jungle, which creates hollowness in you. Remember, ‘how we spend our days is how we spend our lives’.
Systemic lacunas and social shifting sands have incapacitated teachers from asserting their authority, which is necessary to impart instruction, particularly to the students without any parental supervision, as the parents remain busy round the clock feeding their family. Reduced to a feckless authority, teachers lose control over their students, who become unruly and impudent. So, my fifteenth expectation is that you must listen to an authority to give aim and direction to your effort.
Epilogue: After listening to expectations of both the parties – students and teachers – dear readers, I conclude that the happy medium is both should exert themselves to fulfil the expectations of each other, as Gordon Neufeld says, “Children learn best when they like their teacher and they think their teacher likes them.”