As Old As Time
The Gift or Giving or selflessness has been in practice since time immemorial with much ado about nothing. Right from the moment we are born, nature keeps bestowing her gifts upon us in the form of air, water and sunshine. The seeds of altruism are first sown by a family, and setting an example of unconditional love is a mother who gives her all to her child without expecting anything in return. As a child grows, his/her family builds a value system of sharing and caring between siblings, parents, grandparents and extended family. We are taught to be kind and caring with both materialistic and non-materialistic compounds of life. The feeling of compassion, empathy, sympathy and other life skills have to be honed further by educators at school. A fresh or continual approach by schools to identify, instil, and hone these skills at a tender age will impart essential life lessons for children.
Altruism and Us
The Gift of Giving is practiced as a virtue in our culture. There are 64 virtues that we practice and some extensively such as sharing food, knowledge, medical care or the act of preserving and respecting nature and its life forms. Charity brings about communal harmony and fosters oneness amongst all.
Hence, Inculcate the habit of giving when children are young. We as educators play a prominent role in instilling this value parallel to family members. An activity as simple as planting a tree can be carried out with young children at school to set an example of nature’s benevolence.They’ll learn that in exchange of water, every plant that grows into a tree, gives oxygen and shade, bears fruits and helps in restoring nature's balance.
But, Teach Them Everyday
While it’s pertinent for children to learn about altruism, setting a timeline or allotting slots is not the way you nurture this emotion. The Gift of Giving should come to everyone as natural as our breathing itself. Else it will never get into the DNA of our system or society at all. Hence educators today should ensure that instilling values of empathy and kindness should be an organic approach by schools and not rigid activities to tick the box.
Educator’s Role
Whenever a pedagogy is created, it comes from a board, ensuring that the management and teachers execute the same. Unfortunately, our education system focusses on preparing children to gain material wealth but has been in oblivion about a child’s mental and emotional health. It neither builds character nor instils humanity. No pedagogy so far has introduced an hour a day to help children put their books aside and look around them to read another person in the room.
Hence, it becomes important for an educator to instil these values regularly. On a daily basis, schools can start their children’s day with little activities of gratitude where they can thank every little and big thing that makes up their day, right from the rising sun to their family’s love, their friends, teachers and themselves. Turning it into a group activity will naturally build up many things and ensure that these values stay with us for a lifetime. Simple words of encouragement or compliments when exchanged between one another instils a feeling of joy between children.
Introducing children to ‘Individual Social Responsibility’ is another important duty of an educator. Instilling in them a respect towards nature is pertinent so that they are aware of the depredations we have caused due to our greed and will, hopefully, try to reverse these actions.
Celebrate Together
Every classroom is a multicoloured canvas with children from different backgrounds in terms of culture and tradition. In a scenario of this kind, it becomes challenging for an educator to break the ice and foster inclusivity. But, we should understand that this variety acts as an advantage to bring out unity in diversity. Hence, educators should celebrate diverse cultures and festivals regularly. Be it, Ganesha Chaturthi, Eid or Christmas, inculcating a celebratory mood in schools with each child participating and contributing to his/her own might in the form of story-telling, decorating etc will form a close-knit bond, between management, teachers and students.
These celebrations help us bridge linguistic and cultural bridges, and are best done when children are small to sow the seeds of oneness. This will build fellowship within teachers and between educators as well. Fellowship will build friendship which will bring out love and care when one can run to the other friend in time of need.
Message for the educator
Two words for educators; Chinthana and Manthana. Chinthana refers to mindfulness, thoughtfulness and contemplation. Merge that with Manthana which stands for reflection, consultation and discussion which will eventually lead you towards realising that what we have today is a gift of the universe and God .As educators we need to bring about mindful practices within ourselves to set an example for our children and lead them on the right and reflective path. If we as educators volunteer to give back to nature, to our society, and to everyone around us, our children will follow in our footsteps and grow up to become better individuals.
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