The Teachers Are Always Right!
An age old adage in the Indian classics suggest that we should always be extremely respectful of a teacher, everything that comes out of their mouth is pure gold and we should take it without any questions or doubts raised about the knowledge of the teacher. If at all we do oppose, it is treated as a mark of extremely disrespect and distrust. Culturally, we are taught to worship what the teachers have taught us over the years and at some point, I even feel – maybe we are living a lot of their experiences which do not make sense to us in this era or point of time.
The Teachers Can be Wrong!
The era of internet is a wonderful one cos it helps you recheck the information available. Something I learnt in the UK very strongly was that – “it is ok to question your teacher if you think what they say is not reaching a consensus with you”
And this does not mean any disrespect, it just shows your eagerness to know more about the subject. I am not demeaning the culture of teaching in India, I am just talking about the openness in questioning an elder. And this is done in no manner of disrespect, but in a manner of actual discussion which helps unearth the truth by a logical discussion on the same.
Now, coming to the bedrock of the question – Can teachers be wrong – the answer is obviously YES, more often than they want to. However, it brings out a very strong reality that being wrong is not that bad a deal after all. The reality lies in how we respond when we know that we are wrong. The reality is in understanding that a mistake is just a mistake and we need to figure out ways to understand the reality and absolute truth. This truth is going to set us free and actually understand what it means.
Why you should not believe your teacher!
Everything we have all learnt in life is a subset of our experiences and the type of people we have met, the environment we are brought up in, the books we read and the people we treat as our idols. These factors are strongly influenced by a teacher as they form an integral part of our ‘Growing up’ phase of life.
Although we take in most of what they say with utter respect, it is also equally important to develop that questioning mindset. The moment we know that what the teacher is saying doesn’t resonate with us, it is sensible to ask clarification on the same. It can either lead you to the truth or the teacher can call you stupid. But more important than that is maintaining that curiosity and questioning behaviour. That takes a longer way ahead than mere stupid perceptions of people around us and the certifications by ‘Some’ teachers.
End of the post, we would like to say that Learning is more about the attitude you develop than what you learn about the theory in class. So, it depends on what you want your learning to be – the attitude of being yourself or….
Thoughts?
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Everybody learns from their experiences. Teachers learned from theirs, which might not be valid in our age…so we should be open to new learnings :)
I agree with you. Let’s just honour the tradition of respect but never give up the attitude of questioning. That’s the only way we shall ever truly learn anything. Good read this was Vinay.
Totally agree with you there, Vinay. Our culture teaches us to believe our teachers’ words almost blindly. In fact, why only teachers, elders also are to be believed and followed dutifully9and blindly). I mean no disrespect but I do not agree with this. Thankfully, I was brought up in an environment where thinking on my own and having opinions was not considered disrespect but a sign of having an active thought process. Glad to have had teachers and parents who encouraged voicing different opinions. And I am sure, we pass on the same new culture to the next gen.