The changing face of teaching…..

In today’s age of information overload, parenting styles, education, career choices and everything else under the sun is undergoing a paradigm shift in their outlook. It’s no wonder then that teaching as a profession is also experiencing a silent yet radical change.

Gone are the times when teaching was considered the most boring of professions; and might I add, the profession known to be chosen by those who couldn’t get a better job….(Yes, I am shocked too but I hate to say that this perception is true). The new age teachers come with backgrounds as varied as IT, corporate, medicine, engineering and accountancy. What is the reason for this change and why are more and more people looking at teaching as a career option?

As a society, we are in a transitional phase. As we are trying to question the existing norms, we are also trying to understand why our traditional ways still hold good.

As I look at my generation, most of us between the age group of early thirties and forties, I see one thing in common; worries about the value system of the current generation kids. This one aspect is triggering many other underlying issues such as increasing cases of children left in the custody of people other than parents, which in turn is resulting in lack of supervision on computer/TV time, poor eating habits, inadequate exercise or playtime routines, lack of proper study habits and of course lack of manners and a general don’t care attitude in children.

Our generation is also the one which had seen the IT boom that paved way for the middle-class Indians to fulfil their dreams of working abroad. This experience has made most of us aware of what we are missing when we are in foreign land and made us appreciate our own culture and diversity.

Money not being the deciding factor for a career choice anymore in most of the middle class households, people are now looking at job satisfaction and quality of life as opposed to the earlier mind-set of more money equals more happiness. This job gives you the flexibility to be creative and have a well-balanced work life, which is what most of us strive to achieve.

Teaching is attracting people as it is gives them a sense of fulfilment and satisfaction of bringing about a positive change in the quality of education. It also gives an opportunity to mould young minds who are the face of tomorrow. And this is why we need intelligent and passionate people in this field, more than in any other profession; I personally know teachers working with me who are IIM graduates, Alumni of BITS Pilani, IT consultants and Published Authors. With better remuneration and benefits at par with other professions, this growing trend can be made more promising and exciting to encourage many talented people, passionate about teaching to take this up as a profession.