The Good Teacher

A good teacher is a person who finds individual approach to every pupil, taking care about the child’s adaptation in class, increasing one’s social status in class and making sure the children learn to take into account and respect the thoughts of other people.

Teaching can without any doubts be called the leading power of the society’s development. It is well known that there exist three main factors that influence the development of the personality. They are: heredity, social encirclement and education. Usually the term education is used meaning the great impact that parent have on the future personality of their child. But this also includes school education, because nowadays, when parents are very busy they are the people, who teach children what is beautiful and what is ugly, what is right and what is wrong. Through them children learn to perceive the inner world. And the way they perceive it depends on the teacher’s personal particularities that are transmitted to children through interaction and the knowledge that the teacher offers them. A good teacher is a person who finds individual approach to every pupil, taking care about the child’s adaptation in class, increasing one’s social status in class and making sure the children learn to take into account and respect the thoughts of other people.

Therefore there is much more to a teacher than high professionalism. What makes kids hardly wait until the lesson starts in one cases and hating the subject in others? Of course high professionalism in the field of the taught subject is very important, but when it comes to being a bad or a good teacher this is not the weightiest factor. A good teacher is a person who not just reproduces the knowledge he got. Not a person that only brings up the interest to the subject. It is a person who finds individual approach to every pupil, taking care about the child’s adaptation in class, increasing one’s social status in class and making sure the children learn to take into account and respect the thoughts of other people. It is a man or a woman that cannot “play” the teacher’s role but he in the first place “a feeling human being” in front of the students, a person that can show emotional response. For example, if the teacher is professionally good enough but does not take critics from the pupils constructively or does not explain why he thinks he is right this makes a huge gap between the students and the teacher. And when there is no emotional contact the learning cannot be called successful, for the students are not completely involved. When the teacher does not treat students as people that obey him, treats them like they are equal to him and explains equally to everybody it can really be a pointer of a “good” teacher. And one other very important thing is creativity.

One of the indicators of a “good” teacher it is his desire to teach in a new, original form, adding something new and personal to make the learning process as exciting as it can possibly be. A bad teacher is a person that focuses only on the information he provides not taking into account the children or anything. It is a person that is doing its job. Such a person can be very good in the theoretical part of his subject but he will never have students being emotionally attached to him. It is a teacher that lets his personal mood influence on the way he treats his students, etc. That cannot reduce awkward situations with humor either it is him in the situation or his student. Being a good teacher is about loving children and wanting to give them only the best the teacher has inside of him.

Can GNH Live?

The argument between wealth and happiness is one of the epic points to be debatable in today’s world. Many believe that if Gross Domestic Product of country is rising, ultimate result is that economic development of the country is in full swing making their citizens happy. However, according to Richard Layard and David Brooks, they states that, ‘with the rise in income of the country, instead of bringing happiness in the country, there are more of unhappiness arising in the country.

Correspondently, they believe in the beliefs of nineteenth-century economist, ‘that the extra income is greatest when you are poor, and declines steadily as you get richer, the effect of extra income on happiness is greatest in the poorest countries, where people are nearest to the breadline” (p.33). Happiness is more important than wealth. This is the official policy in Bhutan, where King Jigme Singye Wangchuck prefers to speak of Gross National Happiness, rather than Gross National Product, setting the theme for careful development and gradual change. The differences between Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Happiness are perceived quite amazingly in Bhutan. When rest of the world believes that happiness is generated with rise in the Gross domestic product, Bhutan believes that, happiness can be generated if all the citizens are happy. Seemingly, the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH) is prior to Gross Domestic Product and all the developments in Bhutan are considered in aligned to Gross National Happiness.

To the extent, happiness can be brought about when the economic status of a country is stable. Consequently, keeping GNH concept into consideration, Bhutan’s economic development is taking place at high stake. Unanimously, many believes that with so many economic developments in Bhutan, will it be possible for Bhutanese to maintain their concept of GNH. To the perception of my sense organ, I believe that Bhutan can maintain the general welfare and happiness for so many years to come. As per Richard and Brooks, they give verdicts that after the basic necessities have been achieved, income is only lightly connected to well being. In case of Bhutan, even after achieving basic necessities, income will be connected to total well being of the Bhutanese. Bhutan, consider happiness on top for achieving economic income. For an instance, for the economic developments of Bhutanese economy, unlike other countries, Bhutan give much priority on conservation of culture, protection of environment, sustainable economic development and make sure good governance.

People of Bhutan will live in harmony, peace and happiness for many years to come, because Bhutan gives equal importance to economic development and happiness. Indeed, Bhutan follow middle-path, economic development on one side while keeping the happiness of people on other side. Even if Bhutan reach double living standard, Bhutan will never lose its value of happiness, since the foundation of middle-path is made in such a way that even the highest magnitude earthquake will be not able to shake the foundation. To the word of Richard and Brooks, they said that countries like India, Mexico, Philippines, Brazil and South Korea have experienced economic growth, but not happiness. The reason being for this weakness is that at first place they have only thought of economic growth and never taken in consideration, happiness of people. Whereas, Bhutan always place happiness of people before the economic growth and in times to come even after achieving economic growth, happiness will linger in every society, because happiness of people will become like tradition and culture. 

According to Karma Tshiteem, Secretary, Gross National Happiness Commission, “A strong sense of identity is critical for a sense of well being,” similarly, because of our strong identity, we can maintain happiness forever.  Bhutanese place happiness before the achievement of economic growth and they always believe in gross happiness and value of the life.