Modern Teaching: Bridging Empathy, Technology, and Innovation
- Adapting to Modern Students: Traditional teaching methods are insufficient for today’s students, who seek logic and reasoning behind everything and require more interactive and engaging approaches.
- Balancing Technology Use: Technology should enhance learning and foster creativity, but excessive reliance on AI can stifle critical thinking and curiosity.
- Prioritizing Mental Health: The emotional and mental well-being of students is crucial, as neglecting it can lead to long-term issues and hinder their development into well-rounded individuals.
As I reflect on my journey as an educator, I am reminded of a transformative experience that redefined my approach to teaching. Six years ago, I had the privilege of teaching Class 6, where I encountered a young student named Neha, whose reputation for misbehavior preceded her.
Her mother had complained about her rudeness and disobedience towards elders at home. I decided to talk to Neha and understand her perspective. As I conversed with her, I realized that Neha was not a bad child but a highly sensitive child who had been facing mistreatment since childhood. She even had no one to share her feelings with.
I don’t know why and how, but I decided to help Neha and make her feel comfortable. For this, I got close to her by talking to her regularly and made her feel that I was her friend. As a result, she started opening up to me and telling me everything that happened to her. So I concluded that poor treatment of her mother by her grandmother and father and other household politics forced her to behave rudely.
In reality, she was not wrong but a young person who didn’t know how to articulate her thoughts so that they could not be silenced. She was justified in her stand, and her reasoning was completely sound. I explained the situation to her mother and asked her to become her friend.
This case study proved a turning point in my teaching career as it taught me the paramount importance of empathy and understanding in teaching, and I learned that “every child has a story that deserves to be heard.”
Moreover, that day, I realized to be a good teacher one should be an empathetic soul who can understand the feelings of his students well. To understand the emotions of those whose voices are suppressed as being those of young ones or children.
As we navigate the future of teaching, it is necessary to acknowledge the interconnectedness of social, emotional, and technological factors that shape our students’ experiences. There is no doubt that the traditional classroom models and methodologies where teachers impart knowledge and students receive it passively are no longer sufficient.
To grasp the pulse of today’s children, we need to take a step back and view them through the lens of yesterday’s youth. In the past, children only lied to their elders or teachers without objecting, but modern children are different.
They’re notoriously picky, choosing only what tickles their fancy and discarding the rest. They can easily get distracted and have short attention spans. But at the same time, they have their thoughts and thoughts. They raise questions about everything, and they want logic or reasoning behind every event occurring around them. So to tackle such innovative minds, classrooms should be flipped. outdated and old-fashioned methods can’t be fruitful.
As technology advances at breakneck speed, a teacher has to mold his methodologies in such a technological way that they can not only satisfy the needs and requirements of this modern era but can harness the potential of our younger ones.
There are different ways of using technology in education. Online learning during COVID can be considered a key point in diverting our attention towards using technology in education. Learning through e-books and video websites not only makes understanding better by providing huge resources of knowledge but is also beneficial for collaborative learning. We should adopt such digital tools that facilitate collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking while also prioritizing face-to-face interactions that foster empathy and understanding.
But if the use of technology means relying on artificial intelligence, I’ll totally discourage it, as by doing so, we risk stifling our students’ natural curiosity and ability to think critically. It can erode this curiosity, leading to a decline in creative thinking and problem-solving skills. So it’s essential to strike a balance between technology use and nurturing children’s innate abilities, ensuring they develop into well-rounded individuals with a healthy blend of technical proficiency and creative flair.
So, for a better future of teaching, we should involve such innovative methods that involve fair and wise use of technology.
In conclusion, regardless of the teaching methodology you adopt, whether using technology or focusing on extracurricular activities, there’s one thing that shouldn’t be ignored, and that is the mental well-being and emotional health of children. If you neglect their emotional health, you risk creating a generation where mental health issues are more likely to prevail, rather than nurturing exceptional minds.
The author is a teacher and a writer.
