Let’s meet Mr Yamuna Dhar Tripathi, a teacher by profession but holding anchoring skills up his sleeves and has multiple feathers on his hat. A participant to “Padma Awards, 2020 Quiz” and many such Quiz contests. A passionate teacher of Hindi and Sanskrit holding strong values of teaching at heart. Let’s know him through the below interview for his contributions over years of dedication.
Name YAMUNA DHAR TRIPATHI
Contact Number 9455098822, 7518529982
School / Institute Baroda Public School
Email id dtripathiy@gmail.com
Designation / Title TGT Teacher
Tell us about yourself – Your overall experience in education field, National / International experiences, variety of work you have done in the education field.
First of all, I would like to say thank you for providing me this golden opportunity to introduce myself in front of you. My name is Yamuna Dhar Tripathi, Currently working as a TGT Teacher (Hindi & Sanskrit) at Baroda Public School, Sankheda, Gujarat.
My native place is Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. Now coming to my family background, we are 4 members. My father is a Farmer and my mother is a housewife and my wife is also M.A., B.Ed. and also a teacher. I have done my Post Graduation (Sanskrit) from Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gorakhpur University. I have done my Post Graduation (Geography) from Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gorakhpur University. I have also done my B.Ed. from Digvijay Nath Post Graduate College, Gorakhpur. I have also completed my Diploma in Yoga Teacher Training from Shiv Educational Yoga Sansthan. I have also taken "Dwitiya Deeksha Pratibhagita Praman Patra" provided by Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan. I have an NSS certificate provided by Natinal Service Scheme. I have an Scout and Guide certificate provided by Uttar Pradesh Scout and Guide.
How did you choose the field of education? Was it by choice or some inspiration from someone or a childhood dream? Please help with more details.
I've had lots of different "careers," but education is the consistent passion for me. I am in the field of education because I love to help and I love to share. Compared with other jobs I had done before, being a teacher gives me a sense of achievement when I see the progress my students make , I believe the progress they make will leave a life-long impact from my contributions. Besides, teaching also endows me with a high degree of self-determination. It helps me keep balance between my career and my life. Since I started teaching, I have never doubted why I am in it or felt depressed.
When one makes a decision about the work he will do in life, it is important that the decision be based on criteria that reflect his personal values, temperaments, experiences, and skills. My choice of teaching as a career was not made lightly; rather, it was the culmination of a process of reflection about what I wanted to do with my life and my education.
When I was a student in elementary, middle, and high school, as well as in college, I found myself paying attention to not only what was being taught, but also to how my teachers actually taught the lessons. It seemed to me then, and still does, that most of my teachers enjoyed what they were doing. Too young, and with no real context as an elementary school student to appreciate what my teachers personally derived from what they were doing, it wasn't until middle school that I began to think that I might want to be a teacher. Slowly at first, then more quickly, and with increasing clarity and depth, I began to visualize myself as a teacher.
The great teachers I have had throughout my education are my heroes and my role models. I began to understand more fully in high school and throughout my time as a college student that great teachers had skills I wanted to learn. I wanted to excel at the things in which they excelled, but I also experienced teachers who were not effective, and they too taught me something. From them I learned what I would not do or even try when I would someday become a teacher. I fully realized that to be a teacher is truly a calling of not just the mind, but the heart as well.
I saw that the great teachers were good at explaining content, were patient, yet firm with students, were always fair, set high expectations, knew how to motivate us, and used humour appropriately. They were excellent communicators who had a command of the subject-matter content they taught. I wanted to be like them, to be able to do what they could do, and yet I understood that I would have to forge my own style of teaching that would draw on my strengths, knowledge, skills, values and experiences. I have arrived at that point in my preparation, fully realizing I still have much to learn.
I have chosen education as a career because I believe that education is perhaps the most important function performed in our culture, or for that matter, any culture. I believe that teachers individually and collectively can not only change the world, but improve it, and in the process find personal and professional renewal. I want to be part of this noble profession, and someday to be counted among those in whom the future generation of teachers will find inspiration.
What would you like to mention for your greatest achievements in field of education? Which gives you a sense of satisfaction?
I learned a lot through teaching:
Satisfaction through satisfying students and their parents. Respect through dedication in quality of work
I believe that my greatest achievement as a teacher is being a feeling of humanity. A teacher when is being appreciated, listen to and valued by the is the biggest achievement. Being wholesome, means a participant in the society or community that needed education and being a skilled teacher helps me to contribute my knowledge in a given task.
How has the education system changed as per your view since you were a student yourself?
Indian Education System Needs Serious Reforms-
Our Indian Education System needs serious reforms and changes. India needs reforms from basic itself. The preferred choice of learning is memorizing facts. Here to judge the student’s talent has only one parameter i.e. percentage in board examination. So students just mug up and indeed Indian education is spoon feeding. There is no practical knowledge in our education system. Our education system mainly focuses on theoretical knowledge. Some basic theoretical knowledge is needed but our education system focuses more on the theoretical knowledge. The Indian education and social systems are very hard on kids and completely ignore their feelings, opinions and ambitions. Kids are pushed to study from the age of 3. Non-performers are treated as dolts and ostracized by parents and society. My opinion is our education must be all round developer. It should be based on creative rather than mugging. Practical or Visualize education must be promoted.
Education needs to change to change India for future. let's explore something else in this one: Here is my list:
1. Focus on skill based education.
2. Reward creativity, original thinking, research and innovation.
3. Get smarter people to teach.
4. Education for all.
5. Implement massive technology infrastructure for education.
6. Re-define the purpose of the education system.
7. Effective deregulation.
8. Take mediocrity.
9. Personalize Education-one size does not fit all.
10. Allow private capital in education.
11. Make reservation irrelevant.
What are the qualities you think an individual should possess to be a good teacher or work in field of education?
Top Qualities of an Effective Teacher-
The skills needed for effective teaching involve more than just expertise in an academic field. You must be able to interact with people and help them understand a new way of looking at the world. This is not an easy job! Although there are many different ways to teach effectively, good instructors have several qualities in common. They are prepared, set clear and fair expectations, have a positive attitude, are patient with students, and assess their teaching on a regular basis. They are able to adjust their teaching strategies to fit both the students and the material, recognizing that different students learn in different ways. As a teacher, you are a role model who sets the tone for the class. If you are able to show enthusiasm and commitment, your students are more likely to reciprocate. Conversely, when you are negative, unprepared, or impatient, these qualities will be reflected in the attitudes of your students. Undergraduate students at Georgetown have high expectations of their instructors, and they also have many competing interests beyond the course you are teaching. Give them a reason to remember your class as an important part of their college experience!
1. Excellent classroom management skills as well as dedication.
2. Ability to devise and develop ways to encourage and challenge students to help them deepen their knowledge and understanding.
3. Ability to develop and foster appropriate skills to enable the development of children.
4. Have a caring attitude to attend to children's needs and concerns in time.
5. Have creative bent of mind which helps in delivering lessons through activity based learning.
6. Excellent communication skills.
7. Classroom Management
8. Behaviour Management
9. Creative Questioning
10. Patient
11. Student Focused
12. Organised
13. Hard working
14. Knowledgeable about all areas of teaching
15. Positivity
16. Well Prepared
17. Make Students Feel Confident
18. Use the Right Teaching Strategies
19. Can Manage the Classroom Correctly
20. Practice Self-Reflection
21. Set High Expectations
22. Respond Well to Failure
23. Get Excellent Student Learning Outcomes
How do you handle discipline problems in today’s world? What is the most difficult aspect of discipline for you?
Helping students to govern their own behaviour in ways that help them learn is a longstanding goal of all teachers. There are a number of ways that a teacher can promote good discipline in the classroom.
1. Know school guidelines for discipline procedures.
2. Be fair, positive and consistent. Be the kind of person young people can like and trust—firm, fair, friendly, courteous, enthusiastic and confident. Keep your sense of humor.
3. Provide a list of standards and consequences to parents and students. Make sure they are consistent with district and building policy. When in doubt, ask a colleague or your principal.
4. Keep your classroom orderly. Maintain a cheerful and attractive classroom rather than a disorderly one which might encourage disruptive behaviour.
5. Get to know your students. Learn their names quickly and use them in and out of class. You will soon develop almost a sixth sense for anticipating trouble before it begins, but doesn’t act as though you expect trouble or you will almost certainly encounter some.
6. Let the students know you care. Determine jointly with the class what is acceptable in terms of behaviour and achievement and what is not. Show interest in what students say, whether or not it pertains directly to the lesson.
7. Treat students with the same respect you expect from them; keep confidences.
8. Learn the meaning of terms, especially slang, used by students.
9. Begin class on time and in a professional manner.
10. Make learning fun. Make education interesting and relevant to the students’ lives. Poor planning and a full curriculum can provoke disruptions.
11. Praise good work, good responses and good behaviour.
12. Don’t threaten or use sarcasm. Never use threats to enforce discipline. Never humiliate a child.
13. Avoid arguing with students. Discussions about class work are invaluable, but arguments can become emotional encounters.
14. Be mobile, moving around the room as students work or respond to instruction.
15. Keep your voice at a normal level. If “disaster” strikes and you trip over the wastebasket, don’t be afraid to laugh.
16. Grade assignments and return them as soon as possible.
17. Give reasonable assignments. Don’t use schoolwork as punishment. Give clear directions.
18. Keep rules simple. Establish as few classroom rules as possible, and keep them simple.
If you were to change 1-2 things in our Indian education system, what would be those & why?
Education has been a problem in our country and lack of it has been blamed for all sorts of evil for hundreds of years. Even Rabindranath Tagore wrote lengthy articles about how Indian education system needs to change. Funny thing is that from the colonial times, few things have changed. Creating a few more schools or allowing hundreds of colleges and private universities to mushroom is not going to solve the crisis of education in India. And a crisis it is – we are in a country where people are spending their parent’s life savings and borrowed money on education – and even then not getting standard education, and struggling to find employment of their choice. In this country, millions of students are victim of an unrealistic, pointless, mindless rat race. The mind numbing competition and rote learning do not only crush the creativity and originality of millions of Indian students every year, it also drives brilliant students to commit suicide.
Focus on skill based education-
Our education system is geared towards teaching and testing knowledge at every level as opposed to teaching skills. “Give a man a fish and you feed him one day, teach him how to catch fishes and you feed him for a lifetime.” I believe that if you teach a man a skill, you enable him for a lifetime. Knowledge is largely forgotten after the semester exam is over. Still, year after year Indian students focus on cramming information. The best crammers are rewarded by the system. This is one of the fundamental flaws of our education system.
Reward creativity, original thinking, research and innovation-
Our education system rarely rewards what deserves highest academic accolades. Deviance is discouraged. Risk taking is mocked. Our testing and marking systems need to be built to recognize original contributions, in form of creativity, problem solving, valuable original research and innovation. If we could do this successfully Indian education system would have changed overnight.
Memorising is no learning; the biggest flaw in our education system is perhaps that it incentivizes memorizing above originality.
What is your philosophy of teaching?
“My teaching philosophy is grounded in the idea that students’ minds are not empty vessels waiting to be filled. Each one of them brings their own particular brand of genius to my classroom, and my most important job is to discover and empower that genius.”
“’If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.’ This quote by Ignacio Estrada represents my teaching philosophy. Teaching and education are not one size fits all.”
“ I have no question that students who learn, not professors who perform, is what teaching is all about…teachers possess the power to create conditions that can help students learn a great deal- or keep them from learning much at all. Teaching is the intentional act of creating those conditions, and good teaching requires that we understand the inner sources of both the intent and the act.”
What is your suggestions or guidance for today’s parents in shaping up children’s personality? Especially in this Online or computer age.
Parenting is the most fulfilling job that we will ever have, but it’s not without it’s challenges. Modern family life can be stressful and with various pressures on families it’s not always easy. Ultimately, parents want what is best for their child and a strong parent-child relationship can help lead to better outcomes for children.
The Parent-Child Relationship is one that nurtures the physical, emotional and social development of the child. It is a unique bond that every child and parent will can enjoy and nurture. This relationship lays the foundation for the child’s personality, life choices and overall behaviour. It can also affect the strength of their social, physical, mental and emotional health.
Some of the benefits include:
Young children who grow with a secure and healthy attachment to their parents stand a better chance of developing happy and content relationships with others in their life.
A child who has a secure relationship with parent learns to regulate emotions under stress and in difficult situations.
Promotes the child’s mental, linguistic and emotional development.
Helps the child exhibit optimistic and confident social behaviours.
Healthy parent involvement and intervention in the child’s day-to-day life lay the foundation for better social and academic skills.
A secure attachment leads to a healthy social, emotional, cognitive, and motivational development. Children also gain strong problem-solving skills when they have a positive relationship with their parents.
The Parent-Child Relationship is one that nurtures the physical, emotional and social development of the child. It is a unique bond that every child and parent will can enjoy and nurture. This relationship lays the foundation for the child’s personality, life choices and overall behaviour. It can also affect the strength of their social, physical, mental and emotional health.
Some of the benefits include:
Young children who grow with a secure and healthy attachment to their parents stand a better chance of developing happy and content relationships with others in their life.
A child who has a secure relationship with parent learns to regulate emotions under stress and in difficult situations.
Promotes the child’s mental, linguistic and emotional development.
Helps the child exhibit optimistic and confident social behaviours.
Healthy parent involvement and intervention in the child’s day-to-day life lay the foundation for better social and academic skills.
A secure attachment leads to a healthy social, emotional, cognitive, and motivational development. Children also gain strong problem-solving skills when they have a positive relationship with their parents.
What are the three most important strengths you possess that will make you a successful teacher? Also any weakness in you which you want to improve upon?
As a long time teacher, the main changes in what I need to do to be effective have been:
1. A greater need to know my students and their mind-sets. There seems to be a greater social dichotomy in student willingness to accept the value of education and I need to understand and work with that difference to be effective.
2. A greater need to understand how they go about learning in a world where information, both good and bad, is so readily available.
3. A greater need to be creative in developing curriculum that has value in and of itself to as many students as possible (relates to 1.) and A greater need to develop meaningful professional relationships with students to gain the trust in my expertise that they are less ready to give automatically.
If you had not been a teacher or not associated with education field, what would you have been and why?
If i had not been a teacher or not involved in the field of education, I would have been a social worker. I serve the public through NGO's. I like to serve people very much. And I as a teacher always work with the spirit to serve.
What do you want to accomplish in your profession in next 5 years?
In 5 years, I want to complete the internal training program and all skills for a great teacher. Not only would I get all the training for my role, but I would be on the fast track to becoming a great teacher. That’s my top career goal. Plus, my ideal path would include working abroad for a couple of years. I understand that it’s of value to you to find people prepared to do so.
Any other things you would like to share about yourself, your profession, your hobbies, your views?
My Hobbies and Interests are a long list below-
• Reading
• Drawing
• Painting
• Playing the guitar
• Traveling
• Cooking
• Discovering new places
• Introspection
• Surfing the net
• Meeting new people
• History & Culture
• Nature Walks
• Amateur Photography & Videography
I also love to participate in Quiz contests. I Participated Eat Right Quiz organized by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India & Govt. of India. I also Participated Quiz on Consumer Protection Act organized by Department of Consumer affairs & Govt. of India. I Participated Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat Quiz organized by Ministry of Tourism& Govt. of India. I Participated Quiz on Know Your Forces organized by Ministry of Defence& Govt. of India. I Participated “Fit India Quiz 2.0” organized by MyGov and Fit India Mission. I Participated “Padma Awards, 2020 Quiz” organized by MyGov of India.
How would you rate our website yayskool.com especially this teacher spotlight program? 1 being the worst, 5 being the best.
Once again I want to thank Yayskool for taking such kind of initiative and would rate them as 4.5 out of 5.
TEACHERS SPOTLIGHT PROGRAM
The role of a teacher in society is both significant and valuable. It has far-reaching influence on the society he lives in and no other personality can have an influence more profound than that of a teacher. Students are deeply affected by the teacher's love and affection, character, competence, and moral commitment.
Yet teachers don't get their due respect and credit these days. We have started a Teacher Spotlight program where we recognise the effort of these silent and true Heroes of our society and tell their story.
Note: Please send your thoughts/suggestion or concern/complaints to mail@yayskool.com.
