Being A Teacher And A Manager At The Same Time

"A good teacher should be a good entertainer, he must hold his audience's attention and only then can he teach his lesson". This quote by John Clarke seemed fictitious to me until April 20th this year, when I started volunteering in Robin Hood Army to educate children from the slums across Bangalore. It was not just about teaching them, but it was about managing a bunch of over 50 kids, who were not at all interested in getting that education. They were not even ready to give a single minute of their time into it. The only thing that enticed them was the heap of toys that I had brought along with me. Yes, the toys were the common ground for both of our interests. I along with two of the other volunteers started interacting with the children. They were too shy to talk about anything, rather they just kept asking about the toys. After few failed attempts, we were finally able to convince them that each of them will get a toy if they talk to us about any topic either they know or are interested in. This was good enough to break the ice between the two groups. A good number of kids spoke about their almost unattainable dreams of going to a school. They expressed how they felt when they saw other kids of their age in uniforms, holding a school bag. We were surprised to hear such profound things from these kids, who were not even ready to talk to us few minutes ago. A mere desire for a small toy had now evoked one of their most tender desires. As promised, we gave away all the toys to the kids and then organised a small play where we asked them to enact as teachers and students. They were happy to take up the roles which they had always wished for in their real lives. Their play ended after about half an hour. They did not portray the actual classroom, but the depiction clearly showed their yearn for the privilege they wished for - the privilege of studying merged with their friendly banters. Their smiling faces clearly taught us one thing. It was not about what did we teach them, rather it was about how much did they engage themselves during the time we taught them. The session was just of an hour but along with the kids, even I got to learn something new that day. A good teacher is always a good manager. I took multiple similar sessions from that day, teaching children from the less fortunate sections of societies across the city. It was a wonderful ordeal everytime getting along with these kids, teaching them and getting a new experience for me as well. This didn't just help me improve my management skills, but also my public speaking skills. Undoubtedly, I will continue to take up similar roles in future and these skills will always give me an upper hand during my MBA for the span of next two years at IIT Kanpur. #MBAIITKanpur #Bangalore #MBA #NGO #RobinHoodArmy #RHA