In today’s new India, there are stories of change everywhere — from household structures to use of technology. The world of the classroom too has undergone several changes, both visible and invisible. The learning process has changed in a big way — the teacher-student equation has shifted. With technology, students are more in control of their learning. While this may be a good thing, will it affect the teacher’s role, will they cease to be key players in the learning process?

Just 10 years ago, teaching was considered the “safest” job that women could enter into. But the recent guresome murder of the Chennai school teacher has brought to light the several dangers that teachers have to battle every day while carrying on with their work. While the news may appear more “American” in nature, this is not the first time that a teacher in India has been killed. Schools unfortunately are turning into battlegrounds for the powerful to fight for their own ideologies and causes, and falling on the wayside are teachers, students and education itself.

Subject teachers at the school level have a major responsibility in terms of inculcating learning attitudes and generating interest in a particular subject. It is the passion for a subject that the teacher kindles in the student which takes him or her on a learning journey . It is only when a student cares deeply about a subject, is he motivated enough to share the learning with others.

Quality in Indian education is something that has excited a lot of debate and discussion in the last few years. And during these debates a lot of solutions have been thrown up to address this issue. But whatever the solution, whether technology driven or creating better learning spaces, a change for the better has to begin with the teacher, for she is the change maker.

This issue of Teacher Plus, in collaboration with Wipro’s Earthian initiative, brings a wide range of articles that looks at various aspects of sustainability. Sustainability has to become a part of the fabric of daily life, embedded in the decisions we make everyday about using water, power, food and land. It has to become a part of our thinking, learning and doing.

Busy, busy, busy all the time, that is what we are. We believe that these days we don’t have the time to eat, drink or indeed even breathe. But are we really so busy that we don’t have a few minutes to just stand and stare? Recharge our batteries by just looking at the sun rising or the birds chirping so that our busy days are a lot more pleasant?

Books and art —- there can be no better way to get teachers to come together and give them a special time. A short event to help teachers to get away from their familiar environments was held in Hyderabad recently and true to the theme, ‘Rediscover yourself through books and art’, most of the teachers who marked their attendance promised to buy and read up the books that they had perhaps long forgotten about.

During times of conflict and political unrest, it is always the functioning of educational institutions that gets hit first. While it is true that teachers lose a lot of working days during such times, perhaps they can use this time to think about and plan creative lessons for their students.

Classrooms can be volatile spaces interspersed with periods of harmony depending upon the kind of issues that one is dealing with. Tackling children’s fears and anxieties so that the outcome is positive both for the teacher and the child is a huge task. Schools therefore need to become supportive structures emphasizing cooperation and dialogue rather than surveillance and punishment.

It is now admission time and there is anxiety everywhere about making the final cut. What of the students that don’t make it? Who don’t get into colleges they want? Who don’t get the courses they want? This is where school education and the values they receive in school come to play.