3 Myths that an IITJEE aspirant must reject

IIT JEE is most prestigious and sought after exam that a science student takes in his formative years. It is a different exam because the questions asked are original and unconventional .This in a way contrasts board examination pattern. Unlike boards, the aim of Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) is to test the analytical skills and grasp on subjects. Before I dwell into the details, let us understand how study of science is different from other streams like commerce and humanities.

As you know the word science is derived from Latin word “scientia” which means “TO KNOW”.  In German language the verb ‘to know’ is associated with two verbs Kennen (to Know a person or thing) and WIssen (to know a fact).  This clearly makes a distinction between just knowing for information and knowing with understanding.  These two steps are general to every purposeful study. However, in study of science one must be able to analyze and apply this understanding in solving problems of numerical and conceptual nature and at this point most of the people reach a road block. How often you hear people say “I can understand the theory but can’t solve the numerical”. This is because they are able to remember and reproduce but are not developed enough to analyze and apply.

Almost all who manage to get into science stream start off with a dream of IIT- JEE. It is perfectly rightful and legitimate to aspire and dream for the best, but it should be understood that fulfillment of every dream requires endless effort with open eyes. Every JEE aspirants must recognize that it is demanding and tough even if you are a genius.

Myth 1: Basics are for meek: As I have pointed earlier study of science is about four basic steps know, understanding, analyzing and applying. Analysis and application will come only when basic understanding of concepts is in place. It is sad that after passing class XII half of the students do not know what friction is and how to account for it , It is not clear to them how and where to  apply the laws of conservation , how to account for constraints . What I want to stress is, first clear your basics about theory and concepts from a good reference book before tackling objective type problems from course material of institutes. NCERT is not something you should pick up in the month of February for boards . Blind problem solving is not going to take you anywhere; you cannot learn science by copying solutions from black board.

Myth 2: Questions asked are very complex and mathematical: Don’t believe me, just pick the papers of last 33 years of IITJEE and see how many problems require mathematical rigor. The paper checks comprehension and application and not the calculation ability. Last year there were 28 Problems in physics paper, if a student has to read, understand and solve these many number of problems naturally calculations cannot be complex. In the process of preparation we become so overwhelmed by the complex problems that we cannot appreciate and accept that a problem can be simple and based on some combination of very simple concepts.  Trust me; wise people setting the paper know that they are testing the school pass outs.

Myth 3: Coaching is substitute to hard work: Many people develop this misbelieve that joining some institute has exempted them from requirement of hard work. Coaching to an extent helps because the expert faculties by their experience channelize your energy on training you for desired skills by presenting a variety of problems that broaden your vision. It also saves a lot of time that you would have spent in knowing and understanding, the time saved there can now be utilized in applying the knowledge in solving variety of problems. Until and unless you do variety of problems both conceptual and numerical you are not going to get the grasp on the subjects.  Coaching can at the most convert your hard work into smart work,  provided in words of Prof. Walter Lewin “it attempts to uncover a lot then just to cover a lot”. No one can make an IITian out of a mediocre who is not putting requisite labor. Don’t be misled by fancy advertisements and misleading half lies projected by most of the institutes. Remember magic, is in you, institute can sharpen your skills but only your work will ensure success at the end of the day. How right was Albert Einstein who said “If my theory of relativity is proven correct, Germany will claim me as a German and France will declare that I am a citizen of the world.  Should my theory prove untrue, France will say that I am a German and Germany will declare that I am a Jew”. So, if you succeed there will be many mentors who will leap to take the credit for your success brazenly sidelining your labor, and if you don’t succeed, well, nobody will own the responsibility of your failure. Can’t help it after all we live in a land where only rising sun is worshiped. (Sarcasm intended, please do not take it in religious sense).

Every child is different, some are good in expression, some are brilliant in calculations, and some love everything in detail while some are content with superficial and reckless specifications. It is naïve on parents’ part to take the board percentage into consideration in deciding about stream of study for their wards. The decision should be based on aptitude and orientation of child.

Lastly remember “Scope lies in the man and not in the degree he holds”. Though it sounds out of place here but I can’t conclude without stressing that role of education is to make a good human and a good citizen. If we can’t make sensitive humans who have compassion for fellow inhabitants and nature then the technology surely will do more harm than good.

 

Educate for sensitivity besides knowledge

Introduction: In this post I have tried to elaborate that knowledge has little value if it does not teach us sensitivity towards fellow human, environment and emotions of other people. Besides, I am advocating that the aim of education should be to initiate thought and encourage curiosity rather than just providing answers .

What is education? In technical sense, Wikipedia defines it as the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills and values from one generation to another. To me, in a broader sense it means, harmonious development of   physical, mental, moral , and social dimensions associated with life and  educating someone else symbolizes an effort to create  the desire in another human being to be a whole and meaningful person  .

The aim of Education is to develop a love for learning that remains throughout a lifetime . Sadly, the word education is now limited to academic and technical development that is orientated  to train a human to get a job with fat salary. The result and destination  has come to mean so much, that  in journey,  we fail to learn how to process the accumulated knowledge .Education fails to  teach us how to make use of acquired knowledge creatively to become a better human and better citizen. It fails to teach us how to react rationally and how to accept things on the basis of reason . It has led to formations of opinion that are not based on thoughts. How correct was Charlote Bronte who wrote “Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education; they grow there, firm as weeds among rocks. What dominates in contrast today is  theory, which  declares that “everything from the neck down is minimum wage. Therefore, we have to develop everything from the neck up”.

A casual observation, of the manner in which, an average youth of country talks, drives and reacts is enough to let one know that education has failed us in every possible sense. An observant look at the manner in which primary class children and in contrast senior class children, proceed to their classes after school assembly might tell you , what I mean.

But, The aim of this post is not to elaborate about the state we are in .The issue is what do we do to better this situation ? We , specially the educators and parents have to be self critical in analyzing why the things are the way they are ? In words of Carl Jung : "If there is anything we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves." As a teacher and  parent  I have a few ideas that I would like to share.

1.More than words it is the meaning that matters: Let us not limit the ambit of subject ,what I mean can be better explained with example , while teaching concept of circular motion and deriving the formula for banking of roads one can very easily show that why taking a fast or a sharp turn is dangerous and a small talk on importance on adhering to traffic rules for safety of self and others can always be done without disturbing the rhythm. A lecture on thermodynamics can well be merged with global warming and ecology . let us accept that a student these days is not prepared for sermons we should learn to  combine sense with the rhetoric

2.Be a benign dictator :  I may sound old fashioned but I think the children are too young to decide about what is good or bad for them. As a parent it is a responsibility to teach our children  the acceptable code of conduct in a civilized society . A school of thought advocates becoming friends with your offspring and students but I think one should be friendly without becoming friends. One has to draw the line and firmly come down on whatever is not acceptable.It is appalling to see teachers promoting and accepting mediocrity to be popular with naive minds .It is assertion, not aggression or submission that holds the key, an authoritative teacher cannot connect with students and a submissive teacher, it seems, is always trying to win some  popularity contest.

3.Nurture your children: every baby that comes into this world is like an angel, pure and innocent .It is the responsibility of every parent to preserve that innocence in the child. A responsible parent has to know the difference between pampering and loving.The thing a child deserve most is your quality time.  Home is the first school of every child and  mother the first teacher. Influence of parents and their acts leave ever lasting impressions on minds of children .all of us know about famous scientist Thomas Edison who gave us electric bulb and phonograph was categorized as dumb and was rejected by school . It was the commitment of her mother who refused to accept this judgment and taught him at home.On the other hand a mother to obsessed with drugs and violence gave the world a most pathetic serial killer named Henry Lee Lucas. I think the last statement of serial killer Tedd Bundy before the firing squad says it all “Killers like me are no different from  your children and  your husbands , you continue to spoil their childhood and you will continue preparing killers like me.”

4. Encourage expression : In my classes I generally ask students to tell me their understanding of what is taught to them, from layman’s point of view. How will they explain the taught concept to a person who has no knowledge of physics in five simple lines .This is to make sure they understand the meaning rather than  just going through the rituals of manipulating the symbols to derive the formula. I firmly believe that it is the thought that separates a human from a trained animal and there is a drastic need to to encourage that. It is so disappointing  that there are hardly any contributors whenever a significant topic is taken for discussion  on internet forums and radio .One should learn to show feelings because suppressing them is like suppressing truth. Martin Luther King so rightly said “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”. This leitmotif  “Nothing is going to change” in young minds is so wrong.  The fact is things change and they change drastically when minds and hands revolt.

5. Bring the human angle to education: Education for what ? This world does not need more "successful"  people .What it needs are more 'sensitive" people who also believe in putting their  thoughts into action in their own small ways.   What world desperately needs are more peacemakers,  poets, painters ,teachers and lovers of humanity  . It needs people of moral courage willing to join the fight to make the world habitable and humane and , these needs have little to do with success as our culture has defined it.

These are just a few things that I could  think of I would appreciate if you, the enlighten reader, can educate me a bit more on this.

Teacher’s day: Time to introspect and prospect

I am a teacher by choice and this in every sense is my Raison d'être. I am not to wax eloquence but I truly see this as reason for my existence.

In education, a teacher is a person, who educates others and as defined by Wikipedia, education in its broadest sense is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character or physical ability of an individual.

Amidst the greetings and euphoria of praise, let us look within ourselves and ask ourselves some questions .Are we the teachers doing what is in best interest of student or what is most convenient and expedient? Are we giving the child something to take home to think about besides homework? Are we putting any effort to cultivate the wish to learn? Are we doing anything to make a rational mind capable of thought or going through rituals of words on name of education? When asked for an advice do we advice what is in best interest of student or we tell him what is in our interest?

Two principles have pillared my life objectivity and spirituality. I can with full pride say that I have never treated a student like a client. I have been unwise by economical parameters many times, but this lets me assume the right to condemn those who I think are misguiding students and are clots on the name of teaching fraternity and core reasons for degradation of the moral values. I have the courage to say all this openly and publicly as I have no skeletons hidden in cupboards that should deter me from creating awareness and exposing the dirty tricks of some cheaters wearing the sheath of teachers.

Why conscience of a teacher does not bite when they give sell the dreams of IIT to a student who they know will not be capable of passing? In order to keep him in complete dark , you advice them to take admissions in schools where they have to go only to pay their fees and finally to write their exams? Doesn’t it bite your conscious when you publish results and name of students that you have never groomed? Don’t you feel like a pimp when you have to operate a coaching center from school where you have to force and catch the students to please your economic facilitator, the owner of school premises? How are you able to sleep after selling the question papers to select students? I am not saying people should not make money, teacher like any other human being wants to earn the comforts for his family. As Bob Talbert said “Good teachers are costly, but bad teachers cost more”. So, don’t let your hunger be so strong that you are prepared to eat poison?

Last word to parents please don’t transfer your expectation to children they are a human they are not Robots that you can programmed as per your wish. How right was Louis Johannot who wisely said “The only reason I always try to meet and know the parents better is because it helps me to forgive their children”.

How can we have an honest society if the teachers are corrupt? So let us pledge to justify words of Aristotle “Those who educate children well are more to be honored than parents, for these only gave life, those the art of living well.

Chankaya was one of the best teachers of his time and his saying are relevant even today, To understand what I mean ,please watch this video that I have uploaded on you tube

Chankaya on teachers

They call it business ?

Educational institutes seem to be competing with each other in lying and misleading parents in their race to woo more students through their deceiving advertisements that brazenly display rosy tailored results.

Basically in our country public inaction is taken for granted. Everybody knows that nobody will act so the offenders have the temerity of doing these gross malpractices.

Let me tell you their tricks.

Catch students from coaching institutes of Kota when they come home after finishing their IIT preparation course. Offer them free coaching for CBSE , no one will object, as these students are very average on CBSE topics. Now, take their photo in the institute form and use their IIT results….

Take photo of any tom dick harry and write some name underneath, who has got time to check.

Contact people who are selected and offer them I- pod, mobile phone and if required a laptop people generally don't mind.

If a candidate has got 1000 rank in SC or OBC conveniently forget category and make it general rank. Such errors can happen, you know.

If a candidate is in EML he or she is NOT selected, but claim it a selection. After all how will an ordinary citizen know the difference? Even if he does EML list is given with JEE result so it suits the convenience.

Conduct a free open test and keep some goodies as prize for top ten students , good students won't mind writing the test to check their level of preparation .Now use their photograph and take the credit of two year of hard work of somebody in one day.Who is going to check who has spent long hours preparing these students. All that counts is financial muscle.

In the end buy results of selected students and call it scholarship. Someone ought to tell these people scholarship is given to support studies and not to enjoy results.

Media talks so much about corruption but they are indeed party to this corruption. These people can never look beyond their advertisement revenues. The most common one liner you get from them is “what can we do it is an advertisement and it is not our responsibility to check the truth”. Fellows, if it was future of your child will you not explore the truth?

These so called cheaters (teachers) are raping the education and media is providing them the place for the act.

I won’t keep quite if media won’t help, hopefully, law will….