Socrates: A Teacher Par Excellence
English Essay on "Socrates: A Teacher Par Excellence"
Of all the mundane teachers, known to history, Socrates was the wisest, the most courageous and the most upright” – Plato
To know Socrates and to follow him is to be a good teacher. If you could turn back the pages of history some four hundred and twenty years before Christ, and wander through the streets of Athens, you would come across a short, stout man with a flat, broad nose, thick lips, two prominent, piercing eyes, bare feet and a shabby robe over’ his broad shoulders. You would find him engaged in t dialogue with a young, man and his companions. He would go on asking one question after the other. He knew all the questions but none of the answers. He protected himself from any cross-examination by announcing that he knew nothing. Soon you would find yourself involved in a fascinating argument. Such was his charisma that no one could escape his spell -- neither Plato, nor Xenophon nor Alcibiades. All three left an indelible mark on history.
This man was a born teacher with the knack of arousing curiosity; and, at the same time, serving as a gadfly to the powers-that be. When pressed as to why he only asked questions, Socrates gave the simple answer: “I am only a midwife. The reproach which is often made against me that I ask questions of others and have not the wit to answer them myself is very just. The reason is that God compels me to be a midwife, but forbids ne to bring forth.” The modern method of teaching is precisely this Socratic method. The teacher and his students embark upon a voyage of discovery. The students are not treated like empty vessels to be filled with facts, concepts and theories.educationsight.blogspot.com The teacher helps the students to have an intelligent grasp of the basic structure of the subject. The emphasis is not on committing to memory formulas, but how to make an intelligent grope to the formulas. The teacher acts as a midwife to the ideas which have matured in the minds of the students. He provokes creative thinking within the students, by encouraging them to be skeptical, critical and analytical.
Once a student begins to think on his own, he is sure to climb the highest mountain-top of his own capacity to learn and to know. This method of teaching has become all the more necessary because of the awe-inspiring phenomenon of the explosion of knowledge. Knowledge is increasing at such a terrific speed that it is doubling itself within ten years so that by the time the students leave the portals of their institution, whatever they have learnt, has already become outdated. The point is whether, according to Robert Mac Namara, the student has learnt “the calculus of the dynamics of relevancy.”
Any forward-looking, progressive society must constantly ask the questions: “Is our knowledge relevant? Are our values relevant? Are our institutions relevant to the fast moving history.” A good teacher is one who has mastered the ‘Socratic technique of imparting knowledge, as it inspires self-confidence in the students by insisting that he should find his own way, and that he should have the courage to tread on the untrodden paths. Only such students can face the challenge of relevancy posed by the explosion of knowledge as well as the terrific acceleration in the velocity of history. We must understand the significance of the Quranic verse, so dear to the heart of the Holy Prophet: “0 God, add to my knowledge”. The Prophet’s saying “seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave”, is the key to the solution of the problem of relevancy faced by humanity. One may ask: “Simply asking questions is not a difficult task”. Indeed it is in fact, to ask relevant questions is more difficult than answering them. You cannot ask questions unless you have mastered the subject. It is only then that you can direct the torrent of questions to the goal that you have in mind. Socrates described his dialectic as the art of careful distinctions. Once the student develops a flair for subtle nuances, under, the barrage of questions from the teacher, he has not mastered the subject, but he is ‘also in touch with its latest developments. A good teacher knows everything of something and something of everything. He commands respect among his students for his versatility. He has a keen analytical mind, no doubt, but he has a synthetic approach to knowledge.
To Socrates, knowledge is the highest virtue and all vice is ignorance. Without proper knowledge right action is impossible, with proper knowledge right action is inevitable. The highest good is happiness, and the highest means to it is knowledge. According to Socrates, good is not good, because the gods approve of it but the gods approve of it because it is good. By this shift in the emphasis, Socrates brought about a revolution in ethics. The Socratic concept of goodness is so earthy, and so human. Goodness to him is not genera] and abstract, but specific and practical. He did not preach, he lived his ethics. The most powerful element in hi teaching was the example of his life and character. He was a brave soldier who excelled all in endurance and courage, bearing without complaint hunger, fatigue and cold.
At the battle of Potidaca, he saved the life of Alcibiades, but gave up the laurels of valour in his favour. At the battle of Delium, he was the last Athenian to give ground to the Spartans. He was a stone-cutter and was said to have sculpted the Three Graces. When I saw the sculpted Graces in the Parthenon, beauty in all its glory enveloped me. Socrates wore simple dress and refused to take any fees for his instruction. He was no ascetic, he liked good company. He let the rich entertain him but rejected gifts and invitations from the kings. In short, nothing human was alien to him. Since he was so human, he was so great. Yet, according to Socrates, an unexamined life was not worth living. He was never tired of repeating the writing on the Deiphic temple: “Know thyself”’. So, a good teacher is not a candle-bearer. He is candle itself, which burns so that it may shed light in the dark. He is dedicated to his students and he is a strict disciplinarian, but he begins by disciplining himself. He does not command. He persuades. He is a man of integrity. He lives and dies for his principles. If he has to drink hemlock for the sake of his views and principles; he drinks it gladly as Socrates did. Doing so Socrates became a martyr and a saint for the whole of mankind. Every generation that sought an exemplar of simple living and bok thinking, turned back to him to nourish its ideals with his memory.
It was Socrates who was accused of worshipping a new god and corrupting the youth of Athens by his new ideas. To the mediocre, the greedy, the selfish, the opportunist, the fanatic, Socrates has been a challenge.
A good teacher is a gadfly. He is a challenge to a society revelling in the cesspool of corruption, opportunism and hypocrisy. To his students, he is a friend. Nothing is too good for them Nothing is too previous for them, not even his life. Along time ago, when a student of mine was surrounded by the policemen with dandas to beat him to pulp, I surrounded his body with mine. Socrates stood before me in all his glory.
This man was a born teacher with the knack of arousing curiosity; and, at the same time, serving as a gadfly to the powers-that be. When pressed as to why he only asked questions, Socrates gave the simple answer: “I am only a midwife. The reproach which is often made against me that I ask questions of others and have not the wit to answer them myself is very just. The reason is that God compels me to be a midwife, but forbids ne to bring forth.” The modern method of teaching is precisely this Socratic method. The teacher and his students embark upon a voyage of discovery. The students are not treated like empty vessels to be filled with facts, concepts and theories.educationsight.blogspot.com The teacher helps the students to have an intelligent grasp of the basic structure of the subject. The emphasis is not on committing to memory formulas, but how to make an intelligent grope to the formulas. The teacher acts as a midwife to the ideas which have matured in the minds of the students. He provokes creative thinking within the students, by encouraging them to be skeptical, critical and analytical.
Once a student begins to think on his own, he is sure to climb the highest mountain-top of his own capacity to learn and to know. This method of teaching has become all the more necessary because of the awe-inspiring phenomenon of the explosion of knowledge. Knowledge is increasing at such a terrific speed that it is doubling itself within ten years so that by the time the students leave the portals of their institution, whatever they have learnt, has already become outdated. The point is whether, according to Robert Mac Namara, the student has learnt “the calculus of the dynamics of relevancy.”
Any forward-looking, progressive society must constantly ask the questions: “Is our knowledge relevant? Are our values relevant? Are our institutions relevant to the fast moving history.” A good teacher is one who has mastered the ‘Socratic technique of imparting knowledge, as it inspires self-confidence in the students by insisting that he should find his own way, and that he should have the courage to tread on the untrodden paths. Only such students can face the challenge of relevancy posed by the explosion of knowledge as well as the terrific acceleration in the velocity of history. We must understand the significance of the Quranic verse, so dear to the heart of the Holy Prophet: “0 God, add to my knowledge”. The Prophet’s saying “seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave”, is the key to the solution of the problem of relevancy faced by humanity. One may ask: “Simply asking questions is not a difficult task”. Indeed it is in fact, to ask relevant questions is more difficult than answering them. You cannot ask questions unless you have mastered the subject. It is only then that you can direct the torrent of questions to the goal that you have in mind. Socrates described his dialectic as the art of careful distinctions. Once the student develops a flair for subtle nuances, under, the barrage of questions from the teacher, he has not mastered the subject, but he is ‘also in touch with its latest developments. A good teacher knows everything of something and something of everything. He commands respect among his students for his versatility. He has a keen analytical mind, no doubt, but he has a synthetic approach to knowledge.
To Socrates, knowledge is the highest virtue and all vice is ignorance. Without proper knowledge right action is impossible, with proper knowledge right action is inevitable. The highest good is happiness, and the highest means to it is knowledge. According to Socrates, good is not good, because the gods approve of it but the gods approve of it because it is good. By this shift in the emphasis, Socrates brought about a revolution in ethics. The Socratic concept of goodness is so earthy, and so human. Goodness to him is not genera] and abstract, but specific and practical. He did not preach, he lived his ethics. The most powerful element in hi teaching was the example of his life and character. He was a brave soldier who excelled all in endurance and courage, bearing without complaint hunger, fatigue and cold.
At the battle of Potidaca, he saved the life of Alcibiades, but gave up the laurels of valour in his favour. At the battle of Delium, he was the last Athenian to give ground to the Spartans. He was a stone-cutter and was said to have sculpted the Three Graces. When I saw the sculpted Graces in the Parthenon, beauty in all its glory enveloped me. Socrates wore simple dress and refused to take any fees for his instruction. He was no ascetic, he liked good company. He let the rich entertain him but rejected gifts and invitations from the kings. In short, nothing human was alien to him. Since he was so human, he was so great. Yet, according to Socrates, an unexamined life was not worth living. He was never tired of repeating the writing on the Deiphic temple: “Know thyself”’. So, a good teacher is not a candle-bearer. He is candle itself, which burns so that it may shed light in the dark. He is dedicated to his students and he is a strict disciplinarian, but he begins by disciplining himself. He does not command. He persuades. He is a man of integrity. He lives and dies for his principles. If he has to drink hemlock for the sake of his views and principles; he drinks it gladly as Socrates did. Doing so Socrates became a martyr and a saint for the whole of mankind. Every generation that sought an exemplar of simple living and bok thinking, turned back to him to nourish its ideals with his memory.
It was Socrates who was accused of worshipping a new god and corrupting the youth of Athens by his new ideas. To the mediocre, the greedy, the selfish, the opportunist, the fanatic, Socrates has been a challenge.
A good teacher is a gadfly. He is a challenge to a society revelling in the cesspool of corruption, opportunism and hypocrisy. To his students, he is a friend. Nothing is too good for them Nothing is too previous for them, not even his life. Along time ago, when a student of mine was surrounded by the policemen with dandas to beat him to pulp, I surrounded his body with mine. Socrates stood before me in all his glory.
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