Gratitude, not money, drives teachers: Survey

According to a survey, the relationship between teacher and students is changing especially with the advent of technology.

Students across the country may be planning to do something special for their mentors on Teacher’s Day on September 5, but a majority of teachers feel that the level of gratitude has gone down over the last decade or so.

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According to a survey, the relationship between teacher and students is changing especially with the advent of technology.

According to 72% of the teachers surveyed, students acknowledged them for their success but 61% felt that the level of gratitude had declined over the last 10 years.

In Delhi, the decline seems sharper as 71% teachers felt students did not show them the same level of gratitude in NCT of Delhi against the national average of 61%.

Only 58% teachers in Delhi felt students thanked them for their successes as opposed to the National average of 72%.

According to the survey conducted by Pearson, 76% teachers said they consider gratitude from students as the best form of recognition, even more than financial incentives (60%) or recognition from their management (62%).

The recognition, according to teachers, goes down as students get into colleges. The study covered 3,262 teachers from across the country of which 60% were from higher educational institutes.

Declining student interest was also a big factor that was worrying the teachers, the survey found out. It is, in fact, the biggest challenge facing teachers with 77% mentors rating it as their main worry.

“Learning, however, requires inspiration and direction and the teachers have to provide this direction. We need to see how teachers view the learning process and change with changing times. Teachers now need to have a higher objective for the learning process using the discipline,” said Lata Vaidyanathan, principal, Modern School, Barakhamba.

Teachers consider subjectlevel knowledge the parameter on which they should be recognized (91% teachers). This was followed by innovation in teaching techniques (87%) and professional skills (86%).