After two decades in the classroom, a senior school teacher in Noida says the biggest change she has witnessed is not in the syllabus, technology or even attention spans.
It is in power.
“Earlier, teachers held the authority in a classroom.
Today, children know they have power over us and many know how to use it,” she says, reflecting on what she calls the most difficult phase of her teaching career.,Now nearing retirement after 20 years in the profession, she speaks candidly about what she describes as a shift in classroom dynamics, one where discipline has become harder to enforce and where teachers often feel unsupported.,For decades, a common disciplinary tool used by teachers was a simple line: “I will have to inform your parents.
It used to work almost immediately,” she recalls.
“Children would straighten up because they knew their parents and teachers were on the same side.” But today, she says that warning has largely lost its impact.
“When we say we will call their parents, many children just look at us blankly.
Some even smirk.
That straight face tells us that the old equation has changed.”,According to her, students often realise that parents may side with them, making the teacher’s authority fragile., ,In her view, the biggest shift in the education ecosystem has been the role parents now play in school conflicts.
She says teachers increasingly receive calls from....
