Role Of Being An Educator In Today’s Times!!!Article By: Dr. Kaviraj Khialani- Celebrity Master Chef

EDUCATOR: is one such strong word which comes with a lot of impressions and mindset which would typically stand for disciplined approach towards sharing of knowledge & imparting of skills & brushing up on the talent updates in any field that it may apply to. Though teaching & educating has always been regarded as one of the most noble professions out of all it comes with a lot of pros and cons as well which we need to look at over a period of time and have to adapt- adjust & apply the needed changes as well with times of change.

Let me express my views when it comes to defining an educator:

E – Expressive

D- Determined.

U- Understanding.

C- Consistent

A-Admirable

T- Tolerant

O- Observant

R- Restorable

Education from school was always very enchanting for most of us and while some have very good memories of school time with friends and mates of those times, some of us are still in touch with school time friends and often meet and look back in times and speak about how we were then and now, the change elements with time in life and its impact as well from personal to professional lives.

I somehow didn’t like maths during school times and would somehow manage to pass the number game and move on to the next grade, though my overall numbers would be pretty good and high on the whole. The fact that I wanted to develop myself in the said subject I opted for private tutions as well at home to enhance by know how and mathematics skills, collaborated with a gold medalist maths teacher who came down to teach me for an hour three times a week during early hours of the evening after having a post lunch power nap.the expectations she had about me and her subject expertise didn’t somehow match on the number grid and her way of teaching would not gel with me, she would expect me to pick things up on a high speed level and for me it would need sometime to get used to it. Tried adjusting with her for a few days and finally decided to give it up and I somehow managed the guts to tell her on the face that she didn’t know how to teach! It left her furious and razed up but I couldn’t manage it somehow so had to give it a break from the gold medal angle to a self-study angle. The moral of this example is that you may have a bucket full of knowledge with you but if you do not use it mug by mug or little by little and use it effectively in the benefit of someone it would be a waste.

I came across many such instances where people thought they knew a lot and when it came to prove themselves it was a game over session. Even while I am writing this article right now it is taking me back into memory lane where even during my 10th standard exams I had a support system of coaching in maths it was a struggle period for me to get over it and finally come out clean with shining colors. 

These instances since childhood were also some of the reasons I chose to be into teaching and training in my area of expertise. The observations since then and knowledge gained over the years helped me to be a better person and brought out the best from within me to come out as a shining star- best teacher- outstanding trainer and filled up my caps with a lot many feathers associated with teaching and sharing of knowledge from certifications to national awards and more.

Experience is the best teacher in life! Is something we all agree with but my aspect would be to check on whether you have been a good student as well over the years to learn from your mistakes. While some don’t agree with this some say let it be…life goes on! For me the best part of life is that it goes on as well as gets more rocking with time. We all come across funny- fancy & fussy people in life who are around us to make a point, to judge us and to make us feel vulnerable too at times! But the educational learning we must pick from here is that we need to be rock hard- consistent and powerful enough to make life more valued and worth living. 

Some of the essentials ideally needed or should possess by an Educator would be as below:

K Y C: KNOW YOUR CONTENT – while being into educating minds it is important not to have too many cooks spoiling the broth but to rather have one pot which dishes out a perfect dish once prepared properly step by step using the correct list of ingredients. As teachers we need to bear this in mind that social media has today taken a great toll on all of us and we should ensure that our facts & figures are realistic & apt.

B A D: BE ABLE to DELIVER – it is important for any educator or teacher/trainer to ensure that he/she has the basic essentials needed which is a flair for delivery. It is the first stage towards being successful that whether or not the audience/ students are able to understand you what you want to say or does it leave them in doldrums- doubts and confusions. I have often evaluated people those who wish to get into education line but themselves are not even clear with their dialogue delivery and self-introduction too at times.

H L O: HAVE LEARNING OUTCOMES-Education without a purpose is like a biryani without masala! So lets get this right and correctly put here that we need to be completely sure of what we are going to teach our audience, be it a practical demo of a French recipe from scratch or from delivering a seminar on how to get selected in an interview and get your desired dream job! The outcomes should be laid down at the start enabling the crowd to understand and see how to get there and what can go wrong as well all along the way and road to success. 

 W O W : WORDS OFFER WISDOM – an educator should be well aware of his context of words and the kind of vocabulary as well which needs to be used effectively while delivering the topic or presenting a demo or even addressing a seminar or a webinar. The choice here needs to be influencing, impressing, and also inculcating the thought and need to continue listening to the speaker. A lot of teachers do not make the best use of this quality that words offer wisdom, it should spark something interesting in the minds of the audience and they should feel like being there for your next session as well, they should want to be present in every class of yours in order to absorb, get motivated and take the best from you when it comes to knowledge- skills and abilities. An educator should always bear in mind that the listener is one who not only wants to benefit by being in your session but also wants to feel the change, be the change for the future.

E S I : EXPRESS – SHARE & INSTILL – students look up to their teachers and educators in a number of ways. Firstly it is the first impression which is created, the body language, the dressing, the approach, the eye contact, the smile, the voice- tone – pitch everything matters so much here! We are judged in matter of seconds by our audience be it the way we carry ourselves, our shoes, our hairstyle, the way we introduce ourself etc. Second factor that also plays a role here is that preparedness of the educator for the session be it theory or practical. Besides the tutorial being shared it is also how we do every bit of it, the thoughts we express, the way we share our inputs and what qualities we want to instil in the students also matters. For instance, in my sessions, I often observed students getting more conscious about their outlook, smart appearance, smarter way of expressing and sharing their points and overall instilling sense of punctuality and discipline in their outlook which is the need of the hospitality industry.

R A C: REVISE- ASSESS- CONFIRM- the very fact that an educator must keep in mind that all five fingers cannot be same- a universal truth, therefore not every student in the class will understand everything at one go. It has to be an on-going process by constantly revising stuffs, the topics done last time in class should be randomly taken up again and the ones who don’t seem to be very confident on the same should be made to speak, if not correct they would now ensure that they need to get it right. So therefore, assessing of our students in class is very important. I often indulge in cross revising as well which means practical menus being revised in theory class and theory facts and definitions being revised in practical briefings as well. It really works well in my training sessions as students are prepared at all times with the revision aspect with makes them retain things for a long time.

A M P : APPRECIATE – MOTIVATE & PREPARE- the very fact that our hospitality industry is very competitive and analysing types it is very important for educators to let the students know that the real-time world is a different one altogether as compared to college life. As hospitality educators we need to acknowledge the efforts put in by the students and appreciate them in a way that makes them do even better. They need to be motivated at all times in order to have their mind working on better things to do and moving ahead in a positive direction to make a great career. Be it interviews or exams an educator needs to ensure that the students know it all and are able to grasp as much as possible from our side. Sharing of content- notes- ppts- information and facts must be done by all on a regular basis. At times there will be some issues which may pop up but doesn’t mean that we are here to give up anytime soon!

On a concluding note: being stern, being strict and being sensitive towards tolerance doesn’t mean that we are not in favour of the world becoming a better place to live in! it is just that some of us have our own way of looking at things and that isn’t a crime. We all know that educating the minds of tomorrow raising the levels of perfection too and also ensuring that everything falls in place. Time management- work management- self management, space management, resource management you name it all. Overall, a candidate needs to feel accomplished and contended that he/she made the right choice and feels confident enough to face the challenges of the real work in a very smart way!

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