Teaching is not just about books, teachers told

Our Correspondent
Kohima, July 30 (EMN): The importance of mental health and emotional well-being among students was discussed during the virtual session conducted by the Nagaland Board of School Education (NBSE) in collaboration with Madhubun Educational Books on Friday.

The workshop was organised on “emotional and psychological well-being of students” for teachers in Nagaland, amid the ongoing pandemic that has severely affected the education sector.

Educationist, psychologist and well-being coach, Ruma Purkayastha gave insights on emotional well-being of a person particularly in a child and how teachers could respond to students’ needs.

‘There are uncertainties in life and everybody deals with two kinds- controllable and uncontrollable. In the former, people are able to handle stress, as they are able to control their thoughts and actions. However, when one cannot control what is beyond them, it becomes stressful. In those scenarios, one must take things positively,’ she advised. 

The psychologist also laid emphasise on importance of emotional wellness.

‘One must have positive attitude, high self-esteem, a strong sense of self, and share a wide range of feelings with others in a constructive way,’ she said. 

Mental health and emotional well-being are two different things but are of extreme significance, she pointed out, while reasoning why people should talk about and be aware of mental well-being particularly in schools.

She said that teaching is not only about books or confined to four walls of a classroom but a lot are going on the inside of every child.

‘When planning for emotional needs of children, 5Ws and 1H (what, why, when, where, who and how) should come into the picture. Teachers need to remember that children are looking at them consistency. It is their duty to tell students why they are studying, because if they know the reason, they will show progress. If children raised questions, teacher must learn to tap children’s emotional needs and respond accordingly,’ she said.

Purkayastha told the gathering that teachers ‘need to teach and guide the children about inter-personal communication. Children will learn in the non-judgmental environment and where communication is happening’.

She said that children listen and elders too should listen to them because they have a different mindset.

‘Children have to understand that there are differences and must learn to respond to different situation appropriately. It is therefore, the duty of teachers to teach them how to do so,’ she said.

The educationist also said that self awareness, managing emotions, empathy, motivation, and resilience are important for emotional wellbeing.

She told the teachers that schools must have zero tolerance to bullying. While saying that most schools rules and regulations in place, she asked if they have been actually implementing.

She reminded that children do a lot of self harm, which teachers might not be aware of. ‘When it comes to bullying cases or incidents, teachers must be extra careful in handling them. Teachers might perpetuate bullying by poorly handling or ignoring the situation,’ she maintained.

Stressing on the importance of managing one’s emotions and learning to do so, Purkayastha said a person can manage one’s emotions by identifying, understanding, and regulating the state of emotion.

She further shared that there are two kinds of motivation–internal and external. Everybody have to have some kind of internal motivation (by doing things for oneself), because it is very important to motivate oneself from within.