Rev Fr Dr PS Varghese
Principal, MGM College, Dimapur
“No one can become really educated without having pursued some study in which he took no interest-for it is a part of education to learn to interest ourselves in subjects for which we have no aptitude”- TS Eliot
It is a herculean task to cultivate an interest in teachers' subjects for which students have a lesser aptitude. In order to develop an interest in any subject, a subject teacher plays an important role in every student's life. The mentor should work hard to accomplish this.
To develop aptitude, one has to put in a lot of effort. Only through continuous and immense efforts can one develop an interest in any subject. One must also be curious about the subject matter. Students may have different interests, but curiosity will take them to higher levels of learning and gradually to their interests.
The English poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic, and editor Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888-1965) was one of the major figures of English-language modernism.
According to him, no person can become truly educated without studying subjects in which he has no interest-because a part of education is learning to develop an interest in topics for which we lack aptitude.
Education emphasizes living a life based on values. Today's education is less important for values than it once was which is either fortunate or unfortunate. A corner of education has become less important for values due to grades and success. However, in ancient times, values-based education had the highest priority. It is also defined by the outcome of the education what kind of interest one develops in the particular subjects.
Gandhi's profound ideas should be taken into consideration by every educator, particularly those who serve as mentors. As part of his holistic approach to education, he has mentioned art as a subject for students to fully engage their mind, body, and soul. The involvement of faculties partially may lead to boredom, but the involvement of faculties fully may inspire enthusiasm, curiosity, interest, and mastery of the subject.
Therefore, mentors, while teaching, assign assignments, projects, and tasks based on students' aptitude, interests, and curiosity. Educators should be aware of the individual differences of each student as well as the tremendous amount of effort that goes into achieving this.
