Fine feathers make fine birds

29 April 2021

Every bird has feathers in its body. Its feather makes it beautiful and ugly. So is the human society as well as the politics and government of each nation. How feathers are, they look alike. Feathers are metaphorically used. We can give it various names. If we are in an organization, it may indicate to the members of it, and if we are in an institution, it may indicate to its staff, if we are in a family, it may indicate to its family members or if we are in the government, it may indicate to its cabinet member or in another field it indicates differently. Here, birds are symbolic. To make a bird beautiful, we have to color it. According to its color how attractive it looks, it shows.

Here, let’s talk a little bit about a school. How a school can be a good at school and good looking too. Can a school be a good only being the headteacher good or only with good students or only with god guardians or only with good community or with good stakeholder or others? To make a school a good school, every sector must be good. The headteacher, teachers, students, their parents and guardians, local to the federal government, everyone’s perspective towards school must be good.

If every stakeholder including the headteacher is good and has a positive vibe, it can change the way of thinking. If there is a change in thinking, it can change the environment. If it changes the environment, indeed, one day we can see a raise of hope which is the most important thing to change. Sometimes teachers including the headteachers think that a student’s poor performance is of his/her family environment. Somehow, it’s true but in totality, it’s a pretending story. If we study human society and civilization, we can find mostly the change-makers are from the street, hut, and who are the victims of suppression of various types and others. If teachers begin to think that way, students think that teachers are against them. When a child does not receive affection from his parents and other members at his/her home and friends, teachers, and headteacher at his school, he/she does not have a positive feeling towards all and internalizes that he is an outsider both at his/her home or at his/her school. How can we hope that a child learns well and becomes a disciplined one?

A child is a piece of the feather of a bird. We have to color it to make it beautiful. Here color means human traits, which means love and care as a child need. Instead of ignoring a child if we begin to see him/her positively, it can compel him/her to be changed. If we ignore him, the child has a negative attitude towards family members at home and towards his/her classmates, teachers, headteachers, and others. If everyone begins to care for him/her, changes can be sprout into his/her psychology. Teachers’ job is not to teach but to sprout hope and interest in his/her psychology. This is my personal feeling. I was compelled to speak so at our teachers’ staff meeting. Our disciplined committee is working well. Sometimes I used to listen and am listening that a child with destructive nature should be expelled from the school and most of the concerned used to think him/her like the rotten potato in a sack of potatoes. To save the other potatoes being rotten from, we have to take out the rotten one and throw it out of the sack which seem illogical from the student’s progress and perspective.

Teachers’ perspectives should be students friendly and student’s perspectives must be teachers friendly. If a teacher thinks a destructive child should be expelled from the school what may be the condition of a teacher if a child says non-caring, as well as unfriendly teachers, should be excluded from the school. Ultimately the case is the same and conflict emerges itself at the school premises. How problematic he or she is, should be kept at school and should not be expelled until the last trial of having good counseling. Good counseling can change the perspective of the child. If a teacher nourishes the child with a positive vibe, he/she can be the change-maker in the future. A child expelled from school means he/she has more time to involve in bad activities. Let’s change our attitude and try our best to make him/her a good student, and a sincere citizen for the future. Keeping a bad student at school means we are lessening the crime that he/she may involve in. That’s why every academic institution, as well as teachers and headteachers, should try their best and begin to love them rather than harassing them.

Everywhere in the world from the past to present mostly the change-makers of the society are from the same group where today we call a destructive student. We can change him/her if everyone in the institution has a positive attitude and realize their duty and responsibility, change takes place automatically. Let’s create harmony rather than discrimination. Let’s make everyone know his/ her strength at this time and try our best to sow the seeds of the plan of an individual as well as of the nation through them.

A bird with various colors fascinates us. So is in the case of students from various classes as well as their grown-ups too. If a child enters the gate of school whether he/she is from a street or hut or castle or palace, everyone has to forget his/her family background. We have to take him/her as only a student. We should not discriminate against them. Let every child feel free in grasping knowledge, play or raise voice equally. It is the place where equality can foster and let every student feel that every teacher is his/ her best teacher who only loves him/her so. If a child begins to show respect to the teachers and harmony among students a school can flourish well in the future. We teachers should follow such a trail to trail them. If we can grow up with such attitudes, we can say only fine feathers make fine birds. Let our birds fly as their wish rather than letting them stay in enclosures or straying at the corner of the dark streets or other secret places. Only the positive attitude can change the person and society. This is the what the present academic institutions as well as their bodies should do to calm down and do overall progress.

Chandra Kanta Pandit