How far out is ok...

Every one of us must have come across some inspiring teachers. And usually they would have some peculiar ways. They would talk or walk or behave differently - almost to the point of becoming a joke in the school. I had a teacher who was manic about chalk dust, unless every thing around him was chalk-dust-free he wouldn't start teaching. He used to carry his own dust-free chalks and pick them up like surgical tools. Another teacher used to go silent in the middle of a lecture, leaving us wondering in our seats till the bell rang. I think there was some connection between being inspiring and peculiar. Looking back we think of these teachers fondly.

So let us look at todays schools. There are many more schools and school-teachers now than there were 30 years back. One would expect greater number of peculiar-inspiring teachers in schools today. Surprisingly the teacher-community has become quite uniform across schools today. There is so much uniformity amongst teachers now that  if one teacher is replaced by another at a short notice, it doesn't matter. The lesson of any subject can go on as usual.

One obvious reason may be that a talented teacher can find much better jobs outside schools. It is rare to find an inspiring teacher in schools however high may be the salary. Yet, I think this alone does not explain the deficit of cranky-inspiring teachers. In many fields we see people working with passion against all odds. Then why do we not see enough of inspiring teachers in education.

I think there is another reason. Schools have become less tolerant to any kind of outlier teachers over time. An inspiring teacher is little too unpredictable or weird. Schools don't want to take a risk of employing a teacher who does not fit their norms. And strictly so. School have become methodical in running the school with set norms. This has weeded out good teachers who may otherwise have some peculiar ways to handle the class or teach.

Collectively, the schools, parents, policy-makers and educationalists who have fixed ideas about teaching have reduced the diversity of teaching styles in class-room.