Arts and language teachers can ‘perform’ their content.
Music is undoubtedly a performance art, with a public stage and an audience preset
in its framework. Music teachers have opportunities to listen to and perform their
content outside of the professional development sessions offered by their
schools. Both TV and the AIR broadcast classical music programs. Music
festivals are not uncommon in most cities; every temple in Chennai seems to
celebrate every festival with Carnatic music. It is not an onerous exercise, either,
for music teachers to gather with other like-minded professional and amateur
musicians for an evening of music, one that doesn't require the elaborate
preparation of a theatrical production.
And what about those who learn music but don’t take it
up professionally? We are relegated to the category of singers, players or scholars
of music, whether we perform in the bathroom or to select audiences composed of
indulgent friends and family. (Shades of golu evenings? 😊)
Language teachers, by and large, don't engage with
their content, the language or literature, once they leave their workplace. Of course,
most may converse in English but much of their speaking is a mixture of the
regional language and English with frequent
code switching, Tanglish, Hinglish or such like.
Listening to English? Yes, if we watch serials or
movies in English. Many teachers’ homes may have a subscription to Netflix or Amazon
Prime. But like the teachers said (see T&L Music and Language- I Teach,
So I Am), most of them are too busy with household or family tasks in the
evenings to consistently make time to listen to English-based programs. English
theatre in most cities is non-existent or confined to an elite audience which
does not include teachers of English for sure!
Reading? Most are not voracious readers, a few may
claim to be readers of potboilers, newspapers or magazines. How many buy books
regularly? How many of them have bookshelves at home that are in constant use? How
many can name prize winning novelists or poets of the past ten years? Or have
read their works?
As for writing, don’t even go there. Very few, if any
at all, indulge in writing beyond official or personal communication. A very
few, a handful, may be invited by private publishing companies or the states to
author books or be part of a curriculum/book writing group.
Other writings that reach the public spaces? More
likely to be authored by regional language teachers. However, schools rarely,
if ever, acknowledge or showcase their writings at public or school-wide events.
Perhaps the greatest extent of it when they author the plays presented at
school annual days and write out scripts for the student emcees, though many of
these are now written by students themselves. It is not surprising that most
colleagues and students remain unaware of the ‘performance’ aspect of their language
teachers.
I have been fortunate to have known three of them at P.S.
Senior Secondary School, Chennai. Vasanthakumari writes poetry in Tamil and often
presents it on occasions such as an alumni meet of her school. Bhagavathy is
more involved publicly with her writing. Her work is published and she is involved
with the Tamil writers’ communities and events in Chennai.
P. Geeta, the Hindi teacher, wrote short stories, poems
and essays. The first time I read any of it was a book her children published
privately just before her death a few months ago. They assembled her writings
from years ago and pieces she wrote while facing death from cancer with
remarkable calmness and fortitude.
So how can language teachers, who are not gifted
writers, engage with their content outside school? With a little planning, and a
lot of willingness.
- Play parlour games like charades or word building or board games like Scrabble in their homes or at dinner parties. This requires neither major preparation nor additional space. Yet this rarely happens. Perhaps because it smacks too much of organising activities in a classroom?
- Read books for free at Bookmark openlibrary.org and at Gutenberg.org.
- Know where the closest lending library is and patronize it.
- Carve out a tiny bit in the house budget for books, it is a legitimate professional expense re taxes. Bookmark Amazon.in or flipkart.com. And buy books, for your children’s birthdays and all festivals. Buy books for your friends’ children’s birthdays and all festivals. And read every one of them before gifting it.
- Set time aside every week to watch programmes in English. Watch Queen in English rather Tamil, perhaps. Follow (maybe not binge watch) English language serials at online sites.
Happy watching! Even happier reading!!
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By Mrs. Vasanthakumari Manoharan (December 2019)
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Excerpts from P. Geeta. (2019). The Little Book for Love & Gratitude