Sunday, August 12, 2007

An essay for IELTS:Some people think that they can learn better by themselves than with a teacher. Others think that it is always better to have one

A teacher is addressed as Rabbi in Hebrew and guru in Sanskrit. Rabbis or gurus have been there from ages. Some people think that it not very practical to learn without a teacher. While there are others who think that they can be teachers of themselves. But, education without a teacher is a very difficult path to tread upon.

Teachers are people of experience. They have tread upon and seen many walk the same path. They are quite ideal to guide and lead people. They have a set plan and work according to the plan. The diversity of students and their diverse necessities, only a trained and experienced person can handle. A student can learn a lot from his teachers. Learning is enhanced when a teacher is by the student’s side. As one of my lecturers rightly quoted, “You can learn more even with the worst of worst teachers than when you learn by yourselves”.

But there are times when it is not possible to have teachers by your side due to some adverse reasons like a person is quite poor and cannot afford to go college or is working. Also there are instances where the specialized teachers are not available. In such scenarios distance education or learning without a teacher can greatly help. Abraham Lincoln in his quest for knowledge and education had exhausted every possible book in his area. He did quite a bit of learning by himself.

It is quite difficult to conclude whether learning with a teacher is right approach or without. I think that the right approach is a balanced approach. It is better not to reinvent the wheel. If it is possible to have education with teachers, than it is better to tread upon this path. If it is not practically possible to do likewise than man has to be his own teacher.

Disclaimer: This is just a sample essay written while preparing for IELTS and is not my opinion.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Well said.