Teaching is the most arduous task in the whole world. It is interacting with the innocent minds and interfering in their pure thoughts and ideas. It is a delicate task demanding extra care and caution making it highly challenging for educators. Over the years, it , gradually, constructs the intellectual infrastructure of a students and develops perspectives to observe and interpret the world around him/ her in relation to what he/ she has been taught and told by teachers throughout his academic career.
It is the transferring of knowledge of a teacher to his students along with other multiple things like language, culture, civilization, beliefs, customs, traditions, faith etc. It is a full package holding various things that intentionally or unintentionally get transported to the students in the class room. A teacher requires a private space to think and rethink what and how he will not let unnecessary things, like infecting and abherating ideologies that corrupt the fragile minds of students as they are yet to develop maturity to have comprehension of good and bad, healthy and harmful, surface once he steps into the classroom.
He needs time to reflect on how , while delivering a lecture, he would restraint himself/ herself from encouraging students to follow him instead of his teaching. A teacher needs space at least after every two classes to reprepare himself / herself to move forward for other two classes with the same enthusiasm.
A teacher needs distance from students for few minutes to remind himself/ herself of the vows of justice and equality, honesty and responsibility, dedication and devotion of his profession that he took when he entered into this sacred profession. This space is provided by the staffroom of a school. It is a space where he/ she gets conducive ambience to figure out the best approaches and apparatuses of teaching to let effective teaching transpire and prevail not only inside the classroom but outside as well. It is a space where he/ she interacts with other colleagues and asks them for help if he/ she fails to resolve any pedagogical issues.
It is a community of teachers where they exchange their thoughts and ideas regarding their teaching. It is space for teachers where students are discussed, their learning problems are discussed, the best remedies are discovered. It is a space where teachers build up a community of learning helping one another to overcome the different hindrances of teaching – profession .
A good staffroom necessarily means good teaching because it is a space where teachers get reenergized to carry on this sacred profession of moulding and nurturing the young minds and hearts of students. It offers a space for teachers for the exchange of their knowledge of different domains to make one another interdisciplinary. It embellishes teachers professionally and makes them versatile. Staffrooms must be well furnished. They must be the places of high learning. They are should be kept neat and clean on daily basis. No stationary, sport’s material or uniforms should be kept there that disturb the private sitting of teachers in those staff rooms. They must be specifically for teachers.
Like Virginia Woolf, teachers should consider staffroom as their own room that is creative in intellectual terms. Teaching is a profession that needs everyday up gradation. Teachers needs to learn new trends of knowledge on daily basis to keep themselves abreast with the contemporary challenges of this profession. Teachers need to learn like students for teaching better. Staffroom helps them to learn various new things from their senior educators through meetings, seminars, discussions, and other programs. If classroom is a learning place for students, staffroom is the learning place for teachers. Staffroom learning prepares teachers for classroom teaching. Staffroom is a space for teachers to relax for few minutes to recharge and restart their sincere endeavours.
Staffroom is an emotional space for teachers where they feel comfortable to express themselves personally to unload themselves of their worries. It bolsters teachers at personal levels.
They feel belonging to a community that respects their ideas and encourages their thoughts. It is a social and cultural space for teachers where differences are eliminated and unity among the teachers prevails. It is a one community, the community of teachers. The fundamental requirement for effective teaching is the good rapport among teachers .
Well coordinated staff of a school makes learning long lasting. Any academic challenge can be tackled if teachers are united and decide to increase the standard of learning in or outside the classroom. Staffroom should have a mini kitchen for teachers to have tea for required refreshing and energizing.
It should have a mini library to learn and discuss new trends of knowledge to prepare students for every upcoming academic challenge. For collaborative learning of students, collaboration of teachers is must.