5 min readSep 5, 2026 03:15 PM IST
First published on: Sep 5, 2026 at 03:15 PM IST
Every year, in our country, we have a day dedicated to celebrating teachers. Perhaps it is also a day that gives teachers a small boost: The occasional doubts or concerns about our status are at least dimmed. Often, teachers are troubled by students’ lack of respect or affection for them. There is some truth to this. However, when values are being trampled upon across society, and all moral grounds are being destroyed, how can schools remain untouched? After all, teachers and students are also products of the same society.
Bertolt Brecht once asked, “In the dark times / Will there also be singing?” and answered, “Yes, there will also be singing. / About the dark times.” Gen Z has certainly shown us that singing in the darkest times can transform the atmosphere. Gen Z possesses passion, drive, the desire for change and has the strength to achieve it. But should everything be left to Gen Z’s care? Surely not. This is how the role of teachers has become important in a new way.
In a world with the rise of generative AI, easy access to information and misinformation, the role of teachers, especially those teaching secondary and senior secondary students, has become pertinent. Today, there is a need for competent and capable teachers who truly educate and guide upcoming generations. It is not just about authentically introducing students to history, geography, science, mathematics, and literature but also about opening doors to understanding the nation, the world and society. Teachers are needed not just to teach them how to be curious and enthusiastic but also how to absorb knowledge with patience and depth.
In the AI age, the importance of teachers has expanded and now requires them to take on the role of a facilitator as well as an instructor. Rather than holding onto the role of someone with unquestionable authority, the teacher is now required to be more of a companion in a student’s journey, someone who is not just providing answers but also showing the way to find them and the process of seeking them.
But this raises an important question: Are teachers themselves prepared for this role? Do they have the knowledge, experience and wisdom that this role requires? More so, do they have the patience and sensitivity that are essential to being a teacher? A teacher must be sensitive towards the children in their class, and not make lewd, discriminatory comments towards minority communities, show economically weaker children their “place”, disregard gender equality or spread their own political ideology onto others. These are just a few examples of where a teacher’s personal responsibility, integrity and role come into play. And a section of teachers — not all, but enough to matter — fall short of this very standard, even as the role now demands more of them than ever.
It is ironic that our country, with its extensive tradition of knowledge, now prioritises only skill-based learning. Beyond textbook learning and the teachings handed down from books, what other ways are teachers able to teach and spread knowledge? Children are acute observers. They notice how teachers speak, behave, engage and treat other students and people, and they remember it for life.
Gen Z openly communicates and spreads its creativity, language, political thoughts and ideas. It is great to see that the generation has its own language and way of expression. But connecting with Gen Z does not mean teachers need to learn their language. What is needed is an understanding — not imitation — of their world, their language, their ways of thinking, and rethinking what it means to be a teacher. The old attitude of “I am your teacher, therefore you must do as I say,” is no longer an option, and it should not be. Children’s disagreements and questions should be welcomed and discussed, not just met with rules handed down to them.
The first step in this lies in teachers seeing children not merely as “students” but as young citizens capable of thinking, questioning and forming their own perspectives of the world. The real significance of a teacher now lies in going beyond textbooks; in having discussions on how to build perspective, understand, question, and make responsible decisions. More so, teachers must nurture sensitivity, coexistence, democratic thinking, equality and respect for others, and how to demonstrate all of this through their own behaviour. Children often learn more from what a teacher does than from what a teacher says.
On this Teachers’ Day, perhaps the least we as teachers can do is pause and think on our changed role.
The writer is a Delhi-based teacher
Connecting with Gen Z does not mean teachers need to learn their language. What is needed is an understanding — not imitation — of their world, their language, their ways of thinking. (File)
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