Think teaching and we think of schools and colleges. We rarely think of those centers where children flock in large crowds to crack competitive exams and move on to the next phase of their lives. Meet Mr Vinayak Sidana, Senior Chemistry faculty at Akash Educational Services Ltd. and get a sneak peek into the coaching industry.

Individual clarity of why we are in a profession goes a long way in defining our success and the success of people around us. 4 years into her journey as a teacher, Ms Jasmine Sandhu, MYP and DP Physics Teacher seems to be spot on about path to excellence.

She needs no introduction. Nisha Millet, winner of the Arjuna Award winner, was the only woman to compete in the 2000 Sydney Olympics team India!

I have always wanted to pursue a career in education. I wanted to factor in application into my teaching. That has been my starting and ending point. I have always encouraged and made children ask questions and I still do it. For example, why do we need to learn about fractions or decimals, etc.? It is important to ask questions. My dream is to empower those who are being left behind [or who are at risk of being left behind]; and to enact inclusive, far-sighted and progressiveeducational policies and create a new age in India.

Sometimes, we can't answer. There is no harm in admitting you don’t know. A teacher is also a learner which he/she should be. It is good to acknowledge that a student has asked a different question. It is nice to introspect if the existing knowledge can answer this question or if one can learn beyond what one already knows.

Our school is a minimalist school. The children are taught to reuse, recycle, manufacture from whatever they find. The children do a lot of physical work. At school, until 11 they are all in the garden doing something physical.

Children won't understand a subject unless they understand a teacher. The first thing you have to do in class is to make children comfortable. I am very particular not to start teaching until I instill confidence in my students and they feel comfortable and confident in me.

In India because of the fact that we venerate teachers we see it as a hierarchical relationship. When you are sarcastic with children, although that child may be wittier than you she may freeze and not respond. So, it is very rude and damaging for a teacher to be sarcastic. A teacher may scold and reprimand but do it directly rather than being sarcastic.

One of the most important concepts that I hope to impart to my students is that learning is a process that never ends. For me, the learning process includes improving myself professionally.

My dream of becoming a teacher has grown through years since I was a student. Inspired by few of my great teachers, I often envisioned students who would come to class thriving for the information that I was prepared to provide them that day.

There’s an old saying that goes, “The best way to learn something is to teach it.” By teaching a foreign language, I am speeding up a virtuous cycle where I become better at what I am doing simply by doing it.

At Mantra, we work with schools to help and deliver quality education to every child that they cater to. The way we go about doing this is via the Whole School Transformation process. We work with government schools and budget private schools in Bangalore too through Cluster Transformation.

Dr. Pranav M. Joshirao has been the Chemistry teacher for grades 7-12 at Mussoorie International School, a residential school for girls in Mussoorie, India, for over 1 year now. The school offers 3 curricula viz. CICSE (ICSE/ISC), CIE (IGCSE/AS & A levels) and IB DP.

Ahana Mitra, the Biology teacher at Salt Lake Point School Kolkata for last 10 years (with a total experience of 17 years) currently teaches the students of classes 8 to 12. Established in 1976, Salt Lake Point Schoolis affiliated to ICSE and ISC (New Delhi).

Theory of Knowledge is a unique feature of IBDP. It promotes critical thinking skills and helps connecting different subjects and at the same time helps students know about how knowledge acquisition is different in different subjects.

Physics is for everyone. In fact each one of us are living Physics every second irrespective of our profession- like a farmer knows how much force he has to apply to uproot his crop, an athlete knows how much speed he has to reach to beat the opponent who is running ahead of him, a home maker knows that the rate of evaporation is dependent on surface area and the list goes on.

Jokin Arul Raja, the Computer science teacher at Good Shepherd International School (GSIS), Ooty, Tamil Nadu handles IGCSE and ICSE curriculum and is also a buddy teacher for a class.

The serendipity of teaching on the basis of concepts and not on the basis of topics is that you cover a wide range of topics and can inter-relate them, making Mathematics more relatable and enjoyable.

If I talk about biotechnology, genetic engineering and different fields, nowadays – I take examples from the Marvel movies. Those movies are popular, currently. Every student loves those movies. I usually relate these concepts to the Marvel movies.

I always believe in the quote, “If you are not moving forward, you are moving backwards”. In order to move forward, one should be updated.

When I was a student, I was once told by my teacher that a teacher should be a magician - whatever you say your students must listen to it very carefully. That is when you turn out to be a good teacher. So being a teacher, it is up to us to make the class interesting. Do whatever it takes to be the magician in class.

It was pleasure talking to the CEO - Mr. Karthik Narayanan of LIT SKILLS - Brand Unit of LAZ Digital Learning Pvt. Ltd. –  an Award winning Authorized Indian Partner for  Learning A-Z – Cambium Learning Technologies – USA. Learning A-Z - Education Software Services Company, based out of Tucson, Arizona, USA,  has its global presence in 180+ countries worldwide, and listed ABCD in NASDAQ. Learning A-Z has won lot of awards and recognition in the field of education for the last 2 decades.

If a person aspires to become a teacher, he/she needs to have the patience to explore the whole world. That is an inherently important aspect to have from their college days itself. If during graduation days itself the aim is to be a teacher, then, right from that time they should explore various ways of teaching, communicating etc.

From the very beginning, I was very clear that I don't really need to teach geniuses, because they can do well with minimal or no support. They just need direction. According to me, teaching is a necessity for those who struggle. It is required for either those who are heading in the wrong direction or the less confident ones, etc.

In this 21st century, a 12th grade student may know more than me about the outside world. Due to web series and TV series, students understand psychology, philosophy and other things better than us. I have to maintain certain things in an appropriate way without hurting their ego.

Teaching is not easy as it seems. Love your career and love your students, have excellent work ethics, know your students, respect your students, be a good role model and be flexible.

We use technology as a tool for learning at Stonehill, and the implementation of Seesaw as our e-learning portfolio has consolidated the way we communicate and share student learning with parents.

Armed with a Doctorate degree in English, a master's degree in Mathematics and 30 years of experience in the Education sector, Dr Seema Dutt is currently the Principal of DAV Public School,Ambala Cantt.

Geography is a different subject which rotates around the inquiries" Where" and "Why". It is exceptionally fascinating subject and I for one feel that it is the duty of teachers to procure learning of the investigated discoveries in their fields and utilize this information to elevate their subject to students.

Mohammad Rizwan Siddiqui, the H.O.D. Physics and CAS Adviser at Greenwood high International School, Bangalore is also an Examiner for IBDP Physics. He has taught several curriculums like IBDP, IGCSE, O-Level, A/AS Level, THAI National Curriculum, Indonesia National Curriculum, WAEC, CBSE, ICSE etc.

Sangeeta Kapoor, founder Principal of The Infinity School, is an educationist with over 25 years of experience. Besides having worked with different boards like CBSE, IGCSE and ICSE, she is also a trained IB-PYP facilitator.

"CBSE Math is highly popular especially in terms of the competitive examinations held nation-wide for engineering, medical and even for the administrative services. The IB, on the other hand, is so conceptual that I can hugely vouch for its critical thinking and research skills."

When it comes to CBSE, if you complete studying a bunch of papers you can write your examination and get good marks. That is how CBSE functions. But in IB, to answer a question, a child must really understand the concept. It is highly research oriented studies that bring in a lot of clarity on the subject and concepts among children.

For example, when I teach Merchant of Venice, I allow them to think if there is a Shylock present in our society today. When I teach them Julius Caesar, I help them to think about so many characters around us who may be similar to the conspirators and Brutus.

Interview with Rohit Yadhati and Sreekanth Neelam – Founders of CST (Centinel Spark Technologies Pvt Ltd), Hyderabad. CST recently along with Secure space and SingularX organiseda big School Hackathon involving 4000 students of schools run by Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (TSWREIS), in 20 different locations across Telangana.

Shivani Sahni, a self-motivated person, an educationist by profession, and a voracious learner, loves to contribute in people’s lives in various ways believing in the motto ‘Life is worth making relationships’.
She is the current Principal of G D Goenka Public School, Bahadurgarh - a CBSE school under the aegis of G D Goenka Public School, Vasant Kunj.

An electronics engineering graduate, Vikas R S Giri is currently working as a Physics Facilitator at Sanjay Ghodawat International School, Kolhapur, a boarding and day boarding school in Maharashtra.

An engineer by profession with a bachelors in electrical engineering from Mumbai University and a Masters in electrical engineering from University of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, Shirisha Kondury joined CHIREC International School in December 2016 and has been working as the IB Diploma program coordinator and IB Math and TOK facilitator in the school.

A passion for learning soon led to a passion for teaching in his life. Now, as IBDP & CIAE Chemistry teacher, an Examiner and CAIE Exam Officer at an International department of Wuxi No. 1 High School Wuxi, Jiangsu China, Saurabh Deshwar tries to instill that same passion for learning in his students.

Harsha Gajria Gandhi - Proud to be a Bahraini born Indian Educator, who has done her schooling from The Indian School Bahrain(Arabian Gulf).  She is an Educator - A levels & IGCSE, CIE and lifelong learner.  "I started my career with the primary section and my heart still lies there with the affection, always. During my career with the primary section - from grade 1 to grade 5, I began catering mainly to the Math and Science sections."

"Another important aspect is that in our Indian education system, the whole evaluation process - the examination system is trash. The way in which we judge performance of students is not fair. Many times it so happens that the student may be very good in analytical skills but those analytical skills and their overview about the subject cannot be judged in 3 hours of time and that too through a single paper."

"In CBSE, academically and in terms of marks secured, there is a guarantee that they will do well. But in IGCSE, you have go the extra mile to keep yourself up to date. There is a lot of knowledge gathering that is required."

Shailendra C Kushwaha is the Physics facilitator for grade 9 to grade 12. (IBDP, MYP an IGCSE syllabus) at Ecole Mondiale World School, Mumbai. He has 15 years of teaching experience.