Honesty and Respect - Optimizer BHIS

"Overcoming fear, to tell the truth, is difficult, but in the end, it isn't so bad."

Teaching young children about courtesy, gentleness and honesty, we sometimes wonder if they would ever show these qualities by themselves without being reminded. How will they act when faced with a moral dilemma? This story about  Divyansh might give us hope and affirmation.

Recently, we conducted an invigilator less weekly test for all the grades. Since it was the first time, students were going to be assessed in the above way; they were briefed about the intention behind the thought.

I delegated the responsibility and shared the instructions for this test with my class. I had requested the class monitor to keep an eye during the test and asked her to collect the answer scripts after half an hour. After the test, I went to the class and enquired about their experience.  Most of them suggested conducting all tests in the same manner in the future. Further, I checked with the students whether they were honest in attempting the test. To my surprise, all agreed that they had been honest. 

After the class, Divyansh met me in the staffroom. He looked worried and started weeping. I tried to pacify him but at the same time asked why he was worried. He confessed that he had copied the answers from the textbook. He also said that while I was taking feedback about the test, he was hesitant to give a truthful answer as he was scared.

Later, when he realized his mistake, he decided to meet me personally and wanted to accept his wrongdoing and free himself of guilt.  He requested me not to share the incident with other teachers and the class because he didn't want to feel insulted.  As a teacher, first I valued his honesty and then I respected his courage in sharing the truth with me.

I have understood that when we trust one another with respect, students reciprocate by confiding in us.

Optimizer @ Billabong High International School Thane.

- Sanket Patel, Madhubala Saji, Kalyani Chaudhuri, Rupal Trivedi, Momita Banerjee, Ajita Bhoir, Kshama Rajgor.