Teachers: Connected, Focused and Collaborative

  •   Tue, Sep 01 2026
  •   By Fr Ajay Nelson D'Silva SJ

September 1, 2026

Teachers’ Day (September 5) is not only a day to appreciate the art and labour of teaching, the hard work of teachers in completing syllabi and preparing students for examinations. It is also a day to focus on education and its goals: to educate human beings who think, choose, collaborate, serve, and contribute.

There is much for us to learn from the story of the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the atom bomb on Hiroshima. The pilot and his crew chant a mantra of staying connected to the mission, staying focused and not looking back.

The first is to stay connected: A teacher cannot work in isolation. A teacher has to stay connected to the mission of education, to fellow teachers, to parents, to society, and most importantly, to his or her students. After all, students may forget what we teach them, but they are unlikely to forget a teacher who believed in them.

The second is to stay focused: The goal of education is big and bold. Education is about character and career, about life and living. Marks and examinations are important, but education is much bigger than that. We cannot educate for a ‘career’, we must educate for a ‘life’.

The third is not to look back: Education cannot be about old ideas and old methods. Technology and artificial intelligence and society are changing, and education has to change with them. Teachers have to update themselves for the new realities, since they can only teach what they know. Students must be prepared for the future, and not held back by the past.

We can illustrate these three great principles with three wonderful creatures: the ant, the spider, and the honeybee.

The ant is an example of hard work and discipline. Education needs ants: students who work hard and who are committed to academic excellence. But education cannot be all ant: if students see life as a race, and work harder than others to beat them at the race, then discipline without a goal becomes meaningless.

The spider is an example of self-expression and individuality. The spider spins his own web, and education must inspire students to use their talents for their own good. But if education becomes too self-centred, then it becomes like a spider and its webs: isolationist and individualistic. Students need to learn to innovate, but they also need to be reminded that their innovations are to serve, not to glorify themselves.

The honeybee is an example of collaboration, communication, shared responsibility, and service. The bee does not think of itself but of the hive. It works for the hive, and in turn the hive takes care of it. The bee produces honey, which individually it cannot do, but which collectively it achieves. The honeybee is the ideal model for education, for we need to think less of ourselves and more of others. We need to collaborate rather than compete, serve rather than dominate.

So let us think of education as a journey: the ant shows us how to WORK, the spider shows us how to CREATE, and the honeybee shows us how to COLLABORATE. We need the discipline of the ant, the innovation of the spider, and the collaboration of the honeybee.

 

 

 
By Fr Ajay Nelson D'Silva SJ
To submit your article / poem / short story to Daijiworld, please email it to news@daijiworld.com mentioning 'Article/poem submission for daijiworld' in the subject line. Please note the following:

  • The article / poem / short story should be original and previously unpublished in other websites except in the personal blog of the author. We will cross-check the originality of the article, and if found to be copied from another source in whole or in parts without appropriate acknowledgment, the submission will be rejected.
  • The author of the poem / article / short story should include a brief self-introduction limited to 500 characters and his/her recent picture (optional). Pictures relevant to the article may also be sent (optional), provided they are not bound by copyright. Travelogues should be sent along with relevant pictures not sourced from the Internet. Travelogues without relevant pictures will be rejected.
  • In case of a short story / article, the write-up should be at least one-and-a-half pages in word document in Times New Roman font 12 (or, about 700-800 words). Contributors are requested to keep their write-ups limited to a maximum of four pages. Longer write-ups may be sent in parts to publish in installments. Each installment should be sent within a week of the previous installment. A single poem sent for publication should be at least 3/4th of a page in length. Multiple short poems may be submitted for single publication.
  • All submissions should be in Microsoft Word format or text file. Pictures should not be larger than 1000 pixels in width, and of good resolution. Pictures should be attached separately in the mail and may be numbered if the author wants them to be placed in order.
  • Submission of the article / poem / short story does not automatically entail that it would be published. Daijiworld editors will examine each submission and decide on its acceptance/rejection purely based on merit.
  • Daijiworld reserves the right to edit the submission if necessary for grammar and spelling, without compromising on the author's tone and message.
  • Daijiworld reserves the right to reject submissions without prior notice. Mails/calls on the status of the submission will not be entertained. Contributors are requested to be patient.
  • The article / poem / short story should not be targeted directly or indirectly at any individual/group/community. Daijiworld will not assume responsibility for factual errors in the submission.
  • Once accepted, the article / poem / short story will be published as and when we have space. Publication may take up to four weeks from the date of submission of the write-up, depending on the number of submissions we receive. No author will be published twice in succession or twice within a fortnight.
  • Time-bound articles (example, on Mother's Day) should be sent at least a week in advance. Please specify the occasion as well as the date on which you would like it published while sending the write-up.

Comment on this article

  • Vishal Pinto, Kinnigoli/ Belgium

    Tue, Sep 01 2026

    Wonderful write up with beautiful imageries about the role of a teacher. A good teacher inspires and pushes the student to be the best version of oneself. We need teachers who inspire the students to think and grow in compassion and empathy for the other.


Leave a Comment

Title: Teachers: Connected, Focused and Collaborative



You have 2000 characters left.

Disclaimer:

Please write your correct name and email address. Kindly do not post any personal, abusive, defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent, discriminatory or unlawful or similar comments. Daijiworld.com will not be responsible for any defamatory message posted under this article.

Please note that sending false messages to insult, defame, intimidate, mislead or deceive people or to intentionally cause public disorder is punishable under law. It is obligatory on Daijiworld to provide the IP address and other details of senders of such comments, to the authority concerned upon request.

Hence, sending offensive comments using daijiworld will be purely at your own risk, and in no way will Daijiworld.com be held responsible.